I’ve always loved campfires. It doesn’t matter what is going on or what the setting is. The feeling of sitting around a campfire, in the middle of nature, with your friends gathered around you as you make s’mores or tell stories, is like no other. So when I went camping with my friends one weekend last year, there was no doubt we’d be having a campfire and roasting some marshmallows.
So I packed up my gear and waited for the date of our departure to arrive, which it did. Right on schedule, my friend Jake picked me up at my apartment building. Once my bags were in his car, we headed to our destination, which was a new area he had picked out after checking with his dad. Our friend Bo has a camper that we always used to camp, and we all loved it.
We got there, and it was beautiful. Tall, majestic pine trees everywhere you looked, a cozy pond filled with algae located within a mile of our camp site, and atmosphere that just made you feel refreshed and alive. Our friends Zack, Aiden, and Bo were already there, and Bo’s camper was all set up for us. So once Jake and I got settled, I sipped a bottle of water, and enjoyed the view while I took a brief hike around.
We were the only people in the area, so we had the place to ourselves. While I was walking around, I was also making notes about what to use for our campfire. I’d already brought my usual stuff for starting a fire, so that wasn’t a problem. I never know what might be available, so I always bring some stuff from my local camping store to start the fire and get it going. But I can’t really bring that much firewood with me, so I usually have to find some local place that sells it or something.
Once I got back to the campsite, it was agreed that Bo, Aiden, and I would go into town to get the pizza for us to eat. Then we hopped in Zack’s Jeep and headed for the nearest town. It was a cozy, but reasonable sized place with all the usual features. A hardware store, gas station, grocery store, and the usual variety of restaurants.
While Bo and Aiden were at the pizza place, I headed across the street to the hardware store in search of some firewood. It was quiet. I was the only customer there, and the counter was staffed by a guy about my age, who was dressed in a t shirt and jeans.
“Hello, how may I help you?” He greeted me with a smile.
“Hi, I was wondering about some firewood for camping?”
“Ah, I got you. I’m sorry to say we’re fresh out, but I know where you can get some. My neighbor just had to clear a bunch of trees off his property, and he’s got more firewood left over than he knows what to do with. Just go on over, give him a ring, and tell him Toby sent you.”
Then he wrote down the address and gave it to me. It was right on the way back to our campsite, so that was even better.
“Thank you so much,” I said as I pocketed the address.
“No problem. He can’t wait to get rid of it, so you’d be doing him a favor. Like to camp huh?”
“Love it. Gotta have a fire too.”
“Of course,” he nodded with a smile. “Well you enjoy yourself and come back if you need anything else.”
“Will do, thank you so much!”
With that, I left the hardware store, walked back to Zack’s Jeep, and told them what I’d found out. They happily agreed to stop by on the way back to camp.
We arrived at Toby’s neighbor’s house ten minutes later. It was a beautiful little cabin in the woods with a comfortable front porch and a great view of the road. And, as advertised, there was a massive amount of firewood lying around in thick rows.
I got out of the Jeep, walked to the front door, and gently knocked. An older gentleman with bright blue eyes answered it.
“Hi, I’m here for some firewood. Toby said to let you know he told me to come by.
“Ah yes,” he clapped his hands together and smiled at me. “He just told me he sent someone my way. Right this way my friend.”
He quickly led me to the firewood that seemed to take up half the yard.
“We had a nasty storm a few months ago that uprooted a bunch of trees. It was a miracle none of them crashed right on the house. It took forever to make it manageable, but here’s what’s left. Help yourself to them. Do you need a hand?”
“No thank you, I think we have it under control.” I nodded to my friends in the Jeep.
“Alright. Well you all help yourself to as much as you want. Truth be told, I’m sorry that all those trees got uprooted or broken in the storm. I’ve never seen anything like them before. They look just like any other tree, but they burn just a little bit different. I can’t really explain it. Probably because I grew up with them or something.”
“I understand.”
“Well you all have a good time. Come back if you run out and need more.”
“We will, thank you so much.”
