WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:03.680 Grandpa had been dead for a week, and the footsteps 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:08.320 had stopped completely. Didn't scare us anymore, not as much 3 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:11.160 as the noises, although Mom still had a tough time 4 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:16.079 with it, more with the memories, though. She was conflicted, 5 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:19.199 understandably so, considering that she was the only one that 6 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:22.000 chose to move us to come spend his final days together. 7 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:26.039 I don't know how she knew. Maybe a daughter's intuition, 8 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:29.399 if that's a thing. My sister and I had gotten 9 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:31.679 off school, and she was upset because she had to 10 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:33.880 skip summer camp in order to come with us to 11 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:36.880 his house, a large thing that we called the farm, 12 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:40.920 but we knew very well that it wasn't anymore. Grandpa 13 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:44.079 had no animals or land to tend to too old. 14 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:47.520 I assume I remember trying to convince my sister that 15 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:50.280 this was better than camp. This was a whole summer 16 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.079 of camping, and we could tell stories, laid into the night, 17 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:58.520 start campfires, and learn songs. I shouldn't have suggested that 18 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.719 I regretted it the very first day when she asked 19 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:04.760 me for a story. When I told her the first one, 20 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:07.439 she asked me questions about it, wanting to make up 21 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:11.519 her own. It wasn't scary enough, She said she wanted 22 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:16.560 a really, really scary one. Mom was doing her best 23 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:18.799 to get us settled, so I helped out where I could. 24 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:22.040 We had brought out two blankets and two sets of sheets, 25 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:24.239 along with our clothes and the rest of the things 26 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:27.239 we would need. We would have to scavenge around the huge, 27 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:31.879 worn down house. Grandpa was sick, but he could still 28 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:33.920 move around and go to the bathroom on his own. 29 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:36.120 We were supposed to be there just to keep them 30 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:39.040 company and hopefully convince them to come live with us 31 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.760 closer to town. We all knew that it was going 32 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:45.719 to be impossible, but we tried because we didn't know 33 00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:48.640 we were going to be among a dead man who 34 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:55.879 would still walk for another thirty days. My name is Edwin, 35 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:03.719 and here's a scary story. It was hard to talk 36 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:06.719 about the problems around Grandpa. It felt like he had 37 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:10.039 pushed himself out of the world on his own, his 38 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.800 way to defend himself. Throughout his life, he was known 39 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:16.560 as a hard working man, leading a local group of 40 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:19.400 farmers to strike deals with some of the larger areas, 41 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:22.960 bringing along business and even tourism to the areas of 42 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:25.639 the locals. The ones I started offering things that were 43 00:02:25.639 --> 00:02:29.319 hard to enjoy unless you were teaching them, like baking 44 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:34.840 or harvesting fruit. They made tourist attractions out of them. Halloween, 45 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:37.280 for example, started to become a day to look forward 46 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:40.840 to with the hay rides and the local legends. There 47 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:43.000 was one of the girl who fell on the well 48 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:47.159 and they shut it down. The headless horse. That's it, 49 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:50.319 not a horseman, but like a headless horse, a four 50 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.400 legged creature that roamed in the woods at night searching 51 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:57.120 for a head to replace his. But there were other 52 00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:01.000 dark ones around the area. The stories never made it 53 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.919 to the status of legends because they were real. The 54 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:10.080 Troy children that disappeared under mysterious circumstances, the Gonzales widow 55 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:12.879 who was found atop the trees for the birds to find. 56 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.840 I think all those legends started circulating in part because 57 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:21.599 of my grandpa. He loved reading and talking to the historians. 