Tales From The Dark Forest
4 Deep Woods Stories | Black Screen For Sleep | Camping, Hiking & Hunting Stories | Rain Sounds
What is going on everybody and welcome back to the channel tonight's video I am bringing you four terrifying deep wood stories. Now sit back, relax, dim those lights and let's get spooky. So a few weeks ago, me and my dad went on a hunting trip to the same spot we've been going to since I was a little kid. It started off like any other hunt that time of year. Early in the morning, light snowfall, freezing to death in the blind, etc. The day was going by slowly while music quietly played in a single earbud. And yeah, I've heard the "that's not real hunting" argument before. Regardless, the sun was slowly setting behind the trees. When a nice buck started to walk to a few slices of apples, that were definitely not supposed to be there. I hunt for food. And I know how a venison can taste when it's eaten from a buck in the middle of a rut, so I passed on him. Hoping a dough would cross my path soon. At first I thought the buck didn't notice the apples, but then I realized I was the one he noticed. I've had a buck notice me before and started stomping the ground to try to scare me away, but this was different. It walked towards me slowly. The closer it got, the more I realized it was shaking. I squinted to get a better look. The sun had just started setting, so there was still a while before it got too dark. When I got a better look, I could see the whites of its eyes. That was the problem. I never seen that in a deer before. It got even closer before I could really see the eyes. They looked like the eyes of a person and its body was shaking like mad. When it exhaled, I couldn't see the condensation of its breaths. I got scared and clicked the safety off of my crossbow before aiming. Once the safety clicked, it slowly began the back off, but it was walking backwards, eyeing me the entire time. When it faded into the thicket, I pulled out my phone and messaged my dad about what had just happened. He told me that it was just that chronic wasting disease that was going around. Still, I couldn't help but look over my shoulder on my way back to the truck. On the drive back, we talked back and forth about what we saw throughout the day, hoping for better luck next time. I kept staring into the woodline on either side of the truck as we made our way down a narrow dirt road until he finally dropped me off at my apartment. I stayed awake for a few hours, ordered some pizza, and passed out. He went hunting again a few more times throughout the week, and I actually ended up shooting a nice doe that I took to his place for him the process. It was that next time I went out to that same blind that it really started. The sun was setting again, this time it was pretty dark, and I was about to pack it in when I heard snorting getting closer to the blind. The sound got so close that I could see the blind moving from the force of the breath on my right side. At first, I just thought maybe a deer was checking on the blind, so I stayed dead still. I watched as its snout slowly appeared from the window until I could see its face. It was facing forward, but its eyes were angled so hard that it was looking directly at me. It were those same human-like eyes from before, with drool pouring from its mouth. I freaked out and threw myself backwards while death gripping my crossbow. When I managed to crawl out of the blind, it was completely gone without a sound. I didn't even bother looking for tracks. I pulled out my phone and tried calling my dad, but my battery was completely dead to the point where it wouldn't even tell me if it was at zero when I pressed the power button. I wasted no time running for my life the moment I could get to my feet. I started running to the trail that led back to the truck. I'm not the most active person, so I was pretty winded after my first few seconds of running, but still managed to run every step of the way back to the truck. I didn't have any keys, so I just sat in the passenger seat until he came back. When he finally opened the door, I scared the life from his face when I shot up and immediately started, "We gotta go now!" He jumped a bit before he looked at me with a worried look. "Why, are you alright?" "No, I'm not alright. That weird deer is back and it almost got into the blind." He tossed his bag into the back and started the truck. "Alright, alright, just calm down and we'll be outta here." On the drive back, I explained exactly what happened, but he was still sure it was the disease. I knew there was something wrong with it, obviously, but when it stared at me with those eyes, it was like they were crazed, like it was about to do something to me. They were opened so wide that it looked like they were about to fall out of the sockets. He dropped me off at my apartment again. I was on edge the whole night and didn't plan on heading out again anytime soon. I left the lights on and sat in my bed while watching YouTube until I couldn't keep my eyes open and slowly drifted to sleep. After a couple of days went by and I hadn't gone back out since, but