My life was going nowhere. I had quit my dead end job, my relationship was stagnating, finances were getting desperate but I didn't have the energy to fix any of it. I was emotionally and spiritually lost.
It was the Summer I turned 29. That was a rediculously hot Summer. We were in a drought and the lake had been reduced to little more than a mud puddle.
I was trying to be positive. I wanted to take a breath and focus on finding a solution. But every time I closed my eyes I just wanted to scream or run away.
My heart ached. I hated that town. I needed out. Even for a few days... I needed an escape from my surroundings, a chance to center and reevaluate my priorities.
The phone rang. It was my little brother's ex-girlfriend, Sydney. Call me weird but I adored that girl immediately and when they broke up I just couldn't part with her. So she and I stayed in touch even though she was only 17.
She told me she was going to make a drive up and across the California state border to Oregon. She had some family there. So did I. She asked if I could ride along and keep her awake.
"Hell yes!" I answered.
This was exactly what I needed. I packed my knife, pepper spray, a couple changes of cloths, a sleeping bag, enough food and water for 3 days, and we were on the road within an hour.
I tend to be impulsive sometimes. I don't know how my man puts up with it...
Sydney and I talked non-stop on the drive up. Hours passed quickly as we laughed and sang and talked philosophy.
We finally got to my brother's place, way up in the woods, near a tiny town. It was around 11PM. Sydney got out her guitar and we had a glass of wine and some music before turning in.
The first night passed with no incident. In fact, I think it was the 3rd night we slept out in my dad's camping trailer that it happened.
It was so hot that we didn't bother to shut the door. We enjoyed the breeze coming through and we were so far from other humans we figured we were perfectly safe.
At some point in the night we were both startled awake by the sound of something coming through the brush... something big. My eyes popped open and I gasped, immediately thinking. Bear...
I sat up and looked at Syd who looked equally freaked out and at that moment we felt the impact. It hit the side of the trailer, rocking it hard enough to lift the wheels on that side off the ground.
We screamed and braced ourselves. It started walking around the side of the trailer and I looked at the open door. My heart felt like it might explode. I jumped up yelling "Back up! Back up!" And I ran toward the door and pushed the tarp out of the way and pulled the door shut. I remembered something that happened when i was 15... I locked it and kept yelling "Get back!"
The animal growled low in it's chest and started trying to claw it's way through the window. The screen tore like paper but the metal slats were too close together for it to reach its hand through...
Yes, I said hand. Meaning this thing had fingers... and claws. It was brown and furry but we never saw it's face. After it tried to stick it's hand inside and couldn't, the noise suddenly stopped.
Then as if someone somewhere hit some kind of cosmic "reset" button. Sydney and I were laying flat on our backs in the bed just as when it started. We both sat up and didn't say a word but just listened for a few seconds. Total silence.
"I'd better shut the door this time." I said. I got up, pushed the tarp out of the way, shut and locked the door, and went back to bed.
When I woke up to find no damage to the trailer, I assumed it had been a dream. Until Sydney asked. "What was up with that thing last night?"
And she discribed in detail everything exactly as I remembered from my dream. But it wasn't a dream. We both experienced it. We were wide awake. But then suddenly it hadn't happened yet and we had a chance to be ready.
I told her, the last time I had been that scared, I was 15 and my friend and I saw this white, skinny, man shaped creature that came after us. I wondered if it was the same creature, just wearing a different form.
We went to bed each night expecting something to happen. Ready for the worst. But the woods were calm. Only crickets, and the train would make a sound. Haven't seen or heard anything suspicious since.
My lover moved up here with me. We both found work and are enjoying living in the woods. But sometimes when I go out to feed my dog at night, I look into those trees and I swear it feels like something is looking back at me.