58 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.319 That would have been one myself, he told me, had 59 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:27.639 it not been for your grandmother being so afraid of 60 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:31.400 those things. Mom used to tell me that Grandma was 61 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:35.120 like that. Around the house you would find countless bibles 62 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:39.360 of different salesmen, in churches. She visited paintings of Jesus 63 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:42.199 and a mix of little statues that belonged to Catholic 64 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.840 churches instead of whatever denomination of Christians she was supposed 65 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:49.599 to be. The word God was not allowed without it 66 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:53.240 being in prayer or with respect, a reason why Mom 67 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.479 picked up the word gosh as a habit. I had 68 00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:00.240 never thought of historians as scare seekers until Grandpa taught me. 69 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:03.680 He would pull me aside by grabbing my shoulder tightly, 70 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:07.319 getting close to my face with that smell of stale coffee, 71 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:09.560 one that I didn't know had come from his shirt 72 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:13.639 rather than his mouth, and he would say, let me 73 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:17.160 tell you how the world works. I knew it was 74 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:20.600 story time. Then it must have been twelve when I 75 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:23.839 learned about what humans were capable of. The stories he 76 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:26.920 would tell about those towns were only in what point 77 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:29.879 zero zero zero one percent of the many we would 78 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:33.199 ever get to explore. And yet there were so many 79 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.199 tales of a thing that led to hate, that led 80 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:41.040 to fury, that led to death or mystery. He usually 81 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:46.399 started with jealousy or revenge. In a strange way, I 82 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:50.920 thought of life being worthless. After those conversations, events were 83 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:53.399 the birth of a child, and the many birthdays they 84 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:56.639 had became only a mystery countdown before they would go. 85 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:00.839 The joy of new parents, the laugh of the child 86 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.839 changing as they outgrew their clothes, all coming down face 87 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:08.120 to face with a gun or a knife, a whole 88 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:12.600 universe ending right then and there. But still I wanted 89 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:16.839 to know more more about everything, like there wasn't enough time. 90 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:20.720 About as many certificates and letters of accomplishment that he 91 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:23.959 had in his office, the key to the city more 92 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.639 like a collection of villages, though, the cigars and bottles 93 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.240 giving to him by the local businesses at one point, 94 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.240 all of them now dusty and covered with a type 95 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:36.199 of shame that he didn't deserve. After the rumor started, 96 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:41.000 we had an idea about it, especially now that I 97 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:44.800 was older and could understand more of our family's problems. 98 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:47.160 Why was it only Mom the one who came to 99 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:51.680 visit him? What had he done wrong? I don't think 100 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:54.480 anyone else would be able to understand it? And Grandpa 101 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:56.800 had lost all the energy to try and give us 102 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:06.040 the answers, but he still gave us questions. A scarier one, huh, 103 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:09.519 he said, coming up from behind My sister startling her 104 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:11.759 before standing up to help him sit by his chair. 105 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.399 Instead of a campfire, we had a lantern with a 106 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.759 tiny flame in the glass out by the porch. We 107 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:21.360 had turned off the lights for ambience, although it also 108 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:25.120 worked for the bugs. How was my sister's age when 109 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:28.399 I first learned about this? And I think Grandpa remembered 110 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:31.759 it too. I don't think there's an appropriate age to 111 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:37.519 learn how the world works without any immediate objection from us. 112 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:40.199 He leaned forward, stretched out his legs with the boots 113 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:43.680 stomping the wooden floor right by the lantern, nearly fading 114 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.519 it out completely, and he started telling us a story 115 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.240 that I didn't know, the one we had all been 116 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:53.199 wondering about the root of all the problems in our family, 117 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:56.319 and of why he ended up retreating to his house 118 00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:59.680 waiting for his groceries rather than making eye contact with 119 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:04.639 anyone else in town. There was a boy who came 120 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:09.360 from nowhere. He started back then your Grandma and I 121 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:12.839 had just moved in here. It was a standing structure, 122 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:16.199 but nothing livable. I got some of the guys around 123 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:19.360 Elwood to come and help me, but those bums just 124 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:22.639 wanted the beer. We had set aside for Fridays. I 125 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.720 found them once sneaking a few but didn't say anything. 