The Lady in the Woods

There are mysteries that extend beyond time and space.

 One such mystery occurred in the small town of Dunsford. What happened can only be explained as a miracle.

Dunsford is a small town in rural New England. It has a high school, a police department with a chief and two officers, and a volunteer fire department. There are many small farms, but most people work in the local mill. Small houses are scattered throughout the town.

The northern border of the town is a small river. At its widest, it is about ten feet. The current is too strong for a person to cross. About a mile south of the river is North Road. Originally, North Road was a through street to Groton, but the bridge washed out ten years ago and neither town wanted to appropriate funds to replace it and now North Road is a dead end. Not many people use the road, mostly just its residents.

On this autumn day, the road is full of cars parked along the road. Little ten-year-old Michael is lost and almost everybody in town is searching for him. He has been lost for three days. Searchers have combed from the river south for miles and there has been no trace of him. Teams have searched the river while hoping not to find a body downstream. Michael’s parents are frantic that he will be found.

The police chief fears that if he is not found within hours he will die. Despite the warm weather, there is a cold front approaching. The temperature will drop from fifty to twenty degrees, with snow. Without warm clothes and survival skills, he will surely freeze to death. An all-out effort is being made to find him before dark.

Three days ago, Michael was walking along the river, as he often does, when he discovered a tree that had fallen across the river. With all the branches along the length of the tree, it made a perfect bridge. He had never explored the other side of the river and this was the opportunity that he had waited for since he started exploring. He made it across the river, but when he reached the other side, his weight near the top of the tree cause it to break loose. He fell from the tree and landed on the bank of the north side of the river. The tree fell into the river and floated downstream. Michael was stranded on the other side with no hope of returning.

A seasoned hiker knows that it is impossible to walk in a straight line through the woods. Most people, when confronted by an obstacle in front of them will bear to the right, eventually going in a circle. A seasoned hiker will either use a compass or focus on a distant landmark to maintain a straight line and eventually reach civilization. But Michael was not a seasoned hiker and had walked in circles for three days.

He was cold, hungry, tired and lonely. Searchers had covered these woods, but just missed him. Since most of the searchers were to the south of the river, there was little hope that he would be found.

It was getting dark. Michael sat on a fallen log and started to cry, again. He heard a soft woman’s voice. “Little boy, are you lost?”

Michael looked up and saw a young woman with a kind face. She was wearing a flowing white dress that was too thin to keep her warm. Michael did not care about anything except that she was the first person whom he had seen since he got lost.

Michael could not stop crying. “I want to go home! I just want to go home!” He started bawling.

The woman said in her soft voice, “Follow me. I’ll take care of you.”

The woman walked, as if she knew the woods, in a nearly straight line. After an hour, it was nearly dark and Michael followed very closely. Finally, they reached a road. By this time, it was totally dark and there were a few flakes of snow falling.

The woman turned to Michael and pointed down the road. We’ll be at that house in a few minutes. Michael followed closely as they went up to the door.

“Press the doorbell and somebody will open the door.”

A few seconds later, the door opened and an older woman appeared.

“This little boy is lost and needs help. Can you get him home?”

The older woman stooped down to Michael. “Are you Michael?”

Michael nodded and the older woman looked for the woman who had led him out of the woods, but she was gone. The woman was nowhere in sight and the older woman could not imagine where she could have gone.

“Come in Michael. It’s nice and warm. Would you like some hot chocolate?”

Michael went into the house and soon he was reunited with his parents. He told his story about the “lady in the woods” and how she had rescued him. His story sounded like something that a child would concoct. But his parents were so happy that they did not care how he was rescued. He was home and safe; nothing else mattered.

The police chief had a professional curiosity, as did a reporter for the local newspaper, who had been following the story since the day when Michael was lost. The chief asked Michael for a description of the woman. Michael was excited when the chief asked him to help a sketch artist draw her picture.

The chief and the reporter went to the home of the older woman and asked her for a description of the woman. She had some artistic ability and drew her own sketch of the woman. They were similar. Both the chief and the reporter knew everybody in town and neither of them had ever seen this woman.

The reporter decided that this was a good story. The headline on the next week’s newspaper was:

BOY RESCUED

Saved by “Lady in the Woods”

Do you recognize this woman?

