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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/CraneofElegance on 2024-09-19 20:06:03+00:00.
I’ve been a firewatch for 8 years. Well, had been. An incident involving myself and the previous summer has caused me to search for another profession. The only reason I ever even started the job was because I’d flunked out of college senior year. I’d been a good student before then, not perfect but good enough. Then I just… lost the spark. It was an unceremonious death of joy for learning. I didn’t have much desire to go back to school, not that my budget would allow it anyway. That was when I saw a flyer on a bulletin board at my bank, “Firewatches needed for Dogwood National Forest” it said. Dogwood was the national forest near our town. It should only be about 20 miles as the crow flies, but the winds make it an arduous hour long trip. Being situated in a dry, southern part of the States, the demand for lookouts was even higher. Not that the job required much skill, mind you: Just a pair of eyes and an attention span longer than five seconds. The pay wasn’t incredible, but definitely better than flipping burgers at a chain restaurant or anything else I was gonna get with just a diploma.
That small insignificant event completely changed the course of my life. My first year or so there were growing pains, but nothing that I wasn’t able to adjust to. When your only source of solace is your own thoughts and the occasional speech from a radio, you have to do some major restructuring to how you think. My lookout tower is one of the tallest in the forest, over 120 feet in the air. Dogwood consists of two valleys, and I just so happen to be at the bottom of one of them. To be able to see the tops of the hills, the state had to make mine much taller than normal. This meant that I had to get over my fear of heights quickly, and that getting up and down the tower was not a simple affair. The only times it was even safe to leave was during temperate conditions when the wind wasn’t as strong, otherwise I’d risk falling over the old wooden railing. To pile onto that, my only source of food was weekly caches of whatever the cheapest non-perishables they could find. My meals usually consisted of a mixture of canned goods, bottled water, and silverware that I had to clean without soap. But, despite all those conditions, I just couldn’t get away from it. I’ve loved this job more than anything. Still do, but after what happened I just can’t go back.
It was a cool summer night, probably 10 or 11 o’clock. The rapid change in temperature that day had caused higher than usual winds. It’d be a long night on the tower with no chance to descend. After another meal of canned beans and white bread I popped a piece of Doublemint into my mouth to conceal the taste of my own breath. Chewing away at the gum I repositioned my chair to be in front of my desk, picking up the book kept open face down. The shortwave two-way radio that was kept so I could communicate with the station was able to pick up signals from anything tuned to the right frequency. Due to the large number of bears in the area, hikers were often advised to carry bear spray and a walkie-talkie or equivalent for emergencies. My frequency happened to be the lowest, so it meant that any occasional hiker we got would usually end up talking to me.
While doing my nightly routine of absent-mindedly chewing my gum while leaning against the desk with the latest book the station picked out for me, I heard the familiar sound of static from my radio. I snapped my head to it, listening in.“H-Hello? Is anyone there?”
A voice of a man, a young man. Probably college-aged by my guess. He spoke in a hushed tone, like he didn’t want someone to hear him. I set my book down, placing it to the side and shifting my chair to be in front of the radio.
“This is firewatch tower 13, what’s the problem?”“I-I was taking a hike through the woods when I saw something looking at me. I-I don’t know if it was an animal or something but I think it’s still following me.”
Again, that same tone, like he thought whatever animal was following him might know what he was saying. My first assumption jumped to a bear, if there was anything to begin with.
“Alright son, just stay calm, alright? Are you sure it’s still following you?”“Yes, I’m out here alone and I’ve been hearing something moving behind me for the past half an hour. Whenever I stop, the rustling stops and I hear this noise like… it’s growling. I don’t know.”
“Ok, now do you have any bear spray on you?”“No, I left it in my car.”
That would thin our options a bit, some of that and the problem would be sorted instantly. Thinking back now though, I don’t think the world’s supply would have saved him. I paused to think for a moment.
