The Moonlight Motel

I was on a road trip with a friend. We were both interested in science and zoology and had heard about a dinosaur trail with fossil discoveries and preserved tracks. We decided to make the long round trip in a day and left with food, water, and a GPS.

The trip took us through remote dirt roads with little signage. The GPS stopped working, so we relied on an old paper map. After exploring the trail, we began the return journey. As we were leaving, an older man who appeared to be associated with the trail asked where we were from and where we were heading. He gave us verbal directions for a shortcut that he said would save a substantial amount of time.

We followed the directions through unfamiliar roads and eventually reached a narrow dirt track. We expected to reach an intersection and then a main highway, but after driving much longer than he had indicated, we still had not found it. There were no houses, roads, or other vehicles in sight. The fuel was running low, and we were increasingly uncomfortable.

I stopped and asked my friend to use binoculars to look for a landmark. He saw what appeared to be a house-like structure in the distance, so we drove toward it, hoping someone might help us with fuel. As we approached, it became clear that it was an old caravan burned almost completely from the inside. Three blackened walls remained, making it impossible to see all the way in.

It looked as though someone had been there recently. Animal bones were strung around the site, including a cow skull at the entrance. Some of the bones had grass or horsehair woven through them and were arranged like decorations. A hand-painted sign had been pushed into the ground. It read, "Moonlight Motel."

I wanted to leave immediately, but my friend was distracted by a car approaching along the road we had just traveled. It was moving quickly and raising a cloud of dust. At the same moment, we heard a scratching sound from inside the burned caravan, as if someone were scratching the wall from within.

I moved closer to see what was happening and saw a person peeking through a hole in the damaged wall. A childlike voice, obviously a grown man imitating a little girl, giggled and said, "Are you here to play with me?"

My friend and I ran back to the vehicle. As I tried to reverse, the approaching car stopped directly behind us with its high beams on. I could not see the driver and could not get around the vehicle by reversing. I had to drive forward and turn around, narrowly missing the sign. As we turned away, the driver began repeatedly blaring the horn. I drove back in the direction we had come, and the other car did not follow.

We eventually navigated back to the trail and asked the tour company for help. A woman there gave us enough fuel to make the journey back. I mentioned that one of her coworkers had given us strange directions and described him. She looked alarmed and said that the man did not work there. She had seen him speaking with tourists and had watched her boss ask him to leave. He had been trying to learn where visitors were staying and telling them that he had vacancies at a place called the Moonlight Motel.