WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:11.960 Here's an email from Greg. He lives in Mississippi and this is a This 2 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 is kind of a spooky story. It's the category would be bigfoot or dog 3 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:20.719 man, or maybe both. Let's read what he says. I grew up 4 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:25.000 in Natche's, Mississippi, half a mile from the Mississippi River near the Devil's 5 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:30.320 Punch Bowl. The area consists of a three hundred foot tall, heavily wooded 6 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:34.840 bluff that overlooks the river. It's a spot that was always good for hunting, 7 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.880 no matter what game you were after, and there was something else living 8 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:44.000 in those woods that I couldn't quite identify. One morning, me and my 9 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:48.119 cousin Buck were squirrel hunting on a ridge across the road from where we lived. 10 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.119 We came up on a feed tree that was loaded with squirrels, so 11 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:57.240 we decided to split up and headed that tree from different directions. Once we 12 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:00.240 positioned ourselves, we opened fire on the squirrels and dropped forward to the ground. 13 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:06.120 We were gathering up our game and thinking about how good fried squirrel and 14 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:12.840 gravy served with catthead biscuits was gonna taste when everything went dead. Silent silence 15 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:18.519 always means a predator is nearby. The hair stood up on the back of 16 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:23.120 our necks. As we stood up straight and listened. Somewhere in the woods 17 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.319 nearby, we could hear a loud panting. I thought it sounded like a 18 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:30.519 dog, but it had to be one heck of a big dog to pant 19 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:34.280 like that. Scared the hell out of both of us. You hear that, 20 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:38.159 we both asked at the same time. I saw my own fear reflected 21 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:42.799 in my cousin's eyes. We both wanted out of there, but we were 22 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:47.719 smart enough donor run. We knew we'd have to slide out of those woods, 23 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:53.879 making as little noise as possible. Somehow we managed that. We never 24 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:57.760 saw a dog or anything else that could have made that sound. We might 25 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:01.680 have convinced ourselves that it was my cousin dog. He'd sometimes run into the 26 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:06.040 woods and he'd find us, but when we got back to the house, 27 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:09.319 he was waiting on us on the porch. Besides, he wasn't even near 28 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:15.280 big enough to pant that loud. At that time, I couldn't have identified 29 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:20.280 the panting sound on a dare. Today, I believe it was a dog 30 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.840 man that we heard. Neither me nor my cousin ever hunted that rich alone 31 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:29.800 again. Years later, my wife and my son and daughter and I were 32 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:35.080 traveling from Akron, Ohio down home for our summer visit to Natchez. We 33 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:38.879 were traveling down I fifty five right after sun up, not far from Memphis. 34 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:44.560 At that time, we were nearly paralleled to Sardi Slake, where swamps 35 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.319 form on both sides of the roads, with stands of pines in the middle 36 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:52.879 like islands. When I saw something big a quarter of a mile ahead. 37 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.080 It was a big black ape looking like creature that crossed the road ahead of 38 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:04.439 us in only four stripe. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. What 39 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.719 walks on two legs and crosses that wide highway from west to east in four 40 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:14.800 strides. As soon as it got across, had vanished into some thick brush 41 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:17.919 that was growing at the edge of the flooded area. And as soon as 42 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:22.360 we got even with the thicket, I looked into the pines, hoping I'd 43 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:28.360 get another glimpse at it, but it had vanished. Several years passed when 44 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:31.919 we happened to be talking about Bigfoot across the table. Now I don't know 45 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:37.680 what brought the topic up or why we were even talking about it that morning 46 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:42.199 in the car that I had assumed everyone else was asleep and therefore didn't see 47 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:46.400 a thing. Imagine my surprise when my daughters spoke up that day and said, 48 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:50.400 Hey, Dad, do you remember that thing we saw when we were 49 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:53.759 going down to Mississippi. It was a bigfit that cross the highway, wasn't 50 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:59.319 it all these years? And I thought she had been asleep. She was 51 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.599 awake and he saw it too. There was another time it