I'm not crazy

I don't qualify for the Short Story contest because it's over 100 words, but I've had this running around in my head for a while and wanted to get it out.


What with one thing and another, I haven't had time to take a walk in the woods, so a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go. I asked my wife if she wanted to go with me, but she was working on some needlepoint that she was close to finishing and she said no, she was going to stay home and get it done, so I told her where I was going and that I'd be back in time for supper.
It was around 3: 00 P.M. when I left home and since I live just a few miles from a game preserve, I was there pretty quick. I know "Game Preserve" brings to mind paved roads and manicured trails, but this ain't that. It's for hunters and dirt/gravel roads and trails that are as much animal trails as people trails, but I know this neck of the woods very well, have been down them many times and have my favorite spot.

I call it The Hole In The Wall, because...well...it's a hole in the wall.
The trail follows a cliff face for a while and there's a small cave entrance. Not very big, about the size of your average living room, but nice and cool during the Summer.
I stopped, poked my head in and yep, nothing's changed.
I head on up the trail and I'm not on a hike, just a stroll through the woods and meander off track looking for ginseng, likely spots for mushrooms and grab a handful of mulberries to munch. My meandering turned a 3 mile stroll into 2 1/2 hours and when I checked my watch, I thought whoops, I said I'd be back for supper, so I about faced and headed back a lot fast than when I left. I was half way back to where I parked my truck when I noticed thick black clouds, which was strange because I had checked the forecast and it said sunny, hi of 85 and 0 chance of rain.
These were not just any clouds, they were building, rolling, almost greasy looking clouds that slid across the sky and lit from within by lighting, looked more like a bruise on the sky and they were coming in FAST.
I knew I'd never make it back to my truck, so I aimed for The Hole In The Wall to ride it out. I was just a few hundred yards away when the rain started. The first "plat plat plat" of drops on leaves and then it cut loose. This was not a downpour or even a torrent, it was like standing under Niagara Falls. Then the wind started. 10-20-30 and kept coming faster. The wind was so strong I was leaning into it and rain was driven in my face so hard I couldn't see where I was going. I knew the cliff face was to my left so I found it and followed it with my hand to the entrance.
I looked out of the entrance and saw in a small clearing across the trail, a blue flame. Not like a campfire, more like a cutting torch.
Then THEY came out of the woods. Too tall. Too many joints and moving in a strange unhuman way. They danced and pranced around the fire, holding their arms to the sky like praising a god.
After what seemed like hours they drifted back into the woods, the wind and rain stopped and I came out to make my way back to my truck, still wondering what the hell did I just see.
I make it back and my truck is gone. I thought "Great, on top of that, someone stole my truck". I get out my phone, call my wife and the first thing I hear is "ARE YOU OK ? WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ?
I said I'm where I parked my truck, but it's gone.
"STAY RIGHT THERE !! DON'T YOU MOVE A F***ING MUSCLE.
Next thing I know, I have State Troopers, Sheriff Dept and EMS all over me, asking was I ok, offering me water and EMS insisted on checking me. I'm still trying to figure out just WTH is going on when someone said "Sir, no one stole your truck, we towed it back to your house when we found it....You've been missing for 8 days "

I was gone for 3 hours.

I'm not crazy.....and I'm not going back in those woods.

Awesome story! Holy cow, that gave me the heebie jeebies! Love it! S&F.

Fiction? If not, I want to believe.

I've read many stories with those same elements, supposedly eyewitness accounts. You make it sound believable, but it seems formulated, somewhat short and lacking in details. The part about not seeing in the driving rain and feeling your way to the cave, yet you can see a small clearing, a flame and some non-human dancers outside the cave entrance, that part needs work. The wind speed thing, I would have described the effects of increasing winds, not the speed in MPH (roaring winds, trees swaying, branches clanking, then maybe have a tree or large limb fall nearby). Overall, it makes a great urban legend.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck


I know, right ? In my head, this is all fleshed out with many details, but I just don't have room to do it here. It's the tale of a completely ordinary day going really, really sideways. It's complete Fiction, but my wife says it reminds her of a story I told her about something that happened to me a little over 40 years ago.

a reply to: ChiefD


Thank You ! This has been running around in my head for a while and just wanted to get it it out. My problem is, I'm a bit like Stephen King, in that I go into great detail [ sometimes tiringly so ] which I myself think helps to get the reader into the story by sharing common experience.

a reply to: DAVID64

Personal experiences are great creative resources. Stories will begin to create themselves, take on a life of their own, but personal experiences help make it more real as you have actually had those experiences.

Plot is essential, it has to be good and include twists and surprise endings, however, I believe in strong character analysis (their strengths, weakness, etc.) and making them as believable as possible. Once you go that deeply into the characters, they can start to lead the story in directions you would never have come up with any other way. You need a few fully developed characters and others that are less dimensional as supporting characters.

I enjoyed the story, and found it quite engaging.
Also liked the surprise ending, 😮

From a hiker who has been on many excursions into
the woods, ones imagination can truly get the best of you.
From the creepy tingly feelings, to sights that twist the
imagination, the woods have it all.

S&F

a reply to: DAVID64
Great story!!!

IT won't qualify for the contest, but I could sure move it to that forum!!!!


You should try your hand at entering the next contest.
Or even this one should you come up with something 100 or less words.

a reply to: DAVID64

You should make an official on-the-record statement to Mufon...somebody... about "missing time". Stay well D....MS

PS....Hey David?.....Youre not crazy. Peace.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Hey heading your way-ish to UP for overnight hike along a three falls trail to Lake Superior (?)..recently heard about.... Just me n the woods. And my 357.

Ok, what kind of mushrooms did you find out there? Eight days? I used to know people who would have paid a lot for that kind of mushroom.

I remember at the end of college I got on a bender and woke up among a bunch of people being nice to me and one asking if I would like breakfast when I finally got a cab I found out I was 40km from where I was staying...dont remember anything

a reply to: DAVID64

Nice tale, real Missing-411 like.

I've heard tales about people who go to the old Indian caves out west. As in, they have what one might call a unique feel about them.

Missing time tales weird me out. One always wonders what was really going on.

@burntheships and @DAVID64 ... yes, the woods have their surprises. Doesn't take much to get disoriented, and then the Twilight Zone feel sets in. The last time, I saw what looked like the legendary dox cross the trail in front of me. And it was big, like the size of a juvenile wolf. I was pleased that it took no interest in me.

Cheers

a reply to: DAVID64

This was a great read! Creepy woods and lost time stories are fascinating and weird.

I agree with DTOM that you should enter this or the next contest!

a reply to: DAVID64

There's a series of true accounts called Missing 411 authored by a former officer/detective that often depicts exactly the kind of encounter you describe in your fiction. In other words, your story just happens to be fabricated but has happened many times before IRL.

a reply to: DAVID64
Good story!
One question though. How did the phone still have a charge after 8 days?
WOQ

a reply to: DAVID64
Like so many before me wrote, consider joining the contest! I am sure you can type it down to under 100 words. You got the story out with the words you needed to take....

Now, imagine how many things you can say with just 100 words to everyone that knows this thread. The possibilities!