Nobody really believes what I saw, people just assume I made it all up, right ?, well they’re wrong, I’ll tell everyone the exact same thing that happened cause I’ve always been a practical person, only facts and logic kind of person. So I promise I’m not making it up, I swear.

After retiring from my job as a transportation engineer for many years. I took a part-time gig hauling trees. One night on the highway driving down a deserted road, I came across a sign that read: “leave our forests alone”, a barricade and a figure dressed in black waving a knife.

I was beyond terrified so I sped off, My heart pounded in my chest as I sped away from the scene, I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. I actually thought I had fallen asleep or hallucinated.

I continued driving, trying to calm myself down, to rationalize what had happened. I just couldn’t no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread in my gut.

When I reached a safe distance, I pulled over and took a deep breath. Later on returning only to realize it was a prank pull together by some coworkers and their kids. We all had a good laugh about it. Just a bunch of old men and kids having fun. We could all agree I was unimaginably afraid of these things.

Years later, I'm fifty seven, I got a call from Mike, one of the pranksters from that night on the high way. He was starting a new tree-hauling venture and asked if I wanted to join him. I hesitated, torn between the desire for adventure and the lingering fear from that night. Finally, the thrill of the open road and my fellow truckers won out. I decided to take the spot for another truckload, hoping to put that terrifying experience behind me.

He went by day and I did by night, moments into driving, it started raining, a pretty bad storm too. The guys back at office had to call in and check up on me suggesting I park and wait it out or drive extra carefully which meant very slowly. I chose to drive.

As I approached the crowd, my heart pounded in my chest. Hundreds of people, dressed in pristine white gowns, stood in the middle of the road, blocking my path like some sort of crusade. They formed a human wall as their faces were illuminated by the headlights of my truck.

I slowed down, unsure what to do. Should I honk ? Try to drive around them? Or stop and wait for them to leave ?.

As I hesitated, the crowd then parted, creating a passage to drive through. I stepped on the gas, The people on either side watched as I passed. As the truck moved on, to my astonishment, I saw them unloading the trees from my truck from the rear mirror. They climbed up onto the truck and unlatched the cargo door, The tree trunks spilled out and scattered across the road.

I was almost out of the nightmare when I saw it. There it was, standing in the middle of the road, its hands on the ground and its legs stretched out behind it. It was a person, surely, but something was off. It was covered in mud, and its eyes were fixed on me.

As I drove slowly past the creature, its eyes followed me, never leaving my sight. I tried to ignore it, to focus on the road ahead. But it’s gaze was like a chilling sensation, it was watching.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I snapped. I slammed on the gas pedal, accelerating my truck as fast as I could. It remained in my rearview mirror, its eyes still fixed on me.

It was only when I had put enough distance between us that I finally felt a bit of relief.

Later when I got back, I told my friends what happened and they all suggested it was some kind of religious ritual by the locals there or a prank gone too far. I thought it was more than that. They tried to convince me that I was overreacting, that I had let my imagination run wild. But I couldn’t shake the feeling I witnessed that freak show.

I did some research on the area hoping to call out whoever pulled those stunts, my searches turned up nothing. Now everytime I bring this story up, it sounds like a bucket of made up sandwich, but I knew what I saw.