every night I felt like I wasn't alone in that apartment. I assumed that it was the fact that I was still spooked from what had happened the other day. But one night, two nights ago, a loud bang shook my room from where my kitchen is. It sounded like someone dropping a big sack of potatoes on to the floor with force. I was spooked as hell, but decided to check it out anyways, flipping every light switch on on my way there. When I got to the kitchen, I didn't notice anything at first until I started looking around at the floor. There were a few apples, sliced in halves, in a small pile in the center of the kitchen floor. My brain was rolling through what it could have possibly been when I realized they were the exact apples that I cut up a week ago and tossed in front of my blind. The moment I realized what it was, I heard a scratchy noise behind me, like when a dog runs on a hard floor. I turned around expecting something to be running at me, causing me to fall backwards and into the counter. There was nothing there, but I knew something was in there with me. I was way too scared to sleep, so I called David, a friend of mine. Then I asked him if I could come stay at his place for the night since my parents lived pretty far away. I explained everything that had happened and understood why I was so spooked. He let me sleep on his couch for the night, and instead of going home the next day, we hung out and played some playstation until later in the night when we were ready to go to bed again. We shut the lights off and were about to call it a night before he walked back out, pale as a ghost and said, "Bro, please tell me this is just a big joke," while holding a few sliced apples in his hands. This was only a few hours ago and we have no idea what the hell is going on. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand, and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's Energy in Progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut's $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more, but something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar cheese, sticks, oven baked pastas, cinebon mini rolls, and that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local pizza hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included are eight-count boneless. I've always been a nature lover, but not quite enough for one to convince myself to trek off trail and set up camp. I'd always wanted to, but I have a paralyzing fear of being torn the shreds by a bear, despite living in a place where the scariest animal alive is the fat and happy dumpster diving squirrel that lives on my street. I call him Stan. He hates me. My resolve to never venture into the woods overnight remained intact until the day I got dumped. I wasted seven years of my life with someone who ended up boinking my best friend, and I was so delusional that I didn't even figure it out. She ended things with me. She confessed to me and admitted that she didn't even feel at least bit bad about what she had done. I sure felt like crap, though, and wandered home with no idea what to do next. During my walk, thunderclouds rolled in, billowing in black, threatening to unleash torrents of water at any given moment. The first drop smacked me in the eyeballs as I stared up at the sky. I ducked under the eaves of a nearby business right as sheets of rain plummeted to the earth. What a crap day, I thought to myself, contemplating my situation. I knew I didn't have time to be too existential. I had to make a decision. Stay or run. Opting for the latter, I tried the shimmy my sweatshirt over my head and took off to a full sprint, getting soaked to the bone before finally reaching my flat. Once inside, the toasty air washed over me. I changed out of my saturated clothes and took a scalding shower. While towel drying my hair, I noticed them. My hiking boots, still in the box, forgotten in the corner of my messy room. I walked over to them and something clicked. I decided right then to finally take the leap and head out for a night to camp. Good decision making had never been my strong suit, as evidenced by the fact that I decided to go the next day, alone, with no time to pre-plan or even do the most basic research. Let alone break in my boots, something I'd come to regret. Like an idiot, I simply picked a path I knew of and decided the hike until I felt like setting up camp. I set out at 8am, gear packed and ready to go. I made my way to the trail which was a few hours north of my hometown, outside a desolate former mining town with very few residents nearby. I thought this would mean I'd have very few people to interact with during my trip, which was exactly what I thought I needed. My hike was overall uneventful. I stopped at times to admire the way the wind tickled the leaves on the trees. Listening to its merry whistle as it traveled at sensational speeds through the forest. Before long I managed to find a small flat clearing. The sun rays breaking through the thick foliage above, as if to a point and tell me I had found a perfect spot. After hours, many swears and multiple band-aids my tent was