Footprints

Some people are permanent fixtures in our lives and some are just there briefly. The ones that were there just for a while still leave their mark in some way or another. One particular instance stands out for me. Years ago, back in the mid 90′s, I was still in college and living with a roommate, a very unromantic situation. We actually lived in a big ole, drab house on the top of a big hill which was split into 3 separate apartments. It got very dark at night since there was no adequate lighting in addition to the dark paint . It looked very dark and forbidding. One day we had some neighbors move into the front apartment. From what I could tell and what they told me, they were father and daughter. He looked to be in his 50′s and she was a precious 16 year old blonde with a great figure.

The father was a construction worker and I don’t remember the girl ever going to school, which now strikes me as odd. Hindsight is always 20/20. When her father was at work, she would come and visit me upstairs and I would pass on my worldly 21 year old wisdom. I tried to set a good example and looking back, I hope I touched her life in a positive way. From what she told me, her mother did not. She was in prison on drug charges. This left her in the sole custody of her father who was a little rough around the edges but a pretty funny guy. The only thing I found suspect was that my roommate went down there and they were tickling/wrestling with each other. Now, me and my dad don’t have that sort of relationship but apparently some do. I’m not going to delve into that today. I’m running a clean blog here.

I try to instill in her a love of painting so we would do that together. We also ran around town, going to the plantations Natchitoches seem to have a lot of. As I spent more time with her, I noticed we had a strange bond, much to my best friend’s angst. We played this game where one of us would pick a number then we would close our eyes and try to relay it to the other through mindpower so the other could guess it. There must be something to it, because in my mind, I could see a string of numbers in my mind and I could see a certain one flashing which always turned out to be the answer. That’s never happened before or since, though I can honestly say I haven’t played too often since then. There was one thing that we both experienced that, for the life of me, I will never be able to explain.

We were hanging out one night and my roommate had turned in early. I honestly do not know what went on that night. I still remember it so clearly. I was laying in bed and all of a sudden, I felt a little strange, which I mentioned then all of a sudden, lightening flashed across the sky. It freaked her out a little bit. No doubt she thought I was creating the bad weather, which, obviously, I wasn’t. Luckily, my body went back to normal after that. Next thing I know, we hear this roar in the distance. In my my mind, I pictured Godzilla attacking the city. The sound never came any closer, it just hovered in the distance, but it was very distinctly a roar. That was strange, but it got even stranger. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, we heard voices outside but we couldn’t see anyone since it was so damn dark. We heard them approaching the house and talking but couldn’t understand what was being said. Then we heard them walk into the entryway. We cracked the door and could hear them. She was terrified that they were going to walk into her unlocked apartment and attack her father while he was sleeping but we felt like we would be in worse shape if we left the apartment and confronted whatever it was. Of course, during all of this, my roommate either didn’t hear or didn’t want to. We tried banging on his door repeatedly but to no avail. He was totally useless.

Next thing we knew, they were moving into the backyard and were doing God knows what but we could hear them moving about. We were terrified. Someone or something was making itself known for some reason or another. Nobody else seemed to be around. It was like it was just us and them in a strange bubble. Finally, we decided it was best to call the police. It seemed like it took forever for them to get there. When they did get there, they checked out the backyard with a flashlight. They didn’t find anything but looking back, how would they know which footprints were mine and which were theirs? And just who were ‘they’? The cops shone their flashlights in our faces to see if we were on something, which we were definitely not.

The following morning, it turned out, that nobody was aware of anything so obviously her father hadn’t been inconvenienced in the slightest. I never witnessed anything like that before or after and I must admit I am relieved. I don’t know what hovered over that house on that particular night but it was definitely otherworldly. Who were they and what did they want? Looking back, I should have gone on Unsolved Mysteries, an incredibly popular show in the 90′s. Hindsight is always 20/20. Maybe one day I’ll find out what occurred that night. Until then, I will keep calm and carry on