This is a true story.

On our way to Colorado last summer we passed through the oddest little town. It was one of those little towns that a 2 lane highway would pass right through. We were on somewhat of a backroad highway so there wasn't much traffic, in fact there wasn't any traffic. As we slowed down to the posted speed limit of 25mph I noticed that although there were businesses and houses all around there were no people or cars no noise. None. A couple of blocks more and still no people, cars or noise. The air was dead! I got the creepiest feeling, like I was in a Steven King novel. Now both hubby and I are pretty weirded out and he starts to speed up a bit because wouldn't you know it, we were starting to pass by a cemetery. I noticed that there was something in the road up ahead but couldn't make out what it was. We got closer and closer and......."SLOW DOWN", I screamed, "I think there's a cat in the road". Sure enough up ahead was a cat standing in the road. As we got closer the cat just stood there. Hubby honked the horn. Closer still and it never moved. Something didn't look right. It was definitely a cat, it was cream colored and it was really really stiff. When we got close enough I saw that it had it's mouth open like it was hissing, except the mouth didn't close. All of a sudden a wave of horror came over me. Then it hit me. It was dead. Not fresh dead, like mummified dead. And it was standing in the road. We drove slowly around it and it was propped up against some rebar that looked like it was stuck into the road. We looked around and there were still no people, no cars and no noise. The town pretty much ended at the cemetery so we put the pedal to the metal and took off.

About a minute later I said, "Let's go back and take a picture of that, it's too damn weird and nobody will believe us." Reluctantly hubby turned the car around. We get to the edge of the cemetery and I don't see a thing in the road. So we drove up a little further and whatever was in the road 5 minutes before wasn't there any more. No people, no cars, no noise. Hubby looked pale as a ghost. He whipped the truck around and just as we were passing over the spot where the "cat carcass" had been a cream colored cat darts out of the cemetery and hisses at us. I about peed my pants. I just remember screaming for hubby to "DRIVE". We sat in silence for at least 1/2 hour after that before we talked about what we saw. On the way back we did not go through that town. I do not recall the name of that town and I don't want to know it either. I do however wonder if anyone else encountered the "cat carcass" and are they alive to tell about it?

Copyright © Tambra Jo Gwozdz
March 13, 2001