WEBVTT 1 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:15.400 Okay, in my never ending quest to do something new, I'm going to 2 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:20.399 do something I've never done before. I'm going to read the same story that 3 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:26.320 I received from a real person twice. The first version you're going to get 4 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:31.600 is the is exactly what I got in the email, and the second version 5 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:37.960 is going to be how Neoma edited it. Now. I'm not doing this 6 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:42.479 to make fun of this writer at all. You know, we all have 7 00:00:42.759 --> 00:00:47.799 gifts. Some people have the gift of you know, academics. And some 8 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:52.799 people are great with their hands. They're good wrenching on engines. Some guys 9 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:57.560 are good welders. Some people are great with numbers and their accountants and their 10 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:03.600 engineers, and some of the those people maybe don't have a real good feel 11 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:07.200 for how a story can flow, you know, a good way to make 12 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:11.879 a story flow. So this in no way is to poke Funt. You're 13 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:15.920 not gonna know his name, so he's not gonna be embarrassed. And if 14 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:19.959 he hears this, I don't remember when I got this, but I think 15 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:25.760 I just don't know when I got it. But I'm gonna show I'm gonna 16 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:29.239 you're gonna hear two stories, and I'm gonna show you what we do to 17 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:33.840 them. The first thing you need to know is we do not change what 18 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:38.959 happens in the story. We just make the story better. We just make 19 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:45.040 it told better. And you're gonna see what I'm talking about. And if 20 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:53.840 you're smart, if you're not one of these crazy Bigfoot extremist enthusiasts who have 21 00:01:55.159 --> 00:02:00.680 been sending me emails lately about me changing stories. I don't change any stories. 22 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:04.519 I just make them better. I make them flow so that you guys 23 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:07.560 can enjoy them. So I want you to tell me in the comment section 24 00:02:07.960 --> 00:02:14.879 which story that I'm about to read that you enjoyed better. And you're gonna 25 00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:21.879 see that nothing changes in the story. Everything is exactly the way he said 26 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:28.039 it. It's just told in a different way because that's what we do. 27 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:34.199 We try to give you good quality readings so that you can enjoy the story. 28 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:38.360 So enough talking. This is the original story that I got in an 29 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:45.919 email. Here's what There is zero punctuation in this email, so I'm just 30 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.240 gonna read it just like he's got it written. Do not use my name 31 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:53.199 or say my Gmail name, so my name is blank. He doesn't want 32 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:58.639 his name told. Let's begin. It was short while ago in September seventeenth, 33 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:01.400 twenty three, I was a little place that is the indoor range for 34 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:05.400 archery. I do archery and I think I'm pretty good at it. And 35 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.759 it was around two pm. It was nice out, and it was an 36 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:13.039 old building and it looked in disrepair with spider cobwebs everywhere, and if a 37 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.840 big enough tree fell on this building, it would collapse. So now it's 38 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:21.759 two thirty and I'm the door is wide open, and I'm sitting there about 39 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:25.639 to pull back my pull back my bow when a loud bang hits the side 40 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:30.240 of the building. Now I let my bow down and run the short shut 41 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:34.159 the door because I didn't know if it was a person or a bigfoot. 42 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:37.919 And then we grabbed some weapons and then went outside and see what hit the 43 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:40.759 side of the building. And we saw a pretty big sized walnut that kind 44 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:45.639 of come from any tree around there. And it felt eerie, feeling like 45 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.000 those eyes on me the whole time when I was outside. I didn't see 46 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:53.759 anything, but it felt just like there were eyes on me at all times 47 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:58.520 that I couldn't see outside. It was three pm. I get enough courage 48 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.879 to go back outside and have the door open and I saw a possum, 49 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:04.639 so I was just chilling outside and then I felt eyes on me again. 50 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.039 I don't know if it was a bigfoot or someone. Later that night, 51 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:13.840 at around seven thirty eight pm, I was leaving the range and saw a 52 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.439 pair of eyes. I didn't say anything to nobody. In the creepiest part 53 00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:19.959 about it is you have to get out of your vehicle to shut the gate, 54 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:26.040 and I also throw eyes on me the whole time we was leaving. 55 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:29.399 That's the end of my encounter. I know it's pretty short. I love 56 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.439 your podcast and you should post some more Steve Lilly content. I really love 57 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:38.720 that podcast. Thank you for your content. Okay, this man, that's 58 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:42.160 the end of that's the end of the email. And he's this guy's a 59 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:46.600 very nice guy. He's a good guy and I love him. And if 60 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:51.680 I if I read every story just like that, nobody would enjoy the story. 61 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:56.240 But I don't care if you send them to me just like this, 62 00:04:56.439 --> 00:05:01.560 because we can do we can make them better. We want your experience so 63 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:05.319 that we can share it with the rest of the world. That's you know, 64 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:10.639 that's really what I like doing. So now I'm going to read to 65 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.319 you the edited version, and you tell me this is the this is the 66 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:20.079 second edited version. You tell me which one was easier on the ears in 67 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:26.040 the comment section. I enjoy archery. I think I'm pretty good at it, 68 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:29.319 so I tend to spend a lot of time at an indoor range near 69 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:32.680 here. It's not much of a building. It's old and it's broken down. 70 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.639 It's covered in spider webs, and it looks like a good stiff breeze 71 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:42.439 might blow it over. But it's close to home, and convenience makes up 72 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:46.680 for a lot. On September seventeen, twenty twenty three, I decided to 73 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:50.920 head over and get some practice with a buddy of mine. We pulled up 74 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:55.560 and I jumped out to open the gate so we could drive in. It 75 