“Ok, now I want you to move at a quick and even pace. Try not to make any loud sounds or sudden movements. Do you know which trail you’re on?”“No, I couldn’t see my map in the dark and I think I veered off trail.”“Keep walking until you find a marked trail, when you do I need you to tell you what trail marker you see. I’m going to switch over to another line for a bit so I can tell the station your situation.”“O-ok…”He still spoke softly and with fear, but a little less, like he trusted me. Not that he had much of a choice. I quickly switched my radio frequency to my supervisor’s.
“This is tower 13, we’ve got a 10-83 in the South side of the valley. Possibly a grizzly or other large species.”“Tower 13, can you be more specific on the location of the emergency?”“He doesn’t know, said he couldn’t read his map. I told him to walk to the nearest trail marker.”“Keep us updated, I’ll send out a search party but don’t expect much until we have a more definitive location.”
I quickly switched back to the frequency of the hiker, praying that nothing had happened in the brief time he was isolated from any other soul on earth.
“Hey buddy, you still with me?”A few seconds of silence.
“Yeah, I-I think I found a trail marker.”“Ok, now I know this is scary but just stay with me. Can you describe the marker?”
“Yeah, it’s a pair of orange triangles joined at the corner.”He was on the Pikehead trail, the longest trail in the forest which also happened to be nearly a mile from my tower.
“Okay, just hold on a second, I’m gonna tell the station where you are. Keep on the trail and make sure you don’t make any loud sounds or shine your flashlight directly at the bear.”“Ok.”
I switched the frequency again, quickly switching back and forth on the small, worn out dial like a helmsman keeping direction on a boat.
“This is tower 13, the 10-83 is on Pikehead trail. Repeat, Pikehead trail.”“Alright, I’ll let the search team know. Is he doing okay?”“Yeah, mostly just shaken up. Poor kid’s probably never been hiking at night before by the sounds of it. Most likely just nothing, but better to be safe.”
“Let me know if anything changes, just keep-”
With that, the small lights inside my tower flickered out. The generator had probably kicked out, as it tended to do. I muttered a few curses to myself, standing up and walking around to the end of the balcony. There lay my only power source for miles, powered by a stream of gas that was replenished bimonthly. I pulled the cord with force, the howling wind piercing my ears. I only got a loud whirring for my troubles that quickly died out. The generator receives a firm kick then another pull. Still nothing. My mind starts to flash with images of the young man, his corpse torn to ribbons by a wild animal because my generator won’t start. Another firm kick, another pull. Nothing again. I almost heard the sound of his scream in my mind, begging to God for mercy as he’s eviscerated by some unholy beast. With an even mightier tug I pulled the generator’s cord, this time springing to life with a whirring that simultaneously pierced the incessant screech of the wind and steadied my heartbeat. I sighed in relief, nearly crying.
I quickly ran back to the radio, flipping on the switches and turning the dial to the hiker’s frequency. It’s just as the radio finished coming to life that I made a grim realization. I had left him alone without a lifeline for at least 5 minutes, what could have happened in that time? Why had I told him to find a trail marker? What if he had stayed put and made an easy meal, or startled the thing into attacking him? The relief from earlier had shown itself to be short lived. I hadn’t even gotten his name, this anonymous hiker would be dead because of me. I squeeze my eyes shut in anxiety and speak into the radio.
“You still with me?”
Instead of silence, I was almost immediately given a flurry of noises. It sounded like crunching leaves and twigs, along with heavy breathing. The man’s voice was far more desperate now, a long way from the hushed silence just a few minutes ago.
“Where were you? I-I think it found me again, I can hear that rustling through the branches. I can’t see it but I know it’s there.”From here my mind kicked into high gear. I needed a new solution and fast. His location was changing so rapidly that the search team would never find him, and he didn’t have much time if there was something predatory behind him.
“I’m gonna turn on my tower’s floodlights, if you can see them I want you to run in that direction. I have to warn you though, I don’t have enough power to keep the lights and my radio on at the same time, so I won’t be able to guide you.”
“Ok ok, just get me out of here please!”
The pace of his running increased, his breath getting lo...
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