[Music] the summer of 2020 was unlike any that I'd ever known a bleak expanse where the worlds seem to shrink and time to stretch our community had shut down in a way that felt almost biblical a plague of isolation the streets were abandoned the parks Ghostly and the very essence of human interaction felt like a relic of a forgotten era the town that I lived in didn't get hit super hard by Co but it sure acted like it jobs were dissolved overnight and by and large everybody was told to stay indoors and this was just
for those first three months Cabin Fever had me clawing at the walls of my sanity and the only thing left that wasn't explicitly forbidden was walking so I walked I walked through the suburbs through Parks through the woods just outside of town hoping that the trees might offer some Solace from the oppressive silence the few stores that were allowed to be open became regular destinations and if I didn't need to hit the store I just wander on by by keep exploring honestly that walk quickly turned into the notion of hiking I needed to be outside
and this was the only way I could do that one week melted into the next the trails became My Sanctuary by the time a month had passed I'd mapped out routes in my mind each New Path offering a resprite from the suffocating sense of confinement I found a particular joy in the Cadence of my footsteps against the forest floor the rustle of leaves like Whispers from a more forgiving world the summer wore on I felt the itch for something more a challenge a test a trail long enough to feel like a real journey most of
my walking was done around town but as I branched into forests and hillsides I knew I wanted to swap it out for the Wilderness that's when I decided to tackle my longest hike yet a 10mi loop that would take me deep into the middle of nowhere I woke up early the sun just beginning to cast its own light on a world still swaddled in Morning Dew the trail head parking lot was empty the silence amplifying my own nervous excitement I was expecting it to be pretty busy but the second I saw that Barren parking lot
I knew I'd be the only one out there I packed my gear meticulously water snacks a first aid kit and a map I glanced around noticing the absence of any other vehicle my thoughts flickered with a reminder to be cautious a solitary trekk into the wild required vigilance it was exciting to me at first but the more I thought about it the more I got kind of carried away with worry what if I broke my ankle what if I fall and hit my head I was on my own either way I set off with a
Brisk Pace the Rhythm my feet on the trail becoming this familiar Comfort 3 miles in the Solitude became my friend no longer an enemy the morning transitioned to noon and I was loving every second of it I allowed myself to wander a bit led into this sense of false security the woods were thick and unyielding and soon I found myself stepping off the trail into an Uncharted part of the forest territory that seemed both alien and intriguing there's a stone Peak jutting out over the tree line and the longer I walk toward it the more
I wanted to get up close and see it for myself from what I could see I'd have to venture off the trail for maybe 2 miles walk in a straight line for the mountain feature it was pretty open just rolling Dusty bad lands with some tree thickets here and there I knew at the base level it would be a bad idea but I was feeling confident so I just continued on with my mission it was in this desolate part of the woods that I first noticed the weirdness a pair of wornout shoes lay discarded near
the base of a ravine their laces Tangled like a junk drawer next to them a couple of folded shirts fluttered in the breeze my curiosity was peaked but I dismissed it as remnants of day Trippers who just had too much fun I continued toward the distant mountain peak that had caught my eye earlier the terrain grew increasingly rugged and the Oddity of the abandoned clothing seemed to fade into the background as I focused on that Jagged Peak ahead of me and that's when I noticed something peculiar in the dirt now strange lines and patterns almost
as if something had been dragged through the Earth my initial Intrigue turned to unease as these lines stretch further and further guiding me away from any anything recognizable of a trail and deeper into the Wilderness what could these be I thought maybe snakes or worms at first but there was just too many grooves there would have had to been dozens of them in the dirt to make all that next I thought maybe a plant feature of some kind but nothing really made sense the only thing I could think of were tumble weeds looking around I
didn't sing a single one my sense of adventure began to wne as I followed these disturbing marks my footsteps soft on the uneven ground the lines twisted and turned leading me on a path that seemed to stretch into Infinity after what felt like a mile and a half I finally spotted movement ahead the sight made my heart pound with a mixture of fear and curiosity I looked down at my boots to make sure those weird little lines were still there nestled into the edge of an embankment I dared to peek over there in the distance
