00:00was a few hundred yards from my cabin, through a stretch of dark forest.
00:03I grabbed my flashlight and headed out, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on my back.
00:08I was halfway to the outhouse when I heard movement in the bushes.
00:11I stopped.
00:12Listened.
00:13Nothing.
00:14I kept walking.
00:15I was inside the outhouse when I heard it again, something brushing against the bushes,
00:20moving through the forest.
00:21Then silence.
00:22I waited.
00:23Twenty minutes.
00:24Thirty.
00:25I didn't have my phone, so I couldn't check the time.
00:27I just sat there, terrified, waiting for whatever it was to leave.
00:32When I finally worked up the courage to open the door, the forest was still.
00:36I stepped out, my flashlight sweeping across the trees.
00:40And there he was.
00:41The man in the forest service uniform, standing just off the path.
00:45His eyes were glazed, his face pale.
00:48He looked tired, exhausted, even like he'd been walking for days.
00:52I muttered a hello.
00:53He didn't respond.
00:54Didn't move.
00:55I ran.
00:56I sprinted back to my cabin.
00:57Slabbed the door and stood there, staring at it, waiting for him to follow.
01:02An hour passed.
01:03Then another.
01:04And then I heard a knock.
01:05Soft.
01:06Polite.
01:07Almost gentle.
01:08Please open the door.
01:09A voice said.
01:10Please help me.
01:11The voice was frail, weak.
01:13Like someone who hadn't spoken in a long time.
01:16He knocked again.
01:17Please.
01:17I need help.
01:18I didn't move.
01:19I didn't speak.
01:20I just stood there, frozen.
01:22Listening to him knock and plead for ten minutes.
01:25Then silence.
01:26I stayed awake the rest of the night, watching the door.
01:29When morning came, I opened it.
01:31No one was there.
01:32I packed my dags and left that.
