The Dark

I started my walk late. I had chosen to wait as long as I could before going. I sort of regretted that now.
Dark was falling and while it was decently bright outside of the park, in the forest there was only dim lighting. It was wet from recent rain and droplets of water fell from the trees and made noises when they hit the ground.
Moment’s after I entered the forest, I was certain my heart rate had increased. It was hard to see details and when I walked pass the two trails that lead to the other side of the loop, I looked down them, a fear of seeing someone or something just standing there, watching on the other side. But no one was there.
As I approached where the split in the trail was, pale logs and branches appeared like eerie ghosts in the dim light. I was tempted to exit out a different path onto the beach where it was brighter, but I chose not to.
I stood out at the battle side bench for a few moments, glancing back into the dark forest and then continuing on back into it.
Pale moths fluttered around the trail, or maybe they were catisflies, I caught one to be sure. They were moths. I wondered why they were out in the cold.
The lighting on the trail by the river was only a short relief, ducks mere shadows on the river,and then I was back into the darkness.
It was now completely dark, hard to even see the trail. I started hearing what sounded like footsteps behind me, my heart rate increased once again. I stopped. They stopped. I continued going, wishing I’d brought a light, or better yet, gone sooner.
All through the rest of my walk in the park, I was tense, waiting for something to come out. The ravens were agitatedly crowing and the trees creaked unnerving me into going faster.
Near the bridge, light shined, someone was coming, they passed over the bridge and were out of sight before I got there. They had been smart bringing a light.
As I neared the end of the forest, it had started to rain and the wind started blowing harder. The trees creaked even more, I was worried they might fall on me. The streetlight from the parking lot shown through the trees, lighting up the path and causing distinct shadows to appear. I was almost there.
A minute later, I was out and on my way back home. Walking under the streetlights where things weren’t so dark and frightening.
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As a side note for what actually happened today that was interesting and sort of cool. I saw someone feeding a raven out of his hand. The raven was sitting on a bench and he was holding out his hand and the raven was eating something out of it. He had a dog that was eating something on the ground and there was also another raven nearby. They didn’t even fly off when I walked past!