“When we go there, I want to bring some digging equipment, I want to know what is in those little mounds”, a man says.
“Okay, you won’t need many tools, maybe just a little spade and a couple other items. We can’t be seen carrying a lot into that place after all”, the other man replies.
“Yeah, we have to be safe and smart about it”, the first man says.
“Then we’ll go tomorrow in the morning, there won’t be many people there at that hour”, the second man says.
“Agreed. Call me in the morning and we’ll head over there”, the first man answers.
***
The midday sun shone through the tree’s as the two friends walked the path to their chosen spot. As usual the forest itself was devoid of people, just as they preferred, especially today. The old growth of the woods loomed around them as the intrepid duo kept a soldiers pace, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and even if it did the two wouldn’t have noticed as they were too focused on the task ahead of them.
“The mound should be about another quarter mile.”, Alex said as he looked at terrain ahead of them, “It should be around that bend up ahead, I remember it being around those parts.”
The other mad nodded and the two continued their trek.
As they rounded the bend, both stopped dead in their tracks. Ahead of them in the middle of the path was a walking stick planted in the ground, it had a slight sway to it as if it was just placed there but there was no one around for miles.
Alex’s eyes became wide and he said in a hushed tone, “That’s the walking stick I used last time we were here.”, he said with as much confidence as he could muster.
The other man stood there surveying the scene, preparing to defend himself at a moments notice.
“I know that’s my walking stick.” Alex said, “Don’t you remember me using it?”
“I do. I remember the shape, it’s too unique to forget”, the other man replied, he started to feel Alex’s fear.
Both men were on high alert, they surveyed the surrounding area and could find no trace of anything, no footprints, no animal sign, nothing. It was as if the walking stick magically appeared in the path.
“We’re here”, Alex said as he laid down his bag, to grab the digging equipment he had brought with, a hand shovel and a type of garden hoe.
“I’ll keep watch, we don’t want to get caught doing this by any park rangers”, the man said.
“Okay, if you see something, whistle”, Alex replied with renewed vigor.
As Alex began his exploration of the mound, the other man took a post where he could see far down each side of the trail, ensuring no one could sneak up on them.
After several minutes of digging, Alex became frustrated at his lack of progress, “It feels like it’s just dirt and rocks, there’s nothing here.”
“We have all day, we can explore a bit and come back later.” the man said.
“Yeah, I think we need to go through Hell’s Gate today, give ourselves some real adventures”, Alex said, wanting something exciting to happen.
“Okay”, the other man replied, bored of just keeping watch.
The two men gathered their bags and headed towards Hell’s Gate, an oddly bent tree that had the tip of it buried in the ground so it created an archway of sorts. It was an off trail route maybe no person had ever gone, these woods, these ancient woods had never had human habitation in them. Regardless of the encroaching civilization surrounding the woods, this area was as ancient as time itself.
The two men headed thru Hell’s Gate and set off to see what they could come across, hoping to find anything but signs of Humanity.
About two miles in, they abruptly stop, a rustling in the brush no more than a hundred yards ahead of them stopped them cold. There shouldn’t be any dangerous predatory animals here, none had ever been sighted, but that knowledge didn’t do either of them any good and they prepared for any possibility.
Something leapt from the underbrush and scurried away from them. It had a white belly and backside, but its movements weren’t that of a deer, it had a more of a bounding gait, something you would expect out of a canine.
“What was that”, Alex said as he looked at the other man.
“I have no idea, but that wasn’t a deer”, the other man replied quietly, unsure of what to make of this latest development.
“Let’s keep going”, the man said, to which Alex agreed.
Another few miles of trekking through the deep woods, the memory of the creature they saw long forgotten, they finally came to an area where the long grass subsided, and they entered a section of impossibly tall tree’s. The sunlight barely could break through the canopy, making the area seem almost to glow with a magical light.
“This is beautiful”, the man said with a smile.
“Yeah, we can see for quite a distance, there’s no tall grass to impede our progress, this is great”, Alex said.
The other man didn’t want to clarify but he wasn’t talking about the terrain, he could feel the magic of these ancient woods, they were standing in an area where no person had ever been. He was taken aback by the serenity of the forest.
As they continued their march a sound started to their left, it sounded like rain. The sound grew louder and louder as the two men stopped and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. The sound became deafening as if the whole forest was being drenched by a monsoon, but the two men stood there transfixed on… they didn’t know. They weren’t getting wet, they could see the sun barely peeking through the canopy. It sounded almost as if the forest itself was raining acorns, but none could be seen on the ground, or falling from the tall tree’s. That’s when they noticed that the sound was all around them, but it wasn’t above them or near them, it was like they had an unseen umbrella protecting them as they walked.
