Stay Put

“Well, I gave my monthly sacrifice to the vampires,” my dad announced, returning from his routine blood donation. “You know, I do this for you girls. So the vampires will leave us alone.”

“There was a report of a vampire in this area just last week,” he said while looking anxiously out the windows as we drove through the park a few nights later. “You have to be careful, they come out at night.” The vampires were always spotted in the park, according to dad.

My sister and I looked out the windows, scared but doubtful, watching for the bright red eyes they were supposedly reported to have. Suddenly the radio cut out and the headlights went out. The car slowly rolled to a stop on the lonely, winding road through the park. Thrust into pitch black silence the doubt receded and panic crept in.

“I made my donation! You leave us alone!” Dad shouted, and the car came back to life. Radio playing some mid nineties alt rock station, headlights illuminating the empty road. “Whew, that was a close one.” I rolled my eyes. I was too old for these stupid stories, only babies were afraid of vampires.

These memories always come back when I am driving through a wooded area. What was one of the most pervasive dad jokes of my upbringing was now just a fond memory of a simpler time. Obviously there were no creatures of the night in the park. Not only was I a skeptic in general, but I have never in thirty years of frequent visits seen anything unusual in the park.

I really enjoy hiking, unfortunately I rarely have a hiking buddy, so I have mastered the art of a solo hike. I let my husband know where I am parking and my planned path, I keep my phone’s location turned on, and I keep a flashlight, a knife, a poncho and a snack in my pack at all times. Oh, a little first aid kit, too.

On a beautiful October Sunday, I decided to take advantage of the clear blue skies and unseasonably warm weather and head out for a hike in the park. I did all my normal prep, dressed in light layers and headed out.

When I pulled into the lot, I laughed when I noticed the Falling Rock sign. My dad used to tell us it was a marker in honor of a fallen Native American hero named Falling Rock. Such a bad, tasteless joke.

The big hill, with the falling rock risk, was on the opposite side of the street from the small lot and the trail head. It had been a long time since I had hiked this far west. Maybe since I was a kid, actually. The park is a little different on this side of town, the hills are bigger, less rolling, and there are more rocks. The paths follow the river, more or less, but the hiking trails go deeper into the woods.

I was thrilled to soak up the sun and smell the fallen leaves. I put on my pack and donned my sunglasses leaving my car and heading down the trail in the early afternoon. As I got further into the woods I started needing to pay close attention to the path. The leaves had been falling for a couple weeks already, and the layers on the ground made it almost impossible to see the trail at some points. Eventually I had to stop and look around for flashes - the lines painted on trees that mark the path - and realized I couldn’t see any. I kicked around the leaves, revealing first the wet layer under the crunchy leaves, then - where I expected to find dirt trail - end of season ground cover flora. Some greenery, loose dirt. I looked around to see which direction the trail might be, but a quick scan failed to reveal any guidance. I checked the map I had on my phone to see if I could tell where I had gone wrong, only to find that most likely my wrong turn was very early on.

So, only a couple hours after leaving my car, I accepted that I was lost and turned around. I paid close attention to the ground, trying to figure out where I had been, but it's hard to track footprints in crunchy leaves. Occasionally I would look up to see if the trees had any clues to give me, but they never did. I was kicking myself for not having a compass, relying so heavily on marked trails.

Suddenly I realized that I was going downhill. I had been going downhill before I realized I was lost. Which meant I was either going the wrong way or had gotten totally mixed up. I got my phone out and pulled up the app that I used to track my hikes. I hadn’t turned on the app today, since I was planning on a leisurely afternoon home-by-dinner kind of day, and was really frustrated to find that the GPS apparently couldn’t locate me this deep in the woods. I looked around and listened carefully for clues. No river sounds or sounds of a possible nearby street. I checked my phone again, and realized I had no data service in the area. I took advantage of the few bars I had to call home. The call was not the best quality, but I was able to tell him that I was lost, where I thought I had gone wrong, a general guess as to where I was. He said he would call the park and then call me back.

So I put my jacket on the ground and sat down.

Stay put when you are lost.

