Written Confession: An Eerie, Unexpected Scene on the Side of the Road
The following written confession was shared via Reddit:
This is my first post here and this story technically takes place on a road but it is in the wilderness as it’s a very very rural area with few to no houses around. As it is stated in the rules not all stories on here are true, so I want to clarify that this did happen to me. I hope you enjoy.
This incident happened to me when I was younger, probably around 19-20 (I’m 27 going on 28 now). I used to drive around the country side for hours on end (sometimes up to six hours) and smoke cigarettes while listening to music and just daydreaming. I had been through a lot, so this was my way of letting off steam and trying to digest all the badness that had happened to me in the past seven years. There is a route that goes into the southern part of my state and eventually takes you to Maryland (if I’m not mistaken, if you keep going along it will take you all the way to Florida). It was a road I was very fond of as it intersected with a lot of interesting places- it could take you to cities and beaches alike all while somehow remaining pretty isolated and rural.
On one of these day trips I was driving through a heavily wooded area that opened up to a field lined with trees on my left. I was pretty zoned out at this point, but something on the side of the road immediately caught my attention. In fact, it even seemed that time slowed so that I could see this apparition with more vivid detail than any random artifact I would ever glance at lying off the roadside. What I saw was an older, balding man dressed in full catholic priest's garb. His mouth was opened in what appeared to be grief, staring up at the sky through large glasses. He was standing in front of a dead deer (a buck: from what I recall it was around three points maybe four). Behind the deer was a 1970/80’s crown vic style police car without its lights on. It had no markings on it whatsoever to signify what county it was from, and no one was in the vehicle. I don’t even think it had the engine running- now this is pure speculation, but it almost appeared as if the vehicle had been parked there for a day or so because it was so sedentary. The other odd thing about this vehicle is that it had no damage on its front end to show that it was responsible for hitting the dead deer, nor did this deer seem all that mangled or bloody. Taking a step back and rehashing this scene as a whole, it had the appearance of being- staged or set up somehow, as if it were all props in a play or movie. Every part of it was so odd and so still.
For the speed I was traveling at, the glance I cast on this spectacle could have only lasted for about three seconds maximum, but the moment seemed to be quadruple that amount, and it’s impression was so dense it grabbed every part of my being and seemed to cut through me like a knife- just like bad news. Real bad news. I was gasping for air and almost crying. Had I seen some sort of ghost? Was it a warning from a deity unawares to me? Did the forces that shaped time and space momentarily flex in this rural corner of Virginia and I just so happened to be it’s only witness? Even passing the same spot on my return from this trip, there was no other trace of it that remained. Not even the body of the deer or tire tracks from the police car could be seen. Like a breeze, a waking dream had crossed my vision. A thing so out of place it could not be surrounded by any setting native to its own themes. I had no answers to any of these questions, only a lack of closure leaving it’s scar upon my brain for the rest of my life.