Since the damned season is upon us, I figured I would write about a strange encounter that I had two years ago to this upcoming Valentine’s Day.
To give you some context, I was sitting on my porch, my family had already gone to bed. It was nighttime. I was feeling extremely down because my Valentine had dropped out on me at the last minute.
It wasn’t cold or hot outside. Just a little breezy, wind in the pecan trees (I lived in a rural part of Georgia), frogs and other nightlife chirping. I had my phone inside the house. I didn’t have anything on me at the time.
It was a really existential moment in my life, because I had been rejected so many times up to that point by so many girls, and losing a date I had come so close to having really hurt. On top of that, I had recently lost some friends at the time because of misc. drama, which didn’t help the emotional weight of that night. I didn’t cry. I was just sitting there, silently, thinking through my life up until that point. I got up from the porch swing, hands in my pockets, and started walking.
I walked to the end of the driveway. The neighbor’s yard lights, although they’re relatively far away, are really bright, so I could see everything decently when my eyes adjusted. I had gotten to the end of the driveway. It was very, very quiet. So quiet, I could hear the neighbor’s garden fountain trickling with water.
I walked into the road and stood still. There wasn’t any traffic I could hear, or see. There wasn’t any that night, as far as I can remember.
I was listening close to my surroundings. That was when I heard a small shuffling sound coming from the neighboring driveway pad. It was such a quiet sound, that I might’ve imagined it. I also might’ve imagined seeing a figure in the yard lights, not blocking the lights, just in the range of them. The sounds and sights were so far away, that it was hard to tell if what I was seeing and hearing was really there or not.
So that happened.
I took a step down the road towards the field and pond further west of where I live. Then I heard it again. I looked back, and that shape I thought I had seen was gone. I remember thinking it was a decorative street lamp at first, but now I wasn’t so sure.
I stopped standing around and started walking, hands in my jean pockets.
Taking walks helps me unwind when I’m stressed.
I started to hear a sound, like footsteps trying to line up with mine, but they sounded fast and light.
I turned around.
There was nothing. The road I was walking went downhill from my house, so it was difficult to see if there was anything below the horizon behind me.
Around the same time, a light caught my eye from one of the fields. It couldn’t see the source of it, only the beams shining from behind a small hill of tilled dirt, then it disappeared.
I was reasonably freaked out by everything that had happened up until that point, so I turned around and started walking back home.
As I was walking back, it was apparent that someone else was in the lane of traffic I was in.
I walked closer to them. It was a tall, dark figure, just standing, facing me. I slowed down and looked at it.
It was wearing the same clothing as me, a dark gray hoodie and dark navy jeans. The person’s height was my exact height, a little taller because they was uphill.
I remember saying something along the lines of “excuse me, sir,” and stepping closer to him, trying to see his face.
From what I could see in the dark, it was uncannily like mine. Round, a little bit of beard hair, deep-set eyes.
In the light that the cloud-covered moon gave off, I could see he had glinting tear streaks running down his face. By this point, I was a little less than ten feet away from him.
Before I could say anything else, he ran into the field to the left of the road, and into an adjacent patch of forest.
I ran back home and never told anyone about this.
I have never seen that man since.
I don’t go on night walks anymore.
If anybody knows of any strange phenomenon that matches what I saw that night, it would be nice to read some comments so I can get some closure.
Stay safe, and God bless,
[ANONYMOUS]