Cotton Candy

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Scary Story Podcast.

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I have two stories to share with you today.

[00:00:05] [SPEAKER_01]: The first story is about an employee who works by the sea.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And the second one is about a strange encounter by the fields while working at a bit of an

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_01]: unusual job.

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Edwin, and here is a scary story.

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Cotton Candy.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: It was another late night.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I was asked to stay here because of the new rules that the administrators asked from

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_01]: all the businesses around here.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Food and snack stalls which remain open until they close the pier for the night.

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Merchandise and services were allowed to close at the regular times.

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The owner was happy about it at first, but we soon realized that few people like to walk

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_01]: around through the fog and the cold of the night around here.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean who wants to walk all the way here just to get a burger or a donut?

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Eh, what am I saying?

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I know I'd do it.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_01]: 8pm used to be our closing time and by then I would have already wiped down the bench

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_01]: out by the edges of the wooden fencing that looked out into the darkness of the sea.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I like to turn off the lights early, that way I could at least see out into the water.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_01]: A strange thing right?

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Light makes us blind to the outside.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And I could do it too, because that was the last one there almost every night.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I would see those college students make their way here to get a donut, sometimes split one

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_01]: with one another, and just hang out by the fencing, dropping pieces of the sugary bread

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_01]: down into the water, and laughing with each other.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_01]: They used to lean on the wobbly posts, the same ones that were being used to

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: cut up guts from tiny fish that would later be used as bait by the old guys who were

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I wouldn't hose it down until closing time, and I thought about cleaning it before the

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_01]: other customers got there, but I lost track of time and never got around to it.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I was waiting for them, I knew they came down on Fridays and sometimes Thursdays.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_01]: They had gotten to know me as Ryan, and I don't know where they got that name,

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_01]: but it stuck and I just never corrected them.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I should have been in school too.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_01]: That was about their age.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's where the unknown grudge I felt toward them stemmed from.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_01]: But there was lots of things to think about out there, being alone under a buzzing lamp,

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_01]: my only job seemed to be waving the flies away from the counter and turning on the

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_01]: generators when the power went out.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Though even that was hard for me to do.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd get caught up staring out into the dark water and thinking about lots of things.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Everything except burgers and donuts.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But there I was standing as if ghost customers were lining up to order the owner's latest fancy

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_01]: donut, the sprinkler, when I heard footsteps approaching.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd gotten good at this and from the sound of it, it was a woman, a younger girl,

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, someone light.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_01]: But there was that other squeaky sound and where was that coming from?

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: It bumped every few seconds, then more squeaking and then it stopped and then kept approaching.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I leaned over the counter to look over to the right where the sound was coming from.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_01]: But it got me again.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I heard the voice of Gus, the custodian of the place from the left.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_01]: That darn echo always made me look the other way.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Cotton candy please, he said, laughing to himself as he always did,

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01]: lighting a cigarette and leading against his cart.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_01]: It was early this time or was it really closing time?

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked at the clock, the spring forward or fall back, the whole time change arrangement

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_01]: thing we have to do once or twice a year really confused me.

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_01]: It was closing time.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I said hi to Gus, completely ignoring the time since I had nothing better to do anyway.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Plus, Gus always had news about something he read or something he made up.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_01]: It was nice to talk to other people in such a lonely place.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I could tell he really liked to waste his time at the snack bar too.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_01]: He sometimes greeted me with that cotton candy line.

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Cotton candy please, I just laughed at it, not really getting the joke.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't care. He would crawl under the counter until I could barely see his eyes

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: right above it and then he'd slap a penny or a button or whatever he had in his pockets

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_01]: against the counter. Cotton candy please, and then he started laughing until he coughed.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I tried to follow along with this joke once. I think I said we don't sell cotton candy

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_01]: here sir but he just stood up saying no I know and kept laughing.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think he got that I had no idea what he was talking about.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: He talked about the new schedule until I asked him if he wanted a burger.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Without waiting for his answer, I threw two of them in the microwave and started it up.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Then I went under the counter to turn on the hose to clean the benches

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_01]: in our section of the fence. Gus reached through the microwave and leaned over to

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: pickles and onions, his usual. He complained a little about the rules,

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_01]: his voice muffled by both the burger in his mouth and the sound of the hose.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_01]: He was now supposed to stay out there longer than usual cleaning up after everybody.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_01]: His main complaint was with the ice cream shop on the other side of the block of stores.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_01]: People drop cones and ice cream between the cracks with the wooden planks all the time.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: The new employee didn't clean them up right away, so they would stick.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And that task fell onto Gus. I didn't know many people who work there.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Most were super friendly though at least during the day, but once the customers were gone I think

