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Thank you. The Silent Directive Episode 5 The
Visitor from the Chimney Someone is coming down
your chimney. How do you feel when I say that?
Does it remind you of someone? Someone jolly,
kind, someone who carries gifts? It should. That's
the modern connotation. Everyone thinks of Santa
Claus when a boot appears in the chimney. But
it wasn't always like that. Before the tales
of the jolly visitor from the North Pole, thinking
of a visitor from down your chimney was a bad
thing. It was an intruder. It was someone unknown.
entering your place of living. It was only after
Santa that you began to welcome the chimney visitor.
No longer did you fear the idea. But, as the
tales of Santa spread, a counter -myth began
to emerge. What if someone, something else, came
down the chimney? And what if this thing was
not there to give, but rather to take? the night
before Christmas when all through the house not
a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The
stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds.
At least, that's how the original poem is read.
The story I have today takes a different turn.
Last night, children around the world anxiously
awaited the famous visitor from the chimney.
Siblings Lucy and Connor were no different. Their
family was traveling for the winter, staying
at a little cabin up in North Montana. It had
been a wonderful visit. The ground was covered
in a fresh powder of snow. The presents they
had opened so far had been amazing. The cabin
was small, but the time with family had been
more than enough. At the time I was seeing them,
it was well into the night, around one in the
morning. Little Connor had thrown a fuss about
having to go to bed, but he was fast asleep now.
Lucy was the older sibling. Only by three years,
but to an eleven -year -old, that may have well
been a decade. She found herself awake. Maybe
by chance, maybe by the noise from the rooftop.
I heard it. It sounded like the house settling.
With the snow piling on top, it very well may
have been. But Lucy thought otherwise. She thought
she heard bells. She sat up. climbing down the
bunk bed ladder and shaking Connor awake. He
began to ask if it was morning, but Lucy shushed
him. It's midnight, she said. I think he's here.
Another creak sounded out. Both of them were
convinced. I'll admit, even I wondered if it
was truly the jolly man. In the world I've seen,
anything's possible. As the siblings crept out
of their room and made their way downstairs,
I followed. Because I'm no corporeal being, I
could see both the children and the roof at the
same time. I saw what was making the noise, and
a disturbing sense of dread settled deep within
me. This was not a friendly visitor. But the
children continued down the stairs, unaware.
They ventured into the living room. The room
was filled with neatly wrapped presents, surely
exactly what they wrote letters about. Before
they could begin to inspect, a noise came from
the chimney. A quiet, shuffling, scraping noise.
The children watched excitedly as I watched with
fear. I don't usually fear for the subject of
my stories. Experiences happen, and I, nor anyone,
can do anything about them. But I feared for
these children as the creature came down the
chimney. That scraping noise? Lucy figured it
might be a belt buckle or something of the sort.
It wasn't. It was the horns of this thing. scraping
along the brick chimney walls. As it descended,
the faint sound of bells could be heard, making
larger the excitement in the children. Lucy sat
down in front of the tree, while little Connor
took a seat directly in front of the fireplace.
He watched in silent, joyous anticipation. This
joy began to waver once a black, hairy hoof stepped
onto the ash. Connor looked back to Lucy for
confirmation. for some signal that all was normal.
But she did not give one. She only stared in
slowly growing horror as the creature pulled
itself from out of the chimney. It had four limbs,
two hooves for legs, and long arms with two elbows
in the front. Its body was covered in black fur
or hair. On its back was an ancient -looking
wicker basket. It stepped forward, walking on
four limbs before standing upright. Its front
arms were so long they almost reached the ground
as it stood at full height. Connor pushed himself
back, away from the creature, until his back
pressed against the couch. The creature's face
was equally as horrifying as its body. A tangled
mess of hair and twigs hung from its chin, supposedly
a beard. Its face only vaguely resembled that
of a man, permanently bent in a painful sneer,
like it were gritting its teeth through pain.
Speaking of its teeth, they were crooked and
huge. the top row jutting out to the right and
the bottom row jutting out to the left. Its nose
was like that of a donkey. Its eyes were hollow
orbs of white light bulging outward from its
long, thin skull. On top of its head were two
thick horns like that of the great ellend antelope.
Rusted bells were tangled around those horns,
quietly jingling as it moved. It began to make
a choked, sniffing noise, moving its head back
and forth. It took a step forward. leaning down
on its front limbs, its face moving towards Connor.
He closed his eyes as the creature took a long,
deep inhale. Lucy stood up. Her heart was beating
faster than her ribcage could handle, but she
grabbed an ornament off the tree and threw it.
She hadn't been quite sure of a plan, but she
wanted this thing away from her brother. The
circular ornament bounced off the creature and
shattered on the floor. In a split -second moment,
the creature's arm shot out toward Lucy. Its
hand was long and deformed, its fingers were
too long to curl into a fist. They reached Lucy
before she blinked, and closed tightly around
her. Its other hand wrapped around Connor and
lifted him up, too. Both children were dangling
above the floor as the thing raised them upward.
They would have screamed, but its grip was so
tight the air was forced from their lungs. It
didn't look mad, it didn't look anything. Its
face was still that unnatural smile it was. its
teeth seemingly too big to allow its mouth to
close. Being so close, they could now see its
eyes had no pupils. It moved its head toward
Lucy as she struggled and gasped. It took another
long, deep inhale. After it was finished, it
dropped her to the ground. She landed on her
back and crawled away from it. Then it moved
its head back to Connor. It took the same deep
sniff, only it did not drop Connor. A low grumble
came from the creature, sounding like a deep
chuckle. With its other hand, it reached around
its back and unclasped the basket, opening the
top. Slime and ooze dripped from the lid of the
basket. Lucy, too scared and stunned to move
or speak, watched as the beast lifted Connor
over its head. He and Lucy met eyes one last
time before he was dropped into the basket. Lucy
screamed out, yelling as loud as she could. but
the creature had no reaction. It simply closed
the basket lid. Lucy continued to scream, getting
to her feet. She yelled at the creature, throwing
more ornaments. It turned around, completely
ignoring her. Lucy watched as it clambered back
up through the chimney and disappeared. She cried
and screamed, unsure of what to do. Before too
long, her parents rushed down the stairs, turning
on the lights and asking what happened. I wish
something could have gone differently. I wish
something could have gone differently. What a
horrid, terrible creature. Based on my knowledge
and what I saw, I believe it to be a Krampus.
I don't know if there are multiple or just one
Krampus. According to legend, it sniffs behavior
in children and takes the ones who haven't been
good. An unfair judgment, to say the least. I
was hoping for a brighter story for the holiday
season, but this is what I saw last night. I
felt it unfair to poor Lucy to not share. I apologize
for my late broadcast. My schedule must remain
the same. It is very important. But, as is said,
it is that time of year. I wanted to tell a story
of relevance, so I had to wait. Sure enough,
the night of the Christmas Eve holiday, I found
myself there. I'm still not sure how to navigate
myself, but I was seeking a holiday story when
I found one. Interesting. Well, I hope you all
have a nice holiday. Be careful. And remember,
where there are folktales, there are experiences.
Stories that survive for so long do so for a
good reason.