August 30, 2004
Footsteps in the Forest
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Jimmy, Hooks, Texas, Fall 1983 - 1984,
info@ghostvillage.com
After reading the story about Camp Morgan, I was reminded of a
thing in the woods I encountered when I was about 8 or 9 years old. A
couple of neighborhood kids had 3- wheelers, and we used to ride them in
the woods behind my house (off Hwy 82 for those familiar with the area).
One day, the 3-wheeler I was riding ran out of gas about 1/4 mile into
the forest. It was decided that I would wait with the ATV while the
other two kids went to one of their houses and got a gas can. I'm not
sure exactly how long I sat there but it seemed like forever. After
about 10 or 15 minutes, I became aware of footsteps approaching from
about 100 feet away. This was about the same time I realized that I
couldn't hear any of the normal forest sounds, like birds, or the wind,
or anything. Now, the trees were about 10 feet apart or so, even up to
20 feet, so it wasn't a very dense forest. Nevertheless, I never once
saw what was making the footsteps. I heard the crunching leaves steadily
coming toward me, and when they got about 30 feet away I really got
scared. The only weapon I had was a 3-foot long stick that probably
would have broken as soon as I swung it. The footsteps got within 20
feet or so and circled me once, I didn't give them a chance to circle
twice. I honestly believe that I set a land-speed record on my way out.
When I got to the edge of the woods, I still had to cross an open field
to get to my house. Halfway there I ran into my friends, who were
returning with a gas can, and the one kid's granpa was with them just in
case we couldn't get the 3-wheeler started again. They went to retrieve
the 3-wheeler and I sat on a little hill in the middle of the field and
waited. There was no way I was going back into that forest. They all
rode back out a few minutes later and they hadn't seen or heard anything
unusual, but they did ask why I had left a stick on the seat of the
three wheeler. I hadn't. I had thrown it in the direction of the
footsteps during my heroic retreat. Someone or something had picked it
up and put it there after I left. A quick note: There were a few large,
barren hills in that forest that we used to dig around in and make forts
on. I later found out that a Caddo Indian tribe had lived in the area
back in the day. Could it be that we had disturbed some burial mounds?
