Latest / Shallow Nights: Scary Bedtime Stories / Stranger Than Fiction: Trusting Instincts in a World of Unseen Threats

Transcript

Stranger Than Fiction: Trusting Instincts in a World of Unseen Threats · Shallow Nights: Scary Bedtime Stories

0:41
It was a long time ago before cell phones were prevalent, and
0:45
I was a mom in my early 30s who had just driven our kids to the
0:48
pediatrician. The Macon, GA doctor's office
0:52
was an hour away from our home and I was just taking the 2
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youngest of my 3, then ages one and three years old, to our
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scheduled appointment because we lived so far away.
1:03
Their offices gave us the last two appointments of the day and
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we were grateful. The doctor had just built a new
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building off of a fresh spur of the highway, so the location was
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quite isolated in every direction, but a very nice
1:18
facility compared to his old spot by the hospital there.
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His new building was also pretty far back on the new lot.
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In my car, a black Jeep Cherokee we had owned for two years was
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one of only four or five cars in the parking lot.
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When we got there. I parked near the front door,
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removed the kids from their car seats, and for the next hour or
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so we waited and saw the doctor, paid, and finally exited back
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outside. Mine was the only car left in
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the lot as I loaded the children in their car seats for our trip
1:52
home. But as the receptionist locked
1:54
the front glass doors, my car somehow wouldn't start.
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When I turned the key there was just an odd clicking noise.
2:02
Gathering the children once again, I knocked on the door
2:05
until someone allowed us back in and asked to borrow their phone
2:08
to call a nearby garage for service.
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I found one in the phone book and the man said that he would
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come but that it might be a bit so I told him my location, left
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to go back out to the car, rolled down all the windows and
2:22
loaded the children back into their seats once more as we
2:25
waited. Soon we watched as all the
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lights were turned out in the building again and everyone
2:31
left. Their car is departing 1 by 1
2:34
from behind the building somewhere, leaving us now
2:37
completely alone in the parking lot as it was still light.
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I spent a lot of that time trying to tend to the children,
2:45
digging through our car for snacks and a bottle, making sure
2:48
that they weren't getting too hot, etcetera.
2:52
Although the service station attendant said that it was
2:55
probably going to be quite a while, I was pleasantly
2:58
surprised when a truck pulled into the empty parking lot
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pretty soon and a man got out of his pickup, smiled and nodded to
3:05
me and said he was going to raise the hood.
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He was middle-aged and a bit scruffy, but quite frankly, many
3:11
gas station attendants sometimes look that way, especially at the
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end of the day, and I was grateful when he began doing
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something under the hood almost immediately.
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I sat down in the driver's seat with the door open waiting for
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him to tell me to try the engine, but he seemed to be
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taking a long time checking the connections and I longed for him
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to just grab my jumper cables, yet he never did.
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Without getting out of the car, I asked him what he thought was
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wrong and he said oh it's just a loose wire, not the battery, and
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continued whatever he was doing. I couldn't see his face at all
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from where I was sitting, but his hands were slightly visible
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through that long horizontal slip between the windshield and
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the raised hood. As we waited more than once, he
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said that it was merely a loose wire and if I would just come up
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here real quick, you would show me which one it was so it would
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never happen again. I remember kind of smiling and
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shaking my head, saying that sadly there was no reason to
4:13
show me anything as I didn't know anything about cars.
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I just thanked him and continued to stay in the driver's seat,
4:21
again just waiting for the inevitable signal to try to
4:24
start the engine that was most surely coming any moment.
4:28
At one point I remember thinking that he was definitely flirting
4:31
as he spoke, but I was trying above all to be polite and kind
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as he was indeed helping us. We were hot and tired and
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miserable and truthfully, I was distracted with the kids.
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Oddly enough, he was starting to sound a little frustrated with
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me because I wouldn't come up and look at the engine.
