Something a little creepy happened to me tonight, so I came straight here to write it all out. I actually deleted my reddit account a few weeks ago when my favorite mobile client announced it was shutting down due to Reddit’s high prices (Shoutout Apollo), but… Fuck it, I had to create a new account just to get this all down for you guys.
I’m housesitting in a rather rural area. Mostly wooded with a few houses here & there, close enough to see but far enough away to be private. I’ve been here for about a month, and since the owners have two adorable golden retrievers, I have to walk them pretty regularly, so I’ve been getting to know the walking paths around here pretty well. Earlier this evening, against my better judgement (damn this 95 degree heat this late in the evening), I decided it would probably be best to take the dogs for a quick walk before I locked myself in for the evening. So I leashed them up and headed out.
We walked around for about 30 minutes before I decided to call it, and sweating profusely, I turned us around. As we hit the pavement from the dirt path we were on, I could swear I heard someone whistle at me. Not like in a catcalling kind of way, but like… someone trying to get my attention or something. The dogs perked up, and all three of us began looking around for the source, but I saw nothing. There was nobody around. At first, I wasn’t too concerned. Honestly, that could’ve been anything. Some kids playing in a distant yard. Yeah, maybe. Someone whistling for their own dog? Perhaps. But I hadn’t seen anyone or anything out here the entire time we’d been out walking. Maybe it was a coyote, there’s plenty of those guys out here. But then again, we didn’t see a thing.
So, I decided, “fuck it, it’s probably nothing,” and proceeded walking. But here’s where things got weird. There’s a long stretch of wooded (but oddly fenced in) area we have to walk through to get back to the house. Right as we round the corner to this stretch, I hear the whistle again, only this time, it’s louder than before, and it’s behind us. The dog’s perk up again and this time, we whip around to see what’s behind us. But again, there’s nothing. Nobody. Not a soul to speak of. And other than that whistle, it’s dead quite except for the breeze.
Now, I read a story on here a few years back about “the whistling man,” and with that image in my head, it became a little more concerning. I bring my pocket knife with me every time we take a walk because you can never be too safe, so I just tightened my grip on it and tried to quicken our pace. But, at this point the dogs were more distracted looking around for the source of the whistle than they were concerned with me trying to hurry them home. And after about fifteen feet, we hear it again. And again. And again. Louder, and following us as we move along the fence line. It’s coming from across the street, behind the other fenced-in area. And now it’s pretty undeniable that someone is following us, or at the very least, trying to fuck with us. The dogs now have their full attention turned in that direction, and they’re barking like crazy while I try to gain control & once again try to quicken our pace home.
This time, the dogs don’t really fight me, and we begin to quickly make our way back toward the house. And the entire time, I could hear whoever it was on the other side of that fence, whistling at us as we walked. The odd thing, though, is that I couldn’t hear any footsteps. There should have been footsteps. Leaves crackling. Twigs breaking. Grass moving. Something. But there wasn’t. So when we finally reached the crossroads toward the house and off of that stretch of road, I was pretty GD relieved. Finally, we made it home, the dogs drank a bunch of water, and I went upstairs to play some GTA.
After an hour and a half or so of some intense business battles (I’m a menace), I hear the dogs begin to bark at something out the front window. Normally this wouldn’t be too concerning either considering there is a LOT of wildlife around here, (raccoons, squirrels, stray cats, etc.) but after my experience walking them earlier, let’s just say this put me a little more than on edge. So I whip off my headset, grab my knife, and walk down the hallway to the stairs overlooking the living room. All of the lights in the house are off (which was a total mistake), and the dogs are standing at the window fixated on something out front. Being the ninja I am, I use the darkness to creep down the stairs and over to the side of the window, hopefully unseen, to take a look outside. Scanning the field out front… there’s nothing. Of course there’s nothing, that’s not creepy at all. So I hurriedly flick on the front porch lights as well as the back deck lights, and head back upstairs. After another half-hour or so of playing video games, I decided it was probably about time to finish the bowl I had started earlier in the evening, and headed back downstairs to get a quick smoke sesh in.
The evening was pretty peaceful, all things considered. The air was finally cooling a little bit, some clouds had rolled in, and I could hear birds chirping all throughout the grove in front of me. As I smoked, I watched the lightning storm over the trees in the distance. One of the dogs had joined me on the deck and was chilling at my feet as I sucked down the last of the smoke in my bubbler. All in all, the evening had finally chilled out, and I was feeling a little more at ease. That was, until I thought I heard a faint whistle from the forest in front of us. The dog perked up again, and all of the sudden, my mood shifted. My hair began to raise, and I was covered in goosebumps. The temp had cooled off a little bit, but not enough to cause that kind of reaction.
Again, we heard the whistle. The dog stood up and begin to growl, staring off into the distance. I followed her gaze, and straining to see through the darkness, I carefully scanned the horizon searching for the source of the sound. Suddenly, I caught the dark shape of a person standing at the edge of the woods, motionless. As I tried to gain a better look at the figure, it vanished. We’re talking into thin air. One minute it was there, the next it wasn’t. The sound was though. In fact, it had become far more persistent than before. And as the whistling continued, it began to sound more… I’m not sure what the right word is. Frantic? But also twisted, somehow? I could trace it as it moved. It sounded like it was shifting back and forth impossibly fast across the expanse of woods in front of us, echoing throughout the surrounding area. At this point, I had had enough. I quickly ushered the dog back into the house and locked the door, and began making my rounds around the house, assuring every door and window in the place was secure.
I’ve since locked myself & the dogs inside the bedroom, but I can still hear the whistling outside. It’s gotten closer. A lot closer, and it sounds just as hysterical as before, but also more… garbled. I’m not sure how to describe it exactly. But here’s the problem I’m having: The house has no AC, so closing & locking every door and window made it insufferably hot in here. My only source of cool air is this big-ass, loud-ass AC unit that the owners bought for the room I’m staying in. It’s one of those ones where you stick the hose in the window, and it sucks the air in and blows cold air into the room. But. I’m trying to keep as low of a profile as possible. All the lights in the house are off still, and I’d prefer it if who or whatever is currently outside didn’t know my exact location inside the house.
I’ve grabbed my gun and loaded the the clip with the max amount of bullets, y’know, for safety, and am currently sweating my ass off inside this second story bedroom with two hot, panting dogs. I have both windows open, so the slight breeze coming through helps a little, but… I can still hear whatever it is outside, “whistling” away (if you can even call it that at this point), and now, it’s walking around the perimeter of the house. I can hear its footsteps shuffling around below my bedroom window. The dogs seem rather concerned as well, but at least they’re remaining pretty quiet overall. I’m not looking outside. I’m sort of afraid of what will happen if I do. So I guess I’ll chill here, gun in hand, and uh… If I survive the night, I’ll post an update.
Tell you h’what, though: Ever since I read that story about the whistling man, it stuck with me. Something about it really got under my skin. And now, somehow, I’m living it. Maybe there’s something to be said about that. Fate, or… manifestation or something. I don’t know. But I can tell you from experience, if you ever hear someone whistling at you, take it seriously. Maybe it’s nothing. But the world is a crazy place, and it’s always best to be safe over sorry.
Pray for me.