Something Lives At Jackman Trail

My beliefs in the paranormal could only be surmised as skeptical at best. I always believed that people "psyched" themselves into seeing what they wanted to see whenever they encountered a situation that remotely resembled something you might see on a movie set. I thought that as a result of people being bombarded with Hollywood's version of the supernatural, a type of conditioning resulted. A conditioning in which a person would believe they were experiencing something paranormal whenever they encountered circumstances that emulated that which the film industry spews at us all. It all seemed pretty cliché. Until one night, three friends and I took a ride to a place called Jackman Trail.

One Saturday night, three friends and I, Marc, Eric, and Forest, were out trying to find something to do, preferably a party where we could meet some girls. We decided to head down to Jackman Trail, as this was a typical party spot. Before moving on, I do have to note that none of us had been drinking and we never did drugs.

Jackman Trail is a small, rocky beach along the banks of the Saline River in Arkansas. This beach just so happened to be nestled about 100 feet under a freeway overpass, which made it isolated enough for the local youth to use as a party hangout. The road to Jackman Trail is kind of spooky, but we never really paid attention to it. It's a single-lane dirt road lined on each side by thick pines. It was so narrow that if you met another car while driving, one of you had to pull off the road to let the other person pass. This usually involved one car having to drive in reverse to either Jackman Trail or the entrance to the unnamed dirt road that led to the beach.

On this particular night, we had exhausted all other means of entertainment. There was literally nothing left to do. So at about 12:30 AM, we decided to head to Jackman Trail and see if there was a party happening. The ride there was uneventful enough, just dirt and trees and four friends goofing off. When we got there, there was no party, just a few stragglers hanging out and drinking. We didn't stay long, and after about ten minutes, we decided to try and find something else to do. So we all piled back into Marc's car and headed out. Marc was driving, I was in the front passenger seat, and Eric and Forest were in the back seat. Marc and I were just watching the road ahead of us, and Eric and Forest were in the back seat goofing off and rough-housing.

As we reached the area on the dirt road where the trees closed in around us, I saw something just outside the glow of our high beams. It looked like something small and hunched down on the left side of the road. As the headlights finally fell upon the thing, I saw it fully. It was short, appearing to be only about three or four feet tall, and thin with unnaturally long arms. Even though it appeared to be crouched, its arms dragged on the ground and hung limp at its sides. Its face was long and thin, completely inhuman, and looked like no animal I've ever seen. It had two small humps on its back that could have been shoulder blade bones, but I'm really not sure. Its skin looked rough and dark. When I saw it, the first thing I thought was that it looked like a gargoyle, only much thinner and shorter.

I'll never forget what happened next. The lights in this old car were pretty dim, so we had to get pretty close before we could see it completely. At about 15 feet from the creature, the car lights fell upon it fully. It jerked its narrow, elongated head towards the car as if it had just seen us. Its eyes reflected like a cat's or dog's eyes would, only instead of the typical dull yellow color, they reflected a bright multi-hued yellow. The thing let out a scream that was more akin to a menacing, throaty hiss, directed at the car. It then leapt from the left side of the road to the tops of the trees on the right side, some 25 to 30 feet high. For a split second, I thought that I had lost my mind. I had no idea if anyone else had seen it. A mere second later, I let loose a terrified scream that sounded in perfect unison with Marc. He too had seen the creature, but the two guys in the back seat were too busy goofing off and hadn't seen anything. We sped out of there as fast as we could.

A few miles up the road, we pulled off at a gas station to calm down and get some sodas. Eric and Forest wanted to know why we had screamed and sped away, but when we told them, they just laughed at us and said we were making it up to scare them.

Some people I've told this to have suggested that what we saw was a wild dog, wild cat, or some other animal. Others have suggested that it was a demon. What it was exactly, I don't know and will not even attempt to explain. This happened well over ten years ago, and even though I live but a few miles from Jackman Trail, I haven't been back since and will never go back.

The events that I have just described to you are one hundred percent true. I have neither embellished nor exaggerated any of these events.

Thank you for reading.