I always loved going for a walk in the woods behind my house. It was a place of peace and tranquility, a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. However, that all changed one fateful day.
It was a cool autumn afternoon, and I decided to take a walk through the woods to clear my head. The trees were a tapestry of colors, with vibrant oranges and yellows scattered throughout the canopy. The leaves crunched beneath my feet as I made my way down the winding path.
As I walked, I heard a faint rustling in the bushes. At first, I thought it was just an animal, but then I heard footsteps crunching through the leaves. My heart raced as I peered through the trees, trying to get a glimpse of who or what was making the noise. But I couldn’t see anyone.
I brushed it off as my imagination and kept walking. A few minutes later, I heard it again. This time, it was louder and closer. I quickened my pace, but the footsteps behind me seemed to match my own.
“Hello?” I called out, trying to sound confident.
There was no response, but the footsteps continued. I started to walk faster, feeling my heart pounding in my chest. That’s when I saw him.
A man was standing in the middle of the path, staring at me with a wide grin on his face. He was tall and thin, with wild, unkempt hair and piercing blue eyes. His clothes were ragged and torn, as if he had been living in the woods for years. But it was his grin that made me feel sick to my stomach. It was too wide, too forced, too unnatural.
“Can I help you?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
The man didn’t respond. He just kept grinning at me, his eyes shining with a strange light. Suddenly, he lunged at me with a knife in his hand, shouting words that I couldn’t understand. I dodged his attack and ran as fast as I could, trying to get as far away from him as possible.
I could hear his footsteps chasing after me, his laughter echoing through the trees. I didn’t dare look back, afraid that he was gaining on me. But just when I thought he was about to catch me, I stumbled upon a fallen log and fell to the ground.
The man was upon me in an instant, but I managed to kick him in the stomach and scramble to my feet. I ran as fast as I could, feeling the man’s presence behind me every step of the way. But eventually, I lost him in the maze of trees.
When I finally made it back to my house, I collapsed onto the couch, shaking with fear. I knew I had to report the man to the police, and so I did. They listened to my story with concern and promised to investigate.
Days turned into weeks, and I tried to forget about the encounter. But then one day, I received a call from the police. They had found something in the woods that they thought I should see.
When I arrived, I was led to a clearing where a group of officers were gathered around a shallow grave. It was the man from the woods, and they had found evidence that he had been living there for years. But that wasn’t the most shocking part.
As the police continued their investigation, they discovered that the man had killed his entire family and then himself in the same woods 38 years ago. The police thought that i was not mentally healthy and brushed it off that the man cannot harm me as he was dead for years now.
I tried to agree with them for the best to not be traumatised by this incident but deep down in my mind , i know , i was not hallucinating. The man i had seen was real . Till this day i have never gone to any forest alone or with anyone. The horrors of the incident still haunt me.