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.680 was a nice day with very little wind, and there was a bright sun 76 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.600 overhead. I would have expected to hear squirrels chattering and birds singing, or 77 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:08.199 maybe some other small creature shuffling through the overgrown brush that lined the fence, 78 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:12.480 but I didn't, and it didn't occur to me to be worried by the 79 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.600 fact. Instead, I made a mental note of the quietness of the day, 80 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:19.600 and I jumped back in my truck. After we pulled in, I 81 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:24.079 told my buddy that it was his turn to get out, and he pulled 82 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:27.920 the gate shut behind us, and he jumped back in the truck. The 83 00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:30.879 gravel dry from the gate to the building isn't more than thirty yards long. 84 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:35.199 It curves around a little clump of trees and opens into a parking lot big 85 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:40.879 enough for four or five vehicles. You can't see the building from the road, 86 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.120 and if you weren't a local or an archer, you might not even 87 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:47.120 know it was there. Normally, my buddy wouldn't have got back in the 88 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:50.879 truck. He would have just walked up. But as I began to pull 89 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:55.199 forward, he slapped the tailgate to let me know that he wanted me to 90 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:59.720 wait. We pulled up to the building and got our bows out of the 91 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:02.839 back. Did you notice how quiet it was out there? He said? 92 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:09.319 Yep, I replied. An uneasy feeling crept over me. As I stood 93 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:13.399 there. It was like I was being watched. My eyes scanned the trees 94 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.839 around us, but I didn't see anyone. I didn't even see any animals, 95 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:20.040 and I thought to myself, man, this is a really quiet day. 96 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:26.120 It was two o'clock When we got there, we went inside knocked away 97 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:29.680 a few spider webs. We never got rid of all of them because the 98 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.079 place was so old and rickety that we couldn't help, but wonder if those 99 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:38.319 webs weren't what was holding the building together. We had the place to ourselves, 100 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:41.199 though, and it didn't take us long to get set up and start 101 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:45.879 shooting, and within minutes we had both forgotten all about how quiet it was 102 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:49.600 outside. Half an hour later, I was about to pull back my bow 103 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:54.319 when something loud banged on the side of the building with a loud crack, 104 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:58.800 I nearly jumped out of my skin. My buddy looked at me, and 105 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:01.240 I looked back at him, and we were both wondering if someone was outside 106 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:05.800 trying to stir up some trouble. The door was wide open, so we 107 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.839 would have seen anyone pull in, but that didn't mean someone couldn't have walked 108 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:15.240 in. With our weapons in hand, we headed out the door to see 109 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:18.240 what hit the building. No one was around, but it was still eerily 110 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.399 quiet, and right away I began to feel like someone was watching us from 111 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:26.399 the woods, but a quick scan of the tree line didn't reveal anything, 112 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:31.560 and we made our way around the building, where we found a walnut lying 113 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.399 on the ground beside it. I felt a rush of relief, and I 114 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.360 told myself, you fool, It was just a walnut that fell out of 115 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:45.799 a tree. I looked up as the thought crossed my mind, fully expecting 116 00:08:45.879 --> 00:08:50.279 the tree directly overhead to be a walnut tree. But the tree I was 117 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:52.960 looking at was an oak. And I looked at the tree next to it, 118 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.960 and the one on the other side of that, and at the next 119 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:01.480 and the next, but there was no walnut tree in sight. My mind 120 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:05.480 went through several scenarios that would have explained how a walnut landed next to the 121 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:09.720 building. A squirrel might have managed to carry it there, but how could 122 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:13.919 it have thrown it at the building? What we heard didn't come from the 123 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.720 roof. He came from the sidewall. My buddy looked up at the trees 124 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:22.200 too, and then back at the woods, and I knew right away that 125 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:26.919 he was feeling the same question of being watched that I was, but I 126 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:31.720 didn't say anything. There wasn't a point. We were both already getting a 127 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:35.960 little edgy, and we decided to go back inside. By three o'clock, 128 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:41.240 I had talked myself into believing there was a logical explanation for the walnut, 129 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:45.600 even if I couldn't think of one. So I went back outside. When 130 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:48.559 I got there, there was a possum in the driveway, inspecting something on 131 00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:54.120 the gravel. It was the first wildlife I had seen since we got there. 132 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:56.600 Now, this place is out in the country. It's set in the 133 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:01.360 woods, so we normally saw rabbits and squirrels all over the place. Birds 134 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:05.039 were usually flying around from tree to tree, and there was always the sound 135 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:11.039 of some insect or other chirping critter. One time we had to sit inside 136 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:15.399 for half an hour while a skunk wandered around the parking lot, But there 137 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:20.000 was none of that today. Seeing that possum felt like I had an open 138 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:24.600 door back to sanity Land. Then I got hit with a strange feeling of 139 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:30.200 being watched again. I looked around, and again I didn't see anything. 140 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:33.320 My common sense was telling me there was someone out in the woods and I 141 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:39.320 just couldn't see them. But something deep inside me was triggering my flight or 142 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:45.159 fight response mechanism, and it told me that whoever or whatever was out there, 143 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:48.279 that it was dangerous. I went back inside and I tried not to 144 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.240 think about it for the next few hours while we practiced. My buddy went 145 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:56.879 outside once and he came back with a haunted look on his face. He 146 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:01.559 didn't say anything, and I didn't ask. Sometimes it's better not to know. 147 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:07.399 The whole time we were there that day, everything fell off. My 148 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:11.879 imagination was kicking in and I had visions of someone coming in and shooting up 149 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.919 the place. My buddy was nervous and jitterly acting, and neither one of 150 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.399 us was willing to say out loud what I knew we were both thinking. 