pitched, supplies unpacked and firewood gathered. I struggled to start the fire, but after a few attempts it roared the life just in time as the sun began its slow descent, the darkness encroaching. As my ability to rely on my vision waned, I began to pay close attention to the sounds of the forest. In at that point I realized, there weren't any noises apart from the cheerfully crackling fire. The wind had ceased whistling, no bugs could be heard chittering, no birds were chirping. How long had it been so silent? I wondered, suddenly shivering and noticing that the temperature must have dropped at least 10 or 15 degrees. Warmth radiating from the fire and hitting my cheeks but no longer enveloping me. Snap. My head whipped around, eyes strained to cut through the blackness and the direction of the jarring sound. My chest tightened, breath caught up in my throat as I stared into the void. A series of snaps came from behind me in quick secession, ceasing the moment my head turned to the noise, as if someone was playing red light green light as they approached my camp. I waited for the intruder to show themselves, but all that became visible was a wispy black fog that wafted gently towards me, silently cutting through the black fog. A hulking black figure emerged. As it neared the glow of the fire, it became apparent that this was no innocent visitor. Before me stood something that looked like a wolf, about 5 to 6 feet long, that slightly snarled and pulled back its lips to reveal menacing teeth, licking its lips while staring at me. But something was off. The animal's eyes glowed a crimson red, and the fire did not flicker within them. It saw nothing but its prey which, unfortunately, was me. I knew I could never outrun it and even if I wanted to, I was glued to my seat, completely complacent on the attack that was about to take place. But the animal didn't come any closer. Instead, black tendrils extended from the fog, tickling my nose before forcing their way up it, burning while continuing into my body. I could feel them tickling my throat, scratching my brain, tangling my stomach into an impossible knot. The edges of my vision began to turn black and I lost all sense of time, all memory of why or where I was. I was a shell, a means to an end for whatever nefarious deeds the fog wanted to inhabit my vessel for. I tell you all this because I awoke a few weeks ago on the side of a road, and those around me tell me it had been about 2 weeks since I had left home. They told me I had been missing. I was covered in dried red and brown stains. I had no recollection of what I had been doing all that time. The police are involved and I don't know what else to tell them. Ever since I returned home, people look at me funny as if I'm diseased. Even Stan the squirrel has scurried away the moment I encroach on his territory. He hides and I didn't even know squirrels could even do this, seems to snarl at me. If I thought he hated me before, he absolutely does now. I thought that the fog had left my body, but lately I find myself losing more and more moments. I'm terrified of what I may be doing during the time I lose and what I did during the weeks lost. I just wanted to go camping. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's Energy in Progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut's $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more. But something's off. I mean pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar cheese, sticks, oven, baked pastas, cinebon mini rolls, and that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local Pizza Hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included or eight count boneless. Every dog owner fears the day their dog runs off. For me, living in a small rural town, it was a break in. Some idiot high on narcotics and desperate for more drug money to feed his high. He smashed our living room window and blundered right into my dog Roscoe. Roscoe is a fully grown German shepherd and doesn't take kindly to intruders. By the time me and my wife had gotten downstairs, the man had stolen a purse and made off with more than a few injuries. The biggest problem? Roscoe was still chasing him. I took my double barrel shotgun and told my wife to stay and call the police. Then I took off after the two. The three of us ran clear across the entire farm and into the adjacent forest. One of the benefits of living in the middle of nowhere is that the nights are a lot clearer. Many nights I have spent gazing up at the stars and committing to walks in the bright moonlight. Tonight was not one of those nights. One of the downsides of living in the middle of nowhere is that when a new moon strikes with clouds in the sky, you can't see anything. In my haste, I had neglected to bring a flashlight. I had to rely on the sound of barking, running, and snapping twigs to get by. It wasn't enough. Pretty soon I had stumbled my way into being lost with only a vague direction to continue my pursuit. It was then I started to hear something else. A repeating click echoing through the trees. All the animals that made their kind of noise were