happened when I 52 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:09.439 was fourteen, and once again I was out squirrel honeing. The gullies and 53 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:14.039 bayous behind my house were my hunting grounds that day, and on that morning 54 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.160 I came up on a big footprint in the bottom of those gullies had to 55 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:23.240 be sixteen or seventeen inches long, and all I could think was, Man, 56 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:28.000 that foot must belong to Andre the Giant. It was a fresh print, 57 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:31.759 still clearly defined, just like when my cousin and I were hunting that 58 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:38.240 day. The world went silent. I felt those same creepy crawleys worked their 59 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:41.600 way up my arms and back of my neck as I got a whiff of 60 00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:46.560 a smell that everyone talks about. I had to fight to keep from puky. 61 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.879 Oh, man, I don't know why these smells tick on me. 62 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.839 It's kind of silly. I had to fight to keep from puky. I 63 00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.519 eased back out of the woods as quiet as I could, leaving that absence 64 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.959 of bugs and birds and critters behind me. All I had with me was 65 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.240 a four to ten shotgun, and I was pretty sure that wasn't going to 66 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:13.439 be enough. I don't know when I've ever been so scared. Okay, 67 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:17.240 well, here's a man who's had three experiences in his life. A panting, 68 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.879 heard something breathing in the woods when he was hunting with his cousin, 69 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:26.560 saw something across the road, and then he's seen a track that no other 70 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:30.399 animal on the planet would have, a foot that big, no nothing, 71 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:33.920 So what does that tell you? He's one of these people that just runs 72 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:39.279 across all kinds of stuff that I never see. How many do you ever 73 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:42.720 wonder if you ever spend any time in the woods, do you ever wonder 74 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:47.160 how many times you've walked across something that could be really clear evidence of some 75 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:53.000 kind of creature living in the woods that's unidentified, like a bigfoot, like 76 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:57.160 a track or whatever, like you know, you could be riding around on 77 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.360 your four wheel or how many tracks have you run over that were just right 78 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:04.240 there and you could have taken a picture, or even if you're really really 79 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:06.800 clever, you could have done a cast of it, but you ran over 80 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:11.120 it with you four wheeler. How many times do you think that's happened. 81 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:14.240 I don't know. Some people just have an eye for that stuff. They 82 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:18.160 have a there's something about them that draws these in kind of encounters. I 83 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:23.199 don't think this man's is very extreme, but that's three times in his life 84 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:28.639 he's seen odd things that would probably make him, you know, believe in 85 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:33.720 these creatures. I never see anything. I want to see something. I've 86 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:39.839 seen videos of things, especially Shelley Reid and Mark Knuble when they found those 87 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:42.680 tracks a couple of years ago at Lamb between the Lakes. Now, that 88 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:49.079 was I remember watching that video and it it almost gave me chills because I 89 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:54.639 know these people. They're not they don't make anything up. They're real hard 90 00:06:54.680 --> 00:07:00.600 evidence people. And the water was low at Lamb between the Lakes and Kentucky 91 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:03.360 Lake or Barkley. She walked out on the mud flat. There's these giant 92 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:09.439 tracks all over the place. They couldn't be faked. They're big, huge 93 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:13.399 ones, and then they're small ones like you know, like maybe a mama 94 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:19.920 or daddy bigfoot walking around with a juvenile or even a small you know, 95 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:25.720 comparable to like our four or five year old kids walking around beside it. 96 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:28.360 It's so cool. I wish I had been with them that fall. I 97 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:31.759 think it was in the fall when that happened. Anyway, I'm I'm just 98 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:36.800 running on and on. Pay no attention to me who just gets fascinated with 99 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:45.199 this stuff. But let's go to another story. During the nineteen eighties, 100 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:47.879 I bought an old trailer from a friend. My wife and I had been 101 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:50.920 married a few years at the time, and we were living in Vale, 102 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:57.240 Tennessee. A Veil isn't the kind of town that sparks immediate recognition at the 103 00:07:57.319 --> 