And So It Begins...

     The story presented here is a fine example of a classic Creepypasta.  Born somewhere in the confines of the Internet in 2010, with no real origin story or known authorship, And Then a Skeleton Popped Out is an icon of the age which paints a picture of American youth culture at the onset of the nascent "new tens".

“A FEW YEARS AGO A MAN WAS WALKING DOWN A ROAD BECAUSE HIS CAR BROKE DOWN AND HE SAW A CAR COMING UP BEHIND HIM SO HE STUCK OUT HIS THUMB TO HITCH HIKE AND THE CAR STOPPED AHEAD OF HIM. HE RAN UP TO THE PASSENGER SIDE AND OPENED THE DOOR. WHEN HE OPENED THE DOOR A SKELETON POPPED OUT”

     The obvious artistry involved in crafting this piece will stand out clearly to any reader.  From the moment the author states that a man "....was walking down a road because his car broke down..." the reader is instantly transported to the scene.  Although we are not told the setting, we can easily imagine that it is dark.  Our so-natural fear of becoming stranded in potentially threatening surroundings draw the scene immediately.  We also imagine our story's hero wandering through a scene not unfamiliar to us, but distant from civilization.  Perhaps he is stranded in the depths of the forest, soon after a summer thunderstorm.  Maybe the thunder is still rumbling in the near distance.

     When the other car pulls up, we are not told the length of time for which this individual has been stranded, but clearly the new arrival is not an immediate one.  This is not some near-pursuing threat out to get the hero, but rather a hazard which haunts this road frequently, and whose territory the unfortunate protagonist has simply wandered into.  Here, we are confronted with fears of our own inadequacy.  How often are we tormented by threats over which we have little control?  Tornadoes sweep homes from their foundations in an apparently random display of nature's violence, and we can do nothing to stop them.  Missiles tipped with thermonuclear death sit in silos around the world, ready to be unleashed, and we as individuals can do nothing to stop or deserve them.

     So here, our hero runs up to the passenger side door.  Sanctuary has been discovered at last.  Now, he can get to the mechanic's shop, have his car towed, and deal with the bill in the morning.  Surely he is more annoyed than thankful, but soon, that emotion will be replaced with horror.

     When we reach the final line in this story, the only one apparently deserving of its own sentence, we recognize the climax of this pasta.  We recognize the dark truth:

that this story is so terrible that if you somehow went back in time and revealed it to the people whose language evolved into our own, they would probably die of regret.