The Man In The Woods

The date was June 11th, 2003. My cousins, Willie and Chris, and myself were spending the weekend camping in the Crivitz-Athlestane area. We pitched our tent (a large one, with two rooms) right next to a mountainous old tree.

We proceeded to cover the roof with a thick layer of tree branches and leaves; the sides were lined with large tree branches, and covered in more leaves. This way, the tent was guarded with a large green canopy.

Late at night (around 11:30 a.m.), the three of us were resting in our tent. Our lone source of light and warmth was a small candle. We began a three hour game of Call of Cthulhu, a role-playing game whose dark mood fit the eerie coldness of the night perfectly. Around midnight, we were feeling hungry, so we sent Chris out (with mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and chicken dumpling soup) to start a fire and cook our snack. As the fire crackled, Willie and I continued our game from inside the tent. Around 12:30, we figured the meal must be done, so we called to Chris. However, there was no reply, and the fire was quickly dying. We dressed ourselves (jeans, boots, winter coats) and marched out in search.

During the daytime, the woodland is a warm, inviting place. At night, however, it's temperature drops to a freezing temperature, the plants and rocks take on new, twisted visages, and as for the light, everything goes black.

We trudged slowly, cautiously, through the woods, now warped into an endless, pitch black maze. The rocks and trees of the day appeared now as hideous deformities. The ground was dry and dead. There was no light. You couldn't see a thing, just an endless, silent sea of black. Even the stars and moon were nowhere to be found that night. Silently with our hearts racing at a nascar tempo, we walked on. After roughly 30 minutes, a sickening stench filled the air, it smelled like rotten eggs. In a bush, nearly 30 feet away, we saw a quick rustle of movement. Looking for cover, we dived under a nearby bush. We could make out a tall, manlike form emerging from the bush. It was around 6'5 inches tall, thickly built, with a slight hunch. It had dark, warm flesh, with a strange milky substance trickling down its chin. It had no face, but we could make out a long, bushy moustache, a pair of angry red eyes, and wide- rimmed glasses. His bald head shimmering from some unknown light.

He was bare naked bar a loin cloth draped around his groin. He saw us, his eyes zeroing in. He began to run, leaping on all fours. He was scampering at an extremely high speed. We ran, on our feet moving faster. He was sweating profusely, salivating, and letting off a repugnant stench.

After nearly an hour, we lost him-or so we thought.
We stumbled across a cavern, and entered it. Down a corridor, we found Chris, only he was naked, and chained to a metal slab. We could hear a strange chanting. Walking a tad further, we saw that creature, howling at the moon. Silently, we unbound Chris and left. For the rest of the weekend, we were dumbfounded.