00:08:01.079 mention of its name. They're less than two thousand people living there with little 104 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:07.040 to do on Saturday night that doesn't involve driving over to a neighboring town. 105 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:11.000 It's quiet in Veil. It's peaceful, and if that's what you're looking for, 106 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:16.399 then Veil is where you'll find it. I set the trailer on the 107 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.160 edge of the woodline on her property owned by one of my brothers. Another 108 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.319 brother owned a trailer that sat out in front of ours. It wasn't the 109 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:30.120 kind of situation that would make anyone think bad things could happen. That's what 110 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:35.679 made the event seem so much more frightening. We hadn't lived there long when 111 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:37.759 my wife woke me up in the middle of the night and she was poking 112 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:43.279 my back in that way that women says, boy, you'd better strap on 113 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.200 that Superman cape right now, because I'm going to need you to hero up. 114 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:50.960 But it was the middle of the night, and even Superman needs his 115 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:56.200 beauty sleep. I rolled over and gave her a what to let her know 116 00:08:56.279 --> 00:09:01.159 that I wasn't happy about the back poking. Did you hear that? She 117 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:05.000 hissed? She was speaking at a whisper, but her wide, frightened eyes 118 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:09.159 were screaming her fear at me, and my irritation melted a little. But 119 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:13.919 I didn't hear anything. No, I said, before rolling back over and 120 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:18.200 wrapping my pillow around my head to block out any more efforts at conversation. 121 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:24.799 Listen, she said, poking me hard as she did. So why didn't 122 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:30.879 want to listen? I wanted to sleep? Please, she whined. I 123 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:33.519 rolled over again and was about to tell her that I didn't hear a thing 124 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.600 and that she should go back to sleep and let me do the same, 125 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:41.720 when I heard it too. Something was running back and forth across the roof 126 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:46.600 of the trailer. At that time, we had bantam chickens back then, 127 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:52.720 their feisty little birds with more attitude than brains. One old rooster was the 128 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:58.080 perfect example of that sort of behavior. But whatever was up on the roof 129 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.480 sounded like it was about his sigh. It's probably that old batting rooster, 130 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:05.679 I told my wife. I saw the stricken look on her face, and 131 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:09.200 I knew that wasn't going to settle her. I was going to have to 132 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:13.039 get up, walk outside and stare that old rooster in the eye, just 133 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:18.440 to prove to my wife that she was afraid of a bird. I'd like 134 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:22.120 to think that I'm not the kind of guy who pouts and stomps his feet 135 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:24.519 like a child when I'm being forced to do something that I don't want to 136 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:28.360 do. It being the middle of the night, though I wasn't thinking. 137 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:33.840 I was halfway down the hallway when something lit up the trailer like a Christmas 138 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:39.639 tree there was no sound of helicopters or vehicles. I don't even remember hearing 139 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:45.080 the wind blow. And if it hadn't been so silent, maybe the thousand 140 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:50.120 white lights shooting through the trailer wouldn't have been so bad. Who am I 141 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:54.600 kidding? I was never more terrified in my life. I don't recall how 142 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.679 long it lasted, but I do remember one thing. The whole time the 143 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:03.600 light were shining on us, whatever was up there on the roof kept moving 144 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:09.000 back and forth, and when the lights went out, the walking stopped. 145 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:13.399 We had a long, sleepless night after that, but whatever it was didn't 146 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:18.919 come back. The next day, I asked my brother if he had seen 147 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.919 the lights or experienced any strange roof walking. He thought that maybe I had 148 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.960 drank too heavily the night before, or maybe that I had lost my mind. 149 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:31.720 And to this day, I'm convinced that the walking was the rooster. 150 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:37.440 But there is one thing that I can't understand. With my brother's trailer being 151 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:41.080 so close to ours, and with those lights being as bright as they were, 152 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:46.919 how did he not see them? Oh, that's a cool story. 