What Dad Heard
Not too long ago, my brother was telling my mom about something my dad had said to him quite a few years ago, that always puzzled him. My dad passed away over 10 years ago, so I can’t ask him about it and it really bugs me that I can’t get more information.
My dad loved being in the woods. They were like a second home to him. Whenever we’d take a family trip to the woods, I could ask him what any animal sound was that I heard from the area and he could tell me exactly what animal was making it and any other details I asked about. He grew up on a farm, spent time as a forest ranger working in the fire towers, and he enjoyed hunting, so he knew nature pretty well. The woods that we would take family trips to, he was very familiar with, as some of the fire towers he worked in were still standing in the area. (I think only one tower remains now.)
My brother said that there was a weekend that my dad decided to take a trip to the woods by himself, to do some small game hunting. Not unusual at all for him. The strange part was that my dad came home early. From where we lived at the time, it took 2 and a half hours and sometimes longer depending on traffic, to get to the woods he liked. He didn’t spend the night, even though he had brought everything he needed to camp for 2 nights. Both my mom and my brother remember him coming home early, only my dad never mentioned why to my mom and only let it slip to my brother once.
My dad told my brother that he heard something make a sound in the woods, a sound that he had never heard in all of his life. He knew it wasn’t from any of the animals in those woods. The sound made him pack up and head home during the night. My brother tried to press him for more details, but he quickly changed the subject and never wanted to discuss it again. He never described what type of sound it was, he just said it wasn’t from any of the animals that inhabited those woods.
My dad was never easily spooked, especially by nature. Whatever he heard, we have no idea, but it sure got to him good. It eats at me that I can’t ask him about it. I really want more details.
My brothers still take trips to those woods and they’ve never heard anything out of the ordinary while out there.