They say that if you are ever in a forest and you stop hearing the sound of crickets, run. Whatever you do, do not look back.

Every small town has its own urban legends. In our town, we have a few. I’m not going to talk about those here, but one of them is the story of the cricket man.<br><br>I grew up in a small town in the USA. Which one, I will not tell you. It wasn’t a special place. Just a typical small American town. We have a movie theater, a mall, and a Walmart. We also have a forest. A forest that is said to be cursed. You see, once a year, every year, a child goes missing.<br><br>It’s always the same. Without exception.<br><br>At first, we all thought it was just some sicko who was kidnapping them, but then the strange things started to happen. Little things at first. Strangers in the forest. And the sounds.<br><br>I wasn’t there myself, but I heard stories from the parents of those kids. How they would take their children to the park, and that’s when they would stop hearing the crickets. And of course they looked back and saw… something.<br><br>Now, I’m sure that at least some of you have heard similar stories in your hometowns or cities. But that’s not what I’m here to tell you. No. I’m here to tell you what I saw when I was a kid. What I saw in that forest.<br><br>I was ten years old. My sister was twelve, and she watched me while my parents were out. That day, we decided to go to the park. There was a forest connected to it, and a path you could follow that went all around it.<br><br>We walked into the forest and it was like… I have no idea how to explain it. It’s not that the crickets weren’t making a sound. You could still hear them, but it was like they were whispering, warning you to leave.<br><br>My sister and I looked at each other, and without saying anything, we started to run.<br><br>We ran until we got to the edge of the forest, and then we stopped. I looked back and saw nothing out of the ordinary. But I could have sworn that I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye.<br><br>I looked away and we ran back to my house. We never told our parents what happened. We just said that we were scared, because we were alone. But we knew that wasn’t the truth.<br><br>That was when I first heard the story of the cricket man. A man who lives in the forest, a man who is only visible if you look back. A man who wears a cricket mask.<br><br>A few more years passed, and I started going to that forest alone. I wanted to see it for myself. I wanted to see the cricket man. And so I went.<br><br>I walked into the forest, and again, the crickets started whispering to me. I ignored them and walked deeper into the forest. Suddenly I heard something.<br><br>A branch cracking.<br><br>I turned to see what it was, but it was nothing. I kept walking, and I heard the sound again. I turned around again, and I saw something.<br><br>It was a man. Wearing a cricket mask.<br><br>The man was tall, big even. He had a cricket mask tied around his face. I froze. I didn’t know what to do. But then the man started to walk towards me. I turned and I ran, and as I was running, I heard the crickets making their normal sound.<br><br>I didn’t stop running until I got home. I didn’t tell anyone what happened. But the next day, a kid went missing. I knew that it was the cricket man, but I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to seem crazy, and I didn’t know if he did anything to the kids.<br><br>But deep down, I knew. And so did my sister.<br><br>The next year, the same thing happened, and the year after that, the same thing happened again. And every time, I would go to the forest, but I would never see the cricket man again. At least, not until last year.<br><br>Last year, my sister went back to our town, and she took her little girl with her. We met at the park again, and while our sisters were playing, my sister and I talked. We talked about everything, from our jobs, to our families. We talked about everything except the cricket man.<br><br>At one point, I had to go to the bathroom, and I walked into the forest. I walked for a minute or two, and then I heard the sound again. A branch cracking.<br><br>I stopped and turned to see what it was, and that’s when I saw him. The cricket man.<br><br>He was tall, big even. He had a cricket mask tied around his face. I froze. I didn’t know what to do. But then the man started to walk towards me again.<br><br>I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything. But then I heard a sound, a little girl screaming. I turned to see where it came from, and I froze again.<br><br>The cricket man was right behind me. I turned to see what had happened, and I froze. The little girl was gone.<br><br>I ran back to the park and asked my sister where her little girl was. She said that she was in the bathroom. I asked her to go and check, and she did.<br><br>When she came out, she was crying. She told me that the girl wasn’t there, and that all she found was her purse. And then we heard the sound. The crickets stopped making their normal sound. They were whispering again.<br><br>This time, we didn’t run. This time, we went after the cricket man. We walked deeper into the forest. We walked for what felt like hours, and then we heard it. A branch cracking.<br><br>We stopped and turned to see what it was, and that’s when we saw him. The cricket man. He was holding the little girl in his arms. And that’s when we saw it. What was on the back of his cricket mask.<br><br>A small tag stitched onto it. With a single word on it.<br><br>Sara.<br><br>We froze. We didn’t know what to do. But then the cricket man talked. It was a low, deep voice.<br><br>He said “She knows what to do when she hears the crickets. But you, you don’t do anything. You just stand there. And that’s why I’m going to take her.”<br><br>And with that, he turned around and disappeared into thin air. We searched for them, but we couldn’t find them. The police couldn’t find them either. They’re still missing to this day.<br><br>And now, every time I hear the crickets, I hear them whispering. Whispering to run. And I run.<br><br>But sometimes, when I’m alone in the forest, I can still hear the crickets whispering. Whispering to run. And sometimes, I can hear Sara.<br><br>Sometimes, when I’m alone in the forest, and I stop hearing the crickets, and I run, I can still hear Sara. I can still hear her saying “I know what to do when I hear the crickets.”