literature

The Man Near the Dock

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There's a story that everyone in the coastal town knows (which is omitted here to keep their privacy-- it isn't a tourist attraction, and visitors make the townspeople nervous for very obvious reasons)... It doesn't travel beyond the town's property lines very often, so you probably haven't heard it.

They say there's something weird about the docks. No one can quite agree if it's just a strange man, a ghost, an alien, or something even more bizarre... But several people have seen it. Not many have seen it up close, mind you, but there are plenty of witnesses who have seen a shadowy figure near the harbor late at night.

No one really knows why this creature is so scary, but it's caused everyone in the sleepy harbor town to begin locking their doors. They don't know why; they've never heard about the "Dock Man" entering anyone's houses -- none have seen him entering, anyway -- They just feel safer this way. They draw the curtains, turn out all the lights, and avoid every window that overlooks the water. Just thinking that he's out there makes their skin crawl; they didn't need to see him to know how scared they were of him.

It looks a little like a man, at least from far away... He has long, spindly arms and wears a baggy overcoat. Many visitors, before the town was secluded, thought he might have just been a normal (albeit tall) person admiring the water as it reflected the streetlamps and the nightsky.
Some of the friendlier night-owls attempted to approach him to make conversation about how beautiful the water was... Until they saw the hands that protruded from his sleeves.
One of the few things all witnesses agree on is that his fingers are impossibly long.

One man, who claimed he wasn't brave but ignorant, stood beside the creature.
"Everyone I tell this story to always goes on about how brave I am," The man began nervously, "But really, I didn't know. I thought he was just a guy by the water."
When asked about the encounter, this man appeared very hesitant. He looked over his shoulder quickly, as if looking for the "Dock Man".
"Well, I went over to the guy and was just going to make polite conversation. I was new and wanted to be more social; at my old place, I was a very private person. I wanted that to change. So I went over to him when I was walking home one night... But then I stopped when I got about 10-feet away. Something seemed really weird."
He lit a cigarette with a very shaky hand; he claimed earlier that just remembering the night set his nerves on edge.
"I don't know how to explain it," He began, "I never figured it out. I've told this story a bunch of times, but was never able to figure out how to put it into words right."
There was another brief pause as the man stared at the floor, bringing the cigarette to his lips once again. He appeared to be recalling the event, and began shaking quite violently.
"I don't even know why it's so scary!" He exclaimed, "Just thinking about it... I get so freaked out all over again. I can remember it like it just happened."

"As I was walking over to this guy, I just had a weird feeling... I stopped a few feet away and waited for him to turn around, but he never did. He just stood there and looked out at the water. Then I noticed that there was a weird smell about him... Kind of like a huge pile of burning wood. Like live embers; not a faint smell like someone would have on their clothes.
"I started to back away... I don't know why I was freaking out over some weird guy looking at the water that smelled like fire, but I was. I nearly tripped. I was walking sideways to keep an eye on this guy, and I started hearing footsteps coming from the way I was headed... Like really loud steps. Right next to me, almost.
"I looked over to see if I was going to run into someone but no one was there! Then I looked back at the guy on the dock and--"
The man wiped away some sweat from his brow and a tear forming at the corner of his eye.
"He was turned around, staring right at me. I don't even know how to explain his face, but it was..."
He trailed off, refusing to speak any more about the event.
The orderlies escorted him back to his room. He had willingly admitted himself into the hospital since he didn't feel safe in his own home.

The doctors spoke to us about it. The man gave them permission to discuss it since he didn't feel like he could do so himself. The doctors argued a bit since it was rather unusual, but they finally agreed when they got their patient to sign some forms granting permission officially.
"He doesn't say much about it," His psychiatrist commented, "He dreams about that night a lot and wakes up screaming, requiring sedation on a regular basis. But he absolutely refuses to discuss what the creature's face looked like. I know he remembers, but he just won't give any details about it."

Ask anyone in this particular harbor town and they'll all tell you similar stories-- in my research for this article, I didn't find any skeptics who lived there. It was pretty unusual since there are normally a few skeptics mixed in with all the people who recite the story like a verse from the Bible... But in this case, there are none.

"No one is allowed out after dark," One elderly lady informed me, "Not that they want to be."
"Not even the kids?" I asked.
"No, definitely not the kids!" She responded quite loudly, "The ones that are curious about the Dock Man, their parents keep a close watch over them. They know what happened."
The old woman babbled for a few moments about something that didn't quite make sense at the time, so I asked her to clarify.
"They didn't used to be so careful," She began, "They used to sit at their windows at night and stare at him. He never moved, but they still watched anyway.
"One night a couple of teenagers went out to get a closer look, or so they claimed... They were probably out to prove how brave they were while the rest of the town was cowering in their houses.
"So the boys went over to the Dock Man a little ways and claimed they heard someone walking behind them. They thought maybe their friends were following them, but didn't find anyone there when they turned around. When they turned back to the Dock Man, he was turned around and staring right back at them. They wouldn't tell anyone what they saw, but we knew we didn't want to know.
"They both ran home but it was too late, the Dock Man was already after them. They began claiming to see him everywhere: behind them in their reflections, looking into their windows when it started getting dark, standing in dark rooms right before the light was turned on...
"People just figured they were losing their minds from fear, and now they're both in a hospital. That was the last time anyone tried to go near the Dock Man though; everyone learned their lesson."

When I tried to get a follow-up interview with the elderly woman, I was informed that she'd passed away a few days before. I was disappointed since she seemed to be the only one who would openly talk about the "Dock Man".

The little coastal town is closed to visitors and tourists now, mainly because tourists were flocking in to see the "Dock Man" for themselves, and each one would claim similar things happened-- they'd hear footsteps behind them and find the creature had turned around and was staring at them when they turned back.
A really unfortunate few began claiming he was following them around, and the residents of the harbor town refer to it as "the curse".

If you're really determined however, you can still make it in. The gates aren't patrolled as closely during the early morning, so you can sneak in quite easily.
Good luck finding someone who will let you into their house at night, however; they don't want anyone anywhere near the windows when night falls, and refuse to let strangers in since they know what they're there for.

"Leave the Dock Man alone!" One young man warned me, "Outsiders think it's some kind of game to see who can get a good look at him and press their luck, but it isn't. I don't know what that thing is and I don't want to know. I don't know why he's here, and getting myself cursed won't give me the answer."
The young man, as it turns out, was one of the teenagers who had gone to look at the "Dock Man", but had stayed behind since he was afraid. He tells everyone about how fortunate he was that night and claims it was some kind of divine intervention.

"We don't know what it is," An important figure in the community (who wished to remain anonymous) told me, "We just keep the streetlamps around the bay on, since he seems to like staring at them. The old mayor had them turned out for a night in an effort to get rid of the creature, but it didn't work."
"What happened after that?" I asked; I figured there was some reason it was mentioned.
"Everyone around the bay found all their doors standing open the next day, and every light in their houses were on. Most of them insisted they'd locked their doors the night before. After that we just kept the lamps on. It hasn't happened since."

Information on this topic is scarce, but I've compiled what I was able to gather. I might publish another article if I learn anything new about this entity.
© 2014 - 2024 gingerbreadcottage
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skylerangel's avatar
uh this story freaked my shit out LMFAOOOO i made a good decision reading this before bed X)