153 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:50.000 That's kind of like a y'all. I'm sorry, I've got a rooster and 154 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:56.279 two hens in my office here. I don't know if I'm turn if y'all 155 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:03.360 and hear them, all right, all right, I shoot them out. 156 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:07.240 But I think this was one of those type of let me get my microphone 157 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:11.679 adjusted here. I think it's one of those UFO type scenarios, almost like 158 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:18.559 what was that? There was a movie with Mel Gibson. M Night Shamalan 159 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:24.960 was the was the producer and director. All they're fighting aliens. I can 160 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.519 never remember names of movies. I'm such a moron, but it's a great 161 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:33.720 movie. It's a scary movie about aliens, crop circles and all that stuff. 162 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:37.919 And they finally come and they hear this thing running across their roof and 163 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:41.440 it winds up being one of these really mean aliens that are trying to kill 164 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:45.480 them. But that's what the story reminded me of. And it's really cool. 165 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:48.799 I love these alien stories. They're great. So I appreciate the writer. 166 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.519 He didn't leave a name, so I'm not gonna even worry about that. 167 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.879 But it was a good story, so I appreciate the writer for sending 168 00:12:56.919 --> 00:13:01.879 it. It was great. Let's go to another one, all right, 169 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:05.600 here's an Oklahoma Bigfoot story. This is pretty good. It's kind of short, 170 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.519 but it's good. Here in Oklahoma, people still tend to think that 171 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:13.200 your nuts if you go around telling them that you've seen Harry Apes in the 172 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:18.879 woods. For that reason, I've kept this secret since I was fourteen. 173 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:24.519 Six years of silence is enough. I want my story told. At the 174 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:28.480 time, my youth group was heading to a national forest for a weekend camping 175 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:33.200 trip. I don't remember the name of the park, but I do remember 176 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:37.600 that it was two or three hours driving from home. We set up in 177 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:41.240 a clearing that was surrounded by hundreds of miles of woods, and thirty yards 178 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:46.159 to our left was a creek, and to our right was a concrete building 179 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:50.360 built around a hole that served us our toilet. The woods weren't full of 180 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:54.440 game. There were deer and bear and buy some and all those little critters 181 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.840 that Disney likes to make characters out of, and they were all around us. 182 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:03.480 It was cool if you didn't mind the bison poop in the middle of 183 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:07.759 the campsite. Drinking from the creek was off limits. The E. Coli 184 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:11.919 bacteria in the water would have made anyone stupid enough to drink it. Sicker 185 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:16.559 than a dog. It was the second night of the camp out. Everyone 186 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:20.799 else was asleep. Most of them had gone rock climbing that day and they 187 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:26.159 were tired. I woke up to nature's call, and not wanting to go 188 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:31.000 to that nasty outhouse building, I decided it would be best to relieve myself 189 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:35.000 behind the tent. I grabbed my flashlight so I could look out for snakes 190 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:39.720 and such, and I stepped outside. I was still half asleep, and 191 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:46.320 I lifted the flashlight and shined it down toward the creek. It lit up 192 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:50.759 a huge black figure that was eight feet tall and four feet wide. I 193 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:54.720 was only half awake, and my first thought was that I was casting a 194 00:14:54.759 --> 00:15:01.679 long shadow. I waved at it, and it waved at me. It 195 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:05.159 didn't move in unison with me. It moved in response to me, but 196 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:09.879 my mind wasn't functioning properly, so it only served to confirm that I was 197 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.200 looking at my own shadow. I emptied my bladder and I went back to 198 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:18.879 bed. Over the next week, I thought a lot about that incident, 199 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:24.399 and something didn't seem right. It wasn't the handwaving aspect that finally made me 200 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.320 realize that I was not looking at my shadow. It was the realization that 201 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:33.440 the flashlight was in my hand in front of me, not behind me. 202 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:37.080 And in addition to that, it would have taken a huge light from far 203 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:41.960 behind me to cast a shadow that big. There was no possible way. 204 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:48.200 It wasn't until I pieced all this together that I gave serious thought to the 205 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:54.360 handwaving. It mimicked me, and that shook me to my core. I 206 