asleep, and it was far too deep and powerful to be a bat. The sound was concerning, but nothing compared to what I heard next. Roscoe's barking started coming from two directions. It was unmistakably his voice. Both of them, but one was moving fast. Even with the trees in the way, I could tell this thing was moving at least as fast as a fully grown elk running through an open field. Roscoe started to respond, and after a quick back and forth, the panicked intruders started to catch on. I can't even imagine what his coked out brain was thinking at the time. Two dogs after a botched robbery? It was no surprise when he began the shout profanities, but those profanities were cut off almost immediately. There was no scream, just a crack, and silence. My dog had a very different reaction. His aggressive barks had turned fearful, but Roscoe too went quiet after a yelp and a thud. As for me, I was angry. I don't know what the hell was going on, but I do know that something hit my dog. It didn't matter if it was a bear out for a late night snack, or a windigo, I was going to pump that sucker full of lead and get Roscoe home. I burst onto the scene, screaming absurdities and threats that would have made my local church bar me from entry. No bodies, no sign alive. Nothing but a giant splatter of blood covering an entire tree trunk. I continued. In hindsight, I must have looked like a chicken with its head cut off with how furiously and randomly I was bounding around, but I was on a mission, and there wasn't anything that could stop me, or so I thought. The thing must have been at least 12 feet tall, six massive clawed limbs, two legs and four arms, an exoskeleton as white as snow, and a singular mass of eye as black as night. Organs of unknown purpose were embedded into the horn-like growths on the side of its head, a mesh of flesh that made me want to vomit. Tripophobia, I think the term is. Right below it all was a big maw of needle-like teeth. Yeah, I froze. So did it. And then I decided that blowing the demon's spawn's head off was the right play. Nothing on this earth moved so fast. My trigger's finger was barely twitched before the thing had jumped up into the trees. I discharged at the leaves, then tried to pin the thing down. I think the most frightening part about this encounter was the lack of sound. I have absolutely no idea how something that big could whirl between trees and barely even bend them. It was like I was trying to shoot a ghost, and pretty soon, the remaining shot I had acted like I had hit one too. I swear I unloaded my buckshot straight into its chest. The thing had landed behind me and I had turned around. Darn thing didn't even flinch. I knew then that this all was theatrics. A statement. I couldn't do anything to it, and it could do everything to me. There's nothing like being that powerless, but I didn't get to feel fear for very long. I turned to run and everything went black. When I came to, it was the smell of a wet dog. Roscoe was cuddled up right next to me looking like he had taken a dip in a lake. I threw my arms around him. He licked my face, and then we took a look around the cave we had found ourselves in. The first thing I took note of was the thief, or at least what remained of him. Blood covered the stone slab he had been placed on. His right leg and arm, along with the good portion of his torso, had been ripped off clean. The severed limbs had been placed back in their correct orientations, as if there had been an attempt to place him back together. But the man was clearly dead. I could only hope it was instant. Probably was. The second thing, of course, was the alien. I can't for the life of me figure out why, but it was just hanging above me. Its body spread out over the entire cave ceiling. With the daylight now pouring in, I could see it facing down, watching me without a hint of motion on its end. We just laid there, myself on the ground and it on the ceiling, staring at each other for what had to be at least 10 minutes. I got a good look at the thing in that time. One of the most striking features of this creature was its shell carvings. I couldn't see them in the panic state that I'd been in, but now the alien symbols and pictographs were laid bare. There were two that struck out to me. One of an alien and ceremonial robes anointing another of its kind in a backdrop of blazing fire. The other? A human riding a dog the size of a horse and taunting a lever action shotgun? No, I have no idea. After an eternity of wondering if the thing was conducting some alien mating ritual, it finally moved from its statue-like state. Its mouth said something, a long sentence. I could only pick out a few words. The, bargain, death, heresy. The kind of words that could shake a man to his very soul, far from reassuring. What confused me more, however, is that there was clearly other human languages dotted throughout. I could tell the alien spoke with a confident fluency. But what he was saying was a patchwork of foreign and understandable words. Variable word spam, if you will. I just asked what the actual hell it was in return. After a bit of back and forth, the