Witchy Woman

a memoir

With my parents gone for the night to attend the annual hippie concert at the county park, I saw an opportunity to sneak off to a party in the woods for some drinking. If I was back in bed before five a.m., they wouldn't suspect a thing. The party was located on an old logging road connected to the main highway that linked small towns across Northwest Oregon. The logging road began with a decline, followed by a sharp turn that ran alongside a creek before straightening out. I drove down the logging road and a car approached from the opposite direction. It was my friends Jake and Matt, who had left the party to grab more beer from town. We caught up for a few minutes with our driver side windows aligned next to each other. 

They raced away, leaving behind the sounds of AC/DC that had been blaring from their car stereo. I exited my car to take a piss and heard faint music coming from the woods on my left, closer to the highway above – not AC/DC.

The familiar sounds of the Eagles’ "Witchy Woman" echoed through the dense underbrush. The haunting melody seemed to be on a loop. I scanned the surroundings, but there was no sight of anyone or anything producing the music.

I arrived at a clearing, where a group of my friends were gathered around a small fire, drinking beer and jamming out to music. At some point, Jake and Matt returned with more beer. We then noticed a dark figure approaching from the bushes, silhouette highlighted by the fire. The man was in his late twenties, shirtless with long stringy wet hair. He explained that he was heading to the county park for the annual hippie concert and was cutting through the woods. None of us thought this was strange, as he fit the typical hippie stereotype with his long hair and hemp necklace that hung around his neck adorned with a Leo zodiac charm. After smoking a bowl with Jake and Matt, the guy disappeared into the trees. A little while later, I decided to head to my car and sleep off the alcohol. 

I was roused from my sleep by the distinct sound of three taps on the back window of my car. As if someone was tapping their fingernail against the glass. The sun was starting to peek through the tree canopy. It dawned on me that I could leave now, and my parents would be none the wiser. I turned the key in the ignition, but all I heard was a strange buzzing sound. I woke up Matt, who was asleep on the ground next to the spent fire. We popped open the hood, only to find several wires had been tampered with. Matt had a winch on his truck, and he towed my car back into town. I snuck back into my house before my parents returned. Later that day I told my parents my car had a dead battery. A guy Matt knew repaired the wires and I inhaled a sigh of relief…

Three days later, two cops appeared on my doorstep. I assumed they were there to question me for drinking underage at the party. However, their visit had a more serious purpose: they were investigating a car crash that had occurred near the location of the party. They were questioning all attendees about any unusual behavior that evening. A car had plunged into the forest from the highway. A hunter stumbled upon the wreckage after being drawn to the song, “Witchy Woman”, playing on repeat from inside the car's CD player. The dead man behind the wheel was all mangled. But upon further investigation, it was determined that the dead man was not the driver at the time of the crash and was likely murdered before. Evidence suggested there were two individuals in the vehicle before it veered off the road. Additional clues, such as blood smears on the outside of the car and a discarded t-shirt, indicated that one person crawled out of the car and moved the body before fleeing on foot. I couldn't shake off the nerves of having the cops at my house, especially since my parents were out and could return at any moment. In my panic, I neglected to mention the shirtless stranger or the fact that someone had tampered with my car's wires. The cops left.

As I lay in bed that night a soft rustling outside my bedroom window caught my attention. It sounded like something was moving in the bushes. The rustling stopped and I assumed it was just an animal running off. But then, I heard three distinct taps on my window, as if someone were clicking their fingernails against the glass. The next day, while riding in the car with my mom, she inserted an Eagles CD into the dash. Curious, I asked where she got the CD and she said she found it outside my bedroom window. She then handed me a hemp necklace adorned with a Leo zodiac charm. Said a shirtless hippie gave it to her at the concert and she thought I might like it since my zodiac sign is Leo.

*** The murdered man in the car crash case remains open, almost three decades later. I still have the Eagles CD that my mom discovered outside my bedroom window AND the hemp necklace. My mom is unaware of the full story, so if you happen to read this, Mom, I apologize for sneaking out that night. Also, I owe you $100.00 for the “dead car battery”.