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:58.399 remember seeing long black hair hanging from its arms and body, and I don't 207 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:04.440 remember any facial features. It didn't seem aggressive. I can't help but wonder 208 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:08.159 if it had been coming into camp every night and we had not known it. 209 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:15.120 The fact that it mimicked me indicated it had intelligence. But whatever it 210 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:21.720 was, it wasn't just a beast. Well that's that's pretty cool. That's 211 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:25.600 a full visual. I mean, I don't think this guy's mistaken at all. 212 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.720 I think he's I think he saw a bigfoot. I think he walked 213 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:33.039 down to go to the bathroom, and I guess the backdrop of maybe moonlight 214 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:37.559 or whatever, he could see the outline of a dark form that was mimicking 215 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:42.159 him. He waved, it waved back. That's kind of unusual behavior for 216 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:47.240 an animal, but maybe not for a bigfoot. Either way, this was 217 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:52.559 a wonderful story. I appreciate the writer sending it. Okay, this is 218 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:56.039 a pretty good email right here, So have a seat and strap in. 219 00:16:56.120 --> 00:17:00.720 It's going to be a good a gurden. Here's what the man rights. 220 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.920 Back when I worked in the Aura fineries in New Orleans, I met a 221 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:08.119 man named Kevin. We got to be pretty good friends, and this is 222 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:12.400 the story he told me. When he was ten years old, he was 223 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:17.839 put into foster care. He never said why, but he liked the man 224 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:21.640 and woman who took him in. They weren't mean, and nor did they 225 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:26.039 expect him to do a lot of hard work. They both worked outside of 226 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:29.039 the home, so that meant that Kevin spent a lot of time at home 227 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:33.599 alone in the summer, and back then a parent could do that without worrying. 228 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.519 When he was out exploring, he found a lake beyond the woods that 229 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:42.119 were behind their house. He went home and told his foster parents about it, 230 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:45.160 and they told him that he could go back there and play all he 231 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:49.160 wanted. He was even allowed to swim in the lake as long as he 232 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:53.160 wore a life vest and to a young boy like Kevin, that must have 233 00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:59.359 been paradise. The next chance he got, Kevin headed back to the lake 234 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.680 with his life fest in tow, and when he got there, he was 235 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:07.079 surprised to discover a boy and a girl already playing in the water. As 236 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.640 soon as they saw Kevin, though, they ran into the woods and hid 237 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:15.559 well. Kevin shrugged his shoulders and he went about his business. Weren't no 238 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:19.200 skin off of his nose if those kids didn't want to play with him anyway. 239 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.960 There was a grapevine hanging from a tree that Kevin got a hold of 240 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:27.920 and swung himself out over the water, and he dropped in with a big 241 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:33.160 splash and had a great time. Then he climbed out and he did it 242 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:37.279 again, and off in the distance, he could see those two kids watching 243 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:41.039 him. Clearly they wanted to come back and join him, but they seemed 244 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:45.240 like they were a little afraid to do it. As Kevin swung out for 245 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:48.880 the third time, he motioned for the two kids to come back and join 246 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:53.920 him. That was all it took. Soon Kevin and his new two friends 247 00:18:55.039 --> 00:19:00.400 were playing around in the water like lifetime buddies. Kevin wasn't to differences between 248 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:04.559 him and the other two kids. For one thing, they were completely covered 249 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:10.519 in hair and they didn't wear swimsuits, and since they were playing in chest 250 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:14.519 deep water, that fact didn't matter much, but it did seem odd to 251 00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:18.599 Kevin, and he also noticed that they were clearly foreigners. They didn't speak 252 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:22.599 a word of English. They managed to communicate just fine, though, by 253 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:29.480 grunting and pointing, so that didn't matter much either. That night, Kevin 254 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:33.319 couldn't wait to tell us foster mother about the kids that he had met at 255 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:37.000 the lake. She asked what the kids look like, and he said they 256 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:41.799 were dark. He also explained about the language barrier. Louise, his foster 257 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.799 mother, was happy that he had found some