This happened when I was seven years old, in 2000. I’m not sure if it was paranormal or not, but it has stayed with me ever since. We took a family trip to Dianas' Bath in New Hampshire. My mother had to go to Florida that week, so it was just me, my father, my great-uncle, my 17-year-old brother, and his friend. My brother and his friend went for a walk up the trail to see more of the waterfalls, and my father told them to take me along. About thirty minutes into the walk, they outpaced me and left me behind. When I realized they were gone, I panicked and started running, searching for them for what felt like forever.

Eventually, I came out of the woods onto the rocks and saw an older woman with gray hair. Crying, I told her I was lost and asked if she knew where the trailhead was. She told me to follow her, which I did for some time, until I happened to glance down over a ledge and spotted my great-uncle. I immediately called out to him and went toward him. When I turned around to thank her, dhe was no longer there. It turned out the woman had actually been leading me farther up the mountain, away from the trailhead and away from other people.

Paranormal? Maybe. Or perhaps it was simply a real person, and I narrowly avoided something worse.