34. Creeping Closer
I was canoe camping with a friend in Michigan. We camped at a fire trail and saw some guys in a Jeep and Amish people in a wagon, but nothing after dark. We were near the river bank, so we thought people would come by later. Around midnight, I hear a car coming down the fire lane, stopping, backing up, pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward, backing up.
This goes on for like five minutes at a time and they keep getting closer. Eventually, they’re at the area right above us, pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward, backing up, and I can see their lights shining. My friend is still asleep, but I try to shake her leg to wake her up. Then they drive down to the river bank, pulling forward, backing up until they are facing our tent, headlights shining.
I really didn’t want to confront them, as we were two girls alone without weapons, but I leaned over my passed-out friend and unzipped the tent. It was two guys in a pickup truck. They saw me and backed up, pulled forward, and continued their weird truck dance all the way back out of earshot—the whole time pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward, backing up. It will haunt me for the rest of my days.
What did they want, what were they doing, why did seeing me peek out of the tent turn them around?