151 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:26.600 Finally, it was seven thirty PM and the sun had set. It was 152 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:30.879 dark outside. We had an excuse to leave without looking like a couple of 153 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.960 chickens, so we quickly loaded up the truck and drove out to the gate. 154 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:37.279 Now it was my turn to get out and open it, and I 155 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:41.879 jumped out as quickly as I could and rushed over and I swung it wide, 156 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:45.360 And as I turned around to go back to the truck, that's when 157 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:48.720 I saw it. A set of eyes inside the tree line were staring out 158 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:52.519 at me. They were too tall to be human and too wide to be 159 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:58.159 an owl, and they seemed almost to glow of their own accord. In 160 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.679 my hurry to leave, I stepped on the gas a little too hardened scent 161 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:05.039 rocks flying behind us, and my buddy gave me in an odd look, 162 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:09.440 and he just said, hurry up and shut the gate. I want to 163 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:13.000 get home. He jumped out and did as he was told. And when 164 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.039 he got back inside, I knew from the look on his face that he 165 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.279 had seen those same set of eyes, and neither one of us spoke about 166 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:24.919 it on the way home. I don't know what we saw. Maybe it 167 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.600 was a big foot, maybe it was something else. Maybe it was a 168 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:33.559 really big man in those woods. But whatever it was, every one of 169 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:37.039 my senses was telling me that we needed to get the heck out of there, 170 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:43.279 and we never went back. Now that's the edited version. You may 171 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:48.200 have liked the first version. You may be a purist and you may say, 172 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:52.600 you know, just read a word for word, or you may be 173 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.799 one of the people who I hope to attract to this channel, who enjoy 174 00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:01.960 story. But I'll tell you this, I did not change one detail in 175 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:07.360 that story. It was told. All the details of what happened were exactly 176 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:11.480 exactly the same as the email that he sent me. But it was just 177 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:15.639 a little easier on the ears, and we made it a better story. 178 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.600 We didn't make it a better encounter. I'm not trying to make it a 179 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:26.759 better encounter. We just made the story told better. Does everybody understand now? 180 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:31.200 I know that ninety eight percent of the people who listen to this podcast 181 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:33.440 and go, oh yeah, it makes perfect sense, But there is that 182 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.559 one or two percent that gets so bent out of shape. They're like, 183 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:43.679 it's like they just look for things to pick at. And so anyway, 184 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.679 I just want to give you an example. I've never never once changed a 185 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:52.679 story, and there's only one time in all in five years I've been doing 186 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:56.720 this. You guys know, I have like six hundred videos up. One 187 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:01.799 woman contacted me after I put up a story, and she was very upset 188 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:05.799 because there was something about the story about her. And her husband had stopped 189 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.000 so she could get out and go to the bathroom in the woods. She 190 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:13.399 came back and they looked in their rearview mirror and there was a big foot 191 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:16.679 behind them. She never said how far close it was to the car behind 192 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.159 the car, so I just made up a distance I said it was I 193 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.320 think I said it was twenty yards behind the car, but it was actually 194 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:28.840 she said in her email that it was like one hundred yards behind the car, 195 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:31.879 and she just jumped in my shit about that, and I'm like, 196 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.679 well, if you wanted people to know how far it was behind the car, 197 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.679 why didn't you put that in the story. I had to put something 198 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:41.600 in there. You got to give some kind of reference in these stories so 199 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:46.519 people know they can visualize in their head what's going on. So if you 200 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.519 leave it out and I add something in that's very critical to the story, 201 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:52.639 that's not on me. That's on you. Put the details in that you 202 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:56.360 want in. So I'm not being critical. I'm just saying, there's only 203 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:01.440 one time someone has ever come contacted me and said you changed my story, 204 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:05.720 and that was it. That was the only thing I've ever heard out of 205 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:09.879 anybody. So if you're not a good writer, if you're if you're a 206 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:15.200 storyteller like this guy is, please keep sending your stories in. We're fine 207 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:18.720 with that. We can make them great stories and we won't change a single 208 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:22.759 detail of your story. So keep them coming. I appreciate you. I 209 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:28.000 appreciate you enduring this podcast. It just was kind of on my mind, 210 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:31.679 and I have the opportunity here. I had both versions right in front of 211 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.000 me, and I thought I'd read it to you. So there you have 212 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:39.759 it. There you have it. Okay, here's kind of a short story 213 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:45.960 about a woman who talks about her psychic ability. Let's see. Uh Neilma 214 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:50.039 says, when you read this, tell me that you can't hear friend Dresher 215 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:54.639 from the nanny telling the story. Can you do a nasally New York accent? 216 00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:00.840 I don't know. I don't know anyway, here's the story. I've 217 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:03.000 always known there was something a little different about me, but I could never 218 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.440 give it a name or even describe it. I get messages about other people 219 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:11.840 in advance. