4 Scary Stories: Urban Legends, Cryptids & Cursed Rituals with DEMONS

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Welcome back, my spookies. Tonight, the last street light is

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behind us, and every road leads somewhere the locals warned

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us not to go. In the Adirondack Pines, something enormous

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shakes a rattle in the dark. Beside an abandoned barn,

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a red octagon offers one final warning. Beyond a marked creek,

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an ancient hunger waits for its offering, And in a

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candlelit bedroom, a lonely question reaches the wrong side of

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the spirit world. These are places where folklore has rules,

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rituals demand payment, and even the most ridiculous legend can

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bear very real teeth. Oh lock your doors, leave the

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stop signs where they belong, and keep your hands off

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that planchette. Turn down the lights, turn up the volume,

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and prepare yourself for four terrifying tales of monsters, forbidden bargains,

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and cursed curiosity. And then make sure you're subscribed on

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your favorite podcasting app because there's a brand new scary

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story right here on Weekly Spooky every single Wednesday. Now,

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let's begin the legend of Oopsy Poopsy by Joe sulmo.

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I first heard about Oopsy Poopsy by the locals. When

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I'm moved to the small Adirondack town of New Ellsworth,

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the town only had a handful of street lights and

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not a single sidewalk to be seen. One gas station

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was in the middle of town, across from the Baptist

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church that was built before the abolition of slavery. But

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there were five bars around the local lake. I lived

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down the road a bit from one of the bars,

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on my own island of small house and yard, surrounded

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by a virtual ocean of evergreens. Even in the crisp

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fall air, the trees remained green. They were all lined

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up in rows. Those pines planted there by a lumberyard

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that had cleared it many years ago. It was at

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that lumberyard that I first heard of Oopsie Poopsie. I

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had blown a fuse in the garage, back when you

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could still find fuses, no circuit breakers in this house.

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I was in the electric aisle when a man approached me.

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He had a name tag sewn into his shirt that

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said Sleepy Carl, Not just Carl, but sleepy Carl morning.

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Can I help you? He said in a helpful voice.

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His accent was a little bit off, like he had

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seen the words written, but maybe he hadn't heard them

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all used before. Well, I might be giving him too

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much credit. I'm not sure he could read. Looking for

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some fusees, friend, I said, rifling through the plastic containers

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holding loose fuses. Where do you live, he asked, leaning

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over me. I could smell the chewing tobacco on his breath,

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and unfortunately watched as a small river of brown saliva

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raced down his chin like it was being chased by

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a rabid dog. And by a rabid dog, I mean

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that lonely incisor left in his mouth. I made eye

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contact with him, then both eyes half closed. Ah, yes,

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I thought, sleepy Carl. It all made sense. Here they are,

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I said, holding up a pair of thirty amp fuses.

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He didn't even look at my offering and kept weird

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eye contact with me. You the new guy over in

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the house on Sinclair, he asked, blocking my way to

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the register. I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not.

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He seemed more stupid than intimidating. That would be the place,

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Sleepy Carl, I replied, Sleepy Carl, leave that guy alone.

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Came a woman's voice from the other side of the building.

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She wandered over to us. I was shocked at her beauty.

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I wasn't expecting such a sight in a backwoods town

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like this. Her long, wavy red hair flowed over her

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shoulders and down her work shirt, almost to her skinny waist.

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Carl jumped at the sound of her voice and wandered

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off into the plumbing aisle across the building as the

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woman approached. Sorry for my brother. He likes to talk

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to people, learn about them, she said. He knows all

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about the folk that come in here. The woman extended

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her hand. I shook it. From this close, I could

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smell her shampoo, and it smelled nice. My name is

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I Dinah, she said John, I replied. Now that we

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are acquainted, I can go ring you up, she said

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over her shoulder. As she made her way to the register,

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I noticed sleepy Carl watching me from the inside of

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a toilet seat. He was holding it up at eye

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level and peeking through it inconspicuously. Of course, he could

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have been called sly Carl with spy instincs like that.

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I couldn't help but smile. As I placed the fuses

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down on the counter, I picked up a folding utility

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knife from a display and put it with the fuses.

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I turned back to see Sleepy Carl still looking at me.

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His sister noticed me looking and her eyes followed my gaze.

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I watched her face redden in embarrassment. Sleepy Carl, get

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your oversized head out of that shitter seat. With a crash,

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Sleepy Carl woke up enough to drop the seat and

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run out the front door to the icy breeze of

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an early November morning in upstate New York. He grabbed

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a rake and started gathering up the fallen leaves in

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the gravel parking lot. The sounds of scraping gravel drifted

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through the open wooden doorway. That'll be eight bucks, she said,

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with a smile. She opened a paper bag and shoved

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my items in. I rifled through my pockets and found

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a crumpled twenty and forked it over to her with

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a smile. She handed me my change and I thrust

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it into my pocket, still watching her brother fight with

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the leaves out front. Someone had pulled in and was

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yelling at him for being in the way. Dnah sighed

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and ran past me out the door. I followed, but

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jumped in my car to get out of there instead

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of getting involved in whatever was happening. As I was

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putting on my seat belt, Sleepy Carl poked his head

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in the passenger side window. You meet OOPSI POOPSI yet,

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he asked, nearly dropping his tobacco spit on my passenger seat.

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What's an oopsie POOPSI? I asked, putting the car in gear.

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I can come over and explain, Sleepy Carl said, as

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he spat what was left on the parking lot. Leave

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him alone, and Dinah called over. Let the poor man

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get back to his business. She grabbed Sleepy Carl by

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his ear and gave a yank. Apologize to this man

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for wasting his time. Sleepy Carl his head and mouthed

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sorry and walked slowly into the building. I gave a

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Dinah a quick wave and a smile and headed home

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forgetting all about a Dina, Sleepy Carl, and Oopsie Poopsie

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at least for a few weeks. I was working in

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the yard towards the middle of November, avoiding the call

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from the family to come to Thanksgiving dinner, when I

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noticed something in the tree line, a stark white in

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contrast to the dark green needles and the darker forest within.

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I put down my rake and left my wheelbarrow full

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of pine cones and walked to the edge of the

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towering trees. There was a branch that had fallen in

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the last storm, about four feet long. I gave my

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rake a glance before picking up the dead branch. I

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poked at the white object and was horrified to find

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that this thing on the ground was a large diaper.

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Used Who the fuck, I asked out loud. Disgusted with

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my find I looked back at my wheelbarrow, contemplating loading

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the loaded diaper into it for disposal. With a sigh,

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I walked back to my yardwork supplies and picked up

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the handles on the wheelbarrow to bring it closer. A

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gust of wind blew by me, and I heard a

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faint noise on the breeze. In hindsight, I knew what

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it was, my brain just couldn't fathom it. Back then,

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what I heard faintly was a baby's giggle. I continued

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to where the diaper was, and it was gone, nowhere

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to be found. Just then I heard another sound, the

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uneven steps of someone approaching. I turned back towards the

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yard and watched Sleepy Carl making his way across my

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yard and up to me. I gave him, I'm a

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quick wave as I turned around, looking into the trees.

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Did you see a I started? What, Sleepy Carl asked?

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A diaper? Did you say a diaper? He asked with

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a spit of tobacco. I winced when I saw the

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glob land on the handle of my rake. I guess

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it was time to get a new one. I can

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just burn that one. Yeah, a diaper about this big,

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I said, holding my hands out like showing the old

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timer down at the bait shop, the size of the

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one that got away. Sleepy Carl frowned. He's already starting

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his shit. Who is I asked, closing the gap between us.

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A bit oopsie, poopsie. He's taken a like in to you, Carl,

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Sleepy Carl, he interjected, pardon me, Sleepy Carl, what the

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fuck is an oopsy poopsy? We should find him, get

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him to stop before it gets out of hand. Sleepy

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Carl said, you've been in those woods. I looked at

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the rows of pines. Sleepy Carl was pointing at with

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a dirty finger, the tip of which was missing. Yeah,

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I walked through them a bit, checking it out. You

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shouldn't have, he said, with sadness in his voice. You

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got his attention. Who oopsy poopsy, we both said at

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the same time, but only he understood what we were

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talking about. Listen, Sleepy Carl, I gotta finish up out

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here so I can get some dinner on the stove

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before dark. I explained. It looked like I only had

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about an hour left of sun and what little warmth

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it gave this time of year. Come with me, Sleepy

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Carl said in a store voice, and headed into the

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pine trees. I shook my head as I watched him

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walk deeper into the forest. After a moment of indecision,

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I gave chase. Wait up, Sleepy Carl, I called after him.

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Gotta keep up so we can make it back before

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the sunsets. He explained what happens after the sunsets. I asked,

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he'll come looking, The local said, looking for me. Yep,

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was his monosyllable reply. I looked down at my hands

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and realized I was still carrying the rake with me.

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I felt silly at first, but as we walked deeper

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into those neat rows of pines, it was almost a

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comfort having it in my hands. The forest sure got

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spooky fast. After about ten minutes or so, walking in silence,

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Sleepy Carl stopped and ran his fingers over the bark

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of a tree. This way, he said, cutting to the

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right and up a slight rise. I stopped at the

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tree and saw faded carved initials in the old bark

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c W loves e W. At the top of the rise,

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I could see there was a worn path through the

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woods leading down to a valley floor about thirty feet below,

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and heading deeper into the woods. I tried to look

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up at the sun to get a feel for the time,

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and all I could see were branches of pines blocking

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out most of the light. I was beginning to have

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a hard time seeing in front of my own face.

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How much farther is it? I asked him. I placed

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a hand on his shoulder to get him to stop.

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For a moment. I was out of breath. Just over here,

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he said, pointing at a boulder on a small hill.

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The trail wrapped around the boulder had a white birch

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tree growing on the top of it like a unicorn horn,

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and I realized at some point we passed through the

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pine forest into a regular one. The autumn leaves had

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already fallen from the tree, leaving its bones pointing skyward.

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I tried to get a visual on the sun to

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figure out where we were, but the cloud cover and

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the bare deciduous trees blocked my view of it. Sleepy

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Carl made a motion for me to wait here, and

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I leaned against one of those trees. As he made

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his way to the boulder and peaked around it. I

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noticed my heart wasn't pounding in my ears anymore, and

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I could breathe normally. I placed the rake I had

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been carrying against the tree. I curiously watched as Sleepy

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Carl stared off around the hill. He looked a little different,

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more attentive to his surroundings. I guess, less Sleepy Carl

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and more irregular Caral. He turned and looked at me

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before disappearing behind the boulder. I reached into my pocket

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for a cigarette, out of habit I had quit just

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before moving to New Ellsworth. I turned my head listening

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for Sleepy Carl, but couldn't hear anything past the cold

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breeze going through the branches. I shuffled my feet, making

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the crisp leaves rustle underneath. This is when I got

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the feeling I was being watched. It didn't so much

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as creep up on me, as it just happened. I

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gave a quick look around and didn't see anything. I thought,

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maybe Sleepy Carl might be playing a trick on me.

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I didn't see him around. The hair stood up on

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my arm, but I couldn't tell if it was from

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the breeze or the feeling. I heard that giggle again,

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like back in the yard, faint, almost inaudible. Maybe I

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should quit smoking the other stuff, I thought. I took

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a careful step towards the boulder, cautious not to rustle

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up the leaves too much. I heard the giggle again,

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this time a little louder closer. Sleepy Carl, you there,

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I whispered harshly. After another step. I listened for his response. Carl,

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A horrid stench drifted on the breeze. Pee ba doo baba,

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came a high pitched voice, just a bit louder than

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the giggle I heard. I swear if I find Sleepy

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Carl standing behind the boulder with one of those voice

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changer things laughing at me, I would beat him to

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death with my rake, my rake. I took a step

237
00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.919
back and reached for it, not taking my eyes off

238
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that boulder, with that birch tree horn. I felt something

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00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.159
soft in my hand and spun around, and that's when

240
00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:58.360
I saw him. It had to be him. The name

241
00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:04.920
now made sense. Oopsie poopsy, I forgot all about the rake.

242
00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:09.599
He looked me right in the eye from his left one. Anyway,

243
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The right eye kinda drooped a bit, kind of like

244
00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:18.000
sleepy Carls. But unlike sleepy carl Oopsy POOPSI had an

245
00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:21.880
oversized head that kind of wobbled on too small of

246
00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:25.960
a neck. It stood as tall as I did, wearing

247
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:30.799
a filthy striped onesie a six foot bobble headed baby.

248
00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:36.440
It opened its oversized mouth, revealing the largest and sparsest

249
00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:40.359
baby teeth I have ever seen in a gapped tooth smile.

250
00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:43.839
In his hand was a rattle the size of a

251
00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:48.839
baseball bat. Dried blood and matted hair adorned its bulbous end.

252
00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:53.400
It took an unsteady step towards me. At first, its

253
00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.519
head flung back by his momentum, then carried forward in

254
00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:01.640
a nodding motion as its large met the hard ground.

255
00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:06.319
I turned to run to escape the monstrosity behind me.

256
00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:11.480
Was it real? Could Sleepy Carls somehow have climbed into

257
00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:15.000
a giant baby suit to pull a fast one? I

258
00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:17.440
really wanted to rip its head off and see what

259
00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.799
was inside, but my body was in full flight mode

260
00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:24.799
and my brain was just along for the ride. Got go,

261
00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.759
Boodoo Chase, I heard it say behind me, as the

262
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:34.319
giant toddler began to lurch after Where the fuck was

263
00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:38.200
Sleepy Carl? I ran around the boulder and down the

264
00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.440
path that sank over a ridge and lost my footing

265
00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:45.200
sliding in the carpet of leaves about thirty yards before

266
00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:48.920
hitting a tree trunk with my ribs. I heard the

267
00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:51.519
air escape my lungs, and I couldn't even cry out

268
00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:54.519
in pain. All I could do was clutch my side

269
00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:58.880
and WinCE. My vision was blurry for a few seconds.

270
00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.920
I heard he tried to blink it away. I could

271
00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:04.880
hear the damned thing shambling its way down the hill,

272
00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.640
giggling like this was some kind of game. I never

273
00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:13.160
did like kids, although I couldn't reason why, Well, now

274
00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:16.359
I had a reason. I got to my feet, still

275
00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.759
a bit unsteady, and headed farther down the only path

276
00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:23.480
through the forest. I could see in the growing darkness. Stumps,

277
00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:26.799
half buried, roots and rocks all jumped out to slow

278
00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:29.440
me down, and I could hear that top heavy toddler

279
00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:32.960
gaining on me. Ahead in the darkness was a large

280
00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:36.680
wooden building. There was light coming from the broken windows

281
00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.680
and a door that stood open. I ran as fast

282
00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:43.960
as I could, hoping someone was inside to help me, anyone.

283
00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.240
I burst through the door, gasping for breath, clutching my ribs.

284
00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:51.680
I spun and slammed the door shut behind me and

285
00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:53.799
leaned against it for a minute as I took in

286
00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:59.640
my surroundings. Big rusty saws lined the wall, Machinery littered

287
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.440
the floor. Or it looked like the place hadn't been

288
00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:05.920
used in years. Piles of leaves were in the corners

289
00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:09.160
from the wind whipping through that open door for years.

290
00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:12.200
I made my way to a dusty and damp desk

291
00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:16.000
and sat in the chair to catch my breath. I

292
00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:20.599
heard nothing coming from outside. Maybe I lost that little bastard,

293
00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:25.000
well not little, it was as tall as me. I

294
00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:27.680
once again reached for the pack of cigarettes I didn't

295
00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:31.119
carry anymore. I rummaged through the drawer in the desk

296
00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:34.240
and found an old hunting knife. It was better than

297
00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:39.000
nothing you made it, I heard from behind me, and

298
00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:42.279
jumped so quickly the chair broke when I landed back

299
00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:45.400
on it. I picked myself up off the floor and

300
00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:51.359
looked at Sleepy Caral watching me. What the fuck was that?

301
00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:56.559
Sleepy Carl, you just left me with that thing? Oopsy poopsie,

302
00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:01.559
he said, and spit tobacco onto the floor. You knew

303
00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:03.839
that thing was out there, and you brought me into

304
00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:06.599
the woods to do. What feed me to that thing?

305
00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.440
I asked him suspiciously, while gripping the handle on that

306
00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:15.160
hunting knife. No, you got me all wrong, Sleepy Carl said,

307
00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:18.200
and took a step closer, closing his hands up to

308
00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:22.559
show he was unarmed. Stay the fuck there, I responded,

309
00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.200
and showed him the knife. Wait a second, let me explain,

310
00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:30.720
will you, Sleepy Carl said. He stepped backwards to show

311
00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:35.240
he was not a threat to me. From there, I said,

312
00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.000
putting my back to the wall so no Shenanigans could

313
00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:41.359
sneak up behind me. You want to explain how a

314
00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:45.359
fucking six foot baby with a rattle bat just chased

315
00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:50.279
me through the woods, giggling. He's not really a baby.

316
00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:55.720
It's complicated. He was a baby. The body grew, but

317
00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:59.720
the mind never did. He never lost his baby features,

318
00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:03.240
they just got bigger. It was account of the inbreeding,

319
00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:08.599
some say. Sleepy Carls started to explain with another spit

320
00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:13.039
of his chew. Had to be about twenty years ago.

321
00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:17.359
Now that's when it happened, right here in these woods.

322
00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.599
His mother birthed him out of shame. She had hid

323
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:23.599
her pregnancy and came out here to get rid of him.

324
00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:27.559
She was going to throw herself off the ravine, thinking

325
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.200
it would cause a miscarriage or maybe even kill her.

326
00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:35.200
Then she wouldn't have to face anyone. Something went wrong

327
00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:39.119
with her plan, I asked. The father didn't want her

328
00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:42.160
to get rid of it. He followed her. Neither of

329
00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:46.000
them knew then what she carried in her belly. Just

330
00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:49.359
as she was about to jump, he grabbed her tried

331
00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.759
to save her. She went into labor, hanging there from

332
00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:56.279
the cliff like an ornament on a Christmas tree. He

333
00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.759
tried to pull her up, but he wasn't strong enough.

334
00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:03.720
She begged him to let go, but he wouldn't. Then

335
00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:07.880
her water broke. They heard it splash the rocks thirty

336
00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:13.839
feet below. Jesus fucking Christ, I said, shaking my head.

337
00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:17.000
What do those two banging have to do with it?

338
00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:20.279
Carl asked. I didn't have the heart to tell him

339
00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:24.559
those names were just one person. I heard a bang

340
00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:27.480
on the door. Both Sleepy Carl and I turned our heads.

341
00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:31.039
There was no mistaking the rattle shaking before it hit

342
00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:34.160
the wood. I didn't have much faith that the door

343
00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:37.920
was going to hold up. She gave birth right there

344
00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:41.480
on the cliff side. The baby dangling from the umbellical

345
00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:45.640
cord like a screaming chandelier from her lady parts smacked

346
00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:48.920
into the rocks. I gather that's how it got so ugly,

347
00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:52.519
Sleepy Carl said, as he raced over to the door,

348
00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:56.240
sliding an old filing cabinet in front of it. Help me.

