I was a soldier in the American civil war. I have never seen anything like it.

My name is Emmet. I was a soldier in the American civil war, and I have never seen anything like it. <br><br>First of all, to clear up any confusion, I should specify that this story takes place a long time ago, back when Abraham Lincoln was president, and the United States was divided. I say this, because, as you will see from reading this, not much of it makes sense. <br><br>I was a union soldier, posted in the south for several years. I saw a lot of things during that time. I saw good, I saw bad, I saw ugly. But I think the strangest thing I ever saw was one night, when we were camped out, waiting to go into battle. <br><br>I don’t know if this makes sense, but have you ever been scared, but don’t know why you’re scared? It’s like when you see a horror movie, and you know that the killer is going to jump out and stab the main character, but you also know that it’s not real, it’s just a movie. For me though, it was *very* real, and it was *very* scary. <br><br>Anyways, one night, I was walking by a river. We had set up camp nearby because we needed access to water to keep ourselves nourished, and to keep our weapons clean. As I walked along the river, I noticed something. There was a tree, that seemed to be bent downwards, and reaching into the water. It looked like a mother reaching down to her baby. It was bright out, as it was just about noon, but for some reason, this seemed like one of the creepiest things I’d ever seen. Every time I tried to look at it, I just felt worse and worse. <br><br>One of my comrades came up behind me, and asked me if I was okay. I tried to explain to him what I was seeing, but he didn’t get it. He looked where I was looking, and all he saw was a tree. I tried to tell him, over and over again, that it wasn’t just a tree, it was something else, but he didn’t believe me. <br><br>He thought I was going crazy. I didn’t blame him. Sometimes, I think that I too was going crazy. <br><br>Anyways, he recommended that I take a walk to clear my head. He said that it wouldn’t be good if I started to go crazy out on the battlefield. I agreed with him, and decided to go for a walk. <br><br>I walked for about an hour, and then suddenly, I heard a voice. It was a man, and he was singing. <br><br>“Shenandoah, I long to hear you <br><br>Away you rolling river <br><br>Away, I'm bound away, 'cross the wide Missouri <br><br>Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you <br><br>Away you rolling river <br><br>Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you <br><br>Away, I'm bound away, 'cross the wide Missouri”<br><br>I looked, and saw a man sitting in the tree I had seen earlier. He was slightly elevated off the ground, only by a few feet, but it was enough to make him stand out. He looked down at me, and started walking towards me. <br><br>As he walked, he continued to sing. I didn’t see his mouth move as he sang, and I could have sworn that I heard the voice come from elsewhere. Anyways, as he came closer, he stopped singing, and started talking. <br><br>“Hello, what is your name?” He asked. <br><br>“I am Emmet.” I replied. <br><br>“Well, thank you Emmet. My name is Benjamin.” He said. <br><br>I tried to respond, but I couldn’t. As I tried to say something, Benjamin started singing again. <br><br>“Shenandoah, I long to hear you <br><br>Away you rolling river <br><br>Away, I'm bound away, 'cross the wide Missouri <br><br>Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you <br><br>Away you rolling river <br><br>Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you <br><br>Away, I'm bound away, 'cross the wide Missouri”<br><br>I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t stop. He just kept singing, over and over and over again. It was like he was in some sort of loop. I tried to talk to him, but I couldn’t. I tried to walk away, but I couldn’t. I was frozen in place. <br><br>As I stood there, something came out of the river. A woman, with long hair, and a white dress. Her skin was dead, and decaying, and she looked like she had been dead for a while. <br><br>She walked towards us, and Benjamin stopped singing. I tried to run away, but I was frozen in place, just like before. <br><br>The woman reached us, and looked at Benjamin. <br><br>“I’m home.” She said. <br><br>“Yes, you’re home.” He replied. <br><br>The woman looked at me. <br><br>“I am Shenandoah. Nice to meet you.” She said. <br><br>“Nice to meet you.” I said back. <br><br>Benjamin and Shenandoah stood there for a while, watching me. They didn’t move, they didn’t say anything, they just watched me. <br><br>I was starting to feel like a monkey in a cage at the zoo. <br><br>But they just kept watching. They wouldn’t stop. <br><br>I started to feel worse and worse. I felt like I needed to scream, or run away, or something, anything. <br><br>But I couldn’t. <br><br>I was frozen in place. <br><br>I started to go crazy. <br><br>I started to think about everything that was going on. Benjamin kept singing his song. Shenandoah kept coming out of the river. <br><br>Shenandoah came from the river. <br><br>Shenandoah is a river. <br><br>This makes no sense. <br><br>None of this makes sense. <br><br>Suddenly, I heard something. It was a voice. It sounded like a man, and he was yelling. <br><br>“Stop! Stop! Stop!” He was saying. <br><br>Suddenly, a man came running up. He had a rifle, and he aimed it at Benjamin. <br><br>“I’ll stop you this time!” He yelled. <br><br>Benjamin ignored him, and kept staring at me. <br><br>The man fired his rifle, and shot Benjamin. <br><br>But he didn’t hurt him. <br><br>Instead, he just fell to the ground. <br><br>As he fell, I could hear a loud rushing noise. It was like water flowing down a pipe, or a river flowing to the sea. <br><br>And then it stopped. <br><br>I realized that the noise had been coming from my ears. I was bleeding profusely. <br><br>I fell to my knees, and grabbed my head. <br><br>The man who had shot Benjamin came running up. <br><br>“What did he do to you?” He asked. <br><br>I tried to explain, to tell him everything that I had seen, but I couldn’t. <br><br>“I don’t know.” I said, instead. <br><br>“Well, you’re hurt pretty bad. I think you need to go see a doctor.” He said. <br><br>“Okay.” I replied. <br><br>The man helped me up, and started to carry me away. <br><br>As he did, I turned back to look. Shenandoah was back in the river, and Benjamin was nowhere to be seen. <br><br>I never saw either of them again. I never figured out what they were, or what had happened. <br><br>I went back to war, and survived. <br><br>And I never forgot what I saw that day.