Scary Urban Legends

Old Rain Man

"Creepy man! Creepy Man! Old rain man! old rain man!" My young voice echoed through the humid air.

The target of these anxious yells was old rain man. He was a sort of village curiosity, the local boogeyman.

The origin of his name was as simple as it gets: the old man was only seen when it rained. Then he'd leave his house, cross the yard and sit down on the bench in front of it. Once the rain stopped, he'd vanish back inside.

We kids had our share of stories and ideas about him. Some said he was the one who made it rain. Others said he wanted to flood the village. There were even a few who thought he was secretly am amphibian who needed the rain to survive.

In our village, there were never so much as a few days without heavy rain. Considering that, those stories seemed more than a bit plausible to us kids.

We kids often dared each other to provoke him or go near him. This time it had been my turn to yell at him to see if he'd come after me. In the end, though, the old man did nothing. We were sure though that he feigned ignorance to lure me in closer.

The dares had started early this summer. I don't know anymore who came up with something so stupid.

At first, we only dared each other to race by him on our bikes. We'd heard the stories of the older kids. They said the old man would sometimes reach out and try to get a hold of those kids who weren't careful enough. After that, he'd drag you into his dark old house never to be seen again.

As summer moved along, our dares grew more and more riskier. At first, it was only yelling and driving past him, but soon we'd dare each other to walk past him slowly or get close to him. We never got more than a stare, but that was enough to send us racing away.

"I got one, I got one," my friend Stefan started one day," I want Daniel to sit down on the bench and wait for the old man to arrive. Then you have to sit next to him for ten seconds."

Everyone gasped, and they all turned to me. My heart dropped. This was different. I didn't dare to say no though. So far no one had backed out of a dare. I didn't want to be the first one to do so.

"Alright, fine." I reluctantly said.

A few days later I should get my chance. We were out playing soccer when the sky got darker, and clouds started to gather.

Stefan grinned at me.

"It's time Daniel!" he cheered and soon the others, remembering the dare, joined in.

Minutes later we were all in front of his house. As I sat down on the bench, my friends retreated. Sitting there I was all pins and needles. I told myself again and again that nothing would happen. None of the stories were true. Everyone was lying.

The first raindrops hit me and mixed with the pearls of sweat on my forehead. It didn't take long before I heard the loud creaking of an old door. There he was: old rain man.

As he stepped outside, the sound of his old work boots on the gravel echoed in my ears. He was too tall to be a normal human being. His whole posture was wrong. He was hunched over and his arms were hanging in the air, warping him into the image of a bizarre, mantis like creature. With each step he took, I grew tenser.

When I could finally make out his face, it was a mask devoid of emotion. His eyes were glassy and only half open, but I could still see the dark, black pits that were his pupils.

My friends had retreated further and were now hiding behind trees nearby. I stared at them with open eyes, pleading them to release me from this dare, but they were all laughing.

I was in utter and absolute fear. I sat there, concentrating, not moving, waiting, my eyes closed counting down from ten to zero as fast as I could. When I was finally done, I jumped off the bench and landed right in a small puddle that had already formed.

It was in that moment that the old man's head jerked up towards me. His eyes, suddenly wide open focused on me and only me. Before I could even move, his hand reached out to me and held on to me with an iron grip. I screamed in pain, as he twisted my arm and pulled me in closer.

"You are..." he started, but I didn't listen. I couldn't. I screamed for help, screamed at him to let me go an tried to pull myself free, but his grip tightened on my arm. I could see his mouth open, then close again.

Crying in pure despair I looked towards my friends, only to see them running away. Just their cries of "Old rain man got him! Old rain man got him!" stayed with me.

After what felt like an eternity to me, his grip loosened and I was able to rip myself free and ran off. I cried all the way until I was home.

As I stormed into the house, my parents asked me what happened. The moment they hear me say 'old rain man; though, they frowned. It was what I got for going near the old man. They'd told me time and time again, that I should stay away from him. It's what I got for not listening to them.

After that, I had nightmares for weeks. It was nightmares about a giant ghastly old man that took me away in the rain. Sometimes he waited for me outside, in others he caught me on my way to school. There were others, more surreal, in which the old man was a giant that broke through the ceiling with long, bony arms. In all these dreams it was raining.

Looking back it all seems silly now. How could one be afraid of a simple old man? I guess though, that is how kids are.

From then on I never got near the old man again. I was too scared of him. Who knew what he'd do to me if he ever saw me again.

Some of my friends continued with the dares. Many times they dared me to come along, but I never budged. Even after they ridiculed me and called me a scaredy cat, I never went with them again.