don't go into the forest after sundown

Story written by Reddit user: Becarooni Link to original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/18r4czq/dont_go_into_the_forest_after_sundown/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1 .

My husband and I live in a house that’s somewhat secluded.

Our neighbours aren’t the type you can just say hi to over the fence, and a large, thick forest backs our property.

For the past year that we have lived here, I have gone on a run along the forest path almost every morning.

My husband likes to sleep in, whereas I’ve always enjoyed my early rises.

Last week, we went to a friend’s birthday party and were out late.

I ended up sleeping in and missing my morning run.

I had a few chores to do and by the time 5pm rolled around, I decided I wasn’t going to miss my run that day.

I stepped out onto the back porch and took a deep breath as the sun was beginning to set on the horizon.

My husband stepped out and gave me a lazy smile before he kissed me on the cheek.

I told him I’d be back before it was dark and headed off.

It started off like any other run, I take the same path each day.

It’s a little overgrown but still obvious enough and easy to follow.

I was only about ten minutes in and I started to notice something.

It was… quiet.

Eerily quiet.

Normally I can hear birds, leaves in the breeze, and bugs chirping.

But it was just complete silence apart from my own breathing and heart beating in my chest.

I found it creepy, but shrugged it off as something to do with the timing of the day.

The next strange thing happened only a few minutes later.

There’s a part of the path that wraps around this massive gum tree, the type that you can’t see around when you stand in front of it.

Well, I reached that part of the path and it was gone.

Completely gone.

Not like someone chopped it down and there was a stump or a hole in the ground left; it was like the tree never existed in the first place.

There was grass and fallen leaves in its place, it looked like any other part of the forest floor - untouched for years.

I was starting to get a bit freaked out.

I run this path every day, I KNOW this tree is meant to be here.

I remember the first time I saw it, I was in awe at the size.

I made my husband come for a walk with me the next day so I could show him too, and he was also impressed by the sheer scale of it.

It didn’t make any sense that it had quite literally vanished.

Even if someone was going to chop it down I wondered if it was even possible to do it in such a short amount of time - I only just saw it the day before on my usual morning run.

The practical, logistic part of my mind came to the conclusion it must have been chopped down.

I decided I would wait to talk to my husband about it when I got back and maybe even bring him with me to have a look the next day, maybe he would have an obvious answer that I was missing.

Perhaps I could contact the council and ask them about it.

I shook it off and continued along the path.

As I continued running I started to get this off feeling in my stomach.

Something just didn’t feel right but I didn’t know what it was.

After a while, I noticed that the sun was setting.

Fast.

I was losing light quickly, which didn’t make any sense.

I only left at 5pm, the sun wasn’t due to set until almost seven and I had only been gone about twenty minutes.

I looked at my watch and sure enough - 5:23 pm.

I checked my phone and it said the same.

Just to be sure, I opened up the weather app and checked the sunset - 6:46 pm.

I was standing in almost darkness staring at my phone in total confusion.

I had no idea what was going on and it was scaring the crap out of me.

I knew the trees would make it dimmer than out in the open but this was different.

I decided enough was enough and I was just going to cut my run short and head home.

I turned around and began running back the way I came.

After about another ten minutes of running, I was stopped in my tracks and I felt my heart almost stop.

There, standing on the path staring directly at me was a moose.

Those things are insanely huge.

But the weirdest part about it all was I live in Australia.

We have just about every deadly animal on the planet, but we sure as hell don’t have Moose wandering around and I certainly had never seen one in the last year I had been coming through the forest.

I stared at this creature for what felt like an eternity, my heartbeat pounding in my head as my mind raced.

It just stood there, eyes glowing in the dark, staring into my soul.

I was frozen in fear, unsure of what I should do.

Then, after I felt like I was going to throw up from fear, it finally broke eye contact and just walked away.

I stared as it strolled out of sight as if nothing had happened.

Once I could no longer hear the footsteps and I was back in complete silence I began sprinting.

I was way too terrified to be in this forest a second longer than I had to be.

I ran and ran until my lungs felt like they were going to give out.

I thought for sure I should be reaching the clearing soon but the more I ran the more it felt like I went deeper and deeper into the woods.

I glanced at my watch and my breath hitched.

9:42pm.

It’s not possible, I said to myself.

It can’t have been four hours.

My whole interaction with the Moose although felt like forever, in reality only lasted a few minutes.

I pulled out my phone, and again it matched what my watch said.

I tried to call my husband but I couldn’t get any service.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

It was pitch black now and I had to use my phone torch to illuminate the path.

My mind was racing with some kind of way to come up with how this could be happening, but I had nothing.

I decided all I could do was keep following the path and hope that soon enough I would come out and be home.

I was exhausted from running for so long so I walked for a while, constantly checking my phone to see if I got any reception to try and call somebody.

I knew that I should have been out of the forest by now.

I was trying my best to stay calm but I was panicking internally.

