Creature Unknown

I’m running as fast as I can. I’m running so hard that I think my chest will explode, my lungs ripping to shreds. I trip over my feet, stumbling but not hitting the ground. I’m running through a very dense forest. You can only find game trails in the region where I decided to hike. This area of forest is raw, wild, and untouched. Normal people would not go this deep into the forest, hiking these massive hills with little valleys that hug the steep inclines. Why, oh why, did I decide that this was a good idea?! Curiosity? Stupidity? Maybe I just wanted zero interactions with humans, comfort in the silence? And now, I’m going to die. I’m totally going to die, all because I wanted to get away from reality and people and the responsibilities of life. I’m getting tired; my body is breaking down. It's a good thing I did men’s track and field in high school and college. Unfortunately, I’m slowly losing speed until I come to a stop.

I quickly position myself against a tree, trying to hide as much of my body as possible from the thing chasing me. I try to breathe quietly, but my heart beats so fast, my lungs gasping and pleading for air. I stay as still as a statue, listening to check if it’s still coming for me. But it’s quiet. It’s a creepy type of quiet because everything in this forest has stopped. No birds are singing. No squirrels are playing in the trees, and hell, not even crickets make noise. It is entirely dead silent as if someone turned the sound off on a TV. Everything has frozen, and not a single rustle has been heard. I feel like I have been standing and waiting for twenty minutes, even though it's only been seven. I relax a little bit, my guard still up. I look up to the sky, seeing a light orange. ‘The sun is setting; it’s going to be dark soon. ‘I need to get my pack,’ I think to myself. I dropped it when I almost fell earlier. I start walking back the way I came. As I’m walking, I hear a branch snap. I halt, standing still, and look around me, but I don’t see anything. I move forward, continuing, and suddenly, I hear a whistle to my left. I turn, seeing nothing again. I hear another whistle, but this one comes from behind me, and it’s farther away. I turn, trying to find the source of the sound, but there is nothing there. This doesn’t make sense. Then, something tall and hairy pokes its head out from a tree, retreats to its hiding position, then pokes its head out again. It does this a few times. It’s the same creature that had been chasing me earlier.

I no longer see it after the fifth or sixth time it peeked around the tree. Maybe it’s gone? I started walking towards the tree it was hiding behind, determined to find out what this thing was. Getting to the tree, I walk around it, and it’s gone. It just disappeared. ‘Where did it go?’ I wonder. I see my pack a few yards away. I walk over to it, picking it up and slinging it onto my shoulders. I took the pack back off, though, because I needed to retrieve the map I had brought from inside my pack. I kneel on one knee and open up the map. I grab my compass out of my bag and try to figure out where I am. When I started running, I had no sense of direction, only moving forward and in survival mode. I figure out my exact position, or at least pretty close, and start heading northeast. This will take me to the old logging trail, where I parked my truck.

I can’t believe I let myself get lost. I know how to survive out in the woods. I’m never this careless. I bring out my flashlight and red lights. Red lights are great when it’s dark because many nocturnal creatures don’t pick up the red end of the light spectrum. It makes it easier to move at night. It is also gentler in the human eyes, making adjustments to the darkness quicker. I clip my flashlight to my belt buckle, using my red light instead of the flashlight. The terrain is challenging to maneuver in different areas. It will take me a few more hours because it’s dark now. As I’m making my way through the forest, I come up on a bundle of sticks positioned against a tree. They are leaning in a way that makes it look like a tiny teepee. I stop to observe it. It’s interesting, for sure. I’ve never seen anything like this before.

I highly doubt this was made by someone else, another human. No one hikes to these parts of the woods unless it’s locals. Even then, seeing someone else or finding evidence of another human traveling through here would be rare. So, this can’t have been made by someone. I know all the animals here, though, in Kentucky, and none of the animals that live here could make something like what I am seeing. This had to have been made by something with thumbs. I look under the sticks and branches that are carefully placed, checking for any evidence of an animal. Nothing. “Hmm...,” I say aloud, hand on my chin, thinking. I shrug my shoulders and decide to move on.

