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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/EmmaWatsonButDumber on 2024-09-16 20:31:01+00:00.
This is how the human mind works: when you're walking through a forest, you don't think too much.
You just let the silence surround you, feel the soft breeze and the branches crack under your feet. It's in our nature to yearn for such scenery - no matter how much we thrive in busy, concrete soaked cities, forests are always welcoming and refreshing to us. The air is clear and crisp, and daylight plays hide and seek through the tall branches. It's inspiring and beautiful.
Sometimes, though, as you walk on your path, your mind begins to focus on small things - noises, gusts of wind, shadows in the trees. Such silence can be both welcoming and unsettling - depends on how you view it. Forests are double-sided coins: they hide you away from the tiring city landscape, but expose you to another environment.
You're not in control anymore, because this is not your home.
You can lie to yourself and build a house there, but you don't belong in a forest. You're merely a visitor.
That's national parks for you: an illusion of being in control. The fake freedom you feel when you walk on those marked paths and camp in the square assigned to you, when you think the silence around you is peaceful, but even the silence is an illusion.
Visit a forest again: even when it's silent, is it, really?
It's not. Complete, absolute silence means death. Fear it.
My father taught me that.
He's a park ranger, and he's been doing this job since forever. I wasn't much of a fan of national parks, especially because most of the time there's no service and the hikes are killing me. I'd rather enjoy nature by swimming in a lake or skiing. Why break your legs to end up to a high point, just to see a random valley?
Not to mention the animals - they were everywhere, and the insects always got on my nerves. I never understood his love for the forest. I guess that was one of the reasons why he started telling me scary stories from his night shift. Looking back, they were obviously made up, but to younger me, they seemed believable. I used to think he was so brave for working the night shift.
As I got older, I got into horror and, even if I didn't believe in his forest creatures anymore, I still liked the idea of spending the night in a small cabin in the middle of nowhere, just for that dose of adrenaline. When my father said he wanted to take me with him, I accepted immediately.
I knew why he offered. See, over the past years, our relationship had taken a big hit. I guess I was growing up and he didn't know how to handle that. He'd become emotionally distant and seemed to repel any of my tries to open up to him. In return, I'd become uninterested and irritable. In the words of my mother, this would have been a fun way to bond, I guess.
We arrived at the park around 9PM. His shift started at 10PM and ended at 6AM. His Jeep pierced through the darkness and ventured into the woods - the headlights flashed the trees, turning them white against the black sky. I'd never been on this route but, again, my visits to the park were rare.
We drove for a while. Most of the time, people underestimate the size of national parks. It took us an hour and a half to get to the cabin, which wasn't even in the heart of the forest. I saw it, one single trace of humanity in the middle of nowhere: a tiny, wooden cabin with flickering lightbulbs and watchdogs.
Before we got out of the car, my father stopped me.
"Listen. There's some instructions you need to follow here. I know it might seem unimportant, but they're crucial."
Then, he handed me a piece of paper. A list of handwritten rules.
At first, they were ordinary: don't go out alone in the park, don't leave food out, etc. I thought the rest of the rules had been put there just to freak me out.
"Dad, I'm not twelve anymore. You can't freak me out with this shit."
"I'm not trying to. You wanted to come here with me, so act accordingly."
"What even is this? If you see a man without an arm, don't help him..."
"We have all kinds of weirdos around here."
"And this? If the whistling is near you, it means they're far?"
My father smiled, but his eyes didn't. "Some of these are added by superstitious fellas. It's more of a what-if. It's not gonna happen to you."
- Don't go out alone in the park. Always have a working contact device.
- Don't leave marked paths, unless instructed to and / or with proper equipment.
- Don't leave food out, and lock the trash bins.
- Always keep on the whistle and the badge.
- If you see a man without an arm, don't help him.
- Your family is not in here. Remember. There is no reason for you to hear their voices from outside.
- Lock your car doors, even when you are driving.
- Check the marks on the trees. There's only three types of marks, all triangles. Red, yellow and green. Other marks are not ours. Don't follow them.
