Almost Lost: How An Unknown Force Lures People Into The Thicket Of The Forest

2023 Author: Adelina Croftoon | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-07-30 23:26

From time to time, people go to the forests and go missing. Did they just get lost, were they attacked by a predatory animal, or something much more mysterious happened? Why do some hear a strange call luring into the thicket?

In the archives of mysterious disappearances, some of the strangest have occurred in places so sparsely populated that they cannot be attributed to kidnappings, serial killers or bandits.

American writer David Polides has published several books in the "Missing 411" series, dedicated to cases of very strange disappearances of people in forests, deserts or mountains.

Since in most of these cases the missing person was not found either alive or dead, one can only guess what actually happened to them. However, there are stories in which people managed to survive and return home safely, although they were on the verge of becoming another such victim.

All these people talked about how some force seemed to deliberately try to lure them into a dangerous or difficult place, and if they obeyed it, they would die. Curiously, almost all of these stories are associated with dense forests. How can you not remember the famous Slavic Leshego, who can confuse paths and deliberately lead people into swamps or windbreaks.

The Lost Boy Scout

The first story was told by an unspecified guy and it happened to him when he was a teen boy scout. One day, their detachment went on a hike to the forested Mount Washington in the American state of the same name. During the trip, they split into several small groups and the said teenager walked along with two other Boy Scouts.

At some point, those two got tired and decided to stop and take a break. They told the author of the story about this, but he suddenly felt an irresistible urge to follow the path further, while his consciousness was as if clouded and he could not resist this strange urge.

Thus, two scouts stayed to rest and drink water from their bottles, and the third cheerfully walked on, disappeared among the trees and those two did not notice it. The boy kept walking and walking forward through the forest and, according to him, he hardly remembers how he did it. He moved as if in a dream.

He stopped only when he reached a large rock and only then woke up. Immediately after that, he felt severe nausea and dizziness. He felt so sick that he quickly took off his jacket and lay down on the rocky ground, putting his backpack under his head. How long he lay like this, he does not know, he woke up only when he was discovered by one of the adult leaders of their detachment, who was also responsible for medical care.

He looked alarmed and said that the teenager looked sick, after which he helped him get dressed and directed him to the weather station, near which the squad members were gathering. When the teenager reached the station, he found boys from his squadron there. They were very excited and it turned out that they had lost it an hour ago and could not find it anywhere.

After that, all the members of the detachment went home, and the author of the story felt incredibly tired, as if in this strange hour he had walked at least several tens of kilometers. He fell asleep from fatigue while still in the car and then slept for many hours in a row.

Walking the dog

Another story happened to a resident of a small rural town in southwestern Missouri. The town was surrounded by dense forests, hills and ravines. One day a man decided to go for a walk in the woods with his dog - a pit bull named Fat Man. All went well until they reached a small forest stream.

Then the dog suddenly got scared of something, began to whine and clenched its paws. Thinking that she smelled some kind of wild animal, the author of the story began to listen and found that the place was completely quiet, unnaturally quiet. Not a single sound could be heard here, not even the gusts of wind and the singing of birds. Moreover, just a few minutes before they came here, the forest was the most ordinary, with birds and buzzing insects in the air.

Now the only sound he heard was the loud whining of his dog. At the same time, he knew that his dog was very brave and would not be afraid even of another large dog. And then the man felt as if someone was looking at him attentively and every cell of his body seemed to be screaming "Get out of here as soon as possible!"

“And then another thing happened. I suddenly felt a strong attraction to the forest. It was still unusually quiet, not a sound, but somehow I heard something calling me from the thicket. It was the most terrible thing that I experienced in my life.”And I went there, dragging the stubborn dog behind me.

The fat man trembled and continued to whine, he clung to every fallen tree, but stubbornly did not want to go with me. He never obeyed me and at some point I just left my dog and went on without it.

I came to a part of the stream where I had never been before. There was a clearing surrounded by trees and the stream was lost somewhere far ahead, turning somewhere in the thicket. Nothing moved in the sky, the sun and clouds froze. It was still very quiet.

I stood still and thought that I should go into the darkness where the stream turns. I felt that the clearing was terrible, it felt like completely lifeless, and I had a presentiment that if I went around the bend, something very terrible would happen to me there. But I looked like it was paranoia.

I had already made a couple of steps towards the turn, when suddenly I heard my dog screeching loudly behind me nearby. I quickly turned around and saw him walking quickly back and forth between the trees at the edge of the clearing. Then he barked loudly and at the same time did not dare to enter the clearing itself, as if death awaited him here.

I finally realized that the dog was behaving for a reason and felt that something very strange was happening. And when I looked at the clearing again, I almost screamed in fear. Because everywhere it was dark, the sun, which just a minute ago hung right above me, is now gone and there was a dense twilight all around. I peered into the trees in the place where the stream turned, and saw nothing there but thick dark shadows.

And then I heard the loud crunch of a branch. Panic filled my body and I ran back to my dog, which was barking and barking incessantly like crazy. We ran at full speed to the exit from the forest to the house, and all this time I felt that something was following me. By the way, my dog never overtook me, he always ran right next to me, as if protecting me.

When I got home, I looked at my watch and couldn't believe it with my own eyes. I left the house for a walk at 19.30, and the clock was already 22:30. It was definitely the right time, my parents arrived just an hour later.

The next day I went there again to the stream, trying to understand what it was. I walked and walked along the stream, trying to reach that terrible clearing, but even after three hours of travel I did not reach it and gave up this attempt. Whatever it was, yesterday it clearly wanted to lure me into the thicket of the forest. I was probably saved by my dog."