349
00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:59.160
I made my way over and helped him put the

350
00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:03.599
cabinet in front of the door. Now failure, Goo bye do,

351
00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:07.039
I heard in a baby voice from the other side.

352
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:11.359
The rattle crashed into the door, splintering it. I could

353
00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.880
make out the baby's one good eye through the opening.

354
00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:20.839
Go on, get Sleepy, Carl said. I frowned. Really, you

355
00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:25.599
think that'll work, I asked. Couldn't hurt? Was his reply.

356
00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:31.319
Bye bye do eytime came its voice from the other

357
00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.160
side of the door. Then it let out a whale

358
00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:36.759
that made me WinCE and curl into the fetal position.

359
00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:39.759
The force of the whale sent the cabinet away from

360
00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:42.839
the door, and the woods splintered, showing us a six

361
00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:47.759
foot fetal monster framed in the doorway. He sounded hungry

362
00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:53.079
to you, Sleepy Carl asked, I wouldn't know. Wait, no

363
00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:57.920
more pissed off if anything, I responded, as I realized

364
00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:03.519
the thing was walking towards me. Oopsie poopsy, Sleepy Carl

365
00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:07.480
called out. The baby turned towards him and raised its

366
00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:12.759
fingers to its lips, telling him to be quiet. Oopsie poopsy,

367
00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:16.880
he called out again. This time the larger than life

368
00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:20.920
baby turned towards him. It raised its rattle, about to

369
00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:28.920
strike now, it yelled at Sleepy Carl. OOPSI poopsy, he

370
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:33.000
called out a third time. The baby frozen place after

371
00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:37.119
hearing its name a third time. We actually all frozen

372
00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:43.160
that moment. Not a sound stirred until the damn thing

373
00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:46.640
shit its pants right there in front of us. The

374
00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:49.920
wettest of baby mustard shot up its back inside its

375
00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:54.920
striped onesie in an internal chocolate fountain, splattering the worn

376
00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:57.640
wood on the wall of the sawmill as it erupted

377
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:02.039
from the back of the neck hole. Oopsie, the baby

378
00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:07.559
called out, dropping his rattle and clutching his cheeks. Change doodo.

379
00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:13.160
Don't look at me, Carl said, incredulously. Find your mother,

380
00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:17.480
he called out. The baby did a full diaper shuffle

381
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:21.079
out into the forest. That should buy us some time.

382
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:26.200
We need to get the fuck out of here, I said,

383
00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:29.319
climbing to my feet. The acrid smell of the diaper

384
00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:32.880
detonation still hung in the air. I covered my nose

385
00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:38.279
with my sleeve. We can't not yet, sleepy Carl said.

386
00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.000
He pointed to the gang saw sitting there. He walked

387
00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:45.680
towards the control panel on a stand next to the machine.

388
00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.559
It still works. I tried it earlier. We have a

389
00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:53.279
chance to end this. What do you mean we, I

390
00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:56.440
asked him. No one in town will do anything about

391
00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:00.400
Oopsie Poopsie. I was hoping you, being an outsider, help

392
00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:05.119
help me kill it. Sleepy Carl explained, with a spit

393
00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:08.640
of tobacco. Why are you the one in town that

394
00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:10.839
wants to do something about it. And how did you

395
00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:14.119
know saying his name three times would make him spurt

396
00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:18.480
a shit fond up its back, I asked him. A

397
00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:22.559
door opened on the second floor Foreman's office and outstepped

398
00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:28.039
a Dinah. Because he is Oopsie Poopsy's father, she dropped

399
00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:33.079
the bombshell on me. And you've met his mother, Sleepy

400
00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.559
Carl said, pointing at her with a sigh. Wait. I

401
00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:41.039
thought you too were brother and sister, I asked, confused,

402
00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:46.000
we are, they both said at the same time. That

403
00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:51.480
explained a lot. I thought. Let me finish my story,

404
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:56.880
Sleepy Carl said. You see, with his love hanging there,

405
00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:00.319
with the screaming, angry faced pile of hate swinging from

406
00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:04.319
her like the pendulum on a grandfather clock, I realized

407
00:28:04.359 --> 00:28:07.400
that the child wasn't right. It looked up at me

408
00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:09.519
with one good eye and gave me a look of

409
00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:14.599
pure brutality. How can something so new to the world

410
00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:18.920
hate so much? Then it gave me an evil smile

411
00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:22.359
and began to pull itself up on the umbellical cord,

412
00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:26.640
one hand over the other. He droned on as he

413
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.440
relived the moment. I couldn't tell if it was coming

414
00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:37.279
for me or to unburth itself an abortion. I asked,

415
00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:41.200
tell him what you did next, A Dinah said, As

416
00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:45.000
Oopsi Poopsy entered the doorway behind her, she reached out

417
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:47.880
her hand and gave him a loving pet, running her

418
00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:54.319
hand through his sparse hair. I let go, Sleepy Carl said, absently.

419
00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:58.640
Oopsy Poopsy made the sound of an airplane going down

420
00:28:59.160 --> 00:29:03.799
and crashing. That's right, sweet child, A Dinah said, with

421
00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:08.240
a sad smile. Then she faced me. I fell down

422
00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:12.240
that ledge, landing on my baby. I heard him grow silent,

423
00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:15.039
and in that moment, I knew it was wrong for

424
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:18.440
me to wish for my baby's death. I prayed that night,

425
00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:21.279
prayed to anything that would listen to save my baby,

426
00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:27.319
to allow him to grow up. A Dinah explained, something

427
00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:32.119
answered her. Sleepy Carl took over the story, something dark

428
00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:36.640
and primordial. I couldn't make it down there in the

429
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:40.160
ravine with her. These old woods are full of evil shit,

430
00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:42.839
just trying to fuck with you. I didn't hear the

431
00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:45.480
deal they made. By the time I made my way

432
00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:48.680
down to her, she was clutching Oopsie in her hands,

433
00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:53.680
crying as he took shallow breaths. Then he cried that

434
00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:57.759
whil we heard earlier the wail of the hungry I

435
00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:03.039
call it to feed him. That's what brought me out

436
00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:07.480
here tonight. A dinah said, I heard my hungry child's scream.

437
00:30:08.359 --> 00:30:11.319
She unbuttoned her shirt and pulled one of her breasts out.

438
00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:14.960
Chunks of flesh were missing, and healed over, giving it

439
00:30:15.079 --> 00:30:18.559
the look of a breast shaped lumpy mashed potatoes with

440
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:24.240
a chewed bubblegum nipple. Those are some tattered titters, Sleepy

441
00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:28.359
Carl said. Oopsie Poopsy ducked down and latched on with

442
00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:31.400
his one big tooth. A Dinah let out a sign

443
00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:37.039
that seemed forty percent pain and sixty percent ecstasy. It

444
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.359
was about this time I got a bit creeped out,

445
00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:44.200
if I'm honest, but that boy ain't right. It's an abomination,

446
00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:48.480
Sleepy Carl said, looking around for something before grabbing a

447
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:53.880
broken board. He should have died, then, How can you

448
00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:56.799
say that about the product of our love? A dinah

449
00:30:56.880 --> 00:30:59.279
yelled over the top of the large head of her

450
00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:04.000
baby boy. What love? We boned in the hay behind

451
00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:08.079
old Man Thompson's barn after stealing mom's peach snops. She

452
00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:10.319
hid it under the porch when Pau took her back.

453
00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:13.480
I could barely stand up, let alone know who the

454
00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:17.599
fuck I was fucking, Sleepy Carl said, heading towards her.

455
00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:21.640
You know there was something between us, A Dinah yelled out,

456
00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:25.319
Oopsie poopsy let go of his mother's breast and began

457
00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:28.400
to cry as blood and milk ran down the front

458
00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:33.359
of her Mommy and daddy. No fight by goo, the

459
00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:37.519
monstrosity called out. It threw its hands down in frustration

460
00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:40.680
before plopping itself down on the floor at the bottom

461
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:44.200
of the stairs, blocking us from his mother, who was

462
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:49.119
tucking herself back in and buttoning up. Please, EDNA help

463
00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:51.640
me make this shit right. You know this isn't a

464
00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:54.839
normal kid. It's like a baby balloon filled with hatred

465
00:31:54.920 --> 00:32:01.680
and shit, Sleepy Carl pleaded. But he is. Look at him,

466
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:04.720
A Dinah said, with an adoring look on her face.

467
00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:08.359
He looks like someone smacked him with a towel while

468
00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:11.839
dropping the ugly tree on his face. He's murdered before.

469
00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:15.079
You know that. I can't have that on my conscience

470
00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:17.799
When I die and face old Pete up there at

471
00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:20.160
the gates, I don't want him, saying I fathered a

472
00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:23.839
child murderer and let him run free. Sleepy Carl was

473
00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:29.880
all fired up. Now does he kill other children? I asked, what?

474
00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:30.359
No?

475
00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:36.160
Just outsiders? Really a Dinah answered, confused by my question.

476
00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:39.720
I was beginning to see that no matter which way

477
00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:43.279
the DNA fell, oopsie POOPSI had no chance to be

478
00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:49.319
a rocket scientist. Ah, child, that is a murderer, I

479
00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:53.720
said out loud. Now understanding, maybe I shouldn't look up

480
00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:57.640
any careers at NASA either. It's time to end this,

481
00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:02.920
Sleepy Carl said, and charged awful infused offspring. He swung

482
00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:05.599
that board and bounced it off the moon sized forehead

483
00:33:05.599 --> 00:33:09.680
of Oopsy with a crack. The kid fell back into

484
00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:12.960
his mother's legs as she stood there in shot. It

485
00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:16.319
took only a few seconds for Oopsy to recover and

486
00:33:16.440 --> 00:33:22.279
begin to cry. What do men? It called out, and

487
00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:25.799
got to its feet. He grabbed Sleepy Carl and shook

488
00:33:25.839 --> 00:33:28.799
him hard, before pulling on his arm like a rag doll.

489
00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:31.799
I looked around for something to help him with and

490
00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:35.000
saw the baby blue of the rattle sitting by the door.

491
00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:38.599
I ran over and grabbed it, the motion making a

492
00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:43.480
noise worthy of its namesake, oopsy POOPSI turned to face me.

493
00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:47.480
With a quick yank, he dislocated Sleepy Carl's arm and

494
00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:50.960
dropped him to the floor. He had found a new toy.

495
00:33:51.079 --> 00:33:54.720
He wanted to play with wine, he said in his

496
00:33:55.480 --> 00:34:00.279
baby voice. But sternly, come and get it, I said, said,

497
00:34:00.359 --> 00:34:02.799
raising it like I was looking to hit a home run.

498
00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:07.599
He hobbled towards me, feet slapping the floor as he

499
00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:11.760
thundered nearer. I was waiting for my moment to strike,

500
00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:15.039
and swung with all my might at his neck. I

501
00:34:15.079 --> 00:34:18.400
figured that was his weak spot, since he had such

502
00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:24.480
a giant head. Crack yep, that stopped him, I thought,

503
00:34:24.840 --> 00:34:27.960
As the six foot obsentity crumpled to the floor, I

504
00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:30.840
cheered out loud before heading over to Sleepy Carl to

505
00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:35.159
see if he was okay. My baby a Dinah called

506
00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:37.719
out and ran towards me with her arms out to

507
00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:41.199
choke me, but a second swing of the bat dropped

508
00:34:41.239 --> 00:34:47.280
her too. I was not fucking around anymore. Carl, you okay,

509
00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:50.679
I asked, as I bent down next to him. He

510
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:57.199
was whimpering in pain. Sleepy Carl, he whispered, seriously, you're

511
00:34:57.199 --> 00:35:00.239
gonna correct me, I asked, as I tried to help

512
00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:03.599
him to his feet without pulling on his bad arm.

513
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:08.599
How bad is it? I think you dislocated it. You're

514
00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:13.559
gonna have to reset it, Sleepy Carl said, bad toy,

515
00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:17.320
came Oopsy's voice from the floor. As it stirred. It

516
00:35:17.400 --> 00:35:19.920
looked down at a dinah laying on the floor, bleeding

517
00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:23.000
from where I cracked her with its rattle. Oh shit,

518
00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:26.639
did I kill her? I didn't mean to. Did I

519
00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:32.039
hurt mommy? It said, through drooling lips. As it got

520
00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:37.159
to its unsteady feet, the large bobble head swung around precariously.

521
00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:40.559
I wonder if I broke its neck. I raised the

522
00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:43.880
rattle and got between Sleepy Carl and his putrid progeny.

523
00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:48.079
It took an ungainly step towards me. I gripped the

524
00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:51.199
handle tight, waiting for it to strike. It looked down

525
00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:56.079
at its mama. Sadness crossed its features. First it nudged

526
00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:00.320
her with its foot, then it kicked her. Mommy, hop

527
00:36:01.159 --> 00:36:06.159
it said, you leave her alone, yelled Sleepy Carl. One

528
00:36:06.199 --> 00:36:09.360
eye looked up at us, then returned to the motionless Adnah,

529
00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:15.719
mommy up, it said again, and kicked her hard. She

530
00:36:15.880 --> 00:36:18.559
slid a foot or so on the age worn wooden floor.

531
00:36:19.599 --> 00:36:23.440
Now knock that off, Sleepy Carl said, stepping around me.

532
00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:28.199
Oopsy snarled and came after us. I panicked and swung

533
00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:31.559
the rattle. I missed Oopsy by a mile, but I

534
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:35.960
did connect. Sleepy Carl went down with a scream. As

535
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:39.480
I made contact with his shoulder. He crumpled into a

536
00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:44.400
muling pile next to a Dinah. Shit, sorry, sleepy Carl,

537
00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:47.559
I said, and took a step back from Oopsy as

538
00:36:47.559 --> 00:36:50.639
it looked at his parents lying on the floor. I

539
00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:53.360
backed against the saw I was running out of space

540
00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:56.960
to move. In desperation, I climbed up onto the platform.

541
00:36:57.239 --> 00:37:00.079
He followed me up, grabbing at me. I managed to

542
00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:02.360
keep him at bay. As I worked my way backwards,

543
00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:05.480
I knew that giant saw blade was somewhere behind me.

544
00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:08.920
I saw a sleepy Carl stir and make it to

545
00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:12.960
his feet. He rubbed his shoulder. Son of a bitch,

546
00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:17.079
you knocked it back into place, he said, with a smile.

547
00:37:17.639 --> 00:37:20.360
I used the distraction to whack the watermelon head of

548
00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:24.360
our adversary. He fell to one knee. I cracked him

549
00:37:24.360 --> 00:37:26.639
again and jumped over the log, lined up for the

550
00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:31.480
saw to get some distance. The teetering, perpetual toddler tried

551
00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:34.719
to follow me, and I watched as Sleepy Carl knifed

552
00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:38.119
his son just under the ribs. I checked my pocket.

553
00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:41.400
That cheeky bastard had stolen the knife I had stolen

554
00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:45.400
from the desk. How dare he? The baby tried to

555
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:48.519
turn on its attacker and lost his balance, falling onto

556
00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:51.599
the log. I gave him a quick crack to the face.

557
00:37:52.280 --> 00:37:55.400
Blood and snot shot out of his now flattened nose,

558
00:37:56.159 --> 00:37:59.880
and he fell limp, his arms dangling on either side

559
00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:07.519
the log. Look said Sleepy Carl. Baby on board. He

560
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:10.880
looked at me so damn serious. I cracked right up.

561
00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:14.199
I shook my head, trying to stop laughing and pay

562
00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:17.920
attention to the task at hand. You know what we

563
00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:21.320
have to do, right, I asked him. He nodded and

564
00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:25.199
pointed to the control panel. I'll get the rope, he said.

565
00:38:25.679 --> 00:38:28.320
I kept an eye on our sleepy little guy until

566
00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:31.320
he came back and helped me tie Oopsie Poopsie onto

567
00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:34.719
that log. Once we were sure he wasn't going anywhere,

568
00:38:34.760 --> 00:38:37.800
I slapped my palm against the green switch and the

569
00:38:37.800 --> 00:38:41.559
machinery jumped to life. The giant blade started to spin.

570
00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:44.280
I yanked on the lever next to the console, and

571
00:38:44.360 --> 00:38:48.480
the log lurched into motion, slowly making its way towards

572
00:38:48.519 --> 00:38:51.880
the saw. Soon, the teeth of the blade bit into

573
00:38:51.880 --> 00:38:56.000
the old wood and sawdust began to fly. Sleepy Carl

574
00:38:56.159 --> 00:38:59.840
towered over his son, watching him intensely as I stood

575
00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:02.920
the lever. It was a good thing I did, because

576
00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:05.960
I saw the motion he would have missed. I called

577
00:39:05.960 --> 00:39:08.400
out to Sleepy Carl and warned him as a Dinah

578
00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:10.519
tackled him and they went over the other side of

579
00:39:10.559 --> 00:39:14.079
the machine. He carried their momentum and rolled on top

580
00:39:14.119 --> 00:39:17.079
of her, trying to hold her hands down, but she

581
00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:21.760
overwhelmed him. I looked at Oopsy Poopsy. There was only

582
00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:24.079
a foot of wood to go now before its giant

583
00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:28.679
bulba's head. Leave my baby alone, a Dinah called out

584
00:39:28.679 --> 00:39:30.960
as she landed a hell of a punch into Sleepy

585
00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:34.880
Carl's face. You may be my baby's father, but you're

586
00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:37.639
still my little brother, and I can still kick your ass,

587
00:39:38.280 --> 00:39:41.880
she yelled with another swing. I watched as he struggled

588
00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:44.400
to get out of her way. He fended her off

589
00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:47.679
the best he could, afraid to strike back. I had

590
00:39:47.679 --> 00:39:50.760
no reservations, though, and I clocked her with the rattle.

591
00:39:51.239 --> 00:39:54.280
She took an unsteady step back and slipped on the

592
00:39:54.360 --> 00:39:59.719
uneven moving log and landed right across Oopsy Poopsy, only

593
00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:03.840
an to go. Suddenly, the kid woke up and began

594
00:40:03.920 --> 00:40:06.599
to thrash around until his eyes fell on his mama

595
00:40:06.679 --> 00:40:09.599
laying on him. He gathered her up in his arms

596
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:15.639
and squeezed my boy. She cried as the tears started

597
00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:19.159
to run down her face. Soon it wasn't just tears,

598
00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:23.280
but the blood of her unnatural offspring. As the blade

599
00:40:23.400 --> 00:40:27.239
sliced into the large skull, shaking its splitting head like

600
00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:30.800
Michael J. Fox. As the blood coated everything in a

601
00:40:30.840 --> 00:40:33.920
five foot radius, I noticed neither mother or son was

602
00:40:33.960 --> 00:40:37.000
moving anymore. I walked over to the switch and hit

603
00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:39.480
the big red button just as the blade was working

604
00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:44.800
its way through Oopsy's chest and his mother's ribs. Holy shit,

605
00:40:45.400 --> 00:40:50.280
Sleepy Carl said, Holy shit. I agreed as I walked

606
00:40:50.320 --> 00:40:52.559
close to the scene of the carnage, looking for any

607
00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:58.559
sign of life from either body. Oopsy Poopsy, Oopsy Poopsy,

608
00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:03.800
Oopsy Poopy I said, and looked at the corpse expectantly.

