Child Games

Having gotten a late start, I made it to Lahontan Reservoir as the sun was hanging above the west mountains by more than an inch. If I hurried, I would have enough time to set up my camp tent and gather loose wood for a fire.

Once my tent was ready, I returned to my truck and retrieved my sleeping bag and food. Returning to my campsite, I found my tent tipped on its side and the stakes holding it in place pulled from the ground.

“What the…” I said aloud as I looked up and down the nearly deserted shoreline.

My nearest neighbor was over a hundred yards away, and their camp was quiet as I had seen them take their boat out for a spin. There was no one in the other direction because of a large patch of willow brush at my back.

Having reset my tent, I gathered some wood to start my fire. I would use the heavier store-bought bundle later once I had a good base.

Returning, I found my tent upset again. This time tipped to the other side.

“Leave my stuff alone,” I barked at the willows, thinking I had a prankster hiding among the brush.

Vowing not to leave my site unattended the rest of the night, I built my fire and cooked rice and beans for dinner, washing it down with ice-cold beer. Then I spent a couple of hours star-gazing and sipping more beer.

Approaching time for bed down, I got a feeling of being watched. I stood up as casually as possible, pretending to stretch while focusing on the patch of willows behind my tent.

At first, all I saw were shadows amid the darkness of the saplings, but as my eyes adjusted to the lack of light, I could make out a shape, a human figure. It was a child, perhaps the one pranking me earlier.

As I watched the child, I ran directly at them, and they disappeared into the willows.

“And stay away!” I shouted, feeling victorious.

Once inside my tent and my sleeping bag, I quickly fell asleep. It was not a restful night.

As I slept or believed I was, I felt paralyzed, unable to move or breathe. Laying there, I would hear a child running around my tent, see a face looking down at me from the open tent fly or gasping for air after an invisible hand held my mouth and nose shut.

Finally, the sun rose, and I got up, ragged from a poor night of sleep. I quickly made a cup of coffee using what embers still glowed from the evening before, then rapidly packed up my camp to leave.

As I did this, that sense of being watched overcame me again. This time I unhesitatingly looked towards the willows, where I once again saw the child standing.

Without warning, they raced towards me like I had done to them the night before. As they did, what had been a child grew into a gray billow-like cloud before sweeping over and knocking me down with a frightening chill.

Wasting no time, I buried my fire, grabbed my gear, raced to my truck, climbed in, and sped out of Lahonton Reservoir without looking back.