A reader forwarded the following account from his childhood, in which he and his friends encountered a tall, hair-covered human-like creature in the blackberry bushes.
The account was forwarded to me by a reader:
"I had a childhood friend, Johnny, whom I'd sometimes play with. We weren't the closest, but we were part of the same "church" so occasionally spent time at each other's houses. He lived outside of town, in a large house that sat near the woods. This wasn't at all strange to me, as many of my friends at the time (if not most) lived in similar circumstances. So it naturally became standard to play outside, hiking around the property, the woods, the large field in front of the house- Wherever.
Johnny had a little brother, Steven, who'd sometimes want to tag along. Frankly, I don't really remember much of how we'd play. Pretend, mostly, I'd assume. This was the early 1990s, none of us were from particularly well-off families, and imagination was dirt cheap. You know, sometimes I really wish I could write off what I saw as imagination. It'd be easier.
This happened during one summer, all those years ago. Johnny, Steven, and I were doing our usual, walking around, talking, playing pretend- down at the bottom of one of the large fields that surrounded the house. I can remember how hot it was. The grasses around us had long since dried. There was a sour smell in the air from all the pungent weeds and shrubs surrounding us. The only things that remained green were the abundant brambles of blackberries that grew in huge, towering, clusters off to one side of the property. I can remember there was this little, rotting, shack made of dilapidated boards down there, and that's where we were. Playing right near it, and the blackberries. I had wandered just a bit away from them. It couldn't have been more than ten feet. That's when I glanced away and saw it.
There was something in the blackberry bushes. I couldn't tell what it was, but, I reacted as best as my childhood mind would allow me to, and ducked behind a nearby shrub out of fear. Now keep in mind, these blackberry bushes in front of me weren't small. Such clusters can often climb small trees and grow into a sort of "wall" of thorny bushes. These were probably anywhere from eight to ten feet high. And whatever this thing was, it towered over them by at least a couple of feet.
I could see its whole upper torso, arms, and head. It had thick, black, fur. It was clearly standing on two legs, and at that second, looked like it was reaching for something. Now I'm sure at this second, you're probably thinking, "Ok, so this this person saw a bear eating berries as a kid, really scary." But this thing wasn't a bear. I was raised near woods. I was young, but I'd seen plenty of animals. This thing wasn't a bear. Its shoulders, arms, and face looked very human-like. But it was... distorted, somehow. Evil looking. Frankly, the thought my young mind had at the time was, "Demon." The thing that was most striking though, were its eyes. They were red. Stark. Red. Which I'm sure in text sounds cartoonish, but to a child? It might as well have been that death was right in front of me. And it did have that vibe. This thing was terrifying, and something inside me told me that if I didn't run right then I might not make it.
I bolted for the house, screaming for Johnny and Steven to run with me. They did, acting either on instinct at the sound of my voice, or, just playing along with the moment. At least, I suspect Johnny was. Playing along, that is. Steven, being younger, seemed to pick up on my fear, and was screaming for real as we all booked it to the house. The wind was so intensely whipping by my ears that I couldn't really hear if the creature was in pursuit, but I dared not look back. Finally, we reached the safety of the house's deck and quickly ran inside.
I tried to explain what happened to Johnny's parents. All about the 'Demon' I saw in the blackberry bushes. Of course, they treated me like a dumb kid. My parents seemed to entertain that I saw something, but, not that it was supernatural. I've spent my life casually trying to understand what happened.
Every couple of years the memory resurfaces like a reoccurring nightmare that never quite leaves you. The cynic in me insists that it was a bear or nothing. A figment of an overactive imagination. We did like to play pretend, after all. And it was very hot that day. Not to mention- clearly, berries would explain the presence of a bear. But again, I knew the shape of a bear. And I've never heard of a hallucination that lasts a long time and can be viewed from multiple angles.
I've dabbled in a little Missing 411 information over the years, and there have been reports of certain cryptids that match. I forgot the name, and I just tried looking it up but couldn't find it. Apparently, there's a type of rumored Sasquatch that is larger than normal and is said to have red eyes and an inclination toward carnivorism and aggression. Apparently, the legend goes that they liked to twist people's heads off. As for what I actually saw? I suppose I'll never know. But I'll say this much... I hope I never see it again." C
NOTE: So, was it a Bigfoot or something completely different. Your thought? Lon
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