Well, those who know me know that I am -- if nothing else -- a man of reason and skepticism. That being said, there is only one incident in my life that still makes me shudder in that primal, scared-animal fashion when I think back upon it. While most people say there is some image that they will never forget, that they can't get out of their mind, for me it's a sound. No matter how hard I try I cannot forget the sound I heard that night.
It was pretty late, pretty close to 1:30 AM, and I had just left the Allison Lab on Auburn's campus after I finally got some bit of code finally working. Because of Auburn's ridiculous parking policy, I had been walking to and from my apartment which was about a 35 minutes away. It was mid-February, and a bit chilly, not too bad though since this is in the Deep South, so there was a bit of fog in the air. I was also a Tuesday night, so whole city was basically silent, even when I walked by Toomer's Corner (which has a couple of bars next to it, but they tended to close earlier). If you've been to Auburn (or really anywhere down south), you undoubtedly noticed because of the many overgrown trees that umbrella the street, the nights there get pretty damn dark. Because of this, I was in the habit of being very careful where I stepped as to not trip over the notoriously uneven sidewalks, so my focus pretty much on not breaking my ankle in middle of the night. Anyway, I had walked past Toomer's Corner and turned the corner into a residential area. It must have been a couple of blocks before I noticed that I heard a faint second set of steps crunching the leaves behind me.
I am sure many of you have been in the same situation, where you hear someone walking behind you, but don't want to be all conspicuous and turn around to see whose following you. I mean, I didn't want to seem like some paranoid crazy-ass, so I just pretended not to notice and kept walking, but now my full attention was on the steps behind me. I reached a small intersection, deserted of course, and hoped who ever was following me would turn off along the more populated street. For about a minute, I heard nothing. I was pretty relieved actually, and though myself to be quite silly for getting anxious. But then I heard them again, and I had to turn around now, appearances be dammed.
About thirty yards behind me was a small black boy, couldn't have been older than 8, wearing nothing but a pair of brown cloth shorts. As I said before this was the middle of February and pretty chilly out, so I was pretty &@#%ing surprised to a small, shirtless, shoeless kid out in middle of the night. He stopped when I turned around, so I figured he saw me, but he looked behind him and then started walking towards me again. I have to be honest I was a bit freaked out by know, I figured something terrible had happed somewhere and the kid needed help, but I just couldn't get my body or voice to do anything. I just stood there are watched him come toward me. When he was quite a bit closer, I could see him more clearly. His legs and feet were covered in red scratches and dried mud, and his shorts looked they were made of burlap of something. I also noticed that he was looking right through me, his eyes were focused on something far away, he seemed to be sleep walking or in a daze, but every once in a while he'd look behind him. When he was about ten yards away I finally got up enough courage and walked toward him asking if he needed any help. It was if I was never there, he didn't notice me at all, and didn't hear me. His expression never changed, just this blank look and walking forward. He walked right past me. At this point in time a lot of what happened next is a bit of a blur, as if I wasn't there experiencing it first hand but watching from a third point of view, so the details get muddled, but I know I noticed two letters branded on his shoulder: "AF". Now I had to know what the hell was going on so after the boy had passed me, I took a step and touched his shoulder. It was red hot to the touch. He turned around and looked, but not at my face, but his gaze settled behind the right shoulder. His pupils expanded to as big as his irises and then his mouth opened wider than any mouth I have ever seen open before. Then came the "sound".
It was (and still is) the most terrifying thing I have ever heard. It was like someone rewinding a tape recorder crossed with a train whistle and just as loud. I have never heard another human or animal make this sound. I don't know exactly how long it lasted, but it seemed like at least thirty seconds. I was scared of what he was "screaming" at behind me that's for sure, but the sheer look of terror on his face and that sound scared me more. I was frozen in fear until he stopped, well the sound stopped, his face remained unchanged, mouth wide open. I turned around, expecting to see God-know-what. Nothing. When I turned back around, nothing. He was gone. My knees buckled and I fell down and puked all over somebodies lawn. I was shaking pretty much uncontrollably for about five minutes. When I finally came to my senses, I expected to see all the lights in the neighborhood turn on, I mean that was very very loud noise that kid made. Nothing turned on. As you might expect I was scared crapless and ran home about the fastest I have even run in my life. When I finally got home I thought I'd never fall asleep, but once I got in bed I basically passed out.
When I woke up the next morning, it felt like what happened the night before happened a long long time ago. It still does, but I know it was only 4 years ago now. I still don't know if I believe it ever happened, it just seemed like it happened to someone else. The only time it seems real is when I remember that awful sound.