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I remember thinking that I certainly didn't want to make
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him mad where he left us there all alone with the sun sinking
4:56
so quickly. And then the strangest thing
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happened. Another truck suddenly pulled
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into that desolate parking lot. And as it did, this nice guy
5:06
working underneath my hood suddenly slammed it shut, ran to
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his truck, started it, and drove away very quickly without even
5:13
saying a word of goodbye. I was both confused and a little
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anxious when he did this because I didn't know who was now
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arriving. I remember feeling a little
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frightened that he had suddenly left me there all alone with two
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little ones, defenseless. Why wouldn't he at least stay
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and speak to whoever was parking next to me now?
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Certainly seemed the southernly gentleman thing to do.
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I looked around and was very aware once again that there were
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no visible cars on the road, no homes or businesses nearby, and
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the sun was continuing to set quickly as this new, also
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unmarked pickup pulled in next to me.
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I got out of the car once again, this time more apprehensively.
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Upon exiting though, he immediately introduced himself
6:00
and his name and voice seemed to match who I had spoken to on the
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phone much earlier. He then actually called me by
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name, apologized for being so late, and finally smiled and
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started towards the road, pointing and asking who the man
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was that had just left. So suddenly.
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Relieved and unfazed, I just smiled back in surprise and told
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him, Well, I don't know, I thought all of this time he was
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you. And we both laughed slightly as
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he then grabbed jumper cables, walked to the front of my car,
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raised the hood and started to work.
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I immediately sat back in the driver's seat once more,
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suddenly grateful that with luck that air conditioner will be
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blowing full blast shortly and once again checking the children
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while listening for the familiar words.
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Try it. I had my back completely turned
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towards the children when he surprised me by suddenly coming
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to the driver's side door. And the strangest voice.
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He said Ma'am is this yours? And when I looked into his hands
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he was holding a long thin dagger like looking device that
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was about a foot and 1/2 in length.
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It appeared to be very old and covered with reddish rust, yet
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on one end it had tiny circular small finger holes, as if it was
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a mix of a long thin sword and scissors, oddly combined.
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I remember being amazed but not frightened, and I asked where he
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had found them. Under the hood.
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He replied. I said just matter of factly
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that I had never seen them before, but how weird was it
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that those things had somehow been stuck and undiscovered in
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my car for all those years, and shook my head in surprise.
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He continued to stand there and stare at them unbelievingly, and
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he looked oddly pale too, like you couldn't find the words to
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speak for a bit, just continuing to stare at the unusual object.
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Honestly, I didn't care one bit about it.
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All I could think of was getting the car going, letting me pay
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him and the cost, and leaving. He didn't say anything else,
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just quickly set them on the curb, started this truck and
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then signalled for me to start the Jeep and when it immediately
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caught my 3 year old, cheered, grateful.
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I quickly turned on the air conditioner full blast, rolled
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up all the windows, aimed the vents back towards the back seat
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and reached for my purse to pay out.
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I stood up and took a few steps to meet him so I could hear the
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amount now owed. With both of our vehicles
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running. He came back around to my
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driver's side, but instead of handing me the bill, irritated
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me a bit by walking right past me and picking up that weird
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object once more. Ma'am.
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He said slowly. I want you to look at these one
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more time and held them out for closer inspection.
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This time I moved a bit closer and actually really looked in
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his hands. The item still appeared
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incredibly large, possessing an almost bayonet looking quality.
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Except for the strange small 2 loops on one end.
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I've never seen anything like it, and told him so as he held
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it. He spoke quietly and slowly to
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me, as if trying desperately to make me understand something
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that was somehow still going over my head.
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These weren't hidden somewhere in the engine, man.
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They hadn't been there very long at all, because they were
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sitting right on top. They must have just been put
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there. I shook my head no and half
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smiled as I did. But they're obviously very old
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and rusty. To which he pointed more closely
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and replied. Yeah, but see how sharp they
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are? These look like they've just
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been sharpened. And when I looked down he was
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right. The long skinny dagger like
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shape was unusual, but by far the oddest quality was just how
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sharp it appeared to be. The edges at the tip where the
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rust had been removed were gleaming silver.
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As I paid him, his final words to me were Ma'am.
