Another true Account by Black Squirrel, May 1999 * Note: This text was originally posted on the WAMfan-Mailinglist, so it's not written like a story. Hiyas again. Did you ever think to hear from me again so soon? Well, neither did I :) You will remember that I told you about my first muddy experience earlier. Well, I'm human and in being so I can hardly get enough of a good thing. After the sucess of the previous night I had grown a little adventurous and after I did my every-evening schedule (reading my eMail, the news and browsing some web sites) I pondered about repeating my little game. So I quickly convinced myself that this was a good idea and started planning. As I said, the next time I would take more precautions. Well, actually I did not really. I recovered my dirty shoes and pants from where I hid them (I have some kind of bed case you can open by lifting up the mattress). Just like the night before I sneaked out of the flat and got into my car. Again, it was about one o'clock. This time I chose another location. From my train trips to work and back I knew a spot in the woods where some ponds had formed. I knew from sight that there were some patches of black earth nearby that I hoped would be mud. This place was even nearer to the city itself but much more lonely by this time, for there was nothing but some small gardening houses near it. I left the car where a narrow path led on between the wood and train tracks. It was more silent there than at the other place and this gave the area a somewhat creepy air. Yet it wasn't as cold as yesterday so I left my second pair of pants dangling over my shoulder as I went. When I reached the entrance to the gardener's property I saw a small bridge crossing a narrow ditch that ran along the left side of the path. I stopped there because this was about where I had seen the ponds before. When I looked into the forest I couldn't make out the water, so I decided to cross the ditch and explore the wood starting there. But when I looked at the surface of the stuff filling the trench I hesitated. It was very dark - completely black to be precise - and didn't seem to be water at all. Quickly I took off my jacket and hung it over the bridge's handle together with my spare pants. A careful step down into the ditch proved me right. It was completely filled up with dark mud. Now I was only hoping it was any deep, too. I left my shoes where I stood and walked right into the stuff, not as scared as I'd been the other night. At once I felt the lovely soft touch of the mire accepting my feet about an inch deep. I turned left and went along the trench. It was only about four or five feet wide but more than thirty feet in length. While I was slowly walking I enjoyed the feeling of the black mud clinging to the soles of my feet, reluctantly letting me take another step. Several times I stopped, probing the muck for it's depth and I was happy to find it more than calf deep nearly everywhere. But I decided to explore the whole trench first before choosing the right place to try a sink. Squelching noises accompanied my steps while I was making my way through the mud along the ditch. When I nearly reached the end I found it blocked by a fallen tree and some piece of wire fence. I was obviously as far as I could get now and playfully dug my feet into the mud again. To my surprise I felt them sliding down easily up to my calves. The mire was a bit softer here, but it was still thick enough to offer a strong resistance against me when I tried pulling my legs out again. It was just fantastic! By pumping my legs and digging with my toes I managed it to get me down to my knees in a matter of seconds. It was so exciting that I hardly could stop myself from struggling against the suction of the mud. Slowly, catching my breath, I took pleasure in feeling the muck encasing my legs before starting to move them again. This time I wanted to try how deep I could go. Pulling up my pants to my upper thighs I drove my feet down into the mud. The soft earth seemed to give way under my weight and I ended up stuck up to my upper thighs. Again I had to stop for two different reasons. First, something in the mud was pressing against my feet and prevented me from moving around too much without hurting myself. Second, the mud was just an inch away from the rim of my folded up pants. Yet it was holding me strongly in place where I was, and at this point I couldn't hold me back any longer. Later, when I was drifting in the powerful feelings the mud caused in me, I decided it was time for me to leave. Slowly I lifted one of my legs, but I could not break the suction of the mire completely. It was wonderful to feel the resistance and I gave up, letting my leg plunge back into the muck. I stood there for another minute before I tried another attempt. This time I leaned forward to get hold of the log lying across the ditch and pulled with all my strength. Yet I needed to grab my leg with the other arm to finally break the grip of the mud and getting it free. But this was just one of my legs. The other was still stuck deep in the pit. Amused and pleasured by the situation I'd gotten myself into I put my leg down a short distance from where it had been stuck. The mire was gurgling and squelching while I tugged at the other leg to get it free. Finally I ended up knee deep in some thicker stuff. From this place on it was quite easy to walk back to where I had entered the muddy ditch. While I was making my way to the bridge I constantly tripped into the patches of softer mud I had stirred up before so I got lightly stuck several times before I finally reached the slope that led me back to the path. There I stood in the dim light, my legs covered up to my upper thighs in rich black mud and panting from exhaustion. I never imagined to find some stuff like this in my hometown. But maybe it wasn't so hard to find either, it was more to get myself into trying to look for it. When I picked up my things I thought about how I could clean up before returning to the car. I hadn't found some water nearby and the only pond I knew here was beyond that very ditch I had trapped myself into earlier. Then I remembered the old blanket in the trunk of my car. I used to take it with me to wrap up delicate things while hauling them. Well, there were some things to wrap up now, alright. Again I started my way back barefoot, but this time I couldn't put my old sneakers back on, because my feet were all covered in mud. Luckily the path was in better shape than the other had been and walking was a bit easier. I figure nobody would have noticed that I was walking along this track with my pants all folded up high. The mud was so dark that it looked like I was wearing a pair of black, skin-tight trousers. Back at the car I unlocked the trunk and got out the blanket to rub off the mud from my legs. It wasn't easy and took me about fifteen minutes to get my legs at least looking a bit like human skin again. Yet this didn't bother me too much for I could get rid of the rest when I had returned. The blanket however I stuffed into one of the garbage containers I found on my way home. After cleaning up back in my bathroom I found some more scratches and even one mosquito bite or two. But the worst was a nasty cut in my big toe. I don't think I got myself this cut in the mire but on my way back, walking barefoot on the path. However, I spent quite a time cleaning up the wound as good as possible and finally put on a sticking plaster. Now I'm sitting here in front of my computer screen again and recalling my experience for you to share with me. I think I will give the things a break now, at least as long as my feet need to heal their bruises. The last two nights were great and even though I didn't came away without scratches I would certainly do it again. Maybe the next time I will manage to get my legs completely under. Or maybe more ... At least, now there is hope :)