609
00:41:04.760 --> 00:41:07.639
A few seconds passed and I started to get disappointed.

610
00:41:08.679 --> 00:41:30.880
Then hah, I said. The stop sign Man by Bryce

611
00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:37.800
Gibson one for guys that grow up around this part

612
00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:42.039
of South Carolina. Stealing stop signs is a rite of passage,

613
00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:45.960
all for the sake of an old urban legend. It

614
00:41:46.039 --> 00:41:49.079
is something some of us do on our seventeenth birthday.

615
00:41:50.039 --> 00:41:52.559
If you choose to do it, there are three rules

616
00:41:52.599 --> 00:41:59.480
to follow. One do it alone. Two, don't tell a

617
00:41:59.639 --> 00:42:04.320
soul about what you see. And three, the most important

618
00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:08.559
rule of them all, never get caught. If you do,

619
00:42:09.559 --> 00:42:13.480
the stop sign Man will make your life a living hell.

620
00:42:14.800 --> 00:42:20.480
I Stratton Duke failed at number three, and the folklore

621
00:42:20.559 --> 00:42:28.400
is right, My life sucks. Two. Most everybody around here

622
00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:31.880
has heard the legend at some time or another. If

623
00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:35.280
you haven't, you're either too young or you've been living

624
00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:40.199
under a rock. It goes something like this. On the

625
00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:44.840
night of your seventeenth birthday, steal a county stop sign,

626
00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:48.599
take it out to the old Williamson Barn, and you

627
00:42:48.599 --> 00:42:53.400
will see him for yourself. The first time I ever

628
00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:56.280
heard the story, I was seven years old. I was

629
00:42:56.320 --> 00:42:58.920
sitting with Dad at the barber shop on Main Street.

630
00:42:59.440 --> 00:43:01.559
It was midafternoon and I had just gotten out of

631
00:43:01.599 --> 00:43:05.000
school for the day. Halloween was right around the corner.

632
00:43:05.599 --> 00:43:09.199
Mister Perry, the barber, had the shop decorated with paper

633
00:43:09.320 --> 00:43:13.639
jack o' lanterns, green faced witches, and spooky black cats.

634
00:43:14.280 --> 00:43:16.880
After telling Dad that he'd heard a stop sign had

635
00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:20.079
been stolen the night before, the two of them discussed

636
00:43:20.079 --> 00:43:22.639
the fact that it had been so and so's birthday.

637
00:43:23.880 --> 00:43:26.360
None of it made sense to me at the time.

638
00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:30.679
Then mister Perry looked at me and asked, do you

639
00:43:30.840 --> 00:43:32.400
know about the stop sign?

640
00:43:32.519 --> 00:43:32.760
Man?

641
00:43:34.079 --> 00:43:39.559
I told him I had no idea. Well, the barber continued,

642
00:43:40.599 --> 00:43:44.880
he has eyes shaped like octagons. They glow red and

643
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.559
twirl around and around. After we got home and I

644
00:43:49.639 --> 00:43:51.800
was lying in bed with the blanket pulled up to

645
00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:55.119
my chin, I asked Dad if mister Perry was just

646
00:43:55.320 --> 00:43:58.719
saying those things to scare me with it being Halloween.

647
00:43:59.360 --> 00:44:03.280
I figured it was possible. It's just an urban legend,

648
00:44:03.719 --> 00:44:07.519
Dad said, a ghost story. It's something that gets passed

649
00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:11.920
down and told again and again. After that day, the

650
00:44:12.039 --> 00:44:15.800
legend was ingrained deep in my mind, even though I

651
00:44:15.800 --> 00:44:19.679
didn't know many details. I thought about it often, and

652
00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:23.559
it wasn't just me who fell under the spell. Soon

653
00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:27.159
I realized the other kids at school knew about it too.

654
00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:30.800
Sometimes at recess we'd play a game we called stop

655
00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:34.280
the stop Sign Man. One of us would be him

656
00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:38.239
and the others would be his adversaries. We played the

657
00:44:38.280 --> 00:44:41.159
game on the wobbly roundabout, from which we tried to

658
00:44:41.239 --> 00:44:44.880
fling the stop sign man off of Octagons play a

659
00:44:44.920 --> 00:44:48.719
big part in the weird mythology, from the signs themselves

660
00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:52.599
to the strange locale. Over the years, I'd seen the

661
00:44:52.639 --> 00:44:57.360
Williamson Barn many times in passing. I always knew something

662
00:44:57.519 --> 00:45:01.000
was a little off kilter about the construction, but I

663
00:45:01.079 --> 00:45:05.719
couldn't pinpoint what the building stands on a stretch of

664
00:45:05.760 --> 00:45:09.360
overgrown land next to a cow pasture and dense woods.

665
00:45:10.280 --> 00:45:13.000
Not long after learning about the stop Sign Man, I

666
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:18.519
realized the truth. The barn has eight sides of equal

667
00:45:18.599 --> 00:45:23.960
length an octagon. Needless to say, with the knowledge of

668
00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:27.920
the story, I was terrified to go anywhere near that place.

669
00:45:29.400 --> 00:45:34.559
Three boy, how things change. Between the ages of seven

670
00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:38.679
and sixteen, I became a completely different person. My body

671
00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:42.159
grew in ways I never imagined. Over those years, I

672
00:45:42.239 --> 00:45:46.159
shot up like a weed. Now I'm nearly six feet tall.

673
00:45:46.679 --> 00:45:49.639
I don't fit in with any particular group at school.

674
00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:52.480
That's not to say I don't have friends. I do,

675
00:45:53.119 --> 00:45:55.559
but for the most part I linger on the outside

676
00:45:56.000 --> 00:46:00.280
looking in. Ten years ago, nobody would have been able

677
00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:03.440
to drag my skinny ass anywhere near the Williamson Barn.

678
00:46:04.159 --> 00:46:07.760
And now I'm sitting here offering myself up like it's

679
00:46:07.800 --> 00:46:12.440
the great sacrifice that will save all of humanity. And

680
00:46:12.559 --> 00:46:17.599
really it's about a girl. Her name is Alison Weaving,

681
00:46:18.119 --> 00:46:20.599
new to our part of Crow County at the beginning

682
00:46:20.599 --> 00:46:23.480
of senior year. From the moment I saw her, with

683
00:46:23.559 --> 00:46:27.880
her long blonde hair and perfect body, she was everything

684
00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:31.280
I wanted to put it simply, I would have done

685
00:46:31.559 --> 00:46:35.639
almost anything to have a chance with her. Unfortunately, what

686
00:46:35.679 --> 00:46:38.639
Alison wanted was far removed from the likes of me.

687
00:46:39.639 --> 00:46:43.880
Right off the bat, she became besties with Becca Mansfield. Becca,

688
00:46:44.440 --> 00:46:47.519
a literal beauty queen, liked to hang out with a

689
00:46:47.559 --> 00:46:50.639
slightly rougher crowd than the atmosphere me and my friend

690
00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:54.920
Greg Collins could provide. The group was led by Mark

691
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.119
Taylor every day after school Mark and his gang liked

692
00:46:59.159 --> 00:47:02.360
to congregate behind the Big Courthouse on the town square.

693
00:47:03.159 --> 00:47:07.480
There they smoked stolen cigarettes, drew half asked graffiti on

694
00:47:07.559 --> 00:47:11.000
trash cans, and dared each other to do stupid shit

695
00:47:11.199 --> 00:47:15.480
like flipping mid air from a picnic table. One Friday

696
00:47:15.559 --> 00:47:18.400
night in early fall, I dragged Greg to a party

697
00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:21.679
at Mark's house because I knew Alison would be there.

698
00:47:22.559 --> 00:47:25.440
Mark's parents were out of town and the place was slammed.

699
00:47:25.960 --> 00:47:28.960
Greg and I pushed our way through the crowd. We

700
00:47:29.079 --> 00:47:32.599
found Alison and Becca sitting on the countertop in the kitchen.

701
00:47:33.199 --> 00:47:35.679
They were watching Mark and his friends do the latest

702
00:47:35.760 --> 00:47:39.360
viral challenge, placing a penny on the prongs of a

703
00:47:39.400 --> 00:47:43.800
halfway plugged in phone charger. As sparks flew, I couldn't

704
00:47:43.840 --> 00:47:47.320
help but to notice how both Alison and Becca laughed

705
00:47:47.320 --> 00:47:51.440
at what they were witnessing. At that moment, one thing

706
00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:56.440
became glaringly clear to me. For Alison Weaving to notice me,

707
00:47:57.559 --> 00:47:59.800
I needed more of an edge.

708
00:48:00.480 --> 00:48:00.760
Four.

709
00:48:02.519 --> 00:48:05.920
I'm gonna do it, I say, Thursday night, It's on

710
00:48:06.960 --> 00:48:10.880
my seventeenth birthday, is only three days away. According to

711
00:48:10.920 --> 00:48:14.360
the legend, you only get one shot if I don't

712
00:48:14.400 --> 00:48:18.199
do it. I might regret it later, I add. Greg

713
00:48:18.239 --> 00:48:20.159
and I are sitting in one of the study rooms

714
00:48:20.199 --> 00:48:22.679
at the library, which is located in a flat brick

715
00:48:22.719 --> 00:48:26.079
building on the square. He's on one side of the

716
00:48:26.119 --> 00:48:30.280
wide wooden table and me on the other. Greg throws

717
00:48:30.320 --> 00:48:33.079
a pencil and it hits me upside the head. You

718
00:48:33.159 --> 00:48:35.519
could have put my eye out. I yell out and

719
00:48:35.559 --> 00:48:39.039
retrieve the yellow number two from the floor, promptly flinging

720
00:48:39.079 --> 00:48:42.599
it back in his direction. Greg ducks out of the way.

721
00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:45.880
The pencil bounces off the cinder block wall behind him

722
00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:49.719
and rolls underneath the radiator heater. Greg sits up straight

723
00:48:49.800 --> 00:48:53.079
and stares at me. The stop sign, man is just

724
00:48:53.119 --> 00:48:57.519
a lame ghost story. You know that, He says. You

725
00:48:57.679 --> 00:49:01.440
need to grow up, man, pack up our belongings and

726
00:49:01.519 --> 00:49:04.880
walk outside. Greg reaches into the front pocket of his

727
00:49:04.920 --> 00:49:07.519
book bag and pulls out a pack of cigarettes he'd

728
00:49:07.559 --> 00:49:11.119
lifted from his older brother. Without asking, He hands one

729
00:49:11.159 --> 00:49:14.159
to me. I just don't want you to get in trouble,

730
00:49:14.559 --> 00:49:18.039
he says. Chip Wagner is the most recent guy we

731
00:49:18.119 --> 00:49:21.920
know of to perform the ritual, and that was ten

732
00:49:22.039 --> 00:49:26.440
years ago. Chip was caught and charged with theft. With

733
00:49:26.599 --> 00:49:28.960
the common knowledge of the legend, it didn't take a

734
00:49:29.079 --> 00:49:32.400
rocket scientist to figure out who to bring in for questioning.

735
00:49:32.880 --> 00:49:37.039
After all, it was Chip's birthday. I placed the cigarette

736
00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:40.719
between my lips, light the tip with Greg's lighter, and inhale.

737
00:49:41.639 --> 00:49:44.320
The smoke makes me cough, and Greg laughs at my

738
00:49:44.880 --> 00:49:49.519
lack of experience. Besides, if you're that desperate for some action,

739
00:49:50.039 --> 00:49:53.480
I'm sure Roxy is ready and willing. Just take your

740
00:49:53.519 --> 00:49:56.559
ass over to the filling station. By the time we

741
00:49:56.559 --> 00:49:59.320
were young teenagers, we'd already heard the rest of the

742
00:49:59.360 --> 00:50:03.320
stop sign man folklore. After entering the barn with a

743
00:50:03.400 --> 00:50:07.960
sign as an offering, a woman appears. People say, she

744
00:50:08.119 --> 00:50:13.800
takes your innocence, she makes you a man. They say, no,

745
00:50:13.800 --> 00:50:17.719
one really knows what that means. Though obviously, with what

746
00:50:17.760 --> 00:50:21.199
Greg is suggesting to me now, his takeaway leans more

747
00:50:21.239 --> 00:50:26.079
towards something of a sexual nature. The girl he's talking about,

748
00:50:26.199 --> 00:50:28.960
Roxy is someone who grew up in the boggy land

749
00:50:29.000 --> 00:50:32.400
on the other side of the railroad tracks, swamp rats

750
00:50:32.440 --> 00:50:36.079
we call them. I glance across the square. The filling

751
00:50:36.119 --> 00:50:40.280
station is visible from here, and I see her. She's

752
00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:43.320
sitting on an old wooden church pew that's pushed up

753
00:50:43.360 --> 00:50:47.480
against the side of the store, I groan in disgust.

754
00:50:47.880 --> 00:50:50.039
I'm sure she is, but I don't want to catch

755
00:50:50.079 --> 00:50:56.079
some kind of disease. Later that night, after having birthday

756
00:50:56.119 --> 00:50:58.320
dinner with my dad, I drive all the way out

757
00:50:58.360 --> 00:51:02.360
to Layman Road to where an intersection sits deep in

758
00:51:02.440 --> 00:51:06.440
a long stretch of pines. Over the past few days,

759
00:51:06.480 --> 00:51:10.320
I've been scoping things out and making a plan. Anybody

760
00:51:10.360 --> 00:51:13.559
who does this has to choose his own sign, and

761
00:51:13.599 --> 00:51:16.400
the one I've picked has a spray painted X on

762
00:51:16.519 --> 00:51:20.039
the back. With a wrench from the toolbox on the

763
00:51:20.079 --> 00:51:22.639
back of my truck, I remove the sign from the

764
00:51:22.639 --> 00:51:26.119
metal post. After I have the sign taken down, I

765
00:51:26.199 --> 00:51:29.199
place it flat on the bottom of my truck bed.

766
00:51:29.760 --> 00:51:32.519
I drive out to the Williamson Land and pull off

767
00:51:32.559 --> 00:51:36.519
the road, parking in a secluded, unused red dirt driveway

768
00:51:37.039 --> 00:51:40.800
located on the far side of the barn. Admittedly, the

769
00:51:40.840 --> 00:51:43.599
exterior of the barn is creepy as all get out,

770
00:51:43.960 --> 00:51:47.719
even at seventeen years old. Briefly, I'm taken back to

771
00:51:47.800 --> 00:51:50.920
several years earlier, when I thought the stop sign man

772
00:51:51.039 --> 00:51:54.760
might be real. Just as quick as those stories begin

773
00:51:54.840 --> 00:51:57.519
to resurface in the back of my mind. I push

774
00:51:57.559 --> 00:52:02.159
all the nonsense away and focus on the present. Here's

775
00:52:02.199 --> 00:52:05.599
the kicker about all of this. Tonight, I'm going to

776
00:52:05.679 --> 00:52:08.840
one up Mark Taylor. My visit to the stop sign

777
00:52:08.960 --> 00:52:12.159
man is going to be recorded. If the girl's got

778
00:52:12.159 --> 00:52:15.159
a kick out of Mark's penny trick, Allison is going

779
00:52:15.199 --> 00:52:18.960
to flip the f out when she sees this. With

780
00:52:19.039 --> 00:52:21.679
the stop sign held under one arm and my phone

781
00:52:21.719 --> 00:52:25.880
in the other hand, I walk toward my destination For

782
00:52:26.039 --> 00:52:29.079
dramatic effect, I hold the phone at a low angle,

783
00:52:29.360 --> 00:52:34.039
recording the tall weeds that slap and brush against my jeans.

784
00:52:34.679 --> 00:52:37.760
Once there, I lift the wooden latch and push the

785
00:52:37.800 --> 00:52:41.159
door open with the toe of my boot. The rusty

786
00:52:41.280 --> 00:52:46.480
hinges creak in the still dark night. The door makes

787
00:52:46.519 --> 00:52:53.159
a soft slap against the interior wall. Finally I step inside.

788
00:52:53.480 --> 00:52:57.320
Narrow slants of moonlight come through the gaps between the boards.

789
00:52:56.920 --> 00:52:57.480
Of the wall.

790
00:52:59.079 --> 00:53:02.159
The smell of old old straw hangs heavy in the air.

791
00:53:03.320 --> 00:53:06.639
Not knowing what else to do, what step I'm supposed

792
00:53:06.639 --> 00:53:09.760
to take next? I toss the sign onto a loose

793
00:53:09.800 --> 00:53:16.639
scattering of hay, and nothing happens. I'm about to leave

794
00:53:16.719 --> 00:53:18.679
when the wall on the far side of the barn

795
00:53:18.760 --> 00:53:22.679
begins to shake, like a set of shutters in a thunderstorm.

796
00:53:22.840 --> 00:53:26.519
As the boards clatter, a shower of thick dust falls

797
00:53:26.519 --> 00:53:30.719
from the rafters, making me cough and sneeze. Finally, the

798
00:53:30.760 --> 00:53:34.320
wall literally folds in on itself, and I'm able to

799
00:53:34.360 --> 00:53:39.599
see what is on the other side, a wet, boggy swamp.

800
00:53:40.639 --> 00:53:44.199
This can't be real. I think this has to be

801
00:53:44.239 --> 00:53:48.679
a prank. Greg, I call out, I don't know how

802
00:53:48.719 --> 00:53:51.280
you're doing this, but you need to cut it out.

803
00:53:52.280 --> 00:53:55.280
I imagine him around the corner or high above in

804
00:53:55.320 --> 00:54:01.360
the hayloft, looking down on me, watching and laughing. Movement

805
00:54:01.400 --> 00:54:06.239
within the wetland catches my attention and I look. A

806
00:54:06.360 --> 00:54:09.480
girl is standing on the end of a moss covered

807
00:54:09.519 --> 00:54:14.079
wooden dock. She's wearing a white tank top that's way

808
00:54:14.119 --> 00:54:16.920
too small and a pair of jean shorts that fit

809
00:54:17.079 --> 00:54:22.920
tight over her thighs. Roxy A moment later, I'm standing

810
00:54:22.960 --> 00:54:25.119
on the dock in front of her. I have no

811
00:54:25.280 --> 00:54:28.320
idea how I got here. I look down and see

812
00:54:28.360 --> 00:54:30.960
the bottom half of my jeans are covered in thick,

813
00:54:31.559 --> 00:54:36.360
dark colored muck. Obviously, I walked through the water, but

814
00:54:36.440 --> 00:54:39.239
I don't remember any of it. I wonder if I'm

815
00:54:39.239 --> 00:54:45.599
hallucinating Greg. I call out again, enough is enough, Joke's over.

