Wes Coffey

It looked like it could be a stump, a shadow, a pile of something, but I'd been looking at that tree all afternoon and it hadn't been there.

I put the binoculars down and went back to scanning.

I told myself it was nothing.

At 4.05 I looked back.

It had moved.

The shape was no longer at the base of the maple.

It was about 20 yards closer to me, at the base of another tree.

Same posture, low, pressed against the trunk, facing my direction.

My stomach dropped, not because I was scared yet,

Because I couldn't explain it.

I hadn't heard it move.

I hadn't seen it move.

But it was 20 yards closer and there was no question it was the same shape.

I raised the binoculars again.

The light was worse now.

Through the glass I could see that the shape had height to it.

It wasn't a stump.

It was something upright, crouched.

i could make out what looked like shoulders a head but no features just dark mass against the grey bark of the tree my hands were shaking and it wasn't from the cold i lowered the binoculars and did something i'm not proud of

I sat completely still, controlled my breathing, and decided to wait it out.