Episode 159: The Bald Man

[00:00:00] Odd Trails is a true paranormal podcast. If you have a story to share, send it to stories at oddtrails.com. Enjoy the show.

[00:00:58] I've been haunted since I was five by Mocha.

[00:01:02] I'm 16 and I've been dealing with something terrifying for as long as I can remember.

[00:01:08] It started when I was five and honestly, I don't fully understand what's happening even to this day.

[00:01:16] I know some people won't believe me, but I need to share this.

[00:01:21] Maybe someone out there has gone through the same thing.

[00:01:25] It all began when my mom, who was a single parent at the time, met my stepdad.

[00:01:31] He was very nice and eventually we moved into his house.

[00:01:35] My stepdad had a daughter who was eight years older than me, and I shared a room with her,

[00:01:40] but she wasn't around much because she was already dating and out with friends.

[00:01:46] The house was old, built in the early 1900s, and I remember feeling creeped out almost immediately.

[00:01:54] At first it was just nightmares.

[00:01:57] I was scared of the dark, so I used to sleep in my stepsister's bed because it was closer to the hallway light.

[00:02:03] But every time I slept in her bed, I had this awful nightmare where something chased me trying to hurt me.

[00:02:11] I was only five, so I didn't think much of it and just stopped sleeping in her bed.

[00:02:16] But then the nightmares started happening in my own bed.

[00:02:21] It wasn't every night, but it was often enough to scare me.

[00:02:25] I couldn't really explain it to anyone because honestly, who's going to believe a little kid saying that they're haunted?

[00:02:33] Over time, things got weirder though.

[00:02:37] By the time I was seven, we redecorated the room and I started noticing shadows moving at night.

[00:02:44] I would hear random old-timey music.

[00:02:48] I would wake up in the middle of the night and see shadows standing in the corner or behind the door.

[00:02:55] One night I woke up, but instead of being in my room, it felt like I was in my grandparents' old living room.

[00:03:02] It was completely empty, and even though I knew I was awake, I couldn't see my room at all until I bumped my head on the door.

[00:03:11] That's when I started to seriously freak out.

[00:03:14] But I didn't tell anyone because I thought that they'd just brush it off.

[00:03:18] By the time I was nine, I became convinced that it was the spirit of the old woman who used to live in the house.

[00:03:26] The only owner before us was a 96-year-old woman who died in a retirement home, and I thought that her spirit might have stayed behind.

[00:03:35] I would see her shadow standing in the corner where my stepsister's bed used to be, or I would feel something pulling at my feet while I slept.

[00:03:46] Sometimes I would see her standing behind the door, just a silhouette through the glass.

[00:03:52] I never really saw her face or anything, but I just knew it was her.

[00:03:58] It got to the point where I got used to her presence.

[00:04:02] I wasn't exactly comfortable with it, but it became a part of my life.

[00:04:07] That is until things got worse.

[00:04:09] Her presence started to feel more aggressive.

[00:04:12] She would move around more, and her shadow looked less human.

[00:04:16] It was taller, skinnier, and somehow more threatening.

[00:04:21] The nightmares became more intense, and I could feel her in other parts of the house.

[00:04:26] Not just my room.

[00:04:28] I would hear her footsteps on the stairs, like someone was walking around late at night.

[00:04:34] And the whole house just felt off.

[00:04:37] This went on until I was 10.

[00:04:40] That's when I told my aunt about what I was going through,

[00:04:44] and she convinced my mom to have a priest come and bless the house.

[00:04:48] After that, everything stopped.

[00:04:51] For two years, there were no nightmares.

[00:04:53] No shadows, weird noises, nothing.

[00:04:57] It was a huge relief.

[00:04:59] But then, when I was 12, my dog passed away, and everything started up again.

[00:05:05] I would see my dog lying on my parents' bed, even though he was gone.

[00:05:10] Sometimes I'd hear something eating from his food bowl, even though our other dog was nowhere near it.

[00:05:18] Once, our kitchen clock, which had been hanging on the wall for years, randomly fell and rolled all the way to my dog's food bowl.

[00:05:26] This time, even my parents noticed the weird things happening, but eventually they just pretended like it wasn't real.

[00:05:33] They would say that I was imagining things, or that I was overthinking it.

[00:05:39] Then, when I was 14, I invited a friend over for a sleepover.

[00:05:43] She believed me when I told her about the haunting because she said that she could see spirits.

[00:05:49] We decided to set up an experiment to see if we could catch anything on camera.

[00:05:54] We put cameras in the room, and the next morning, we found something.

[00:05:59] There was a dark shadow lying between us in bed, completely still, like it was dead.

[00:06:06] The camera stopped recording at 3.30 a.m., but what we saw freaked us both out.

[00:06:13] I showed the footage to my parents, hoping that they'd finally take me seriously, but they made me delete it.

[00:06:20] I wanted to send it to someone who knew about this stuff, but they just wouldn't let me.

[00:06:25] After that, things went quiet again for a couple of years.

[00:06:29] I thought that maybe it was all over, but six months ago everything started up again, and this time, it's worse.

[00:06:37] I've been dealing with depression for the last year, and somehow that seemed to trigger the activity again.

[00:06:43] The shadows are back, the noises, the feeling of being watched, everything.

[00:06:49] A few nights ago, I heard my brother's voice calling my name at 1.34 a.m.

[00:06:54] It said,

[00:06:55] Come take a quick look.

[00:06:58] But it didn't sound right.

[00:07:00] It was his voice, but it was like a recording.

[00:07:03] Then, it switched to my dad's voice, saying the exact same thing.

[00:07:09] I didn't respond, and I'm glad that I didn't.

[00:07:12] I know it feeds off of fear, and I think it's getting stronger.

[00:07:17] I'm going to see a medium tomorrow.

[00:07:19] My best friend moved abroad, so I can't ask her for help anymore.

[00:07:24] I don't know what this thing is or why it's attached to me, but I need answers.

[00:07:29] If you're going through something like this, don't ignore it.

[00:07:32] Find someone who can help, whether it's a priest, a medium, or just someone who understands.

[00:07:38] Don't let other people's disbelief stop you.

[00:07:41] I'll keep everyone updated.

[00:07:43] I'm sorry for making this longer than I intended it to be.

[00:07:46] I had already left out so many things because, otherwise, I'd be writing a six-page essay.