I saw them men dusty and dirty gathered in what seemed like to be a makeshift ceremonial Circle along that Ridge line their clothes were tattered faces obscured by Grime and shadows they moved with a deliberate almost ritualistic Precision lifting Center blocks over their heads in this repetitive motion the loocks had something written on them but they were too far away for me to decipher anything my pulse quickened as I observed that spectacle a knot of dread tightening up in my stomach the men chanted in unison their voices a low droning murmur that seemed to resonate
with the Earth as they lifted the blocks again and again the leader or what seemed like the leader of the group walked among them a slender menacing figure wielding a thin sharp instrument he struck their backs and chest with it drawing blood that glistened in the harsh sunlight the hell was all this they continued to push themselves lifting the block while the leader hollered and whipped them with his lash they only wore pants and shorts no shoes or shirts now I remembered those discarded clothes back closer to the trail the mystery was starting to make
sense the rest of this had me shaken in my core I felt a cold sweat break out on my forehead the men's cries of pain pierced the Eerie quiet of the Wilderness a shiver of horror quickly crept down my spine my instincts were screaming at me to leave run as far as I could from this grotesque scene as fast as possible I turned my movements awkward and hurried desperate to retreat back to the relative safety of that trail I tried to be quiet but speed was my main focus but the path back was not so
simple I stumbled through the underbrush my mind a whirl of panic and disbelief the forest seemed to conspire against me branches reaching out like skeletal fingers it's a slow agonizing trick back to the familiar Trail each step a struggle as my heart pounded in my chest like some sort of caged animal behind me I could still hear them screaming up to the sky just as I emerged from the thicket was met by a chilling sight another group of men had now arrived at the Ravine removing their shoes and shirts they put them exactly where the
other clothes were they tied ropes around their waists each rope leading to a cinder block marked with hateful overlapping words they greeted me with nods and in solemn waves their faces etched with a grim resolve without a word they began their slow arduous Trek towards that mountain peak as they wandered off the ropes pulled tight I watched the cinder blocks dragging the dir behind them the sight of them determined grim and Sinister just [ __ ] burned into my memory I watched until they disappeared into the distance their figures growing smaller and smaller against the
backdrop of that towering Peak the forest fell silent again the unnatural quiet pressing down around me once more and then it was all gone the screams the whip the men like it never happened I never returned to that trail the woods which had once been a refuge from the confines of my home had become a place of Haunting memories and unspoken weirdness the men in their strange painful ritual remained this chilling mystery I for one had no desire to unravel it any further I kept to the marked paths from then on the sense of adventure
had now been replaced by this profound respect for the unknown and and a deep-seated fear of what might lie hidden in the middle of nowhere still to this day I can recall those sounds of the men's crying the Eerie chant The Haunting silence that quickly followed it's a Memory that refuses to fade a reminder that some corners of the world are best left unexplored in the end it just wasn't the isolation that frightened me but the terrifying unknown that lurked just beyond the safety of the path my childhood was spent amidst the wet green Embrace
of a small Midwestern town where rain was as regular as church bells on Sundays Summers Were A peculiar blend of heat and dampness and it was in this clammy weather that my fascination with mushrooms took root I became a self-proclaimed myologist devoting weekends to the endless tunt for fungi the discovery of a new species rare exotic or just plain odd was a thrill that no video game or classroom could replicate for me I started off in my front yard one morning while gunning for the bus stop I looked down and spotted a puff ball poking
out between the blades I literally could not believe it I became obsessed and started poking around in the little pockets of forest around my town all of them had something to learn about and within a year I knew most of my local species the cemetery inner Town though unusual became one of my favorite places to hunt it was a small plot perhaps a few Acres nestled within a larger patch of the forest the cemetery itself was meticulously kept but the surrounding Woods were a different story wild and Untamed they provided a perfect environment for mushrooms
to thrive and so I found solace and Adventure Among the Tombstones always searching for the next great find the grounds Keepers were used to me knew I was harmless so I just had free path to wander up and down the RADS One Summer morning right after a tremendous rainstorm I set out with a big bag slug over my shoulder and a deep sense of anticipation the storm had transformed the world into a Soden Wonderland I knew it would yield a bounty of mushrooms that day the air was thick with the smell of damp Earth and
