The dark woods all around me are silent… too silent. As I
grope around for a light, I suddenly remember those large creatures that had
remained unidentified by skittering out of my friend’s lantern just minutes
ago. They could be back. I realize… maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea.
How did I get myself into this situation? It started with a
simple walking during my youth group’s camping trip. I accompanied a friend
down to the showers so that she could get ready for bed. Back at camp, everyone
had been talking about getting a night game of Capture the Flag going as dusk
fell. My plan was to join them when I got back. Coming out of the shower house,
My friend and I found that the evening had become at least ten times darker
then when we went in. This wasn’t that big of a problem though, as my friend
produced from her bag a small LED lantern. But as we came to the camp grounds,
we found it eerily silent and empty.
I had imagined that we’d play the game at our campsite. Now,
however, after further thought I realize, with all the camping tools, sharp
cooking equipment, a steep drop off into a dark icy lake, and not being able to
see, wouldn’t have been such a good mixture. Figuring everyone else was at the
meadow where we went to play sports all the time, I dropped my friend off at
our tent. Before leaving, though, I looked through my things for my flashlight.
But In the limited light of her lantern, I couldn’t find it. So I made the fateful
decision to go back to our main campsite and look for a light source there.
So that’s how I got here now. The embers of the fire behind
me are glowing with their last bit of life and the darkness falls thick over
their dying breath. The breeze had died and now the air is still. Oh, so still
and silent. There are not even any crickets out, filling the air with their
music. I kneel on one side of the pick-nick table, feeling around the sticky
green tarp that’s been used as a table cloth. My thoughts start to chide me for
not thinking things through. Of course there wouldn’t be any lights out here,
there hadn’t been very many the night before and what we did have is probably
with the rest of the group at the meadow, or put away somewhere in a bin along
with sharp kitchen knives; not
sitting out on the pick-nick table. But still, I grope around with little hope
of finding one. With these discouraging thoughts, and the continually sinking
feeling of missing out on a good Capture the Flag game with the rest of my
friends, I don’t take note of the fact that the bag of marshmallows – which we
had been enjoying minutes ago around the campfire – was gone. Neither did I
notice that the gram crackers were gone also. If I had taken note of these things,
I would’ve only assumed that they had been put away. Just as I am about to give
up, an ever so slight rustles comes from the other side of the table. That’s
when the memory of those creatures emerges at the edge of my mind. I freeze as
something not more than three feet away from me moves.
Against the darkness of night the silhouette of something
darker slowly rises up in front of me. It’s the head of a raccoon, starting
straight at me.
What frightened me in that moment was not the fact that it
was a raccoon. No, it was the fact that the creature showed no signs of fear. The
fact that it was staring me down with invisible eyes as if he belonged here and
I didn’t – and that he wanted me to leave; plus the fact that it was a wild
creature within arm’s reach in the dark of night; those are the reasons my heart
stopped for a moment. And in that moment, two facts flashed through my mind.
One; raccoons can bite.
Two; they could possibly attack.
Then I was off, down the gravel road and bolting towards the
girl’s tent. A rustling in the bushes behind me, that my amped up imagination made
into an angry coon giving chase, only made my heart race faster. “Quick, let me
in! Something’s following me!” My excited, fear filled voice causes my friend
to feel frightened too as I tumble into the tiny tent and try my best to
quickly zip up the door with shaking, adrenaline filled veins. After
breathlessly recounting about the head in the dark, my friend asks;
“Is it a stalker!?” I laugh, realizing I forgot to mention
that it was an animal; so I reassured her that it was a raccoon – not a psychopathic
killer – chasing me through the forest.
I decide, under the circumstances, that I’d better stay in the
tent and miss out on the game of Capture the Flag.
Soon a flashlight moves around in the main campsite. Someone
had come back. “Who’s there!?” My friend calls. The light stops moving for a
second,
“Huh?” The unidentified person asks. My friend, thinking it’s one of the guys, questionly
calls out his name. Relief calms my hands, still trembling from left over adrenaline,
at the thought of one of my best friends being out there, and knowing he’s a
hunter makes me certain the raccoons won’t be a problem for long. But then the person identifies himself, not as my best friend, but
as our youth pastor.
Still, I’m extremely relieved, even if it’s not a coon
killing eighteen-year-old out there.
I emerge from our tent to help assess the damage the raccoons
had left in their wake.
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| Image Credit: My Youth Pastor |
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