[00:08:17] West Virginia Ghost Adventures by Karina.

[00:08:23] I've debated sharing this story for years, mostly because I'm not sure anyone would believe me.

[00:08:29] But I think it's time.

[00:08:32] From a young age, my family always said I seemed to see things that weren't there.

[00:08:39] As I grew older, it didn't bother me much.

[00:08:42] I got used to small things going missing or moving spots in our house.

[00:08:47] But I didn't think too much of it.

[00:08:50] When I was in high school, we moved to a secluded house at the base of a mountain in West Virginia.

[00:08:57] We had neighbors, but they were all Airbnbs, vacant most of the year.

[00:09:03] That's when things started to happen.

[00:09:07] The first experience I had was confusing.

[00:09:11] One night, I was asleep, but I somehow astral projected.

[00:09:17] Or at least, that's the only way I can describe it.

[00:09:21] I didn't float around the house like people talk about.

[00:09:25] I didn't even leave my bed.

[00:09:27] But I knew I wasn't in my physical body.

[00:09:30] And I was awake.

[00:09:33] When I looked up, I realized I wasn't alone.

[00:09:38] There were entities surrounding my bed.

[00:09:41] They weren't threatening, but it felt like they were all watching me.

[00:09:46] Almost like a welcome party.

[00:09:50] Two young couples stood at the edge of my bed.

[00:09:53] One dressed in old pilgrim-style clothing.

[00:09:56] All black with white accents.

[00:10:00] Even the top hat.

[00:10:01] The other couple wore outfits straight out of downtown Abbey.

[00:10:06] They were friendly and interacted with me the most.

[00:10:11] Standing directly in front of me was an indigenous American man.

[00:10:15] And in the hallway was a very tall man wearing a top hat.

[00:10:20] He had his back to me and didn't acknowledge me, except for once, during my entire time in that house.

[00:10:29] And then, there was something else.

[00:10:32] It was built like a gargoyle, standing hunched like an ape.

[00:10:39] It didn't approach me.

[00:10:41] We just stared at each other.

[00:10:43] The moment felt endless.

[00:10:46] But eventually, I must have returned to my body.

[00:10:50] When I woke up the next morning, it was as if nothing had happened.

[00:10:55] I didn't tell anyone.

[00:10:57] Not for a long time.

[00:11:00] But when my mom started to experience strange things of her own, I finally told her everything.

[00:11:07] We realized they weren't here to hurt us.

[00:11:11] They were just curious.

[00:11:14] From then on, I embraced what my family called my gift.

[00:11:18] I saw the spirits everywhere, spoke with them, and never felt afraid.

[00:11:25] Even in that desolate house.

[00:11:28] But that all changed one day when I was out hunting with my boyfriend.

[00:11:34] We were deep in the woods, later than usual, sitting in tree stands diagonal from each other.

[00:11:41] It was dusk when the shadows grow long and the deer start to come out.

[00:11:46] The woods were noisy, birds chirping, squirrels rustling.

[00:11:52] But suddenly, everything went silent.

[00:11:56] The air shifted.

[00:11:59] It felt like something was wrong.

[00:12:02] Then I saw him.

[00:12:04] He was medium height, with dirty brown hair, wearing a white shirt and overalls.

[00:12:11] He radiated pure evil.

[00:12:14] But he wasn't alone.

[00:12:17] Behind him, he was dragging a boy, maybe eleven years old, with dirty blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen.

[00:12:28] The boy was terrified, screaming for help, pleading with the man to stop.

[00:12:34] The man ignored him, dragging him toward a pond, repeating over and over, you deserve this.

[00:12:42] This is your fault.

[00:12:45] I could hear them struggling.

[00:12:47] The boy screaming, splashing, gasping for air.

[00:12:52] And then, silence.

[00:12:56] I looked toward my boyfriend, desperate to get his attention.

[00:13:01] But I was frozen in fear.

[00:13:04] When I turned back, the man was at the top of the hill, staring at me.

[00:13:09] And then, he smiled.

[00:13:13] And then, he smiled.

[00:13:14] An ear-to-ear grin that sent chills through my body.

[00:13:18] I finally managed to text my boyfriend.

[00:13:22] I was frozen.

[00:13:23] We need to leave.

[00:13:24] Now.

[00:13:25] When I looked back, the man had moved closer.

[00:13:29] He was now at the bottom of the hill, staring up at me, muttering over and over.

[00:13:36] He had to die.

[00:13:38] I had to do it.

[00:13:41] By the time I got down from the tree stand, the man was circling us both.

[00:13:46] His voice grew louder, screaming the same phrase.

[00:13:52] Somehow, we managed to run back to the car.

[00:13:55] I thought that was the end of it.

[00:13:58] But I was wrong.

[00:14:01] A week later, on my way to work at 4am, I glanced in my rear-view mirror.

[00:14:07] And nearly wrecked my car.

[00:14:10] Sitting in the back seat was that man.

[00:14:14] He just stared at me, smiling.

[00:14:18] I slammed on the brakes, pulled over, and nearly called someone to pick me up.

[00:14:24] But when I worked up the courage to look again, he was gone.

[00:14:29] Weeks went by before I saw anything strange again.

[00:14:34] I blessed the house with sage and crosses, and I hung a cross in my car.

[00:14:40] But one night in January, everything changed.

[00:14:45] It was 2am, and I was in bed, unable to sleep.

[00:14:50] Suddenly, my TV shut off, and I heard heavy footsteps outside my window.

[00:14:57] Tap, tap, tap.

[00:15:01] I froze.

[00:15:03] The footsteps grew louder, and the tapping became harder, more deliberate.

[00:15:10] And then I heard them.

[00:15:12] All the spirits in the house began yelling, panicking.

[00:15:17] It was chaos.

[00:15:19] I yelled back,

[00:15:21] Stop!

[00:15:22] Everyone stop talking!

[00:15:24] Everything went silent.

[00:15:28] Until…

[00:15:29] Tap, tap, tap.

[00:15:32] Then my phone chimed.

[00:15:34] A motion alert from our security cameras.

[00:15:37] I opened the app, and my heart dropped.

[00:15:41] In the yard was that man.

[00:15:45] He stared directly at the house, as if he knew I was watching.

[00:15:49] I ran to my mom's room, shaking her awake.

[00:15:54] She dismissed it as a bear, but moments later, every window and door began to shake.