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it is 220 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:17.039 earth shattering for me, and occasionally it is for the people around me too. 221 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:21.799 When I was thirteen, we went to my cousin's wedding. His new 222 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:26.960 bride's brother, Frank was dancing with all the girls in the room. I 223 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:30.840 didn't dance with him. Something about him kept me away, and I couldn't 224 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.879 explain why. Years later, Frank and I would meet in a different social 225 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:41.080 setting when a mutual friend introduced us. He and I dated for a while, 226 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.639 and I loved his company, but I realized that our relationship was not 227 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:48.440 meant to be boyfriend girlfriend. We did, however, have a strong connection. 228 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:55.360 It was very strong. Eventually we stopped seeing each other. He moved 229 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:57.679 on and started dating a girl from my high school that I knew, but 230 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:02.360 I was not friends with. She was a little too wild for me. 231 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:06.400 Well, they got married, and I married someone else, and I never 232 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:11.240 gave him much thought after that. And then one night I dreamt that someone 233 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:15.079 close to him died. I was telling my husband about the dream, and 234 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.599 he was countering with his jealousy of me dreaming about someone else. When the 235 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:23.400 phone rang. It was my mother telling me that my cousin's mother in law, 236 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:27.440 Frank's mother, had passed away. And when I told my family that 237 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:33.960 I knew, they were understandably shaken. As the years went by, I 238 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:37.960 began to think that I had outgrown this ability. I didn't have any more 239 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:41.200 premonitions, so I never gave it much thought. The next time I would 240 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:45.680 see Frank was on Interstate ninety five, the New Jersey Turnpike, of all 241 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:51.880 places. My husband was in the United States Navy and we were heading to 242 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:56.440 his next duty station when I happened to look over and who should drive up 243 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:02.240 alongside our truck but Frank on a motorcycle. We made eye contact and he 244 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:06.759 waved and I nodded, and he drove off. That would be the last 245 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:11.519 time I saw him alive. Another six years passed before I gave him more 246 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:15.160 than a passing thought, and then suddenly I couldn't get him out of my 247 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.720 mind. Somehow I knew there was a message coming to me from him, 248 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:23.119 but I had no way of finding out where he was. At that point. 249 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:27.240 I had heard that he and his wife had divorced and that Frank had 250 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:33.440 moved south, but even his sister didn't know where. I lost touch with 251 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:37.759 my cousin and his wife for a while, and several years passed and we 252 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:41.200 made contact again, and over the course of a long conversation, it came 253 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:45.599 out that Frank and I had dated, and something that his sister had never 254 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.519 known before. And it was then that she told me that Frank had passed 255 00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:55.160 away from a heart attack in his forties. It felt like I had been 256 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:57.960 punched in the chest. I figured out the year of his death, and 257 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:02.920 that was when I put too and two together and realized it coincided with the 258 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.920 time that I was getting really strong messages from him. Over the years, 259 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:11.440 I learned not to talk about this ability to anyone These days, most of 260 00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:15.240 the people who were in my life then are no longer with us, so 261 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:22.079 it doesn't matter so much anymore. I wasn't always that way. One day 262 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:25.119 at work, I got a feeling that an upcoming death very close to me 263 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:30.400 was about to occur. It was so overpowering that I began to cry uncontrollably. 264 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:34.680 Several concerned co workers pressed me to tell them what was wrong, and 265 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:38.960 I regret today that I told them the truth. And a few days later, 266 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:42.440 I got the call at work that my father had died suddenly of a 267 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:48.920 brain hemorrhage. I was never treated the same again. And when I knew 268 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:52.119 my sister was about to die, I called her and despite her reluctance to 269 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:56.519 allow me to visit, I went. I took her out to dinner, 270 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:00.920 and we went to the movies, and we enjoyed the whole weekend together. 271 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:04.599 It was the last time I saw her alive. This is how it is. 272 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:08.079 I can predict events as well, but then people look at me. 273 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:12.240 Strangely, if I tell them about it. It takes time for some of 274 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:15.920 us to realize that we don't need to share the message that we receive, 275 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:22.599 even when they are true. Oh, that may be the first psychic story 276 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:26.000 I've ever done. That was very interesting. I think people kind of get 277 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:32.079 messages and undercurrents and feelings. Sometimes I don't know, I can't put my 278 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.240 finger on it, but there were times. There are times when I've dreamed 279 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:38.480 things, and those dreams absolutely come true to the detail. Some of them 280 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.359 are scary dreams, some of them are fun dreams. Some of them are, 281 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:47.079 you know, just kind of average, kind of benign, mediocre dreams. 282 00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:49.119 Maybe there's probably been a half a dozen in my life, and the 283 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:56.960 exact same thing, the exact same thing I dream actually happens. I could 284 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.799 go into detail on them, but that would be kind of boring. So 285 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:03.200 but anyway, I kind of believe in this stuff. I think the psychic 286 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:07.720 thing is it's for real, And I think it's even more for real when 287 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:11.200 somebody just kind of keeps it to themselves, people who use it to profit 288 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:17.559 and to gain attention from others. You know, I think there's a little 289 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:22.039 bit something in it. For him. But I don't know what do I 290 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.119 know? I don't know much at all. I just read stories. But 291 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:27.359 thank you to the woman who sent this. I'm glad that you sent it. 292 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:32.599 And the New York nasally accent that was just a joke from Nioma. 