816
00:54:46.920 --> 00:54:52.719
Roxy speaks. There's nobody here but us. Her voice is

817
00:54:52.840 --> 00:54:57.840
soft and strangely seductive. At first, I think she's talking

818
00:54:57.880 --> 00:55:00.840
about me and her, but the then I notice her

819
00:55:00.880 --> 00:55:05.280
eyes look over my shoulder. I turn to look. A

820
00:55:05.360 --> 00:55:08.800
shadowy figure is standing in the barn. I can't make

821
00:55:08.840 --> 00:55:12.079
out any particular features, but I can tell it's a

822
00:55:12.119 --> 00:55:16.159
guy with a body built like an athlete. The tips

823
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:20.079
of Roxy's fingers brush against my neck. The length of

824
00:55:20.119 --> 00:55:24.480
her nails causes my skin to crawl for some reason.

825
00:55:24.719 --> 00:55:28.639
When I turn back around, I'm looking at her exposed midriff,

826
00:55:29.519 --> 00:55:35.159
a cubic zarconia, belly button piercing catches a sparkle of light. Logically,

827
00:55:35.239 --> 00:55:39.639
I know I should run far, far away. But there's

828
00:55:39.679 --> 00:55:44.400
something else deep inside of myself, a pull that makes

829
00:55:44.440 --> 00:55:49.000
me stay. It draws my body closer to hers. She

830
00:55:49.159 --> 00:55:56.599
slides her fingertips against my lips. It is done, she says,

831
00:55:58.079 --> 00:56:03.960
you are a man. Five. I wake up the next morning,

832
00:56:04.039 --> 00:56:06.480
still wearing the clothes I had on the night before

833
00:56:07.800 --> 00:56:10.599
the inside of my mouth feels like I've been chewing

834
00:56:10.639 --> 00:56:14.320
on a sheet of coarse sandpaper. My head pounds, and

835
00:56:14.360 --> 00:56:17.599
when I sit up, I feel dizzy. Sitting on the

836
00:56:17.719 --> 00:56:19.519
edge of the bed, it takes me a moment to

837
00:56:19.559 --> 00:56:23.039
gain my composure. I stumble into the bathroom to take

838
00:56:23.079 --> 00:56:26.559
a leak and brush my nasty ass teeth. That's when

839
00:56:26.599 --> 00:56:31.119
I noticed the crumbly, crusty MUDs smeared across my shirt

840
00:56:31.519 --> 00:56:36.320
and jeans. Dry leaves are stuck in my messy hair.

841
00:56:37.159 --> 00:56:41.519
I look like crap. My eyes are bloodshot below them

842
00:56:42.039 --> 00:56:46.320
dark bags. My skin has a washed out, sallow look.

843
00:56:47.280 --> 00:56:49.519
To someone else, I might look like I've been on

844
00:56:49.599 --> 00:56:53.480
an all night bender. After looking for my phone, which

845
00:56:53.519 --> 00:56:56.519
is nowhere to be found, I change clothes and then

846
00:56:56.639 --> 00:56:59.920
go into the kitchen for a glass of water. Dads, Sit.

847
00:57:00.400 --> 00:57:04.559
Rita is here. Aunt Rita lives next door and comes

848
00:57:04.599 --> 00:57:07.920
and goes as she pleases. Currently, she's sitting at the

849
00:57:07.960 --> 00:57:12.199
kitchen table talking on her phone. She acknowledges me with

850
00:57:12.239 --> 00:57:15.920
a brief smile. I pull a glass from the cabinet

851
00:57:15.960 --> 00:57:19.239
and fill it with tap water. This is just like

852
00:57:19.360 --> 00:57:23.199
nineteen ninety six all over again. Aunt Rita says to

853
00:57:23.239 --> 00:57:27.480
whomever it is she's talking to. I'm clueless to the reference,

854
00:57:27.559 --> 00:57:29.599
but I can tell by the sound of her voice

855
00:57:29.639 --> 00:57:33.440
that she's upset. Did you hear about that girl, aunt

856
00:57:33.519 --> 00:57:37.800
Rita asks. Now, her voice has a different tone the

857
00:57:37.840 --> 00:57:41.000
one in your class. It takes me a second to

858
00:57:41.079 --> 00:57:45.159
realize she's talking to me. I pinch my eyes in

859
00:57:45.280 --> 00:57:50.920
confusion and shake my head. Alison Weaving. She explains she

860
00:57:50.960 --> 00:57:56.039
had a crash last night. She died. My heart slams

861
00:57:56.079 --> 00:57:59.239
against my rib cage. The glass of water nearly slips

862
00:57:59.239 --> 00:58:02.719
from my grip, but instead I slam it onto the countertop.

863
00:58:03.639 --> 00:58:08.000
What do you mean another car t boned hers? They

864
00:58:08.039 --> 00:58:11.519
say she died on impact. I feel so terrible for

865
00:58:11.599 --> 00:58:14.639
that girl's parents. The loss they must be going through

866
00:58:14.679 --> 00:58:19.280
is impossible to fathom. This can't be happening. I think

867
00:58:20.440 --> 00:58:23.400
the room is twirling around me. I need to sit down,

868
00:58:24.360 --> 00:58:28.519
aunt Rita continues. They say the stop sign was gone.

869
00:58:29.360 --> 00:58:31.679
The driver of the other car didn't even know they

870
00:58:31.719 --> 00:58:36.440
should stop. What I'm hearing can't be true. It all

871
00:58:36.480 --> 00:58:40.159
makes me feel like I could puke. Finally, I fall

872
00:58:40.199 --> 00:58:43.679
into the seat of the chair opposite aunt Rita, where

873
00:58:44.960 --> 00:58:48.400
where did it happen? What road was it on? Her

874
00:58:48.440 --> 00:58:53.400
answer solidifies the thoughts churning through my head way out

875
00:58:53.400 --> 00:58:58.280
on Layman. Later that day, English class is interrupted by

876
00:58:58.280 --> 00:59:02.079
the secretary from the Principal's office. After tapping on the door,

877
00:59:02.159 --> 00:59:05.679
Missus Brown leans her head in and calls my name.

878
00:59:06.800 --> 00:59:09.679
I stand from my desk and feel the entire room

879
00:59:09.840 --> 00:59:14.719
watching me. Missus Brown escorts me down the hall. It's

880
00:59:14.760 --> 00:59:17.760
the middle of fourth period. All the other students are

881
00:59:17.760 --> 00:59:22.159
in class. It's just me and her. The heels of

882
00:59:22.199 --> 00:59:25.840
her shoes clomp on the tiles. The sound is loud

883
00:59:25.920 --> 00:59:30.719
and echoes in the long, narrow space. Missus Brown opens

884
00:59:30.760 --> 00:59:33.880
the door to the office and I notice right away

885
00:59:33.920 --> 00:59:37.360
that two uniform police officers are standing next to the

886
00:59:37.360 --> 00:59:42.000
principal's desk. And Dad is here too. I can tell

887
00:59:42.079 --> 00:59:46.840
he's pissed. Stratton Duke. One of the officers steps forward.

888
00:59:47.559 --> 00:59:50.400
There's something we'd like to talk to you about. You

889
00:59:50.559 --> 01:00:01.559
turned seventeen last night. Right six, I'm sitting in the

890
01:00:01.599 --> 01:00:05.159
back seat of the officer's car. The old Williamson Barn

891
01:00:05.280 --> 01:00:09.480
looks even creepier than it did the night before. Now,

892
01:00:09.840 --> 01:00:13.360
the mystical ambience of the setting is long gone. It

893
01:00:13.480 --> 01:00:18.079
seems real. It is real, I remind myself, and the

894
01:00:18.079 --> 01:00:22.079
reality of all this terrifies me. The repercussions of my

895
01:00:22.199 --> 01:00:26.920
actions are gut wrenching. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

896
01:00:27.480 --> 01:00:32.119
I say, it's just a silly urban legend. We get

897
01:00:32.119 --> 01:00:35.400
out of the car and I lead the officers inside.

898
01:00:35.639 --> 01:00:38.760
Dad follows us, but he remains quiet the whole time.

899
01:00:39.760 --> 01:00:43.719
He stands with his arms crossed, watching. And you say,

900
01:00:43.719 --> 01:00:47.119
you drop the sign, and that wall there. The officer

901
01:00:47.199 --> 01:00:51.079
nods across the space. You say it opened up. I

902
01:00:51.119 --> 01:00:53.480
can tell by the look on his face that he

903
01:00:53.519 --> 01:00:57.400
doesn't believe a word I've said. Look, I know it

904
01:00:57.480 --> 01:01:02.480
sounds crazy, but yeah, that's exactly what happened. And this girl,

905
01:01:02.679 --> 01:01:07.679
roxy you call her, she took your innocence. I notice

906
01:01:07.679 --> 01:01:12.760
a smirk on the second officer's face. Yes, I say,

907
01:01:12.840 --> 01:01:16.960
it's not anything raunchy, well, not like sex, or I

908
01:01:17.000 --> 01:01:20.360
don't think so. Anyway. Look, I'm not sure what happened,

909
01:01:20.719 --> 01:01:24.599
but I'm telling the truth. The second officer walks across

910
01:01:24.639 --> 01:01:27.920
and pulls open a wide door, revealing a second room.

911
01:01:29.159 --> 01:01:32.880
This one is full of stop signs from floor to ceiling.

912
01:01:33.000 --> 01:01:36.679
Is a menagerie of red octagons. Some of them are

913
01:01:36.800 --> 01:01:39.280
lying on the floor, while others are nailed to the

914
01:01:39.280 --> 01:01:43.320
walls and the support beams. With both doors open, wind

915
01:01:43.360 --> 01:01:47.159
barrels through the space. The hanging signs swing and clatter

916
01:01:47.280 --> 01:01:51.960
against each other. Look, kid, what you're telling us. All

917
01:01:52.000 --> 01:01:54.639
that mess about the stop sign man is nothing new.

918
01:01:55.199 --> 01:01:58.199
I've heard it all before. Don't forget. I grew up

919
01:01:58.199 --> 01:02:01.719
in these parts. I've heard the stories. Hell, when I

920
01:02:01.760 --> 01:02:03.719
was your age, I was tempted to do it myself.

921
01:02:04.559 --> 01:02:09.199
But the thing is I didn't. What we're dealing with

922
01:02:09.360 --> 01:02:13.000
now is something else altogether. The other man speaks up.

923
01:02:13.519 --> 01:02:17.440
A girl is dead because of what you did. I

924
01:02:17.519 --> 01:02:20.280
ride home in the back of the cop car after

925
01:02:20.320 --> 01:02:23.280
being issued a citation for theft. I stand on the

926
01:02:23.320 --> 01:02:25.960
porch and watch the cruiser pull out of the driveway.

927
01:02:26.880 --> 01:02:29.800
The horrifying truth of the matter hangs over my head.

928
01:02:30.880 --> 01:02:35.280
I could be charged with involuntary manslaughter. After telling me

929
01:02:35.360 --> 01:02:38.280
I'm grounded for the rest of my life. Dad heads

930
01:02:38.320 --> 01:02:41.320
back to his job. He's working a double and can't

931
01:02:41.320 --> 01:02:44.360
get out of it. While he's gone, I decide to

932
01:02:44.360 --> 01:02:46.840
sneak out and make a quick visit to Gregg's house.

933
01:02:47.760 --> 01:02:50.239
I pull into Greg's yard and spot him sitting on

934
01:02:50.280 --> 01:02:54.079
the porch swing drinking one of his dad's cheap beers.

935
01:02:54.719 --> 01:02:59.000
I've been worried, sick about you, he says, what's going on.

936
01:03:00.199 --> 01:03:02.599
I'm sure the gossip of me leaving with the police

937
01:03:02.639 --> 01:03:05.639
spread like wildfire through the school, and I can only

938
01:03:05.679 --> 01:03:09.639
imagine the assumptions people have already made. Greg offers me

939
01:03:09.679 --> 01:03:12.719
a beer, but I decline. I take a seat on

940
01:03:12.800 --> 01:03:18.480
the steps and tell him everything. Seven they say, if

941
01:03:18.559 --> 01:03:23.320
you get caught, the stop sign man will come after you. You

942
01:03:22.599 --> 01:03:26.199
can't sleep because he invades your dreams, and staying awake

943
01:03:26.280 --> 01:03:30.719
doesn't help either. He constantly stalks every corner of your mind,

944
01:03:30.920 --> 01:03:35.039
turning every peaceful thought into a nightmare. Even when I

945
01:03:35.079 --> 01:03:37.679
was talking to Greg, my attention was broken by the

946
01:03:37.719 --> 01:03:43.239
shape of the porch tiles octagons. Greg didn't believe my story.

947
01:03:43.639 --> 01:03:47.800
In fact, he suggested I seek mental help. The knowledge

948
01:03:47.840 --> 01:03:50.880
that my best friend no longer has my back hurts

949
01:03:50.920 --> 01:03:56.679
me deep inside. After leaving Greg's house, I have an idea.

950
01:03:57.679 --> 01:04:02.159
My phone I recorded everything night before. I wasn't able

951
01:04:02.159 --> 01:04:04.440
to find the phone in my room this morning, and

952
01:04:04.519 --> 01:04:07.719
I hadn't seen it in the barn this afternoon. There's

953
01:04:07.800 --> 01:04:11.039
one person I can think of who might have an answer.

954
01:04:12.000 --> 01:04:15.320
Finding the phone won't change what I did, but it

955
01:04:15.400 --> 01:04:19.840
will give proof that I'm not crazy. Instead of going home,

956
01:04:20.199 --> 01:04:22.400
I make a stop at the filling station where I

957
01:04:22.440 --> 01:04:26.960
spot Roxy today. She's leaning against the wall by the bathrooms.

958
01:04:27.719 --> 01:04:29.960
I get out of my truck and charge across the

959
01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:33.639
parking lot, not stopping until I'm standing directly in front

960
01:04:33.639 --> 01:04:36.639
of her. Her hair is damp from a recent shower.

961
01:04:37.000 --> 01:04:40.559
I can smell the flowery scent of shampoo other than

962
01:04:40.599 --> 01:04:43.719
the wet hair. She looks exactly like she did last night.

963
01:04:44.639 --> 01:04:48.639
Where's my phone? I cut right to the chase. Roxy

964
01:04:48.760 --> 01:04:52.679
laughs and stands up straight. I don't have your phone, Stratton,

965
01:04:53.440 --> 01:04:55.960
My name on Her voice is like finger nails on

966
01:04:56.000 --> 01:05:00.280
a chalkboard. Oh yeah, well, where is it? Then? I

967
01:05:00.400 --> 01:05:03.639
just happened to lose it. Huh. I throw up my hands.

968
01:05:04.360 --> 01:05:08.719
That would be really convenient, wouldn't it. Roxy reaches out

969
01:05:08.800 --> 01:05:12.320
and grabs my forearm. The sleeve of her shirt rides

970
01:05:12.400 --> 01:05:15.639
up and I notice a sketchy red tattoo spread across

971
01:05:15.679 --> 01:05:19.639
the underside of her wrist. The artwork is badly done.

972
01:05:19.760 --> 01:05:22.639
It's like something someone would get in prison. But the

973
01:05:22.679 --> 01:05:27.800
symbol is clear enough, a stop sign. Let go of me,

974
01:05:28.199 --> 01:05:31.960
I jerk my arm away. What you did take someone

975
01:05:32.000 --> 01:05:37.199
of a certain character, she says, Why did you do it? Anyway?

976
01:05:38.119 --> 01:05:40.719
Was it to prove a point or to show that

977
01:05:40.760 --> 01:05:44.960
you're It was because of a girl. My voice cracks.

978
01:05:45.400 --> 01:05:49.159
Roxy laughs again. This time it sounds like a cackle

979
01:05:49.239 --> 01:05:52.639
coming from an old witch. You came to the barn

980
01:05:52.719 --> 01:05:56.079
with one goal in mind, and you got it. That

981
01:05:56.239 --> 01:05:59.760
girl was standing in your way. She would have held

982
01:05:59.800 --> 01:06:04.840
you back. I realize now that Allison's death wasn't just

983
01:06:04.880 --> 01:06:09.320
an accident caused by what I'd done. She was payment.

984
01:06:10.679 --> 01:06:13.800
I'm not sure what for, but I know it's something

985
01:06:13.880 --> 01:06:18.679
I don't want. That's messed up. I say. If I

986
01:06:18.719 --> 01:06:20.960
would have known there was a price, I would have

987
01:06:21.000 --> 01:06:25.000
never You're part of it now, Honey. From here on,

988
01:06:25.119 --> 01:06:28.719
it's between you and him. You have to finish what

989
01:06:28.800 --> 01:06:35.719
you started by him. I know she means the stop sign. Man,

990
01:06:36.840 --> 01:06:39.719
If facing him is what I have to do, so

991
01:06:39.920 --> 01:06:44.280
be it fine. My breath is coming and going out

992
01:06:44.280 --> 01:06:49.679
of my lungs in deep rhythmic puffs. I'll do it eight.

993
01:06:51.239 --> 01:06:53.440
The first rule in the legend of the stop sign

994
01:06:53.519 --> 01:06:56.559
Man is that you have to go alone. I look

995
01:06:56.599 --> 01:06:59.639
at it like this. If I got myself into this mess,

996
01:07:00.119 --> 01:07:03.440
I'm the only one who can get myself out. I'm

997
01:07:03.440 --> 01:07:07.239
still not sure how or why, but the octagon shape

998
01:07:07.320 --> 01:07:10.440
is significant. I think I can use that bit of

999
01:07:10.480 --> 01:07:13.960
folklore against him. When I get home, I go into

1000
01:07:13.960 --> 01:07:16.239
my closet and find an old work book from when

1001
01:07:16.239 --> 01:07:19.559
I was a kid. One of the multiple choice questions

1002
01:07:19.639 --> 01:07:22.239
was to select an octagon from a group of shapes.

1003
01:07:23.000 --> 01:07:26.800
I'd picked one, but it was wrong next to a

1004
01:07:26.840 --> 01:07:30.519
red X. The teacher wrote, an octagon must have eight

1005
01:07:30.760 --> 01:07:35.039
equal sides. Then I go into the garage, where I

1006
01:07:35.119 --> 01:07:39.119
find the hatchet Dad uses to chop firewood. Later, I

1007
01:07:39.159 --> 01:07:43.760
park in front of the Williamson Barn. I go inside.