alien caught on to what I was saying, and in a perfect mimicry of my own voice, mused about me only using one aspect of human common. It then apologized for the thief's death, stating that it was used to humans being more sturdy. I had no idea what to say, but it didn't seem to want me to say anything. It slowly climbed down from its perch, never breaking eye contact as it did so. The alien cleared up who the intruder had been, clearly making sure he hadn't been a friend of mine, before asking me a favor. Keep people from snooping around. Apparently it had deduced I was some kind of random Joe, it didn't see a point in being hostile. It would let me go as long as I promised to dissuade people from poking about in its territory, while it acclimated to Old Earth. Yeah, Old Earth. See no other option, and wholly incentivized to not let anyone near this thing. I agreed. The alien reached across the cave with its long arms, and picked up my wife's purse from behind the stone slab. I noticed it was speckled with blood and dirt as it was dropped into my lap. Roscoe smelled it, seemingly not even bothered by the giant in front of us. The specter said that it had been told long ago that warm water and dish soap could do the trick. Then sent me on my way. When I got back I learned pretty fast that a good nine hours had passed since I had run off into the forest. I told the police that I had shot a guy but he had gotten away, dropping the bag in the scuffle. Then we both had encountered a late-night bear. Yeah, it raised some eyebrows, but it worked for the time being. My wife knew better of course. That woman could always tell when I was spouting malarkey. I just don't know how to tell her there's an alien living in the woods. It sounds nuts. It really put a healthy dose of concern in her mind, and now I can't get away from the questions. Roscoe is just going on like nothing happened. You'd think with someone breaking into our home he'd be a bit more alert, but no. He's completely aloof to an unnatural degree in the bag. Oh, the bag. I watched the thing, wanted to do it personally, partly as an apology to the Mrs. It had a note inside. Call me heresy. It was scrawled in perfect cursive. Now when I look out into that forest I can't help but feel like hercy is staring back at me. I got every question in the world and no answers. If I try to tell the government, I'll be labeled as a crazy. If they believe me, they'll get ripped the shreds before I meet the same fate. If I try, don't do my newly found job. I go missing. If I post about it on the internet, well, I don't know. I guess I'm looking for advice from strangers who don't even know me. All the locals. I care if they think I'm crazy. You guys? Not so much. So tell me, what the actual hell am I supposed to do here? We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy in progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more. But something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar, cheese, sticks, oven, big pastas, cinebon mini rolls. And that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local pizza hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included are eight count boneless. I have always enjoyed walking in the woods and camping and particularly enjoy the solitude and the fresh air. On most trips, nothing noteworthy beyond seeing some majestic deer ever happens, with one exception. Last year, I was on a solo camping trip in New England. I was in an area I had never been to before and exploring a new place was a great joy. My plan was to hike a few miles into the woods and spend the next few days camping out near a mountain lake. On my first night, all went well, and I was really enjoying myself. The next morning, I took a swim in the lake because it was during the summer. When I am solo camping, I like to go out of the way of places to avoid seeing other people. And I was pleasantly enjoying this area because although I thought I might see other people here, there was no sign of anybody. When I go camping, I always bring a small musical instrument with me. This time, I brought with me a harmonica. At the time, I was still learning how to play, but I enjoyed the sound and being that it was so lightweight, I thought this would be a perfect fit. As I sat by the fire on the second night, I took out my harmonica and started to play a little tune. Just going with what sounded good, I made up a little melody. I was playing my new melody for about 15 or 20 minutes, and then decided to take a break. When I stopped playing, I heard something way off in the distance. This was not alarming. I was in the woods at night, so hearing animals move about was normal. After a short while, I decided to play my melody again. As I was playing, I could again hear a noise in the distance, but this time I could tell it was closer. I thought it was probably a deer or some squirrels messing about and put it out of my mind. It was at this time I decided to call it a night. On the third day, I decided I was going to take a long walk. I had scouted out this area on a map before I went, and I knew there was a waterfall not