Nobody could identify the woman and the mystery deepened. The story was picked up by the national press and the woman’s picture was in newspapers and television stations across the country. People reported knowing a woman who looked like the “Lady in the Woods,” but all leads were unfounded. The “Lady in the Woods” had literally appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into nowhere.

As the days passed, other stories pushed the mystery lady into obscurity. But Michael did not forget her act of kindness. He posted the pictures of her in his bedroom where he could stare at them each night when he went to bed and see them in the morning, when he awoke. He felt that he was special and that she was somehow watching over him. He did not know her name, or why she saved him, but he knew that he was special because she saved him.

Weeks and months passed, and soon the town forgot about the “Lady in the Woods,” but not Michael. He did not talk about her, but he thought of her often. He worked hard at school and he worked hard to make himself the best person he could be. He knew that they would meet again, but had no idea where or when.

As the years passed, Michael became an outstanding student. He excelled at every subject, much to the astonishment of his teachers and parents. He did not tell anybody, but his motivation came from his encounter with the lady in the woods and the sense that he had an important destiny to fulfill.

He could have chosen any profession, but he decided that he wanted to be an engineer. He wanted to create and engineering seemed to have the greatest opportunities for real accomplishment. While still achieving outstanding scores in all of his subjects, he put extra emphasis in all forms of engineering.

By the time that he had reached fourteen years of age, he was the pride of his family, his school, and his town. Not only was he the smartest student at school, but he was the most popular. Although he told nobody, it was the lady in the woods who motivated him. He knew that he would meet her again and he wanted her to be proud of him.

One August night, Michael was awakened by a soft woman’s voice. “Michael, Michael, wake up!” The voice was slightly louder. “Wake up! Wake up!”

Michael opened his eyes and in front of him was the lady in the woods. She looked exactly as she did four years earlier.

“It’s you! It’s you! The lady in the woods. It’s you!”

“Michael, there’s a fire downstairs. You must put it out! You must put it out now!”

“But who are you?”

“Michael, hurry! Hurry!

Michael ran down the stairs. He looked in the kitchen and could see flames. A coffee-maker was on fire and the plastic was flowing and carrying the flames. Michael reached for the fire extinguisher and aimed it at the base of the flame. Within seconds, the fire was extinguished.

Just then, the door burst open and the fire chief rushed in. In a small town with a volunteer fire department, the firemen often arrive before the truck. Within minutes, all of the firemen were at Michael’s house. His parents came down the stairs to find out what was happening.

The chief examined the kitchen and decided that everything was under control, thanks to Michael. The chief said that he was sleeping, when this strange woman in a flowing white gown woke him and reported the fire. Then she disappeared without a trace. Michael ran up to his bedroom and got the picture of the lady in the woods. He showed it to the chief.

“That’s her! That’s the woman who woke me and reported the fire! Where did you get that picture?”

“She’s the lady in the woods. She’s the woman who saved my life four years ago. She came back to save me again.”

The chief looked at Michael and his parents. They could see the astonishment in his face. “Another minute and that fire would have consumed the house. All of you would have been dead if Michael had not put out the fire.”

Michael smiled. “She woke me and told me that there was a fire.”

The newspaper reporter who covered the case four years ago learned of the reappearance of the “Lady in the Woods” and wrote another story about the return of this unknown person. Adding to the mystery was her nearly simultaneous appearance in two locked homes. Again, the national press picked up the story and a search was made for this woman. And again, all leads were dead ends. Some speculated that she was a ghost and paranormal researchers descended upon the town. Records were researched and graveyards were examined, but nothing was found to indicate the identity of this mysterious woman.

Now, more than ever, Michael had a sense of importance and destiny. Twice, the lady in the woods had saved his life. He worked even harder to be the best son, student and person that he could be. He would not let his life be wasted.

Michael’s ambition to be an engineer kept him busy studying all disciplines of science. He was the valedictorian for his high school class, as well as being class president. Everything seemed so perfect. He had been accepted by a number of colleges, so he had to pick which one would lead him to his destiny, the destiny of the lady in the woods.

