A friend once told me an incident. She met a guy. It was the end of February. He invited her to visit his friend outside the city, in his house. Not very far from the city, drive through a vacant lot, then through a forest, about 15 minutes by car. We arrived. There already noisy company got ready. During the evening, she and her friend began to sort things out. In short, it got to the point where she told him - take him to the city. Naturally, he refused, saying, sit down, calm down. And she is a hot-tempered, stubborn girl, and besides, she freaked out and decided to walk. He laughed at her that she would only get to the first turn and back. What kind of idiot, even on principle, will trample through a dark forest in the evening, in winter. My friend turned out to be just such an idiot. Further in her words:

“I decided to walk quickly through the forest, and there was a wasteland, and almost immediately there was a road. Moreover, there are private houses around. In short, I showed off full program. I got ready and went. Nobody dissuaded me, a friend said that I needed some fresh air for 5 minutes, I’ll be right back. I went out and walked very bravely along the road, proud of myself. On both sides of me there was a not very dense forest, and the lights of houses shone through the trees. I’m going, no fear, on the contrary, some kind of provocative adrenaline state. I only hear the crunch of snow from my steps. Suddenly, out of the corner of my vision, I saw something flash behind the trees. I immediately thought - a dog. Turned around. Nobody here. And then suddenly I realized the whole situation. I'm alone. In the forest. Dark. I felt scared. I wanted to turn back, I stopped and heard hurried steps behind me, as if someone was catching up, and then I also froze, waiting for what I would do. God himself took me away so as not to turn around. I was afraid to look back. Such horror fell upon me. And she rushed forward. It's behind me. I run and feel that it is not far behind. At some point, I began to walk quickly and heard the crunching sound of his steps behind me. Very close. I was walking, my legs began to give way, I began to cry, and began to randomly pray, although I don’t know prayers. And then an unexpected thought came into my head - to put the cross in my mouth. At that moment I didn’t even think about such seemingly stupidity. All this time I didn’t stop, it seemed that while I was walking it was more or less safe. She put the cross in her mouth, and immediately somehow pulled herself together a little. I started humming something so as not to hear this terrible crunch of someone unknown’s steps. After some time, I burst into tears, with a cross in my teeth, and went out onto the road. I stopped the car and drove home. I was in a state of shock for another 2 days. I didn’t say anything to anyone. After all, she did such a stupid thing. And my friend, by the way, followed me and said that I seemed to have disappeared. There were no cell phones yet. He called me at home from the city. My brother said I was sleeping. I didn't see him again. There was no desire."

After listening, I immediately told her that in all fairy tales they say, no matter what happens, go forward and under no circumstances turn around. And about the cross, I then accidentally read, this is also one of strong defenses, put it in your mouth. She probably has a strong guardian angel who told her in time how to protect herself. But this was a lesson for her for the rest of her life.

One day I was walking with my dog ​​through the forest. Shanya is a red-haired, medium-sized mongrel. We were already finishing our weekend exercise. Well, then an idea came to mind - why not go a little further? There is a ski base in the forest, and if there is a base there are also trails. And so we walk through the forest. The sunset began smoothly, a warm breeze blew. We were about to make a turn and return to the base, but suddenly I noticed a strange shadow around the bend. She stood motionless, I, deciding that it was my friend Anya, began to approach. But Shanya grabbed my pant leg and pulled me sharply, so much so that, losing my balance, I fell. I stood up, swearing and cursing her loudly. And in her eyes I saw such horror as I had never seen. It was as if an electric shock passed through my body. A sharp gust of wind forced me to get up and rush as fast as I could towards the base, Shani was smart enough to run alongside. According to my calculations, we were already approaching the base, but suddenly, without slowing down, I crashed into a snowdrift. Shanya jumped on my back in a panic. Shaking it off, I began to peer into the snowstorm in bewilderment. I know the forest like the back of my hand. We ran correctly. There could be no turns, we could not go off course. Shanya clung to my legs in fear, I attached the leash to the collar, under no circumstances will I leave her, I don’t ask myself if something happens to her. A new gust of wind made me shiver. I tried to suppress my panic. Just a snowstorm. But then my self-hypnosis was interrupted by a groan. It couldn't even be called a groan. Imagine a frightened scream, a heavy groan and a cry for help. All of this included this sound. Without talking to Shanya, we rushed into the snowstorm.

We ran for an incredibly long time. But panic and this terrifying scream forced us to run forward. The snowstorm hurt my eyes. But suddenly, as if by magic magic wand stopped. We stopped and I looked around in fear.

We stood in the center of the clearing, with forest along the edges. There was in the sky full moon, night has come. It was not noticeable in the snowstorm, I was horrified to imagine how worried my parents were. My stomach clenched into a knot. Oh... how hungry I was. The horror was so overwhelming that hunger was imperceptible. You'll have to spend the night in the forest. Out of despair, I fell to my knees, Shanya licked my face. And then I remembered my knife, which was always hanging on my belt. The mood got better. We approached the edge of the forest, I found a small ravine. The wind couldn’t penetrate there, so I decided to settle there for the night. Having collected brushwood, I made a fire. Shanya fell asleep on my lap. I was about to go to sleep, but then I heard voices.