Glowing tunnel of trees

The third story happened to a hiker when he and other young people went on a hike in New Hampshire. It was a big two-week trip, and at the very end of it, the author of the story somehow went outside the camp to collect firewood.

He gathered a large pile of brushwood and was about to tie it up and return to camp with the others when he suddenly felt that all the usual forest sounds disappeared around him. At the same time, he felt a "buzzing alarm":

“For some inexplicable reason, I looked to the right, saw there a small tree with a hollow and went straight to it, as if I was pointed there by an arrow on a map. When I approached this tree, I felt an even stronger pull, which dragged me deeper into the forest. I reached a group of four trees, which were illuminated from somewhere above by an incomprehensible source of light.

The light was not yellow sunlight, but a strange golden light. He fell on the trees so that the trunks and roots at the base also began to glow. Then this unusual glow went deeper and deeper into the forest and created a kind of "tunnel" of "glowing" trees.

My head was screaming "Go over there and look at this!" and the craving was so overwhelming that I could hardly resist it. The head began to ache and I heard the blood pulsing in it. And when I could not stand it and was about to step into this "tunnel" my head almost exploded from another cry that came from somewhere from the depths of my consciousness: "STAND IMMEDIATELY!"

And I immediately realized that although this golden vision looked very attractive, if I go there, I will be forever lost to this world. And this specific concept of "lost to the world" scared me so much that I heard my inner feeling even more clearly: "Dangerous!", "Wrong!"

I looked back and saw my pile of brushwood lying on the ground, and I think it helped me break the gravity. From tension and fear, I had a feeling of emptiness in my stomach and I began to cautiously back away, while not taking my eyes off the enchanting golden "tunnel". It seemed to me that if I did not do this, some predator would attack me.

When I was next to my brushwood, my head was almost cleared of obsession. I could again hear the sounds of the forest and the voices of friends from our camp coming nearby. I looked again to where the "tunnel" had been, and now there was nothing but ordinary trees.

I grabbed the branches and rushed to the camp, but for some reason I did not tell anyone about what I went through. In my subsequent campaigns, I tried more not to go far from the camp.

I was very frightened by the fact that I realized the possibility of being “lost to the world.” It was a very clear and ominous feeling. It drew me so strongly into that thicket of the forest, I was almost ready to succumb to it. But I am sure that if I had gone there, I would not have come back."

Strong call

The following story was told by a Kentucky resident and happened when he was 15 years old. Even then, he was fond of outdoor activities and loved to walk in the forest located not far from the house. He always took his dogs Max and Bo with him.

“That day I was walking along the trail I walk every day. At some point I looked at a mountain peak in the distance and suddenly felt a strange call. It was not a voice, but a strong desire that could not be ignored. As a rule, I I am afraid of unfamiliar paths and do not follow them, but that day it was different.

I walked through the forest towards the mountain and climbed higher and higher in the terrain. The dogs followed me. I walked smoothly and as if in a trance, I only remember how I looked at my legs and saw even measured steps. There was a moment when I stopped and looked down at my house and I was amazed that it was so far away and that I had gone so high. I have never climbed to such a height.

I took a view on my phone, and then decided to call the dogs, but they disappeared somewhere. Then I looked at the mountain again and again felt the CALL. I continued my way upstairs on foot. I felt good and calm, I heard the sounds of the forest around me and wanted to go only forward and forward. It was difficult even to turn around.

By chance, I stumbled over a root and inadvertently turned around, then I saw my dog Bo, she was running next to me, as if she also heard the call. Then we went together. Suddenly I heard my walkie-talkie crackling (I always carried it with me), I could not understand who was talking, only interference was heard, the signal was not caught. And that was what suddenly frightened me.

In a panic, I turned and started running back down the mountain, surprisingly how I didn’t come back and broke my neck when I did it. At the foot of the mountain I saw my dogs again, they were running next to me. And the radio began to receive the signal again. I was soon at home. and then I almost forgot about this story. However, I now knew that I had to be very careful and that the forest could "call to itself."

Chasing the White Chicken

In some cases, unknown forces even use special baits or start calling people with the voices of their relatives. This story took place in Paraguay, in the Iribuqua area.

When my mother was little, she lived in the countryside with my grandmother, there were many poor people. Their house was very close to a dense large forest. One day, when it was not yet dark, my grandmother and my little mother were outside. was then 7 years old.

Mom was very fond of different animals and suddenly she noticed a lonely white hen walking. She wanted to catch this chicken, especially since she looked clean and very cute. At the same time, the chicken was not given to her in any way, only sometimes she let it very close to her.

It seemed to the girl that she was running after the chicken for only a few minutes, but suddenly she felt a sharp and rapid pain and then stopped. She saw her mother next to her, who was holding in her hand a clump of torn hair from her head. And it was completely dark around, it was already twilight, and she was no longer near the house, it turns out she had already climbed deep into the forest.

Mom explained to the girl that she was in a state equal to a trance, and she had to pull her hair hard to wake her up. Then she said that it was the evil spirit of El Pombero who wanted to take her into the thicket of the forest.

When the woman took the girl home, the girl tried to explain to her that there was no evil spirit here, and she just wanted to catch a white chicken. And you, mother, saw this chicken yourself, because she was running around near you on the street.

In response, the woman said that there was really no chicken, and that from her point of view, it looked like her daughter was playing peacefully near the house and suddenly jumped off her seat and rushed into the forest. She immediately ran after her daughter, but she had to work hard to catch up with her, and then she had to pull her hair to make the girl come to her senses."