too far away. In a smaller day bag, I packed a lunch, some water, and my harmonica then headed out. It took me two or three hours to reach the waterfall, but it was worth it because of how beautiful it was. I was glad that I brought some food with me because I climbed to the top and enjoyed a long lunch taken in the view. After eating, I thought it would have been a great time to practice the melody that I had came up with the night before. As soon as I started to play, I could hear, not too far away from me, another instrument playing along with me. The sound of someone playing with me was alarming so I stopped, and when I stopped, the accompanying sound also stopped. I stood up and I was looking around to try to see who had been playing with me, but I couldn't see anybody. I called out. "Hello? Is anybody there?" I heard no response. At the time, I thought that maybe I had imagined the sound. I sat back down and started to play again, but when I started playing, I could hear it again. Someone was playing with me. A chill ran down my spine. I knew I was not imagining this. Once again, I stopped, and the sound also stopped. I knew something was out there, listening, and maybe even watching me, although I couldn't see anything. At that point, I was afraid and thought I should head back to my campsite, and maybe even head home. I packed my stuff up and headed back to my camp. As I made my long walk back, I was starting to feel more afraid, but I just kept walking. At some point, I thought I might have been going the wrong way because I wasn't recognizing anything, even though I was sure I was heading back the way that I had just gone to to get to the waterfall earlier that morning. Knowing at the time the only way out of the woods was to carry on. I kept walking. Soon, I reached a clearing. A clearing I had not been in before. I was lost. I decided to sit and rest in the clearing for a bit to try and clear my head, and figure out what I was going to do. I wanted to know if what I had heard before was following me so I took out my harmonica and started playing the melody. As soon as it started playing, I could hear what I could only describe as a flute-like instrument playing along with me. I kept playing and started to look around, although I could not see anything. I could hear the sound getting closer and closer. I was terrified now, lost, and alone. I wanted to know who was following me so I kept playing. Soon, I caught sight of what was playing the flute. From out of the darkness of the woods came a huge lumbering creature. I could not believe my eyes. As I played, it played and slowly moved closer. It had antlers like a deer and its body was covered in rotting leaves and other plant material. It looked like it had six long, skinny legs that were struggling to hold up its weight as it slowly shuffled towards me. I was paralyzed with fear, but I could not stop playing. This creature was bobbling from left to right and back while taking small steps as it did, although wow, we were both still playing this melody now more hauntingly than ever. This creature was within a few yards from me now, and I still could not see its face. Hanging from its giant head were a bunch of long, hardened vines. I knew it had to be its face because its arms were holding the flute there. The creature had a nasty putrid smell to it. Its arms were fleshy, but covered in sores and scabs. The flute was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and it was making a raspy noise more akin to a dying rabbit than a normal flute. Finally, I was able to stop playing, but I could still not move when I stopped. It also stopped. We just stood there staring at each other for what seemed like hours, although it was probably just a few seconds. And then I heard the creature speak. It said in a low rumbling voice, "Are you not afraid, little one?" More terrified than I ever been in my entire life, I couldn't summon a single word. After a few silent moments again, it spoke. "What are you doing in my forest?" I wanted the run and get the heck out of there, but my feet wouldn't move no matter how hard I tried. Finally, I squeaked out a mousie and frightened, camping. The enormous beast leaned to one side to reveal one of its giant eyes peering out from behind all the blackened vines. It felt like it was staring into my soul. After another few silent moments, it spoke again. "How were you making those sounds?" I was in complete shock that it had not squished me like a bug. I closely reached into my pocket and pulled out my harmonica. The creature made a low rumbling sound and grumbled. "How does it work?" I put it to my mouth and gave it a long blow. