Writers 
Daniel would walk down the small pathway in the woods behind his village in the morning to get to his father's farm every day. It was a familiar trip. He was familiar with every tree, every stone, and every corner of the dusty path. Until the first cold Monday morning, there had been no surprise for him there.
While walking, Daniel saw a row of footprints in the soft soil.
They were strange.
The footprints appeared to be those of a human being, but they were unusually large and deep. It was when they suddenly came into view in the middle of the path that Daniel was frightened. No tracks were seen going in or out of the woods.
He was silent and looking at them.
“He said he heard that somebody had gone by tonight.”
He headed off to the farm and his footprints lingered in his mind all day.
The following morning, Daniel found another set of footprints. This time, they were nearer to his home. He trailed them till they came to a standstill next to the old mango tree in his compound.
From there no trail led away.
Daniel became frightened.
He said to his father, but his father laughed.
“Perhaps you are allowing your imagination to frighten you,” he said.
Daniel was sure that the footprints were genuine.
The next couple of days, the enigmatic footprints were located in various areas. At times they were close to the village stream. Occasionally they were seen outside the school. One morning, they have been discovered around the house of the chief of the village.
There was a concern about the situation.
The villagers came together and talked about the strange footprints. A few people thought that the spirit was visiting the village. Some believe that it was a wild animal. The oldest man of the village advises everyone to not follow them.
However, Daniel was not going to find out what the truth was.
One night, he lay behind a large tree by the village road. He waited patiently.
The moon was out, and nobody was saying a word in the village.
It was around midnight when Daniel heard footsteps.
His heart began beating rapidly.
Step.
Step.
Step.
There was someone that was coming toward him.
Daniel held his breath and peer through the leaves.
In the moonlit night, there was a tall figure.
Daniel nearly screamed.
The figure was walking along the path, holding a heavy object in their hands.The figure was walking slowly down the path, carrying something heavy on their shoulder. After it went away, Daniel waited until it was far away and then followed it very carefully.
The figure walked into a deserted house at a village's outskirts.
Daniel ran back and awoke his father.
They came back with some villagers.
As they went inside the old house, they found an old man sleeping inside. There were bags of food and medicine beside him.
The old man was telling us about himself and his life in the village, and then he said that he had left the village many years ago because of a disagreement with his family. He was sick and had nowhere else to go and had returned secretly. He had gathered food and medicine from a good-hearted villager, who had no idea who he was.
“But why you left those odd prints?” Daniel asked.
The old man smiled.
“At night it gets cold on the ground,” he answered, “so these are big wooden shoes I wore.”
All the people laughed and felt happy.
The answer to the mystery had finally been found.
Since then, the villagers adored the old man and welcomed him to his home. Daniel never forgot the mysterious footprints, since they had given him a valuable lesson:
Sometimes the most terrifying thing is that which we don't yet know.