new playmates and that they were 258 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:52.559 able to be friends despite not being able to speak the same language. Several 259 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:56.880 weeks went by during which Kevin played almost daily in the lake with his new 260 00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:00.359 friends. They never learned to speak English and he never learned to speak their 261 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:04.720 language, but it didn't keep them from having a lot of fun. And 262 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:08.720 then one day, Louise got off of work early and decided to walk down 263 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:14.079 to the lake to check on Kevin. As soon as she came into you 264 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:18.759 Kevin's friends ran off into the woods. Well, he called after them, 265 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:22.039 but they didn't answer. He would have run after them, but Louise prevented 266 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:26.160 him from doing that. Are those your friends, she asked, trying to 267 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.000 keep her voice calm. Yeah, that's them. I don't know why they 268 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:36.480 ran off like that, Kevin said. Louise put her hands on his shoulders 269 00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:38.960 then and leaned down so she could look him square in the eye before saying, 270 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:47.039 Kevin, Honey, them ain't children, these boogers. Kevin didn't understand 271 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:52.400 what she was trying to tell him. What's a booger? Seeing the confusion 272 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:57.279 on his face, Louise tried again, sweety them as monsters. Monsters, 273 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:03.599 Kevin exclaimed, what do you mean monsters? Well, for instance, they 274 00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:06.839 don't sleep in a house, they sleep out in the woods, and they 275 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:11.279 don't wear clothes because they're all covered hair. Kevin couldn't argue that last part. 276 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:15.799 He had often wondered about their situation. He couldn't help himself, though. 277 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:22.200 His eyes slipped into the shadows where his friends had disappeared. They didn't 278 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.200 seem like monsters to him at all. He liked his friends. And then 279 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:30.200 Louise said one last thing. I don't want to talk about it anymore, 280 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.079 and I don't want you going down there near them, do you hear me? 281 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:37.559 To do so is to bring on bad luck? And with that, 282 00:21:37.640 --> 00:21:44.440 she and Kevin returned to the house. Kevin didn't sleep that night. He 283 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:48.480 had a lot to think about. His friends had never hurt him. He 284 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.440 knew they were weird, but they were his friends and he didn't want that 285 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.480 to change. And he decided that he wouldn't tell Louise about meeting them at 286 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:02.480 the lake again. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Ultimately, he 287 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:04.920 didn't have any choice in the matter. He went back to the lake every 288 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:08.000 day for the rest of that summer, but the little boy and girl, 289 00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:15.240 who had been his closest companions for months, they never came back. Meanwhile, 290 00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:18.359 Louise and her husband took on two more boys. They weren't quite as 291 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:22.720 easy to handle as Kevin. They weren't troublesome kids, but they had their 292 00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:26.839 own set of issues. Tim who was the older of the two, tried 293 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:32.319 to get into bed with his foster parents on several occasions. It got so 294 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:36.319 bad that they had to start locking their door, but that didn't keep him 295 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:38.559 in his own bed, and when he found the door locked, he curled 296 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:42.240 up in a bond slept on the floor in front of it like a cat. 297 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:48.079 The younger one was named Mickey, and he had his own issues. 298 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.160 Several times he would wet the bed, and it wasn't an every night occurrence, 299 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:56.079 and it wasn't a problem that he brought with him. They didn't have 300 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:00.559 an indoor toilet out where their house was, and when the other two boys 301 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:04.279 came to live with them, neither Mickey nor Tim had issues with grabbing a 302 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:10.000 flashlight and walking the path from the kitchen door to the outhouse at the edge 303 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:12.839 of the woods. And then one day, for reasons and no one could 304 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:19.599 understand, Micky started wedding the bed at night. Time passed and Kevin grew 305 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:23.680 up. He went his way, and Tim and Mickey went their own ways. 306 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:27.559 But they all kept in touch with their foster parents, but none of 307 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:33.240 them was especially good at keeping in contact with each other. That's how it 308 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:37.640 