Day 597

There are codes everywhere - society is bound by them no matter where we find ourselves.
Now, we don't always know these codes nor understand them but they are always there.

The code we examine today is one older than all the surrounding civilisations.
Something older than us all, something ingrained so deep within us we don't even realise it's there.
A code that tells us one thing, one simple thing.

Don't go into the woods alone.

From an evolutionary basis it's quite simple - strength and safety in numbers.
If we outnumber the predators, we become the predators.
Even today the code is drilled into our heads by unknowing parents in the form of nursery rhymes.
Few even mention the threat within the woods.

One children's tale calls it "bears" as if bears are a comparative threat.
I suppose it's as much of a threat as any urbanite can imagine, a large wild animal.
Those of us who tread a less defined path know that there is so much more to forests than bears.
Some of us have seen what crawls through the underbrush and slinks among the branches.

I've only ever seen glimpses and remnants, back from my teen days.
Boredom is dangerous in small towns, especially when combined with large unchecked wilderness.
It was winter when I first saw it, on the way to meet friends by the river.
Long black limbs writhed among the bare branches and followed me all the way.

I never saw the head, not even sure if there was one.
As soon as my friends noticed me,and then It above me they screamed and began to hurl stones.
It didn't follow me home but it stayed near us the whole time we were there.

The next time I saw it was spring and it had found my friend.
We never thought we'd die back then, we never thought the forest held any danger beyond foxes.
I'll never forget my friend's dead eyes, red and bloated face as the air was crushed from their lungs.
It was like a snake, it a snake was made of eight or nine feet long arms with inch long talons.

And that was only one of the dangers that I found going into the woods alone.