Finally they reached a clearing, which led them back into the tall grass, and more trudging they had before them. A couple more miles of a soldiers stride took them well beyond the bounds of the tall tree’s.
“We can’t go any further”, the man says to Alex.
“Why not?”, Alex asks.
The man not realizing Alex can’t see from his perspective says, “Fairy circle”, and points to a clearing ahead of them.
The circle itself was enormous, around 200 yards across, completely devoid of everything but grass. Both men understood that you don’t cross a fairy circle, so they had to make a detour around it, or possibly be lost forever.
As they were circling more rustling in the undergrowth caused the men to pause. Whatever it was wasn’t big, there weren’t big enough brush around for anything too big to be lurking, what could it be? Whatever it was wasn’t going to wait for them to find out, as the brush, heading away from the men, was moving at a rapid pace.
“This is getting weird”, the man said.
Alex nodded in agreement.
For the next few miles, the two enjoyed the scenery, the grass became low enough to make the walk easy. The birds were chirping, the Sun high in the sky, the day was really beautiful, you couldn’t ask for something better. The events of what happened prior was almost forgotten in those moments, a necessary reprieve.
Finally the two men saw the looming edge of the forest once more, and both had figured they would have to cut through there to rejoin the trail on the far side of the woods. They couldn’t have been more than a couple miles from the path and their spirits rose.
Upon entering the woods on the other side of the clearing, it was very obvious to them this was the heart of the forest, the tree’s old, tall, some gnarled by time. The canopy seemed impossibly tall, even less sunlight filtered through than their previous excursion into a tall segment of tree’s. The energy felt almost alive, as if the forest itself was a living entity. The two had gone for quite a bit into the heart of the forest, neither noticing there were no sounds of animals, no birds chirping, it was devoid of nature.
Alex and his friend were walking along, taking in the ancient woods, both in contemplation. They were somewhere no one alive had ever been, no Human eyes had ever seen, this is the type of adventure they sought out time and again but never found prior.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!”, Alex yells, sheer terror in his voice.
The man looks up and see’s nothing but a tree, completely perplexed he takes two steps to his right and see’s it. Standing there before them is a creature, something you can’t explain. It stood around 5 feet tall, with shaggy, matted, fur. In the instant he see’s it a flood of emotions wash over him, this was death, this was the end of existence. There would be blood in these woods, and they would not be able to escape the impending assault. This creature had no visible face, it stood looking at them, but neither could make out any facial features. Wrecked by terror they both stood there unable to move, this was their last moments on Earth.
A crack of sunlight appeared to break through the canopy, and it shone upon them, in that instant the spell broke and both men were mad. It was like a battle lust washed over them, their senses rebelling against the feelings of doom and despair. In unison they looked at each other, and they drew their weapons.
Alex, knife in hand grabs the garden hoe. His friend has a knife in each hand, they look at each other, nod, and started towards the creature – the battle for their lives had begun.
They take several steps towards the bipedal monster, it stands unflinching, seemingly ready for the battle at hand. Sunlight poured into the woods, impossibly breaking through the canopy, drenching both friends in what felt like a godly light. As they kept approaching, the sound of walking came from behind them, but they had no fear, they knew they were among friends. The creature, losing all of its bluster started backpedaling, knowing that if it engaged in combat it would surely lose. They take several more strides towards the disgusting monster standing before them, and the monster turned to run.
The moment it turned to run, the friends ran with it. Fifteen feet turned into ten, ten turned into five, the battle lust palpable in the air – they wanted to destroy this unholy monster, it was their duty. The creature picked up speed, trying to get away, knowing the men were only feet behind it. It raised its arm in the air and shimmered out of existence.
Both men look around, wanting battle, wanting violence, wanting revenge for that spell it had cast upon them but there was nothing. No signs of life, the creature had simply vanished. It took several seconds for both men to register what had happened, that this creature or whatever it was, really was gone. They looked at each other, both unsure of what to do next, and the forest came alive with the sounds of nature once more.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here”, the man said to Alex.
Alex, needing no prompting nodded in agreement. His friend leading the way, Alex all too happy to allow him the lead, both men walked in silence.
“How the hell”, the man says.
“What?”, Alex asked.
“Look”, the man responded and pointed.
They were no more than a couple hundred yards from the entrance of the forest on the other side of the park. There was no way they were that close to the entrance, it was impossible, mere minutes before they were miles from any exit but neither man had the energy to figure out what was going on, they took the gift and headed out into the daylight, leaving the forest behind them.
The pair drove in silence, both men deep in their own contemplation’s, the rationale of the world they knew was gone.