WEBVTT

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This episode may contain content that is
not suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion

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is advised, especially for those under
the age of thirteen. Welcome to ind

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to the Night. I'm Nari your
guide on to day's excursion down a twisted

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path. Be careful not to get
lost. Be it dark or light,

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It's easy to lose your way.
Are you ready, then Let's begin Spring

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Peepers Part one. The seemingly constant
blare of sirens and the press of humanity

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in the city became too much.
Staring out the window of her condominium,

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she knew what she needed to do. Her heart longed for a simpler life

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and the peace of the countryside.
Cassandra Carmichael wanted to go home. Long

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before she became a financial planner in
a major investment firm. She was a

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different person. Behind the high heels, tailored business dress and flawless makeup,

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lived the country girl she'd once been. I want to be that girl again.

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At that moment, Cassandra began her
journey back to herself. She went

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to her desk and searched for land
in the hills of southern Missouri. Scrolling

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through listings, she stopped on one
there's no way it was. However,

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the farmhouse she'd spent summers in with
her grandparents long ago. Her parents sold

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it to pay for her grandparents hospitalization
and long term care before they passed.

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What are the odds of it being
for sale at the same time, my

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heart is telling me to go home. It's not even all that expensive,

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and twenty of the original acres come
with it. Cassandra emailed the realtor and

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spent the next few hours daydreaming of
her childhood outings on her grandparent's farm.

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Her father and his six brothers grew
up in that house. Completely intrigued by

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the possibility of owning part of her
family history, thought through what she'd need

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to make such a move. I'm
tired of the rat race, but I

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need to be smart about this.
I could cash out my portfolio, sell

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my condo, buy the farm,
and still have plenty of money to live

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on. I can do remote consultations
if I have to for income. I've

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read articles about other people pulling the
corporate plug and escaping to the country.

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I can do this. She went
to sleep happy for the first time in

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a long time. After years of
climbing the business ladder, and sacrificing part

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of who she used to be.
She finally had hope. Not everything revolved

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around the almighty dollar. Her heart
and soul craved a simpler way of life,

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and this could be her opportunity to
have it. The next morning,

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she received an email from the realtor. It's said, Cassandra, this property

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is still available and the seller is
highly motivated. He will accept any reasonable

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offer. Let me know if you
would like to move forward with this Kay

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Barnum. They're willing to take less
than the asking price. I don't think

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I could pass this up. She
sent kay Barnum an offer that was ten

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thousand under the listing price. Within
five minutes the offer was accepted a contract

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would arrive. In a subsequent email, she said, Cassandra jumped from her

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chair and shook her fist in the
air. Yes, I'm going home for

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the first time in years. A
weight lifted from her that she hadn't even

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realized she was carrying as a luring. As corporate success had been, she

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could finally reclaim herself. The day
after she signed the contract on the house,

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she put in her two weeks notice
at the brokerage began cashing out her

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portfolio and began packing. We hate
to see you leaving, Cassandra. Are

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you sure this is a wise move? Her boss, Ted Ferguson, looked

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skeptical. I know it doesn't sound
like it makes sense, but it feels

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right to me. I've been burned
out for a year and I may never

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get the chance to own my grandparents
place again. You're right, it doesn't

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make sense. I hate to see
you throw everything away that you've worked for

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all these years. I appreciate that, Ted, but it's something I have

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to do. I have to be
happy, and I'm not happy right now.

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Okay, I'll accept your resignation.
If you ever want to come back,

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you're welcome to. Just know you'll
have to start back at the bottom

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again. I can't hold your position
for you. I wouldn't ask you to.

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Good luck. The looks on her
co workers faces showed that they thought

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she'd lost her mind. How could
I ever explain to them what I've been

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missing. A few co workers,
however, seemed nearly gleeful about her departure.

