Post by poelzig on Aug 5, 2017 23:56:45 GMT
When I was a boy scout around 12 or 13 we had a camp out at a large scout camp near a lake area. After we had set up our tents the weather turned bad and there was rain and lightning. Back then I would sometimes walk in my sleep and wake up in other rooms of our house. It would be odd but thankfully never dangerous or scary. That was about to change.
There were 2 scouts to each tent and after we had eaten under a pavilion and did the obligatory ghost stories we all ran back to our tents through the drizzle and settled in. The last thing I remembered before I fell asleep was my tentmate saying he hoped he wouldn't have to go pee because it was so dark and scary and if he went into the woods he might get hit by lightning.
I woke up an undetermined amount of time later sitting in pitch blackness OUTSIDE with no moon or stars. I was wearing the sweatpants and t shirt I went to sleep in but also had my shoes on. The rain had stopped but it was windy and I was damp and cold. When the occasional lightning lit up the blackness I realized I had walked in my sleep and had been sitting down leaning against a tree. I had no idea where our camp was and there were no lights to be seen anywhere. I was scared but not panicked and figured I would look around each time the sky lit up and eventually recognize something and if not I would start yelling for help. I stood up and readied myself when I heard some movement through the trees.
Sure enough seconds later the sky kit up and I could see bushes moving so I called out but the movement stopped. I called out again in the darkness but no answer. Less than a minute later lightning lit the area again like daylight and maybe 50 feet away standing at the edge of a clearing next to more trees was a large figure wearing a full length rain coat with a hood covering his or it's head. The figure seemed to be looking right at me but was just standing there. He was standing far enough away from the tree line for me to tell it was definitely a person. Not a bush or an animal or tree. I could see pants and boots and a rain slicker with a hood as clear as if it was a well lit room.
I screamed something but was too scared and disoriented to do anything else. Suddenly it was pitch black again. I started moving in the opposite direction from where I had seen the figure feeling my way through the woods.When the lightning lit up the sky again I looked back to the clearing and caught a glimpse of the figure passing the tree I had woke up next to.
In full panic mode I ran at full speed through the trees and briars and bushes. Sometimes falling and crawling and every few minutes stopping to listen and wait for the inevitable lightning flash to help me see. I thought I could hear movement behind me but it may have been the wind and I didn't see anyone behind me. After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes I saw a figure in front of me and I froze unable to move. I heard someone call my name and realized it was one of the scouts in my troop, I ran up to him and after he finished peeing he led me back to our tents using his flashlight.
I went to my tent and wrapped up in my sleeping bag and went to sleep. The next morning I told everyone what happened and asked my tentmate if he knew I left. He said he woke up as I was unzipping the tent and he had asked if I wanted him to go with me and I just grunted so he went back to sleep. Being scouts we searched the area and found what may have been where I was. There were lots of footprints in the mud which told us nothing. The scoutmasters searched and inquired if any other troops or people had reserved the use of the camp and was told we were the only ones there.
My scrapes and cuts were seen to and it was suggested when I told my parents I try and be calm or we would never be allowed to camp out again or at least I wouldn't. Some of the troop thought I may have just dreamed the whole thing or mistook bushes for what was clearly a large man lurking in a boy scout camp during a bad storm. Most were as freaked out as I was. My mom was angry and ripped the adults on the outing new assholes but ended up having to calm down my dad after he slammed the scoutmaster hard against his new SUV several times putting a nice dent into it.
I never went back to that particular scout camp again and always tied one foot to something heavy in my tent when I went camping after that. I still think about what happened and will always wonder who that was in the woods and if they were playing a mean spirited prank or actually meant to do me harm. I even wonder if it was something not quite human. I doubt I will ever know.
Pleasant dreams everyone.
There were 2 scouts to each tent and after we had eaten under a pavilion and did the obligatory ghost stories we all ran back to our tents through the drizzle and settled in. The last thing I remembered before I fell asleep was my tentmate saying he hoped he wouldn't have to go pee because it was so dark and scary and if he went into the woods he might get hit by lightning.
I woke up an undetermined amount of time later sitting in pitch blackness OUTSIDE with no moon or stars. I was wearing the sweatpants and t shirt I went to sleep in but also had my shoes on. The rain had stopped but it was windy and I was damp and cold. When the occasional lightning lit up the blackness I realized I had walked in my sleep and had been sitting down leaning against a tree. I had no idea where our camp was and there were no lights to be seen anywhere. I was scared but not panicked and figured I would look around each time the sky lit up and eventually recognize something and if not I would start yelling for help. I stood up and readied myself when I heard some movement through the trees.
Sure enough seconds later the sky kit up and I could see bushes moving so I called out but the movement stopped. I called out again in the darkness but no answer. Less than a minute later lightning lit the area again like daylight and maybe 50 feet away standing at the edge of a clearing next to more trees was a large figure wearing a full length rain coat with a hood covering his or it's head. The figure seemed to be looking right at me but was just standing there. He was standing far enough away from the tree line for me to tell it was definitely a person. Not a bush or an animal or tree. I could see pants and boots and a rain slicker with a hood as clear as if it was a well lit room.
I screamed something but was too scared and disoriented to do anything else. Suddenly it was pitch black again. I started moving in the opposite direction from where I had seen the figure feeling my way through the woods.When the lightning lit up the sky again I looked back to the clearing and caught a glimpse of the figure passing the tree I had woke up next to.
In full panic mode I ran at full speed through the trees and briars and bushes. Sometimes falling and crawling and every few minutes stopping to listen and wait for the inevitable lightning flash to help me see. I thought I could hear movement behind me but it may have been the wind and I didn't see anyone behind me. After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes I saw a figure in front of me and I froze unable to move. I heard someone call my name and realized it was one of the scouts in my troop, I ran up to him and after he finished peeing he led me back to our tents using his flashlight.
I went to my tent and wrapped up in my sleeping bag and went to sleep. The next morning I told everyone what happened and asked my tentmate if he knew I left. He said he woke up as I was unzipping the tent and he had asked if I wanted him to go with me and I just grunted so he went back to sleep. Being scouts we searched the area and found what may have been where I was. There were lots of footprints in the mud which told us nothing. The scoutmasters searched and inquired if any other troops or people had reserved the use of the camp and was told we were the only ones there.
My scrapes and cuts were seen to and it was suggested when I told my parents I try and be calm or we would never be allowed to camp out again or at least I wouldn't. Some of the troop thought I may have just dreamed the whole thing or mistook bushes for what was clearly a large man lurking in a boy scout camp during a bad storm. Most were as freaked out as I was. My mom was angry and ripped the adults on the outing new assholes but ended up having to calm down my dad after he slammed the scoutmaster hard against his new SUV several times putting a nice dent into it.
I never went back to that particular scout camp again and always tied one foot to something heavy in my tent when I went camping after that. I still think about what happened and will always wonder who that was in the woods and if they were playing a mean spirited prank or actually meant to do me harm. I even wonder if it was something not quite human. I doubt I will ever know.
Pleasant dreams everyone.