Michael walked down the lonely back road, trying to ignore the cold seeping through his coat. His breath puffed out in front of him and slowly disappeared. It had been snowing almost steadily since that morning. The gray clouds hung low, blocking out the moon. There was almost a foot of snow on the roads, despite the fact that they had been cleared just before sundown.

          Michael pulled his coat tighter and listened to the silence. It was that certain silence, the kind that was only produced by a combination of nighttime and a heavy snowstorm. The only sound to be heard was the freezing wind that whistled across the country back road. A car hadn't passed in almost two hours.

          It was while concentrating on this silence that Michael first heard the noise. It was so soft that during any other time of day it would be blocked out by natural noises. The noise was a murmuring sound, like someone talking softly into a pillow. It came from behind him.  Michael stopped and slowly turned around.

          The only thing to be seen under the dark sky was the long stretch of road coated in snow. He tried listening again, but all he could hear was silence. Michael shook his head and went back to walking.

          He walked for another twenty minutes and quickly forgot about the noise. Suddenly he heard it again, a little louder this time. It did not go away this time. It just slowly got louder. Michael turned and tried to ignore the noise.

          He kept waiting for the noise to subside, but it just kept up. It was from two different directions now. Michael stopped and turned around again, angry this time. He let his voice penetrate the silence of the night.

"Stop it! Just stop that damn noise." Much to Michael's surprise, it did. He cocked his head and listened again to make sure, then turned around.

          When Michael turned around, he choked and tripped backwards a bit. There were what appeared to be two very small children standing in the road. Michael almost told them to go home, but something made him stop. It was their faces. They were...disfigured.

          There was no hair on their faces, no eyebrows or anything. Their lips were pulled back into sneers. And their teeth...Michael squinted through the snow and the dark, trying to make his mind see what was wrong. They were too sharp... all of them were way too long and way too sharp. The two creatures looked at each other then back at him.

          They were very short, only coming up to Michael's knee. They were dressed very badly for the cold. Their clothes were nothing more than dirty rags, yet the appeared not to be bothered by the snow. Neither wore any shoes of any kind. Their hair was dark and matted. Michael cleared his throat.

          "What...what do you want?" The creatures looked at each other and suddenly the murmuring noise started again. Michael began to get angry. Before he could say anything else, the one on the right stepped forward.

"We need you to help us." It spoke very slowly and deliberately, and it sounded almost like it was forcing the words out. Michael didnt know what to say.

"I.. I dont know if I can...."

          The two creatures looked back at each other and the murmuring started once again. This time the other one stepped forward.

"Our companion..he has fallen into  the lake." Michaels head spun at the thought of there being another one of these things. He stared down at them dumbfounded. The first one spoke up again.

"He will die. Will you help us?"

          Michael very slowly nodded his head yes. They grinned their disfigured grins.

"Follow us then." Again they spoke like a foreigner who barely knew english. Michael didnt know why he was doing this. He knew he shouldnt be following these...things to wherever they were going.

          They eventually came to a trail in the woods. Michael had quickly learned that whenever the two walked or looked at each other the murmuring noise started again. They turned around and looked at him.

"The lake is this way."

          The snow was really deep on the trail...apparently no one had come through for a long time, but the two things seemed to know where they were going. The only sound Michael could hear was the murmuring noise of the things walking. Eventually they came to a clearing. There was a very large, halfway frozen lake towards the middle.

          "He is in there." The creature pointed awkwardly towards the lake. Michael shrugged.

"What am I supposed to do?" The creatures looked extremely puzzled by this question. They looked at each other for almost a minute. Something was pulling in the back of Michaels mind. These things reminded him of something. They almost looked like elves or dwarves or something. But these things were like nightmare versions of what came on Tv. They did not look friendly in the least.

          Michael snapped out of his thought when the murmuring stopped.

"There is a hole in the ice...our friend is just below the water. We cannot swim." Michael immediately shook his head no. 

I" cant go on the ice. I'll fall through". It took them both several seconds to think this over.

     "No no friend, you will not fall through. It is only the one part that is not frozen." Michael noticed they were talking better now, not so forced.

          Michael wanted to leave. Just turn around and leave and forget the nightmarishly disfigured creatures and continue his journey. But something made him want to help, something made him want to go find that other little monster in the water. He shook his head and headed for the lake. Just as he had been told, the lake was frozen the majority of the way.

          He took a few small, cautious steps, just to be sure. Michael looked back to see the little monsters grinning and nodding at him. He continued towards the small hole in the middle of the lake. The hole was small, but with the help of his imagination, Michael could see one of the creatures falling down through the ice.

          He turned back to the creatures on land.

"You said he's just below the water. right? The creatures nodded.

"That is right friend!" they called over.

Michael turned around and got on his knees. He peered into the water but could see nothing. With a sigh, he peeled off his jacket and set it on the ice. He rolled up his sleeve and slowly reached down into the freezing water. He gasped.

          The water was horribly cold. Michael gritted his teeth and reached further into the water. He could find nothing. Suddenly, the murmuring started again. This time is was ungodly loud. His body shook as the noise continued. All of a sudden Michael felt sick.

          Michaels eyes widened as he realized he could understand the murmuring...it wasn't just a sound...it was their language. It was the language of those wretched little monsters. He turned to see the little creatures laughing and pointing at him. Michaels nose began to bleed, but he took no notice. His head rocked as he understood what the demons had been planning.

          What he noticed was how the ice didnt feel the least bit sturdy anymore. He noticed the ice as it started to crack. Suddenly, the ice below him gave out completely and Michael sunk down into the frozen . He was up to his hips in that freezing water. He tried to scream but all that came out was a choke.

          He held on to the ice as best he could to prevent sinking any further...but he couldnt hang on long. Michael screamed at the creatures.

"Help me...please god help me!" The demons only laughed, and in a blink of an eye the creatures were gone. Michael was left out on the lake in the middle of no where all alone.

          Michael gasped as he slowly sunk down into the water. The last sound to be heard in the clearing was Michael's last breath as he disappeared into the frozen water. That silence settled back over the clearing as it began to snow again.