Speaker 1: Welcome to micro Terrors, scary stories for kids where it's
always the spooky season, full of chills, thrills, and spine
tingling spooks. Micro Terrors are family friendly frights for those
ages eight and up, and while our stories are for
younger years, we are still talking about things that go
bump in the night, and some children may not be
able to handle what others can. Parental consent is recommended
now for tonights micro terror.
Speaker 2: The dog Man of Michigan by Fiona Cosgrove narrated by
Darren Marler. The maple leaves were green when Dad and
I arrived a couple of weeks ago. He told me
as the weather changed, so would the color. He wasn't wrong.
Dusty red leaves now littered the dirt track home from
school like old parchment. It was pretty. The old town
was pretty, just like Dad promised. But it was the
woods I loved most, the endless sprawl of trees, the space,
the freedom. Dad needed that more and more someday I
would as well. He told me this town was a
place we could set down roots, and judging by the
pack of kids walking home with me, I'd say he
was right about that too. Duke A kid wearing a
blue hoodie and dark jeans plucked a leaf from an
overhanging branch. So ash, where'd you move from Wisconsin? I replied, Nice,
said a girl called Riley, as she tucked her brown
hair underneath the baseball cap. So what brings you to
the deep forests of Michigan, I chuckled, as she grandly
gestured to the surrounding forest that cloaked the town in
a fresh pine scent. Well, my uncle died a couple
of months ago. A collective sigh of sor ease, and
that sucks cut me off. No, No, it's okay, I said.
I mean it's not great, obviously, but I never met him,
and my dad lost touch with him years back. He
liked to keep to himself. I got it, Uncle, like that,
said Duke. He swears marsh water and vinegar cured his arthritis.
Now he speds his evenings siggy lullabies to stray cats.
Riley stared blankly at Duke for a long moment, then
shook her head and nodded for me to keep talking.
Uh anyway, I said. After he passed, we got a
letter saying Dad had inherited his house. We packed up
our stuff and moved a few weeks later, and well,
here we are. That's awesome. Shay, a tall boy with brown,
shaggy hair, snapped his fingers and did a happy dance
that with his long, thin limbs, made him look a
little like wet spaghetti. Three houses are the best. He
reached behind him and grabbed the backpack of a small
kid with the exact same mop of hair. This is
my brother Roy. We live on Spruce, just past the highway.
Roy's brown eyes peered up beneath the rim of his
black beanie. He gave me a half smile and waved
his hand by his hip. And lived on Bridge, Riley said,
pointing up and to the right. Cedar said, Duke. All
the kids stared at me expectedly. Oh right. I tried
to remember a street name near our new house, but
came up blank. We're kind of right out the back.
I don't know all the names yet. It's a little
cabin in the woods. Four pairs of sneakers skidded to
a stop, followed immediately by four pairs of eyeballs glaring
at me. I gulped what Shay's eyes widened exactly how
far out the back is your house, I gripped the
straps of my school bag. I don't know pretty far,
I guess why Roy squeaked like a puppy that had
swallowed a rubber duck. Is he okay? I asked. Shaye
put an arm around his little brother and pulled him
to his side. Yeah, it's just out there in the backwoods.
Weird stuff happens, sh Riley said, scanning the tree line.
Don't talk about him him, I repeated. Duke looked over
both should before whispering The dog man, the what man?
I choked on the words, barely getting them out. Shay
started walking again, and everyone followed. You had never heard
of him, the dog man, I said, like a man
with a lot of dogs. The three older kids chuckled,
not quite snorted, Duke. Legend has it. The dog man
has the body of a man and the head of
a dog, explained Shay. He stalks you at night, creeping
through the woods hunting his next prey. I swallowed the
lump of sandpaper that had lodged itself in my throat.
Stop it, guys, said Riley. It's just a stupid rumor,
ash rumor, Shay laughed. I was eight when I saw him, ten,
said Duke. Roy held up three fingers. Duke and Shay
stared Riley down until finally she crumbled. Fine, she said five.
I gaped back at them. Come on, guys, you're saying
you've all seen a creature with two legs and the
head of a dog running through these woods. All four
nodded bag as a breeze snuck its way through the forest,
tickling the back of my neck. Those people in town have,
Shay said, legend's been around for over one hundred years.
Our great granddad, Papa Joe was the first one to
talk about it. No way, I said, shaking my head.
Don't make you tell the story again. Duke groaned, kicking
a pebble down the track. This story's a classic, Shay said.
Papa Joe even had the scar to prove it. Duke
booted the pebble again, sending it skittering across the dirt.
All right, dead, go on, freak out the new kid.
Shae looked at me, raising an eyebrow as if asking
for permission. The last thing I wanted was to hear
more about the dog human hybrid roaming the woods near
my new house. So, of course, I nodded. Shay bounced
on his toes as he retold the story. See, Papa
Joe used to work in the forest is a longer
There were he heaps up back. Then all stayed in
big wooden huts together, worked through the day. Then in
the evenings they tell stories till they fell asleep. Papa
Joe loved it. Hard work, he said, and he was
exhausted by the end of the night, but he loved
being in the woods. Roy made a little coughing noise,
and Shae corrected himself. Yeah, I mean he did until
that night. The breeze picked up, curling around the tree branches,
setting a handful of leaves falling to the ground and
a trickle of icy air creeping down my neck. Shae,
Riley warned, chewing on her bottom lip. I don't think
you should talk about it. You know, every time you do,
there's another sighting. Shae looked up through the canopy of trees.