- If the whistling is near you, it means they're far. If it's far away, it means they're near.
- Beware of Dead Blue.
"What is Dead Blue?" I asked.
My father sighed. "You know when you're out in the woods? When you think what you hear is silence, but you realize there's dozens of sounds around you, from birds to crickets to leaves rustling?"
"Yeah."
"That's because there's no such thing as silence. Absolute silence. Never. There's always sound. Movement. Life. Dead Blue is complete and utter silence. That's our... um, code name for it. Deaf inducing silence. Unnatural."
"Right. And when that happens..."
"It won't."
"But if it does?"
He paused, staring at the steering wheel. Then, his head turned to me. His eyes darted from mine to the window behind me. "You leave."
That being said, he got out of the car and I followed. The cabin was dusty and cramped - I couldn't understand how he could spend 8 hours in here. He had a small TV, but it wasn't working, a desk, and a minifridge. "You sit here all alone?" I asked.
"Yeah. Why, that freak you out?"
"Don't you get bored?"
"Martin's post is ten minutes away. Sometimes I just drive over. Nothing really happens out here anyway. My spot is pretty far from the campsites - I just have to patrol from time to time to make sure no one wanders off into the night, but that rarely happens. This is one of the wilder areas - less explored."
"You haven't explored it all?"
His eyes sparkled. "Wouldn't be possible."
"So you don't know what's out there?"
"That's the fun of it. You said you wanted adrenaline. There you go."
I nodded. He opened the minifridge and threw me some juice. Orange juice. I'd mentioned I liked this brand once, and he'd remembered.
Maybe our relationship wasn't so bad.
We sat next to each-other in the small cabin. Dad locked it.
"I'm not gonna lie to you, most of the time I just sleep. Literally nothing ever happens."
"So you really didn't see any creatures out there, like the ones you told me about when I was little?" I jokingly asked.
"The only creature out there is my manager, and I'd rather face a million cryptids than talk to him."
I laughed. I leaned in to look out the windows. "I can't see anything. Just my reflection."
"Want me to dim down the light?"
"Yeah."
He did, and darkness crept inside the tiny cabin. The woods became more prominent, more vivid. The light made by the moon was unbelievable, and the stars were actually visible, compared to the polluted city. The cabin was on a hill, propped up a tree, with a trap door and a ladder leading to our car. We could actually see above the tree line, into the valley.
We spent the first hours talking. Somewhere around midnight, I began dozing off. I didn't want to, but I caved in and fell asleep with my head on the desk.
He woke me up. I rubbed my eyes in confusion. "What time is it?"
"I got a call from Martin."
"Right. Who... was Martin?" I mumbled.
"The other one in the area. He says he got a call from the campsite, and someone's missing. We need to go search for him."
"We? As in us?"
"Yeah. You'll stay in the backseat. I'm on the phone with Martin right now."
I could hear Martin's muffled voice through the speaker. Wait, don't take the kid.
"Why not? He'll stay in the car."
Paul, it could be one of... those nights.
"We won't get out of the car."
You can't guarantee that.
"Well, I can't leave him here. Alone. In the dark."
A pause followed. Look, Paul, I understand you wanted to do a take your kid to work day, but I don't know about this one. It could be dangerous.
"We're literally just going to drive around for a bit. It's fine."
Leave him in the cabin.
Dad put his hand over one of the speakers, so I didn't understand what Martin told him. His eyes kept darting to the window behind me. He sighed. "Martin will come pick me up. You are staying here, locked. Turn the lights off and wait for me to return. It's gonna take a minute and you'll be safe here."
"What? I'm not staying here alone! What did Martin tell you to change your mind?"
"It doesn't matter. I'll return in maximum half an hour. You can go back to sleep if you want. Or I can call you and we can talk."
I was afraid. Truly afraid. I did not want to show it, especially after I'd complained that nothing interesting happened around there, so I reluctantly agreed. My dad opened the trapdoor and climbed down the ladder, then his face disappeared into the darkness.
I saw Martin's car pick him up and drive away.
Silence followed. I wished I'd been home, in my bed. Instead, I sat...
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