Doppelgangers

Most people consider the appearance of a doppelganger to be a very bad omen. Others have experienced strange run-ins with doppelgangers but suffered no ill effects or had any tragedies befall them. One thing's for certain though, doppelgangers are creepy business. I think what makes them so unnerving is that they steal something that is very personal to you, your own likeness! Here are a few short stories I have collected from people I've met in my travels. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

***

Kimberly was a single mother doing her best to raise three boys in a small Kansas town. She raised her boys in an old house that was built around 1910. The house had its share of problems but it always served her family well. Nothing strange or out-of-the-ordinary ever happened there. The house was light and airy and always felt like home.

One sunny April afternoon Kimberly was home alone sitting at the end of her bed. She was folding clothes while watching one of those ridiculous talk shows where the people argue about who the real father of their child is. Anyways, Kimberly hears the front door open and then footsteps on the wooden floor in the entryway. It is about time for her youngest son, twelve year old Austin, to come home so she doesn't think much about it. The footsteps continue through the house and into the kitchen. She then hears a backpack being sat down hard on the kitchen table, which is part of Austin's daily routine. "How was school baby?" she calls out from her bedroom. But, there was no reply.

Still seated on her bed folding laundry, Kimberly sees Austin walk past her bedroom door and head immediately upstairs. She becomes agitated that he didn't answer her or even stop to say "hi mom".

"Austin!" she yells from her seated position. Still, there is no reply. Kimberly gets up in a huff and throws down the pair of jeans she is folding. She is about to start yelling but then decides perhaps her son had a bad day at school. Austin, she told me, could be a little sensitive at times.

"What's the matter baby?" she calls out as she climbs the stairs. Still no answer from Austin. As Kimberly draws close to Austin's room she calls out his name one more time but is answered only by silence. Upon entering the room she finds no one is there. She looks in the upstairs bathroom but it is empty as well. She then checks the other boy's rooms but they are all empty. Kimberly calls out for Austin over and over as she checks the linen closet, behind the shower curtain, in the bedroom closets, and under the beds. Austin is nowhere to be found.

Kimberly heads back down stairs utterly confused. Just then her cell phone rings. Her cousin Angie is calling. She answers the phone. Angie tells her that Austin missed the bus because he misplaced his backpack and was running late looking for it. Angie told Kimberly she would bring Austin home. She picked her own son up from school every day on her way home from work.

Kimberly was shaking when Angie dropped off her son. She wouldn't tell Angie what happened until Austin went into the house. Even two years later when Kimberly told the story to me, I could tell she was extremely uncomfortable thinking about the experience. What frightened Kimberly the most was the backpack. It was sitting on the kitchen table despite the fact she had seen him get on the bus with it that morning. Who came home and laid her son’s backpack on the table? How did it get from the school back to her home? Kimberly has no answers.

***

Malone was a truck driver I met at a truck stop in Mississippi. He told me his story over a cup of coffee.

Malone was hauling a load from Denver to Fort Worth about seven years ago. Somewhere around Elk City his fuel was running low and his stomach was growling for a hot meal. Driving down the interstate, Malone saw a sign for a truck stop and decided to pull off.

Once his truck was parked and he had talked to the woman at the counter about fuel, he decided to head to the restroom. The men's showers and restrooms were located down a long, dingy, wood-paneled hallway behind the beer coolers. Malone spotted the sign for the men's room and headed that direction. He did his business, washed his hands, and headed back out to get some food. As he opened the restroom door and started walking back down the hallway the fluorescent lights above him began to buzz and flicker, not too unusual a sight for an old truck stop. What happened next however, was very unusual.

A man walked around the corner at the far end of the hall who looked identical to Malone. He was wearing different clothes, grey sweat pants with a red shirt, but, other than that and a few more grey hairs, you could tell absolutely no difference between the two men. Malone was shocked and froze in place for a moment not knowing what to say to this man. Even weirder, the man gave Malone the most awkward smile he had ever received in his life. Malone, still frozen in place, let the man pass by without even giving him so much as a nod, though their eyes were locked the entire time. As the identical stranger passed Malone he said he felt a cold breeze that chilled him to his core.

Malone ended up doing the same run many times over the next few years and even stopped at the same truck stop several times. Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened there again and Malone eventually pushed the incident to the back of his memory.

One day last summer, Malone told me he was doing a run from Little Rock to Albuquerque. Needing fuel and a hot meal, the weary trucker stopped at the same old truck stop. He went in, paid for his fuel, and headed to the restroom. As he turned the corner, a funny feeling came over him. It felt like static was in the air. All of the hairs on his body began to stand on end. Suddenly the bathroom door opened and a man that looked identical to Malone, only slightly younger, stepped out into the hallway. Malone froze in place as the strange man walked past Malone smiling awkwardly and then disappeared around the corner. Again, Malone felt a cold breeze that chilled him instantly. The lights flickered on and off suddenly. Malone decided he didn't need to use the bathroom anymore.

