So there I was, feeling very alone in the woods. The weird dawnish light didn't help. It reminded me of candle light, even though it didn't flicker. It wasn't even as bright as the full moon. And while the moon and the sky may have been bright, but that only made the shadows that the trees cast that much darker. Branches look really creepy when they're just black outlines and waving shapes.
I thought I knew where I was, so I started heading towards home. It wasn't easy to find my way through the trees, and I started to wonder if I was going in the right direction. The brush seemed to be thicker than I remembered, and I was glad I was wearing jeans.
Then I saw the light up ahead. It was bobbing around on the other side of a clearing, as if someone was searching for something. Now that I was closer, I could see that it didn't look very much like a flashlight. There wasn't any beam at all.
At first I thought that the rustling noise was from whatever it was that was holding the light, but then I realized that it was coming from over to the right. I was pretty sure it wasn't the wind, because I couldn't feel any wind. I paused, thinking it was an echo of my footsteps or something. If anything, it got louder. I thought it sounded like someone talking to themselves, or people whispering in a corner.
It was light enough to see that there wasn't anyone over there. Just a tree, its weeping willow branches swaying. There didn't seem to be anyone around there to make the noise. I was about to ignore it when I thought I caught a movement from over there out of the corner of my eye. Still no one visible, but the crumpled roots and thick trunk were easily wide enough to conceal someone. I started circling the tree warily, trying to be as quiet as possible.
The tree turned to face me as I circled it. I think it was at that point that I stepped backwards and tripped. I lay still, fearing some reaction.
There didn't seem to be any. I felt as if it was looking at me, but I really couldn't tell. After a minute, I started doubting what I thought I had seen. A cicada started chirping nearby, and I realized how silent the woods had been. I got up and carefully backed away.
My first thought was to put more trees between me and it. Sitting here now I can see the flaw in that, but right then I just wanted to get away from that thing. I was sure that it was staring at me, even though it didn't have a face. I was sure that it was going to start following me and I just wanted to get away. Once it was safely out of sight, I relaxed a little, maybe a too soon.
Standing in the middle of the woods like that, you suddenly notice how many trees there are.