decaying leaves a fragrance to me that was just as intoxicating as any perfume I couldn't wait to get the dirt underneath my fingernails as I filled my sack with one glorious mushroom at a time I wandered into that Cemetery did my usual scan of the area but didn't see anything right away decided to skip the cemetery and hit it on my return trip so I cruised through the grassy graveyard and made for The Back Fence as I approached that fence though I noticed that something was a miss the usually pristine grounds were littered with trash
beer cans scraps of paper and other debris I was baffled the cemetery was sacred ground meticulously maintained even the occasional Drinker who found their way here would have been swiftly shooted away I chocked it up to maybe a storm washing from somewhere else even though it unsettled me half of the trash was inside the cemetery the other half was all over the outside just beyond that fence someone had clearly thrown a party over on one side or the other then left the mess for everybody else to clean up I hopped the fence as usual the
metal Cold against my Palms the forest Had A peculiar Silence about it this morning broken only by the occasional squelch of my boots inside that muddy grass I zigzagged through the trees eyes scanning for the familiar caps and stems of my targets the mushrooms were Bountiful this morning each cluster seeming to beckon me deeper and deeper into the woods soon I reached the Far edge of the hill where I usually descended into the meadow but today I stopped to examine an unusual pile of objects discarded clothes a scattering of beer cans and something that looked
like a bundle of plastic baggies it was the kind of litter that just felt foreign in a place like this out of place ominous I glanced around nervously but driven by my compulsion to hunt I pushed that strange sight from my mind and just moved on in hindsight this was a very dumb thing to do this little Woodland outside the cemetery led to a creek that just ran out of town there was nobody in this area no Trails no dog walking paths I had literally never seen anybody else out here ever sudden evidence of somebody
drinking beer should have been a massive red flag for me but I continued on the meadow stretched before me the grass Lush and wild my eyes soon focused on a cluster of big brown bletes Treasures that I quickly and eagerly began to collect time slipped away as I followed the mushrooms deeper and deeper into the meadow their presence almost hypnotic my usual sense of direction and caution waned as I became completely immersed in the hunt I was caked in dirt and mud up to my elbows as I scurried around the grassland it wasn't until I
finally looked up that I realized how far ID actually wandered the once familiar terrain had become alien to me I found myself standing before a charred fire pit its Stones blackened and smeared with remnants of past Flames scattered around that pit were various items an empty bag some more beer bottles and small wooden figurines arranged in this odd pattern the most unsettling part of it all was the partially burned Ouija board that lay in the center the outer edges were scorched and curling but the Center The Heart of the board remained intact it stared up
at me the planet resting in its Center like a grim invitation a finger traced up my spine the mus mushrooms though still plentiful no longer seemed enticing I recognized at this point that something was seriously off the remains of that fire pit and the Ouija Bo just felt wrong like evidence of some kind of crime that I stumbled upon my instincts whispered for me to turn back the lure of those mushrooms was far too strong I continued up towards the creek my eyes darting around nervously up ahead I could see this huge porini I wanted
to NAB it before I turned back for home when I reached the last slope before the creek the site that met me was both horrifying and surreal a man was standing in the shallow water washing his face his clothes were torn and caked in what looked like dried blood the creek was murky but the Crimson stains were unmistakable body was thin and sinuate covered in prison tattoos that snaked around his limbs like these dark veins he continued to wash himself in the creek is back to me he reminded me of the dingy homeless guy from
the old Dennis the Menace movie long stringy hair grimy just out of place and strange I watched him for longer than I should have caught up in the shock of the moment I also understood this wasn't the movies I was a kid and he was a man if he decided to hurt me it' probably happen my heart raised pounding in my ears I froze unsure whether to call out or just Retreat before I could react though the man turned his head his eyes catching the Glen of the morning sun our Gaz is locked I saw
a spark of wild frantic rage in his eyes he almost looked just as surprised to see me as I was to him it almost made me laugh in the moment and for one Split Second I thought maybe this guy could be normal this this whole exchange could be normal and perhaps I was off the hook without a word he bolted from the water and began to chase me uphill Panic surged through me as I realized how wrong I was I dropped my sack of mushrooms the weight of them no longer registering I sprinted back uphill
