Psychic Drawings and Sasquatch Sightings

FYI: The following story is one hundred percent true. It is NOT made up. It ACTUALLY happened. And believe me, it was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY spooky. If you're easily scared, please - TURN BACK NOW!!! This incident scared me to death for years after it happened. I'm still not sure I'm over it... But in the interest of winning a Stupid Twilight T-Shirt as a possible prize for CTD's Spook-A-Rama, I decided reliving it this once was a risk I would just have to take.

I was born and raised in Bigfoot country. (I KNOW! It's scary already!) For those of you somehow unaware of the more familiar term (Bigfoot), the scientific name would be Sasquatch. That's right, big, hairy, telepathic, but extremely shy, man-like creatures who leave gigantic footprints, seen by hundreds, yet still discredited by the rest. But believe me people, they are real. I've seen one (sort of), and that's what this story is about.

Generally speaking, my family is big on Bigfoot believing. If you don't believe me, check this out(this is supposed to be a link to Annie's Bigfoot post, but I can't get it. I'll update it tomorrow - sorry). This may seem strange to those of you non-Bigfoot-country-dwellers, but trust me when I say around here, we're normal. Everyone (especially grade schoolers) believes.

Now, back to my story.

I was in second grade. I was at my friend Lisa's house. Tired of making paper airplanes and taping grasshoppers to them (as the pilot, co-pilot, and passengers, of course), we wandered inside where our two older sisters were hanging out.

They were watching TV. The news was on. THERE HAD BEEN A BIGFOOT SIGHTING!!!!

WOW. We were totally into it. Within moments, Lisa's older sister's VERY active imagination was working over time, and she was using her psychic abilities to sketch a picture of Bigfoot.

She had her eyes closed while she sketched. It was VERY convincing.

Then she let us in on the big secret. Bigfoot lived on the hill behind their house.

Yep. That's right. You know that logging road we were supposed to stay away from? The one never used, and all grown over? It wasn't the transients and drug dealers our parents were worried about - IT WAS BIGFOOT!

Whoa. The idea was so intense Lisa and I had to get out of there. We went back outside. Our grasshoppers were dead. There was nothing to do. Until Lisa conceived her brilliant plan.

"I bet if we go up there we'll see Bigfoot."

Chills ran down my spine. I immediately pictured the hairy beast from the psychic drawing. I was terrified. I was chicken. I was seven. I wanted to go home.

"Yeah," I replied noncommittally.

"Well, come on then - no one's looking, let's go!" And before I could back out she was headed for the logging road.

I almost peed my pants, but I followed.

The main road came to a dead end just past Lisa's driveway, and turned into the old logging road. As noted, it was all grown over, and led straight up into the hills behind the girls' house. As we headed up the path, we were soon surrounded by the dense brush and trees that quickly fill any open spaces on the Washington Peninsula. Tall trees bordered the old road, and sunlight trickled down through the green canopy.

Did I mention I was terrified?

As we walked, Lisa kept up a rambling monologue about Bigfoot, and everything she knew about them. We were getting farther up the road. Farther from safety. We went round a bend, and looking back I couldn't even see where the main road started. I tried not to panic.

Then we saw the stump.

It was small. It was right on the side of the road. IT WAS CHARRED.

Yes, it had obviously been blackened by some kind of sinister fire, and as soon as we spotted it Lisa grabbed my arm and jumped back, pulling me away from the stump.

"Oh my gosh! Look at that stump - this is not good."

"Yeah?" I replied, trying to control the urge to run screaming down the trail.

"Wait. I better check..." she muttered, creeping closer to the stump with an outstretched hand.

"OH MY GOSH!!!" She yelled, jumping back the moment her fingertips made contact, "It's still hot! Do you know what this means?" she asked, looking at my terrified face with expectant authority.

"What?"

"Bigfoot. Don't you know they breath fire? One was JUST here. IT BURNED THIS STUMP," she continued, looking quickly into the trees surrounding us. "It could still be right here..."

She continued walking. Having no brain, I continued to follow.

We went about ten yards farther, when she stopped abruptly, eyes wide, frantically sniffing the air. She grabbed my arm again and said, "Do you smell that?" while continuing to sniff as hard as she could.

I sniffed. I SWORE I smelled something... I just didn't know what.

"Yeah," I replied, waiting to be told what it was I was smelling.

"It smells just like rotten fish and garbage - do you know what that means?" she asked me, eyes wide with both excitement and terror. "That's what Bigfoot smells like. We've got to be close."

Before I could gather my wits to make another intelligent response, she gripped my arm tighter, and swung us around. "Did you hear that?" she whispered, her eyes darting all around, peering as far into the trees surrounding us as possible. Standing in complete silence for several moments, we listened to the forest around us.

There was creaking, and snapping (I swear), and the breeze was moaning through the treetops. This ominous sound drew Lisa's attention, and tightening her grasp on my arm (like that was even possible at this point), and clutching me in genuine terror, she pointed into the treetops.

"There! Up there! He's in the trees!" she cried, literally screaming in my ear.

"Where?!" I yelled, half sobbing, knees shaking, as I gazed up into the trees above me. It was all leaves, and dark, and light, as the bright sun cut its way through the canopy of the trees. It was impossible to make out any distinct shapes as the trees moved with the breeze, swaying and moaning and creaking like tall scary monsters.

"Why would he be in the trees?" I yelled back - finally coming up with something half intelligent to say in the midst of my terror.

"Don't you know that Bigfoot can fly?" and then, before I could digest this last comment, "OH MY GOSH, THERE HE IS!"

"WHERE?!"

"THERE! Can you see him?" She asked, pointing madly into the treetops. My heart was pounding wildly. My mouth was so dry I could hardly swallow. Almost out of my mind with fright, I followed her gaze into the dazzling light of filtered afternoon sun. So many shapes were forming and morphing as the trees moved this way and that, I didn't know where to look or what I was seeing.

"Over there! Over there," she yelled, practically crying herself, "Can you see him, CAN YOU SEE HIM???!!!!"

"I SEE HIM!" I yelled back, and without another thought we ran screaming, pel mel, as fast as our seven year old legs could carry us, back down the old road, past the stump, around the bend, and were both sobbing by the time we hit the pavement. We ran into the house and stumbled over each other relating our Bigfoot sighting to our sisters, who sat in rapt attention absorbing every word.

"I knew it," Lisa's sister said meaningfully when we finished. "That picture was a sign. You saw the Sasquatch I drew."

It was a solemn moment as we took this in. We had witnessed both Bigfoot, and Lisa's sister's psychic abilities in the space of an hour.

What a day.

And I've been a true believer ever since.