Hello, I'd like to start by saying that I'm someone of a sound mind and have never shown signs of any mental disorders and have seen a therapist and have been deemed mentally sound, so what the hell did I just bring into my life.

Two weeks ago I went to a yard sale, a small hobby of mine when I have the extra money to spare. I'm a soon to graduate highschool student with a part-time job and the occasional spare change. When I was out looking to see what there was, one yard sale caught my eye. They had lots of furniture and tables full of goodies. Another thing about me is that I go camping frequently and am always looking for interesting camping supplies or replacements for any of my current gear. So, when I spotted a tent still in it's box I was excited! I brought it up to the lady running the yard sale, she was perhaps about 50 years old or so. I asked her why she was getting rid of a perfectly good tent for such a cheap price(it was about $15). She told me that it had only been used once and that she hasn't been camping often since her knee replacement surgery. I thought that was pretty valid but still questioned the cheap price. She said she just wanted to get rid of it and didn't desperately need the money. Just looking to clean out her home. In all honesty, I had already assumed she was wealthy from the home she was living in, so I accepted this answer and paid her the $15.

A few days after I bought the tent, I decided to test out the tent and some other new gear I had gotten for some winter camping and take a hike. The weather was gorgeous even it was cold with a thin layer of snow that coated the ground. I was just excited to be back out in the peace of the woods with few hikers to disturb me. Not many people around here did winter hikes and I loved the peace that came with it. Now looking back on it, I do kind of wish there was someone else around me to maybe have an excuse for what happened next.

After a while I had set up camp and pitched the tent. I was ready to settle for the evening and crawled into the tent and into the warmth of my sleeping bag, bundled up and drifting off. Sooner than I had realized, it had gotten late and, of course, dark. I had woken up suddenly, don't really remember why and it's not a common habit of mine. Something felt off. At first I wanted to shove it off as just being alone camping but something in my gut sank the longer I sat in the silence. I sat up, searched for my headlight, and turned it on. I figured if I just took a peak outside I would be fine. I opened the zipper and...jeez it just turns my stomach recalling this...but I was somewhere else entirely. I didn't recognize a single thing around me and thought maybe I was just dreaming. It didn't take long for me to realize that I in fact wasn't since I was still aware of how my face burned from the cold. I debated stepping out of the tent into the new surrounding but curious got the best of me and made the worst mistake. As soon as I stepped out the tent disappeared. I was lost surrounded by the same tall, bare trees and thick white snow. I couldn't see much with the little light the headlamp gave off. I spun around looking for anything that seemed familiar. I could hear my own heartbeat in the silence and panic of the moment, god it could outbeat a rabbit's.

I walked forward a little and spotted some sort of trail. There weren't any human footprints on it so no one had used it recently from what I could tell. A trail was better than nothing and had to lead me somewhere eventually. I got to the trail and followed it until I eventually recognized a familiar area. My campsite. How the hell had I ended up a 30 minute walk from my campsite?! Where had my footprints gone from before?! I approached my campsite and there it was. My tent. Confused and still tired, I chopped it up to just simply that, being tired. Maybe I had just imagined the whole thing. I couldn't sleep the rest of the night...

Once I got home I told my father of what had happened when I went camping. He assured me it was nothing and I had probably dreamt it and sleep walked or something. That I was overreacting. It felt to real to have just been a dream but I didn't want to think of what else it could have been. Some elaborate prank? Some forest ghost? Who knew but I didn't want to know. I tried to forget about it until it happened again. I went to a different location with the same...damn...tent. It happened again. All of it.

I woke up thirty minutes away from my campsite. The tent disappeared from me and I had to find my way back in the dark. This was starting to freak me out and instead of staying I just packed up and went back to my car. I barely managed to sleep in the car for the night and drove home the next morning. I didn't even bother to tell my dad what happened, assuming I would just get the same answer. That I had been sleep walking and dreaming.

I don't know what to think anymore. I don't drink and I don't do drugs. As I mentioned in the beginning I have been deemed sane by a therapist and feel like no one believes me. I don't know what to do but I'm not touching that tent again. I have a feeling...as crazy as it sounds...its cursed. I know that sounds crazy and I don't really believe in that kind of stuff but I don't know what else to think. I'm thinking about just burning the tent or something. I don't want this thing in my house and my family thinks I'm just overreacting.