toward the cemetery fence the only Sanctuary that I can think of the distance seemed unsurmountable every breath felt like fire in my lungs I glanced back seeing the man's gaunt figure slowly gaining on me his eyes were wide with Fury his screams raw and Primal echoing through the trees why the hell was he screaming it scared the [ __ ] out of me I actually thought I might pee my pants in the moment still desperation spurred me onward I hop to God he wouldn't keep Pace up the hill his howls grew louder a chilling soundtrack
to my desperate flight his rage was palpable each scream a reminder of the danger that pursued me my legs burned my mind a whirlwind of Terror I pushed harder my feet barely touching the ground as I reached the top of the hill I looked over my shoulder and saw my prayers have been answered he couldn't keep his Pace up such a steep incline I wasted no time and continued to bolt towards the fence that was the last realistic place that he could catch me could see the chain link just beyond the tree branches with the
final burst of energy i h myself over it my hands scraping against the rough metal I landed on the other side heart racing as I looked back the man was nowhere to be seen the silence that quickly followed was like nothing that I've ever experienced before true relief I didn't stop to catch my breath I joged through the cemetery my eyes scanning for any sign of that man my thoughts a chaotic mess of fear and just disbel I also kept an eye peeled for a groundskeeper really anybody I could get the attention of and let
them know that I was in danger no one came around though once I reached the other side of the cemetery I just sprinted for home when I arrived breathless and wide-eyed I told my parents what had just happened their faces were pale but their resp responses were practical they called the police but search yielded nothing shocking right the man was never found and the police could offer me no explanation they were out there and the stuff I spoke about was gone even my sack of mushrooms no empty baggies no beer bottles nothing like just everything
got sucked up into the sky both my parents and the police gave me these long talks their warnings were Stern but but feudal don't go out alone be careful they said it with the weight of Parental concern but it did little to alleviate the gnawing sense of dread that had settled deep in my gut how close to death had I just come to this day that incident remains one of the most terrifying experiences of my childhood the image of that bloodied man in the creek the remnants of that Ouija board and the Eerie Silence of
the forest haunt me the cemetery became a symbol of my brush was something dark and Sinister something that should have never been uncovered it's like the line between reality had gotten blurred out there and I crossed over into a time when something else was going on as I was the only one who saw it I know it sounds crazy and unbelievable but hey it's my story and it happened in 2006 I was driving a flatbed I picked up a load of construction materials in rural Tennessee my memory is pretty foggy now but I want to
say it's between Memphis and Nashville but closer to the intersection of Mississippi Alabama and the Tennessee state lines there's just some random stuff for a house drywall Roofing and a shitload of prepackaged flooring that I had to use every tie down strap I had to keep from sliding off the back tarps are required so I strapped everything down tarped the load and left the shipper about 5 miles down the road in the middle of nowhere woods on a two-lane road I noticed my tarp is flapping in the wind I find a wide shoulder and pull
over to fix it I realized I just did a shitty job tarping on this load and decide to redo it on the side of the road right now I undo all the bungee straps drag the tarps off and roll them back up climb back up on the load and start unrolling the tarps that's when I see a guy walking down the same road that I'm on coming towards my truck this guy's clearly down on his luck empty-handed unclean with a far off stare in his eyes I take stock of my location remember that I'm 10
20 mil down deep into a public Forest winding my way towards the drop off location there aren't any houses or cabins out here maybe there could be day hikers or campers but either way this guy was alone on the road so clearly something was off I don't think about it other than just to keep an eye on him cuz again I'm in the middle of nowhere and just continue what I'm doing about the time that I have the tars set back in place I'm climbing down to start hooking the bungee straps back on this dude
is now getting close enough that I'm paying more attention to him I grabbed my winch bar set it on the trailer where I'm working just in case it's an 8 lb solid metal bar about 4 ft long tapered to a blunt point on one end and a hollow opening on the other it's used for tightening straps and Chains It's A Bad Mama jamb out there on the road if you need it the guy gets to me finally and the first thing that I notice is his hair it's like a mullet but it's really patchy like