293 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.680 This was a very good story. And I didn't hear I didn't hear her 294 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:41.519 telling the story in that nasally accent. But Nioma, you a bad woman. 295 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:48.319 Here's a bigfoot story, and this is kind of a manly story. 296 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:52.839 I think you guys will like it. Here's what he writes. It's really 297 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:56.960 good. It has taken me more than eight years to find the courage to 298 00:21:57.079 --> 00:22:02.880 share these two stories with the general public. But I'm tired of waking up 299 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:07.599 screaming and fighting in the night. And I'm done with all the bigfoot magnets 300 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:11.880 and socks and shirts I get for Christmas every year. They all think it's 301 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:14.720 a big joke. But when I ask any of them if they want to 302 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.759 come with me to the Honey Island Swamp to do some fishing or hunting, 303 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:23.559 they're always too busy or they've already made other plans. Even my wife, 304 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:29.680 who insists that she is a non believer won't come camping with me. Some 305 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:34.119 say that's because she's smarter than me. Now that can't be right. Growing 306 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:37.839 up in South Louisiana, I have spent a great deal of my life hunting 307 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:41.680 and fishing. My dad would take me as often as he could before I 308 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:45.880 got my license. Once I was able to drive myself, I was out 309 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:51.920 there nearly every weekend doing one or the other. Now I'm an avid bow 310 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:56.000 and gun hunter as well as a dedicated fresh water, saltwater, and bluewater 311 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:02.079 fishermen. When I was a teenager, most of my friends had drive up 312 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:07.039 camps on the Pearl River that we'd disappear up the river to every Friday night 313 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:12.319 after football games. After I graduated from college, I found myself in suits 314 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:17.440 for most of the work week, but on the weekends I'd always find myself 315 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:22.400 back in my rural surroundings. Even after all these years, I won't say 316 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:26.119 I'm great with a bow and an arrow, but I'm pretty good. I'm 317 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:29.559 better with a gun, and better still with a rod and reel and a 318 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:34.079 spinner bait. It was back in nineteen ninety or nineteen ninety one that I 319 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:40.079 first realized there was something out there that I couldn't easily explain. I was 320 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:42.759 still single then, and it was early October, and my buddy and I 321 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:47.559 had taken a small John boat up the river to do some bow hunting. 322 00:23:48.599 --> 00:23:52.440 It's a tricky area to get into, the dams and locks and underwater sawyers 323 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:57.000 and snags and seals and weirs that were built by the Corps of Engineers. 324 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:03.119 We were in the area that what most people know is the Honey Island Swamp, 325 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:07.519 but we called it the Big Woods. It's a beautiful upland swamp most 326 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.720 of the time that stretches for forty miles and it reaches five miles across. 327 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:17.359 It's a part of the Pearl River basin that goes all the way to Jackson, 328 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:21.759 Mississippi. But we found a good spot we set up camp. We 329 00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:26.279 gathered up some firewood before walking away from the river several hundred yards and separating. 330 00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:32.319 I went another four hundred yards with a breeze in my face and a 331 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:37.440 hundred and oak flat. It was a quiet evening. I hadn't seen any 332 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:41.920 deer and it was getting dark. Once I couldn't see the sights on my 333 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:45.720 bow anymore, I decided it was time to head back to camp. As 334 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:49.839 I was getting my flashlight and backpack together, I heard a very loud and 335 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:56.200 heavy walking coming toward me from one hundred yards away. Figuring it was either 336 00:24:56.279 --> 00:25:00.559 a deer, my buddy, or a panther, I sat tight and I 337 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:04.960 sat still for a few minutes and I waited. All it did was get 338 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:08.720 darker. I couldn't take it anymore, so I said, hey, buddy, 339 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:14.319 is that you. The walking stopped forty yards from me and to my 340 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:18.119 left. Everything went silent. All right, man, you're not scaring me, 341 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:22.960 I said a little louder. Still, I didn't get an answer, 342 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:26.079 and the hair on the back of my neck stood up as the feeling of 343 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:30.559 big watch came over me. This had me unsettled enough that I finally screamed 344 00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:34.400 at whatever this was, and my buddy called back to me from a good 345 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:40.920 four hundred yards away. At this point I was a little concerned. I 346 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:44.440 turned on the flashlight and I scanned the area, and there didn't appear to 347 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.119 be anything out there. I already had a broad head from my quiver and 348 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:52.160 my knife out to make the walk back, so I started to ease my 349 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:56.880 way down to the right, talking to this thing as I did. So. 350 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:00.119 Now I'm gonna hurt you, I bluffed. You don't want none of 351 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:03.799 me. I'm a bad dude at the very best, I'll cripple you. 352 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:10.000 Finally, I hollered at my buddy and he hollered back from a little closer 353 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:14.960 this time. Meanwhile, when I was walking, this thing walked, and 354 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:18.200 when I stopped, it stopped. It felt like an eternity. Before I 355 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:22.880 made it to our meet up point, and right away I told my buddy 356 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:26.559 that something was following me. Well, we both kind of laughed and agreed 357 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:33.519 that it was probably a panther. We've seen them in southeast Louisiana. It 358 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:37.160 was only one hundred yards back to camp, and this thing followed us the 359 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:41.759 whole way, and with our phantom stalker close by, we decided it would 360 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:45.039 be a good idea to gather a little extra firewood for the fire before we 361 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:49.920 sat down in our lawn chairs. We sat there with our flashlights on in 362 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:53.640 bowie knives in our hands, and we talked loudly to it, telling it 363 00:26:53.640 --> 00:26:57.480 to go away, and we assured it that it didn't want any part of 364 00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:03.440 us. We were bad dudes. All the while, it walked in a 365 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:08.759 slow semi circle around us, fifty yards out in the dark. Eventually we 366 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.799 chose to go about our business. We cracked open the cooler for some cold 367 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:18.039 fried chicken and some beer. For thirty minutes, we sat there eating our 368 00:27:18.119 --> 00:27:22.960 supper, throwing chicken bones at it and telling it to get leave us alone 369 00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:26.119 because we didn't want to hurt it. After a couple of more beers, 370 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:30.599 we began to feel better. We weren't thirsty anymore, and that's when we 371 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:36.599 came up with the kind of idea that gets people elected to the doorwin awards. 