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Speaker 1: Welcome to micro Terrors, scary stories for kids where it's

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always the spooky season, full of chills, thrills and spine

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tingling spooks. Micro Terrors are family friendly frights for those

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ages eight and up, and while our stories are for

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younger years, we are still talking about things that go

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bump in the night, and some children may not be

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able to handle what others can. Parental consent is recommended

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now for tonights micro terror.

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Speaker 2: Night of the Insectoid written by Scott Donnelly. Do you

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hear that? Asked Max, stepping away from the telescope at

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his window and putting his ear to the homemade radio

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system he'd concoct it in his spare time. It was

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an old portable FM radio with extra antennas, wires, buttons

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and blinking lights, and now coming through its speaker was

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a squirrely, buzzy noise. Winnie, his sister, stood up from

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her place on the floor and sat her phone down.

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She'd been playing mobile games while Max searched the cosmos

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for extraterrestrial life with the telescope he'd gotten for Christmas

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months back. It was just another boring Friday.

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Speaker 1: Night for her.

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Speaker 2: Let me guess Winnie said, another alien signal from outer space?

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It is, Max said, with some excitement. I've been blasted

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out signals from this baby for weeks now, he said,

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patting the top of his radio system. Whinnie rolled her eyes.

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It's static, Max, she sighed, It's always just static or

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some interference. Why of all the people in the world,

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would you be the one to start receiving radio signals

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from aliens? Some what has to Max said, facing his sister.

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Why can't that somewhat be me? Why would it have

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to be an astronomer or some SETI employee SETI? Whinnie

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questioned the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Max said, they're based

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in Silicon Valley. Silicon what Valley? Max reiterated, but stopped

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when the radio began to go haywire again. Even Whinnie

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couldn't ignore it this time, as much as she wanted to.

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Max smirked, this one feels re Whinnie just shook her head.

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Then why don't they show themselves, she sarcastically said, walking

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toward the open window where a warm summer breeze was

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blowing in. Why don't they stop sending radio scrambles in?

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Just showed them felves when he stopped speaking as she

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looked outside into the night. What is it, Max asked,

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confused by the way her words drifted off, He joined

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his sister at the window and looked into the sky

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a shooting star when he softly said, Max saw it too,

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but he didn't think it was a shooting star. He

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thought it was exactly what his sister was complaining about

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not happening. It's them, Max whispered when he looked at

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her brother briefly before turning her attention back to the

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thing streaking through the night sky. It was bright, green,

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had a glowing tale, and zipped around indecisively. Then they

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watched as the glowing green object roared overhead, viciously shaking

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their house and crashed land somewhere nearby. The sound of

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the impact was immense and earth shattered. Max's telescope fell

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out of the window, and Winnie fell to the side,

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losing her balance and falling onto her brother's bed. Max, however,

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braced himself on the windowsill. Once the commotion had settled,

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Max and Whinnie could hear car alarms going off somewhere

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in the neighborhood, as well as dogs barking wildly. Whinnie

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stood up and faced her brother with white eyes. What

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on earth with that? She said, Max smiled. He wasn't

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from earth, he said, it was them, I know it.

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Whinnie picked up her phone from the floor. I have

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to call mom and maybe she can leave work early.

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As she opened her phone's green it glitched and then

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went black. She tapped it furiously, but it wasn't working.

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Max tried the radio, but it wasn't admitting any sounds

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at all. Then from outside, the car alarms all stopped.

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The only sounds that remained were the dogs barking, and then,

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in a chilling fashion, one by one, each dog went silent.

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Max and Winnie could feel their hearts racing, nearly beating

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out of their chests. What do we do, Winnie stammered.

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Max thought for a minute. The neighbors, he said, mister

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and missus Hobart. Winnie agreed. She took her brother by

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the hand, and together they rushed downstairs and out of

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the house. The night was quiet now, no dogs, no

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car alarms. There wasn't even a single cricket chirping. Come on,

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Winnie said, trying to rush the two of them through

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the front yards and to the Hobart's house. When they

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got to the front door, Winnie knocked. They waited, but

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no one answered. Max peered into the window next to

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the front door and realized that all the lights were out.

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I don't think they're home, Max said, maybe that crash

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took out the power, Winnie wondered. Max shook his head.

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Though our lights were still on. They looked back to

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their house, but now it also sat in complete darkness.

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Clouds rolled through the sky and blocked the moon's glow.

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Max and Whinny gripped each other tighter. Then, in the dark,

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from between the houses, they heard a noise. It was

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a loud, heavy clicking sound. Well, what's that, Whinnie whispered.

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Max was scared. He couldn't respond. He just breathed harder.

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The clicking sound got closer and closer, but because of

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the heavy darkness, they couldn't see anything. Then the clouds

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gave way to the moon's glow and illuminated a giant

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insectlike creature standing before them. It was the size of

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a car, had numerous long or racktid like legs that

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clicked together at a hideous face that mirrored that of

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an ants under a microscope. Witty and Max screamed, triggering

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the mass of alien insects to release a deafening screech itself.

