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A Green Glow in the Forest

If you see a set of stairs in the woods... run!

By Laura GrayPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
2
A Green Glow in the Forest
Photo by quentin on Unsplash

Have you ever wandered through the forest and stumbled upon stairs that lead to nowhere? I don't mean stairs that are a direct result of continuing in your journey, part of your path. I'm talking like, the stairs are just there, in the middle of the forest floor, in an open patch of land, just going up to nothingness?

I used to see CreepyPastas and warnings that you should run. Flee as quickly as you can and do not look back under any circumstances. At all. Whatsoever. How crazy can it be? I used to think. Nothing bad happens to anyone; otherwise, how else would there be a warning to stay away?

I've happened upon such a set of stairs, and even climbed them for goodness' sake and I'm fine. Just look at me!

*twirling so you can see*

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.

~~~~~

"Hello to all you extraordinary adventurers! Hope you're all having an exciting week, enjoying the weather no matter where you are. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Ralphie's Urbex. I'm your host Ralphie Miller.

"Today, viewers, my travels have taken me to Aokigahara, or the Sea of Trees, or the Suicide Forest--however you know it--in beautiful Mount Fuji, Japan. If you've heard of it, you know it's a place of folklore; and today, we're going to hike deeply into these trees to see if the legends are, in fact, real."

I flipped the image from selfie view to front view, to focus on the forest before me, and began to walk. "So far, it's just a bunch of trees." I slowly panned the camera left and right. "It's quite beautiful really. If you ever have a chance to get out here--"

A high-pitched sound cut through the air. I swung my camera toward the area to my right from where it came. "Did you guys hear that?" I whispered. The sound came again, more clearly.

"I don't know if you guys can hear that, but it's the sound of probably a bush warbler. This forest is alive with critters and birds; I can see how people would think it filled with the paranormal."

I continued walking, slowly panning my camera back and forth. As I delved more deeply into the dense forest, the sunlight grew dim. "As you guys can probably tell, it's getting darker in here. Quite a bit, actually. I don't know if--" I stopped short, cutting my camera sharply to the left. I zoomed in on the object rising from the ground.

"Do you guys see that? I know it's a little fuzzy with the waning light. There is a set of spiral stairs!" my voice unintentionally dropped, conspiratorially.

"I'm going to go see what it's about," I continued in my whispered voice, creeping more closely to the stairs. "There look to be eighteen--ohmigod, eighteen is three sets of six! I just got goosebumps you guys.

"Whoa! Can you guys see that green light, like a green glow around the top of the stairs? Let me see if I can zoom in," I aimed my camera at the top of the stairs and zoomed, looking through the viewfinder.

"I don't know if that's showing up or not. I'm going to climb these steps. This is so wild you guys! It's like some sort of above-ground bioluminescence, ethereal glow. I know I'm not making sense; you just have to be here!

"I've just climbed the first six steps," I stopped, swinging my camera in a full 360-degree sweep. "The air is already feeling cooler, but you guys come on, it's six steps up. I'm, what, four feet off the ground? Something like that, and as you can see, there's nothing around."

I turned back to the stairs and climbed up the next six. "Okay, twelve down and--wow did you guys just see my breath?" I huffed out again and a puff of vapor preceded me as if the temperatures were below freezing. "Did you guys see that?! It's definitely colder but not cold enough that I should be seeing my breath! Something weird is going on and you know I don't believe in the paranormal. This is..." I stopped, panning behind me quickly at the sound of a twig snapping.

"Did you guys hear that?" I whispered. "I just heard a twig breaking somewhere behind me." I panned the camera around, aiming down. "I don't see anything, and I no longer hear anything.

"Okay, I'm going to go up the last six. Wish me luck!" I continued whispering. Taking a deep breath, I continued my climb. "Okay, I'm at the top of the stairs and the air is definitely cold up here. And, what wasn't visible from below, is there's this kind of platform. The green aura is so strong up here! If you can see, it forms the shape of a door. Here, let me," I slowly reached my hand out, as if opening a swinging door.

The sharp pain had me pulling my hand back quickly. I cursed. "That burned like a mother!" I cried out, instinctively blowing on my hand. "You guys, I don't know what's going on, I--"

A pair of hands shoved me from behind. I went forward, flailing my arms to try to catch something--anything--to break my fall. I think I screamed but no noise came out.

I don't know how long I fell, but when I landed, I was back on the forest floor, my camera lying in pieces next to me. The air smelled heavily of sulfur and burnt hair. I reached up and ran my fingers through my hair, wincing as it crunched. My hair was definitely burnt. I cursed again and picked up the pieces of my camera, standing to my feet.

As I got my bearings, I headed back in the direction toward which I thought I'd parked my car. The forest was so thick, but I could tell it was nighttime. The realization had me nearly shaking with fear.

I broke through the forest and glanced around. My car was not in the parking lot! Thoroughly freaked out now, I continued through the parking lot and eventually came to the park's opening. I reached into my back pocket to pull out my phone, only to find it missing.

A string of curse words fell out into the night as I began walking, hoping to find some sort of civilization--a passing car, an open petrol station, anything. The trek took forever since there were no streetlights, and with a broken camera and no cell phone, I had no light so I had to walk slowly and carefully.

Even the moon was hidden!

After what seemed like days of walking, I happened upon a small market. The building was dark, so I headed toward the vending machines to get a bottle of water and sit, to wait out the night until I could ask for help from arriving employees.

I dug around in my pocket for the yen I'd exchanged at the airport, only to find them empty. I hit the vending machine in frustration. How could I not have noticed yen lying on the ground?! Even in the dark, it would've been noticeable.

I passed the newspaper vending machine and sank down, scared. Unknown nightlife made their presence known.

I cried.

I'm not even a crier and I cried.

Having expelled all of my tears, I wiped my face on my shirt sleeve and froze. As my brain put its connectors back together post-meltdown, I whipped my head around. There, on the front page of the newspaper, was my face.

I glanced at the date on the newspaper. It was dated an entire week in the future! What?! I looked at the headlines. I was able to translate enough that my blood ran cold:

Missing Body of Man from USA Found Singed. Next to Stairs.

I scanned the rest of the article, my heart pounding, cold sweat breaking out over my forehead and down my spine. To the best of my translation abilities, the article read:

The body of missing 26-year old American Ralph Miller was found yesterday, at the base of a set of spiral stairs in Aokigahara forest. Miller appeared to have been filming a video for his YouTube subscribers where he explores different regions. His latest video shows him climbing these stairs, claiming to see a green light, though there are no lights visible in the video. Police caution against entering the forest.

My mind raced. I snapped open my camera and found the SD card gone.

No SD card. Because the police took it.

No phone. Because the police took it.

No car. Because the police took it.

No money. Because the police took it.

A pair of headlights cut through my thoughts. I snapped my head up and nearly cried with relief. Finally!

I waited until the car parked then ran over, frantically waving my arms, introducing myself as the missing American male, and asking for help.

The driver ignored me.

The heaviest doom settled over me as the cold realization set in.

urban legend
2

About the Creator

Laura Gray

Coffee gets me started; my toddler keeps me haggard.

I've always had a passion for writing but fear has stopped me from sharing my work with anyone. Vocal is my push to step out of my comfort zone.

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