I know I’m getting closer to a creek or little river because I hear rushing water. I may have to stay the night out here because I know I could use the sleep, and it’ll give me a fresh start in the morning. I still have a long way to go; with how today has gone, I need to recharge. I set up camp close to the little river, but not against it because I need to be able to hear if something decides to come around camp. Having rushing water next to me, I won’t hear anything. I set up my tent and got situated. As I lay down to rest, blankets covering me and my head on a small pillow, I realize the forest isn’t silent like before. When did it come alive? I never took note of when nature’s sounds started up again. At least there was noise because when this forest went dead silent, it brought chills throughout my whole body. That was the creepiest thing.

I lay there, thinking about how my day started. I drank my scalding hot coffee, drove the old logging roads, and wanted to explore. I wanted to experience something new and go somewhere people don’t go. I love the outdoors and being out in nature. It is said that it’s healthy mentally and physically to be outdoors like this. So many screens and technology surround us; we forget that long ago, we didn’t have anything and survived having nothing, learning to live off Earth’s natural resources. Anyway, I chose a spot to stop on the logging road, grabbed all my supplies from the back of the truck, walked to a tree line to the left, and dived in. I had no plans and no specific direction that I desired. I just walked. Along the way, I’ve seen a few bears, a couple of deer and doe, a bobcat (we call ‘em wildcats), and a few different types of little critters. I’m a tracker, and I hunt. I know what all the other animals’ tracks look like, and I can differentiate the scents of different animals. I’m a veteran, so I know what it takes to survive in nature.

After a few hours of enjoying the views, I smelled something that had a very awful smell. It smelled like rotting flesh or decaying animals, just a very potent and horrible smell. I walked around the area carefully to be sure not to alarm or disturb an animal, especially if it was an animal that could be dangerous. I didn’t find any animal that could explain the smell. It wasn’t the smell of any creatures that are local to Kentucky. I have never experienced a smell like the one I encountered today. The scent was new to me. I have traveled to various national parks, forests, and unexplored areas of woodlands where no human actively chooses to go, so I have seen, smelled, and heard multiple animals found in various regions. I redirected my attention, moving forward in the direction that I was initially trekking. I stumbled upon a tiny log cabin, falling apart and abandoned. It must have been from the 1800s or 1900s when the mining industry was booming. The house is still somewhat upright, being slightly slanted and missing parts of the house, but it won’t be long before it collapses. You never know what you’ll find out in the woods.

I poked my head inside the front entrance, curious to see whether anything had been left behind to decay and rot from nature’s ever-changing weather and environment. There is an old wooden rocking chair in the middle of the one-room cabin, but nothing else. As I step just inside the threshold, I hear what sounds like a woman’s scream coming from outside the cabin. It sounds like it came from yonder, a good distance from where I am. I turn around and step back outside, straining to hear. It’s hard to tell what direction it came from because I had been standing in the cabin. Then I hear the scream again, and the sound sends chills throughout my body. I determined the sound was coming from behind the cabin to the left. Whatever made that sound was at least two miles away. Being a curious person, I decided to hike in the direction where it came from.

The cabin that I had come across was situated in a clearing. I travel two or three miles deep into the forest. I had not seen anything to explain the chilling scream I heard earlier. Finally, around six miles into the woods, I heard a whistle. I look to the right and see the creature making all that racket of noise. It’s huge, massive in size. It’s very tall, probably standing at eight or nine feet. It’s hairy all over, the hair dark in color, like a dark brown, verging on black. Its ears have less hair on them, almost like peach fuzz. It has massive shoulders, and the muscles on this thing were insane and huge, like a bodybuilder. It has a near humanlike face, arms, hands, and legs. Its feet are also humanlike. This thing is standing upright. I thought I had seen a bear for a split second, but this was no bear. This was the creature you hear in scary stories and myths or legends. It’s the type of creature you watch documentaries about on the Discovery Channel.

