Eyes

“Oh my god, it’s so dark. I told you we should have started heading back sooner.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. We’re almost back to camp. It should only be a little bit further.”

“I swear to god, if one of us doesn’t…”

CRACK

The two friends stop dead in their tracks. The trees seem to loom over them, closing in and blocking any shred of moonlight from above.

“What was that?” She whispers making sure to stay as quiet as possible. “I’m sure it was nothing, let's just keep going.” He hushes back attempting desperately to quell his own growing anxiety. He starts moving forward again, realizing quickly that he can't see more than a few feet in front of him. Even with his head lamp and flash light in hand, the dark is particularly consuming tonight. He knew they still had a good bit of hiking left to do and they were supposed to be back hours ago. It was becoming increasingly hard for him to ignore the pit in his stomach. Usually such a confident and prepared hiker but tonight was different. The black void in front of him was getting to his senses and infecting his thoughts. He knew she was right, they had been running late earlier in the day, and while she suggested they start their journey back, he wanted to stay a bit longer at the peak to soak in the gorgeous summit that they had been planning all month to come see, thinking nothing of it. He knows these woods, it’ll be fine if they're still on the trail a little bit after sun down, nothing he hasn’t done in the past. Well the sun is most certainly down and he’s having a hard time finding that same nonchalant attitude he had before.

Another loud CRACK to his left and the hair on the back of his neck stands straight up with goose bumps running down his spine. As his heart rate begins to pick up, his thoughts begin to spiral, this was supposed to be an easy trip. Up and back down the mountain. That's it. This doesn’t happen to me, I don’t get spooked by the dark, I know what I’m doing in the woods, how have I found myself like this. He thinks to himself as he tries to put on a tough face hoping if he looks it, he’ll start to feel it as well.

Reluctantly, he throws the light of his flashlight to the left almost flinching in anticipation for what they might see.

Eyes.

That’s all he can see. A pair of eyes looking him square in the face. His heart drops and his dread builds. After a moment she notices the eyes too and the three beasts stand still as statues, suspended in time as all are too afraid to move a muscle, worried about what might happen if they do. Cicadas, crickets, owls, bull frogs and other creatures of the forest chirp and hum like a terrified chorus singing a deafening cacophony that competes with the whooshing in his ears. Suddenly the vast forest with glorious landscapes that they had been exploring all day is suffocatingly small as the environment seemingly closes in around them leaving absolutely nothing else but them and the eyes. For a moment that's all that exists to him.

Is this the end? He thinks to himself, he can already picture the headlines. “Two hikers out too late after dark, brutally attacked by a giant forest beast of the night”. Are those eyes attached to some wild terrifying beast capable of ripping them both to shreds in an instant? Is it just another unfortunate hiker lost on their way back to camp after dark? Is it just a racoon? He really hopes it’s just a raccoon. But the fear in his bones clouds his ability to think, he can’t tell if the eyes are eight feet or two feet off the ground. Are they three yards away or only a couple of feet away? The unknown becomes increasingly paralyzing to him as his fear starts to wander off with his mind. His world gets tighter and tighter until it's just him and those eyes, everything and everyone outside fades away. He feels as though the beast on the other end of his flashlight is the box and he is Schrödinger's cat.

Is he dead?

Is he alive?

Nobody knows, he doesn't have any service and there aren't any other people around to his knowledge for at least another mile or two, at this moment he believes both life and death could be true at the same time for him and his friend. It’s quite a humbling realization to come to, only he and his friend would know of their demise until the sun rose again tomorrow morning and some unknowing passerby would stumble upon their unfortunate scene.

The eyes grow closer, and closer, and closer, and closer.

His heartbeat thumps louder, and louder, and louder, and louder.

Until finally, the light from his flashlight lands upon the face attached to those all encompassing eyes to reveal the wild beast's face. He shuts his eyes, not willing to witness the beast. He thinks for sure this is it, they never make it back to camp and are doomed to become just a tragic statistic.

Meowwww

“Oh my god I didn't know there were cats in the woods around here” She says, finally breaking the spell those eyes cast upon him. He opens his eyes and lets all the air off of his lungs, his muscles finally relax. He hadn’t even realized that he was holding his breath that whole time.

“Jesus Crist” He had always hated cats but this felt like a punch to the gut. “Camps up that way, it’s just a little bit further. Let's go.” He grumbles. The fear in his soul that sent tingling sparks down every nerve in his body is quickly replaced by red cheeks and a deep embarrassment. He starts to stump down the trail trying to shake off the immense dread he was just holding. The forest feels open again, and he’s desperately searching in his mind for that confident hiker he was before the eyes.

“No way, that cat really had you startled huh.” She cackles as she follows close behind him. “I’ve never seen you that pale before, I told you we should’ve left earlier.”

He rolls his eyes, picking up his pace.