Trails

I used to live somewhere with a lot of trails that were more like footpaths the locals knew about than anything marked and they definitely didn’t show up on any maps. There was weak phone service, but only in random spots and not on any of the trails.

Once I decided to go left where I’d usually turn right. I went up these hills with little holes in the ground and it sounded like there were crickets everywhere. I thought they were rattlesnakes but my mom insisted they weren’t because it was too cold for them to survive. We didn’t realize I’d been right until we were surrounded by hundreds. We couldn’t see any because it was dusk but running home was memorable.

There was a trail that was only accessed if you went through a hole in a fence, across a dead field, then up a steep hill with trees so big and thick that if you didn’t know it was there you probably wouldn’t find it. I only knew it was there because I saw the neighbor’s kids go up there with their bikes. Looking back it’s shocking they survived going down that hill, but that’s another story.

Anyway, we went up there quite a few times and found out that the path forked pretty often so it was difficult to remember which way we came. We didn’t get lost often, but it happened.

Once we explored a place down the same trail, but we turned down a way that was much less traveled. From where we ended up, we could easily be seen from all around, but because of all the trees surrounding us, we wouldn’t be able to see anything trying to hide. We heard some sound following us, and we figured it was a harmless animal crunching on leaves in a weird way.

We went deeper into the forest, talking about the repairs our house needed and how the street our house was on the corner of was so steep. We also talked about how I’d be turning 12 and other personal information. The sound persisted, and since it wasn’t a crunch I was used to hearing, it stuck in my mind.

My mom suddenly wanted us to calmly go straight home as the crunching got much closer. It wasn’t until I was a bit older that my mom told me it wasn’t crunching, it was clicking, and that she saw someone with a camera hiding and smiling from behind a tree. I can only imagine why they’d want pictures of an 11 year old in the middle of the woods with no one besides her mom knowing where she was and no way to defend herself or call for help, let alone be heard. It still scares me.

Another time we went waaaay deeper into the woods than usual. My mom felt uneasy for some reason and decided to go a little bit ahead before my little brother and I did. I agreed to that and I was so busy making sure my severely autistic little brother didn’t fall down one of the cliffs that the trail was next to that I didn’t realize how long my mom was gone or what was happening.

When she came back she was doing the thing where she tries to appear calm but is clearly terrified to the point of shaking. We left immediately and never went back. I never found out what happened. I doubt she even remembers now.

(This story was submitted by a user who wished to remain anonymous)