Growing Up in Appalachia
I could give you a million times as a kid and young adult I felt scared or paranoid playing in the woods. It’s a beautiful place and I spent my entire childhood getting lost (not literally) out there by myself or with friends.
As kids we never got too far out there but you could actually see the progression of us venturing further and further out as we got older because of forts and carvings we would leave.
This one particular time, like a thousand time before, my friend and I had just graduated high school. It was our last summer of freedom and we spent the entire summer camping and hiking out there.
We had decided to try and find a new place to set up camp and walked for what felt like a few miles before we came to a nice clearing. The area was relatively new to both of us. We got the camp set up and fire going and the plan was to wait until night fall, smoke some weed, and play monopoly.
For sake of backstory on my friend and I. My buddy, is a smaller, real goofy guy, but comes from a family of foresters and always had a deep understanding of all the trees and different plants you came across. He had no fear of going and camping out by himself. If i spent 10,000 hours in the woods he probably spent 50,000.
As for me Im a taller, sturdier guy, and as we got older I spent more time worried about women and sports and the woods became a place for small parties. Also, i never had the balls to camp out alone. In fact, older me wouldn’t go far at all when I was alone because I could never shake the feeling of being watched. Which was just paranoia, but still an uneasy feeling.
Anyways, camp is set, fire is going, but it’s getting lower and needs wood. Sun is down and we’re both cutting up and having a good time. My friend is sitting on this little chair he always brought and loading up this makeshift bong and I was crouched breaking some excess limbs off some of the logs we had gathered for the fire. All of a sudden this strong breeze cuts through the clearing.
I couldn’t tell you if it was the suddenness of it or what, but my friend and I both stopped immediately and looked at each other. The breeze went just long enough to flicker our fire down to a small flame.
We both sat completely still in almost total darkness neither of us said a word. Across from us on the other side of the fire we could hear footsteps.
They sounded like somebody was running and would slow to a walk and then run again. Definitely on two legs. By the sound of it they were pacing back and forth over the same spot.
Then just like it started it stopped with a softer crunch on the underbrush. I knew by the sound it had taken a crouch. I was crouched still and knew i was staring right at it in the dark.
My friend grabbed my shoulder and said “buddy” and when he did I felt this surge of fear come over me. I could feel it and hear it in him.
I had been so fixed on the footsteps and rationalizing what i heard that I hadn’t even considered being afraid. But this was true fear, it was raw and made me feel helpless.
I could hear my friend after a while grab some leaves and he dropped them on the fire. For the split second the leaves covered the fire we were in pure darkness. Then the fire sprang to life.
We both quickly grabbed more leaves and brush and threw it on the fire. I got some sticks and logs on there and neither of us took our eyes off the spot or moved much for over an hour.
Finally the leaves crunched and it slowly walked off. Whatever it was had sat crouched watching us without moving for far longer than any animal would.
It wasn’t until after the footsteps disappeared that i realized the smell had disappeared as well. It smelled like a paper mill. Spoiled eggs almost.
For the rest of the night, besides whispered remarks neither of us really moved or stopped looking at the spot. Nobody went into the tent and I had very short light sleep sitting on the ground with my head rested on my hands. My friend never went to sleep.
In the morning we packed up and silently walked back home. To this day we talk about it.
In the 7-8 years since it happens my forester friend has not camped by himself out there since.
#Area/Woods #Person/Intruder #Creature/Humanoid