126 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:30.079 But your grandma hated it everything, really, she hated beer, 127 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.439 loud music, the books or stacks of newspapers that would 128 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.839 bring in word around town was that there was a 129 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:40.560 boy who was walking into different properties at night. Of course, 130 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:43.040 no one had cameras or none of that, so we 131 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:45.560 relied on guard dogs and the nosy neighbors to bring 132 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:49.040 us the news. Eventually, we all started to know him 133 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:52.199 around here as Lucas. I'm not sure where the name 134 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:56.519 came from, but that's what we called him. The weird 135 00:07:56.519 --> 00:07:59.439 thing about him wasn't that he sleepwalked. I think it 136 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.279 was the easiest thing for us to process it was 137 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:05.480 that no one knew where he had come from. He 138 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.839 just showed up. No one knew where he lived, who 139 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:13.759 stayed with him, nothing like that. My sister and I 140 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:16.759 looked at each other with side eyes as Grandpa continued 141 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:22.439 this was a type of story. I knew him by 142 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:24.879 and no one would see him during the day, you know, 143 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:29.319 it was only at night, and he would talk gibberish sometimes. 144 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:32.799 According to some of the neighbors, the kids would call 145 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.600 him a ghost. Others would say that he was some 146 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.080 type of werewolf that lived out in the woods, but 147 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:43.159 I never bought any of it. Everything everyone said about 148 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:46.200 him pointed to the same thing. That he would walk 149 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:51.120 around with intention, not aimlessly, around properties. He would stand 150 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:54.799 by the windows, not looking toward them, but away. Like 151 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:57.440 if you were standing by the window right there, you 152 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:02.440 see that one, imagine facing out toward that tree. We 153 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:04.919 both snapped our heads towards the window and then back 154 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:08.600 at Grandpa. Now all along you might be thinking that 155 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:11.879 I'm talking of some teenager or something, So get a 156 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:15.600 hold of this. This boy must have been no older 157 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:20.240 than eight years old. Now that changes things, doesn't it. 158 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:23.720 I of course wanted to see where this boy had 159 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:27.159 come from, so I started asking around. People used to 160 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:28.799 know me around here. So I got a hold of 161 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:32.240 a young man. His name was Miller, forget his first name, 162 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:35.600 but he had kept his family's library going the thing 163 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:37.759 that turned into a museum by the entrance to this 164 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:40.879 road right here. That one's his. And it wasn't just 165 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:44.320 a tourist thing, no, no, no, that thing was a 166 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:49.480 real library with original pictures, letters that got photocopied into books, 167 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.600 and lots of other stories in the minds of that family, 168 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:55.559 the one who had lived here ever since this place 169 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:58.480 was nothing but a series of rest houses for horsemen, 170 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:03.279 the ones that were crossing over passed the mountains over there. Anyway, 171 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:05.759 Miller told me that he suspected the boy belong to 172 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.519 the George House, a place higher up in the hill, 173 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:12.600 maybe about halfway, that he had been born out of wedlock. 174 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:15.440 Now that that was a sin or anything for the 175 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:20.360 rest of us. God, I was about to say, Gosh, 176 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:24.519 God knows how much of that goes around here. The 177 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:27.159 truth was, he wasn't the product of any marriage or 178 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:30.879 lack of it. He was a product of a single family. 179 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:36.879 Now that's a sin for just about anybody. Mom peeked 180 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:40.759 her head through the doorway. When you're all finished here, 181 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:46.440 we have dinner ready, soup and sandwiches, like you asked, Maggie. 