1008
01:07:43.800 --> 01:07:46.679
Not long after entering, I hear movement in the hayloft

1009
01:07:46.679 --> 01:07:49.880
above me. I turn to face the wooden steps that

1010
01:07:49.960 --> 01:07:53.599
lead upward, and I wait for the stop sign Man

1011
01:07:53.679 --> 01:07:59.599
to appear. Finally he does. The steps creak under his weight.

1012
01:08:00.119 --> 01:08:03.320
His thin legs are bare. The skin on his feet

1013
01:08:03.400 --> 01:08:08.519
is thick, calloused, and cracked. The toes are gnarled. And

1014
01:08:08.639 --> 01:08:12.119
bent like the knots on an ancient tree stump. He's

1015
01:08:12.159 --> 01:08:16.199
wearing a pair of white boxers. It's obvious he's built

1016
01:08:16.239 --> 01:08:22.359
from pieces of different men. His torso is defined with muscle,

1017
01:08:22.760 --> 01:08:27.159
despite the fifties era greaser haircut. His face is wrinkled

1018
01:08:27.439 --> 01:08:31.520
and spotted with age. The story mister Perry told me

1019
01:08:31.600 --> 01:08:36.760
ten years ago is true. His eyes are spinning red octagons.

1020
01:08:38.079 --> 01:08:43.680
Who what are you? I ask? When he speaks, his

1021
01:08:43.840 --> 01:08:47.279
voice has an eerie timber of a teenager and a

1022
01:08:47.359 --> 01:08:50.520
ninety year old speaking at the same time. We're an

1023
01:08:50.680 --> 01:08:55.840
organization that stretches all across the southeast, from Virginia to

1024
01:08:56.000 --> 01:09:00.840
Texas and everywhere in between. Right here in South Carolina

1025
01:09:01.039 --> 01:09:06.640
just happens to be the epicenter a secret society. Some

1026
01:09:06.760 --> 01:09:11.880
might call it, or a cult or In a flash,

1027
01:09:11.920 --> 01:09:14.640
he's standing in front of me. I can feel his

1028
01:09:14.800 --> 01:09:20.560
breath against my face. So are you the president of

1029
01:09:20.560 --> 01:09:24.640
the whole thing? I ask? He scoffs at my question

1030
01:09:25.439 --> 01:09:27.119
of this particular chapter.

1031
01:09:28.159 --> 01:09:28.399
Yes.

1032
01:09:29.239 --> 01:09:31.600
The idea that there are others like him makes my

1033
01:09:31.720 --> 01:09:32.239
head spin.

1034
01:09:33.239 --> 01:09:39.960
Everywhere all over there are boys, young men looking for

1035
01:09:40.079 --> 01:09:43.239
ways to achieve their wildest dreams.

1036
01:09:44.159 --> 01:09:49.000
But This is not about them, This is about us.

1037
01:09:50.720 --> 01:09:54.079
Let me show you. He grabs hold of my arm.

1038
01:09:54.760 --> 01:09:58.000
His grip is strong, the palm of his hand feels

1039
01:09:58.079 --> 01:10:00.000
like hot asphalt against my flesh.

1040
01:10:00.000 --> 01:10:00.119
Ssh.

1041
01:10:01.039 --> 01:10:08.319
Look deep into my eyes, really really deep. I don't

1042
01:10:08.359 --> 01:10:12.199
want to, but I'm transfixed. I stare into his face

1043
01:10:12.640 --> 01:10:16.560
and her eyes lock. His octagon shaped eyes light up

1044
01:10:16.600 --> 01:10:20.079
in a traffic light glow of green, and I fall

1045
01:10:20.199 --> 01:10:22.359
into them.

1046
01:10:22.560 --> 01:10:29.720
Go, he says, go, go.

1047
01:10:28.359 --> 01:10:34.079
Go, and I do. I let myself go. It's as

1048
01:10:34.079 --> 01:10:36.760
if the interior of the barn melts away from us.

1049
01:10:37.720 --> 01:10:40.920
In my mind, I'm speeding through space and time, through

1050
01:10:40.960 --> 01:10:43.880
the years of my life that haven't happened yet. I

1051
01:10:43.920 --> 01:10:47.960
see myself with what seems like everything a man could want.

1052
01:10:48.760 --> 01:10:53.920
It's different for everybody, he says, what you imagine won't

1053
01:10:53.960 --> 01:10:57.079
be the same for the next. In the vision, it

1054
01:10:57.119 --> 01:11:02.520
all goes on and on. There's no stopping us. He says,

1055
01:11:03.319 --> 01:11:08.000
you see the potential, You see what you can be,

1056
01:11:09.079 --> 01:11:14.760
the things you can do. An octagon symbolizes a rite

1057
01:11:14.760 --> 01:11:21.079
of passage. Eight is a number of transcendents. I recognize

1058
01:11:21.079 --> 01:11:24.079
the truth. All of what he's showing me only looks

1059
01:11:24.119 --> 01:11:27.920
good on the surface. None of it is worth the

1060
01:11:28.000 --> 01:11:33.479
price he tricked me into paying. Somehow, my thoughts break

1061
01:11:33.520 --> 01:11:38.039
the spell. You weren't tricked, he snaps. You wanted to

1062
01:11:38.079 --> 01:11:42.159
steal that sign. It was your idea. You wanted to

1063
01:11:42.239 --> 01:11:46.600
prove you were a man. I shake my head. No,

1064
01:11:47.319 --> 01:11:50.439
not like this, I didn't. I think about the page

1065
01:11:50.479 --> 01:11:53.560
from my grade school workbook and all the various shapes

1066
01:11:53.560 --> 01:11:56.279
that were drawn on it. Do you know what the

1067
01:11:56.319 --> 01:12:00.680
opposite of an octagon is? A surprised looks reads across

1068
01:12:00.680 --> 01:12:04.640
his face. His eyes fade to yellow, and then the

1069
01:12:04.680 --> 01:12:09.439
red they were before. Stop, he demands. I answer my

1070
01:12:09.520 --> 01:12:14.880
own question. It's a concave polygon. I pull the hatchet

1071
01:12:14.880 --> 01:12:17.760
from the waistband at the back of my jeans. It

1072
01:12:17.840 --> 01:12:21.000
means one of the sides is angled inward. At the

1073
01:12:21.039 --> 01:12:25.880
sight of the weapon, the man's mouth drops open, impossibly wide.

1074
01:12:26.079 --> 01:12:29.720
I notice his teeth for the first time, there the

1075
01:12:29.840 --> 01:12:33.439
yellow of corn. I swing the axe against the wall.

1076
01:12:33.720 --> 01:12:36.920
The first blow only cracks the wood, but it's enough

1077
01:12:36.960 --> 01:12:40.760
to cause the stop sign. Man to pause. He cries

1078
01:12:40.800 --> 01:12:43.960
out in pain, clutching his side with both hands. His

1079
01:12:44.039 --> 01:12:47.640
body bends. I swing the axe again, harder this time.

1080
01:12:47.920 --> 01:12:52.319
The wood splinters. The stop. Signed man hollers. This time.

1081
01:12:52.359 --> 01:12:55.600
His voice is so loud it cuts deep into my essence.

1082
01:12:56.319 --> 01:13:00.880
Dark blood gushes through the gaps between his fingers. Stop,

1083
01:13:01.520 --> 01:13:06.000
he yells, jerking his disproportioned body back and forth, moving

1084
01:13:06.039 --> 01:13:09.039
toward me. With the hand not holding his side. He

1085
01:13:09.159 --> 01:13:12.680
reaches toward me. Put the axe down, you little shit,

1086
01:13:13.319 --> 01:13:17.239
I don't. I swing a third time, harder. Now the

1087
01:13:17.279 --> 01:13:20.279
sharp end of the blade crashes through, and I jerk

1088
01:13:20.319 --> 01:13:24.479
it free. The broken slats are jagged and sharp. My

1089
01:13:24.600 --> 01:13:28.159
nemesis body folds over on itself, like the snap of

1090
01:13:28.199 --> 01:13:32.399
a mouse trap, and as his bones crack, it sounds

1091
01:13:32.439 --> 01:13:36.359
like that too. The vocals of his agony pour from

1092
01:13:36.359 --> 01:13:40.720
his throat in a torrent of pain. Still, he reaches

1093
01:13:40.800 --> 01:13:44.720
for me. He's not giving up. I'm on the other

1094
01:13:44.800 --> 01:13:47.520
side of the space, And just as he returns to

1095
01:13:47.600 --> 01:13:50.840
his unsteady feet, I swing the axe through this section

1096
01:13:50.920 --> 01:13:55.000
of lumber. His body slams over. This time a deep

1097
01:13:55.039 --> 01:13:59.399
fissure cuts into his abdomen, pulling his upper half horizontal

1098
01:13:59.439 --> 01:14:02.640
to the floor. Now I'm sure what I have to

1099
01:14:02.720 --> 01:14:07.079
do to finish this once and for all. Each of

1100
01:14:07.119 --> 01:14:09.880
the next five walls are met with the blade, and

1101
01:14:09.960 --> 01:14:13.159
each time my ears are assaulted with the agony of

1102
01:14:13.199 --> 01:14:16.079
the stop sign man being reduced to a broken and

1103
01:14:16.239 --> 01:14:21.279
splintered pile of nothing. On the eighth wall, I chop

1104
01:14:21.359 --> 01:14:24.439
the blade through the boards and then twist the handle

1105
01:14:24.640 --> 01:14:28.199
so the axe had catches on the other side. Then

1106
01:14:28.880 --> 01:14:32.520
I pull with all my might. The wall splinters inward,

1107
01:14:32.880 --> 01:14:36.800
and the screams are finally silenced as the stop sign

1108
01:14:36.920 --> 01:14:42.079
Man's head splits in two. I stand for a moment,

1109
01:14:42.600 --> 01:14:45.840
catching my breath, when the entirety of the barn begins

1110
01:14:45.880 --> 01:14:54.439
to rattle around me. Nine on my eighteenth birthday, I

1111
01:14:54.520 --> 01:14:57.960
go out to the intersection on Layman Road. Now a

1112
01:14:58.000 --> 01:15:02.119
wooden cross stands by the road, marking the spot where

1113
01:15:02.640 --> 01:15:07.720
Allison died on that night the year before. After I

1114
01:15:07.840 --> 01:15:10.600
brought down the barn and destroyed the stop sign man,

1115
01:15:11.239 --> 01:15:14.439
I drove out here and reattached the sign to the post.

1116
01:15:15.520 --> 01:15:19.520
I was taken into custody for destruction of property. Thankfully,

1117
01:15:20.039 --> 01:15:22.800
Dad bailed me out. He told me it was the

1118
01:15:22.840 --> 01:15:27.359
one and only time he'd ever do it. My actions

1119
01:15:27.399 --> 01:15:31.199
didn't bring Allison back, and my phone was never found,

1120
01:15:31.880 --> 01:15:34.760
but the evidence from a nearby game camera, and the

1121
01:15:34.800 --> 01:15:38.000
analysis of the skid marks at the intersection revealed the truth.

1122
01:15:39.279 --> 01:15:43.199
The fatal wreck wasn't because of the missing sign. The

1123
01:15:43.239 --> 01:15:46.800
car that hit Allison was coming from the opposite direction.

1124
01:15:48.399 --> 01:15:51.920
It's been one year since all of that happened. One

1125
01:15:52.000 --> 01:15:56.039
plus eight is nine. Recently I learned that one of

1126
01:15:56.079 --> 01:16:01.479
the meanings behind the number is wisdom. After dropping a

1127
01:16:01.520 --> 01:16:05.760
single flower next to the wooden cross, I drive away

1128
01:16:06.720 --> 01:16:23.159
the end. Old Bones by Joe Salmon. Old Bones is

1129
01:16:23.199 --> 01:16:25.399
what my grandpa used to call him back in the

1130
01:16:25.479 --> 01:16:30.239
days of black and white TVs. I've never seen him myself,

1131
01:16:30.399 --> 01:16:35.000
but I was sure he existed. Nothing scared my grandfather,

1132
01:16:35.640 --> 01:16:39.760
nothing but old bones. That is. Most of the local

1133
01:16:39.840 --> 01:16:43.600
folk will tell you they seen Old Bones here or there,

1134
01:16:44.279 --> 01:16:47.920
but most of them are full of shit. For a while,

1135
01:16:48.039 --> 01:16:50.560
one of them TV crews came in and filmed the

1136
01:16:50.600 --> 01:16:55.439
town telling stories, but that's all they were shit. Even

1137
01:16:55.560 --> 01:16:58.520
farmer Kendrick over on Route seventy had a story, and

1138
01:16:58.560 --> 01:17:01.239
that son of a bitch never left his house. His

1139
01:17:01.359 --> 01:17:05.640
fields were all overgrown like seventies bush. Our family and

1140
01:17:05.680 --> 01:17:08.520
the neighbors next door we had a special deal. My

1141
01:17:08.600 --> 01:17:12.199
grandfather said, our lands butted up with the state forest,

1142
01:17:12.279 --> 01:17:16.479
but Pappy called that his territory. He told us we

1143
01:17:16.479 --> 01:17:18.920
could hunt in there, but we had to leave the

1144
01:17:19.000 --> 01:17:23.600
first kill for old bones, kind of a sacrifice of

1145
01:17:23.720 --> 01:17:27.159
sorts and offerings. So we would leave us alone when

1146
01:17:27.199 --> 01:17:29.840
we were out there, as long as we didn't cross

1147
01:17:29.880 --> 01:17:33.680
the markings along the creek. We would shoot a nice

1148
01:17:33.760 --> 01:17:36.199
buck and have to leave it in the clearing. It

1149
01:17:36.319 --> 01:17:39.920
pissed me off, but not enough to cross old bones.

1150
01:17:40.720 --> 01:17:43.640
Usually a day or so later we'd find the carcass,

1151
01:17:44.159 --> 01:17:47.199
most of the meat gone, strung up in the damned trees.

1152
01:17:47.239 --> 01:17:51.159
Of all places. Could it be a mountain lion? They

1153
01:17:51.199 --> 01:17:54.960
are around, but rare, and I've never seen one in

1154
01:17:55.000 --> 01:17:58.319
these parts, but I have seen the tracks of old

1155
01:17:58.399 --> 01:18:02.640
bones left on the tree. I would ask my grandfather

1156
01:18:02.760 --> 01:18:06.520
all the time what old bones looks like? He'd always say,

1157
01:18:06.560 --> 01:18:09.199
if I ever saw him, I was sure to shit

1158
01:18:09.319 --> 01:18:13.880
my pants and run if I was lucky. Not very descriptive,

1159
01:18:13.920 --> 01:18:17.520
I know. I pressed him once when he took me

1160
01:18:17.640 --> 01:18:21.079
hunting on my sixteenth birthday. He had gotten me a

1161
01:18:21.159 --> 01:18:23.640
nice thirty hot six and we had sighted it in

1162
01:18:23.680 --> 01:18:26.920
the night before. He had gone hunting without me two

1163
01:18:26.960 --> 01:18:29.760
days prior and gave up an offering to old Bones,

1164
01:18:30.359 --> 01:18:34.359
so my kill would be ours. We reached the tree

1165
01:18:34.399 --> 01:18:37.000
where he had lain our buck, and we saw the

1166
01:18:37.079 --> 01:18:40.439
tracks come into the clearing as fresh as this morning,

1167
01:18:41.479 --> 01:18:45.960
big tracks, looking like a giant moose's print. We get

1168
01:18:46.039 --> 01:18:49.399
moose now and again in northern New York, but I've

1169
01:18:49.479 --> 01:18:52.960
never seen a bull that big. The tracks were over

1170
01:18:53.000 --> 01:18:56.199
a foot long, twice as big as I've ever seen

1171
01:18:56.239 --> 01:19:00.800
myself in these here woods. His old bones just big moose.

1172
01:19:01.720 --> 01:19:04.520
Is that what you're afraid of? I asked him. Don't

1173
01:19:04.520 --> 01:19:07.359
be simple, boy, There ain't a moose i'd run from

1174
01:19:07.439 --> 01:19:10.720
when I got a loaded rifle, was his reply. As

1175
01:19:10.760 --> 01:19:14.479
I studied those tracks, the left track had a bit

1176
01:19:14.520 --> 01:19:16.960
of a crack in it, like the foot had an

1177
01:19:16.960 --> 01:19:20.279
old injury. The right one dragged just a bit in

1178
01:19:20.319 --> 01:19:26.720
the dirt. Then it hit me there were only two legs.

1179
01:19:27.279 --> 01:19:30.279
He stands up like we do, I asked, looking at

1180
01:19:30.279 --> 01:19:33.399
the circular hole in the ground an Inchu're so deep?

1181
01:19:33.960 --> 01:19:37.079
There seemed to be one every twenty feet or so.

1182
01:19:37.159 --> 01:19:40.000
Sometimes there was a little bit of a drag there

1183
01:19:40.079 --> 01:19:45.159
as well. What could it be? Never mind how he stands,

1184
01:19:45.840 --> 01:19:48.000
Just give him no reason to come looking for you,

1185
01:19:48.640 --> 01:19:51.319
And you'll be just fine, he told me as he

1186
01:19:51.359 --> 01:19:54.439
placed his hand on my shoulder. He had lost a

1187
01:19:54.439 --> 01:19:57.039
foot a long time ago, and the artificial one never

1188
01:19:57.159 --> 01:20:01.000
quite was comfortable for him, but it was and inconvenience

1189
01:20:01.119 --> 01:20:03.119
enough for him to keep from taking care of the

1190
01:20:03.159 --> 01:20:07.159
deal with Old Bones. I kept my eyes peeled that trip,

1191
01:20:07.439 --> 01:20:10.319
but never got a peek at Old Bones, even though

1192
01:20:10.359 --> 01:20:14.399
I got the feeling something was peeping on me. But

1193
01:20:14.560 --> 01:20:17.199
then again, I always got that feeling when I was

1194
01:20:17.239 --> 01:20:21.479
in those woods. The deeper in the darker the forest got.

1195
01:20:22.039 --> 01:20:24.520
Some of those trees were one hundred feet tall or more.

1196
01:20:25.319 --> 01:20:28.039
The old growth forest kept out all but the most

1197
01:20:28.039 --> 01:20:31.720
persistent sunlight. It was the best hunting ground most of

1198
01:20:31.720 --> 01:20:34.840
the time, but once in a while there wouldn't be

1199
01:20:34.880 --> 01:20:41.359
a damn thing around. No birds, no game, nothing, just

1200
01:20:41.520 --> 01:20:45.760
dead silence in the forest. On those trips, we learned

1201
01:20:45.760 --> 01:20:48.680
to give up early and come home. We'd have better

1202
01:20:48.800 --> 01:20:52.119
luck another time. My uncle Jim once said he caught

1203
01:20:52.119 --> 01:20:54.880
a glimpse of what had to be Old Bones. It

1204
01:20:55.000 --> 01:20:57.439
was a foggy morning, and he said the forest just

1205
01:20:57.479 --> 01:21:01.520
got real quiet, like he stood still as the hair

1206
01:21:01.680 --> 01:21:04.520
raised on the back of his neck. He said he

1207
01:21:04.600 --> 01:21:07.239
knew Old Bones was near because the rest of the

1208
01:21:07.279 --> 01:21:10.840
animals had the good sense to fuck off somewhere else.