he tried to cut his own hair and then had a seizure in the process and said [ __ ] it looks good enough to party the next thing that I noticed were his eyes which I can really only describe to you as off like they were clear but I didn't think he was drunk or high or anything it just gave me the distinct impression that the elevator didn't go all the way up if you know what I mean his clothes were dirty and not wellmaintained dirty white tennis shoes I remember he didn't have any laces
on one shoe and the tongue was noticeably out of place he stops by me Waits until I acknowledge Him and just says I got a long walk I'm like yeah man you do we're in the middle of nowhere making it clear there's no ride to be had here he nods and starts walking by me continuing his way off he stops at about the driver door in my truck turns around and comes back to me repeats him himself I've got a long walk at this point I explain I cannot give you a ride I have insurance
it won't cover it all that apologize for not being able to help anymore he seems to accept this turns around and leaves I wait for him to get a little ways away from my truck and then start working on finishing the tarp job finally I still keep an eye on him he's still moving away as I'm putting the last of the bunge straps on I look over to check where he's at he's now turned around and headed back towards me I'd say about 100 yards in front of my truck coming back my way fast it
looks like he's talking on a cell phone he has his hands up to his face and I can barely make out his mouth moving his other hand waving like he's having a conversation with somebody I finished the straps grabbed my winch bar and hop down from my truck looking up as he's about 10 ft away now this catches me off guard a little bit I expected him to still have a little bit of a distance to cover I express as much literally telling the guy he scared me to death to which he kind of Just
Smiles and nods he hangs up his weird phone hand and then gives me his full attention I haven't done anything yet he starts telling me look man I I can't I started I know shut up he Chuckles you you can't give me a ride the hell did you just say to me he doesn't respond just takes a few confident steps forward I shrug and take my own and then I bring my winch bar up before me like a goddamn sword he doesn't even look at it he takes one more step then blows a handful of
sand in my [ __ ] eyes I was instantly blinded nearly dropped to a knee it's jarring I can hear his shoes scuffling around the dirt around me moving around the road I panicked and swung the bar a couple of times didn't connect with anything his footsteps got a little further away and then it dawned on me was going for the truck I reached down and slapped the fob in my pocket heard the audible click of the lock shifting into place damn it I was hoping you left those in the ignition he confessed to me
well I guess now I have to take them from you this went from bad to worse I quickly worked to get the dirt out of my eyes but it was no use it's caked in there good I would need water or eye drops to get my full vision back still I could see a little bit out of my right eye so I did my best to keep a beat on him as he stalked around he made a few lunges from my pocket both times I pushed him off but I felt his hands feeling up and
down my leg the third time I clocked him in the shoulder with the bar full contact he grunted hard and took a few steps back at that point my vision got bad again I took a couple of quick steps back towards my trailer at this point I couldn't hear him everything had gone silent quickly rubbed my eyes again as I rubbed at them I felt the trailer shift I realized he climbed up on it he was now going to get me from behind just as I stepped forward I felt his arm snake around my throat
thank God I felt that trailer shift when I did thankfully I was able to shrug him off and bolt to the truck I jumped inside and slammed the door shut as soon as I'm in the cab I locked the doors I sent the Wench bar on the passenger seat just in case I look around for the guy and realize he's not chasing me anymore he's talking to his [ __ ] hand again nervous because I still can't really see this psycho is screaming into his hand just 10 ft away I cranked my truck up put
it in gear and just pulled out didn't look for traffic or anything as I pass him he's looking at me still holding his hand to his face with this dead ass look on his face just staring that gave me the creeps about the time I hit fifth or sixth gear I looked in the mirror and he was no longer there I slowed down a mile or so down the road and completely cleaned my eyes out by the time I was done there was still no sign of him to this day that's the scariest [ __
] that's ever happened to me I reported it to the police and to my employers and of course nothing really came out of it I hope that guy got run over on his long walk and nowhere I was driving a truck modified into a huge bus in the deserts of central Australia I was over 500 km from the nearest town so yeah middle of nowhere stuff as I'm sure many of you know most of Australia is middle of nowhere the majority of the continent is uninhabitable and discouraged from even traveling through 80% of our population