182 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:49.519 You're gonna want to hear this, Grandpa groaned, tapping on 183 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.440 the chair next to him. It was strange for us 184 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:55.080 to see Mom being the child of someone else, but 185 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.440 she followed orders, wiping her hands on the already crumpled 186 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:04.000 up paper towel and sitting down leaning back. Grandpa then 187 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:09.039 continued with the most terrifying story any of us had 188 00:11:09.080 --> 00:11:18.840 ever heard. I was warned by your grandmother not to 189 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:21.840 mess with the Millers, the historians of this part of 190 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:26.519 the town. Grandpa continued. They were disliked by many, mainly 191 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:32.679 because they had something everyone lacked around these areas, truth, cold, hard, 192 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:37.759 solid truth, and they didn't care about it either. They 193 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:41.440 were well prepped out there. You don't outlive an entire 194 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:44.679 town not knowing how to defend yourself around here, and 195 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:47.480 they had close ties to the county records. They were 196 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:50.200 the first to make obituaries for everyone, and they had 197 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:53.919 the most concise list of deaths and curious cases by far. 198 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:57.639 There was no record of this boy, and Lucas was 199 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:01.120 always putting quotation marks in the records with his estimated 200 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:05.000 date of birth. The Millers never went out to ask 201 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:08.240 anything by the George House, where they suspected that Lucas 202 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.639 had come from. Again, we don't get to outlive us 203 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:15.120 by being dumb either. I could tell Mom was picking 204 00:12:15.159 --> 00:12:18.080 up the story right away. Either she had been listening 205 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:21.919 the entire time, or she had already known about this part, 206 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:25.559 because she was now leaning forward her ear facing Grandpa 207 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.080 while she looked at the lantern that kept pretending to 208 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:32.879 die in front of us. Now you don't know about this, Maggie, 209 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:36.919 but that boy you all talked about was real. And 210 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:39.679 all those times I left early for the fair or 211 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:43.399 to chase after our cows and the neighbor's properties, I'd 212 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:48.320 always wonder if i'd see him. Until one morning I 213 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:51.759 caught up with him on the truck. He didn't run 214 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:55.879 or nothing. He stood still looking at me, and I 215 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:59.279 think he was smiling, but his face was strange, you 216 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:03.519 know how it is sometimes, so I couldn't tell. I 217 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:06.279 asked him where he came from and if he needed 218 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.080 a ride, maybe up to the George house. But when 219 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.919 he heard that word, I swear he lost it. He 220 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:16.360 started screaming, wailing like I had shot him in the leg. 221 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.840 He collapsed on the dirt right there on the path, 222 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:22.559 so loud I think he woke up the houses up 223 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.759 by the foothills. I stood there, saying sorry and asking 224 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:30.399 him what the matter was. But all I saw next 225 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:34.240 was how he stood up and started running full speed 226 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:37.799 toward the hill. And now I'm saying faster than a horse. 227 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.679 When he hit that mud rode up ahead, he hit 228 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:44.200 it with such a force that he tumbled over, but 229 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:48.360 he never hit the ground. I swear to you all 230 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:51.000 right here in front of me, that I saw him 231 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:55.879 float all the way up the road. I was standing 232 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:00.080 there and disbelieve, going what did I just witness? Do 233 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.960 I do? I head straight for the Miller's house. I 234 00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:06.240 don't remember how I got there in one piece, with 235 00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:08.759 the truck bouncing so much because of the rain from 236 00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:11.799 the night before, but I remember walking up to his 237 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:14.399 door and knocking on it hard enough to wake him up, 238 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:19.720 soft enough, A said, not startled anybody, Miller, Miller, I yelled, 239 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:23.679 I just saw Lucas out there by the road. Miller, 240 00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:27.679 you awake, hold on, hold on, I heard from the inside. 