is. Sometimes. A few years before Kevin told me this story, his 309 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:42.440 foster father passed away. It was the first time he had seen his foster 310 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:48.400 brother in years. There was no animosity between them, so it was only 311 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:52.799 natural that the three found themselves sitting together at the wake and talking over old 312 00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:59.160 times out there on the farm with their foster parents. As with all funerals, 313 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:03.200 there were some tea mixed with laughter and a lot of reminiscing, and 314 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:07.359 a few could have beens and maybe nots. They'd been talking for quite a 315 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:12.599 bit when Micky hesitantly asked a question. It was obvious that he wanted to 316 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:17.039 ask it for quite some time, but he was struggling to find the right 317 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:22.680 words. Have you ever? He started, and then realizing that that wasn't 318 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:26.920 the right track, he began again with when you were out there? Did 319 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:32.480 you? Again? He wasn't sure he was wording the question right, so 320 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:37.519 he paused, but before he could find another way, Tim said, weird 321 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:42.799 stuff. Kevin and Mickey were both stunned into silence. Kevin thought immediately of 322 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:47.440 a swimming buddies, but he couldn't imagine what the other two could be talking 323 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:52.440 about. Weird things. Micky corrected, Yeah, weird things, agreed Tim, 324 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:57.200 but Kevin didn't speak. Something in the back of his mind was telling 325 00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:03.240 him that his foster brothers were not going to share swimming stories. I never 326 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:07.640 wet the bed before we came there to live. Micky said, well, 327 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:11.599 I mean not since I was a toddler. Anyway. He gave each of 328 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:15.240 the others a long look before going on, as if to say, go 329 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:19.720 ahead, challenge me. When neither Kevin nor Tim said a word, he 330 00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:25.559 continued, I mean, it wasn't like I enjoyed trapsing out to the outhouse 331 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:29.400 in the middle of the night. But I didn't mind it either. He 332 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:33.160 looked down at the glass in his hand. There was a drink someone had 333 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:36.680 handed him earlier, like he didn't know what to do with the empty drink. 334 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:40.359 I kind of thought it was like a big adventure, you know, 335 00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:45.240 like Indiana Jones kind of stuff. It was a bad analogy, and Mickey 336 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:49.039 knew it. The Indiana Jones movies didn't come along until well after they were 337 00:25:49.079 --> 00:25:53.920 grown. He struked that off, and he continued, there was this one 338 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:59.160 night when it was storming. It hadn't started raining yet, but man, 339 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:03.759 was it like and thundering wicked. Well, I was walking to the outhouse 340 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:07.720 when one really bright bolt of lightning lit up the sky like stadium lights at 341 00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:11.880 a Friday night football game. And it was close too, because the crack 342 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:17.759 that came with it was almost immediate again. He stared into the cup, 343 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:22.440 not wanting to make eye contact with Tim or Kevin. Well, I looked 344 00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:26.160 up and then I Micky shifted his head and formed the words with his mouth, 345 00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:30.559 but no sound came out. A single piece of ice was trapped in 346 00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:33.839 the bottom of that cup, and he spun it around like a tiny race 347 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:38.960 car on a plastic track, and after several seconds, Tim said, you 348 00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:45.039 saw it, didn't you. Micky's eyes moved up to meet Thames. I 349 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.119 take it you did too, he asked. Yeah. It was tall and 350 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:52.440 covered in hair, face right out of a nightmare. No one spoke, 351 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:57.440 and although Kevin knew his swimming buddies weren't scary to look at, he had 352 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:03.160 long suspected that they would have been by the time they grew up. He 353 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:07.759 watched him now, knowing that he would share his story too. You know 354 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:11.880 how I used to sleep outside of the folks bedroom at night, Tim asked 355 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:15.799 Kevin, and Mickey nodded. That thing used to look in my window. 