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Shannon Ebe and Jack Cassock saw this
as their opportunity to move up in

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the firm. That's okay, you
two can have this place. I don't

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know why I've stayed so long.
Even to the nice ones here, my

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leaving is just a blip on their
radar. They'll soon forget. With a

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clear conscience, Cassandra loaded the moving
van and pulled onto the freeway that led

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her home. With each mile she
drove, her heart became lighter, and

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a smile crept across her lips.
Out of the concrete and asphalt of the

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city, she noticed the first signs
of spring. The grass in the fields

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peaked green shoots, and the tiny
buds on the trees were visible. The

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earth readied itself to awaken from a
cold and desolate winter. The farther south

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she drove, the more spring like
the world became. Some flowering trees offered

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much needed color into Cassandra's world.
The more countryside she drove through, the

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more eager she became to arrive at
the farm. Since her offer was cash

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up front, the deal closed quickly
and the house sat waiting for her to

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arrive. After ten hours on the
road, she pulled onto the familiar dirt

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road that took her back to when
she was a little girl. Yes,

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the trees had grown and a few
more houses dotted the way from what she

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remembered, but an over well mean
sense of excitement mixed with satisfaction flooded over

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her. Now more than ever before. She was certain she made the right

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decision. Two more miles and I'll
be home. The sun hadn't quite set

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when she pulled up the hill heading
to the farmhouse. The pale, yellow,

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two story home with the maple and
hickory trees in the front yard looked

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almost the same as the last time
she'd seen it. Previous owners had made

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some changes, a flower bed here
and new trees planted there. An updated

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chicken house sat off the path leading
to the majestic Yankee barn she'd spent so

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many hours in as a child.
She pulled into the driveway and turned off

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the ignition. Stiff from the drive, she stepped down and felt the gravel

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crunch beneath her feet. The earthy
smells of the land filled her senses,

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and she took deep breaths. I've
missed this. She grabbed her suit case

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and overnight bag and walked up the
porch steps. The key was left where

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Kay said it would be, and
she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

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The furniture she'd ordered was arranged inside, and her bed was made. Kay

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Barnum has gone above and beyond getting
me set up here. When I told

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her I needed to hire some people
to bring my furniture here, she said

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she'd take care of it. I
just needed to let her know when my

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things would be ready. On the
table abou Kay sat in a vase with

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a card Welcome home, Love Kay. How sweet of her. Kay Barnum

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went beyond serving as a realtor.
The two women immediately connected, and Kay

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handled details for Xandra that couldn't easily
be done long distance, right down to

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having my bed made and flowers waiting
for me. In one of their conversations,

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Kay told her, I remember when
you were a girl and spent the

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summers here. Your father and I
were in the same class in school,

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and your uncle married my cousin.
I feel like you're practically family, and

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I'm glad you're going to be part
of our community again. This means so

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much to me. I feel like
I've been lost in the world. I

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need to feel like i'm home.
You're coming home, Cassandra, and I'm

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happy to help you out any way
you need me to. This included a

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new paint job and flooring. The
curtains hung an even dishes placed in the

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kitchen cupboards. Yes, Cassandra paid
for all the changes, but Kay oversaw

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the projects so Cassandra could walk into
her renovated home. I sure didn't have

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anyone willing to do that in the
city. I've made the right choice,

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even if most people wouldn't understand it. As night fell, she stepped out

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onto the back porch. That's a
sound I haven't heard in years. Spring

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peepers, the harbingers of warmer weather
to come, sang their hearts out in

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the pond near the barn. Cassandra
always loved frogs, and the happy songs

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these little ones made each spring was
music to her ears. She sat on

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the porch and listened for a while. The stars twinkled in the night sky,

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and she had forgotten how bright they
could be without the haze of city

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lights subduing their shine. The night
was still except for the peeping frogs calling

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out in the darkness. The exhaustion
of the day caught up with her,

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and Cassandra finally stood and walked back
into the house. She readied herself for

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bed, plumped her goose down pillow
and pulled the quilt over the top of

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her. She fell more soundly asleep
than she had in years, completely relaxed

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and content. The next morning,
she messaged Kay to thank her for having

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the house ready for her when she
arrived. You're amazing and I want to

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take you out to eat. Let
me know what works for you. They

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made dinner plans for the next night. Meanwhile, Cassandra busied herself around her

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new, yet familiar home. Anne
spent time walking around the property. In

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past years, her grandparents ran a
cattle farm, but they owned nearly any

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kind of farm animal one could imagine. The chickens were Cassandra's favorites, and

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she checked out the coop along the
barn path and made up her mind to

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order chicks from the hatchery. It's
only an hour away. I'll drive up

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there to get them. I can't
believe I get to have my own farm.