Maybe you have heard the legend about the Cokytos River, one of the five rivers of Tartarus, the river of pain and sorrow. I heard the same voices. They were terrible, numerous moans and pitiful, heartbreaking screams. They made me want to cry, die, believe that life is hopeless. Shanya jumped up and pulled the leash so that it almost slipped out of her hand. Shanya was torn, whining and not listening to commands. Then she threw up her head and howled protractedly, in tune with the voices. I couldn’t stand this anymore, I grabbed her head, I pressed it to me, covering her ears, then I pressed my head to my knees and tried not to listen to these voices. I remembered the best moments of my life, a family that loved me. Gradually the voices became quieter and I fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes, it was morning. Shanya was lying next to me. Seeing that I was awake, she barked forcefully and demandingly. She asked for food. I had nothing to give her; my stomach also ached from hunger. Having gathered our strength, we began to get out of the ravine. I prayed to God that we could return home. That I won’t tell anyone about this and that no one will hear a single complaint from me again. Having climbed out of the ravine, I did not see any clearing, only a forest covered with snow. No hint of a ski slope. Shanya made a jerk to the right. Trusting her, I crawled through the snow after her. I didn't crawl for long. Gradually the forest became thinner. Five minutes later we were already standing on the ski slope. Shanya, feeling the hard snow under her paws, increased her pace. We left the forest without any problems.

At home I lied that we were just lost. After this incident I became different. I started to love life. I didn't complain about anything else. Over time, I began to wonder. What if this was a lesson of sorts? But I still warned my friend Anya not to walk through the forest with her Dalmatian Gucci. As expected, she didn't listen to me.

A month after that incident, Anya’s mother called me. Anya and her dog did not return from a walk in the forest.

Two years ago I got lost in the forest. There have never been any large animals there, and the most unusual thing a mushroom picker can see there are squirrels and hedgehogs. But you know, I have never experienced anything more terrible in my life. At night in the forest, many instincts awaken in a human being; the brain that helped you look for mushrooms and berries during the day screams at you in panic: “Run! Save yourself! Maybe now, sitting at home in warmth and comfort, you may think: “What is there to be afraid of, you just need to cast aside your fears and calm down.” I thought so too, I also tried to drive fears out of my head, and, unfortunately, I succeeded.

When it started to get dark, I gave up trying to find the trail, but I didn’t fall into despair - I decided that the next day I would climb the tallest pine tree and maybe from there I could pick up a telephone signal. I had a lighter and some sandwiches with me. I easily lit a fire in a small clearing and even smiled a little, rejoicing at the new adventure.

When it got completely dark, it turned out that there would most likely not be enough firewood to last the whole night. I decided to collect more branches and began to look for them within the circle of light. Having collected one armful, I decided to collect more (I like to do everything thoroughly, for sure). Having thrown the first batch towards the fire, I walked a little further and was surprised that I did not notice a very large and thick branch. It turned out to be not so easy to lift it - the branch was apparently crushed by a trunk or a stone from the other end. I pulled with all my might, and the branch seemed to begin to give in a little, but I still could not pull it out. Deciding to be a little smarter, I took a lighter out of my pocket and illuminated the darkness. For a split second I looked at the large gray stump against which the branch rested, but it was not a stump - it was a creature that would haunt my nightmares for many years to come. He had two powerful hands with which it held a branch, a crooked hairy back, very short legs and eyes that looked at me. I wanted to scream, but I could only stand and watch with my mouth open. All this lasted about three seconds, then the creature threw the branch, instantly jumping back into the darkness. I also didn’t understand how I ended up at the fire, with stunned eyes scanning the dark contours of the night forest.

For a minute everything was quiet and calm. Panic crept into my head: “It threw a branch on purpose! It was waiting for me to go and pull it out in the dark! It's hunting me! My mind became that of a rabbit being chased by a wolf as I realized that the crickets, which had been chirping tirelessly in the darkness, began to quiet down one by one. Behind the circle of light, the sounds of breathing and sniffing could be clearly heard. Right, left, behind... I turned to face the loudest source of sounds, and it immediately stopped - I could only hear something heavy running across in the darkness, trying to get behind me. The sniffing died down, and almost immediately I heard the rustling of leaves. It was another large branch that was pushed into the circle of light, leaving the end in darkness...

By the time morning came, I had already burned all the wood, all the grass nearby, and my jacket. Not seeing anything alive between the trees, I rushed to run as fast as I could, not understanding where. I stumbled, scraped my face on tree branches, but ran forward. I don’t know by what miracle I then ran out onto the highway, which was nine kilometers from the place where I entered the forest. But I understood one thing: you need to trust your animal instincts, no matter how absurd they may seem, because ancient instincts warn you of a danger that is older and more terrible than all the threats known to urban man.