wodewose

In the Northeast U.S., there's a story about Woodspeople or Man-o-woods. When you're driving along a road in the woods and catch a glimpse of what looks like a person in the corner of your eye, but when you look directly at it it's gone, they say you might have encountered a man-o-woods. They are masters of camouflage and can sense when someone looks at them. They come to a halt so you can't sense any movement. It's speculated that they wear bark, mud, moss, and grasses to blend in. They're supposedly human, but extremely simple-minded; barely verbal. They're very small in stature and avoid contact with civilization mostly. Nobody knows where they live or congregate, but they usually move on if there's too much activity around. They're also peaceful. Around some farmlands, they will do very simple chores at night or off in the distance. They may sweep a barn floor or stack some wood, but anything more complex is beyond them. They do it in exchange for not bothering them as they sleep in the barn for a night or for some bread and vegetables left out for them to find. They've never been known to steal or kill animals or livestock.