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: we all suffered from the same post-customer depression symptoms. Or maybe it was the fog

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and temperature of the evening. Watching the sunset by yourself always served as a reminder

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_01]: that you wasted another day. Well, for me it did.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Gus kept talking this whole time but I only heard the last part.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_01]: She's real pretty though. You should talk to her man.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked up at Gus with excitement, trying to hide it of course.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Lock up or just leave it like that. She's right there still. I'll introduce you.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I hesitated but I was also numb by the day, so I just closed the faucet and wiped my hands down

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_01]: on the towel over my shoulders. What's our game plan? He asked. Game plan? No Gus,

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just there to say hi. Ask for cotton candy. Do it.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_01]: There we were. Two adults getting all giddy over some girl I'd never met.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_01]: It was fun, I'll admit. I'd rarely get those hints of excitement but it was always thanks to

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_01]: people like Gus who pushed me into situations like that. I could see the light of the ice cream shop

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_01]: up ahead and it was a surprisingly dark part of the pier. I used to walk through the bus stop

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_01]: through my own side and almost never saw this area except during the day where my friend

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_01]: used to work by the welcome booth. Are you gonna do it? Gus asked. Fine I said to Gus. He was talking

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_01]: about the cotton candy thing. We were trying to be as quiet as possible when we stepped up by the

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01]: shop when Gus suddenly cleared his throat, interrupted by a scream coming from the ice cream shop.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: We both stood up as she skipped around letting another scream and covering part of her face.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Tears had built up on her eyes but not released yet. She had that ridiculous pink and white

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_01]: mage dress that made employees wear, but the white cap over her dark black hair made up for it.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_01]: She turned around to grab a paper towel and apologized, saying sorry through her tears and

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_01]: running nose. Sir how are you? She said, stuttering. She directed her attention toward

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Gus and then looked at me. Clearing her throat she said hi. All three of us stood there until

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Gus asked what happened and if she was okay. It's dumb she replied sorry but sir can you

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_01]: help me with the lock? She asked Gus holding a key and the enormous lock for the front window.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I had to use the same one. Hey uh you work here too right? She said looking at me.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I stood there awkwardly until Gus nudged my arm. Yes he works here at the snack shop or on the corner.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: What happened? He asked again. I'm so sorry she said it's really dumb.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Then her eyes filled with water again. Then she said I saw her for the first time I saw

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_01]: the expression on Gus's face change like he wasn't smiling for an instant. Where? Here? He asked.

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_01]: She came up to the window like everyone said she would.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Gus looked at me. I had no idea what he was talking about but he looked at me as if I did

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_01]: reaching out to tap my arm. Everything, the girl continued. The wet hair, the dirty dress,

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: the tapping of the shoes. I was cleaning up the inside like the manual says.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I kept the cash register open until last like it says right here in case the customers get here

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_01]: late. There was nobody, nobody came. I sat here listening to the water hitting the posts

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_01]: underneath me. When I heard someone coming that was us Gus interrupted. No before you guys.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_01]: She tapped her shoes and dragged her feet and tapped her shoes again.

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_01]: She was singing something or whistling I don't know. I saw her. I stood up and waited for someone

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_01]: to come up to the counter. I knew my lines welcome to the ice cream wave what can I get

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_01]: for you right? But all I saw was a tiny hand reach out and splash water right into the counter.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_01]: And I heard a coin against it. But there was nothing when her hand left it.

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked at her. Her eyes were so dark. Missing. I think they were missing.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_01]: She had two ponytails wet and they were sticking to her neck.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Part of her face was hidden but I saw the gashes everything.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll lock up right now please can you just stay? I'll keep an eye out Gus said to me

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and walked away toward my snack bar. Help her out I'll wait for you back there.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Gus shook his head in his arms as if trying to shake off a spider talking to himself saying

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_01]: things like oh my goodness and creepy and other words like that as he walked away.

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I grabbed the lock and asked her to make sure that the displays were off,

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_01]: that the floor was clean and that the cash form was signed. You know since she was new.

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_01]: She looked at me and nodded. Her tears were gone but her nose was pink now.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I asked her to make sure she had signed out and taken the keys with her.

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_01]: She showed them to me and squeezed out of the counter without lifting up the door.

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: She'd figure it out eventually I thought to myself, feeling a little sorry for her.

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I squeezed the lock and turned the key and it popped open.

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what she was having trouble with and chuckled, asking if she could try it and then

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_01]: she got it to work. She closed the wooden door over the window and locked it up,

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_01]: asking which way to the snack bar. We started walking along in silence but

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_01]: just before we turned the corner she grabbed my arm and leaned closer. We both heard it.