[00:16:02] The entire house felt like it was under attack.

[00:16:06] And then…

[00:16:07] It stopped.

[00:16:09] The tall man from the hallway, the one who never interacted with me, finally spoke.

[00:16:16] His voice shook the house.

[00:16:19] Leave us alone.

[00:16:22] Everything went still.

[00:16:24] My TV turned back on.

[00:16:27] The air felt calm.

[00:16:29] I stayed in my mom's bed that night.

[00:16:33] The next morning, I showed her the footage from the cameras.

[00:16:37] But she swore she couldn't see anything.

[00:16:41] My younger brother, however, said he saw the exact same thing I did.

[00:16:47] That was all the reassurance I needed.

[00:16:50] I wasn't crazy.

[00:16:52] We moved out a few months later, and I've never been back to that house.

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[00:18:51] Creepy glimpse out the window in my student days by Voyager

[00:18:57] One of my weirder experiences happened years ago while I was a student at university in Oslo, the capital of Norway.

[00:19:07] It happened in 2009.

[00:19:09] I was friends with a fellow student at the time.

[00:19:12] We used to meet frequently, both at the university and back in the dormitories where we lived.

[00:19:18] We also went to the same fencing club together.

[00:19:22] During that summer, we would meet a lot at the top of the tall dormitory building where he lived.

[00:19:29] The building had a lot of floors.

[00:19:31] I seemed to remember that it had 10, so it was taller than most of the other dormitory houses sprawled around.

[00:19:39] My friend lived on the top floor.

[00:19:41] There was a small balcony at one end of the top floor where it was possible to get some fresh air if you wanted to.

[00:19:48] The floor itself was quite deserted the times that I was there.

[00:19:52] I rarely saw anyone else, and we had the balcony all to ourselves.

[00:19:58] We used to grill out there, drink wine, and in general we had a great time.

[00:20:04] One late evening, I remember that we got back into the shared student kitchen after having sit out on the balcony for quite some time.

[00:20:13] It was pitch black outside.

[00:20:15] At one end of the kitchen, there was a row of large windows looking out into the dark night.

[00:20:23] I believe we may have been talking about mysterious topics, but I'm not sure.

[00:20:28] We sat at the kitchen table by the row of windows, all alone facing each other from across the table.

[00:20:36] Outside the window, and fastened above it, there was a power cable that went to the ground far below.

[00:20:44] Suddenly, I noticed in the corner of my eye that there was a dark figure, and it was hanging just below the cable, but crawling up it.

[00:20:53] My friend noticed it as well, staring in fear, so frightened that he fell off of his chair.

[00:21:00] I instinctively pushed away from the window myself in that same instant.

[00:21:05] This vision of the thing crawling up, it lasted only a second or two.

[00:21:12] We both talked about it, and we found out that we had seen the same crawling figure.

[00:21:17] If any of you have seen the movie Aliens, the sequel to the horror classic Alien,

[00:21:23] you might remember a scene where the characters are hiding in a kind of control room at the space colony.

[00:21:30] They're very anxious, and the electronic detectors indicate many aliens are closing in on them.

[00:21:36] But they can't understand how.

[00:21:38] Then one of them opens up the ceiling plates above, and takes a look inside.

[00:21:43] He sees the aliens hanging upside down and crawling forward inside this narrow space.

[00:21:50] And the crawling movement of the figure I saw was exactly the same.

[00:21:56] At the time, I dismissed it as a shared illusion or hallucination.

[00:22:00] We were surely scared, but I left the place soon afterward.

[00:22:05] I do remember that me and my friends were talking about the experience later, several times,

[00:22:11] but didn't attach any importance to it.

[00:22:14] It was merely just out of curiosity that we would talk about it.

[00:22:18] However, many years later, in 2022, I shared the experience with another friend.

[00:22:23] He immediately said, check if somebody has fallen from the building.

[00:22:29] The thought had never really entered my mind, but I promptly did a Google search, and lo and behold, it came up right away.

[00:22:38] Several news articles came up describing how one student had fallen out of a building in the student town we were at.

[00:22:46] They died.

[00:22:48] It happened during a party.

[00:22:50] The police investigated, but they didn't find any evidence of anything criminal.

[00:22:55] This occurred during 2006, a few years prior.

[00:23:00] I immediately contacted the old student friend with whom I had seen the figure, sharing the news articles and asking about his opinion.

[00:23:09] He said that he knew of the case.

[00:23:11] It was a foreign exchange student from Russia who had fallen out of the same building he had lived in.

[00:23:16] My friend said that he had fallen from the floor below where we were sat.

[00:23:22] There had actually been rumors for a long time afterward about sightings of his ghost in the area.

[00:23:29] So what I originally had regarded as just a trick of the mind became all these years later, something much more eerie.

[00:23:38] Was it really a ghost?

[00:23:41] I don't think I'll ever know.

[00:23:43] I certainly had never heard about the death of the student at the time of this experience, so it can't just be my mind imagining things based on my expectations of something paranormal occurring.

[00:23:56] If anyone has experienced something similar, please share.

[00:24:00] This experience has at least led me to consider other people's weird experiences with an open mind.

[00:24:23] Minnesota Spookies by Bug Girl B.

[00:24:28] The first house I ever lived in was in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

[00:24:33] In one of your recent discussions at the end of an episode, you guys were talking about laws in certain states that require sellers to disclose if a house is haunted.

[00:24:44] Minnesota is one of those states.

[00:24:47] As a kid, my parents were warned by the realtor that our house might be haunted, but they didn't really believe her.

[00:24:57] Until I turned six.

[00:24:59] That's when I started seeing shadows.

[00:25:03] They'd peek around doors or corners, and they freaked me out.

[00:25:08] But I always brushed it off as my eyes playing tricks on me.

[00:25:12] Then one day, my brother and I were playing a game called Charlie, Charlie, Are You There?

[00:25:20] You might know it.

[00:25:21] It's where you set up a piece of paper with yes and no in the corners, balance two pencils, and wait to see if they move.

[00:25:31] We were sitting in my room when we heard three knocks coming from inside my closet.

[00:25:39] I opened the door, but no one was there.

[00:25:43] I figured it was just my hangers banging on the door and tried to forget about it.

[00:25:50] The next day, we were in the kitchen playing the same game, and we heard three knocks again.