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand, and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen, tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut's $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more. But something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar cheese, sticks, oven, baked pastas, cinebon mini rolls. And that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local Pizza Hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included or eight count boneless. As I bellowed into the harmonica, it shifted its immense weight back and brought its flute back up to its mouth and started to play along. I began playing my melody again, and it started to play with me. There we stood in the clearing, playing together. I was still terrified, but I was also becoming very curious what this creature was, and why it was so enthralled with my song. As we played, it swayed back and forth, and with each step, I could feel the ground rumble beneath my feet. Whatever this creature was, it could kill me with one motion of its enormous body. But it didn't. Eventually, the creature stopped playing, so I stopped playing. Once again, the creature leaned to one side and peered out at me with its huge, crazy eye and said, "I would like to propose a trade." I stood there quietly, knowing this was it. It was going to ask for my life or my soul or the blood of my firstborn child, and then it was going to kill me. It continued in a low and gurgly voice. "I will trade you mine for yours." I could not accurately describe what I was feeling in that moment. I was still terrified when waves of shock and surprise also washed over me. It extended its giant hand, holding its twisted and ancient-looking flute towards me, thinking it would surely kill me if I had refused. I also extended my harmonica towards it. As it put its flute onto the ground in front of me, it reached out and took the harmonica from my hand, and slowly started to back away. It sounded like a falling tree, the creaking and cracking of wood. As it was slowly lumbering away from me, it started to play the harmonica. It was playing my song, the melody I had made up the night before sitting by the campfire. "Once it made it to the tree line, I heard its deep haunting voice one last time." "Go on, little one. Take the flute and leave my woods. Your camp is just beyond the trees." That was the point I felt like I could move again. I bent down and picked up the flute. It was huge. The flute, if that's what you would call it, was as long as I was tall. Compared to me, it was more like a walking stick than a musical instrument. I turned around and ran away. As I ran, I could hear the creature playing my harmonica as it slowly made its way back into the forest. The sound was haunting, but became more and more faint. Out of fear, I just ran and ran. I didn't know if I was even heading in the right direction, but I ran. Soon, I could no longer hear the harmonica and I was back at my camp. I did not stop to pack up my things. I simply kept running. Now that I knew where I was, I was heading for my car and I was getting out of there as fast as I could. Only once was I in my car and driving away, did I realize I was still in possession of the enormous ancient-looking flute. It was dirty and smelled horrible. When I arrived home, I sat in my car for a long while trying to comprehend what had happened. I could not have imagined it. I had this enormous flute. What was that creature? Would it find me to reclaim its flute? I was exhausted, dirty, covered in sweat, and I just wanted to go inside. But what was I supposed to do with the flute? It was the only evidence I had that this had happened. Eventually, I decided to go inside bringing the flute with me. I brought it to my living room and cleared off the mantle above the fireplace. After that day, I decided I would not go camping again. I had never gone back to that forest. On some nights when I am by myself, I would stare at the fire and hit the flute for hours. And when I did, I could swear I could hear the faint haunting sound of my old harmonica playing my campfire melody. Ever since I met the creature in the woods, I have haunting dreams where I could see the creature as he played his flute. About two months after that day in the woods, I awoke to a commotion from the living room. I sprang up out of bed and my living room was wrecked. My first thought was that I had been robbed. That's when I noticed the same foul smell of the creature and noticed that the flute was gone. All the fear of that day came flooding back. The creature knew how to find me. The back door of the house was open when I went to close it. I could hear the creature playing the campfire melody with his flute. It was coming from the other side of the yard. Although I couldn't see the creature, I knew he was there, here in my house. I should have never have taken that flute with me. When I cleaned up the living room, I did not find the harmonica. I am scared the creature will come back for me. I live in fear every day and still dream about the creature, almost, every night. Well, it sounds like the tenants hit your rental property sure know how to throw a great party. You just wish they wouldn't throw so many parties on Tuesdays until 4am. And if they could pay the rent on time, that would be nice too. Being a landlord can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be. Let renters warehouse handle the hard part of property management for you, like finding quality tenants you can trust. 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