372 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:42.119 We decided to charge it with our knives and bows. Our flashlights were 373 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:47.559 probably brighter than we were that night, but it would not leave us alone. 374 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:52.119 And seeing two men bluff charging into the woods a good twenty yards while 375 00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:56.480 screaming like a couple of banshees did make it back off, And looking back, 376 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:00.599 I wonder if we actually startled it or if it went somewhere to get 377 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:06.599 control of its stuff and stop laughing at us. Either way, we felt 378 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:10.440 like we had chased it away and went back to our alarm chairs by the 379 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:15.000 fire. We stayed close to the other side of camp, gathering more firewood 380 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:18.200 so we could keep a big fire going until well after we went to bed. 381 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:22.359 We never smelled it. The wind was wrong for that. But it 382 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:27.079 came back and stayed with us for several hours. I could feel it watching 383 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:32.160 us, and sometimes we heard it moving. I don't know what that animal 384 00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:36.559 was, but it was smart. It sounded like three men walking heavily in 385 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:41.160 the woods. By nine pm, we couldn't hear it anymore, so we 386 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:45.279 turned in and went to sleep, and we hunted the next morning without incident, 387 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.720 and we packed up and went home. We didn't hear screams or wood 388 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:52.759 knocks, and there were no tracks. It may have been a bigfoot, 389 00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:56.960 or it might have been a hungry panther. I've heard panthers scream near where 390 00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:02.440 we were that night. They sound like a crazy woman screaming if you've never 391 00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:07.920 heard one before, and it'll send chills down your spine. Whatever this thing 392 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:14.000 was, I've never forgotten it. Time marches on in twenty fourteen, my 393 00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:17.880 youngest son was ready for a hunt in the big woods. I was in 394 00:29:17.880 --> 00:29:22.079 my early fifties by then. Over the years, for all the general reasons 395 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:26.000 that make life what it is, a wife of children and my job, 396 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:32.240 I hadn't hunted this part of southeastern Louisiana as much as I had when I 397 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:36.880 was younger. I had still killed my share of deer and ducks and hogs 398 00:29:36.920 --> 00:29:42.640 here, just not as often. It was late January muzzleloader season that inevitably 399 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:48.640 happens in conjunction with the coldest weather that the Deep South can throw at you. 400 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:52.920 Our plan was to go in by boat on Thursday afternoon. I had 401 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:56.920 taken time off from work, and I'd pulled my son out of school at 402 00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:00.680 lunch for the trip. We got the boat loaded, and then I said 403 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:03.400 a quick prayer for protection before we launched, and we headed up river. 404 00:30:04.839 --> 00:30:08.720 It was just before dark when we reached our camping spot and we pitched our 405 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:12.880 tent, and then after that we set up our long chairs and unloaded the 406 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:19.599 boat. There were virtually no issues on that trip except one. My son 407 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:23.279 was set up a few hundred yards away from me on a crossing with a 408 00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:29.480 single shot twenty gage slug gun while I was upriver a bit. The era 409 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:33.480 of hollering across the woods or using walkie talkies had been replaced by cell phones 410 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:37.799 and texting by now. My son would text me and he would tell me 411 00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:41.200 what he was or was not seeing, and I would text back the same. 412 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.759 It was almost dark when he texted the message. That sent a chill 413 00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:51.480 down my spine. Something is close and loud and it's walking, but it 414 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:56.799 won't come out. It sent me charging on a hot trot with my headlamp 415 00:30:56.839 --> 00:31:02.000 bobbing. He never saw anything. All he knew is that it walked around 416 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:06.359 and that it was too loud to be a deer. We decided it was 417 00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:08.400 time to head back to camp, where we ate supper and went to bed. 418 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:14.119 The river was rising fast and it was about to spill over its banks, 419 00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:18.319 so after one more day of hunting we left. It was a place 420 00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:22.079 where high water runs swift and swirls into dangerous whirlpools, and we didn't want 421 00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:26.480 to get caught in that. That was the end of our twenty fourteen trip. 422 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:30.400 I think it was a bigfoot that made the noise in the dark for 423 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:33.960 my son, but there are no smells. There were no knocks or anything 424 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:38.440 else to prove it. We'd had such a big time together while camping the 425 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:44.359 previous January that we decided to go back in for an early youth only hunt 426 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:48.799 on the ninth in November of that year, like we did in January, 427 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:52.000 I took a couple of days off from work and I checked my son out 428 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.039 of school on Thursday at lunch. Then we headed straight for the Honey Island 429 00:31:56.119 --> 00:32:01.759 Swamp. I said another prayer for protection before leaving the boat ramp. We 430 00:32:01.799 --> 00:32:06.599 had eaten supper on our way there, so we didn't cook anything that night, 431 00:32:06.759 --> 00:32:10.119 which meant we only had a small fire. I learned the next morning 432 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:14.680 that my cell phone didn't pick up enough signal to set off the alarm, 433 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.319 so we didn't get up until daybreak. We dressed and we ate in a 434 00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:22.039 hurry before jumping in the boat and heading off to a good deer and hogspot 435 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:28.240 that I knew. It was Friday morning, opening day of youth rifle hunt. 436 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:31.119 We tied the boat up and began stalking and creeping across the wind. 437 00:32:32.599 --> 00:32:37.160 We jumped several deer, but they moved off too quickly to offer my son 438 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:40.200 