A couple of years ago a friend of mine gifted me a Fitbit to help me track my exercise and get back in shape. I’ve found that about 12,000 steps are five miles for me. Lucky for me, there is a nature trail within walking distance of my house that I use to get my steps up rather than walking my neighborhood. Since then I’ve enjoyed going out there almost daily walking a portion of the nearby trail since it’s a bit more private and I don’t see too many people on it.
Whenever I want to get to the trail I don’t go in through the main entrance. There is a patch of woods that connects to the trails and forest surrounding it with a small path that’s been beaten down by animals and people cutting through. In this particular area, there’s an old broken chair that someone must’ve just dragged into the woods to get rid of. Or some kids brought it out there a long time ago. It’s sort of off the trail into a small clearing with some dead trees. Every time I walk past it I’ll have a glance at it. I kind of hate walking through this section because it’s a bit dark and creepy. One time I also found a dead dog off the side of the trail which was sad to see.
This happened late last year. I was cutting through the woods to reach the park trails as usual when I came up on the chair. I looked over and I noticed that this time there was something on the chair aside from the usual dirt and debris. I once found a little painting on a park bench that someone had left behind to participate in art abandonment. I thought this might be similar so I walked over. On the chair was some kind of old rusty kitchen knife. It was so dirty I didn’t want to touch it and get rust on my hand and I was just confused to see it. People had dumped their trash nearby before, but it just seemed too odd to put this type of trash in such a specific spot. It honestly looked as if it had been in the sink of an abandoned house for twenty years. After a few seconds, I noticed that the knife was weighing down a piece of paper or something so I pulled it out from under it. It was a picture.
For the first few seconds I stared at the picture I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. It was low quality and slightly blurred as if it had been moved mid-shot and didn’t get enough light. About ⅓ of the picture was blocked by something and it was of a person walking through the woods, glancing towards the camera. I kept looking at it, and as I did a strange feeling of anxiety and fear washed over me accompanied with goosebumps. Eventually, I realized that the picture was of me, taken from someone behind the chair.
When that realization hit me I wanted to throw up. It felt like someone was watching me. I looked all around and I didn’t see anyone but my head was turning so fast it would’ve been hard to perceive anything anyway. Since I didn’t see anyone that meant they could be anywhere. I started to hear some rustling from the tree line and I just backed out of that clearing and ran immediately, it was probably the fastest I had ever run in my whole life and I don’t even remember the time I spent running home.
As soon as I got home I made sure all my doors were locked, curtains closed, and I hid under my blanket like a child. Eventually, I must’ve passed out from fear and exhaustion because I woke up a few hours later. At some point while I was running I had to have dropped the picture because I didn’t have it with me. I called my friends and family about what had just happened but for some reason, I didn’t think to immediately call the police. It just felt surreal and technically nothing had even happened but sooner than later my family urged me enough to file a police report. They said they would check it out and have an officer drive through the neighborhood at night but nothing ever came of it. When they got to the chair the knife and picture were gone, and there was basically nothing they could do. Since then I don’t really go out walking anymore. When I did go out walking I would always have my airpods in and walk the same trails. Someone could’ve been following me for a long time and I wouldn’t have even known. I don’t think someone I know did this, maybe it could’ve been a prank but I really doubt it. The rustling could’ve just been an animal or something too but I’m glad I didn’t stick around to find out.