Going Home

Had an idea for an illustration. This was actually from one of those weird childhood memories that I wasn't sure if it was a prank or real, but when I was little, the kids that live across the street, older kids who hung out with my brother, took a batch of us out to the woods to show us something. A skeleton sitting under a tree wearing hunter orange vest. I can't recall if it had a gun or bow or anything like that. This was very early 90's so there was no Spirit Halloween, and even the regular stores didn't have plastic, realistic human skeletons at the time. The only ones you could get then were paper.

I remember going back in my late teens, trying to find the skeleton again. I was more familiar with the woods on my side of the street and didn't go to the ones on the other side very much, let alone this deep. Mind you I lived deep in the woods. I was surrounded by miles of forest on all sides.

I was pretty sure I found the tree, it was a big oak, but nothing was under it.

I didn't recall any news at the time about a missing hunter or anything either. Hunting accidents happened a lot.

That kids across the street were seasonal, visiting their grandparents who were seasonal and only came to the house in the summer. Eventually they never came back for visits and I can't recall their names to look them up.

It was a weird memory that I still wonder if it was real, or a weird combo of watching too much Unsolved Mysteries and a prank played by older kids.