Sometime
ago when I was still a high schooler, the school held a field trip to one of
the hilly areas in Bogor, Indonesia. The event ran smoothly from 7:30 AM to 4
PM, and the activities that day were mostly dominated by field education, such
as learning about ecosystems, geology, environmental conservation, and tea
plantation tours. And yes, there were endless group photo sessions. However, on
the way back, around 7 PM, one of our buses had a flat tire, leaving us with no
choice but to stop.
While
we were changing the tires, Dina, one of our female friends, needed to use the
restroom. The teacher asked if anyone would go with her to the nearby
resident’s house. But after such a tiring day, with dark sky and dense forests
surrounding us, no one felt like going. I didn’t really want to leave my seat
either, but I felt bad, so I ended up volunteering to go with her.
Maybe
it was because we were still up in the highlands; the cold night air was
freezing. It felt so sharp that it could reach the bone. As we walked toward
the closest house, I kept both my hands shoved in the pockets and I could feel
Dina tighten her grip on my arm, telling me she felt the cold as much as I did.
The
house sat below the paved road; we had to walk down about fifteen steps to get
there. The house is made of bamboo, with a big garden lamp standing out front.
There were two men chilling on the terrace, smoking. We went up to them and
asked if we could use the toilet.
As
we finished and were about to leave, the two men were gone. All that was left
on the table were two empty cups and an ashtray with cigarette butts. As
calling out to them was not an option, we decided to head back to the bus
without saying goodbye.
But
just as we made our way back to the stairs, there were two towering dark
figures suddenly appearing before us. We stopped dead in our tracks. Their
silhouettes—though had human-like forms; I could clearly see they were
unnaturally tall, standing stiffly blocking our path.
I
felt Dina squeezed my arm and started sobbing in fear as I held my breath as I
was paralyzed by fear. Then, we heard a noise echoing from above. It sounded
like they were done changing the tires and started packing up. That’s where we
began to panic, fearing both being left behind and the eerie figures in front
of us. The two shadows stood unnervingly still, sending chills down our spines.
Suddenly,
a deep voice rumbled from behind, making us jump. It was one of the men from
the porch. As he approached, we noticed the number of creepy dark figures grew
to three. Heart pounding, I realized it was just our own shadows, cast by the
garden light behind us.
Relief
washed over us as we hurried to the bus, giggling. “I thought it was Slender
Man,” Said Dina, wiping her damp cheeks.
"Right. Slender Man, in Indonesia." I chuckled.
