About 15 years ago, I was locking up the gate to my horses' field before heading home for the night. It was about 9pm, but it was still light enough to see fairly well, despite it being a little dark.
As I locked the gate, I turned around, and saw a woman kneeling down with her face in her hands at the side of a ditch. She was wearing a long dark grey or black dress, and I could hear her sobbing. I called over to her to ask if she was okay or needed help, but she didn't respond.
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| A woman in the woods |
I walked up to her, and gently touched her shoulder (which felt absolutely solid, just as it would if I touched any other human, although ice cold even though it was a pretty warm evening) - at this point, she turned slowly to face me, and I realised that she had no eyes!
I was frozen in terror as I watched this woman slowly disappear into a fine mist right in front of me.
I raced home, and to this day, I try not to look at that spot in case I see her again! Funnily enough, my horses always seem to freak out near that spot, and they often stand and turn their heads as if they're watching someone or something pacing back and forth (despite nothing being visible to me!).
About 6 years after I saw the woman with no eyes, I stumbled upon an article in an old newspaper (I'll try to find it again, and will share in the comments if I do!): back in the 1860's, the ditch used to be bigger, and was a small stream which branched off from the main river nearby.
A little boy drowned in that stream, and shortly afterwards, his bereft mother took her life at the same spot. They found her body several days later, partially hidden in some reeds further downstream... Her eyes were said to have been missing. I had no knowledge of this story until after I saw the woman, so it couldn't have been my imagination.
Although she scared the hell out of me, I now just feel sorry for her... I haven't seen her since, so I'm hoping that maybe she's finally at peace with her son. 💔