December Daily: something spooky

[resonant]

laurenthemself -- Something spooky that's happened to you

This is a really unsatisfying story, because there's no real resolution, but here it is:

Many years ago I had a job that involved a long commute, and also often had me on the road in the very early morning, just before sunrise. There were no freeways, only two-lane state highways, which ran through central Illinois with high corn on the left and high corn on the right.

If you've ever driven those little regional highways, you know how sometimes you'll just hit a stop sign at a T intersection where the state route takes a right-angle turn. In those spots, there'd be a grassy area instead of corn -- for visibility, I guess.

So about 4 a.m. I was coming home, and as I came within sight of one of those stop signs, there was a white van parked in the grassy area, and my hair stood up on the back of my neck.

I have no idea what, if anything, was dangerous about that van, but my body reacted to it as if it were a tiger. I hit the gas, ran that stop sign, slewed around the turn like a getaway car in the movie, and didn't stop panting until I saw the lights of home.

It's unsatisfying, because that's all I know. It could have been nothing -- someone who had driven out there to go fishing or camping, someone who had parked the van at the intersection because it was for sale, someone who had had a breakdown and called someone to come get them. The odds are definitely against it having been anything out of the ordinary. But I've never run a stop sign on purpose in my entire life but just that once.


Comment to leave me a prompt! Steal laurenthemself's prompt if you want to do the meme yourself!


24 -- acid - Something you wish more people knew about you.
25 --
26 -- In the absence of other input, I will attempt to analyze types of wassail verses
27 -- out_there -- What is the accomplishment you're most proud of? Why?
28 -- lazaefair -- You’ve just won a Fanfic Oscar. Who do you thank in your acceptance speech and why? And what music do they play you off with?
29 --
30 --
31 --

Comments

[adafrog]

That story made me want to slam on the gas. Glad you went with your gut because you never know.

[raine]

Having driven through Illinois a lot: yeah, that would raise an alarm. I would have high-tailed outta there too.

[azurelunatic]

Well done for getting TF out of there.

[litalex]

Yeah, that must have been pretty scary.

This reminds me of a road trip story one of my aunts was on.

She was going somewhere with my uncle and cousins, with my uncle driving. Nearby a dangerous turn, the car in front of them was driving very slowly. So my uncle joked that it must have been a female driver. They finally got to a wider road and my uncle passed the car. My aunt was curios and took a look at the other car. The car looked empty and she told her family exactly that. They all kept quiet so she said it again. They got home before my aunt realized what the problem was.

[laurenthemself]

That. Is. TERRIFYING.

[lunabee34]

Yep. Creepy. I think paying attention to those gut feelings is important.

[panisdead]

Gahhh. You should see the face of DO NOT WANT I am making at the idea of that van.

[laurenthemself]

I mean, the satisfying resolution here is that you got everyone who's read this to go OH HELL NO and resolve to run Illinois corn field stop signs at every chance they get. Fucken Yikes.

[sinensis]

I'm reading back through the list and am enjoying your responses to prompts. I agree that the white van sounds very creepy, and offer my own central Illinois spookiness, albeit of a different sort:

I was visiting the Cahokia Mounds on a grey wintry day. (Do you know this place? It's the site of a large pre-Columbian Native American city.) The monument was pretty deserted. I was standing at the base of one of the mounds, and bent over slightly (to look at something? I don't remember), when I felt this tug that made me bend more. And I watched while the turquoise necklace I was wearing, which was Native American, spilled off my neck and into the dirt. It just came apart, although it was quite sturdy. I picked the pieces up, put them in my pocket. When I went home, I restrung it, put it away, and never wore it again. I was going through a drawer recently and found it, which is what reminded me of this event. The supernatural is never my go-to explanation for anything out of the ordinary, but there was something about that day that gave me pause.