Suddenly I froze with fear when I heard a deafening, guttural scream in the distance.

I had never felt so sick in the stomach, my heart was pounding in my chest and I felt like I was about to pass out.

It was unlike anything I had ever heard.

It didn’t sound human, but I couldn’t think of any kind of animal that makes that noise either.

I turned the flash off my phone.

For some reason standing in complete darkness felt safer to me at that moment.

I didn’t dare move as I intently listened for any more noise.

Not a sound, not even a cricket or a breeze.

The scream came from behind, and so I decided all I could do was keep moving and hopefully get further away.

I’d heard online that mountain lions make terrifying screaming noises but again, to the best of my knowledge there are none in Australia and certainly not in my area.

Either way I was not interested in finding out, so I picked up my pace as I continued down the neverending path.

Then, I heard it again.

Only this time it was MUCH louder, meaning only one thing: it was getting closer.

I broke into a full sprint, the adrenaline burst giving me the extra energy I didn’t know I had.

I ran for as long as I physically could before I had to slow down to catch my breath.

I glanced at my watch again - 1:05am.

I let out a short laugh in disbelief.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples as I took a few deep breaths.

I was too afraid to stay still, so I began walking again.

The forest felt neverending, there was no sign of a clearing or anything that looked familiar.

No matter how much I moved I just seemed to go deeper and deeper into the thick woods.

I no longer even had a path, I was stepping over branches and bushes trying my best not to trip.

I was watching the ground for so long I forgot to look ahead of me, and when I did that was when I saw him.

Or rather, it.

Standing just a few metres from me, I could make out the figure of a pale person with their back facing me.

I should have been thrilled to see another person but for some reason their presence irked me, and right before I was about to blurt out something I stopped myself.

It was hard to make out many details in the dark, my eyes had somewhat adjusted but from what I could see he was just standing there, facing the other way seemingly doing nothing.

He looked bald, and I struggled to make out any clothes on his body.

As I was studying him, that’s when it happened.

His head slowly turned until it was facing me.

My breathing stopped when I saw its face, instead of human eyes it had two large black circles that looked like mini abysses.

It had no nose and a mouth that matched its empty eyes.

When I didn't think it could get more terrifying, the creature slowly began to stand and I realised it was actually squatting initially.

I watched in frozen terror as the creature’s long, skinny legs came into view, right as it dropped its freakishly long, skinny arms at the same time.

It must have been more than 10 feet tall.

Once the creature had fully stood up, it turned towards me.

I was too scared to move, to think, to breathe, all I could do was watch.

It stared at me for a moment before dropping its jaw to let out the most unearthly, thunderous roar you could imagine.

This was enough to snap me out of my frozen state of terror, I turned on my heel and sprinted in the opposite direction of the creature.

My chest was burning as I ran as fast as I could.

I refused to look behind me but I could hear the thumping legs following behind me.

I had no sense of direction, no plan, all I could do was run.

I still couldn’t see that well and so I hadn’t seen the edge until it was too late, rolling and toppling down a steep hill until I landed in the thick brush at the bottom.

I groaned in pain, winded from the fall.

I blinked a few times before looking up at the ledge I had just fallen from, where the creature suddenly appeared.

My eyes widened and my heart raced as it looked around, I thought for sure this was it, there’s no chance I can outrun this thing in my state.

Just as I was reflecting on all the things in life I had missed out on, the creature turned away and walked back into the trees, out of sight.

I let out the breath I didn’t realise I was holding onto.

The bushes must have swallowed me up enough so that it didn’t see me.

I checked my watch again; 4:59am.

After laying there for a few minutes to catch my breath I slowly sat up, wiping the tears from my eyes as I could finally think for a moment.

When I felt ready enough, I rose to my feet and looked around.

I then noticed the path, a very familiar path.

It was the one I ran every day.

I began following it, hoping and praying with every step that my ordeal would finally be over.

After a while the forest started getting thinner, trees more spaced out, until finally I could see a clearing with light.

I audibly gasped as I quickened my pace into a full sprint towards the opening, and when I came out on the other side I could see the sunrise.

Tears filled my eyes as I saw my house in the distance, and I continued running until I got to the back door.

I burst into the house and saw my husband sitting in the living room with a mug in his hand.

He turned and gave me a puzzled look when he saw me.

You alright?

He asked.

I stared at him in disbelief.

Why was he not more concerned?

Why hadn’t he been out looking for me?

Are you joking?

I’ve been gone all night!

I got lost and I- So many crazy things happened, the time went all weird and- All night?

What are you talking about?

You were gone for like twenty minutes.

He responded, totally bewildered by my shouting.

But the sun is rising, I just saw it when I was coming back.

I gasped, still trying to catch my breath.

No, that’s the sunset.

He rose and came over to me, concern on his face.

He pulled out his phone and pointed at the lock screen.

Look - 5:24pm.

You were gone for less than half an hour.

Enjoying the content?

Help me keep this website ad-free!