I shook his hand before the three of us loaded a ton of firewood into the back of the Jeep. Once it was full, we drove back to camp, had the pizza, which was delicious, and relaxed for a bit. Then it was campfire time.
The others sat back and let me set it up, as they knew I loved it. Once it was done, we all relaxed and let the soothing warmth and flickering light settle into the area. Before too long, the fire was steadily consuming the firewood I had brought with us, and it was time to use what I’d gotten from Toby’s neighbor.
It took some time, but I eventually began to see what he meant. It seemed like any old firewood, but it burned just a bit differently. There was a bit more heat and brightness to the fire, but that could be because it had aged or any number of other reasons.
Either way, with the fire in full swing and dinner behind us, it was s’more time. That was another thing I’d always brought supplies for on camping trips. Once I passed out the metal skewers to put the marshmallows on and the chocolate bars and graham crackers had been opened, we took turns roasting the marshmallows over the fire, which crackled happily in front of us. It was beyond calming. Once we all had our fill of s’mores, all that was left was to relax, talk, and enjoy each other’s company around the fire. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole camping experience. The atmosphere was calm, mellow, and invigorating. We talked about nothing in particular, but we quickly passed the time and before long, darkness had completely fallen, and the moon peered out at us from behind a dense cluster of pine trees.
It wasn’t long before one by one, my friends said goodnight and went inside the camper to grab a place to sleep. As usual, I was the last one awake and quietly sat by the fire. By now, the fire quietly burned away, not quite as big as before, but still going strong. I’m not sure how late it was, but it was getting late.
I was just about to start heading to bed when I turned my head, and the fire popped. Not loud, but enough that it caught my attention. Then I turned my head slightly and noticed something. I thought I could see something in the fire. At first, I thought it was just my eyes, or something had fallen in the fire, but no, it was something else. There were shapes moving within the flames. Making images, like a movie on a screen, except it was in the fire. I sat there, unsure of what to think or do, so I sat there, quietly observing in my chair.
At first, I had no idea what I was looking at. The shapes were just blurs at first, vague outlines. But then they became clearer, and I realized it was the five of us. We were riding in the Jeep, going steadily along one of the roads we’d come down on the way to the campsite. Then, Zack turned down a road I’d never seen before and came to an intersection. As he did, you could see there was a nasty accident that occurred here, and we had to be detoured around it. Then the images stopped dancing in the flames, and the fire returned to normal, burning low over the coals.
I sat there stunned, unsure of what to think. Had I fallen asleep while sitting here? Or was it just my imagination. I chalked it up to fatigue, tossed one last piece of firewood on the fire, and went inside the camper to grab some sleep. Once I rolled my sleeping bag out on the floor and got comfortable, I managed to sleep ok and woke up to sunlight streaming through the camper’s windows.
The others were stretching as they woke up, and they gradually made their way to the remnants of the fire, which had burned down enough so that only faint puffs of smoke drifted overhead. When they saw I was up, Jake and Zack took out the stuff to make breakfast, and before too long, we were eating biscuits and scrambled eggs in front of what was left of the fire.
Once I had finished eating, I tossed some logs on top of the smoldering remnants of the campfire in the hopes that given enough time, it would ignite again. Once that was done, we all got ready to head to the nearby park for a hike and headed out soon after. As usual, Zack drove.
We were halfway there when Zack said something, turned the Jeep, and headed down a road that seemed vaguely familiar. Then a moment later, the Jeep stopped at an intersection, and we could all just make out that there had been an accident, and they were detouring traffic down a side road.
My stomach clenched at the sight. How was this possible? It couldn’t be a coincidence, or my imagination. I briefly wondered if there had been something inside the firewood that caused hallucinations, but that didn’t explain this.
I did my best to shrug it off as Zack kept driving and we arrived at our hiking destination. The sight made it easy, as it was beautiful. Lots of tall boulders and canyons overlooking a quarry filled with water. So we all started walking and took in the area. It was an amazing hike, and we returned to the camper, had plenty of water, and relaxed in front of the fire, which had returned to life and was crackling away. After that hike our appetites returned with a vengeance, so Bo and I went into town to get some sandwiches from the local deli. We returned with them and some potato chips and pasta salad, and everyone ate heartily. Then we went inside the camper and watched a few movies until it was time for dinner.