is Coastal so if you decide to drive through the Outback you'll really only encounter other drivers not really any towns I was out on a 5-day Charter to pick up some Aboriginal Elder women and go and get their Women's Business health checks done papir mammograms Etc this is all necessary stuff for these women but they don't have access to anything of the sort inside the areas that they lived in there are doctors but very basic rudimentary ones nothing prepared to deliver Women's Health treatments on the day that I took them to get done what they
needed we went to a place called mavi so they could shop shop in the clothing stores and get whatever else is randomly inside this small little opal mining town of South Australia it's one of the few population centers close to these women that actually could provide for their irregular needs clothing a decent meal maybe even a luxury item like coffee whatever they didn't have back in the village they could easily find in matabi even though this town itself is known as a being a bit ramshackle we left from there late to make the 3-hour journey
back to where we were all staying overnight the next day I take them to their respective desert communities this was a job done purely for the community if somebody didn't come out to drive these folks overnight they would not have access to medicine or other modern conveniences the passengers all fell asleep as they' had a very long day and as I mentioned the ride back to what was essentially our hotel would take hours even the nurse who was traveling with us had fallen asleep the place that we stayed was something like a hostile for travelers
through the desert very cheap sparse rooms it had a place I could gas up the van and even check the tires it was a true Safe Haven out there in the outback so there's me all alone in the cab of a bus forged by the broken body of a Mercedes Fleet truck my 30 passengers all sleeping in the darkness of the riding pod right behind the cab I'd say it was around 9:00 p.m. I remember envisioning myself as the mother duck leading all her little ducklings along I did my best to just focus keeping my
eyes peeled wide my favorite music dribbling through the speakers around me anything to keep the van upright up ahead in the distance I see a headlight coming towards me along that lonely desert dirt road I dim my light so I could better see what was coming at me sometimes when you have high beams on especially at a distance it can actually obscure whatever it is you're trying to see see I drive down into a slight dip of the Dry Creek bed expecting to see that car with only one headlight anytime shortly it's nothing unusual to
see a car with only one headlight out here so I'm not even remotely bothered I don't know why I expected it to only have one light but I remember thinking it had to be the case this will make more sense in a moment as I come out of that dip I put my spotlights and high beams back on there's no car nothing just empty dirt road there's no dust in the air and I can see a good distance in front of me out to each side I was very clearly all alone my skin went slick
with icy sweat as I realized whatever I saw no longer existed that's why I thought it was a car with one light it was almost impossible to actually quantify whatever I saw told my brain it was just a car with the headlight out there's nothing there though just empty desert the dirt road and me alone in the cab I kept the bright lights on until we came to a stop an hour later I didn't see any cars or anything the rest of that journey I didn't want to wake anybody up either honestly thinking I was
just crazy in the moment just like I'm struggling to explain it to you now what would I have said to these women in the moment or even the nurse nothing I could have said would have made any sense to them so I just simply let them sleep we went through another dip in the high way and I thought I saw it for just a second a raging globe of light only 100 yard away and this time it was barreling right at the side of the bus it was coming on my side of the vehicle so
quickly that I actually braced thinking it would collide with my door sending us sliding across the road instead the glow came within inches so close I thought I could feel it through the glass and then simply winked out disappeared into nothing just like before I gripped the wheel with sheer force and made myself silently press on in the dark we arrived at the Hostile but before I let the passengers out I asked if any of them saw any lights they said no what light and I briefly explained what I saw they all go dead silent
and just exchange looks amongst themselves I waited and after a short while they start talking to each other in their own language hurriedly then they all got off the bus they all seemed frightened nervous wanted to get away from the vehicle and into the safety of the Hostile I didn't blame them and I didn't ask any more questions I just simply began my inspection of the bus a few minutes later a couple of the ladies came up to me asked me to tell them again exactly what I saw without leaving anything out describe it exactly
