Let's Not Meet~ Reddit Horror Stories

Why I Love Cats

I work about a mile from my house, in a pretty small town (100K ish, spread out... I grew up in one of the largest cities in the states so living here has been a bit of a culture shock!). It's very easily accessible by walking, so I never drive.

About half a year ago, I finished work around 1AM. Nobody is really out past 8PM here (a HUGE shock coming from a big city), so the park I walked through was utterly deserted. I live in one of the safest countries in the world (not America, anymore), so it's easy to forget just how vulnerable I still am as a small female. I honestly didn't feel uncomfortable at any point of my walk, until I rounded the corner past some basketball courts nearby my house.

I was still about two minutes away from home, and this stretch of my walk was completely dark. The moon was massive that night. While I had welcomed its light at the beginning of my journey, in the absence of streetlights, it actually made things look pretty eerie. I had walked this path hundreds of times, but tonight something felt off... I'm not a fearful person in any sense of the word, but I was really on edge suddenly.

Then I saw it, a van in the parking lot next to the courts, with its side door open. I picked up my pace and kept an eye on it. There are usually cars in that parking lot - I live in a tourist town and backpackers often stay in their vehicles to save money. I'd never seen one with its door hanging open like that in the middle of the night, though.

I was so focused on the van that I missed the man walking out from the trees near the courts, until he was a mere thirty feet behind me. He was walking fast, and there was little doubt that he was heading straight towards me.

I was at a loss for what my next action should be. Screaming wouldn't do much, I was still too far away from any residences. I usually carry a glass water bottle with me for protection (we have very strict laws on weapons), but had left it at work that night. My phone was dead. Everything I knew better than to do, I'd done.

And as stupid as I feel writing this... I hesitated running on the off chance that he didn't mean to act sketchy. I have moved past this mindset overall, but there is still this strong part of me that balks at the prospect of making someone feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. I also hate showing men that I feel scared of them because even if they hurt me, I'd rather not give them any satisfaction of seeing my fear. I also knew I couldn't outrun him.

I also overthink everything.

I saw a little dark blur darting across the library parking lot at the back of the courts. It didn't even register to me what it was, the whole situation was so surreal. The guy was behind me now and judging by his footsteps, he hadn't veered course. I quickened my pace, felt out my keys in my purse, and slipped them in between my fingers.

I heard a slight jingling noise and everything suddenly made sense. The blur was Apollo, the large black cat that often walked me home on the stretch after the park. Tonight, he was doing that weird cat run... where they get really low to the ground with their ears back. I had an impression that he was angry, but he was moving too fast for me to see his face properly as he rushed past me.

I kept walking, but the heavy footsteps were retreating now. I didn't dare look back, and kept moving forward quickly. Apollo was suddenly by my side, still staying low to the ground and stopping every few feet to look behind him and hiss. Then he would do that weird cat run to catch up with me. He walked the whole way home with me, as he had done so many times, but I'd never seen him act like that. As we neared my gate, he visibly relaxed and flopped on his back. I coaxed him inside the gate before giving him some massive hugs and head bumps.

I stopped walking home by myself at night and still saw my sweet little cat friend often. I never saw him behave that way again, though. Apollo moved away three months ago :'(

I still miss my little buddy and often think about how strange that night was - I wish I'd turned around to see him chase the guy off. I've heard so many stories about dogs protecting people, but rarely about cats - my own little girl would never do anything like what Apollo did!

Parking lot creeper... let's not meet. Apollo... I hope to meet you again :)