241 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.519 The light from the kitchen was flickering on. I watched 242 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:36.480 silhouette walking up to the front door. What's this you're saying, man, 243 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:39.759 he asked me as a front door opened, his face 244 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:44.840 growing with concern. I told him everything. I described the 245 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.919 boy as I had seen him, his right eye lower 246 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.600 than the left, and his mouth off to the side. 247 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:53.879 Had it not been for his round face or the 248 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:56.799 scream he let out, I could have sworn this was 249 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:00.200 some old man wandering the dirt roads. Early in the morning, 250 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:04.279 I described the way he left, though that part was 251 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:09.240 harder for me to believe. It wasn't so familiar, Just 252 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:12.480 as eyes expected, he said, his hand on his chin 253 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.679 while the other was extending out towards my truck, gesturing 254 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.840 us to go in there. He locked his door and 255 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:20.519 we went out for a drive to where I had 256 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:22.679 seen him. As I tried to repeat my story with 257 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:26.399 even more detail, the way he floated up the hill, 258 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:29.519 as if being dragged by an invisible rope, faster than 259 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:32.039 I had ever seen any human move in my life. 260 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:35.639 I shut off the truck and lowered down my window. 261 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:38.360 The sun was warming up the dirt enough for the 262 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:42.840 mist to begin forming around us. We sat there in silence, 263 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:47.080 when suddenly a loud gunshot was heard in the distance, 264 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:53.840 with those echoes of a scream. We were used to gunshots, 265 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:58.399 for sure, but not that early. Something about it didn't 266 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:03.279 sound right. It's now or never, Miller said, his voice, 267 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.000 suddenly changing from that softer voice that he would only 268 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:08.879 speak of facts and stuff he read on books to 269 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.600 that of a hunter. And so we drove halfway up 270 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:15.360 the hill to the George house to find it empty. 271 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:20.559 It wasn't abandoned like an old dilapidated house by any means, 272 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:22.960 but looked like it hadn't been taken care of in 273 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:27.000 a couple of months. Right at the front, by the 274 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:31.600 door was the body of that boy, part of his 275 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:33.879 head smeared on the steps that led up to it. 276 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:39.399 Upon realizing this, Miller barely managed to open the door 277 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:44.600 fast enough to vomit. Mom at this instant, looked over 278 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:47.600 at my sister to see her reaction. Her mouth was 279 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:51.440 open wide and she was completely still. But in front 280 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.240 of Grandpa, there was no asking him to tame it down. 281 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.480 Mom had tried many times. Grandpa told me his stories 282 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:04.759 never worked. Sometimes it even made it worse. We waited 283 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:07.480 for Grandpa to continue, and he stumbled on his words 284 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:09.799 a bit. I could tell he had lost his train 285 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:14.440 of thought. You found the boy, I said, right right, 286 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.920 he continued. I found the boy and got out of 287 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:20.240 the car, and I noticed that the blood was dry. 288 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.680 The smell was horrible out there, and Miller as my witness, 289 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.039 we can say that that boy had been dead for 290 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:32.079 much longer than a few days. The gunshot the boy 291 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:34.920 I saw, and might have all been in our heads, 292 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:38.400 not real not sure how it happened, but it was, 293 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:48.160 as you might say, impossible. Mom took a deep breath 294 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:50.400 and looked at us, putting her hands on her knees 295 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:53.079 to stand up, as if she was expecting more to 296 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:55.359 the story that she knew she wasn't going to get. 297 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:58.759 Grandpa reached out his hand to get help to stand 298 00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:00.960 up as we all got up and walked into the 299 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:05.559 dining room area in silence and sat around four sandwiches 300 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:08.000 on the table while Mom brought along a pot of 301 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:13.440 soup from the stove. A few days passed and Grandpa 302 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:16.160 told us a few other stories, none as creepy as 303 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:19.079 a boy who came from nowhere, but still unsettling to 304 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:22.319 say the least. We had more time to talk with 305 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:25.079 Mom about everything, and my sister was the one to 306 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.160 ask about why Grandpa was always alone. Mom told us 307 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:32.119 that Grandma had left him because of the reputation he 308 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.359 gained around town after hanging out with Miller and his family. 