a shot, and that day we hunted the area with him in front of 439 00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:45.640 me by twenty five yards. As we slowly stalked through the woods as if 440 00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:51.559 we were hunting the squirrels, it was more stopping than walking back at camp. 441 00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:53.559 That night, we got our headlamps and I grabbed a hatchet to cut 442 00:32:53.559 --> 00:32:59.039 some firewood. My son decided that he wanted to chop a fallen tree down, 443 00:32:59.079 --> 00:33:01.000 so I handed him the hatchet and I told him not to cut his 444 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:06.680 leg off. Have you ever watched a fourteen year old with a hatchet by 445 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:10.519 headlamp? He beat it down to oak into submission before I pointed out that 446 00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:15.319 it wasn't making enough noise to call in a bigfoot. Laughing, he said, 447 00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:21.640 skunkate yetti, wookie sasquatch, and we both chuckled. Took a few 448 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:24.160 trips to get all the firewood back to camp, so it was pitch black 449 00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:30.200 before I started building the fire. I was busy working on that while drinking 450 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:35.279 a beer when we heard five loud, distinct tree knocks fifteen hundred yards down 451 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:39.039 the river. It sounded like an NFL lineman with a four by four hitting 452 00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:45.359 a tree. We looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. Maybe someone 453 00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:49.680 else down river from us was cutting firewood too, So we ate our supper 454 00:33:49.720 --> 00:33:53.839 and we went to bed. On Saturday, we went to another favorite spot 455 00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:58.880 of mine and walked for hours. We jumped more deer, but again there 456 00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:02.400 was no easy shot from my fourteen year old. We walked our way back 457 00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:06.880 to the boat where we ate our lunch, and suggested that we go back 458 00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:10.039 to the spot we were at last January when my son had heard something. 459 00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:15.360 It was five o'clock when we heard it. It was the same loud walking 460 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:20.840 sound in the woods one hundred yards away from us. I took my pistol 461 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:24.079 out in case it was a sounder of hogs. I could smell something like 462 00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:30.280 wet dogs and rotten garbage that I attributed to hogs. My son looked over 463 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:34.599 at me questioningly, and I said under my breath, it's okay, just 464 00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:39.280 sit tight. The wind was wrong for us. We were upwind of whatever 465 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:44.599 was out there. All we could do was sit still and listen. It 466 00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:47.559 never showed itself, and finally we walked back to the boat and headed back 467 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:52.039 to camp again. We had to gather firewood in the dark, and I 468 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:55.599 watched my son beat another treated death, and we gathered up the limbs for 469 00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:00.360 the fire. I had barely got the fire going when we heard another round 470 00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:05.639 of knocks, but this time it was not fifteen hundred yards down the river. 471 00:35:05.960 --> 00:35:08.880 It was only four hundred yards and it was even with us, and 472 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:14.920 this wasn't funny. I had no explanation for it. I didn't think anyone 473 00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:17.960 would be stupid enough to prank a couple of armed hunters in the woods. 474 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:22.280 I built the fire as big as I could, and I got out of 475 00:35:22.280 --> 00:35:27.119 the portable grill, and the wind was blowing almost straight from us toward whatever 476 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:30.960 was out in the woods. We had deer burgers for supper, and afterwards, 477 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:35.280 my son got his phone out and we shared earbuds so I could listen 478 00:35:35.320 --> 00:35:39.719 to the Arkansas LSU game. We were laughing and yelling at the game when 479 00:35:39.719 --> 00:35:44.280 I suddenly got a funny feeling and I reached from my pistol and I put 480 00:35:44.280 --> 00:35:46.360 it in my lap. Again. What's up with that, said my son. 481 00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:52.039 Something's watching us. I got a funny feeling. I told him you 482 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:57.360 did that earlier today. He said yeah. I answered, when you have 483 00:35:57.400 --> 00:36:00.079 a funny feeling, you get ready for it. Hard to teach that kind 484 00:36:00.119 --> 00:36:05.280 of primal skill to someone. Either you have it and know or you don't. 485 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:09.199 We sat there quietly while the hair on the back of my neck danced 486 00:36:09.239 --> 00:36:15.079 around, and we listened to our surroundings. We weren't interested in the game 487 00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:21.280 anymore. And that was when all hell broke loose. Thirty yards outside of 488 00:36:21.320 --> 00:36:24.360 the firelight, something screamed. It was like a panther, but it was 489 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:30.320 louder. Then the scream turned into a howl, and that turned into something 490 00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:35.880 more like monkey laughter. It happened all in one long, bellowing breath. 491 00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:39.639 We looked wide eyed and open mouthed at each other, and I told my 492 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:44.599 son to get his rifle and I stood up and pointed my handgun at the 493 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:47.880 sound. We stood there with our backs to the fire, facing the river 494 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:52.199 and staring into the blackness all around us. Dad, what is that? 495 00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:57.320 My son asked. I had to tell him I don't know, son, 496 00:36:58.119 --> 00:37:00.360 and all my years of hunting, nearly four decades, I had never heard 497 00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:06.480 anything like this. Even as I was telling him this, everything went silent, 498 00:37:06.920 --> 00:37:10.320 and then it happened again. It started as a scream and worked its 499 00:37:10.360 --> 00:37:15.159 way into a howl and ended with a crazy laugh. Again. It was 500 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:21.280 so loud that it vibrated in our chests and rattled our teeth. I'm a 501 00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:23.960 very loud man when I want to be, but I never could have matched 502 00:37:24.039 --> 00:37:29.760 that sound in a million years. Do you want to turn on our headlamps 503 00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:32.320 and go hunting for this thing. My son asked, no, if it 504 00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:37.719 wants us, it can come into the firelight. I wasn't about to head 505 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:40.360 into the darkness with a pair of headlamps and a pistol and a fourteen year 506 00:37:40.440 --> 00:37:46.440 old boy with a rifle. It must have screamed fifteen more times now. 507 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:51.400 I told my son to take the rifle off safety and scan the area to 508 00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:53.960 the left and the right where the sound was coming from, and if you 509 00:37:54.039 --> 00:37:58.960 see anything coming in, shoot it in the chest. I'll go for the 510 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:04.639 head. It finally stopped screaming, and my son asked if we should try 511 00:38:04.679 --> 00:38:07.639 to shoot to scare it away. I didn't think that was a good idea. 512 00:38:08.199 --> 00:38:12.440 We needed to save our ammo in case we needed to try and kill 513 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:15.800 this thing. We're gonna scream back at it, I told him, and 514 00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:22.360 