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I don't know what was about to happen here, but I'm really glad
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I pulled up when I did. He quietly thanked me when
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taking the payment, told me that I probably needed to call the
10:11
police when I got home, and then asked me where I wanted the
10:14
item. I didn't want to touch it,
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didn't want to take it at all, but I released the back window
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so we could place it inside. We both then left the lot
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together, him turning one way, me turning the other towards the
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small winding highway that would lead home, still an hour away.
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I did indeed contact the Macon police the moment that we
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arrived home and I got the children inside safely, but
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although they listened politely, they declined when I offered to
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bring the scissor like thing to them.
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Later. The officer I spoke to said that
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they sounded as if they were specialized surgical shears for
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my description of measurements on the phone, which I found
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quite disturbing as you can imagine.
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I remember wondering how he would even know that, and why
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would he say that? I had tried so carefully not to
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touch any of the surfaces, hoping that they might be able
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to lift fingerprints or test it for blood if they wanted, but
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the story seemed to bore him a bit and he didn't seem
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interested. His attitude insinuated that as
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there was no longer an emergency, it was of no
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importance now. At the very end of the call, as
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if to wind things up, he did say that it sounded as if I was very
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lucky and that I might want to keep the shears for a few days
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just in case someone from his office got back with me later,
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but that was all. I wrapped them carefully in
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newspaper and placed them in the brick storage unit behind our
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house. And there they remained for
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several more years, untouched, until we moved away and I,
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finally, not wanting to bring them across several states,
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reluctantly threw them in the trash.
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Around that time, though, if you look through old news reports,
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women were going missing all over Georgia.
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Some bodies were eventually found, but others remained
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missing to this very day. I've often wondered what would
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have happened if the service station attendant hadn't arrived
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when he did. If my children would still have
12:11
a mother, if I would have still had my son and daughter.
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If I would have missed all these years with them.
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I guess I'll never know, but I learned something very important
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about myself that day. I had always felt that I was
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pretty aware of my surroundings, pretty good at reading people
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and staying safe. But because I was exhausted and
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tired and hot and stranded in a different city, my common sense
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and intelligence simply left me for a bit and wasn't working at
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that time. And many of my friends and
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family still think that our car trouble that day and my lack of
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awareness could have easily cost us our lives.
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Since almost a year now, end of August 2019 to be exact, I have
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moved to an apartment in a different city because my
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mother, who I lived with in my hometown, passed away from
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cancer. I've moved here with my long
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term boyfriend and one other roommate who has been a good
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friend of both of us since before we had even started
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dating. We all absolutely love it here.
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The location is great, it's a 15 minute bike ride from my
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university, and it's located at a square with a grocery store,
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drugstore, lunchrooms, etcetera. So we pretty much have
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everything we could possibly need to survive within walking
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distance. However, after just a month or
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two of living here, someone has started to ring my doorbell at
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exactly 11 O 5:00 PM semi regularly.
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Sometimes every day, sometimes every other day, sometimes
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there's a week in between and sometimes there are a couple of
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weeks in between. But it is always at around 11 O
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5:00 PM. And every single time I get no
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answer. Each time I ask through the
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intercom who it is. Except for one time, but I will
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get to that in a bit. At first I thought it were
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friends from one of the neighbors who accidentally rang
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the wrong doorbell, but after about the 14th time I grew
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suspicious. And after more than those four
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times I started noticing that it always happens at either exactly
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11 O 5:00 PM or a few minutes earlier or later.
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My boyfriend and roommate both work at bars and so they work
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until very late and would usually only get home around
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2:00 AM. So each time it happened I was
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always alone at home and it started to really freak me out
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after a while. When I first told him about it,
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they kind of shrugged it off and said that it was probably a
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wrong dial like I thought at first.
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But when I told them that it has happened so many times and
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sometimes even daily, they didn't really believe me and
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thought I was just a little paranoid and spooked.
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However, one night when the doorbell rang again and I
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answered the intercom asking who it was, I heard very heavy
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breathing. I was thoroughly spooked at that
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moment. I was again home alone and kept
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asking who they were and what they wanted.
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I couldn't make out from the breathing if it was a man or a
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woman, but I heard a strange mumbling and whispering and then
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I was dead silent and they had appeared to have left.
