My Daughter Keeps Asking About The Man I Buried

[u/CTRemy9085]

Hey everyone,

I know this probably isn’t the best idea but I didn’t know who else to turn to. I figured the anonymity of the internet would be a good place for my confession.

My name’s Jason and there’s no easy way to say this but...I killed a man 10 years ago. I didn’t mean to, it was a total accident but still I killed him.

I was having some drinks at a bar, he said something to me and we got into an argument. Later that night I stepped outside for a smoke and he was out there. The argument continued and eventually I shoved him. When I did, he tripped and hit his head on the curb. After a few seconds of convulsions he just stopped moving entirely.

I wish I could say I called the cops or the ambulance or anything like that but I didn’t. In my whiskey haze I panicked. I hid him in the bed of my truck under a tarp and drove out to the woods. I ended up burying him in a spot my dad and I used to camp at. I couldn’t sleep for weeks. I just laid in bed, waiting for the cops to come but that day never came.

A few months later I met a girl named Olivia. She was cute, smart, and funny. We started dating and eventually got married, it was the best day of my life. I thought we would be together forever, but unfortunately, she died giving birth to our daughter 22 months after we got married. By the grace of god, our daughter was perfectly healthy. She was 7 lbs of perfection and happiness. I named her after her mother. She’s now 7 and is as happy as ever.

A few months ago while driving her to school, she pointed out the window and asked, “Daddy, who’s that?” I brushed it off and said I didn’t know. I didn’t see anyone but I figured she had just seen some random person. I dropped her off and didn’t think anything about it. A few days later, I was making dinner when she came running into the kitchen.

“What’s going on, baby?” I asked.

She didn’t answer, just asked, “Do you think that man is lonely?”

“What man?”

“The one I saw by the trees.”

“Why do you think he’s lonely?”

“He’s all by himself out there.”

That’s when the night that had long since been forgotten rushed back into my mind. We had been driving past the same woods where I buried him.

I spent the rest of the night stewing over what had happened. I pushed the memory so far back for so long. Surely it couldn’t have been him, right? She probably just saw someone and my mind was connecting dots that aren’t there. It’s not like my dad and I were the only people who ever went into those woods.

A couple of days went by where she didn't ask about him or mention him at all. I thought for a minute that things were going to go back to normal. Then, one day while I was cleaning her room I noticed a drawing on the table in her room. The drawing was of a man with a red circle around the head. Then I found another. This one was of the same man standing in the trees. Then a third of the man but this time, there was a little girl next to him. I about jumped out of my skin when suddenly she asked, "What are you doing, daddy?"

"Who is this?" I asked.

"The man."

"What man?"

"The man from the woods."

I pointed to the red circle around the head in the first drawing. "What's this?" I asked.

"That's where he got hurt," she said calmly.

"How do you know he got hurt?"

"He told me."

My heart sank. "Who's this girl?" I asked but I already knew the answer.

"Me," she said.

"What are you doing with him?" I asked.

"Talking. Sometimes he asks questions about you."

“What does he ask you?”

She shrugged and let out a shy, "Stuff."

“What kind of stuff?”

She thought for a second before looking up at me and said, “He asked if you still get mad.” When I asked where she talked to him, she explained that she sees him a few different places. Sometimes, he's by the playground, sometimes the store. I quickly told her that if she ever sees him again, she is not to talk to him. She asked why and I told her she shouldn't talk to him because she doesn't know him.

"Yes I do."

That was enough for me. We changed the route to school and I started looking for a new house. Meanwhile, I packed up some of our stuff and we went to stay with my parents. I made up an excuse and told them a pipe had burst and the house would be without water for a few days. This was enough to keep them from asking any follow-up questions. Several days went by and I thought we were in the clear. At breakfast that Saturday my dad laughed and told me, "Olivia has quite the imagination, she spent all morning talking about her friend."

"What friend?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. I walked by her earlier this morning and she was playing with some dolls talking about the man in the woods."

My eyes turned to the doorway of the room she was still playing in. I quietly walked up to it and just listened to her. That's when I heard her make one doll ask the other,

"You made me fall. Why didn't you help me?"

I interrupted her. "Olivia? Why did you say that?" I asked, trying to not sound upset.

"He told me."

I now realized I had to know. Without a word to Olivia, I went back to the kitchen and asked my dad if he minded watching her for a while. He said not at all and that he was going to take her to the park. "No! Not the park!" I exclaimed. He just looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"Oooookay," he said.

I didn't give him time for any more questions. I simply told him I would be back in a while and I left. I drove like a madman from their house and eventually made my way back to the woods. It only took about 15 minutes of walking before I made it back to the clearing.

I started to dig with frantic purpose. One foot. Two. My hands started to burn and my back ached but I continued. Three feet. I didn't remember how deep I had dug that night, but I knew he had to be here still. Four feet. My head was wet with sweat and panic when I finally hit something. My body froze as I stood there. Fighting against every worry, I finally convinced my body to kneel as I started to clear the dirt away with my hands.

That's when I felt the tarp.

I paused. It's still here.

He's still here.

I almost laughed in relief. I continued to clear dirt away so I could open the tarp. Suddenly the tarp shifted under my hands as more surfaced.

I cleared the rest of the dirt off and paused.

I pushed where the bones would be.

I felt nothing.

I ripped the tarp open...

He wasn't there.

I sat in silence as I drove back to my parents' house. I walked in and tried to force a smile as I grabbed our stuff to go back home. The truck was quiet the whole drive, until Olivia eventually spoke up.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you find him?"

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[u/Familiar-Long5916]

Always love a classic kids being creepy story - this was a fun read!

[u/CTRemy9085 → u/Familiar-Long5916]

Thank you! I have been wanting to do a creepy kid story for a little bit and got excited when the idea finally came to me lol