What did I see?
So when I was 14-15 we were living in Northern Virginia near DC. Back then suburbs had lots of the original woods intact. In the summer we would spend the evening playing all those outdoor games that were popular before cable tv and video games were common. One summer night we were running around playing flashlight tag or some other game and I got thirsty. I ran to our backyard, headed up the deck stairs and went thru the sliding glass door to the kitchen for a drink. It was right about 10pm because Fantasy Island was starting on the tv in the kitchen. I got my drink and started to head back out when my mom told me that it was time to come in and to get my younger brother. So I opened the door and started heading for the stairs but came to a dead stop at the top. At the bottom I could see someone. Well, I could see eyes. Large yellow cat like eyes. Angular, slitted pupils, yellow, large. They appeared to be 6 feet or so off the ground, a little taller than me. And they were staring at me. Intently. I looked at them, said “Mike….mom said it’s time to come in.” Then hauled me back inside , locked and bolted the door. My mom looks at me like I’m crazy and asks where my brother is. I told here that there’s something out there. She asked what it was and I didn’t have an answer. She told me to turn on the light (we kept all the lights off and curtains drawn so that the yards were darker for our games), open the door and see what it was. I thought she was nuts but did what she told. When i stepped back outside my brother came running to the stairs - he was apparently thirsty too. I asked him if he heard me call and he said no. I asked him if he saw anything and he said no. We went back inside and I locked the door again. I never saw anything like that again but for years I would draw the eyes. They were looking at me. They SAW me. I tell myself I hat it was a cat standing on the stair railing and the light from bulb up the hill ~200 yards away were reflected in its eyes. But I’ve never really believed that.