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Speaking of things, that peep,
I think I'll walk down to the

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pond where the frogs had been serenading
each other. We kids spent hours down

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there fishing for bluegill. She smiled
and looked out at the rolling hills.

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The sun lit up the blue sky, and the wind carried a touch of

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warmth on it. So many good
memories my cousins and I knew every inch

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of this place. It's good to
reacquaint myself with home. She made her

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way down the hill from the big
red barn to the pond. The runoff

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from it babbled down the branch that
cut through the pasture. They were fortunate

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to have a spring fed pond,
and while the branch couldn't be considered a

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creek by any stretch, in all
but the deepest droughts, a trickle of

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water ran down it. The water
cut a groove in the red clay dirt

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as it meandered through the low lying
areas. Cassandra felt comforted knowing that even

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though years passed since her childhood outingsto
the pond, the spring and the branch

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remained constants even in her absence.
The next evening, she met Kay in

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town at the local diner Kay said
was the best in town. It seemed

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that her new friend knew everyone who
came through the doors, and she was

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happy to introduce Cassandra to all of
them. It's nice to meet you,

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Cassandra, say, would your dad
have been Paul Carmichael. Yes he is,

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I thought, so you sure do
favor him. Are you just visiting

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or are you planning on moving back
here? Kay said, oh, Cassandra

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just bought the old Carmichael place.
You don't say that place has had one

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person after another moving in and out
of there. Kay grew quiet. Cassandra

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smiled and said, well, I
plan on staying. It's nice to meet

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you, and it's good to be
back home again. Cassandra noticed that Kay's

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mood had shifted. Are you okay? You got quiet all of a sudden.

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Kay forced to smile and pretended to
look at the menu, even though

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she already told Cassandra she was going
to order her usual what. Oh,

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yes, nothing is wrong, Kay. I'm not a mind reader, but

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I've been in the business world for
quite a while and I'm pretty good at

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reading people. Something was said that
bothers you. It's nothing to worry about.

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You became quiet after missus Haskins said
that people had moved in and out

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of the house. I need you
to tell me why people aren't staying there,

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Kay stared at her across the table. You can tell me I don't

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scare off easily. You already told
me. The seller was highly motivated to

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sell, and he took an offer
ten thousand below, but was already a

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dirt cheap basking price. What's wrong
with the place, Kay on her booth

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seat. I don't know that anything
is wrong with the place at all.

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There are just rumors. What kind
of rumors? If I tell you this,

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I don't want you to be upset. I just I guess you should

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know, just in case I'm listening. Well, Tony, the guy who

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sold the place to you had similar
trouble to what others have had, so

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I guess he's as good a place
to start as any I'm interested. So,

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he said, it started out with
a strange feeling that something watched him

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at night. He said, if
he had to go out in his truck

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or maybe to check out the animals
at night, that something was right there,

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just feet away from him, close
enough to almost touch. At times.

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A cold fear shot through Cassandra Kay
studied her face. Casts you look

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like you know what I'm talking about. Thank you for joining me for Into

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the Night, an anthology series written
by Caroline Giamanco. Narration by Nari Quok,

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Theme music by Nico Rodriguez. All
original music, sound design and editing

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provided by Flyboy Entertainment. You can
find our links in the show notes.

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Please remember to like and subscribe,
and if you enjoy what you hear,

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please leave us a five star review
to help other excursionists to join us.

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You can find us on your favorite
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and remember, whether in the shadows
or in the daylight, All Twisted Paths

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take You into the Night. Into
the Night is a creative typo entertainment production