where I saw it too I told them every detail right down to the minute of the clock how I felt when I saw it and what I approximated the distance at every detail that I shared with them made the women wince more and more I could tell something was wrong now I'm a pretty big guy I've lived on three continents I've been a police officer a teacher a bus driver a coach a trucker all kinds of things let's just say I've seen a lot of the world and seen a lot of the things and so
I'm pretty skeptical that being said I do have an open mind and I'm not scared by much that is in this world after I told those ladies everything from start to finish and described it in minute-by-minute detail the two ladies looked at me with the whes showing in their eyes it look spooked and I'll never forget the way they said it I got along great with the indigenous people of central Australia and I trust that I know when something rattles them they said this driver we are so lucky that you did not stop because if
you did no one would have seen any of us ever again we'd all be gone I asked why they just shook their heads and said not to talk about it it had scared all the ladies they said it was a very old entity and had lived on the Australian continents for eons maybe even forever took this at face value didn't mention it again to any of the riters only when I got back to the city where I lived did I bring it up again I asked some friends and a few co-workers they laughed and just
said it was the menman lights I'm sure many people have heard about the menman lights in Western Queensland well whatever these ladies knew about and whatever I saw in our location they were convinced it was something that you did not want to meet in the desert late at night and frankly I believe them this wasn't something I'd ever heard of before and went on to learn that they were right it's one of the oldest myths in Australian history I only ever saw it once and only for a few minutes it looked like a car headlight
a couple of kilometers away up the road but I'll tell you what if the ladies that come from this area and whose people have survived inside this desolate remote part of the continent for 60,000 years are worried to the point of being scared I certainly don't want to mess with whatever the hell that was I had to drive home from DC to Nowhere Kansas after getting off active duty I didn't have anything but my car some clothes and my late Grandpa's old service revolver to my name I couldn't leave base until around 5:00 p.m. which
put me in West Virginia after dark my GPS decided to transfer me between highways via a few back roads in the meantime it just it's working no cell phone no GPS and it's dark in the boonies I figured I'd just call a night and find my way out from my Atlas in the morning I pull off a dirt road lock my doors and put my sun shades up on my windows and try to get some sleep it was a nice hatchback sleeper setup and I really really missed this car to this day I was just
starting to doze off when I heard footsteps on the gravel again I'm in the boonies the middle of bum [ __ ] nowhere I didn't really know what to think my first initial thought it's got to be an animal but the more I listened the less I know what to make of it I perk up it's definitely something on two legs and it's definitely getting closer I fumble around to get my sidearm without looking and while trying to peek through the shade just to catch a glimpse of anything it's completely black outside I can't see
a damn thing stars above but no moonlight just tall haunting trees in every direction I'm squinting for movement but there aren't even bugs in the air all the wildlife is silent and I can still hear footsteps circling my car my back passenger handle is pulled front driver driver rear and hatch silence I'm hoping they'll think it's abandoned and just [ __ ] off my heart is slamming in my throat hand white knuckling that revolver my true Saving Grace behind all these locked doors I know in my heart this guy is probably about to break a
window there's a good chance I'm going to blow the top off his head too I'm already past that I'm deciding if I should just call the police or leave I pull back the hammer on My Revolver and as soon as it clicks there's a pounding on the hatch glass I rip the sun shade down and see a man in an open plaid shirt just going to town on my window with his fists and eyes that I've only seen on a rabbit right before Slaughter bugging the hell out terrified whoever this guy was who scared shitless
like he needed inside the car we lock eyes and he just starts screaming not even words just straight up screaming so I immediately scream back that I'll blow his head off if he doesn't [ __ ] off right now he takes off to the rear of the car I bring the gun up and show him that I'm not joking he sees it freezes then starts pleading for me to kill it I look behind him and there isn't [ __ ] there so this guy has to be drunk or is on some kind of drugs he
goes back to banging on the glass screaming pointing at the gun then pointing over his shoulder although a couple of times he pointed right at his own head it's cats and dogs I just wanted to get away from him I catch my breath and climb into the driver's seat start the car just to get the [ __ ] out of here suddenly my window just explodes into nothing and he's grabbing on to me trying to yank me out of my car it was unbelievable terrified I felt awkward as [ __ ] as I cleared the