I waited for a call back, trying to stay off my phone to conserve the battery, but after a while I had to look at it. Why was it taking so long?

No service.

I got up, grabbed my now wet jacket, and looked around. Hopefully if I could get higher I could get a bar or two, so I headed off. Every few minutes I would check, still no bars.

After about a half hour, I still had no service and all the frequent checking was wasting my battery.

Just stay put. It's harder to find a moving target.

I put my bright pink jacket on a nearby branch and sat on a big rock. I looked around, listened for clues, and was a panicked kind of bored for a long time. And then I realized it was getting dark. I wanted to take my sunglasses off, but I didn’t have my actual glasses with me. I wasn't planning on being out past sunset.

I was kicking myself; who gets lost in a metropolitan park system? It's not the appalachian mountains, its Cleveland! I was never going to hear the end of this. Stupid.

Then I heard a rustling noise, like something shifting the leaves. Maybe a squirrel? I hadn’t heard or seen a squirrel in a while. Then I realized I hadn’t heard or seen any little creatures since I had called home. That panicky feeling changed into an immediate unease. I looked around, but between my sunglasses and the dusky light I couldn’t see anything. Foolishly I took off my sunglasses. Sure I could see brighter, but I couldn't see any details.

I thought I saw something move. I put my sunglasses back on, refocusing the world but didn’t see anything. The movement had been by a tree, about 5 or 6 feet up. Maybe a squirrel running on the trunk? Yeah, I reasoned, the squirrel that made that noise. I nervously laughed, imagine the king squirrel that runs the show so hard core all the other critters live elsewhere.

Then something else, a person, or at least a person size thing, moved between two trees off to the side. I turned to look closer but saw nothing. Just dark, sunglassesed trees. I turned and stood up, my back to whatever I saw or didn’t see, and started to walk uphill again. Whatever it had been, I didn’t want to see it again. As much as I knew I should stay put to be found, I didn’t want to be a sitting duck either.

I was listening carefully, trying to discern if it was just my footsteps rustling the leaves, or someone else. I stopped occasionally to see if there was an off step to clue me in on a stalker. Through all of this listening I was too afraid to look back.

The sky was darkening, and I pulled my flashlight from my pack. Click Click. Nothing. I had checked it when I packed up, it had been working fine. I guess it was old batteries? I pulled out my phone. Maybe I would have a signal and could call 911. Maybe I should have done so when I had a signal earlier. After all, getting lost alone in the woods is an emergency, right? It had shut down and wouldn’t turn back on. The screen didn’t even brighten in an attempt to power up.

As I reached to put the phone back in my pocket I heard something scraping against a tree. Like when my cat scratches the wall, but deeper. I turned quickly and saw what looked like a hand wrapped around a trunk only a couple yards away from me. It was hard to tell with sunglasses on but it looked grey and had long, dark nails. Like a human hand, but not right.

I turned and ran, slipping on wet leaves in my haste. I managed to keep my footing, though, and eventually reached a very unusual sight. There, in the middle of the woods, in a public park, was a little cottage with a chimney. I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a glow from a window, like a fire was burning. I saw a shadow move inside. I walked towards the building, pulling off my pack and reaching for my pocket knife. I figured, maybe they have a phone? And also, if it’s the evil Hansel and Gretel witch I could stab her to death, maybe.

I glanced back before I knocked, and didn’t see anyone or anything. I put my pack back on and gripped my open knife, then I knocked, firmly, like I was saying I’m strong but not threatening with three raps on the wood.

An old woman answered the door, “Oh, hello?” she said in a gentle, gravely voice. I was very confused but not in the head space for reason.

“Hi, um, I’m really lost, do you have a phone in here?” I asked while looking around the room. It seemed to be a single room cottage, a wood burning stove, a bed, a little table with two chairs. The likelihood of a phone was incredibly low.

“Oh, I’m sorry, no. But don’t you look cold! Come in, come in!” The old lady looked so concerned. She also seemed to note that I had a knife in hand but not be alarmed or shocked. Like she understood. I was lost and afraid.