1209
01:21:11.840 --> 01:21:15.800
He stood there peering into the forest, and he said,

1210
01:21:15.880 --> 01:21:19.680
standing next to a large pine tree was Old Bones,

1211
01:21:20.039 --> 01:21:25.680
about fifty yards out, barely perceptible in the fog. He said,

1212
01:21:25.720 --> 01:21:29.039
it slid through the forest, its great limbs having no

1213
01:21:29.199 --> 01:21:33.720
problem as it traversed the uneven forest floor. He was

1214
01:21:33.760 --> 01:21:36.840
too scared to get a closer look. He said. It

1215
01:21:36.880 --> 01:21:39.920
stopped between the trees and sniffed the air for a moment,

1216
01:21:40.840 --> 01:21:46.319
two large sniffs, before turning to face my uncle. He

1217
01:21:46.399 --> 01:21:50.079
said its eyes smoldered even in the fog. Cutting through

1218
01:21:51.039 --> 01:21:53.920
it stared a hole into him for about ten seconds

1219
01:21:54.000 --> 01:21:58.279
or so, before nodding and moving on through the forest.

1220
01:21:59.039 --> 01:22:01.840
Uncle Jim said he sat there waiting for Old Bones

1221
01:22:01.880 --> 01:22:04.840
to go on about his business. Whether he was too

1222
01:22:04.880 --> 01:22:08.720
scared or was playing it smart was anyone's guess. He

1223
01:22:08.800 --> 01:22:12.960
listened as the thing moved through the forest, creaking branches

1224
01:22:13.000 --> 01:22:17.000
and heavy footfalls fading into the distance. He told me

1225
01:22:17.119 --> 01:22:21.840
Old Bones was tall, like really tall, and if he

1226
01:22:21.880 --> 01:22:24.760
didn't move, he would have mistaken him for a tree.

1227
01:22:24.800 --> 01:22:28.119
At that distance. I asked him if he saw a bigfoot,

1228
01:22:28.159 --> 01:22:30.640
and he told me it was nothing like that. He

1229
01:22:30.680 --> 01:22:35.520
said it was something older, much older. Now I must

1230
01:22:35.600 --> 01:22:39.359
tell you Uncle Jim was a drinker, but we'd like

1231
01:22:39.439 --> 01:22:41.760
to give him the benefit of the doubt since he

1232
01:22:41.800 --> 01:22:45.439
doesn't usually drink in the am. He died about a

1233
01:22:45.479 --> 01:22:50.439
month after that, so we can't ask him now. The

1234
01:22:50.479 --> 01:22:53.640
neighbor boy Neil, saw him once. We didn't believe him

1235
01:22:53.680 --> 01:22:55.520
at first on account of the kid is slow in

1236
01:22:55.560 --> 01:22:58.920
the head, but I guess his eyes worked just fine.

1237
01:22:59.000 --> 01:23:01.640
His daddy came run and over all excited to talk

1238
01:23:01.680 --> 01:23:04.159
to my father about it. I watched him from the

1239
01:23:04.199 --> 01:23:07.000
doorway to my room because it was past my bedtime.

1240
01:23:07.760 --> 01:23:10.800
It was the second week of deer season, but neither

1241
01:23:10.920 --> 01:23:13.960
family had managed to get out there yet. He said.

1242
01:23:14.000 --> 01:23:16.279
Neil was out back of the house putting away his

1243
01:23:16.399 --> 01:23:19.119
toys because a fog had rolled in and his mother

1244
01:23:19.239 --> 01:23:22.119
was worried he would get lost out there. Said it

1245
01:23:22.159 --> 01:23:26.680
was standing there next to the barn, looking at him,

1246
01:23:27.039 --> 01:23:32.399
its eyes burning straight into his soul. Neil pissed himself

1247
01:23:32.439 --> 01:23:36.199
and started to cry. I listened as he described old

1248
01:23:36.239 --> 01:23:39.720
bones to my dad from Neil's account, it was almost

1249
01:23:39.720 --> 01:23:42.119
as tall as the gable roof on the old two

1250
01:23:42.159 --> 01:23:46.399
story barn. They had said it just stared at him

1251
01:23:46.760 --> 01:23:49.279
until his mom came out of the screen door looking

1252
01:23:49.279 --> 01:23:54.399
for him. That thing hadn't been oiled in ages. The

1253
01:23:54.479 --> 01:23:58.600
creek probably scared him off, if he asked me. Anyway,

1254
01:23:59.159 --> 01:24:02.079
They said it took long strides and moved off into

1255
01:24:02.119 --> 01:24:05.239
the woods past the field behind the barn, taking one

1256
01:24:05.239 --> 01:24:08.640
of their sheep with it, held it in one large hand.

1257
01:24:09.600 --> 01:24:12.079
That was the last time one of our families didn't

1258
01:24:12.079 --> 01:24:15.159
get Old Bones some meat on opening day. Let me

1259
01:24:15.239 --> 01:24:18.199
tell you, it didn't hurt to offer up some other

1260
01:24:18.319 --> 01:24:22.399
times as well. It never went to waste. Old Bones

1261
01:24:22.439 --> 01:24:25.640
always found what we left for him. Was it a

1262
01:24:25.680 --> 01:24:29.239
creature or a man? I may never find out myself,

1263
01:24:29.680 --> 01:24:32.920
and I think I'm okay with that. I was fascinated

1264
01:24:32.960 --> 01:24:37.239
as a kid, but after everyone's stories, I think i'm good.

1265
01:24:37.399 --> 01:24:40.479
You know, as an adult, I really don't want nothing

1266
01:24:40.560 --> 01:24:43.560
to do with it. But that's not always my choice, now,

1267
01:24:43.760 --> 01:24:47.000
is it. I wanted to let you know that about

1268
01:24:47.000 --> 01:24:49.720
ten or so years ago, there was a couple of

1269
01:24:49.800 --> 01:24:53.479
campers that went out there and went too far cross

1270
01:24:53.560 --> 01:24:57.520
an Old Bones Creek without any regard or offering. They

1271
01:24:57.560 --> 01:25:00.880
really didn't know any better, mind you. Like they say,

1272
01:25:01.479 --> 01:25:05.760
ignorance is no excuse. The search party never found them,

1273
01:25:06.319 --> 01:25:11.039
but we sure did. Can you guess where? No up

1274
01:25:11.119 --> 01:25:14.439
in the goddamn trees. I just wanted to let you

1275
01:25:14.560 --> 01:25:17.960
know that you ain't the first I looked over at

1276
01:25:17.960 --> 01:25:21.119
the unlucky camper. He came to my door an hour

1277
01:25:21.159 --> 01:25:24.399
ago seeking help because something got his friend out in

1278
01:25:24.399 --> 01:25:29.319
the woods. I knew what it was, Old Bones. I

1279
01:25:29.359 --> 01:25:31.479
almost felt bad for the guy until he told me

1280
01:25:31.520 --> 01:25:35.920
a story. You crossed the creek, your fair game. But

1281
01:25:36.039 --> 01:25:40.119
even that wasn't enough for this guy. You see, there

1282
01:25:40.119 --> 01:25:43.359
are these totems out there. They kind of mark Old

1283
01:25:43.399 --> 01:25:47.560
Bones sacred grounds. This guy comes to my door seeking

1284
01:25:47.600 --> 01:25:51.000
help and says they burned some weird carved wood for

1285
01:25:51.119 --> 01:25:54.439
warmth last night. It had to be one of the totems,

1286
01:25:54.479 --> 01:25:58.439
for sure, these dumb pricks. Now I gotta march this

1287
01:25:58.560 --> 01:26:02.520
asshole back into the woods gunpoint, because there's no reasoning

1288
01:26:02.560 --> 01:26:04.880
with him. Got to get him to the clearing and

1289
01:26:04.960 --> 01:26:07.960
let Old Bones take him. You got a second gear there,

1290
01:26:08.439 --> 01:26:12.199
You're awfully slow, I said, I don't understand why you're

1291
01:26:12.199 --> 01:26:14.399
doing this. If you didn't want to help me, I

1292
01:26:14.439 --> 01:26:17.239
could have gone somewhere else. The camper said to me,

1293
01:26:17.800 --> 01:26:21.279
you gotta learn that's not an option. You know what

1294
01:26:21.359 --> 01:26:24.960
got your buddy, It was old Bones, and Old Bones

1295
01:26:24.960 --> 01:26:27.560
has a certain way of doing things. And damned if

1296
01:26:27.600 --> 01:26:30.039
I'm gonna be the one to cross him. I've heard

1297
01:26:30.039 --> 01:26:36.359
too many stories about what happens. I explained, what's Old Bones?

1298
01:26:36.880 --> 01:26:41.399
The camper asked, It's everything. It's older than the forest.

1299
01:26:41.760 --> 01:26:46.039
It is the forest. It's an inescapable hunger that roams

1300
01:26:46.079 --> 01:26:49.880
these here woods. I told him, yeah, but what is it?

1301
01:26:50.399 --> 01:26:54.760
The annoying fuck asked. Around here, we say it's a god.

1302
01:26:55.479 --> 01:26:58.359
We revere it, we take care of its needs, and

1303
01:26:58.439 --> 01:27:01.279
it lets us hunt his land to feed our families.

1304
01:27:02.359 --> 01:27:05.439
It really ain't nothing personal. I gotta make it right

1305
01:27:05.520 --> 01:27:08.159
with Old Bones. I don't hate you or nothing, I

1306
01:27:08.199 --> 01:27:11.880
said to the guy. Don't hate me. You're bringing me

1307
01:27:11.920 --> 01:27:13.920
out into the woods at gunpoint to feed me to

1308
01:27:14.000 --> 01:27:17.399
something you call a forest god. Don't hate me, but

1309
01:27:17.439 --> 01:27:21.680
you're gonna just kill me. The camper yelled. First of all,

1310
01:27:22.119 --> 01:27:24.680
I don't like that tone, and second of all, I

1311
01:27:24.680 --> 01:27:27.199
don't have no choice in the matter. Old Bones will

1312
01:27:27.199 --> 01:27:30.359
want the trespassers who entered his sacred groves and disturbed

1313
01:27:30.359 --> 01:27:33.359
his totem. You sealed your own fate when you crossed

1314
01:27:33.399 --> 01:27:36.800
the creek. I said, just let me go. I got

1315
01:27:36.800 --> 01:27:39.079
eight hundred dollars in cash in my wallet. It's yours

1316
01:27:39.119 --> 01:27:42.279
if you just let me go, the camper said. I

1317
01:27:42.319 --> 01:27:46.680
shook my head at his stupidity. That money is already mine,

1318
01:27:46.920 --> 01:27:49.760
Old Bones has no use for it. Hand it over,

1319
01:27:50.439 --> 01:27:52.800
I said, pointing the barrel of that thirty odd to

1320
01:27:52.880 --> 01:27:56.199
six I got so long ago at him. He sighed

1321
01:27:56.439 --> 01:28:00.680
and handed over the cash. What did we learn here today,

1322
01:28:01.159 --> 01:28:04.319
I asked. He just stared back at me with anger.

1323
01:28:05.279 --> 01:28:09.520
We learned to keep our mouths shut, I finished for him.

1324
01:28:09.920 --> 01:28:12.720
We walked further down the path my grandpa walked all

1325
01:28:12.760 --> 01:28:15.920
those years ago. I knew it pretty well, but he

1326
01:28:16.000 --> 01:28:20.000
knew it inside out. It's a shame he's gone. He

1327
01:28:20.039 --> 01:28:22.520
would have gotten a kick out of this camper's predicament.

1328
01:28:23.159 --> 01:28:25.720
I could hear the sound of the creek now we

1329
01:28:25.720 --> 01:28:29.399
were close. Once we reached it, the path followed it

1330
01:28:29.520 --> 01:28:32.479
south for about a mile or so. Then comes the

1331
01:28:32.560 --> 01:28:38.079
clearing what's gonna happen to me? The camper asked, now

1332
01:28:38.119 --> 01:28:42.279
that he had calmed down. Well, old Bones will take

1333
01:28:42.319 --> 01:28:45.000
you and open you up, gobble up the bits he wants,

1334
01:28:45.039 --> 01:28:48.600
and whatever's left he'll toss into the trees. Why he

1335
01:28:48.680 --> 01:28:51.720
does that, I don't know. Maybe to feed the birds.

1336
01:28:52.000 --> 01:28:55.039
They got to eat too, you know, I explained, matter

1337
01:28:55.119 --> 01:28:58.279
of factly to the camper, whose eyes grew larger with

1338
01:28:58.399 --> 01:29:03.720
every word. You're joking, right, he asked me. I stopped

1339
01:29:03.720 --> 01:29:06.520
on the trail and gave him a look. What did

1340
01:29:06.600 --> 01:29:10.000
Old Bones do to your friend? I asked him. He

1341
01:29:11.359 --> 01:29:14.119
it pulled him right out of our tent. It was dark.

1342
01:29:14.199 --> 01:29:16.720
I just heard the screaming. By the time I found

1343
01:29:16.760 --> 01:29:21.680
the flashlight, there was nothing but a blood trail. I

1344
01:29:21.760 --> 01:29:24.000
followed it for a bit, but then it just it

1345
01:29:24.159 --> 01:29:28.560
just ended. The camper said, forlorn, Did you look up

1346
01:29:28.600 --> 01:29:31.479
in the trees? I asked him. Why the fuck would

1347
01:29:31.520 --> 01:29:34.840
I do that? He queried, I bet that's where Old

1348
01:29:34.840 --> 01:29:37.439
Bones stuck him, had his fill, and tossed him to

1349
01:29:37.479 --> 01:29:41.039
the clouds, like the early season stags we leave for him.

1350
01:29:41.600 --> 01:29:44.680
Your friend is up in the branches, I'd bet you well,

1351
01:29:45.199 --> 01:29:48.359
I'll bet you eight hundred dollars. I joked with the camper.

1352
01:29:49.600 --> 01:29:53.079
You're demented, you know that right, There's something off in

1353
01:29:53.119 --> 01:29:56.680
your brain, the camper said. I smacked him with the

1354
01:29:56.720 --> 01:29:58.960
barrel of the rifle and pointed it down the trail

1355
01:29:59.560 --> 01:30:02.239
first seme. I thought he was going to try something,

1356
01:30:02.439 --> 01:30:06.479
but he gave up and started walking off. Why should

1357
01:30:06.520 --> 01:30:09.800
I keep going, he said defiantly, and stopped in the

1358
01:30:09.840 --> 01:30:13.399
path A moment later. I'm gonna die either way. I'd

1359
01:30:13.479 --> 01:30:18.560
rather get shot than ripped apart. He reasoned. Well, it

1360
01:30:18.600 --> 01:30:22.279
ain't your choice, son, I explained, and pointed yonder with

1361
01:30:22.319 --> 01:30:25.479
the barrel of my gun. The clearing was just ahead.

1362
01:30:26.039 --> 01:30:27.800
He looked like he was going to make a run

1363
01:30:27.840 --> 01:30:30.600
for it, but I kept the barrel pointing right between

1364
01:30:30.640 --> 01:30:34.680
his eyes. I figured he was bluffing anyway. I took

1365
01:30:34.720 --> 01:30:39.640
him for a coward and eight hundred bucks. Get on

1366
01:30:39.720 --> 01:30:43.279
in there by that stump, I commanded him. He waited

1367
01:30:43.319 --> 01:30:46.640
a second or so before following his orders. I took

1368
01:30:46.680 --> 01:30:49.319
the rope from my pocket and followed him over. I

1369
01:30:49.439 --> 01:30:52.399
tied him up against the stump, eyeing the carvings on it.

1370
01:30:52.960 --> 01:30:55.279
Grandpa said it was the natives that lived here a

1371
01:30:55.279 --> 01:30:59.079
long time ago that carved into the stump. It sure

1372
01:30:59.199 --> 01:31:02.800
was weathered enough. Grandpa said, the carvings tell how to

1373
01:31:02.920 --> 01:31:06.560
leave offerings for old bones. It's how our family figured

1374
01:31:06.560 --> 01:31:09.520
it all out. Live food gets tied up, but the

1375
01:31:09.640 --> 01:31:13.399
dead won't run away. I've never left live food before,

1376
01:31:13.920 --> 01:31:17.359
but there's always a first time. I remember my Grandpa

1377
01:31:17.479 --> 01:31:19.920
telling my father how to do it when we came

1378
01:31:19.960 --> 01:31:23.560
across a stag with a broken leg. It was crazy

1379
01:31:23.600 --> 01:31:25.960
to try to grab the thing, but it had to

1380
01:31:26.039 --> 01:31:29.119
have been struggling for days and was just tuckered out.

1381
01:31:29.479 --> 01:31:31.680
We got it to the clearing. Then they told me

1382
01:31:31.800 --> 01:31:34.600
to leave, to go home and tell mom they'd be

1383
01:31:34.680 --> 01:31:38.640
back soon. I can still see my grandpa pointing to

1384
01:31:38.720 --> 01:31:41.720
this very stump and explaining to my dad what to do.

1385
01:31:42.920 --> 01:31:45.239
I first made the camper tie up his own feet

1386
01:31:45.399 --> 01:31:48.399
at gunpoint. I didn't want him to kick me, after all,

1387
01:31:49.279 --> 01:31:51.640
that's what my kin did with the stag so many

1388
01:31:51.720 --> 01:31:55.159
years ago. Then I tied his arms around the stump,

1389
01:31:55.319 --> 01:31:58.079
with his chin resting on top in a little groove,

1390
01:31:58.560 --> 01:32:02.720
facing deeper into the forest. I made sure he was

1391
01:32:02.800 --> 01:32:05.560
good and tight before I stepped back and gave the

1392
01:32:05.600 --> 01:32:09.880
clearing a look over, only one more step left. I

1393
01:32:10.000 --> 01:32:14.359
drew my knife and came up behind the hiker. You're

1394
01:32:14.399 --> 01:32:16.920
just going to leave me here with that thing in

1395
01:32:16.960 --> 01:32:22.800
the woods, the camper asked, Yeah, that's the plan. Haven't

1396
01:32:22.800 --> 01:32:26.119
you been paying attention? Look, man, I told you it's

1397
01:32:26.159 --> 01:32:29.560
nothing personal. If I don't get the transgressor to Old Bones,

1398
01:32:29.880 --> 01:32:31.960
then my family will pay and I can't have that,

1399
01:32:32.680 --> 01:32:36.079
I said, as I sliced into his flesh. Not too deep,

1400
01:32:36.840 --> 01:32:40.039
not in a vital spot, mind you, just enough to

1401
01:32:40.119 --> 01:32:43.359
make him bleed, to get the scent out into the air,

1402
01:32:44.079 --> 01:32:49.399
to let Old Bones know we were ready. You're a murderer,

1403
01:32:50.000 --> 01:32:53.520
the camper yelled out. I ain't gonna murder you. That's

1404
01:32:53.520 --> 01:32:57.239
for Old Bones to do, I explained. Leaving me here

1405
01:32:57.520 --> 01:33:01.239
is murdering me. I ain't arguing semantics with a person

1406
01:33:01.279 --> 01:33:05.119
that got himself tied up. I told him, all you're

1407
01:33:05.159 --> 01:33:08.159
saying is what you ain't going to do. Well, what

1408
01:33:08.319 --> 01:33:10.920
are you going to do? Then, the camper asked me,

1409
01:33:11.079 --> 01:33:16.840
followed by an exasperated sigh. Just then Old Bones made

1410
01:33:16.880 --> 01:33:20.399
himself known with a cry out in the forest, followed

1411
01:33:20.399 --> 01:33:24.560
by the boom of a large footfall. I moved in

1412
01:33:24.600 --> 01:33:28.720
front of the camper. I'm gonna take my leave, give

1413
01:33:28.760 --> 01:33:32.319
my regards to Old Bones, I said, and turned towards

1414
01:33:32.399 --> 01:33:36.760
the trail back home. Don't fucking leave me, he yelled.

