November 22, 2004 - Building Reality

When I was 15, i spent the night in the woods at a Scout camp. We were at the bottom of a huge hill, far away from everyone else.

We told ghost stories all night, ending with a particularly good one about werewolves. Following the predictable plotlines, the story detailed a pack in the woods around us.

There really was one there.

At that age, it doesn't take much to convince you of things. I had, through my own story, managed to convince ten kids and two of my friends that the story was true. After I finished, several of the kids saw shapes in the darkness, one heard a howl, and we all heard footsteps in the brush.

Suddenly, my masterwork of storytelling backfired on me, and I heard it all too.

I spent the night with my friends around a large fire with a stick of wood in my hand. I distinctly remember seeing the creatures out in the forest.

This was my first experience of creative reality.

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