It had opened its mouth, and the teeth on this thing were insane. I stood there, so still and paralyzed. This creature had been, I don’t know, maybe three or four yards away. Suddenly, it let out this roar, and it was so loud that it felt like the sound was inside me, the Earth vibrating, the roar brushing against my soul. And that’s when I turned and ran as fast as my body would allow, pushing myself physically as hard as I ever had, in complete survival mode. I was determined to stay alive. I had allowed myself to look back once, and this thing was so much faster than I was, catching up with me quickly. I ran for what felt like fifteen or twenty minutes before my body gave up on me. I think about everything that has happened up until this point. I start to feel the exhaustion seeping in, and I yawn loudly. I close my eyes, wanting a peaceful moment of listening to the crickets and bullfrogs, the tiny creatures moving about at night. Next thing I know, I’m fast asleep.

I must have slept pretty hard because when I woke, the sun was shining a low red, orange color, having just come up from the horizon. I eat an energy bar or two and drink the water from the pack I’ve been hiking with. I didn’t wake up at all throughout the night, not once. I’m really freaking thankful for that. I must pack up and get out of here before I see it again. I’m obviously in its habitat and territory, and I know I’m definitely not welcome here. I pack up my tent and other supplies, getting everything together and myself ready for a half-day of trekking through this mysterious forest back to my truck. After looking at my map and determining my location, I set out in the direction I needed to go to get to my truck.

I’ve always heard stories and myths about this creature. I can’t believe I had an encounter with a Bigfoot. Every time I heard someone talk about Bigfoot or claim that he was real, I hardcore rolled my eyes. Seriously, I thought these believers were crazy. ‘I guess they aren’t so crazy, huh?’ I think to myself. I know parts of Kentucky have Bigfoot fan stores and you can find all kinds of merchandise down yonder in the boonies. Boonies are what we Kentuckians call places far from cities and towns. Some people call it the backwoods. We also have hollers, which are narrow valleys in the mountains. Looking online and checking out new articles, forums, and websites, Kentucky has had over three hundred sightings since the early 1900s. I still can’t believe I saw one with my own two eyes! My brain is still trying to process it as I make my way through this forest. My eyes and brain don’t want to believe what I have seen and heard because it doesn’t seem natural or logical. It just doesn’t. Never again will I judge someone when they express their interest in Bigfoot or disclose their belief in the elusive creature. Honestly, how much do we actually know about our world? New species of animals are being discovered every year. So much remains unknown about our planet Earth and its inhabitants. A great deal of new information is yet to be found in places all over the globe. My head is full of so many unanswered questions. Maybe I need to join the ‘crazy people’ and go out hunting down Bigfoot. I had this encounter, but unless I have hard evidence and scientific proof, the world won’t believe me, and that’s how it is for all mythical creatures and the legends of this or that. People need evidence to see that something is real. I think a good portion of this reason has to deal with the fact that people can’t accept something scary or something that could alter our perception of the world, and everything that we know or thought we knew could change.

After seven and a half peaceful hours of hiking, I finally arrive at the old logging road. “I just might have to come back and explore this place more,” I say, thinking aloud. I open the back of my truck and put my pack down. I have a truck cap that protects all the metal storage boxes and other stuff from the weather. I take some things out of my pack, organizing. After I finish, I get into my truck and start driving. As I go down the logging road, I think about everything buzzing in my mind. I wonder what other mythical or legendary elusive creatures actually exist. There are so many unknowns, and I’m unsure if that terrifies me, excites me, or both.

After finally getting to the main road, I can breathe easier. I guess I had been expecting a Bigfoot to jump from the tree line to the road, crossing in front of my truck. At this point, I’m just ready to get home. One thing I do know is that I’m definitely going to report my sightings and research Bigfoot. I want to watch all the documentaries and learn everything about Bigfoot. It’s time for a new adventure, and this one has me feeling all kinds of emotions.  

End