Still a few daylight hours, he said, And if Ash
is living out here, he ought to know. Riley looked
to Duke, who shrugged his shoulders.
Speaker 1: She sighed.
Speaker 2: As we approached a pathway that curved right behind a
small group of houses. Fine, she said, but don't say
I didn't warn you. This is us. Duke and her
stepped off the main path, but not before she'd given
me a hug and kissed the top of Roy's beanie.
Try to keep it PG okay, she stared at Shay.
Shay held up three fingers scouts honor. Duke and Riley
ducked beneath an overhanging branch and headed down the path
to their houses. Shay kept his promise for about three seconds.
Now the way Papa Joe told it all, the men
were on their way back to camp one night when
they heard a weird howling. A couple of the men
said it was wolves and they'd keep their distance with
that many people around, But Papa Joe said it wasn't
like any wolf heat ever heard. He said, it was eerie,
like a man's voice howling in the night. A shiver
rolled through me as chaf spoke, and I crossed my arms,
trying to hide the goose pimples dimpling my skin. The
men got nervous. Shay continued. They could see the cabin
up ahead, but something was already following them. Footsteps echoed
around the forest floor, and the howling had caught up
to them. Roy tucked himself closer to his big brother's side,
almost tripping over his own feet. Papa Joe said, as
soon as a few men started running, that was it.
Everyone panicked, including the dog Man. Papa Joe saw a
flash of black that his friend Hucks was screaming. Hucks
was twisted on the ground, his back arched, his hands
clawing in the air, then another one to his right,
that is left, then behind him. Suddenly everyone was screaming,
writhing on the ground, and all around him. He could
hear the growling and gnashing of the dog Man's jaws.
But Joe almost made it to the cabin, but right
as he got to the door, he felt something slash
his back. He said, it felt like someone took a
red hot poker and sliced him in half. He collapsed
against the door, and that's when he saw him eight
feet tall, two legs, two arms, black fur covering his
shoulders and neck, and the face of a dog staring
down at him. Roy nudged Shay. Oh right, said Shay,
and the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen. I gulped
Shay's shoulders, relaxed as he took his brother's hand. Anyway,
he said, nodding to the fork and the path ahead.
We're down that way. He pointed to the right, And
if you're in the woods, you were, he pointed to
the left. All the way that way, right, I said.
Every muscle in my body tensed all the way that way.
Shaye looked at me over, probably noting his sweat patches
under my arms, the red in my cheeks, and the
whites of my knuckles. Oh no, I didn't keep it pg,
did I? He said, Come man, Riley's gonna be so mad. No,
I'm fine, I lied, but even I heard the quiver
in my voice. Shay grimaced, then gave my shoulder a
gentle squeeze. Nothing to worry about, new kid. People around
here are always on high alert, he said. The parents
are determined to catch him. The whole town is one
more sighting, and I reckon everyone will go all pitchforks
and torches on these woods. He smiled like that was
somehow comforting. Don't sweat it all right, Roy gave me
a wave, and I forced a smile as I watched
them both fade into the blur of green trees. As
I headed for home. The woods felt different. The air
was frigid, and the once endless forest that hummed with
insects and bird chatter seemed all too quiet. The needles
of pine that had shimmering dew clinging to their fronds
just a few hours ago now resembled spindly talons reaching
out for me in the dusk. Every step of a
twig or rustle of a bush had me flinching, scanning
the trees for a pair of watching eyes. Before I
knew it, I was running. By the time the old
cabin came into view, my lungs were burning. I leaped
up the porch steps and tumbled inside, slamming the door
shut behind me. Quickly, I lunched for the curtains, drawing
them closed too. I struggled to catch my breath. Visions
of slashed flesh and black fur danced behind my eyes.
Speaker 1: The dog man.
Speaker 2: I dropped my bag to the floor and leaned against
the cabin wall, listening to the shack creek and groan.
Then something stirred, something beyond the safety of the timber
logs and the wooden shingles. He hello, I called out,
unable to control the tremble. Of my bottom lip, did Dad.
The crunch of leaf litter echoed through the gaps in
the timber. The back door shook, and I watched, breath
hitched as the doorknobs slowly twisted. The door hinged open,
revealing the silhouette of an eight foot beast. The body
of a man, Muscles rippled down his abdomen, his biceps
bulging from his broad shoulders, and his thighs like trunks
of mighty oak. But the head was clearly canine. A
muzzle thick with black velvet fur protruded from his face
beneath two gleaming bright blue eyes.
Speaker 1: I stumbled on.
Speaker 2: Uneasy legs, and the dog man rushed forward, closing the
distance between us. In an instant ash. He said, what
is it? Nuzzling my face into the earthy scent of
his fur. I sniffed back the tears. Dad, we can't
stay here. The whole town knows about us. Turns out,
great Uncle Frank wasn't as low key as we thought.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to micro Terrors. Join us each
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