The man who watched me from afar.

This happened quite a while ago, one summer when my brother and I were staying with our grandparents. They lived on a 10 acre property in the country. The house was a small old farm house, and they built a guest cabin about 200 feet off the back of the house. Since my brother and I were staying for a while, we lived in the cabin while our grandparents stayed in the house. To keep it simple, we’ll call it the house and the cabin. There was a gravel path that connected the house and the cabin.<br><br>The location gave us plenty of open space to play and roam without any worries. There were a few neighbors sprinkled around the property, but it was pretty secluded.<br><br>One evening, right after sunset, my brother and I were playing in the cabin. We were probably 8-10 years old at the time. I noticed a man standing on the gravel path, closer to the house. He was watching us through the windows of the cabin. I kind of chuckled, thinking it was one of our grandpas friends, or maybe a weird neighbor. I had never seen him before, but he wasn’t really doing anything weird, so I wasn’t too concerned. He was just standing there, looking at us. I gave him a quick wave, and he didn’t react. After a minute or so, he turned and walked into the darkness. It wasn’t really dark yet, but the sunset had blocked out most of the light. <br><br>I shrugged it off and went back to playing video games with my brother. A few hours later, I decided to take out the trash and recycling. It was already dark by then, so I turned the porch lights on the cabin for better visibility. As I walked up the path, I noticed the man again. He was standing by the side of the house, and he was looking right at me. This time, I wasn’t so amused. I made my way to the garbage cans and tossed the trash in the dumpsters. I didn’t look his way, but I felt his eyes on me the entire time.<br><br>I rushed back into the house and told my brother what happened. He was ready to brawl, but I told him no. I just wanted to tell grandpa. I knew our grandpa would handle it, so I ran across the path to the house and told them what happened. They immediately went outside to check it out, but by that time, he was gone. Our grandpa decided to keep an ear to the ground, and keep an eye on the place. This didn’t really help with my nerves. I kept peeking through the blinds, thinking the man was going to appear out of nowhere.<br><br>The next night, I was determined to get a look at the man. I put some shoes on and ran across to the house, calling for grandpa. I tried to make a lot of noise, so the man would know I wasn’t alone. My grandpa answered the door, and I told him about the man. He tried to calm me down, and we made a plan to look into the woods. He went inside and came back with a rifle. We walked up the driveway, and into the woods. We made it about 50 yards, and all I could think about was the man from the night before. I got really scared, and begged grandpa to go back inside. He tried to calm me down, but I didn’t want to be out anymore. He reminded me that I wanted to do this, but I told him I had changed my mind. We went back inside.<br><br>The next few nights went by without any incidents, and I gave up on the idea of finding the man. My nerves were calmer, and I started to forget about the whole situation. That is, until I saw him again.<br><br>It was the following weekend, and my brother and I were staying the weekend at grandparents again. This time, I wasn’t in the cabin. I was staying in the house, and my brother was in the cabin. It was a Saturday night, and we were watching a movie together. We were probably 10-15 feet apart. I looked over at the window, and saw the man standing there again. He was watching us. I didn’t want to scare my brother, so I tried to play it cool. When the movie was over, I told my brother to go to bed, and I would clean up the mess. He agreed, and went to the cabin.<br><br>I waited until he was inside, then I ran into my grandparents room. I told them what had happened, and they immediately went outside. They looked all over the yard, but there was no one to be found. They came back in the house, and told me I must have been imagining things. I knew what I saw, and I know I’m not crazy. They tried to calm me down, but I was already gone. For the rest of the night, I couldn’t get the man out of my head. I looked through every window, expecting to see him standing there.<br><br>That was the last night I saw the man, and the last time I stayed the weekend with my grandparents. Something about the situation made me feel uneasy, and I just didn’t want to stay there anymore. As time went by, I would occasionally think about the man, but I never really brought it up. I gave up on the idea of finding him, and I chalked it up to paranoia. I didn’t want to seem crazy, so I just rolled with it.<br><br>The next time I stayed there was with my friend, and that was quite a few years after the first incident. During our stay, I asked grandpa if he remembered what happened. He told me to not bring it up, and he changed the subject. I never mentioned it again. That was probably 15 years ago, and I still think about the man from time to time. I have no idea who he was, or what he wanted, but he scared the shit out of me.<br><br>If I were to take a guess, Id say he was a neighbor who was intrigued by the idea of two kids staying all alone in a cabin, in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think he meant to scare us, he probably just wanted to people watch. Nonetheless, he is definitely someone I would like to not meet again.