Growing up my school was about five kilometres from my home, I had to walk it because my parents would work until 7pm everyday. I can probably count the number of times I encountered anyone through this forest on one hand. This specific time has always stuck in my head and looking back I think I may have seen a kidnapping or some children trying to escape a kidnapping.
I was 12, it was late spring time and very hot out. I was on my way home and had probably been walking for one maybe two kilometres, when I noticed a group of boys walking my way. The boys had no clothes on at all, and were carrying what looked to me like a bat, the animal, not the sports equipment. There were 3 of them, 2 were around the same age as me, one looked a little younger. They looked flushed and sweaty, as if they had been running or walking for a while, they were almost dragging the younger boy along he seemed like he needed to rest. I just froze, and looked at them confused. They were speaking a language I didn’t understand, I can speak both Spanish and English, so it was neither of them. The two older boys had olive skin with dark hair, while the younger one was more pale and blonde.
One of the older boys tried to talk to me, but as I said I couldn’t understand whatever language they were speaking. I said to him in both Spanish and English “No puedo entenderte”, “I can’t understand you”. He seemed confused, but he didn’t waste any time. He pointed at the big 1L water bottle I had in my backpack’s side pocket and shook his fists by his chest, as if he was begging me. I gave him the bottle and made sure the younger boy drank first. They finished off the water I had left in there, and nodded their heads as if to say ‘thank you’ before carrying on the way they were going.
I kept on walking home, but I felt creeped out by whatever I had just witnessed. After another kilometre or two, I saw a man. He was tall and thin and looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He was pale, but pale in a way that he looked ill or sick. Looking back, I think he may have been on something, but that didn’t click for me at the time. When I saw him I tried to keep my head down and keep walking but he stopped me. In broken Spanish he said to me that he was looking for his little brothers, they were lost and asked if I had seen them. I shook my head, he said ‘thank you’ and carried on walking. I tried my hardest to walk normally, but as soon as he was out of sight I ran and I didn’t stop running until I reached my home.
Once my parents got home I told them what had happened, they shrugged it off and told me I shouldn’t worry. When I insisted I was serious, my dad promised me he would call the police in the morning and tell them what I had seen. If my dad did call them I was never called in for further questioning, no police asked me for descriptions or anything. My dad swears he reported it, but I have doubts. I just wish they would have taken me seriously.