This episode contains graphic descriptions and audio that may be upsetting to some listeners.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you have ever taken any sort of hike or walk in the woods, you'll know the feeling of isolation. If you go in deep enough,

it's just you, the trees, and the animals lurking within. I have always found something

calming about that level of stillness that nature can provide. I only feel it to that degree

in a handful of situations, early morning hours, when it feels like the whole world is still sleeping,

and that first snow that we get in winter.

It becomes so quiet that you can actually hear the snowflakes hitting the growing mounds

of snow.

It's very subtle, but it's there.

It's been a long time since I found myself walking along a trail in the wilderness.

Even with a companion, which is a safer choice, those hikes are incredibly easing.

There are instances, however, very rare instances, where that calm, that stillness, can leave you unsettled.

I recall a specific hike I was taking with my friend a long time ago.

I was relatively familiar with the trail we were on while she wasn't. This trail in particular

wasn't known to many, it seemed. The path itself was beginning to overgrow again, almost disappearing.

If you didn't know it was there, you would miss it. This path took you deep

into the woods. Eventually you would pop out on a paved route, but it was a few miles until that.

But most trails in this park would eventually lead to a paved path, so getting lost was of little

concern. It was the early afternoon. My friend and I had been on the trail for a little while at this point when I noticed something wasn't right. That's saying, you know the one about how you can feel like you're being watched? Well, I can attest that this is a very accurate description. The woods are quiet. You can hear when there is something there that isn't supposed to be. And that's exactly what happened to us.

We were walking along when I noticed out of the corner of my eye someone trailing behind us,

very far behind us.

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