1415
01:33:36.800 --> 01:33:39.920
As I left the clearing, I stopped and turned around.

1416
01:33:40.560 --> 01:33:44.920
The footfalls from Old Bones were getting closer really quick.

1417
01:33:45.560 --> 01:33:48.520
I got myself an idea and ducked down in the

1418
01:33:48.520 --> 01:33:52.760
small bushes that lined the clearing, peeking through at my offering,

1419
01:33:53.800 --> 01:33:56.600
this might be a good chance to finally see what

1420
01:33:56.640 --> 01:34:00.279
Old Bones looks like. I listened to the sound under

1421
01:34:00.319 --> 01:34:03.279
the trees creaking, as if they were making way for

1422
01:34:03.359 --> 01:34:07.119
Old Bones to walk among them. In the distance, he

1423
01:34:07.199 --> 01:34:12.600
could see the branches swaying. He could be here any moment.

1424
01:34:13.880 --> 01:34:16.119
The hair on the back of my neck stood as

1425
01:34:16.119 --> 01:34:19.760
a wave of chills ran through me. The camper started

1426
01:34:19.760 --> 01:34:23.640
to scream as the primordial aura of Old Bones took

1427
01:34:23.680 --> 01:34:27.920
over the clearing. All those years of wondering, all the

1428
01:34:28.000 --> 01:34:31.560
stories from the townsfolk, even the bits and pieces of

1429
01:34:31.560 --> 01:34:34.560
information I got from my own family, couldn't prepare me

1430
01:34:34.600 --> 01:34:38.159
for what I saw step into the clearing. It stood

1431
01:34:38.199 --> 01:34:42.399
almost twenty feet tall, standing like a person would, Thick

1432
01:34:42.520 --> 01:34:46.359
muscles adorned its body. There were parts where white bone

1433
01:34:46.479 --> 01:34:50.199
was exposed in holes in the flesh. Its huge feet

1434
01:34:50.279 --> 01:34:53.199
were cloven, just like the prints I had saw so

1435
01:34:53.319 --> 01:34:58.720
long ago. The long arms were thin but strong. The

1436
01:34:58.840 --> 01:35:01.199
left pushed off the tree trunk of a pine tree.

1437
01:35:01.680 --> 01:35:05.520
The right clutched a gnarled walking staff made from some

1438
01:35:05.880 --> 01:35:09.479
ancient wood. Resting on top of its shoulders was a

1439
01:35:09.600 --> 01:35:14.640
huge head, a moose's head, scarred and scraped with countless

1440
01:35:14.720 --> 01:35:19.560
years of existence. The large antlers had stains and scrapes

1441
01:35:19.600 --> 01:35:23.199
as well. I tried to take it all in, but

1442
01:35:23.319 --> 01:35:27.960
my eyes kept focusing on its gaze. The fires of

1443
01:35:28.000 --> 01:35:31.319
Prometheus burned in the orbs. As it looked down on

1444
01:35:31.359 --> 01:35:34.399
the offering before it. It was like looking at a

1445
01:35:34.439 --> 01:35:38.560
whacked out moose version of a minotaur. Old Bones had

1446
01:35:38.600 --> 01:35:42.520
a smell about him, like fresh turned dirt, just an

1447
01:35:42.560 --> 01:35:45.840
earthy smell about him. It was like he was part

1448
01:35:45.880 --> 01:35:50.279
of the forest. He blended in so well, except for

1449
01:35:50.359 --> 01:35:55.439
those eyes currently focused on the camper. It cocked its

1450
01:35:55.560 --> 01:35:58.600
large head like a dog and raised the staff in

1451
01:35:58.640 --> 01:36:02.880
the air. Old Bones poked the camper with the weathered end.

1452
01:36:03.680 --> 01:36:07.399
When the camper screamed out in terror, Old Bones raised

1453
01:36:07.399 --> 01:36:12.239
an eyebrow. He seemed pleased by the live offering. Even

1454
01:36:12.279 --> 01:36:15.279
from my position, I could smell the piss on the camper.

1455
01:36:16.199 --> 01:36:20.399
How disrespectful. With a large hand, Old Bones grabbed the

1456
01:36:20.439 --> 01:36:24.000
camper and raised him into the air, snapping my ropes

1457
01:36:24.079 --> 01:36:27.399
like they were nothing. He opened his large moose jaw.

1458
01:36:28.000 --> 01:36:32.479
Inside weren't the teeth of a moose, but sharp fangs

1459
01:36:32.520 --> 01:36:35.560
of a carnivore. It bit off the camper's head in

1460
01:36:35.640 --> 01:36:39.199
a snap, and I nearly lost my lunch. I would

1461
01:36:39.239 --> 01:36:42.800
have been sad too. My wife makes a mean chicken salad.

1462
01:36:43.640 --> 01:36:46.399
I watched his blood poured out the side of his mouth.

1463
01:36:46.920 --> 01:36:50.119
He chewed on the head for a few seconds and swallowed.

1464
01:36:50.760 --> 01:36:54.319
He huffed twice into the air With a pointed finger.

1465
01:36:54.399 --> 01:36:57.520
He dug into the chest and ate the organs by

1466
01:36:57.600 --> 01:37:01.399
dumping the chest out all over his head into his mouth.

1467
01:37:02.079 --> 01:37:05.880
A lung missed and splattered on the ground. It exploded

1468
01:37:05.920 --> 01:37:09.399
like a water balloon. I wretched and tried to keep

1469
01:37:09.439 --> 01:37:13.960
it down. Old Bones must have heard me. Our eyes

1470
01:37:14.039 --> 01:37:17.880
met for a second. The eons of burning earth before

1471
01:37:17.920 --> 01:37:22.279
it had cooled branded my brain. I felt the ebb

1472
01:37:22.319 --> 01:37:26.000
and flow of the magma below the crust. I thought

1473
01:37:26.039 --> 01:37:28.920
I was going to die, that Old Bones was going

1474
01:37:28.960 --> 01:37:32.119
to kill me. My own stupid need to see him

1475
01:37:32.239 --> 01:37:35.640
was going to do me in. He tossed the camper's

1476
01:37:35.680 --> 01:37:38.840
corpse into the air. It landed in the branches of

1477
01:37:38.880 --> 01:37:42.000
the large pine trees. He picked up his staff and

1478
01:37:42.079 --> 01:37:44.960
took a step towards me. I didn't have it in

1479
01:37:45.000 --> 01:37:47.880
me to move. I was just trying not to break down.

1480
01:37:48.720 --> 01:37:51.800
He took a massive step and was now in front

1481
01:37:51.840 --> 01:37:56.720
of me. Mortal Old Bones muttered. He commanded my attention.

1482
01:37:57.359 --> 01:38:00.760
His voice came from nowhere, but from everywhere. At the

1483
01:38:00.800 --> 01:38:04.600
same time, the ember stare burned into my head.

1484
01:38:05.199 --> 01:38:09.279
I thank you for the offering. It has been some

1485
01:38:09.600 --> 01:38:14.760
time since I have had flesh of a man. I

1486
01:38:14.800 --> 01:38:19.079
think I would like some more. I forgot the taste

1487
01:38:19.119 --> 01:38:21.239
of the arrogance of the young race.

1488
01:38:22.239 --> 01:38:27.199
We need to amend the deal, it spoke into my brain. No,

1489
01:38:28.079 --> 01:38:30.520
humans are hard to get a hold of, and it's wrong,

1490
01:38:31.000 --> 01:38:33.640
I replied, I can't do it.

1491
01:38:33.840 --> 01:38:40.000
Shame mortal. If I do not receive a live offering

1492
01:38:40.079 --> 01:38:44.600
of manflesh by the longest day of the year, then

1493
01:38:45.000 --> 01:38:48.640
I shall take my payment from the farms.

1494
01:38:49.159 --> 01:38:52.399
Anything else, please don't ask this of me.

1495
01:38:52.960 --> 01:38:57.079
I begged, I have spoken.

1496
01:38:57.039 --> 01:39:01.239
Full Bone said, and turned from me. He walked into

1497
01:39:01.279 --> 01:39:04.600
the woods without another word. I looked at the camper

1498
01:39:04.600 --> 01:39:09.520
in the trees, almost envying him if I was being honest.

1499
01:39:10.239 --> 01:39:12.920
Now I had to go home and explain to our

1500
01:39:12.960 --> 01:39:18.119
families the new terms. We dare not go against Old Bones,

1501
01:39:18.920 --> 01:39:22.479
not if we want to protect our loved ones. At least,

1502
01:39:22.479 --> 01:39:26.039
now I know what old Bones looks like. If only

1503
01:39:26.079 --> 01:39:29.039
I had left the clearing, I never would have seen

1504
01:39:29.079 --> 01:39:33.960
Old Bones or interacted with him. Every One that has

1505
01:39:34.000 --> 01:39:38.319
seen Old Bones has had to pay a price, and

1506
01:39:38.479 --> 01:39:48.520
mine will be paid in man flesh.

1507
01:39:48.560 --> 01:39:52.920
Why am I here? By Morgan Moore.

1508
01:39:54.000 --> 01:39:57.720
Bruce Evans sits on his knees in his bedroom. In

1509
01:39:57.760 --> 01:39:59.880
front of him is an old coffee table with a

1510
01:40:00.000 --> 01:40:03.880
Ouigi board on top of it. Around the mystical board

1511
01:40:03.920 --> 01:40:09.479
were candles burning away. Bruce closes his eyes and takes

1512
01:40:09.479 --> 01:40:15.239
in a deep breath and exhales slowly. Oh spirits, If

1513
01:40:15.279 --> 01:40:22.119
anyone or anything is present, please answer my question. Bruce

1514
01:40:22.199 --> 01:40:25.640
opens his eyes and looks at the board. The question

1515
01:40:25.800 --> 01:40:28.399
he had wanted to ask was lodged in his throat,

1516
01:40:28.880 --> 01:40:32.399
unwilling to come out. It was something he wanted to

1517
01:40:32.439 --> 01:40:37.119
ask many people, but was afraid to. He was always

1518
01:40:37.119 --> 01:40:41.239
told to not question certain things, and it was fear

1519
01:40:41.279 --> 01:40:45.439
of repercussions that left him unable to ask those he

1520
01:40:45.479 --> 01:40:51.119
trusted most the question. But with this board, the spirits

1521
01:40:51.159 --> 01:40:55.800
could answer him. It would not judge, it would not punish.

1522
01:40:56.520 --> 01:41:02.000
The board would give him his answer and clarity. Spirits,

1523
01:41:04.600 --> 01:41:11.800
tell me why am I here? He asked somberly. The

1524
01:41:11.920 --> 01:41:15.720
boy was the youngest of the Evans family. He had

1525
01:41:15.760 --> 01:41:19.600
one sibling, an older brother in his teens named Mark.

1526
01:41:20.199 --> 01:41:24.079
Bruce had been something his brother wanted, and his parents,

1527
01:41:24.159 --> 01:41:27.479
after a while, were able to give him that, But

1528
01:41:27.600 --> 01:41:31.039
it had been clear since Bruce could remember that he

1529
01:41:31.159 --> 01:41:35.439
only existed to be a plaything for his brother. Once

1530
01:41:35.520 --> 01:41:38.720
Mark got older and started spending more time out with

1531
01:41:38.800 --> 01:41:42.079
friends and with girls, he had no more use for

1532
01:41:42.159 --> 01:41:47.319
his younger brother, his personal toy. Not being the most

1533
01:41:47.399 --> 01:41:50.319
social of children either, meant Bruce had a hard time

1534
01:41:50.399 --> 01:41:55.640
making friends. It left him depressed, lonely, and made him

1535
01:41:55.720 --> 01:41:59.560
question the reason he even existed. Did he have a

1536
01:41:59.600 --> 01:42:02.479
purpose other than to be a plaything for somebody, only

1537
01:42:02.520 --> 01:42:07.079
to be discarded like any other toy. He stared at

1538
01:42:07.079 --> 01:42:10.640
the wigib board with one hand placed on the planchette.

1539
01:42:10.720 --> 01:42:13.359
Bruce had heard about wigi boards and how they could

1540
01:42:13.399 --> 01:42:17.399
communicate with another plane of existence. From what he gathered,

1541
01:42:17.479 --> 01:42:20.920
people mostly used them to ask questions and get answers.

1542
01:42:21.720 --> 01:42:26.399
He thought that maybe, just maybe it could answer his

1543
01:42:26.560 --> 01:42:31.439
question and tell him what his raison debt was. The

1544
01:42:31.520 --> 01:42:36.079
Only problem with getting one was just that getting one.

1545
01:42:36.119 --> 01:42:39.439
His family were heavily steeped in religion, as was the

1546
01:42:39.479 --> 01:42:43.079
majority of people in the area. Bruce himself attended a

1547
01:42:43.119 --> 01:42:47.039
Catholic school. Mister and Missus Evans would never approve of

1548
01:42:47.119 --> 01:42:52.520
him buying something so supernatural and evil. Mark wouldn't be

1549
01:42:52.600 --> 01:42:55.279
able to help either, since he was always busy with

1550
01:42:55.359 --> 01:42:58.439
his social life. If Bruce wanted to get a hold

1551
01:42:58.479 --> 01:43:02.159
of a wigi board, have to do it himself. So

1552
01:43:02.800 --> 01:43:05.800
for a month, Bruce saved his allowance until he could

1553
01:43:05.840 --> 01:43:08.560
afford to buy one via a mail away ad he

1554
01:43:08.640 --> 01:43:12.039
found in the back of a Monster magazine. The weeks

1555
01:43:12.159 --> 01:43:16.199
leading up to its arrival were ones of suspense and fear.

1556
01:43:17.239 --> 01:43:21.079
Bruce was afraid that his brother, or worse, his parents,

1557
01:43:21.119 --> 01:43:23.920
would see it in the mail and punish him for

1558
01:43:23.960 --> 01:43:28.880
it and for his temptation to interact with the dark side.

1559
01:43:28.960 --> 01:43:31.800
He watched for the mailman like a hawk on Saturdays,

1560
01:43:31.920 --> 01:43:34.159
and would run home from school to be sure he

1561
01:43:34.279 --> 01:43:38.279
was the one to check the mail. After a month,

1562
01:43:38.960 --> 01:43:43.000
it finally arrived. Bruce was ecstatic and sprinted up to

1563
01:43:43.039 --> 01:43:46.439
his room with the package. Now it was nearly dinner,

1564
01:43:46.439 --> 01:43:52.079
and here he was waiting for his answer. The planchette

1565
01:43:52.840 --> 01:43:57.039
did not move though. Am I doing something wrong? Bruce

1566
01:43:57.119 --> 01:44:01.159
asked himself. He had done everything he'd heard about candles,

1567
01:44:01.600 --> 01:44:04.319
the prayer at the beginning, how he addressed the board

1568
01:44:04.399 --> 01:44:07.960
and the spirit. He did everything he thought was necessary

1569
01:44:08.359 --> 01:44:11.119
to make it work. Yet here Bruce was in his

1570
01:44:11.239 --> 01:44:16.560
room staring at the board. Why why isn't it working?

1571
01:44:17.159 --> 01:44:22.439
He asked aloud. Isn't it obvious? A voice came suddenly.

1572
01:44:22.520 --> 01:44:26.800
Bruce gasped and shock and turned around quickly. It was Mark.

1573
01:44:27.520 --> 01:44:33.159
He sighed in relief. Mark, Bruce started, those things are

1574
01:44:33.199 --> 01:44:37.279
just toys, a child's plaything. You really think stores and

1575
01:44:37.319 --> 01:44:40.880
all these major companies are actually selling something that would

1576
01:44:40.960 --> 01:44:45.359
let you talk to ghosts and goblins. Man, you are

1577
01:44:45.560 --> 01:44:51.920
so stupid, Mark said snarkily. But but the younger Evans

1578
01:44:51.920 --> 01:44:55.960
stammered out he couldn't believe what he was hearing. How

1579
01:44:55.960 --> 01:44:59.399
could Mark say that ouiji boards had been a thing

1580
01:44:59.560 --> 01:45:07.039
for sauries, people swore by them. Or maybe maybe Mark

1581
01:45:07.279 --> 01:45:10.560
was telling the truth. Finish up your little game and

1582
01:45:10.600 --> 01:45:13.880
then come down for dinner. Mark told his younger brother

1583
01:45:14.199 --> 01:45:17.800
before starting to close the door. He didn't get far

1584
01:45:17.880 --> 01:45:22.680
in his action. Wait if this isn't real, then what

1585
01:45:23.600 --> 01:45:27.079
how would I get an actual one? I mean, these

1586
01:45:27.119 --> 01:45:31.199
things have been around forever, Bruce questioned his brother, almost

1587
01:45:31.239 --> 01:45:35.960
pleading in his tone. Mark stopped with the door half shut.

1588
01:45:36.439 --> 01:45:38.880
Why do you want to know? You know Mom and

1589
01:45:38.960 --> 01:45:41.039
Dad will kill you if they find out about it.

