Illustration by James Hagan
When a walk in the park turns dark, you get lumbered with a mark as stark as tree bark.
Anthony learned this lesson the hard way during a supposedly easy hike in Ringwood State Park. Over the years, Anthony had racked up a range of run-ins throughout his nationwide sylvan meanderings. His animal encounters included baleful bears, moody moose and even brushes with the partying type. He could spin enough yarns to fill a National Geographic magazine every which way.
The Montclair State University junior relished telling his tales around campus. He shared his stories with friends at the Student Center Cafeteria, the Hawk’s Nest or at Starbucks. Some of his peers deemed his anecdotes as tall as Bohn Hall. But most of them found his sagas stood out as singularly as Cole Hall.
And Anthony’s accounts often begot more buzz than the School of Media and Communications Building. Given that, it was hardly stunning that Anthony’s comrades often called him “Mr. Outdoors.”
Ultimately, the fact that Anthony welcomed the woods like Johnny Appleseed would make no fruity difference. That is because a bullet-biting ambush from the occult makes any valiant veteran gun-shy. How can you mount a defense against a thing you struggle to accept, much less fathom, let alone outfox?
Anthony’s day at Ringwood State Park began on a buoyant note with sunny skies and autumn’s palette in full burst. The university’s fall break presented the chance for a mid-week amble around Shepherd Lake.
Its proximity to Anthony’s hometown of Wanaque gave him a respite from campus life whenever needed.
For Anthony, the nearly two-mile trail was a cakewalk with multicolored icing. The easy-going hike was his chance to temporarily forget about his wayward student life. Lately, Anthony’s physics major had been sapping his sanity. His rigorous course load entailed an asteroid belt’s worth of vexing variables.
Anthony discovered that handling the material proved mind-racking. His mercurial math skills were subtracting from his work’s quality. And two of his professors’ divisive personalities were making mishaps multiply. Moreover, those calculation-crammed course assignments were dividing and conquering Anthony. Consequently, his liking for physics was losing momentum exponentially.
Even worse yet, the park visitor’s lark in nature was about to follow suit. He noticed trouble brewing barely 10 minutes after starting his mid-afternoon activity. Three ominous factors broke Anthony’s tranquil mood. First, the popular Shepherd Lake Loop was uncannily deserted. Secondly, the woods had gone pin-drop silent. Thirdly, and most harrowing, Anthony unshakably sensed that an eerie entity was watching him.
The twenty-something stopped and did a 360-degree scan of his surroundings. He saw nothing around him but the colorful canopy of fall. But the picturesque sight was never reassuring. Anthony instinctively knew that something was off. He thought to himself, “You don’t have to be Kojak to know this doesn’t look good at all.”
But what could possibly be putting Anthony on edge? The outdoors enthusiast had been at Lake Shepherd a million times before without incident. And now Anthony strove to answer his 64 million-dollar question. “What the hell’s going on?” he said loudly to himself.
Anthony felt solving the mystery was not just a job for Kojak. It seemed more like a mission for Adrian Monk.
And Anthony did not have to wait long to get more clues.
The lanky man continued along the trail around the lake’s east end. He began hearing the baleful bashing of bushwhacking. And the commotion seemed to follow him. Anthony kept glancing over his shoulder. For a couple of seconds, he spotted something moving on all fours. Nonetheless, the figure was too low and too fleeting to identify.
Anthony conjectured he was being dogged by some animal. He sighed with partial relief. Anthony figured this occurrence would only be just another woodland adventure. He would soon find out that misadventure would be a more appropriate word.
The junior continued following the path along Shepherd Lake’s north side. As he did, he heard the most unusual utterance ever. It was a five-second vocalization which sounded like a backwards-playing record. The oddity sent goosebumps of ghastliness galloping all over Anthony’s body.
The frightened hiker quickened his gait. His accelerated pace was matched by more thrashing in the nearby foliage. Anthony jerked his head to the right. He saw a big black furry mass still moving on its haunches.
At this point, Anthony assumed a brash bruin was stalking him for some reason. Then again, he told himself that the explanation does not make sense. Bears growl. They huff and they moan. They do jaw-pop. But they never utter anything like incoherent human speech. Like it or not, Anthony was forced to reckon that something highly atypical was afoot, literally.
The scared soul automatically knew he had to leave the area pronto. He started sprinting along Lake Shepherd’s north side. The mysterious phenomenon instantly matched Anthony’s stride. It violently agitated the surrounding vegetation, tossing fallen leaves and sticks left and right.
Right away, Anthony paused to get another look at the scary situation. As he turned towards the trees, his head was nearly scalped by a flying sapling. The uprooted growth sailed a mere couple of feet over his head. Anthony fell over backwards as he scrambled to hit the deck. He clawed his way back to his feet. What he witnessed next made him wish he had stayed hunkered down.
The pasty-faced hiker noticed that the thing on all fours had transformed into a bipedal creature. It stood eight feet tall with a bulging chest, drooping arms and hairy pitch-dark pelt. In a heartbeat, Anthony unzipped his backpack, fumbled for his smartphone and began to call 911.
For a split second, Anthony considered the risk of embarrassment he would take by calling emergency services. After all, there was the distinct chance the dispatcher would not buy his plea for help. For all practical purposes, Anthony knew he could be putting his foot in his mouth.
Then again, Anthony realized that the possibility did not matter. There was a bigger foot that, hands down, posed profound peril. And that foot would end up leaving the most searing imprint on Anthony’s memory for his entire life.