[00:25:57] This time, from the back door, which was completely glass.

[00:26:03] It was so close, just three feet away from us.

[00:26:08] We freaked out and ran to get our parents, who were in the garage.

[00:26:14] We told them what happened, but they just brushed it off, saying it was probably the wind.

[00:26:21] Even as a kid, I knew it wasn't the wind.

[00:26:25] For years, I kept seeing shadows peeking around corners at me.

[00:26:31] One day, I was playing with my Barbies in my room, when I saw a little boy run past my door.

[00:26:39] I thought it was my brother, so I went to check.

[00:26:43] But he was still asleep in his room.

[00:26:46] Then I looked over at the stairwell and saw a little face peeking around the corner at me.

[00:26:54] And then, three knocks.

[00:26:59] They came from my closet door again.

[00:27:02] I was about ten years old at the time, and I'd had enough.

[00:27:07] I ran to my mom and told her,

[00:27:10] Mom, I swear I'm not lying.

[00:27:12] A little boy just ran away from me and then knocked on my closet.

[00:27:18] She looked worried for a second, but then said,

[00:27:22] Bianca, stop spreading stories.

[00:27:25] Don't tell your brother.

[00:27:26] It'll scare him too much.

[00:27:28] It was frustrating because I started to feel like I was going crazy.

[00:27:33] But deep down, I didn't think the boy meant any harm.

[00:27:38] He just seemed like he wanted to play.

[00:27:42] We moved out of that house in 2017 and into a bigger, older house nearby.

[00:27:48] This one was built in the 1960s, and after we renovated it, things started happening again.

[00:27:56] At first, I'd hear thumping above my room, but there wasn't anything up there.

[00:28:02] No attic.

[00:28:04] Just the roof.

[00:28:06] Then things got even stranger.

[00:28:10] This house had an in-ground pool, and my brother and I used to tell this story that people had drowned in it before we moved in.

[00:28:18] It was just a spooky story we made up, until I got curious and looked up deaths in the area.

[00:28:27] I found out that before the neighborhood was built, the land was a horse pasture with ponds scattered throughout.

[00:28:35] And one of those ponds, it was right where our backyard pool now stood.

[00:28:42] After I discovered that, everything got louder.

[00:28:46] The heater broke, the dishwasher started leaking, and left gross stains on the kitchen floor.

[00:28:54] And then the pool filter broke, turning the pool water a dark, swampy green in just a few hours.

[00:29:03] I remember looking into the pool and seeing shapes at the bottom, distorted blobs, almost like faces.

[00:29:13] They looked stretched and ghoulish, almost like they were dancing.

[00:29:20] Weeks later, a friend brought over a Ouija board and dowsing rods.

[00:29:26] One night, four of us set it up in the basement with candles and snacks.

[00:29:32] We started asking the usual questions.

[00:29:35] Is anyone here?

[00:29:37] The board slid to yes.

[00:29:40] When we asked, who are you?

[00:29:43] It gave us a name.

[00:29:45] Joseph.

[00:29:47] Then we asked when he died.

[00:29:50] 1914.

[00:29:53] That's when I remembered the research I had done.

[00:29:56] So I asked him, did you have horses?

[00:30:00] The board slid to yes.

[00:30:03] I asked one last question.

[00:30:06] How did you die?

[00:30:08] Drowned, he replied.

[00:30:12] I immediately took my hands off the planchette and said,

[00:30:17] Guys, you need to say goodbye.

[00:30:19] Please, I'll explain later.

[00:30:21] They said goodbye and we put the board away.

[00:30:25] Flash forward to this past summer.

[00:30:28] The activity around the house had been constant,

[00:30:32] stomping when no one else was home,

[00:30:34] and my dog playing with what looked like an orb floating around the house.

[00:30:40] One day in July, my boyfriend and I were swimming.

[00:30:44] I felt something brush against my foot and looked down.

[00:30:50] I saw the same distorted face at the bottom of the pool.

[00:30:54] This time it looked like a black shadow in the blue water.

[00:30:59] I got out of the pool immediately.

[00:31:02] My boyfriend stayed in, but suddenly, he screamed.

[00:31:07] Something had pulled him under the water for a few seconds before letting go.

[00:31:13] That was the last straw for me.

[00:31:16] This past Thanksgiving, we were chatting about paranormal experiences,

[00:31:21] and I brought up the little boy I used to see in the old house.

[00:31:26] I asked my mom if she remembered when I ran into her room crying about him.

[00:31:31] She said,

[00:31:33] Yes, I remember.

[00:31:34] And I also remember telling you it wasn't real.

[00:31:39] I got upset and asked why she'd say that.

[00:31:43] She stopped me and said,

[00:31:45] I only told you that because I didn't want to confirm it.

[00:31:50] I saw him too.

[00:31:52] I froze.

[00:31:54] Then my dad spoke up.

[00:31:56] I heard him.

[00:31:58] He sounded like your brother and would scream from the basement at night.

[00:32:02] But when I checked, your brother would be fast asleep.

[00:32:07] It turns out none of us had ever heard the boy speak.

[00:32:11] Except my dad.

[00:32:14] That's where my story ends.

[00:32:17] Kind of a full circle moment.

[00:32:19] Thanks for reading.

[00:32:20] And I hope you enjoyed it.

[00:32:22] Sorry if it wasn't that scary, but I wanted to share.

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[00:34:16] Arkansas Buffalo River

[00:34:23] My friend and I, who served together,

[00:34:25] have liked to plan camping and hunting trips ever since we got out of the Army.

[00:34:30] A few years back, when I first exited the service,

[00:34:33] we decided to check out Buffalo River National Park.

[00:34:37] This place is amazing, by the way.

[00:34:39] There are old, abandoned mining towns and mining shafts,

[00:34:43] along with 10,000-year-old ancient cave shelters used by Native Americans.

[00:34:49] Definitely check this place out if you haven't already.

[00:34:53] We decided to do a camping trip near the Buffalo River.

[00:34:57] It was maybe a two-mile hike in,

[00:35:00] but many areas of this park are often pretty remote.

[00:35:04] We built a campsite on these stone cliff terraces

[00:35:07] overlooking the tributary,

[00:35:09] and we had a pretty ordinary experience,

[00:35:12] besides how cold it was.

[00:35:14] That is, until our fourth night.

[00:35:16] It was snowing on and off,

[00:35:18] so we had a tarp over our fire.