The day after graduation, Michael decided to enjoy a baseball game with some of his friends. As he sat in the stands, a foul ball hit Michael in the throat. He could not breathe and he flailed his arms around trying to get help. His friends could see that he was in distress, but did not know how to help him. His complexion became pale.

A woman in a flowing white dress told his friends that his windpipe had been crushed and that he was dying. She tried to instruct one of Michael’s friends to save him. “Take your pocket knife and cut a hole right here.” She pointed just below the place where Michael had been struck.

“I can’t do it. You do it!”

The woman was frustrated. “I can’t do it. You have to do it. Now put the knife here and push!”

Michael was turning blue. His friends were frightened.

The woman screamed, “He’ll die! Now do it!”

The friend did as instructed. Once the hole was cut, Michael gasped for breath.

The woman became calm. “Now take a clean straw and cut it to about two inches and insert it into the hole that you cut. Make sure that it does not go all the way in. It has to keep the hole open until he gets to the hospital.”

By this time, the paramedics had arrived and took Michael away. One of the paramedics praised Michael’s friend. The woman followed Michael to the ambulance. After the ambulance left, the woman was confronted by the police chief who had been watching the game. He immediately recognized the woman as the lady in the woods.

“Thank you for saving Michael’s life. He means a lot to this town. Now, who are you? What is your name? Where do you come from?” The chief was not being harsh, but his curiosity was too much to restrain.

The woman said nothing, but just looked at the chief. Somebody yelled at the chief, “Is Michael all right?”

The chief turned and said, “I think so.”

When he looked back, the woman had disappeared. She was nowhere in sight. She had vanished, just like before, only this time the chief himself witnessed her and her disappearance.

When Michael arrived at the hospital, he was rushed into surgery where the doctors opened up his windpipe. A few days later, he was up and around. He was fascinated by all of the electronic equipment and started asking doctors questions not only about the equipment, but about medicine and his recent operation.

One of the doctors took a liking to Michael and answered many of his questions. Of course, for each question that the doctor answered, Michael came up with three of four new questions. It was during this visit that Michael decided that he wanted to be a medical engineer and develop equipment to advance the technology of medicine. It meant that he would become a doctor and engineer.

Michael had not yet decided which college to attend, but this experience made his choice a little easier. He selected a college with both engineering and medical classes.

From conversations with his friends, Michael soon realized that it was the lady in the woods who had saved his life again. It gave him the drive to excel at everything, including his studies. He had decided that he would make a difference in the world.

College was hard work, but Michael had the drive to study, learn and excel at all of his classes. He would use his abilities to save many lives. The lady in the woods did not act in vein. She had saved a life that was worth saving.

It was only days after he received his degree. He had a brand new medical bag and returning home after a visit with friends. As he drove, there was a car several hundred feet in front of him. The car swerved from the road and suddenly he saw a deer approaching him. He avoided the deer and approached the car that had left the road. It had hit a tree and the driver, a woman, was lying beside the car bleeding from the head and torso. He immediately dialed 911 and asked for an ambulance.

Michael determined that there was a large cut on her hip, but the flow of blood was small because her heart had stopped beating. He put a large bandage over the cut and proceeded to pound her heart. He kept pounding, but there was no heartbeat and no breath. He just kept pounding.

“Where is that ambulance? Where is that damned ambulance? This is my first patient! I can’t let her die! Where is that ambulance?”

As if in answer to his question, he could see the bright lights of the ambulance approaching with its siren blaring. Then he heard a bell and red lights. Between him and the ambulance he saw crossing gates drop and the loud whistle of a freight train. The ambulance was on the other side of the tracks as the train made its slow trek down the tracks.

All he could do was to keep pounding on her chest. There was so much blood on her face that he could not tell if she was young or old. All he could do was to keep pounding. Michael looked at his cell phone; it had been fifteen minutes since he called for an ambulance. The bleeding had stopped. Michael wondered if she was beyond hope and was prepared to give up.

Just then, he felt somebody behind him. It was the lady in the woods. She was in the same flowing dress that she had been wearing when she rescued him from the woods. She looked the same as when she awoke him that night when the house caught on fire. And she looked the same as when she saved his life at the baseball game. Michael wondered if she was here to save his life again.

“Don’t let her die. She wants to live. Don’t give up.”

