For some reason this creature has stuck with me all of these years and I still think of it in my nightly musings. So for this prompt I thought heck! Why do a classic legend? There’s prompts later for that kind of stuff. I’ll bring this old memory of an urban legend out!

Illustration by Garth Haslam of the Scandinavian Roof Walker.

Roof Walker

Information: [link] Musical Inspiration: [link] I had a thought after reading this post on my blog. It brought me back to a piece of art that  did. In the post, there was a person who said: “When I was little and my parents were driving, I’d pretend there was a man/being/thing running alongside the car who had to follow certain rules like “he can only travel by jumping from streetlight to streetlight” or “he can only walk on fences.” I was so surprised to find out that other people did similar things.” To which another replied: “I wonder what the underlying psychology behind it is like its a really specific thing to do but almost everyone did it without telling other kids about it because we all thought it was probably weird or unimportant” I, myself, had a very similar childhood experience. A creature/man with a black cloak, dressed in black, with glowing red/yellow/orange eyes that I could never see the face of, just his glowing eyes. He hopped trees, stayed at a distance. I knew it was a bad thing whenever he got closer. It literally followed me straight across the country, when I went on road trips. This really hit a nerve with me, because what Humon explained was almost perfectly what I used to deal with. A lot of the other examples given in that post were more innocent in image (a cartoon, rabbit, fox, girl, ninja, etc) Then I noticed Humon never said anything about children. Which, maybe she has heard stories with them too - I know mine took place when I was just a small child - So, even if she had, it doesn’t really throw a wrench in my theory. This is what I was thinking: Maybe it’s a shape changer. Maybe it looks different for children because it attaches to the imagination, which would explain why all the people who’ve seen it so far - only examples shown being adults - all see this darker form - maybe it’s real form - as a matured mind sees the harsh reality where a child’s mind usually hasen’t yet grasped the concept and so replaces it with something it more understands. Of course, I sent this theory to Humon (whether she'll see it between all the hundreds of other messages is unknown) but, after I did, I did realize that there were a few problems with it. Like how I never pointed out that, I'm not saying every kid who's ever imagined something racing beside their car is seeing a Roof Walker. Only that maybe some do. Either way, it’s a very ‘out there’ theory, I know. Maybe it holds some promise, though, who knows. -------------------------- On a separate note, I was going through the comments on the Roof Walker in Humon's picture. A lot of people seem to think that it's purposefully trying to hurt/kill/eat people, but the fact that people know those workers fell to their deaths means we can assume that the bodies were found. The creature also broke that boy's spine and then just jumped off and left him there. I think, that when it causes harm, it's simply a mistake. Like a joke that somebody took too far. It doesn't seem to me like he's trying to kill anyone on purpose. It more seems that he's simply trying to spook them and ends up unintentionally injuring them - sometimes to a fatal point. Which generally happens with some creatures/animals (have you ever seen a big young dog try and play with a kitten or a little kid?) If you scare a man on a high ledge, what are the chances that he'll fall off? When he tries to pull someone through a window, maybe he just misjudges his own strength in the excitement of the moment or doesn't understand that he's causing harm - very much like a hyper dog. You never know, right~? The creature that followed me all those years ago, I said before that I knew it was bad when he god closer. That wasn't because I thought they were going to kill me or eat me (trust me, I know what that feels like) It was because something inside my gut told me that it could be potentially hazardous for my health. Like how it could be potentially hazardous to jay-walk a highway. It wasn't fear. It was caution.

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