[00:35:21] In hindsight, this wasn't such a great idea,

[00:35:23] because we were definitely getting smoked out.

[00:35:26] Now, because of this,

[00:35:27] my friend decided to go to bed early.

[00:35:30] I stayed up to keep the fire going as long as possible

[00:35:33] for coals in the morning.

[00:35:35] After about an hour of me tending to the fire,

[00:35:38] out of nowhere,

[00:35:39] we heard a shrill woman's scream in the night,

[00:35:43] followed by a man's voice yelling,

[00:35:46] Hey! three times.

[00:35:48] We were positive that we were the only ones out there.

[00:35:52] There weren't any trails nearby,

[00:35:53] and since it was winter,

[00:35:55] the tributary was very low,

[00:35:57] so that ruled out the possibility of people

[00:36:01] recreating on the water.

[00:36:02] This was also around midnight.

[00:36:05] My buddy asked if I heard it,

[00:36:07] and I said,

[00:36:08] Absolutely.

[00:36:09] We always camped with protection,

[00:36:12] both of us carried pistols,

[00:36:13] so we weren't that worried.

[00:36:16] But during and after what we heard,

[00:36:19] there were no sounds of movement,

[00:36:21] no brush crashing,

[00:36:22] no footsteps,

[00:36:23] just the shrill,

[00:36:25] woman-like scream,

[00:36:26] and a man's voice yelling,

[00:36:28] Hey! three times.

[00:36:31] We tried to rationalize it,

[00:36:33] thinking maybe it was a mountain lion.

[00:36:36] We read that they can sound like a woman screaming,

[00:36:39] but we also checked Google,

[00:36:40] and asked at the ranger station

[00:36:42] to see if anyone had reported a mountain lion incident in the area,

[00:36:45] and nothing had been reported.

[00:36:47] Hell, I'm not even sure if there are mountain lions in Arkansas,

[00:36:51] but I wouldn't be that surprised if there were.

[00:36:54] Anyway,

[00:36:55] I ended up staying one more night after this,

[00:36:58] without any further incidents.

[00:37:00] I just thought that I would share,

[00:37:02] as this was a truly wild experience for both of us,

[00:37:05] and we still can't really explain it to this day.

[00:37:09] We spend a ton of time outdoors,

[00:37:11] and this was the only time that we've ever experienced anything like this.

[00:37:34] The Bald Man by Mark

[00:37:38] Years ago, I used to drive from my small town in Connecticut

[00:37:41] to one of the bigger cities to go clubbing and dancing.

[00:37:45] The drive was about an hour each way,

[00:37:48] and since nothing exciting ever happened in my hometown,

[00:37:52] I'd make this trek about three nights a week.

[00:37:54] Our spot was a little club called The Comet.

[00:37:58] It was a mecca for New Wavers, punk rockers,

[00:38:02] the LGBTQ crowd,

[00:38:04] and anyone who didn't fit into the cookie-cutter mold

[00:38:07] of small-town life.

[00:38:10] People came from all over.

[00:38:12] Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York.

[00:38:15] It was an oasis in a cultural desert.

[00:38:19] Since I didn't drink alcohol,

[00:38:21] driving home was never a problem.

[00:38:23] I'd stay until closing at 1am,

[00:38:26] then head back home.

[00:38:28] Sometimes I'd carpool with a friend,

[00:38:31] but many nights I made the drive alone.

[00:38:34] And that's when the weird stuff started happening.

[00:38:38] For clarity, there were two routes I could take home.

[00:38:42] One was longer and slightly more populated,

[00:38:46] though still quiet at night.

[00:38:48] The other was shorter,

[00:38:50] but it cut through dark, desolate back roads,

[00:38:54] farms, small businesses,

[00:38:56] and very few streetlights.

[00:38:59] Creepy, to say the least.

[00:39:01] There was one particular spot on the shorter route,

[00:39:05] a corner where a quiet country road intersected

[00:39:09] with a small two-lane main road.

[00:39:12] On that corner stood a small auto shop

[00:39:16] with a dirt parking lot and a single street lamp.

[00:39:19] The whole space was bathed in an eerie, incandescent glow.

[00:39:25] I don't even know if it was an active business.

[00:39:28] I only passed it at night.

[00:39:31] At some point during those late-night drives,

[00:39:34] I began seeing him.

[00:39:37] A short, bald man in worn, dirty denim overalls.

[00:39:43] He stood facing the road,

[00:39:46] arms at his sides,

[00:39:47] a vacant look in his eyes,

[00:39:49] and a big smile on his face.

[00:39:53] He looked like he was from another century.

[00:39:56] The overalls, the posture,

[00:39:58] everything about him felt...

[00:40:01] wrong.

[00:40:03] Sometimes he was holding a white cat,

[00:40:06] sometimes the cat was sitting on the ground next to him,

[00:40:09] and sometimes there was just the cat,

[00:40:12] alone.

[00:40:14] But when the man was there,

[00:40:16] it was always the same,

[00:40:18] standing still, staring at the road,

[00:40:21] smiling.

[00:40:23] I don't know why,

[00:40:25] but the sight of him terrified me.

[00:40:27] It didn't make any sense.

[00:40:30] What was he doing there?

[00:40:31] Why did he show up,

[00:40:33] only in the dead of night?

[00:40:35] It got to the point where I would dread that corner.

[00:40:39] Every night,

[00:40:40] as I left the club and got in my car,

[00:40:43] I would think to myself,

[00:40:45] take the other route,

[00:40:46] the longer one.

[00:40:48] But I never did.

[00:40:50] The back roads were smaller,

[00:40:52] quieter,

[00:40:53] and felt safer for driving.

[00:40:56] So I'd brace myself as I approached that spot,

[00:41:00] white-knuckling the steering wheel.

[00:41:03] On the nights he wasn't there,

[00:41:05] I'd breathe a sigh of relief.

[00:41:07] But on the nights he was,

[00:41:09] I'd grip the wheel,

[00:41:11] hold my breath,

[00:41:12] and drive past him,

[00:41:13] staring straight ahead at the dark road.

[00:41:17] The feeling of vulnerability was overwhelming,

[00:41:20] like I was truly in danger.

[00:41:23] One night, I wasn't driving alone.

[00:41:26] My friend John had come to the club with me,

[00:41:29] and he was behind the wheel on the way home.

