I knew my day was going too well. This morning I finally fixed my piece of shit Toyota Landcruiser. An electrical issue with the fuel pump had rendered the Landcruiser undriveable for the last six months. With the issue finally sorted I was pumped to take it for an adventure through some of my favourite off-road tracks. I quickly loaded a few supplies in the Cruiser and headed off.
Everything was going well until I took that Wrong Turn. This wasn’t my first time driving these tracks, I had been coming here for years now, but today was the first time I saw THAT track. It took me about five minutes to realise I had taken a Wrong Turn and was on a track I had never driven. I didn’t stress, if I pushed on I was confident the track would eventually link up with one of the main tracks I would be familiar with. Feeling adventurous I decided I’d push on, excited to drive a new track and see what challenges I might find. I bit off more than I could chew. After half an hour, some tough hills and a lot of mud, I was stuck. Bogged down to the chassis rails, my recently fixed Toyota sunk into the mud. Without a winch there was no way I’d be recovering the car myself.
Unsurprisingly being deep in the middle of the bush my phone showed no signal. I grabbed my keys out of the Landcruiser and decided to walk further up the track and hopefully find some phone signal or even better another car.
After fifteen minutes of walking and no phone signal, I saw something up ahead in the middle of the track. Once I got closer I realised it was a backpack. I yelled out, hoping whoever owned the backpack was still nearby. I was met with nothing more than the occasional bird call. Hoping to find something useful, I decided to have a look through the backpack. Who knows, I could have got lucky and found a satellite phone? I found a couple of chocolate bars, a bottle of water and a well used notepad and pen. As I sat down on a log to enjoy my newfound chocolates (dont judge me, after having not eaten since breakfast I was starving) I flicked through the person’s notepad. The notepad was full of a few hand drawn sketches of the local flora, but as I kept flicking through the pages I came to an erratically written diary entry. Some of the writing was illegible, but I managed to work it out. I will write for you word for word what I found in that diary entry.
“It’s about 8am, almost 24 hours since I got lost in this forest. I just spent the night from hell hiding up a tree. I got lost some time around midday yesterday, I can’t recall the exact moment I realised I didn’t know where I was… but of course my phone went flat so I can’t use my maps, pretty sure I’ve been walking in circles.
It hadn’t long been sunset and I managed to get a pretty good fire going. I figured if they’d come looking for me a nice big fire would stand out in the darkness, a beacon of hope. Unfortunately the beacon of hope turned out to be the beacon of nightmares. I knew something was off when the bush went quiet.. No bugs chirping, no birds nesting in for the night, hell even the mosquitos disappeared. Then I heard it, it sounded so close but at the same time so distant. Clicks and whistles, almost like the sound of a dolphin, but somehow insinuating malevolence and dark intent. First it came from my left, then almost instantaneously from my right. Not going to lie, I freaked out. I clicked on my flashlight and pointed it into the dense shrubbery. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING. Dead silence met complete stillness. So silent all I could hear was a minute ringing in my ears. The whole world suspended, as if someone pressed pause on the Earth. I sat back down and that’s when I saw it for the first time. As I sat down and looked up I saw an outline of a large humanoid shape across from the fire, I pointed the flashlight at it and caught a glimpse of a black shadow, possibly human but bigger. Maybe 7ft tall? Human like in stature, but it moved like a house cat. I saw it for a split second, followed by the sound of sticks snapping and shrubs being pushed down. I was shell shocked, unable to move.
After what felt like an eternity I realised the forest had returned to life. The birds were squawking as they settled in for the night, the crickets were again chirping and the not so friendly mosquitos had returned to bite at my neck. The foreboding feeling now gone, I walked over to where I had seen what must have been a trick of the light. I thought that until I reached the tree that the shadow had hidden behind. What I can only describe as axe wounds covered the tree. Gashes torn through the bark and trunk as if it was made of gelatin. I could clearly see the direction the shadow had run off, branches as thick as my wrist snapped clean off and dense bushes ploughed through. Anxiety began to set in, could this be real? I knew there had to be a logical way to explain this.
As I stood there in denial of what I was experiencing, I noticed the silence had again returned. That uncomfortable stillness. Foreboding malevolence drenched over me. I ran to the perceived safety of my fire, the light produced fending off any would be monsters. As I skittishly looked around I heard it again, this time directly in front of me, clicking and whistling, moving from left to right. I jerked my torch to the treeline. As soon as my torch hit the shadows I heard a twig snap behind me. Hastily spinning around I saw it, standing directly behind me, perfectly blending into the shadow cast by my fire. As I spun I lifted my torch in its direction to which I was met with an ear piercing shrill, so loud I keeled to the ground. I felt my ears ringing and my head aching. A pressure built behind my eyes so great I started to see dots. Darkness clouded my vision. As I regathered my sensors I noticed the creature had gone. Gone, but I could sense it was close. Again I could hear distant clicking and whistling, moving 360 degrees all around me. I started to feel disorientated, nauseous. I lost my balance a few times as I darted around, unsure what to do and how to defend myself from this unknown creature in the dark. I knew I stood no chance taking it on head to head. It was clearly much faster and stronger than any human I had ever seen, not to mention it towered over me, at least a foot taller. Panic setting in, I climbed up the closest tree. Seeking refuge from the terrors stalking in the darkness.
For the next few hours I was met with clicks and whistles from all directions. My fire having since burned out and my torch starved of batteries, I was engrossed by the black of night. I could sense the creature coming and going, fairly certain it was toying with me. Exhaustion took over and I eventually fell asleep, I don’t know for how long, minutes, an hour maybe? Who knows. But I awoke to that all too familiar shrill, the tree I had claimed as my makeshift stronghold shook and creaked. I jerked to alertness, nearly falling out of the tree as I did so. Loud scraps came from below, paired with a taunting squeal. The tree shook and swayed as I clung on for my life. As my grip started to fatigue, convinced I was about to fall to my death, I realised the tree had ceased moving and an unnerving silence had returned. I noticed hints of orange on the horizon, the sun daring to peek over the distant hills. The sounds of the forest returned, greeting me with the start of a new day. Had the creature gone? Was it nocturnal, forced to seek shelter from the sun’s rays?
Once I worked up the courage I climbed down from the tree. The tree’s thick trunk now covered in deep long scars. I collected my backpack and ran. I just ran until I collapsed from exhaustion. I am now lost deeper in this forest, but the sun is up and I think I am safe. I am going to walk as far as I can today and hopefully find my way out of this haunted scrub land. If not, at least walk far enough that I leave that beast behind.”
I took in a deep breath. Was what I just read real? Or was this the manuscript of a crazed bush walker? No way could this have happened. Furthermore, where was this person now? Why was their backpack left in the middle of the track?
I looked up at the sky, the sun dropping behind the distant hills, taking its leave of absence for the night. I had to make a choice, push on and try to find rescue or seek shelter for the night in my broken down Landcruiser. My nerves got the best of me, as I turned around and headed back to the sanctuary of my old Toyota. Climbing in and locking the doors, I have now decided to bunk down for the night. At least I now seem to have some form of phone receprion, albeit minimal. Questions run through my mind. Am I in the creature’s territory? Has it seen me? Will the thin glass and steel surrounding me be enough of a deterrent? Will I make it to morning? Will I Die Tonight?