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Max turned and pounded on the door of the Hobart's house,

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screaming for help. Winnie looked to her left and saw

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a rape. She picked it up and held it out

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in front of her like a weapon. The insectoid released

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a snarling, we noar as it used one of its

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legs as a blade, slashing toward the rape and cutting

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it clean in hat. Wuinnie's eyes went wide. If it

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could clean cut a wooden rake in two, she didn't

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want to know what it could do to them. The

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door to the Hobart's open, and mister Hobart stood there,

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frightened and holding a spatula up as a weapon. Who

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goes there, mister Hobart demanded, but was quickly met by

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the sign of the giant insectoid towering over the neighbor kids.

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He quickly tried to shut the door again, but Max

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blasted into the house with his sister in tow. Mister

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Hobart slammed the door shut and faced his living room,

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where Max and Winnie cowered within a sea of flickering candles.

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Missus Hobart emerged from behind the couch. Lad's out there,

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she quivered, some oversized trouble. That's what mister Hobart said,

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He eyed the kids.

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Speaker 1: What's going on?

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Speaker 2: It's an alien. Max screamed, I've been sending signals into

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deep space toed the Kuiper Belt. Add something responded, signals aliens.

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Mister Hobart looked across the room at his wife, swaying

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shadows dancing up her face. Ethel, what do you know

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about this? Ethel Hobart stared blankly at her husband, confused

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as to why in the world he'd assumed she had

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any information at all. But before she could give him

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a piece of her mind, the front door blew inward

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and the deep spacemenus who roared its way into the house.

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Winnie and Max split, racing through the living room and

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into the kitchen. Mister and Missus hobart screams were blood

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curdling until they went silent. Winnie and Max looked at

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each other, knowing what had to have happened. Winnie pushed

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through the back door connected to the kitchen and back outside.

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Max followed her, trying to shut the door behind him.

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Screeching monster threw its weight into the door Max and

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the door flew into the backyard. Max Weenie yelled, turning

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back for her brother, She ran over and lifted the

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door off of him. Max looked up at his sister,

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the moon glowing brightly behind her. Then, rising up between

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the moon and Winnie was the monstrous insectoid beast from space.

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It raised one of its sharp tipped legs into the air,

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released a dominating roar, and plunged it down into Winnie's back.

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Winny's body stiffened up, and her eyes rolled into the

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back of her head, showing only the whites. The insectoid

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then became eerily quiet. As Max scrambled to his feet.

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He lingered for a moment, wondering what was happening. Then,

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through some kind of uncanny voice channeling, the creature used

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Winnie to speak. The voice that came out of her

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mouth wasn't sweet and innocent like it always was. It

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was distorted and unhinged.

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Speaker 3: I haven't been able to sleep in weeks.

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Speaker 2: The voice of the monster's speed through Winnie said.

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Speaker 3: Is it you who has been bombarding me with those awful?

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Awful noises?

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Speaker 2: Noises, Max stuttered. Then he thought about his radio and

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the signals he'd been sending out into space. I was

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sending out radio frequencies, he said. I wasn't sure if

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they were even being heard. Oh they were, he insectoid said.

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Speaker 3: And they are beyond annoying. Please stop. This is your

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one and only warning. Next time, I'll come back and

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eat more than just a few dogs and a couple

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of hobarts.

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Speaker 2: Max nodded. Okay, he fearfully obliged.

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Speaker 3: Good. We have an understanding, then.

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Speaker 2: The creature said, as he ripped its sharp tipped leg

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out of Winnie and let her fall to the ground.

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It then pivoted its body and scurry it off between

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the houses, where it was swallowed by the dark at night. Winnie,

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now injured, rolled onto her back, moaning what happened? You

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were spared, Max said, trying to comfort his sister. Above them,

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a pulsating green light shot up into the sky like

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a laser and vanished deep into the stars. I need

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to destroy my radio, Max said, when he nodded, cringing

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in pain. Yeah, that's a good idea. I might need

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to get a new hobby. Max tried to joke when

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he sat up and stared at him. You will get

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a new hobby, she said flatly, and the glow of

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the moonlight her eyes turned black and she blinked horizontally.

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Speaker 3: I don't make sure of it.

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Speaker 2: Big news micro terrrist fans. The first ever micro Terror's

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short film, The Dire More Phantom, inspired by the twenty

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twenty three micro Terror's original story Bump in the Night,

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is now available to stream over in fan Club. If

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you're not a member, now's the perfect time to join.

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From now through August first, twenty twenty six, you can

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use the promo code sci Fi Summer when you sign

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sci Fi Summer. That's your promo code when you sign

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up for the Terrified Tier at microterrors dot com. Thank

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you all for being such dedicated micro Terrors listeners. We'll

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see you next week. What a deep space war turns

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our planet into a refuge? Man? I hope it's not

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an insectoid army asking refuge from us. Can you imagine

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them coming here and eating even more hobarts and then

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wanting our help? Yeah, I don't think so, Insectoid.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to micro Terrors. Join us each

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Saturday for another scary story. For more fun, visit our

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website at microte errors dot com, where you can get

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the latest micro Terrors news, read fun facts about each story,

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sign up for our monthly newsletter, and even send in

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your own scary story for us to tell. Plus, you

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can become one of the Terrify by joining the fan

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handle at microterrors. I hope you'll join us again soon

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for micro Terrors scary stories for kids