that's exactly what we did. We stood there and screamed at it maybe five 515 00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:27.199 or six times, and then everything went silent except for the crackling of the 516 00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:31.440 fire and the gurgling of the river. There were no bugs, no frogs, 517 00:38:31.639 --> 00:38:36.599 no other night sounds at all, and for ten minutes we stood there 518 00:38:36.639 --> 00:38:42.800 in the silence. We didn't budge an inch. A lot of people might 519 00:38:42.920 --> 00:38:45.679 ask why we didn't record it. If you were in the woods with your 520 00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:52.000 child thinking something that you can't even imagine is so close by, and ready 521 00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:54.599 to make a meal out of him, would you think, hey, I 522 00:38:54.679 --> 00:39:00.760 better get this recorded. We finally sat down, but we kept our weapons 523 00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:05.280 ready. There was another twenty minutes of dead silence before my son asked if 524 00:39:05.320 --> 00:39:07.960 I wanted to pack up and leave. Well. I almost said yes, 525 00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:12.880 but it would be trying to navigate out in a swift current in the dark, 526 00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:17.159 and I decided it would be better to wait until daylight. We also 527 00:39:17.320 --> 00:39:21.639 considered sleeping in the boat out in the middle of the river, but that 528 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:27.039 would leave us vulnerable to being rammed by another boat at daylight. Our best 529 00:39:27.079 --> 00:39:30.000 hope was to sleep in the tent with our guns between us. I didn't 530 00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:36.639 sleep much anyway. On Sunday morning, we decided to go ahead and hunt 531 00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:38.960 one more time, and then we went back to camp to pack up and 532 00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:44.800 leave that afternoon. It was a relief when we finally pulled into the drive 533 00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:50.559 around dark. We were home and we were safe. On Monday evening, 534 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:53.119 I sat in my recliner in the living room with my son on the couch 535 00:39:53.199 --> 00:39:58.199 nearby, and I searched my iPad for the sounds that we had heard. 536 00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:04.880 I googled dreams, howls, laughs, and then returned sounds from California. 537 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:09.599 We listened to several before I came across one recorded at night from an Indian 538 00:40:09.639 --> 00:40:14.920 reservation somewhere in California. And as soon as I heard it, my son 539 00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:17.320 bounded off the couch and looked me dead in the eye. Dad, that's 540 00:40:17.360 --> 00:40:23.480 exactly what we heard. I had to agree with him. If I were 541 00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:28.519 a smarter man, this story would end here. But no one ever accused 542 00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:34.000 me of that luxury. When my son was seventeen, we tried over Thanksgiving 543 00:40:34.039 --> 00:40:37.519 to go back, but between the issues I was having with my truck and 544 00:40:37.559 --> 00:40:43.440 the fifteen horsepower motor that broke beyond repair before we ever left the dock, 545 00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:47.119 we had to turn back. My wife said to me, then, maybe 546 00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:51.800 maybe God did not want you or our son to go and meet up with 547 00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:54.800 Bigfoot. Something bad may have happened. Come on home, she said over 548 00:40:54.840 --> 00:41:00.159 the phone. It was sound advice, but it was not like A had 549 00:41:00.239 --> 00:41:04.840 any choice, so we went home. Two years later, my son was 550 00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:07.440 in college and getting busy with his own life. But me, being the 551 00:41:07.480 --> 00:41:13.039 hard headed man that I am, I wanted another crack at hunting that area. 552 00:41:13.159 --> 00:41:15.400 I took my buddy with me this time, because I figured the place 553 00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:20.800 where my son and I had camped was his bigfoot hunting area, and we 554 00:41:20.840 --> 00:41:24.360 picked a different spot to camp. We saw what almost looked like a shelter, 555 00:41:24.519 --> 00:41:29.280 and my buddy got a medium sized dough and I tore up another motor, 556 00:41:29.639 --> 00:41:35.199 but we didn't see bigfoot. These days, I go in at daylight 557 00:41:35.360 --> 00:41:37.800 and I hunt all day. I take naps in the woods, but only 558 00:41:37.880 --> 00:41:43.920 during gun season when I'm carrying both my rifle and my pistol. I carry 559 00:41:43.960 --> 00:41:46.079 my pistol with me when I bow hunt, but I don't nap then. 560 00:41:47.119 --> 00:41:51.719 Over the last ten years, I've learned a lot about bigfoot. I listened 561 00:41:51.719 --> 00:41:55.000 to and watch a lot of podcasts and videos. I watched The Missing four 562 00:41:55.119 --> 00:42:00.840 one one about bowhunters and hikers going missing in various nash and parks. I 563 00:42:00.880 --> 00:42:06.199 think these bigfoots are smart. I think they take and eat people who go 564 00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:09.920 into the woods without a rifle. They know the difference between a bow and 565 00:42:09.960 --> 00:42:15.639 a rifle in a hunter's hand, My advice to hunters and hikers who go 566 00:42:15.760 --> 00:42:19.920 into the woods without a good pistol is to beware. You could be an 567 00:42:19.920 --> 00:42:24.440 easy meal, a target of opportunity for these things. As my dad taught 568 00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:27.840 me when I was a boy, it's better to have a gun and not 569 00:42:28.079 --> 00:42:30.880 use it than to not have one and need it. And that's the end 570 00:42:30.920 --> 00:42:35.039 of the story. That was an excellent story. This guy, they never 571 00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:38.800 saw it, They never saw whatever this creature was. But the evidence and 572 00:42:38.840 --> 00:42:43.920 the sounds and the movements they were hearing, and the walking around them every 573 00:42:43.960 --> 00:42:47.760 time they would go hunting in the swamp area, it's pretty compelling evidence to 574 00:42:47.800 --> 00:42:52.960 me that they were actually dealing with maybe the Honty Island swamp monster. What 575 00:42:52.960 --> 00:42:58.400 do you guys think? Anyway, it was a great story. The man's 576 00:42:58.480 --> 00:43:01.000 name was John. I appreciate you you sending it. John loved it, 577 00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:07.639 loved the story. Hey, thank y'all for listening to this podcast. If 578 00:43:07.639 --> 00:43:09.920 you thought it was good enough, maybe give it a thumbs up, leave 579 00:43:09.960 --> 00:43:15.239 a comment. Maybe you could even subscribe. That would help me. I 580 00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:17.920 just looked at my subscriber count. I'm almost at two hundred thousand. Isn't 581 00:43:17.960 --> 00:43:22.920 that cool? Who in the world would think a redneck for Mississippi would have 582 00:43:22.960 --> 00:43:29.960 two hundred thousand people click the subscribe, but it blows my mind. Also, 583 00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:34.119 I'm in the short rows on Steve Lily sixteen. I think it's going 584 00:43:34.199 --> 00:43:37.840 to be really good. Y'all probably don't know I've used that term in a 585 00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:43.280 short ROAs. Do y'all know what that means? Back one hundred years ago, 586 00:43:43.320 --> 00:43:46.880 when a crew was picking cotton, the boss would yell out. He'd 587 00:43:46.920 --> 00:43:51.840 say where y'all at? And they would holler back at him. Boss went 588 00:43:51.880 --> 00:43:54.800 in the short rows. That meant they were at the end of the field, 589 00:43:54.920 --> 00:44:00.280 probably in a corner with a rose shortened up, because I I guess 590 00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:02.639 they'd always start in the long row. So if you're in the short rose, 591 00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:07.639 you're almost done. I thought I would just give you a little explanation 592 00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:10.519 of what in the short roads means. But I am in the short ROAs 593 00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:15.360 on Steve Lily sixteen, and it's going to be pretty good. I don't 594 00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:17.039 have a date yet when I'm gonna put it out, but it'll just be 595 00:44:17.119 --> 00:44:21.559 a few days, all right. Thanks again for listening to the podcast, 596 00:44:21.559 --> 00:44:22.480 and we'll see you guys on the next one. Thank you