[00:41:32] I hadn't told him anything about the bald man.

[00:41:36] As we approached the auto shop,

[00:41:38] there he was again,

[00:41:40] standing under the street lamp,

[00:41:43] arms at his sides,

[00:41:44] smiling.

[00:41:46] John broke the silence.

[00:41:48] Who the hell was that?

[00:41:49] It's 1.30 in the morning.

[00:41:51] There aren't any houses around here,

[00:41:53] and no cars in the lot.

[00:41:56] I told him to just focus on the road.

[00:42:00] But then, everything changed.

[00:42:03] The next thing I remember,

[00:42:05] I was standing in a dark room.

[00:42:07] There was a strange, watery echo,

[00:42:11] and I could hear something dripping.

[00:42:13] I panicked and called out,

[00:42:16] John, John, where are we?

[00:42:18] What's going on?

[00:42:20] Then, suddenly,

[00:42:22] I was back in the car.

[00:42:24] John was next to me,

[00:42:26] clutching the steering wheel so hard

[00:42:28] his knuckles were white.

[00:42:30] He was driving fast,

[00:42:33] too fast,

[00:42:34] his eyes locked on the road ahead.

[00:42:37] I was crying,

[00:42:38] and I asked,

[00:42:39] what just happened to us?

[00:42:42] Without even looking at me,

[00:42:44] he just said,

[00:42:45] shut up.

[00:42:47] The rest of the drive home

[00:42:49] was made in dead silence.

[00:42:52] When we reached my house,

[00:42:54] he dropped me off without saying a word

[00:42:56] and sped away.

[00:42:58] We never spoke about it again.

[00:43:01] To this day,

[00:43:03] I don't know what happened that night.

[00:43:05] Was it paranormal?

[00:43:07] Alien?

[00:43:08] I don't know.

[00:43:10] But I feel it in my very core.

[00:43:13] Whatever it was,

[00:43:14] it wasn't normal.

[00:43:17] That was the last time I took that drive.

[00:43:20] A couple of months later,

[00:43:22] I moved to the city,

[00:43:23] just half a block from the comet.

[00:43:26] I will never know who or what that old man was.

[00:43:31] But I'm thankful we'll never meet again.

[00:43:59] I'm glad that you managed not to get completely crushed by that semi and join us for another episode.

[00:44:06] Yeah, I mean, I tried my best to make it out alive.

[00:44:08] So what happened exactly?

[00:44:10] That sounded like something right out of Final Destination.

[00:44:14] It could have been if there were guardrails there to trap me in,

[00:44:17] but luckily I was able to veer off to the side and not get completely sucked underneath that thing.

[00:44:22] So he just went into your lane and didn't see you.

[00:44:25] Or maybe he saw me and just wanted to kill me.

[00:44:28] But pretty much,

[00:44:29] I was trying to merge onto the freeway at a weird section that's going through some construction

[00:44:34] so the lines aren't the most intuitive for some people.

[00:44:38] It just happened so fast,

[00:44:40] but I think they must have felt like they had to make a quick lane adjustment

[00:44:43] and in doing so they sideswiped me before I even knew what was going on.

[00:44:47] Yeah, that's kind of what it sounded like based on the picture you sent me and what you texted me.

[00:44:52] But I'm fully on board with you.

[00:44:55] They're doing construction everywhere in Utah for some reason,

[00:44:59] especially in Salt Lake City.

[00:45:01] It's kind of a nightmare when we were driving around there.

[00:45:03] I was so confused.

[00:45:05] Yeah, no, it's a situation, but I'm sure it's all for a purpose.

[00:45:08] I mean, why else would people be doing construction just for fun?

[00:45:11] It seems that way.

[00:45:12] It really does.

[00:45:13] Yeah.

[00:45:14] Or like a telemarketer's call because they just want to chat.

[00:45:18] Yeah.

[00:45:20] So I liked all the stories this week,

[00:45:22] but I specifically wanted to bring up the bald man story by Mark.

[00:45:27] It didn't really go where I was expecting it to.

[00:45:30] Not like I had any specific predictions, but you know.

[00:45:33] Yeah, yeah. That dark room moment.

[00:45:35] That whole thing just kind of takes a turn.

[00:45:37] Yeah, yeah, I know.

[00:45:39] One second they're driving in the next.

[00:45:41] They're in some, I don't know, weird echoey void.

[00:45:44] A dark room?

[00:45:45] I won't even pretend to know what that was all about.

[00:45:48] Between the watery echo, like the dripping sound,

[00:45:52] it feels so specific.

[00:45:54] Like why water?

[00:45:55] Was it symbolic of something?

[00:45:57] Yeah, I wish we had more details on what the dark room looked like,

[00:46:00] but I guess given that it was dark,

[00:46:03] it makes sense that we weren't given a very descriptive layout

[00:46:06] down to what year the carpet was installed.

[00:46:09] Yeah.

[00:46:10] One of the few times extra details on the layout would probably have been nice.

[00:46:17] Maybe they crossed into some kind of liminal space.

[00:46:20] Oh, that'd be cool.

[00:46:21] I do like liminal spaces and all the modern artwork and slideshows that get created.

[00:46:27] Crazy abandoned classrooms and water parks.

[00:46:30] Yeah, I really like those when they make it all nostalgia and they throw like a VHS filter on it.

[00:46:37] Yeah, aquatic ambiance or ambience, whatever that word is from Donkey Kong country, all slowed down.

[00:46:43] Yeah, chopped and screwed.

[00:46:45] Straight out of H-Town.

[00:46:47] DJ Screw.

[00:46:49] It's an interesting theory though.

[00:46:50] I'm just going to call it a spooky water fortress,

[00:46:53] but maybe it could be tied to the auto shop or even that strange man.

[00:46:58] Or what if it's connected to how he died?

[00:47:01] Like maybe he drowned or something.

[00:47:03] Oh yeah, yeah.

[00:47:05] The dripping water.

[00:47:05] That would make sense.

[00:47:07] Yeah, a little too much sense.

[00:47:08] A little too rough.

[00:47:09] A little too rough, yeah.

[00:47:10] Yeah.

[00:47:11] Or it could be a portal to something else entirely like a time slip.

[00:47:15] It makes me think about those stories where people briefly step into another dimension without even realizing it.

[00:47:22] That's a good point.

