Aphelion

Think of it as 'psychological horror', if you like. Some of the most highly regarded stories in past issues had no speculative or fantasy elements that could not be attributed to the imaginings of the characters. (viz. stories by Robert Starr, in particular) And some of the scariest stories featured monsters who were human in all but the workings of their minds...

Troop's mounting fears may or may not have had any basis in reality (although the woods could kill with nothing more than rocks to trip on and exposure to the evening chill), but they were real enough to him, and thanks to the author's skills, to at least some of the readers.

Ye Editor of Stuff Less Than 7,500 words

I agree with Robert: An nice touch on 'psychological horror.' Some of the best stories have aliens or monsters that exist only in a character’s mind or a groups of characters such as boys together in a summer camp out on a hike. In the group setting, each boy usually contributes to the building of a monster by telling anecdotes. And the monster grows exponentially after each boy’s efforts!

I liked the honesty of this one. We could feel the outcome from the beginning, but the story kept me interested by Trooper expressing his thoughts and feeling.

A good Read!!! Nice!!