window I'm on the ground and he's kicking the [ __ ] out of me I'm scrambling trying to find my gun dropped it in the commotion it's nowhere to be seen and it's dark this guy's stomping on my hands and punching me in the head I couldn't believe how quickly the tables turned seemingly out of nowhere this random middle-aged guy comes charging out of the woods and decks the [ __ ] they tussle a bit I find the gun under the car and crazy guy one [ __ ] off and I draw down on crazy
2 he puts his hands up asking me not to shoot actually being pretty rational when I asked what he was doing out here this is is literally what he said to me well uh I'm not out here to [ __ ] spiders he explained he's out here on vacation in a cabin heard screaming and came to help I thanked him and just got out of there found a Walmart a few Towns over and slept underneath the Street Lamp I called my dad the next day to tell them that I'd be late because I had to
replace a window then explained what had taken place last night when he heard the spider thing he laughed and made made a joke about his dad always saying that because he had a bunch of Australian pilot buddies apparently it means like what the [ __ ] does it look like I'm doing now my Grandpa died before I was born and I'd actually never seen a photo of him aside from the service photo from when he was around 20 years old and remember I was carrying his service revolver during the danger so once I finally get
home I go to put my grandpa's gun back in my dad's lock box I almost [ __ ] my pants when I see a photo inside of my dad with a dude that saved me down to the close it was identical it had to be the same guy honestly the more I thought about it it was Pitch Black out there so I guess I can't be 100% sure about what he was wearing but still what the [ __ ] I flip it over and it's got my dad and Grandpa's names on it along with the
date of 1990 so I asked my dad when that picture was taken he said it's very very special it was taken the morning of my grandpa's accident now I'm not saying I believe in ghosts but it is a really weird coincidence the guy who saved me from a tweaker is a dead ringer for the guy whose gun I was trying to grab to protect me did my grandpa's ghost show up and cold clock that fell or was it the world's baddest middle-aged man on vacation coming out to Jason borne that fool the world and me
we'll never know hey everybody thanks for listening to stuck around to this point if you haven't yet please hit the like button the Subscribe button and that notification Bell to be notified when future episodes come out you can stalk me on Twitter and you can stalk me on Instagram check out my official website Booz and.net where you can find merch and submit your own scary story and follow me on all the platforms that I just that I just spoke about already and that is my speech thank you very much for listening I apologize to any
Australian listeners if I messed up any of those words and those stories because constantly with words so if I messed one of those up I apologize that was a fun story though and it makes me kind of want to do a whole episode on just Australian stories so I might have to reach out to Zach and see if uh cuz I'm for next month I'm coming up with topic ideas anyway so that might be one for next month that'd be pretty pretty sweet I think I'm going to do that one one and then uh I
think I want to kind of like intertwine solo camping solo hiking solo completely solo stories and not just do you know the regular Deep Woods camping and Hiking which is kind of a fan favorite it seems like for most people on my channel so I think I'm going to like gear towards just solo ones um but yeah uh I don't really know what else I was going to say other than oh yeah um now that my schedule is finally going good or back to some semblance of normal Tuesdays and Thursdays starting next week 100% no
matter what will be the upload schedule from now on from here until the end of time Tuesdays and Thursdays and then um uh if you're a subscriber or doing the the tier on YouTube for the $5 a month I've said this a million a billion times but I'm just going to do it and stop talking about it as much but you will 100% be getting at least one episode extra a month for those who support me with the $5 tier um so thank you very much for those who do and for being patient because I've
only uploaded like two or three things on there since I started it and I'm also in the midst of getting a patreon and going to have like finally have things like that for you guys to intermingle and we can actually talk and I can talk to you guys directly and we can get good topic ideas and just work stuff out and have cool like cool random live streams where we just hang out with just patreon subscribers I got a lot in the works um and I promise I'm done talking about it I'm just going to
[ __ ] finally do it now that I finally have time um but outside of that I think I'm done ranting and rambling I haven't done an outro in a little while so hopefully you enjoyed this episode and I'm looking forward to the future of this Channel and building and growing together and all that good stuff so I hope you guys have a fantastic weekend I will see you on Tuesday for I can't remember what the next topic is but I'll see you Tuesday I love you all cheers