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I had put my apartment door on a double lock after that.
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I was so scared and spooked out. Thankfully my roommate got home
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a little earlier that night around 30 minutes after the
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doorbell rang and he could tell how upset I was.
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Now with the corona crisis, my roommate and boyfriend aren't
15:48
able to work anymore and they now also witness the frequent
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door ringing at 11 O 5:00 PM. So they now do believe me and
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agree that it is very odd and creepy.
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We have a balcony that looks down at where our apartment
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building's main front door is, but because there's also a shop
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right underneath us that's always had those curtain roof
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things out, the view to the door is partially obscured.
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Every time our doorbell rang, me, my boyfriend, and my
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roommate would go to the balcony to see if we could see anyone,
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but we never could. I have also asked my neighbors
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from my apartment building if their doorbell also gets rang so
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often, but the ones that I asked all said that it has never
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happened to them. So 2 weeks ago, my roommate
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decided to do some investigating and went outside our apartment
16:41
building at 11:00 PM, standing across the street and pretended
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to have a smoke while keeping an eye on the door.
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He said he did see a man who looked kind of suspicious
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wandering around our apartment building.
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We slowed down his pace significantly as soon as he
16:56
approached our door, but when he spotted my roommate looking at
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him, he quickly walked away. We aren't 100% sure if that's
17:04
the door ringer, but that's very very suspicious.
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Our doorbell hasn't been rang at nights since that day and I'm
17:12
hoping that maybe it will stop now, but there is a possibility
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that will continue again in a few weeks.
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So strange man who rings my doorbell at 11 O 5 at night so
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often. Please stop.
17:29
I was camping in the middle of nowhere in Washington near Mount
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Rainier. Like not an official campground,
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just way out in the forest where I wouldn't have expected another
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human for miles. One night I wake up and hear
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something open my tent and there's a guy sitting by where
17:45
my fire, and there's a guy sitting by where my fire had
17:49
been right outside my tent. Nothing particularly noteworthy
17:53
about the guy, just a fairly regular looking dude just
17:56
sitting there a couple feet from my tent.
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No bag or pack or anything with him, just a guy.
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He saw me open the tent, his eyes got huge like he had just
18:09
seen a ghost, and he took off. It shook me up pretty badly, but
18:12
over the next day I managed to put it out of my mind fairly
18:16
well after writing it off. It's just some odd occurrence
18:19
and a guy that was probably high or something and had somehow
18:23
managed to set up a camp coincidentally not far from
18:26
mine. Then two days after that and 10
18:30
to 15 miles away in totally random directions that nobody
18:35
could take the same path as on accident.
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I was sitting by the fire that night and started hearing noises
18:41
that I got more and more convinced were a person.
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I called out to them and out of the darkness someone was like,
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do you know how to get to Bell's Canyon?
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I said no, I don't even think that's a real place there.
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They kept talking from just out of my line of vision.
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I tried to see them with my flashlight but they yelled and
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without a way and kind of spooked and not wanting to piss
19:05
off a potentially crazy person, I did.
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After like 15 minutes of being very freaked out and them
19:12
talking and asking completely random questions.
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From the darkness it sounded like the voice had gotten closer
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so I shined my light that way again and it was the same dude
19:23
who had been outside my tent two nights before.
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He had to have followed me almost 15 miles over 2 days
19:30
because there is no way he could have just accidentally wound up
19:34
in the same spot as vast as that wilderness is.
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No possible way. As soon as my leg hit him, he
19:42
took off again. I started to chase him but
19:45
didn't want to get lost in the wilderness in the dark, so I
19:48
stopped quickly after, probably only 100 to 200 feet.
19:54
This one couldn't be written off because the only way he could
19:56
have been in both places is specifically if he was following
19:59
me. I decided the trip was over
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first thing in the morning and hiked back out over three days,
20:07
constantly doubling back, trying to throw anyone following off my
20:11
trail, and occasionally hiding and waiting to see if you would
20:15
come by following me. I really can't describe how
20:19
terrifying it was to feel like I was being hunted through the
20:21
woods and to actually have to brainstorm on things I could do
20:25
to best avoid potentially being murdered.
