>>509051
>>508789
I went out yesterday again. This time the moon was bright enough, so I didn't even bring my electric torch. My mp3 player went out after a couple of minutes, despite the battery icon showing full when I left. So this time I was all alone, without the campfire noises.
It was relaxing to be honest. This time I wasn't nearly as scared of the noises as back then. I tried to find the same spot, maybe figure out what it was about it that almost kept me there.
It took me some time to find it, the pathways seemed very odd, almost as if I was walking in circles, but every time I came across a tree or stump or rock I thought to have already walked past, the next couple of hundred meters seemed entirely new, almost as if I had never been there before. I know these forests well. I have been there many times in day and night time. I have walked them on countless occasions, but that day I just could not seem to navigate at all.
After what seemed like an eternity (the fluorescent hands on my clock aren't shining as bright as they used to, or my eyes just got worse as adapting to the dark) of aimless wandering and following the same paths as my (more than flaky) memory of that night last year, I finally got to that one place in the woods. The moon cast it's dim light on some light stones on the opposite end of the clearing, which reflected the light and allowed me to investigate the place a little more thorough. Originally I didn't really have a plan for that night, just wander around and possibly find that place from last year again, but as I got closer and closer the wish to figure out what had actually happened grew inside of me.
I walked around the clearing, trying to find the exact spot where I used to sit, and sure enough I found it. This time I didn't bring my backpack, so instead I just sat down on the ground. It felt oddly warm, but I guess that was due to the warm day we had, and the heat was still in the ground.
After peering into the darkness ahead of me for some time longer, and vividly remembering the warmth of the torch against my back, the sight of the shadows and generally enjoying the serenity of the woods, I decided to head back.
I got up and immediately felt something at the small of my back. Something held me to the ground. I panicked and threw myself forward. I landed face first in the ground, but I still felt it. I went at it with my fists and rolled around in the dirt to get it off. I only barely resisted screaming and yelling for help. The fear I felt in that moment has surpassed any emotion I have felt to this day in intensity. I was afraid for my life.
But it lasted only a few seconds. I can't tell you how long exactly, but a short time after me losing control of myself, I regained it, and pulled the thing off me. With a strange ripping sound it stopped grabbing my rear, and I realized what it was.
A backpack.
At first I thought it was mine. It was of similar size, but I am sure that I took my backpack home last year and left it there yesterday. I took it on many trips after the incident last year. THIS was not my backpack. So I sat down in the grass again and began to calm my nerves. The velcro bands on the backpack had caught on those on my jacket, which felt as if something had grabbed me. I wanted to laugh out loud, just to calm myself, but I feared that my voice would sound strange in the dark forest, and I didn't want to freak myself out even further. So I remained on the ground for a little while longer. Eventually I decided to look into the backpack. It was mostly empty. Some candy wrappers, an empty winebottle and an unused torch were inside the main compartment. I took out the bottle and tried to read what it said on the label, but it was too dirty, and the moonlight too dim to read anything.
(cont.)