Michael did not answer, but kept trying to resuscitate her. Finally, after twenty minutes, the ambulance arrived. The paramedic examined the woman and told Michael that it was too late.

Michael yelled at the paramedic, “It’s not too late, get me some oxygen!”

The paramedic complied and put the mask over the woman’s mouth. The lady in the woods yelled at the paramedics, “She wants to live! She wants to live!”

After another five minutes, the woman started to breath. The paramedics rushed her into the ambulance and sped away to the hospital. Michael looked around and the lady in the woods was gone, without a trace.

The woman whom Michael had rescued was named Victoria. When she arrived at the hospital, she underwent surgery and received blood transfusions. After the surgery, she was in a coma for over a week. When she was finally coherent, the nurses called her “The miracle woman.” They told her that the only reason that she was alive was because of a doctor who just happened upon her and saved her life. Victoria was confused and spent most of the time sleeping.

When she was finally feeling well, she asked for a chaplain. The nurses assured her that she was not going to die, at least not immediately. She was adamant that she wanted to talk to a chaplain.

An hour later, a man in his seventies, dressed all in black entered her room. “You wanted to talk to a chaplain?”

“Yes, chaplain. I’ve had the strangest experience and I have to find out why? They call me the miracle woman. I had the strangest dreams and I need answers. I hope you can help!”

“Let’s see what we can do. Tell me what happened.”

“I was driving down a dark road and a deer jumped out in front of me. I swerved to avoid the deer and hit a tree. I went flying out of the car. Next thing I knew, there was a bright light, a beautiful bright light. As I approached, I was told that it was not my time and that I had work to do.

“Then, there was darkness around me. There was nothing but darkness. Then I saw a little boy. He was lost and crying. Somehow, I knew where the nearest house was and I brought him there.

“Then, there was darkness again, darkness like I have never known. I saw the boy again, but older. He was sleeping peacefully. Somehow, I knew his house was on fire and I woke him up. Then I found myself in the bedroom of the fire chief and I woke him up.

“Then, there was darkness again, that same incredible darkness. The boy was much older and he had been injured. Somehow, I knew how to save his life, but I could do nothing except tell his friends how to save him.

“Darkness again, that horrible darkness. But, there was a little bit of light and the boy was a grown man. He was trying to save my life, but he was ready to give up. I told him to keep trying, and he kept trying to save my life. I guess he succeeded! They say it was a miracle. Miracles are your business, aren’t they?”

The chaplain smiled in a fatherly manner. “No, my business is to spread the word of Jesus. Maybe these were just dreams. When the brain is deprived oxygen, strange things happen, all kinds of strange things.”

Victoria did not hide her embarrassment. “Then you don’t think that this was a religious experience?”

The chaplain pulled an old bible from his pocket, but did not open it. “According to Saint Mark, Jesus said, ‘all things are possible for God.’ Who can say why you were born or what mission you have to fulfill? Maybe these were just dreams or maybe it was divine intervention. You have to search your heart for an answer. If you believe that God intervened, then you have to pray for guidance.”

Victoria was silent for a few minutes. Finally, she asked, “How do I find my purpose, my destiny? What if I get no answer to my prayers?

The chaplain smiled to indicate that he understood. “Jesus had an answer to that. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you follow this simple rule, your destiny will find you.”

Victoria closed her eyes briefly. “I’m sorry chaplain, but I am very tired. Thank you so much for the advice. Now I have to bring everything into focus.”

“I understand. I wish you the best. God bless you!”

Within seconds, Victoria was asleep. The chaplain put a small bible beside her bed and left to visit another room. Victoria slept for another twelve hours. When she awoke, she felt very refreshed. The doctor visited her and said that she was ready to go home. As Victoria gathered her possessions, she discovered the bible and glanced through it. She heard a man enter her room and turned around to discover that it was Michael.

Michael did not hide his astonishment. “It’s you! It’s you! The lady in the woods!” Michael was too stunned to say anything else.

Victoria smiled as if she finally knew all the answers. “It wasn’t a dream. I really saved your life.”

Michael smiled. “Would you like to go out for dinner?”

“Yes! Yes, I would.”

That is the end of our story

And the beginning of theirs.