We moved from the city to the suburbs in the early 60's and it did not take long for us to hear all the rumors and legends of the nearby woods that were part of Ohio's Metro-Park system. The most fascinating story concerned a creature of unknown origin that was said to haunt this area of the Tinkers Creek. Called the bufo or boofoo it was rumored that it was an escapee from the nearby mental institution.

Another rumor occurred about two years ago and it concerned the graduating class of the neighboring city's high school.They would head to the park as part of the senior week celebration to picnic and search for the creature .It seems that a member of that graduating class fell to his death from a high precipice and the rumor was that he was pushed by this creature.

Fast forward to the mid 70's. I had quit school and got an excellent job at a local Italian restaurant. I made many new friends and chief among was Rob, the mechanic from the gas station across the street. He had the hots for one of our waitresses, so we saw him almost every night.

One particular night he showed up just before closing time and made his usual pitch to his love interest and when she declined his invitation he departed. I met him outside just after the boss locked up and was informed that he had just purchased a 6 pack of 3.2 beer and asked if I wanted to join him, and I did. So we tempted fate and drove around listening to the local rock station while drinking.

Later when he asked if I wanted to drive I was forced to decline.I explained that while I did know the principals of how to operate a manual transmission I lacked the practice. He responded that it was time for me to learn.

Now his car was an old Chrysler with a "3 on the tree". Don't know what that is? Ask your Father or better still your Grandfather. So I took my place behind the wheel and following his instructions left the parking lot heading no where special. Oh I ground a few gears and stalled it a few times, but all and all I quickly got the hang of it.

So here we are driving the deserted streets on a beautiful Fall evening listening to the local rock station and drinking our beer when Rob decides to take me through the park. According to him the twisting roads and hills would be great practice for up shifting and down shifting. We ignored the signs that state that parks closes at 11:00 PM and no alcoholic beverages are allowed.

Now we had been riding around and drinking for almost 2 hours and Rob told me to pull over so he could take a leak. We were in the middle of the park and there were no lights except whatever the Moon offered. So I pulled to the curb and shut it off while in gear.

I heard Rob walk a few feet and then heard nothing for about a half a minute. I first heard heavy footsteps crunching the leaves that had fallen to the ground and dried out and I thought it was Rob attempting to be scary.

That's when I heard it. It was a cross between a growl and a moan and definitely of human origin. I heard swift footsteps and in the blink of an eye Rob slid in the passenger seat. His face was chalk white and he was yelling at me to get moving. Being new at this type of transmission I didn't know the proper way to start it and with Rob yelling in my ear to get moving it only made matters worse.

Believe it or not he somehow he managed to throw me into the backseat and slid into the drivers seat. We left there amid squealing tires, a roaring engine and flying gravel and we were doing about 75 mph before I knew it. Now Rob was many things, but being a skilled actor was not one of them.

We drove on silence and his face slowly began to regain its color and I finally asked him if he saw anything.

"Hell no, once I head that growl I ran like hell," he answered.

I looked for a smirk or any indication that he was making this up, but saw nothing. About ten minutes later he decided he wanted to turn around and go back and look for it. I managed to talk him out of it.

"Do you really want to go back in there?" I questioned.

"Yeah I do."

"What if we go back and see something standing in the roadway waving its arms like something out of a monster movie?"

He decided it was best to keep moving .Over the years of my employment at the restaurant I heard him repeat the story many times, he never added or subtracted any part of the experience and neither did I.