Dinner consisted of spaghetti with tomato sauce and garlic bread followed by s’mores. We had our fill until we all sat contently around the fire, which burned with a calm brightness that was beyond pleasant to sit around. And just like last night, one by one, my friends went to the camper to sleep until only I was left awake.
I sat there, feeling more than a little uneasy as I stared at the fire, wondering what it would do or if it would do anything. It felt like I was daring it to do something, anything, as it was just the two of us alone in the middle of nature.
After what felt like an eternity, the fire sizzled, and I saw shadows forming in the depths of the flames. I sat there, stunned by what I was witnessing. Because after a moment, the shadows became clear, and just like last time, I was watching a scene unfold like a movie projected from within the fire.
Several dark figures were watching a camper in the middle of the woods. They were dressed all in black and had on ski masks and leather gloves. I realized with a sickening lurch in my stomach they were watching our camper. Then, I watched as they got closer to the camper, and waited outside, just beyond the front door. For what they were waiting for or what exactly they were up to, I had no idea, but I knew it wasn’t good.
I watched as the people lurking outside the camper held up a phone to do something, and Bo peeked his head out, clearly unsure of what was happening. Right when this happened, the people waiting outside rushed him and forced their way into the camper. That was when the shapes were reduced to shadows before they faded away, and the fire returned to normal.
I was stunned by what I’d seen. Despite the heat from the fire, chills had run up my spine and I felt beyond isolated out here in the woods. Were there really people out there, watching us?
It didn’t take me long to go to bed quickly after that, as I felt beyond uneasy outside now. So I went inside and laid down in my spot like last time. But this time, sleep was out of the question. I laid there, listening to the others contently sleeping, and I felt so alone and unsure of what to think. I was tense and uneasy, listening to every sound or even the hint of something.
After what seemed like an eternity, I heard the faint sounds of grass rustling outside before I heard what sounded like a dog barking.
Fear shot through my body like nothing I’d experienced before. I knew deep down, that was no dog. After a moment, I heard it again. That was when Bo woke up and sat upright on the couch he’d been sleeping on.
“What?” He mumbled, still partially asleep. “What’s going on?”
“Shhh,” I whispered. “I think someone is outside.”
That woke him up. Bo quietly crept over to me and leaned over so we could talk.
“I thought I heard the sound of someone outside, and that isn’t a dog.”
“Right,” he nodded. “There’s no way I’m opening that door.”
Then he quietly went over to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and held it close to him. Then he called the local authorities and made sure to whisper so no one knew what was going on. We sat like that for what seemed like hours until finally, it became lighter, and sunlight faintly started to peer through the windows. By then, we heard the sounds of police cruisers and from the window in the kitchen, we could see it was the cops.
I’d never felt so relieved in my life as we saw them arrive. Bo and I stepped out to talk to the two officers and explained what happened. They listened, agreed to check the area out, and praised us for our quick thinking. As we told our story, morning dawned, bright and vivid. Then they took down our contact information and told us to go inside and get some sleep.
We happily agreed. As Bo and I went back inside, the other three were slowly waking up and we had to explain to them what happened. They agreed it had been suspicious and said they’d keep watch on the place while Bo and I tried to get some sleep. We managed to get some, and when the cops returned, they told us they hadn’t found anything aside from some footprints by the camper. But they promised to be on the lookout for any other suspicious activity in the area.
After we thanked them, we got ready to leave because it was a weekend camping trip, and we all had to get back to our lives. Once Bo loaded up the camper and got it ready to go, I got back in Jake’s car, and we headed home.
I never did tell them what I saw in the fire. We went on plenty more camping trips or just hung out outside around a fire after that, and I’d used the firewood we’d gotten, but I never once saw images in the fire again.