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_01]: The shoes tapping, the dragging against the wooden planks,

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_01]: coming closer behind us. I turned around. There was no one there.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Startled I put my hand behind her back and pushed her alongside me toward the lamppost

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_01]: that was waiting for us around the corner. From behind us we both heard her voice.

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I felt her shaking as we got closer to the lit area. Suddenly erasing everything past

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_01]: those wooden posts of the pier. Goss had referenced her. Everyone knew the story.

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Everyone except for me.

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_01]: A few claimed to have seen her, Goss being one of them.

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_01]: After being there for so many years he had heard about her and had even gotten interviewed about it.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: He had the newspaper clippings on his storage locker I heard.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_01]: A girl from the pier. Given a quarter by her parents to buy just one thing.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: In her excitement she ran through the crowds away from her parents to find

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: her favorite thing in the world. She zig-zagged past the popcorn carts in the fisherman's buckets.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_01]: She squeezed past the posts of the pier that she didn't know

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: led straight into the water. She gripped her quarter as she splashed into the waves.

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_01]: She did not survive. But they say she still walks around here.

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Cotton candy, please. The next story will continue right after this.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_01]: From the pier by the sea we'll move to a house that sits on empty fields.

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Well at least we were told it would be empty.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Here is 14 hours. When I picked up a job taking care of a house,

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know it was a thing. People with lots of money, well I'm assuming so because of their

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_01]: huge homes. Give you money to stay at their houses while they go on vacation.

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes you feed their cats and dogs and you get access to the entire place.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_01]: And the refrigerator. The first time the owner met me outside of a grocery store and asked if I

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_01]: wanted to shop around because the house was running low on stuff. She asked me to purchase

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_01]: enough for a week but if it was more that it wouldn't be a problem because the food

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_01]: doesn't go to waste in their home. Honestly I got a little worried because I was really low on cash.

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_01]: She quickly cleared up that it was her that was paying for everything, obviously.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Right, obviously. But I didn't know. I thought it was really nice of her and just got what I

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_01]: needed. She dropped me off at the house and parked her car then gave me the keys and

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_01]: then a taxi came to pick her up. Everything was fine, getting a check for just living.

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I did that for a few houses based on recommendations but for a while I thought I might make this my

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_01]: main work. So something made me change my mind. That and a few other gigs were amazing and simple

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_01]: but then I started taking jobs into more remote areas. Houses in the desert mainly,

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_01]: though there was a nice cabin in the mountains at one point.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_01]: See I arrived at another place and was told that there was plenty of food, internet and everything

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_01]: that I wouldn't have to worry about anything at all. It was around December and it would be

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_01]: the longest day I had done up to that point. About 45 days in a medium sized home in an

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_01]: enormous field with apple and avocado trees but I couldn't tell them apart and the entire

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_01]: thing looked bare. Like certain sections of it had burned down. There was one task apart from

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_01]: feeding boss, the dog, that made me feel a little uncomfortable. It was simple really,

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I had to go out into the fields and get to four different checkpoints.

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_01]: The owner or whoever took care of the place had set trail cameras to look out into the

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_01]: fields and they had given me a timer that I'd take with me and hang by the front door.

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: When the timer went off I needed to walk out there and switch the batteries, the memory cards and

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_01]: reposition them exactly as they were before. It was all written out formally on an laminated

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_01]: piece of paper as if other people had been tasked with the same thing before. The kitchen was

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_01]: lined up with paper cups and plates, canned food and it felt like a break room along with

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_01]: the stinky microwave and mop that looked like the ones that they have at restaurants

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_01]: but the yellow bucket with wheels. That's what made me wonder if the house was a place for living

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_01]: or just for workers who took care of the place. I'm not sure if you've been to a house with no

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_01]: decorations or where they tried to decorate it but they didn't do a good job of it so it just

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_01]: looked empty but that's what this place looked like. There were two bedrooms each with two beds,

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_01]: neatly done hotel style, a big television room with board games and magazines, a huge stack of books

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_01]: some even on the carpet and the huge bed for boss, a st. Bernard who just plopped himself

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_01]: on there and got up only to walk me to the door and to go to his food and water bowls.

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_01]: There was an interesting thing about the timer. It went off every 14 hours

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_01]: which started off fine one in the morning and one in the evening

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_01]: but soon the thing started pinging in the middle of the night.

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The dog would get up and wait for me by the door where I kept my jacket

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and also the rain boots and a big flashlight along with literally a bowl of memory cards

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and a box of batteries. The boss would wait by the door until I opened it and then he

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_01]: stepped out into the porch and then plop himself down by the steps. He would look at me until I

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_01]: stepped out into the dark fields on my own. The first time I left right at midnight that was fine.

