I grew up in a small, semi-rural town in Arizona. I say semi-rural, because while it wasn't in the middle of nowhere, it also wasn't very close to many highly populated urban areas. It's the type of town that you stop at just to fuel up your car and load up on snacks and food while on a long road trip. Quite honestly, I enjoy it out here. I'm the type of person that doesn't like the noise and busyness of the city, while also not enjoying the total desolation of rural life.
My town used to be a mining town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, specifically mining silver, which was big back then. Eventually the silver mines dried up and were abandoned. Luckily for the town, it was self-sufficient enough that it could rely on other things other than silver mining to sustain itself. Still today, you can find a lot of old mine entrances scattered about, some not sealed up. As a matter of fact, one of the mines closer to the town that wasn't completely closed off became a sort of "hang out spot" for teens to drink, party, hook up, etc.
As I got older and became more independent from my parents, it became a hobby of mine to explore the abandoned mines. I picked up an interest in them since I like the feeling of being in a place that people used to be in before being abandoned forever, if that makes sense. I don't go very far into the mines, since they can become more dangerous the further in you go, and I had no special equipment for exploring these mines. The only things I carried with me were my phone for its flashlight alongside a gun for self defence in case I encountered an animal, or godforbid a person. I usually found the mines by looking over old maps, as well as finding some by complete chance. One of them that I found by complete chance haunts me to this day.
I found it behind a few rocks just off an old railroad I was driving on the side of. I made a mental note to myself to explore it, and a few days later I did exactly that. It was noon, which sounds crazy since it was scorching hot, and it was, but at the time I thought I was tough enough to handle it. The entrance was somewhat difficult to get into, since a few large rocks blocked it. They weren't too heavy for me, so I was able to move them with little struggle, and after clearing them up I went in. The first thing that hit me was the cool air, which felt amazing on my skin. I took in the scenery, and imagined the people that must've been in this mine when it was still in operation. It filled me with a sense of awe, I liked the feeling that me and these people from 100 years ago, people that I never met and people I can never meet, were somehow connecting via that space. It's something that really humbles you.
As I looked around in the mine, I noticed something about the ground. The dirt looked almost... disturbed, as if someone or something walked through the narrow halls of the mine recently. At first I thought an animal might've been in the mine too, so I pulled out my gun just in case. As I slowly walked through the mine, I began to think to myself "How would an animal have set up those rocks in the front?". It just didn't make sense to me, animals don't put rocks at the entrances of their caves, why would mines be any different? The thought that a person could've been in that mine began to dawn on me, but I put that thought aside and kept going in. The further I went in, the stranger things got. Smudges on the wall, random small piles of dirt on the ground, the more sensible part of me was freaking out. The only thing that kept me going was curiosity and a desire to think of myself as cool and brave. I probably should've listened to the sensible part of me and booked it out of there, because what I saw when I rounded a corner in that mine made me scream.
It was shoes. A huge pile of dirty, dusty, old shoes. To be more specific, they were children's shoes. The designs dated back to the 80's, meaning that many of the shoes in that pile were placed there long before I was even born. The pile was so high as to reach to my stomach. The smell emanating from it was awful, like rancid meat left to rot outside. I also saw bones, but whether they were animal or human bones I cannot say. When I saw that pile, I was literally quaking in my boots. The question of why there were a bunch of children's shoes in that mine crossed my mind, but only for a few seconds before I noticed motion coming from deeper within the mine. The figure of what was most likely a person got up from a lying position to an erect one, before slowly shuffling its way towards me. I couldn't even see a hint of colour in it, it was almost as if a shadow became 3D and started to move on its own.
I screamed like a little girl. Dropping my gun, I ran like I never ran before the entrance of the mine. It began to chase after me, whatever it was, I could hear its footsteps not far behind me. I stumbled and fell a lot during my craze to get to the entrance, and every time I did I thought the thing was going to catch me and do God knows what with me. Thankfully, I got to the entrance. I got in my car and sped away from there, I didn't even bother looking back. When I got back to town, I decided to go to my parent's house to tell them what happened. I told them everything, from the smudges on the wall to the shoes and the thing that chased after me. My parents were just as horrified as I was, and called the cops. The cops said that they wouldn't be looking into the case until the next day. The next day, I took them to the place the entrance of the mine was. When we got there, it was sealed off. Somebody poured mountains of rocks into the entrance, basically preventing anybody from ever getting back into the entrance ever again. It didn't help that the cops thought my story was bullshit, since they thought there was no mine there ever.
The story didn't end there, since a few days later, I found my gun at the parking lot where I work. It was the same colour, same grip, even the bullets were still fully loaded inside. Not a single one was shot.
I still wonder to this day about the event, about what was down there. Why was there a pile of children's shoes? Who or what was the figure? The best explanation I have is that the mine was used in relation to child abductions. Most likely, a person or group of people were using the mine to dispose of the shoes of the victims they abducted. But why? Was it just for practical purposes, or was it a sick trophy for someone? There's also the question of what the thing chasing me was. The thought that whoever, or whatever, was chasing me that day could still be out there, looking for me, terrifies me.
Last Updated: June 21, 2024
Page Created: June 21, 2024