***

Matt was a heavyset lad of about 19 from Reynolds County Missouri. I met Matt at a UFO convention in Louisville, Kentucky some time around 2007 I believe. Matt’s story is one that stuck with me because of how unusual it is. Matt and I started talking over a photo I had displayed at my booth. It was a picture of a UFO I snapped near Flagstaff, Arizona. Matt was full of questions and animated as young men at that age tend to be. To be polite and carry on the conversation I asked him if he had ever seen a UFO. The young man stated that he had seen some strange lights in the sky at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park but that was about it.

Then Matt’s visage grew a little darker and it seemed he was suddenly lost in thought and withdrawn from the conversation. I asked Matt if he was feeling okay. He said he was fine but then he told me seeing lights in the sky wasn't the strangest thing that ever happened to him out at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. Now, for the first time, my interest was a little piqued and I asked him to elaborate. Matt seemed to study me for a moment as though he was trying to decide if he wanted to entrust me with the story he about to tell. I told him I was a collector of strange stories and that I would be open to whatever he was about to tell me.

Finally the young man opened up to me and related this story. Two years prior, when Matt was 17 he was at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park with two of his friends. They spent much of the day horsing around in the water or trying to jump from one rock to the next. At some point Matt decided to leave his friends behind and go find a restroom. Matt decided to walk through the campground and use the restrooms there. As Matt walked through the campground he was suddenly overcome with fear and a sense of impending doom. The young man supposed he was having a panic attack. He had never had a panic attack but Matt said he had a friend who got them frequently so he was familiar with such things.

As Matt neared the showers and restrooms he began to feel a little better. Suddenly, Matt was stopped by someone who Matt suspected was a worker at the campground. The man looked agitated.

“I thought I told you to leave!” the man said angrily.

Matt was stunned. “I- I- ...just came to use the bathroom” Matt stammered.

“I don’t care where you came from or where you’re going. Just get out of here right now. Leave!”

Matt was confused and a little afraid. He quickly walked around the corner of the building that housed the showers and toilets. He was so busy trying to get away from the angry park worker that he nearly ran into another man. Matt told me the guy was big, much bigger than he. The man actually pushed Matt backwards and then began shoving a finger in Matt’s chest.

“You like staring at little kids you creep?”

“Huh?!?” Matt said as he recoiled defensively.

“What kind of pervert are you? Standing there just standing there staring at my daughters while they play! Hanging out at the restrooms with that big stupid grin on your face, watching people go in and out of the bathrooms! You got some kind of problem with you!?!”

Matt was scared. He was beyond confused, but he knew he didn’t want any part of this guy. By this time the park worker had walked around the building to where they were standing. The worker had his arm outstretched pointing down the road and was yelling “Get! Get!” like Matt was some kind of animal the man was trying to shoo away.

Matt took off running and ran through a different part of the campground. As he ran, Matt noticed that this part of the campground looked like it had been through a flood even though there had been no rain for days. He said debris was piled up at the base of bigger trees and a fire ring was half sticking out of the ground like it had been deposited there during a flood. Strangely though, everything was dry. Matt said he wasn't really paying that much attention to all of this, mind you. He was busy trying to get away from the crazy park worker and the deranged camper that was calling him a “pervert”.

After crossing the campground Matt dove headlong into the woods. Once inside a quiet clearing he stopped to catch his breath. From here Matt doubled back through the woods to get back to his friends at the river without running into more people.

Here’s the thing I need to tell you about Matt right now. I suppose it’s possible to think that someone who looked, and who even happened to dress like Matt, was at the park that day. Maybe this look-alike character was creeping around the campground and staring at people making them nervous. I suppose that’s all within the realm of possibility. But, it’s also highly unlikely. I’ll tell you why. Matt has a large red birthmark that covers the right side of his face and is distinctly shaped. I believe in coincidences but it is a bit of a stretch even for me to think that there is someone who looks just Matt.

When Matt walked up his friends had puzzled looks on their faces.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” one of Matt’s friends asked.

“Huh?” Matt replied.

“Dude, you just walked by us like two minutes ago?”

“Huh?” Matt asked again dumbly.

Matt’s friends explained that they had just seen him come out of the woods in the very spot he had just exited from. When his friends called to him he just looked at them with a big goofy grin on his face, crossed the river, and disappeared into the woods on the other side. How, they wanted to know, did Matt get back to the woods on this side again so quickly? And why had Matt acted so oddly with them?

Matt had a another panic attack at that moment. He was deeply confused and questioned his own sanity. His friends took him home. Matt spent little time hanging out with anyone for the next few months, deciding instead to stay home and play video games or watch movies.

A few months later a story made the local news that gave Matt pause to think. A flash flood had wiped out the campground at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park and the park was now closed down. There had even been some injuries during the flood. Matt wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling that what had happened to him that day at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park was related to the flood. Matt had done some searching online about doppelgangers. He said he read stories about how they can appear before something bad happens.

I’m not sure if that’s the case. But I do know a young man who may have an unlikely look-alike. Or does he?