I'm posting this in hopes that someone out there may be able to help me.

I've started writing and deleting this so many times over the last six months or so that it would make your head spin.

At first, I thought that no one would believe me, so why bother?

Then it became a matter of not wanting to relive those events again.

Now, it's all I can think about, and I just want it to stop. Let me explain. This past June,

my wife Michelle and I took our two teenage girls camping. I'd made our reservations online at a

campsite we'd never stayed at before,

a quaint little place called Lost Creek Campgrounds. It was a little farther away than we usually

went, but the reviews were amazing, and the pictures were absolutely breathtaking. I just couldn't

pass it up. We used their online map and found an isolated spot that looked perfect for us.

When we got there, we set the canopy up over the included picnic table, and were putting up the

tent when I heard what I thought was a family out hiking. They seemed to enjoy themselves,

so I paid little attention until it seemed like they might be lost, calling out to one another for help.

I alerted Michelle and was heading to the nearest trailhead to lend a hand when the voices stopped.

I chalked it up to a misunderstanding and helped her finish setting up the tent.

I was exhausted from the drive and getting camp set up.

The kids were complaining about all the bugs and lack of

cell phone service. Michelle's energy kept us all going as she hummed some early 90s tune stuck in her

head while getting the campfire going. I started thinking about that family in the woods again,

but since I hadn't heard anything in a little while, I could only assume everything turned out okay.

It was getting dark, so we roasted some hot dogs, made some s'mores, and took turns trying to tell the scariest story before turning in.

The girls regaled us with some things they'd read on the no-sleep subreddit about a search and rescue officer.

...