356 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:19.559 My bed was right there beside the window, except for a thin pane of 357 00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:25.079 glass between us. I could have reached out and touched it. It came 358 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:30.799 and looked in the window all the time. Tim and Mickey traded descriptions and 359 00:27:30.839 --> 00:27:36.519 recall their emotions for several minutes while Kevin listened, and when they finally exhausted 360 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:41.039 themselves, he told his story. And then he told them how Louise had 361 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:45.160 called them boogers and monsters and said not to speak to them because it would 362 00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:49.240 bring bad luck. The three left the funeral that day, promising to keep 363 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:53.599 in touch and feeling a little happier for having shared their stories with each other. 364 00:27:55.480 --> 00:27:59.279 Louise was happy to have them together and made them all promised to come 365 00:27:59.319 --> 00:28:04.400 and see her soon. Kevin did one better. He bought some land nearby 366 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:07.960 and had it cleared so he could build a house there. And once the 367 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:14.279 building began, he saw Bigfoot several times. It didn't surprise him at all. 368 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:17.759 The lake where he had swam as a kid made up nearly half of 369 00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:22.319 his property. They never came too near, but Kevin found himself wondering if 370 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:26.519 he had disturbed their home and if they were upset with him for having done 371 00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:33.359 so. It turned out that Kevin had a coworker who held Bigfoot weekends on 372 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:37.319 a regular basis, so he figured it would be safe to open up and 373 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:41.680 talk about his own encounters. The man was intrigued, and he offered Kevin 374 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:48.640 money to allow him to host his Bigfoot weekends on that land. Guys were 375 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:52.319 paying him four hundred dollars to come out and drink beer and help themselves to 376 00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:57.559 his fireplace stew while he told stories, and in turn, Kevin learned about 377 00:28:57.559 --> 00:29:03.519 the elusive creatures. He started leaving apples in various places in the woods, 378 00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:08.000 and when he came back, those apples were always gone. One weekend, 379 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:12.319 he decided to tell the others what he had been doing, and while this 380 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:17.640 spurred some debate, it was also a catalyst that sent everyone out into the 381 00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:22.480 woods to try and get a glimpse of some bigfoot. One guy saw movement 382 00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:26.160 and he quickly shined his light in that direction, and he was shocked to 383 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:30.039 see that there were two of them standing there. Either out of instinct or 384 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:34.160 fear, or maybe he was in a full bore panic, the man pulled 385 00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:40.160 his gun and he shot one of them. They unleashed an angry growl and 386 00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:45.319 began moving through the woods, tearing through the trees and screaming. Everyone was 387 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:48.799 so scared that they all ran for their vehicles. As the guy who fired 388 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:53.160 his gun jumped into his a tree fell on the core. He didn't get 389 00:29:53.200 --> 00:30:00.680 away. Well. That weekend changed everything for Kevin. The Bigfoot were bolder 390 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:03.960 now, and they were angry, and they came up to the house at 391 00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:08.720 night and slammed the walls and sometimes they'd break out windows. Kevin built a 392 00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:14.119 safer room inside the house that he could get into and lock himself inside if 393 00:30:14.119 --> 00:30:18.200 they ever managed to get inside the house. And when they tore down a 394 00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:22.480 door and he had to test the strength of that room, he knew it 395 00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:26.599 was time to move. After that, the property sat empty for the most 396 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:32.039 part. It was sold a couple of times, and families would move in, 397 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:36.200 but they never stayed for long. That didn't matter to Kevin. He 398 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:41.480 wasn't going back there. He told me that he understood now what Louise meant 399 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:45.319 when she wanted him to stay away from them. He didn't think they were 400 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:49.000 automatically monsters, but he did think that if anything could bring out a monster 401 00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:53.160 in them, it would be a human being. And once that happened, 402 00:30:53.440 --> 00:31:00.000 your luck really does run out. That was a great story, man, 403 00:31:00.359 --> 00:31:07.359 That's like this epic saga of these foster kids and Kevin going back and building 404 00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:11.720 a place. I'm not going to ruin it by adding my silly commentary. 405 00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:15.720 But man, what a great story. I have the man's name, but 406 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:18.559 he doesn't say whether to give it or not. And he's just repeating a 407 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:23.039 story that her friend told him. But whoa, this was a good one. 408 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:26.559 This was a good one. Thank you for sending this story. It 409 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:30.039 was great. Thank you for joining me on this podcast. I certainly do 410 00:31:30.119 --> 00:31:41.720 appreciate you listening this far. We'll see you guys on the next one. Appreciate you