Up until now Asa and I thought the biggest things we had to worry about in the woods were accidentally stepping on Fairy houses or being led over a cliff by a mischievous Chipmunk.  All that changed though on a fateful hike at Ravenswood Park, when we learned there are more menacing creatures lurking in the woods than Fairies and Chipmunks.  We heard the cry of the Banshee!

There we were exploring the glacial erratics along Boulder Trail, when all of a sudden the usual sounds of the forest were drowned out by a shrill scream.  A scream unlike any we have ever heard before, and hopefully will never hear again.  Instantly we froze to listen as it echoed through the trees.  Not understanding the seriousness of the situation, Dad simply jerked our leash and told us to “walk,” while Mom joked the noise was the Ravens for which this park was named.  But Asa and I knew it was no Raven.  Luckily for Mom and Dad, I recently watched a documentary on Irish folklore.  I knew that the source of that shrill scream was nothing less than the cry of the Banshee, a female spirit whose wailing warns of an impending death!

Now before you naysayers scoff, let me explain how I came to this logical conclusion.  Firstly, earlier in the hike we passed some really nice Fairy houses.  Banshees are a type of Fairy.  Perhaps some unsuspecting Human lured her here by building a beautiful home!  Why wouldn’t a Banshee want to live at Ravenswoods?  These woods are quite lovely.  Secondly, only minutes before while scrambling over a large boulder Mom proclaimed, “This hike is killing me!”  Coincidence?  I think not!  What more proof do you need?  Clearly we must have somehow upset the Banshee on our hike and she was warning us.  I asked Asa if he took any sticks from her house.  He nervously shook his head no, while staring off into the boulder field ahead of us.  Where could the Banshee be hiding?

For the remainder of our hike, Asa and I stayed close together cautiously approaching each potential hiding spot along the trail.  All the while, the Banshee’s scream periodically echoed in the distance, forcing us to stop each time to listen to its ear piercing wails.  Luckily we all made it out of the woods alive, including Mom, pausing only to make new friends with a family of two big Humans, two small Humans, and the tiniest Human Asa and I have ever seen.  As with our Mom and Dad, the big Humans seemed oblivious to the monumental fact we all outwitted the Banshee and survived our hike.  But the tiny Human’s tear stained cheeks told us that we weren’t the only ones frightened by the shrill screams of the Banshee at Ravenswood Park!

[Editor’s Note: Chuck Billy and Asa have met children and toddlers before, but it never occurred to me until this day that they never met a baby or heard one crying.  So although some new parents with infants will agree their cries can be as unsettling as a Banshee’s wail, what we heard in the woods was simply an unhappy baby on her first hike.]