a few years ago on a warm summer day, around 6 pm, i decided to hop on my bike and explore a track of land within a few miles of my home here in sanford. i had used google earth prior to the ride to "virtually explore" this landscape. i couldn't help but notice some very oddly shaped formations, or possibly shadows, with no roads leading to them on the computer screen. i was instantly excited. i had a general idea of where i wanted to go, filled up my water bottle and off i went into this backyard exploration.
as pedaled down the road, humming some old rentals "friends of P" i couldn't help but feel a strange vibe of solitude and silence as there were no cars on the road, no old men out mowing grass, no birds chirping, nothing. "maybe it's an old house and i can find a sweet old mesh trucker hat in there" i thought.
the road to this piece of land is gravel. it has no houses on it and legend has it that the bridge close to the end of this road is inhabited by a troll by the name of ogamoga. the story says that if you drive to this bridge at midnight, park in the middle of the bridge, and turn off all your lights that the troll will come out and leave a sacrifice in front of your vehicle. i wasn't out looking for any trolls though, and it was far from midnight.
i cruised a road that went close to the "shadows" and then set off on foot. when you are on foot, in the middle of the woods, and you are all alone you can't help but feel somewhat helpless. all the horror movies you watched when you were in your teens pop into your head. the blair witch project in particular for me. you may have seen it, but there are a lot of people in this world who have never ventured into a big section of woods all alone. the feeling is somewhat surreal. anyways, back to the story.
i wondered around for maybe 45 minutes before i really noticed that the sun was starting to dip behind the pines. i was determined. i needed to see these google earth findings. another 15 minutes pass and i see something dark through the pine trees. as i approached this structure i had a very eery feeling overcome me. then i noticed there were old baby dolls half burried with strange things written on their foreheads everywhere, baby shoes thrown high into the trees, an old playground with a large noose hanging from the swing-set. i was immediately freaked out to say the least. "oh, it's just some redneck trying to scare people" i told myself. i held my ground and wanted to at least walk around the house and see all sides.
it was getting darker by the minute but i had the see this spread. a large center chimney stood tall even-though it was halfway crumbled. windows broken, rotten boards, typical stuff around any old house. i peered into a window, standing on a bucket and saw ripped off wallpaper, old pots and pans, dirty sheets half rotten, and a mirror with oddly shaped hand prints on it. no trucker hats though. as i rounded the backside of the house i saw something that gave me chills from head to toe. a giant eyeball carved into the old boards with something barely legible scratched under it. it said "we see you". as disturbing as this may sound the worst part was that it appeared to be freshly carved. no leaves were rustled below, no signs of movement here for quite some time. it was time to go. i quickly rounded the house and a giant crow flew out of one of the broken windows right in front of me. i fell down and the pine straw and nearly wet myself. i did a full blown sprint back to my bike and hit the road. "whew, that was effin' crazy" i said out loud.
at this point the sun was far below the tree tops and i was totally freaked out. there was still a little bit of dusk left. maybe enough time to haul ass home. darkness sucks. i knew i had an hour and a half ride home down a deserted gravel road that supposedly has a troll living on it. this didn't ease my already churned up mind in the least. but what comes next i was totally unprepared for.
as i am pedaling down this gravel road as fast as possible i hear something ahead. "oh geez, what next". i can vaguely see what looks like an older, extremely pale lady wearing a nice dress heading my way on a bike from around the 1950's. she never looks at me, just goes by me like i wasn't even there. her appearance was ghostly and her hair looked like grey spider webs or something. "did i just fall into a horror movie or what?" i thought. a couple minutes later a car approaches me from behind. it's two good ol' boys in a beat up pick-up drinking 24 oz budwiesers. they pull up beside me. "whatchudoin' riding a bicycle out here in the dark boy?" i didn't begin to tell them the whole story. i knew they would have thought this hippy kid was just out smokin' dope in the woods. i knew they would heckle me. however, i did think to ask them if they saw some old woman on a bicycle right before they came up on me. "nope. what the hell are you talkin' about man???" one responded. i knew he was going to say that.
they offered me a ride. i declined. i only had a few miles to go anyway. i knew this trip couldn't get any weirder.
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