309 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.079 In fact, he even got accused of killing that poor boy. 310 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:43.200 Of course, no one had any proof or motive, but 311 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:48.480 hearsay was more powerful back then. Grandma's pride was strong too, 312 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.599 and he shared it with her own children. Mom was 313 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:56.000 too young to be influenced, though Grandpa really wanted to 314 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.599 figure out who that boy had been from the George House, 315 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:02.720 and now there was no one left to ask. Grandpa 316 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:05.279 had said that Miller suspected that the George House was 317 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:07.960 empty because he wouldn't see their trucks going back and 318 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:10.799 forth anymore, but never cared enough to go out and 319 00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:14.400 find out on his own. Neither of them were able 320 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:17.279 to explain the gunshot unless he had come from somewhere else, 321 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:21.480 and their finding had been just pure chance, not like 322 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:26.839 there had been a ghost gunshot. But what about Grandpa saw, 323 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:33.079 my sister asked stubbornly. I don't know, Mom said, sternly, 324 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:39.880 ending the conversation with that. When Grandpa died, his death 325 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:43.680 certificate was signed and we had a request to notify 326 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:47.319 the House of Records about the burial information. We just 327 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.480 needed to let them know. Sometimes, especially from small towns 328 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.880 without cemeteries like that, people request the places where they 329 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:58.599 want to be buried, and Grandpa was sure to have one. 330 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.559 We figured the only person who might know would be Miller, 331 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:06.319 Grandpa's longtime friend. It took a couple of visits until 332 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.000 we finally met him. All this time We had been 333 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:11.400 cleaning up the house and getting everything in order, with 334 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.400 the paperwork and the filings, the ones for the transfer 335 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:18.319 of inheritance and such. Mom was going to receive everything 336 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.599 to her name, but she wasn't sure if she wanted 337 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:25.279 to stay because of the strange sounds that came at night, footsteps, 338 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:28.440 small ones that would come up to the windows and 339 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:32.440 then vanish. Grandpa had been used to them in life, 340 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:36.240 and he wouldn't be afraid of them. It won't be long, 341 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:40.200 my little friend, he would whisper. We all heard them 342 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:43.559 now without Grandpa this time, and we all thought of 343 00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:47.839 his story when it happened. Miller took out his book 344 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:50.400 and found coordinates next to a name on his book. 345 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:53.240 He put his hand on his chin and the other 346 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.279 pointed to the car, signaling us to go with him somewhere. 347 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.640 He took a stray to Grandpa's property, be parked by 348 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:03.640 the large oak tree and the logs by the old barn. 349 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:08.319 Behind everything, a small patch of wild flowers had sprouted 350 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:11.640 next to a flat rock. He walked up to it. 351 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:16.720 Miller kept checking his books. On the ground. Next to 352 00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:22.759 the flowers was a headstone Lucas, the boy who came 353 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:28.400 from Nowhere nineteen sixty six to August second, nineteen seventy four. 354 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.759 Grandpa was a kind man, a man that the world 355 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:37.680 let down when he chose the truth. And yet he 356 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.440 never forgot about that young boy that had no voice, 357 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.759 the one who couldn't smile like the rest of us. 358 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.279 His little friend that would visit on those cold and 359 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:51.079 dark nights and stand by the window, the one who 360 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:54.559 had no patch of dirt set aside, the one who 361 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.119 was turned away with no friends or family. He understood 362 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:06.279 each other, and that unlikely friendship. Grandpa quietly gave him 363 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:24.519 a place to belong. The stories for Scary Story Podcasts 364 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:28.079 are written and produced by me Edwin Coarrujaz. If you 365 00:22:28.119 --> 00:22:30.079 want to get in touch, you can find me on TikTok, 366 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:34.200 Instagram and Facebook as Edwin Cove. That's e d w 367 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:37.680 I nco V. I also have a bunch of other 368 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:41.359 shows on my website scary FM. If you like this podcast, 369 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:44.839 you'll also really like Horror Story, where I share true 370 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:47.799 paranormal mysteries and hauntings. You can look it up like 371 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.599 that Horror Story has big yellow letters on the cover. Anyway, 372 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:56.119 Thank you very much for listening. You're following the show. 373 00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:59.920 I will tell you another story next week. Keep it scary, everyone, 374 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:01.720 see soon.