[00:47:23] The friend's reaction is what really sells it for me though.

[00:47:25] Like something happened to John too.

[00:47:28] Maybe even worse than what Mark experienced.

[00:47:30] It didn't really seem like they were in the room together, but I don't know.

[00:47:34] It'd be great if we could find out if they were both transported to that same dark room,

[00:47:39] but I guess John is just MIA after that.

[00:47:42] Yeah, yeah.

[00:47:42] John clenching the wheel, refusing to talk about it.

[00:47:45] You know, silence speaks volumes.

[00:47:47] What did he see?

[00:47:49] Was he just so shaken that he couldn't process it?

[00:47:52] It's interesting that Mark remembers the room so vividly.

[00:47:55] Maybe he was able to experience a bit more of it while John was just more,

[00:47:59] I don't know, shut out or had some other vision tied to it like his own reality.

[00:48:04] I don't know.

[00:48:05] It could be anything.

[00:48:05] Yeah, or maybe John's silence is like, I don't know, its own defense mechanism.

[00:48:11] Yeah.

[00:48:12] Like if he doesn't talk about it, it's easier to convince himself that it didn't happen.

[00:48:17] Oh, totally.

[00:48:18] Totally.

[00:48:19] Yeah.

[00:48:20] And then there's the dripping water sound.

[00:48:22] That just makes me wonder if it could be alien related.

[00:48:25] You know how some alien abduction accounts mention weird sensory details like metallic sounds or echoes.

[00:48:31] Yeah, yeah.

[00:48:32] I thought of that too, actually.

[00:48:34] And in an X-Files episode, I remember.

[00:48:36] Mm-hmm.

[00:48:36] The way that they both black out and then snap back into the car, it reminds me of those kinds of stories.

[00:48:43] It's almost like they were quote unquote taken, you know, briefly and then returned.

[00:48:49] Yeah, yeah.

[00:48:50] I mean, so here's the big question.

[00:48:52] Was the bald man tied to the dark room?

[00:48:54] Like, was he the cause of it or was he like some completely separate part of the whole thing?

[00:48:59] And does he know the aliens, you know?

[00:49:01] I think he's connected.

[00:49:03] Maybe he wasn't just a ghostly figure at the auto shop.

[00:49:08] Like what if he's some kind of interdimensional being and that corner is like, I don't know, a gateway that he controls?

[00:49:16] Ooh, creepy stuff.

[00:49:18] Yeah.

[00:49:18] It makes sense though.

[00:49:19] He's always in the same spot, like he's anchored there.

[00:49:22] Maybe that's why they blacked out at that exact moment.

[00:49:25] I don't know.

[00:49:26] I think that astral entities, ghosts, beings from another dimension, whenever they're bald, it's a little creepier.

[00:49:34] And that's coming from a guy who shaves his head.

[00:49:37] Yeah.

[00:49:37] I mean, you have every right to make that connection.

[00:49:40] Yeah.

[00:49:40] Yeah.

[00:49:40] But here's a twist.

[00:49:41] What if the dark room wasn't his doing?

[00:49:45] What if he, I don't know, it was just like a warning or something else entirely pulled them into that space?

[00:49:53] I hadn't thought of that.

[00:49:55] So the bald man is less of a villain and more of a, like a signal, like a neutral sign of some sort, maybe, or maybe not even neutral could be a fair warning.

[00:50:04] Exactly.

[00:50:04] Exactly.

[00:50:05] Like you're in danger.

[00:50:06] Don't go further.

[00:50:07] But instead of turning back, they just kept going.

[00:50:10] And whatever was in that dark room was just waiting for him.

[00:50:14] Oh, geez.

[00:50:15] Yeah.

[00:50:16] That just makes the whole thing scarier.

[00:50:17] The fact that John couldn't even speak afterward.

[00:50:20] Definitely some trauma.

[00:50:22] Poor Johnny boy.

[00:50:22] Hope he's doing all right.

[00:50:24] No, John.

[00:50:25] John's get a bad rap.

[00:50:26] They really do.

[00:50:27] Some of them for good reason, but no offense to most John's.

[00:50:30] He'll never listen to this.

[00:50:32] No, he won't.

[00:50:32] We don't talk anymore.

[00:50:33] By the way, that's a different story for another time.

[00:50:35] Oh boy.

[00:50:36] I can't wait to get into that.

[00:50:39] I don't blame Mark for moving to the city right after it all happened though.

[00:50:43] If I saw something like that and then had to deal with my friend refusing to talk about

[00:50:47] it, I'd want to escape too.

[00:50:49] It's just, it's a bad environment.

[00:50:51] Yeah, no, that whole dark room thing.

[00:50:53] Like a dark room alone is scary enough, but involuntarily being transported there.

[00:50:58] No, thanks.

[00:50:59] Let's just leave it out of mystery.

[00:51:01] I do wish we knew what the full story was, what it's all supposed to mean.

[00:51:06] Yeah.

[00:51:06] We may never know.

[00:51:07] It's pretty scary to think about, honestly.

[00:51:10] Yeah.

[00:51:10] Yeah.

[00:51:11] Maybe we should move on because I'm getting a little shaky here.

[00:51:14] Well, I don't think the next story is going to be any less scary.

[00:51:19] Let's talk about Mocha's story.

[00:51:21] I always find that the stories that take place for a long period of time are the most compelling

[00:51:26] and honestly, the saddest.

[00:51:28] And this attachment seems so relentless.

[00:51:32] Can you imagine living with something like this for the majority of your life?

[00:51:36] She even got used to the shadow of the old woman, like it was just a part of life, some

[00:51:41] sort of routine.

[00:51:42] That's not something kids should have to adapt to.

[00:51:45] Yeah.

[00:51:46] And what's worse is that the activity would always ramp up when something tragic would

[00:51:50] happen.

[00:51:51] How many times do we hear about that?

[00:51:53] About 350.

[00:51:54] Yeah.

[00:51:55] Yeah.

[00:51:55] It feels like whatever this thing is, it's just feeding off her negative emotions.

[00:52:00] The lack of support from family has to be tough too.

[00:52:03] That only adds an increase in activity.

[00:52:06] Yeah.

[00:52:06] And then deleting the footage.

[00:52:08] Right.

[00:52:09] Right.

[00:52:09] She literally catches a shadow lying between her and her friends on camera and her parents

[00:52:14] make her delete it.