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On the first night of hiking out twice, I heard what sounded like
20:33
a person walking circles outside my tent, but by the time I
20:37
mustered the courage to look, nobody was there.
20:40
On the second night I heard what I thought was an animal making
20:43
noises at first in the distance, but slowly decided it sounded
20:48
more like a human making animal calls but could have actually
20:51
been an animal. But I didn't actually see the
20:53
guy again. It really sounded like a person
20:56
making howling noises. I literally almost cried when I
21:00
finally got back to my car, the relief was so strong.
21:05
To this day, probably the most terrifying experience I've ever
21:09
had. I have no idea who the guy was
21:13
or what his intentions were and no way of getting an
21:16
explanation, but I really can't articulate just what a
21:20
terrifying few days it was as a child.
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I think kindergarten age. I love to talk.
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If anyone had a question for me, I would gleefully give them way
21:33
too much information. Most people found it endearing
21:36
and would praise me for being so smart, which encouraged me a
21:39
lot. My mom and I normally shopped at
21:42
the market just a few minutes away from our house.
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My mom had been shopping there for 20 some years at that point
21:49
and was friends with most of the workers, so I was friendly with
21:52
them too and was always happy to talk with them.
21:56
Whenever my mom got distracted talking to someone, I, with the
22:00
attention span of a six year old, would wander around the
22:03
aisle. My mom would keep an eye on me
22:05
to make sure I didn't get too far, but if she was distracted
22:09
one of the employees would usually be around and gently
22:12
guide me back over. One day though, we went to a
22:16
different market that I couldn't remember having been to before
22:20
and we didn't go back to for nearly a decade.
22:23
We were walking around the aisle when my mom ran into her friend.
22:27
They started talking and I, not realizing that I no longer had a
22:30
store full of adults keeping an eye on me, started wandering
22:34
around the aisle. My eyes caught some colorful
22:37
display, I think flowers or balloons or something, and went
22:41
to look over and went over to look.
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Once I was satisfied with my inspection, I turned back to the
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aisle only to find my mom wasn't there.
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Huh. That had never happened before.
22:53
I looked around a little, though, not moving from my spot
22:56
near the colorful displays since it was right near the registers.
23:00
There was a decent amount of people nearby, which I'm
23:03
thankful for now. As I was looking around, an
23:07
employee came up to me. He was older than my sister.
23:11
She was 12 or 13 at the time, and younger than my dad in his
23:15
mid 40s, which was about the only way I could gauge age now.
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I would say he was probably in his early to mid 20s if I
23:23
remember right. Hi there.
23:26
He said sweetly. And that tone you normally speak
23:28
to your kids in? I cheerfully said hello,
23:31
actually stepping a little closer.
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Are you looking for your mommy? I said yes happily explaining
23:38
that I had last seen her talking to her friend and that I could
23:41
normally find her easily when I wandered away, so I wasn't sure
23:46
where she could have gone. Does she leave you alone often?
23:50
Not really. My older sister was normally
23:53
with me if my mom wasn't. She was 12 or 13 and was super
23:58
mature, so if my mom had to leave for a little bit she knew
24:02
I'd be OK. She never left us alone in
24:04
public, just at home if she needed to run somewhere.
24:08
Never for a very long time, just the length of time of a Pokémon
24:12
episode or something. And my dad was at work a lot and
24:15
didn't come back until late usually.
24:18
Just if you were wondering, where do you live?
24:22
Well, wouldn't you know it, I just learned my address.
24:25
We just learned how to mail a letter in school.
24:28
Even took a little class trip to the mailbox in our school corner
24:31
to send them out. I knew how to write my address
24:34
now, and I knew how to say it. Want to hear it?
24:37
Of course you do. I know kids are naive but I was
24:41
downright dumb. I was diagnosed with a doodle
24:44
color blindness 2 years later. Otherwise known as red.
24:47
Green color blindness. Makes sense as I was totally
24:50
blind to all the red flags. Where do you go to school?
