The Forest in Appalachia Remembered Her Face and Followed Her Home

Something in the Tree Line

Harper tried to shake it: the deer, Mike’s mirror, and the thing on Route 19. But a week later, she drove past a wooded stretch near her apartment and saw something standing in the trees. It wasn’t moving, and it looked too tall, too wrong. Its silhouette didn’t match anything she knew; it was too narrow up top and too wide at the knees.

When she glanced back, it was gone. That night, the trees outside her window drew closer. She pulled the blinds. The next morning, there were muddy prints on her porch: bare feet, huge, toes too long. She called Mike. He picked up this time. “I think it followed us,” she whispered.

More in Trending