It’s been approximately twenty years since that photo of mine circulated around the world. I remember walking by a news stand and seeing my photo of the forest creature on the very front page of every major magazine. They’d give it all sorts of nicknames like “forest creeper” or “night monster” with hopes that it would catch on. However, I knew in my mind that it was and always would be the greatest hoax of my entire life.
So how and why did this happen? What would lead someone like me to fool the entire world into believing such a thing? It all started about twenty-five years ago when I’d heard rumors of a mysterious creature lurking in the forest. Everybody was talking about it and gossip spread fast about the creature. Some claimed it stood eighteen feet tall while others said it sounded like a tiger when it roared. Every account different but we all came to the conclusion that there was indeed something there.
Naturally, this sort of story intrigued me and I quickly prepared myself for an investigation into this mysterious creature. At that time there were several famous photographers and journalists competing with each other in hopes of catching a glimpse of the creature. I definitely couldn’t compete with my cheap disposable camera and flashlight, but that didn’t keep me from being determined.
I must have waited seven hours before the sun finally set. My camera and flashlight had been in my trembling hands the entire time as I waited for the time to arrive. As soon as it did I wasted no time and bolted right out the door. I sometimes like to imagine that all the other photographers and journalists did something similar around the same time.
The forest itself wasn’t really all that difficult for me to navigate through. I’d spent hours of my childhood exploring them and enjoyed reliving some of those memories as I ventured through similar routes. On occasion I’d hear the sounds of photo teams talking to each other like a military brigade. They apparently had a strategy all figured out to capture this monster. Two divisions would split in opposite direction while another continued straight on. Slips of steak were handed out to each person in hopes of driving the creature towards them. I watched as each division marched off in search of their monster.
Meanwhile, I went in a completely different direction and found nothing of any interest. There was a bird here and a rabbit there, but nothing remotely close to the actual creature. It was starting to get really late and I was about to give up when I tripped on something. That something was a large indent in the ground that at first looked like a weird shaped hole. On further inspection it turned out to be a footprint the size of my body. I couldn’t believe my luck. The excitement was so strong that I wound up dropping my camera and breaking it. It didn’t matter though. What mattered was that I found proof of the creature.
The remainder of the night was spent on making casts of the footprints to show to the local newspapers the next day. I could barely function by the time I was done. A combination of exhaustion and excitement left me feeling drained.
It didn’t take long at all for the next morning to start and I had already packed my casts in my car and drove all the way to the newspapers office with a goofy grin on my face. All I could think about was the reaction and glory that would come with being the first to discover something so groundbreaking.
At first everything went exactly as I imagined. The people at the newspaper were astounded and stared dumbfounded at my find. They told me that they would take it to a museum and find out any possibilities as to what made it. I was to be notified as soon as they found out. My already wide smile must have spread past my face at that point. In my head I envisioned the creature being named after me.
For a while I was known as the man who discovered the forest creature. People would approach me in public and ask all sorts of questions about what I had seen and what I must have felt. I was more than happy to relay every last detail with a bit of exaggeration thrown in for good measure. You could say that for a while I was a celebrity of sorts.
Unfortunately, this moment of fame didn’t last very long. Only one week into the investigation and I received a phone call from the newspapers telling me that the footprints were fake. Apparently, somebody else had put those in place for me to find. I felt my heart sink into my bowels at this revelation.
In just one week I had gone from the discoverer of an unknown creature to an idiot who had been hoaxed. The papers made sure to make that point clear with pictures of me and my grin beneath a header that said “Overly eager fool gets hoaxed.” The same people who had been congratulating me not that long ago were now teasing me and asking if I’d search their toilets for water monsters.
The harassment became too much for me and I decided I would get my revenge. The only problem was that I had no idea as to how this would happen. I didn’t exactly have the knowledge or equipment to do anything as convincing as the foot print.
It would be another month before I met Charles, the man living next door to me who also happened to be a hobbyist filmmaker. We met each other at a neighborhood barbecue earlier in the year and quickly became friends. It wasn’t long before I proposed to him the idea of fooling the papers.
He didn’t appear or sound all that interested at first. It may have been the anxiety surrounding being caught. I assured him that with his work we’d create something so convincing that nobody would question it.
Work went into making the creature’s design and finding the right place to film the “footage.” I would be wearing the costume while Charles himself filmed it. It would look like he was going outside on a trip with his family when an odd creature appears.
We had an entire set prepared and all we needed was the film. I remember wearing that heavy, uncomfortable suit he had made. It was like wearing a dead animal over my body. My entire body began to sweat almost immediately after putting it on.
Charles started to film his “trip” while I went to hide in the woods. As soon as I hid there were a few doubtful thoughts in my head that emerged. Was I no better than the hoaxer who had hoaxed me by doing this? This moment of doubt came only briefly and then I was signaled to make my debut.
I walked through the trees pretending to be in search of something. The suit itself chaffed against my arms and I almost wanted to throw it off. I could see Charles from the corner of my eye filming me and making fake reactions to seeing me. It was all so perfect and I forgot any doubts I had.
It didn’t take long at all for the “film” to be sent to the newspapers. This time I was left out and Charles took the credit. It didn’t matter to me because I knew that I’d be fooling those papers that had ridiculed me.
I should probably clear things up by saying that I didn’t expect things to end up the way they did. All I wanted was to prove the papers and everyone else who ridiculed me wrong. They would believe that I had found something and I’d have the satisfaction of knowing they’d been taken for fools as well. What I didn’t expect was for the film to become a global sensation that sparked a tourist industry in my town. It was a bit overwhelming at first seeing myself awkwardly walk around on every news station available.
Charles became a well-known figure among the town and while I was still seen as the man who had been hoaxed, I still carry with me the satisfaction of what really happened that day.
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