All Things Go Bump In The Night

The Tricycle

I remembered the creepy experience I had as a kid. It wasn't just some guy who was looking at me creepily or almost getting kidnapped, it was supernatural creepy. I think that my life was in serious danger in that moment.

I was a military brat for the first few years of my childhood. I never really had any friends. So being a little kid with no friends except for the tricycle I got for Christmas and my imaginary friend Doopy. I usually went for long rides after school (I started school really young). I would just go around the block a couple times then go home.

But that all changed forever after my experience. It was just an average day. After making no effort to communicate with anyone in my class I ended up just leaving class and immediately going home to get my tricycle as my parents were out. I was going around the block the second time when I decided to take the short cut through the forest to the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge there were some stairs that I could take to the bottom of the bridge where there was a small road so I could get to my house which was a few miles up the road and a left turn away. Now you must be thinking that something happened to me in the woods like I saw a dead body or something.

No that wasn't it..... In my opinion, what I witnessed was much worse. The only thing that bothered me in the forest was the scurrying of forest animals and the wind occasionally picking up. It was when I got to the other side of the bridge that it happened. I was about to take my tricycle carefully down the stairs while talking to Doopy about how I was sad that we were once again moving in a few months when I heard a thud.

I turned around and saw a girl, maybe about 15 or 16, getting up from the floor. Being a 5 year old I would of most likely found this funny, but knowing that from the way she was getting up, it was safe to assume that she had fallen flat on her face and I had done that before and knew how it felt like.

"Are- are you okay?" I stuttered quietly to her. Of course she only ignored me. Instead she walked to the edge of the bridge. She climbed on top of the ledge and stood there for a while. Now I thought she was just trying to get a better look of the forest (which could be seen from the bridge) or was just caught up in some strange trend.

I never realized that she was gonna jump until it was to late. As I was about to tell her that it wasn't safe to stand there she just fell over. Honestly it's as if someone gently pushed her. She fell to the bottom of the bridge with a loud crack and as I looked over the bridge I could see a pool of blood forming around her.

The bridge wasn't high enough to kill you, but high enough to cause serious injury that could lead to death. I knew if I left her there she would probably die a horrible, painful death all alone. I grabbed my tricycle and ran down the stairs with it.

As I got to the bottom of the stairs I saw the girl was now standing up and dusting her self off. I was so confused, the blood wasn't even on the ground anymore. I was staring at her back when she turned around. Just her head, it was turned at an awkward angle. It made me feel uncomfortable how she was just smiling at me.

Finally stranger danger kicked in and I realized that I should probably leave. Anyone who was smiling like that must be happy and okay, so I simply turned my tricycle the other way and hopped on it and started pedalling away. My imaginary friend Doopy was on his tricycle as well pedalling beside me. I was telling Doopy about how I hoped that I would never see the girl again.

That's when I heard the pitter-patter of feet on the ground. I looked behind me. The girl, now barefoot, was chasing after me at an almost inhuman speed. Me being a dumb kid just pedalled my bicycle faster hoping to get speed on the small hill I was about to go over. I yelled at Doopy to get off his tricycle and push me, not realizing he was just imaginary and he couldn't help me.

While I was going down the hill she caught up to me and shoved me off the tricycle causing me and it to roll down the concrete hill. After I stopped rolling, I examined all the cuts, bruises and scrapes I had on my knees, face, arms and elbows. My tricycle was completely wrecked and the girl just ran laughing maniacally down the street.

My eyes welled up with tears as I took my broken tricycle and carried it all the way home. My parents were just coming out to look for me when they saw me coming around the corner limping home. I told my story to the my parents who then in turn told the police who questioned me but they never found her and the case was closed.

The only injury I had was a broken foot so I got a cast and some crutches and surprisingly that got the attention of my classmates who were much nicer to me now and paid more attention to me. My parents also decided not to move so they could keep a better eye on me. Life was surprisingly better after that but I never forgot my experience with that girl.

I eventually got married and settled in that same childhood home I had learned to love. Which brings me to why I remembered this experience in the first place. I was walking home after work as my car had broken down and just as I crossed the bridge to take the short cut to my house..... I heard a very familiar echo of a girl's maniacally laughter.

I ran all the way home.

The End