1590
01:45:41.760 --> 01:45:45.920
I I have something I want to ask, but I

1591
01:45:45.960 --> 01:45:51.119
can't ask anybody else. It's private, Bruce explained as best

1592
01:45:51.119 --> 01:45:54.920
he could without divulging what his question was. His brother

1593
01:45:55.039 --> 01:46:00.000
scoffed some before answering, well, if you're the expert on wuiji,

1594
01:46:00.640 --> 01:46:04.119
you should know already you have to kill your whole

1595
01:46:04.159 --> 01:46:08.000
family and use their blood and bodies to make the

1596
01:46:08.079 --> 01:46:12.439
board and that pointer thing. Only then can you truly

1597
01:46:13.000 --> 01:46:17.600
communicate with the divine spirits or it's all a bunch

1598
01:46:17.600 --> 01:46:19.960
of hocus Poke is bullshit. Come on, it's time to

1599
01:46:20.000 --> 01:46:22.640
eat faster. We're done with dinner. The faster I can

1600
01:46:22.680 --> 01:46:25.880
go out with my date. And with that, Mark left

1601
01:46:25.920 --> 01:46:30.279
Bruce alone. He couldn't believe it. All is hard work

1602
01:46:30.319 --> 01:46:32.640
to save money. All the time spent waiting for the

1603
01:46:32.640 --> 01:46:37.359
Ouiji board to come was for nothing. A toy, a

1604
01:46:37.439 --> 01:46:43.039
board game, That's all it apparently was. Bruce felt depressed

1605
01:46:43.079 --> 01:46:46.600
at the knowledge his brother imparted on him. I'll never

1606
01:46:46.640 --> 01:46:49.520
get an answer to my question. The only way I

1607
01:46:49.520 --> 01:46:55.000
would is if I no. I'd never do that, Bruce

1608
01:46:55.079 --> 01:46:59.359
quietly said to himself. The boy sighed and stood up.

1609
01:47:00.119 --> 01:47:04.880
Depression flowed through him at the revelation. Bruce couldn't believe it.

1610
01:47:05.359 --> 01:47:07.840
He didn't want to believe it, but he seemed to

1611
01:47:07.920 --> 01:47:11.399
have no other choice. He turned to leave his bedroom

1612
01:47:11.439 --> 01:47:15.079
when he felt a chill. Bruce turned around to find

1613
01:47:15.119 --> 01:47:19.439
the candles were no longer lit. I didn't blow them out,

1614
01:47:19.960 --> 01:47:23.640
he told himself. He looked to the window but found

1615
01:47:23.640 --> 01:47:26.119
it shut, and thus ruled out that a gust of

1616
01:47:26.159 --> 01:47:29.880
wind had gotten through and blown them out. Yet he

1617
01:47:29.920 --> 01:47:34.359
had felt a chill. Bruce heard his name being called

1618
01:47:35.159 --> 01:47:43.960
and shrugged off the occurrence. Closing the door behind him,

1619
01:47:44.239 --> 01:47:49.640
The grandfather clock in Evans's living room sounded off. It

1620
01:47:49.720 --> 01:47:53.680
was two in the morning. Mark opened the front door

1621
01:47:53.720 --> 01:47:57.960
as quietly as possible to not alert his parents to

1622
01:47:58.039 --> 01:48:02.239
his late homecoming. He slid off his shoes and crept

1623
01:48:02.279 --> 01:48:05.439
into the house, making sure that he closed the door

1624
01:48:06.199 --> 01:48:11.000
as quietly as he opened it. Mark stood still while

1625
01:48:11.039 --> 01:48:13.279
he listened to the house and tried to pick up

1626
01:48:13.279 --> 01:48:19.279
on any sign of his parents. Nothing quiet as a

1627
01:48:19.399 --> 01:48:23.079
church the day after Christmas, He sighed in relief and

1628
01:48:23.159 --> 01:48:26.000
started to make his way to the kitchen. As he

1629
01:48:26.079 --> 01:48:30.880
walked towards the entrance, he saw that the light was on. Weird.

1630
01:48:31.239 --> 01:48:34.640
Somebody must have forgot to turn it off. He entered

1631
01:48:34.640 --> 01:48:38.520
the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks, mouth twisting

1632
01:48:38.560 --> 01:48:44.279
open in horror. The kitchen floor, normally a purlescent white,

1633
01:48:44.720 --> 01:48:49.439
was splattered with blood and viscera. Mark's eyes darted around

1634
01:48:49.439 --> 01:48:53.079
the kitchen to find the source of the mess. Eventually,

1635
01:48:53.680 --> 01:48:57.520
his eyes and feet took him to the source. On

1636
01:48:57.600 --> 01:49:01.800
the other side of the island was the Evan's dog, Scruffy.

1637
01:49:03.000 --> 01:49:06.720
The dog was torn completely open, with its organs piled

1638
01:49:06.760 --> 01:49:11.800
in front of it. Its blood everywhere. Mark doubled over

1639
01:49:11.880 --> 01:49:15.039
and vomited onto the floor, adding to the mess. He

1640
01:49:15.159 --> 01:49:18.279
continued heaving as his mind tried to make sense of

1641
01:49:18.319 --> 01:49:21.279
what he just saw. Who would do such a thing

1642
01:49:21.359 --> 01:49:26.520
to a poor dog, he asked himself. Then another thought

1643
01:49:26.640 --> 01:49:32.079
came Mom, Dad, the eldest of the Evan boys, found

1644
01:49:32.079 --> 01:49:34.680
his strength returning at the thought of his parents being

1645
01:49:34.760 --> 01:49:37.239
in danger. He jumped to his feet and made a

1646
01:49:37.279 --> 01:49:40.399
mad dash to the stairs and quickly found himself on

1647
01:49:40.439 --> 01:49:44.079
the second floor. Mark looked over at Bruce's door and

1648
01:49:44.159 --> 01:49:47.319
found it closed. He shook his head and carried on

1649
01:49:47.479 --> 01:49:51.000
down the hallway toward his parents room. The door was

1650
01:49:51.039 --> 01:49:55.479
wide open, with faint light illuminating it. Mark burst in

1651
01:49:55.560 --> 01:50:00.680
like a speeding bullet and found a scene much mud worse.

1652
01:50:02.239 --> 01:50:05.600
Splayed out on the bed were his and Bruce's mother

1653
01:50:05.680 --> 01:50:10.479
and father. Much like Scruffy, Their blood and organs were

1654
01:50:10.479 --> 01:50:14.399
all over the room. The mattress soaked so much it

1655
01:50:14.439 --> 01:50:18.039
was beginning to sink into itself. Mark held a hand

1656
01:50:18.119 --> 01:50:21.840
over his mouth as he went to investigate. He didn't

1657
01:50:21.840 --> 01:50:25.199
make it far before throwing up again. The sight of

1658
01:50:25.239 --> 01:50:28.880
their bodies having chunks of bone broken off triggering his

1659
01:50:28.960 --> 01:50:33.039
gag reflex. Unable to take more of the sight, Mark

1660
01:50:33.159 --> 01:50:40.239
vacated the room. Mom Dad, He choked out his vision.

1661
01:50:40.359 --> 01:50:44.359
Turned down the hall to Bruce's room. Mark found himself

1662
01:50:44.399 --> 01:50:48.199
almost gliding down to the door, only vaguely aware of

1663
01:50:48.239 --> 01:50:51.520
what was going on. At this point. He reached out

1664
01:50:51.880 --> 01:50:56.159
and turned the knob, watching as the door creaked open.

1665
01:50:57.159 --> 01:51:01.039
In the middle of the room sat Bruce, surround by

1666
01:51:01.119 --> 01:51:07.079
lit candles. Before him was a large chunk of bone.

1667
01:51:07.359 --> 01:51:10.680
Painted on it were the letters of the alphabet and

1668
01:51:10.840 --> 01:51:17.119
various numbers, all of them painted in blood. Bruce was

1669
01:51:17.199 --> 01:51:20.880
covered in blood head to toe a bread knife sitting

1670
01:51:20.920 --> 01:51:28.479
beside him. Bruce Mark started in fear. Bruce looked up

1671
01:51:28.479 --> 01:51:35.479
at his brother and smiled a little. Hi, Mark, what

1672
01:51:35.479 --> 01:51:39.760
what have you done? Mark asked his brother. I did

1673
01:51:39.760 --> 01:51:43.239
what you said to do. I killed them all, and

1674
01:51:43.319 --> 01:51:45.520
I've made the board out of their blood and bodies.

1675
01:51:46.359 --> 01:51:49.319
I have a question that needs to be answered. This

1676
01:51:49.520 --> 01:51:54.880
is the only way, Bruce explained, I would have answered

1677
01:51:54.920 --> 01:52:00.039
it for you. Mark said, no, you wouldn't have. He

1678
01:52:00.079 --> 01:52:02.239
would have made fun of me, belittled me, just like

1679
01:52:02.279 --> 01:52:07.560
everybody else would. Besides, he wouldn't care anyways. I'm just

1680
01:52:07.600 --> 01:52:11.680
a toy to you, Bruce told his older brother. Mark

1681
01:52:11.800 --> 01:52:15.720
stared at his now ghoulish and psychotic little brother. He

1682
01:52:15.760 --> 01:52:18.880
had no way to answer him. Mark could only start

1683
01:52:18.920 --> 01:52:23.840
to slowly move towards Bruce. What Bruce said wasn't untrue

1684
01:52:24.119 --> 01:52:27.159
to some extent. Mark had to admit that he did

1685
01:52:27.159 --> 01:52:29.960
make fun of and bully him, but Bruce being a

1686
01:52:30.000 --> 01:52:34.640
toy to him was totally not true. It couldn't be,

1687
01:52:35.079 --> 01:52:38.640
he told himself. He remembered asking his parents for a

1688
01:52:38.680 --> 01:52:42.239
little brother to play with constantly. A lot of people

1689
01:52:42.239 --> 01:52:45.840
did that, though, Was it really that selfish to ask

1690
01:52:45.920 --> 01:52:49.039
for a sibling? Yet there was the fact that he

1691
01:52:49.079 --> 01:52:52.039
would shrug off Bruce to do stuff with his friends

1692
01:52:52.399 --> 01:52:55.520
or on his own. It was something Mark did evermore

1693
01:52:55.640 --> 01:52:59.000
so as the years went on. Maybe he had used

1694
01:52:59.000 --> 01:53:01.960
his little brother as a place and Bruce just never

1695
01:53:02.000 --> 01:53:08.399
got to feel loved and wanted. Bruce. Mark started, It's

1696
01:53:08.439 --> 01:53:12.880
not done yet, his little brother said. Suddenly, Mark stopped

1697
01:53:12.880 --> 01:53:16.960
in his tracks. What do you mean I still need

1698
01:53:16.960 --> 01:53:22.800
the planchette, he responded. What Mark asked, I believe you

1699
01:53:22.920 --> 01:53:26.720
called it the pointer thingy earlier. I still need it,

1700
01:53:27.319 --> 01:53:32.319
Bruce explained, cautiously, Mark walked up to Bruce and knelt down.

1701
01:53:32.800 --> 01:53:35.760
He placed a hand on one of Bruce's shoulders and

1702
01:53:35.880 --> 01:53:40.439
gave him a small smile. His little brother returned the smile.

1703
01:53:41.800 --> 01:53:44.399
The head of a hammer cracked against the side of

1704
01:53:44.439 --> 01:53:47.479
Mark's head. A second later, Mark fell to the floor

1705
01:53:47.600 --> 01:53:50.800
and started spasming as he looked at his brother and

1706
01:53:50.920 --> 01:53:54.399
Bruce's hand was the hammer. He moved on his knees

1707
01:53:54.439 --> 01:53:58.479
over to Mark and smiled down at him. Now, then

1708
01:53:59.279 --> 01:54:03.399
let's play big brother. Bruce raised the hammer and quickly

1709
01:54:03.439 --> 01:54:07.239
brought it down against Mark's head again and again and

1710
01:54:07.279 --> 01:54:11.199
again and again. The repeated blows broke into Mark's skull.

1711
01:54:11.319 --> 01:54:14.800
More and more bones chipped and then broke, while blood

1712
01:54:14.840 --> 01:54:18.560
and brain matter flew into the air. Bruce carried on

1713
01:54:19.000 --> 01:54:22.359
hammering his brother until he felt the hammer's head smashing

1714
01:54:22.880 --> 01:54:27.760
against the floor. The now lone Evans tossed his weapon

1715
01:54:27.840 --> 01:54:31.640
aside and picked up a piece of Mark's broken skull.

1716
01:54:32.399 --> 01:54:35.600
He smiled and went back to the gruesomely made Ouiji board.

1717
01:54:36.239 --> 01:54:39.359
Bruce set the makeshift planchette on top of it, keeping

1718
01:54:39.359 --> 01:54:43.479
his hand placed on it as well. Trembling. He fights back,

1719
01:54:43.600 --> 01:54:50.399
smiling in excitement and closes his eyes. Oh, spirits, if

1720
01:54:50.439 --> 01:54:55.359
you're here, come to me, he cries out. The flames

1721
01:54:55.399 --> 01:54:58.279
that danced on the tips of the candles shot up wildly.

1722
01:54:58.760 --> 01:55:01.399
Bruce's hand lost its gripped on the planchette, and he

1723
01:55:01.479 --> 01:55:03.760
watched as it started to move around the board at

1724
01:55:03.760 --> 01:55:07.279
a frantic pace. His eyes darted with the piece of skull,

1725
01:55:07.520 --> 01:55:10.880
only slowing down when it did. The planchet came to

1726
01:55:10.920 --> 01:55:15.159
a crawl as it began to spell something out m

1727
01:55:16.239 --> 01:55:26.359
oh l oh c h mollick. Bruce spelled, and then said.

1728
01:55:27.239 --> 01:55:29.880
A gust of wind went through the room and blew

1729
01:55:29.880 --> 01:55:33.800
out the candles. Afterwards, the board began to glow red,

1730
01:55:34.640 --> 01:55:39.359
first lightly and then blindingly. A moment later, the light

1731
01:55:39.520 --> 01:55:43.760
was gone, and its place was a person. A snap

1732
01:55:43.800 --> 01:55:47.920
of his fingers lighting the candles once more. Bruce stared

1733
01:55:47.960 --> 01:55:51.479
at the stranger who now stood in his room. They

1734
01:55:51.520 --> 01:55:54.600
had black hair that reached down to their shoulders, curled

1735
01:55:54.640 --> 01:55:58.479
all along the way. The clothing they wore reminded Bruce

1736
01:55:58.520 --> 01:56:02.079
of the costumes people would wear in plays based on Shakespeare.

1737
01:56:03.199 --> 01:56:06.239
They were colored in a swirl of black and navy

1738
01:56:06.319 --> 01:56:09.680
and red. Most striking of all was the face of

1739
01:56:09.720 --> 01:56:13.479
the stranger. Their features were well defined and gave off

1740
01:56:13.479 --> 01:56:17.079
the appearance of a man, while the candles made it

1741
01:56:17.159 --> 01:56:21.920
hard to fully tell. Their skin looked ashen. Yet what

1742
01:56:22.039 --> 01:56:26.319
drew the most of Bruce's attention or the eyes. They

1743
01:56:26.359 --> 01:56:33.720
were colored dark amber, but somehow shimmered. Who who are you?

1744
01:56:34.479 --> 01:56:39.680
The boy asked, I am Mollik. You called for my presence.

1745
01:56:40.640 --> 01:56:45.159
The entity, now identifying themselves as Molok, answered, it worked,

1746
01:56:45.199 --> 01:56:50.439
Then I did it, Bruce exclaimed in glee. Molik smirked

1747
01:56:50.479 --> 01:56:54.039
slightly at the excitement of the child. What do you

1748
01:56:54.159 --> 01:56:59.800
desire my services for? They asked. Bruce looked up at Molik.

1749
01:57:01.039 --> 01:57:04.439
I have a question I need answered, he said, solemnly.

1750
01:57:05.800 --> 01:57:13.840
What is it? Why? Why am I here? Bruce asked timidly.

1751
01:57:14.800 --> 01:57:18.000
Molick looked down at the boy. They placed a hand

1752
01:57:18.039 --> 01:57:22.760
on Bruce's head and closed their eyes. The pair stood

1753
01:57:22.800 --> 01:57:29.640
there in quiet, Bruce looking at the entity while Mollik concentrated. Soon,

1754
01:57:29.760 --> 01:57:35.000
Molick opened his eyes and stared into the boys. I

1755
01:57:35.039 --> 01:57:40.479
have seen your mind, your soul, your entire being. I

1756
01:57:40.560 --> 01:57:44.560
can answer your question with the utmost clarity, they explained,

1757
01:57:45.800 --> 01:57:52.640
and Bruce questioned, you are here? You exist to work

1758
01:57:52.680 --> 01:57:57.640
for me. I have seen your work, and I quite

1759
01:57:57.720 --> 01:58:04.279
enjoy it, really, Bruce said, surprised and delighted that somebody

1760
01:58:04.439 --> 01:58:08.760
liked something he did. Molik knelt down and put their

1761
01:58:08.800 --> 01:58:12.960
hand on Bruce's shoulder. You and I were meant to

1762
01:58:13.000 --> 01:58:16.319
work together, my child, and you and I are going

1763
01:58:16.359 --> 01:58:23.560
to do such wonderfully lurid things together, Molik explained. Bruce

1764
01:58:23.640 --> 01:58:27.920
smiled widely in joy and wrapped his arms around Molik

1765
01:58:28.000 --> 01:58:32.359
in a hug. The entity returned the embrace, their face

1766
01:58:32.520 --> 01:58:43.960
twisting into a devilishly macobre smile and their eyes glowing intensely. Well,

1767
01:58:44.159 --> 01:58:48.680
my spookies, I guess we made it back. But the

1768
01:58:48.720 --> 01:58:54.600
woods are still watching, the barn is still standing in

1769
01:58:55.359 --> 01:59:01.720
somebody's memory, and some questions may be safer without answers.

1770
01:59:02.680 --> 01:59:09.000
Tonight proved that every local legend begins somewhere, every ritual

1771
01:59:09.199 --> 01:59:14.520
has a price, and every warning sign deserves a second look.

1772
01:59:16.359 --> 01:59:20.159
So make sure you're subscribed to Weekly Spooky on your

1773
01:59:20.199 --> 01:59:24.479
favorite podcast app. We bring you a brand new scary

1774
01:59:24.640 --> 01:59:31.760
story every single Wednesday and have for over four hundred wednesdays.

1775
01:59:32.479 --> 01:59:36.199
Also leaving us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts

1776
01:59:36.319 --> 01:59:40.199
or Spotify helps the show grow, and if you have

1777
01:59:40.279 --> 01:59:44.319
a spooky in your life who loves something scary all

1778
01:59:44.439 --> 01:59:49.760
year long, well share this with them. I do appreciate

1779
01:59:49.800 --> 01:59:54.159
it helping more horror fans find their way into our

1780
01:59:54.760 --> 02:00:00.359
dark little corner of the world. Until next time, stay

1781
02:00:00.399 --> 02:00:04.319
out of the forbidden woods, never steal a stop sign,

1782
02:00:04.399 --> 02:00:11.199
and please, whatever starts giggling behind you, do not turn

1783
02:00:11.279 --> 02:00:17.039
around until next time. Stay safe, spookies,