[00:52:15] Like I don't, I understand like trying to ignore something and hoping it goes away.

[00:52:20] But at some point that you're doing yourself a disservice there.

[00:52:23] You got to face the facts.

[00:52:25] Yeah.

[00:52:25] If I were a parent, I'd want to keep this as evidence.

[00:52:28] Deleting it does almost feel like denial.

[00:52:30] Like if we don't see it, it's not real.

[00:52:33] There's no way I could ever live in denial of anything.

[00:52:35] If there's the, if the truth is available or something to be sought after, I always want

[00:52:39] to know it.

[00:52:40] No matter how harsh it is.

[00:52:42] Yeah, exactly.

[00:52:43] Give me a hurtful lie than a convenient truth as they say.

[00:52:47] Um, yeah, same.

[00:52:48] But yeah, I mean fair to say that was a decision based on fear.

[00:52:51] They didn't want to believe this could really be happening.

[00:52:54] And the best way to get rid of it in their minds was to delete the footage.

[00:52:57] Yeah, out of sight, out of mind.

[00:52:59] Yep.

[00:53:00] Do you think her parents know something that they weren't telling her though?

[00:53:04] Like maybe they were scared because they've experienced paranormal events and didn't want

[00:53:09] to admit it.

[00:53:10] Yeah, I could totally, totally believe that.

[00:53:13] But there are a number of different things that are going on here.

[00:53:17] Like we can't discount the mimic aspect.

[00:53:21] Right.

[00:53:21] So she heard both her brothers and her dad's voices calling to her in the middle of the

[00:53:26] night.

[00:53:26] It's definitely trying to lure her.

[00:53:28] Yeah.

[00:53:29] And I think it's a really good thing that she didn't respond.

[00:53:32] That probably saved her.

[00:53:34] Just one of those moments when your instincts kick in and thankfully hers told her not to

[00:53:39] engage.

[00:53:40] You have to appreciate like, I guess, Mocha's resilience.

[00:53:43] You know what I mean?

[00:53:44] Mm hmm.

[00:53:45] This has been going on for like years and she's still actively working against it by, you

[00:53:51] know, looking for help online, getting the house blessed and even seeing a medium.

[00:53:57] Mm hmm.

[00:53:57] I think a huge takeaway would probably be that ignoring the paranormal isn't always the best

[00:54:03] thing to do.

[00:54:04] Yeah.

[00:54:05] It could stick around and haunt you.

[00:54:06] Um, and also like in a couple other stories, people mentioned not wanting to share their

[00:54:12] story out of the fear of not being believed.

[00:54:14] And that can be said for things that go beyond paranormal spooky stories.

[00:54:19] Yeah.

[00:54:20] People afraid to speak out because they don't, they're afraid they won't be believed, but

[00:54:24] by all means, don't be ashamed.

[00:54:26] Don't be scared.

[00:54:27] Put it out there.

[00:54:28] Get your voice heard.

[00:54:29] Yeah.

[00:54:29] You can be vulnerable.

[00:54:30] I agree.

[00:54:31] I say, keep working at it, Mocha.

[00:54:33] Uh, get whatever expert you can in there to help you get rid of this thing.

[00:54:36] You know, you're young and you definitely don't deserve this kind of torture.

[00:54:41] The blessing thing seemed to work for a while.

[00:54:44] I wonder if this is some kind of entity that's attached to Mocha or if it's a haunted house

[00:54:49] situation.

[00:54:50] If it were just the house, you'd expect it to stay quiet after the blessing, but it keeps

[00:54:55] coming back, which makes me think it's some kind of attachment.

[00:54:59] Yeah.

[00:54:59] Yeah.

[00:54:59] And that's the scariest kind of haunting.

[00:55:01] You can't just move away from something that's following you like that.

[00:55:04] Go away.

[00:55:05] Leave me alone.

[00:55:06] Yeah.

[00:55:07] It's like you really have to do some kind of personal spiritual work to rid yourself

[00:55:12] of it.

[00:55:13] And I fully believe in entity attachments.

[00:55:16] I've had friends tell me stories about this during our church going days and it's, it's

[00:55:23] super compelling.

[00:55:24] You know, you can call them demons, ghosts, whatever else you want.

[00:55:27] And there's just too many stories like this from people that are genuinely scared and suffering

[00:55:32] for me not to accept it as a reality.

[00:55:33] That's funny.

[00:55:35] You brought up the church thing because one of our mutual friends was telling me about

[00:55:38] her experiences at the church that you used to go to before you and I met.

[00:55:43] And yeah.

[00:55:44] And when she finally told me the name of it, I'm just like, holy shit, that's, that's Andy's

[00:55:48] church.

[00:55:48] And yeah, that's that corroboration that just gets my goosebumps popping.

[00:55:53] No, they don't pop.

[00:55:56] Yeah.

[00:55:56] I like that though.

[00:55:57] That's good.

[00:55:58] I'm popping goosebumps in here.

[00:56:01] That's what it should be called.

[00:56:02] Uh, when you read a goosebumps book, you're popping goosebumps.

[00:56:05] It sounds gross, man.

[00:56:07] Yeah.

[00:56:08] Okay.

[00:56:08] Anyway.

[00:56:09] Um, yeah, the, uh, the whole story seems to be evolving in some way.

[00:56:13] First it's a harmless old woman.

[00:56:16] Then which, which is creepy enough already.

[00:56:19] Yeah.

[00:56:19] Right.

[00:56:20] Right.

[00:56:20] But then it changes into this creepier form.

[00:56:23] Like it's some kind of bait and switch.

[00:56:24] It makes me wonder if there are maybe multiple entities or, you know, it could be just one,

[00:56:31] just the one.

[00:56:32] Yeah.

[00:56:33] Either way.

[00:56:33] It's clear that the, like this thing isn't just some kind of passive observer.

[00:56:39] It's interacting with her in ways that are way too creepy to ignore.

[00:56:42] Yeah.

[00:56:43] No tourists allowed in this scene.

[00:56:44] I agree.

[00:56:46] Yeah.

[00:56:47] If the listeners have any advice or comments on this story or any of those stories that

[00:56:51] we talked about this week, do please share.

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[00:57:01] Oops.

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[00:57:11] And finally, make sure to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like Let's Not

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[00:57:19] Everybody stay safe.

[00:57:20] Peace out.