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I could hear the wind through the branches of the trees through the music playing on my earphones

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_01]: but it was later in the night when my mind started playing tricks on me. I started wondering

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: what the purpose of the trail cams were. Those vague instructions simply said to put

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_01]: the memory cards on a transfer device. Turn on the computer and click a few buttons.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_01]: The cards would then back themselves up to the computer and that was that.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I figured opening up videos of empty fields would be just as boring as it was for me to

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_01]: see them live so I simply finished up as soon as possible and either went back to Netflix or

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_01]: straight to bed. It was four in the morning when boss scratched at my door. The timer had

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_01]: gone off but sure enough I missed it and the dog knew it so I put on my boots by the door,

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_01]: got my stuff and stepped out into the fields again. It was unusually warm at that time.

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I figured it was just because it was closer to morning time but later reassess that.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Wasn't it supposed to be colder before dawn?

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I walked down the main pathway directly in front of the house and into the trees.

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_01]: The first camera was about five minutes into the field tied to a tree and pointing away from the house.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_01]: As I stepped between the trees I could feel something was off. It was too quiet.

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I was almost by the first camera when I heard a branch snap above me

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and I immediately heard boss barking non-stop from the front porch.

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked up and could tell apart a small shadow, an animal of some sort.

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_01]: But when I aimed a flashlight at it, it was gone.

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked back down at the camera and switched the battery and memory card

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_01]: that moved on to the next one which was on the east side of the house,

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_01]: aimed away from it. The third camera was the same way but the fourth camera was

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_01]: directly behind the house aimed at the back door. I could hear only my breathing and footsteps

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_01]: as I went in front of the camera from the back part of the house. When I heard it again,

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_01]: something in the branches and the clockwork. Boss started barking again, growling non-stop.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked up and caught a glimpse of the shadow moving away from me.

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I heard another branch break. I quickly got to the camera and replaced the card and batteries.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I heard it once more. That's when I took off running toward the barking. Boss came running

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_01]: after me and I called his name hoping that he wouldn't confuse me with an intruder and bite me.

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_01]: But he ran past me, barking out into the field and then turning toward me before running back

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_01]: up next to me as I went around the house and toward the porch.

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I was shaking as I set the timer again for 14 hours and placed the memory cards into the device.

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Boss was still next to me when I opened up the program on the computer and the files

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_01]: started loading. That's when I got the dumb idea to click on one of them.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_01]: See, those cameras only record when there's movement in front of them with night vision.

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Surely it would have caught what I had encountered.

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So I clicked on the footage for the camera, camera number four, and I started playing.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And there it was. A squirrel right in front of the camera.

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I felt relief immediately when I saw it eating something from the ground,

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_01]: holding onto it with both of its paws. But then it perked its ears and froze in place.

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_01]: That's when the long fingers of a hand appeared from above the frame and slammed the squirrel into

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_01]: the dirt. Then a long thin arm reached and scooped up the limp squirrel.

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_01]: The shadow of the long creature zoomed past the camera as dust flew around in front of it.

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: From the center of the frame now I could see a soft light in the distance.

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I watched completely frozen as I saw myself walk up to the camera.

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_01]: A long tall shadow directly behind me.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Hiding between the trees, it jumped up and snapped the tree bridge.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_01]: It was surreal to see what was hiding in the dark through that camera.

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Suddenly the phone on the desk rang. I hadn't heard it during this whole time.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey we had an issue with the transfer of camera number four.

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Can you try again? I agreed and hung up.

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I stopped watching the file and just clicked the transfer button.

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I asked for a replacement for my stay blaming it on a personal reason that I had to leave.

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_01]: They had no problem with that.

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I got my stuff together and said goodbye to Boss the next day.

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Something he was probably used to.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_01]: This was Scary Story written and produced by me, Edwin Covarrumies.

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_01]: You can stay updated with this and other shows that I make by going to scarystorypodcast.com.

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_01]: You can get notified by email to become the first to know when new episodes come out for free.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Also I want to share a podcast recommendation with you.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_01]: It's called One Strange Thing.

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_01]: The first episode I listened to was about a strange noise that was reported officially

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_01]: but was long forgotten known as The Hum.

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Just my type of podcast.

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Here I'll let you hear more about it directly from its host, Laura Norton,

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_01]: as I take a step back. Until next time, thank you very much for listening.

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's Laura.

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: They all have something in common, a single element that can't quite be explained.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Laura Norton. Join me on One Strange Thing and you'll hear about bizarre events

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_00]: that unfolded in our country's local newspapers but never made it much further than that.

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_00]: No matter the place or the people, One Strange Thing brings you stories

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_00]: that are very real and just a little otherworldly.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.