I accepted her invitation to come in, if just to warm by the fire. “Here. Sit, sit,” She placed a cushion on the floor in front of the stove, and I sat, glad to have a seat offered that wasn’t stone, dirt or wood. As I settled in to the cushion I thought it was cold, but maybe my butt was wet? Either way, I closed my knife, put it in my lap, and held my hands towards the stove. It wasn’t warm either. Then I realized I didn’t smell smoke. Maybe I have been duped, and it’s just lighting? I thought, looking through an opening in the iron, but I was met with the sight of orange flames licking the inside of the stove.

The sound of a chair scraping on the wooden floor startled me, and I turned to look around the room, gripping my closed knife. Everything looked in order. But where had the woman gone? It was a single room, and she wasn’t around. Maybe the sound had been the door, I thought as I stood to look out the window and see if she was outside when I noticed something dark in the corner. I turned turned towards the corner and took in a terrifying sight.

A man, or at least a man like creature. Greyish skin and bald, with a grotesquely prominent brow, a mouth full of sharp, protruding teeth, and bizarre elf like ears, wearing a long, black coat and approaching quickly with sharp, black fingernails outstretched.

I fumbled with my knife, trying to open it with trembling hands without looking away from the creature in front of me. I stepped back and a rock came loose under my foot. I fell backwards, towards the table and hit my head on something.

The next thing I knew I was getting rained on, and heard footsteps approaching. I opened my eyes and saw the beam of a flashlight bouncing not too far away.

I was outside.

“Help!” I squeaked out, my throat sore. As if I hadn’t had anything to drink in days. I started to sit up by my head throbbed. I looked around and noticed that around me were a few crumbling remains of a structure and a tall brick chimney. I was on the ground, wet leaves and rocks under my hands. I cleared my throat and managed to shout “Help!” and wave one arm.

The light swept towards me, and I heard a man call out “Hello! I’m a park ranger! I’m coming!”

I lay down, relieved, and drifted out of consciousness again.

“Ma’am, ma’am!” I was awoken by a strong shake of my shoulders. When I opened my eyes the ranger was looking right at me, a head lamp shining in my eyes. “Are you hurt?”

“I hit my head” I said, squinting against the bright light and the booming sound of our voices after so much quiet.

“Can you walk?”

“Probably”

The ranger carefully helped me to stand, took my pack off my back, and supported me as we walked away from the rubble. Every couple minutes I would need to stop and rest. I was dizzy and nauseated. Confused. Probably concussed.

Much faster than made sense we reached a trail and we were met by another ranger. After a brief conversation between them I was guided up the trail, and we reached the trailhead within a half hour, even with my frequent breaks. We were back where I started.

Pacing next to my car was my husband, who was thrilled to see me as I emerged from the trees. I was thrilled to see him, too. He didn’t give me shit for getting lost, but I had a lot of trouble explaining what had happened. I helped complete the report as best as I could, but once we got to me hanging my jacket on a branch (which they had seen, and did help find me) I couldn’t figure out the details. I told the rangers I thought there was someone else in the woods, and that I had gone into someone’s house, but a lot of what I said was chalked up to being unconscious and the head injury.

An ambulance transported me to the hospital for an evaluation, and I was treated for minor hypothermia and put on a concussion recovery plan. My husband drove us home early in the morning and I slept all day.

The next night I felt remarkably better. After a couple of days (or nights, rather) symptom free I called my boss about returning to work. With my sleep schedule so messed up we were able to arrange for me to work nights for the next week. That first shift back my department had gotten a cake to celebrate my return. It said “So glad you’re not dead!”.

I realized then that I was starving and I couldn’t remember the last time I ate. So, I cut myself a piece and eagerly ate a forkful of soft chocolate cake with smooth buttercream. It was so sweet. Too sweet. I set down the cake and went back to work, thanking them as I left the room. Before I could get to my computer, I started to feel sick and hurried to the bathroom. I threw up that tiny bit of cake and felt better.

Still hungry though.

Submitted October 30, 2019 at 04:46AM by shivvers_ry https://ift.tt/2q73CXy