24:54
Who picks you up? While I go to the local
24:57
elementary school. I don't know the address though,
25:00
sorry. But I know what street it's on
25:02
because I wait on the sidewalk for my mom or daycare sitter
25:06
depending on the day so I see the streets.
25:08
Not a lot since I'm usually waiting for a while to be
25:11
grabbed. Do you like animals like
25:13
puppies? Dogs scare me, cats scare me,
25:17
pigeons scare me, fish scare me, flies scare me.
25:21
You know what doesn't scare me? Turtles.
25:24
I have 5 turtles. No dogs that might bark or bite
25:28
if someone drops by the house like our neighbor does.
25:31
Those dogs are always behind the gate though, so they don't scare
25:34
me a lot. It had only been a few minutes
25:38
since I last saw my mom. Even with how much information I
25:41
was dumping. I was a very fast talker, but I
25:44
was starting to get a little antsy.
25:46
Not because I was uncomfortable talking to a stranger, but
25:50
because I had skipped lunch that day specifically to con my mom
25:54
into letting me get a bagle from the store next door, which is
25:57
why we were at the market in the 1st place.
26:00
My mom was holding on to the bagle to make sure I didn't try
26:03
to eat it too fast and choke, which I had done several times
26:07
in the past. I wanted my bagel, and while I
26:11
like talking to this grown man who made me feel smart and was
26:14
oh so interested in my life, I liked bagels more.
26:18
Plus, if I caught my mom when we were near the bakery section, I
26:22
might be able to use my charm and cuteness to get a cookie.
26:25
So I got to find my mom now. Oh well, I'll walk around with
26:30
you and help you find her. You want to lead me through the
26:33
market you work at? Or you can easily bring me to
26:36
the backroom, meat locker, or any number of places.
26:39
Yeah, sounds good, Aussie. I look around to see my mom, the
26:45
relieved look on her face slowly changing into something more
26:48
anxious. I smile happily and wave her
26:50
over. She immediately grabs my hand
26:53
and I can tell she wants to chide me, probably for leaving
26:56
the aisle, but she seems more occupied on the man in front of
27:00
me. Before I can even open my mouth
27:02
to introduce him or remember that I never even got his name,
27:06
he quickly says that he's glad I found my mom and he needs to get
27:09
back to work, and practically runs to the back of the store.
27:14
My mom puts her hands on my shoulders and looks me in the
27:16
eye, her expression a lot more worried now.
27:20
What was he talking to you about?
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She asked, her voice more serious than I've ever heard
27:24
her. Can I have my bagel?
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My mom opens her mouth, pauses, and goes into her purse to hand
27:31
me my bagle. Between bites, I happily tell
27:35
her about the conversation and everything.
27:37
I remembered my age and grade, pick up schedules, lights and
27:41
dislikes, my literal address. My mom gradually became paler,
27:47
then became red with anger. She brought me over to the
27:51
manager and I don't remember much about that conversation.
27:56
I got a cookie. I remember that pretty well.
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It was shaped like a watermelon, which was apparently far more
28:02
important to me than paying attention to what was being
28:04
said. The police weren't called.
28:08
We went home and my mom told me I wasn't allowed to walk around
28:11
the store anymore. No more talking to any stranger,
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even if they worked at the store we were at, unless she was with
28:17
me. If I ever saw that man again, I
28:20
was to run away, find someone I know and ask for help.
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If all else fails, scream at the top of my lungs.
28:28
Just like when a family lands on me.
28:30
God insects are creepy. I agree pleasantly, not really
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fazed by anything she's saying. I know that some people are bad,
28:39
but bad people look bad, right? They talk mean and look scary
28:43
and try to grab you. This guy didn't.
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So he wasn't bad, was he? But if my mom was saying it,
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then I had to listen and I better enjoy that cookie because
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we weren't going back to that store ever again.
28:57
Tears incoming. In exchange, I can get a
29:00
doughnut once a month from our usual store.
29:03
Tears cancelled when I was around 12.
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Our school had a safety assembly and was talking about the shady
29:10
things adults do to get close to kids and a very very watered
29:14
down version of what they most likely wanted.