WEBVTT 1 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:26.199 Welcome to Dark Destinations, an ongoing investigation into the shadowy 2 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:29.920 corners of the globe, where our haunted past meets our 3 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:30.920 startling future. 4 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:52.240 A dream is a wish your heart makes, so, sang 5 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:56.880 Eileen Woods as Cinderella in the eponymous nineteen fifty film. 6 00:00:56.920 --> 00:00:59.799 That's not the only wishing you want. Disney Company encouraged 7 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.280 in Pinocchio, we were told that when you wish upon 8 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:06.040 a star, those dreams come true. Have you ever made 9 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.359 a wish? Silly question, of course we all have, whether 10 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:11.799 it be what the old Twilight Zone called a big, 11 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:15.480 tall wish destined to change your entire world, or as 12 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:19.200 casually as responding to a proposal with I wish. A 13 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:22.560 wish can set ears in motion, propel a simple need 14 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.599 into a welcome reality. Back in the nineteen twenties, a 15 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:28.480 fellow named Auto Roweaer no doubt, wished for a loaf 16 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:31.400 of bread that was already sliced. Thanks to that spark 17 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:34.560 and his determination to see it through, an unsliced loaf 18 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:37.400 is now the exception and not the rule. You can 19 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:41.040 ritualize them tossing a coin and a fountain, whispering it 20 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:43.560 into a well, we'll just shut your eyes and want 21 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:46.519 with all your might, wishes for a long life, wishes 22 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:49.719 for a different life, for true love, for a shot 23 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:52.480 at glory. If you were to stop and ponder how 24 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:55.760 often you make a wish, you'd be startled. There have 25 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:59.959 been cautionary tales about them. Malevolent genies and cursed monkey 26 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:03.239 paws come to mind, But we all know deep down 27 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:08.759 we'd succeed where others fail, or would we? Greetings and 28 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:12.000 welcome to you all. My name's Joseph Hooks. Fa them 29 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.479 alone at Dark Destinations has tasked me with investigating a 30 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.800 town that knows full well the measure of wishing both 31 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:22.280 good and ill, and I've done so during a season 32 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:25.639 that seems as if it were designed for wishes. Christmas. 33 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:30.000 So join me if you wish, on our journey to 34 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:32.759 a sleepy hamlet nestled near the Finger Lakes of upstate 35 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:42.400 New York, Bedford Falls. Here on Genesee Street, downtown Bedford Falls, 36 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:47.120 the light poles are already festooned with glittering, sparkling Christmas decorations. 37 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.360 The trees that bi sanc Genesee, running in a row 38 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.120 single file where a double yellow line would be in 39 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:56.159 most main streets, have been each wrapped in hundreds of 40 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:59.800 multi colored bobs. They're lit up now, even though by 41 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:03.120 my watch it's only two in the afternoon. The sprawl 42 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:05.639 and urban decay that have set in in most small 43 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:09.039 town America is absent here. Sure, there's a Starbucks on 44 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:11.599 the corner of Washington Street where an old department store 45 00:03:11.719 --> 00:03:15.039 used to reside, and the stoplights burn with LEDs instead 46 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:18.159 of incandescent bulbs. But not much has changed here in 47 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:21.680 the past century. Snap a picture anywhere in town and 48 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:24.680 you could sell it as a postcard demonstrating how Americana 49 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.919 and Christmas are meant to appear, and they do. Postcards 50 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:31.560 of this winter Wonderland can be purchased at amatus price 51 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:35.759 inside Gower's Pharmacy, an institution that's been in operation since 52 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:49.960 the turn of the last century. 53 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:54.120 My granddad used to work here. He swept up and 54 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:57.039 ran errands. He even made phosphiths at the soda fountain, 55 00:03:57.039 --> 00:03:59.520 which you can see is still in operation. You should 56 00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:01.360 try the life Ricky. It's so good. 57 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:05.199 That's Louise Bailey, though everyone calls her Lulu, discussing her 58 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:09.159 grandfather George. We met inside Gower's Pharmacy, where I can 59 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.800 safely concur that the limericky is delicious to discuss her 60 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:17.000 grandfather's curious interaction some eighty years ago. Now, it was 61 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:20.120 your grandfather that really brought the concept of wishing to reality. 62 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:22.120 It started with him, correct. 63 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:23.759 Let's say he popularized it. 64 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:27.639 What were the circumstances I understand it happened on Christmas. 65 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:31.720 Eve, that's right, Christmas Eve nineteen forty seven. My granddad 66 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:34.600 was going through a rough patch. His family was getting bigger, 67 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:38.639 there were some bad business deals, financial woe, and on 68 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:41.279 that Christmas Eve there was from what I understand, a 69 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:45.079 real possibility of arrest, if not imprisonment. He ended up 70 00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:48.000 on the old toll bridge intending to well, you know, 71 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.959 there are conflicting accounts about what happened next, but the 72 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.319 consensus is that he pulled a man who was drowning 73 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:57.480 out of the canal. His name was Clarence the Drowning Man, 74 00:04:57.720 --> 00:04:59.800 and he was with my granddad when he made his wish. 75 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:03.560 He wished had never been born, and his wish was granted. 76 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.720 He got a vision of what the world would be 77 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:07.959 like without him, and he said that it was so 78 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:11.439 horrible that he begged to have his life back, which 79 00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:14.079 was also granted to him. A lot of people didn't 80 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:17.160 believe him. Of course. My grandmother in particular thought he 81 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:19.879 had just one too many bourbons over at Martini's and 82 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:22.879 dreamt the whole thing. But my mother never had any 83 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.639 doubt that he was telling the truth. George Bailey was 84 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.000 too good a man to lie. Whatever anyone believes about 85 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.839 the wish doesn't really matter. Now we know that wishes 86 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:34.920 are real. It's the part about Clarence that people debate. 87 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:38.040 Granddad said that Clarence was an angel sent from God, 88 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:41.839 and I believe him seriously. Who'd make up a story 89 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:44.920 about being visited by an angel and then name him Clarence. 90 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.759 You must understand that human belief in angels is as 91 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:56.560 ancient as his first concept of a world beyond his own. 92 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:59.120 There simply isn't a type of religion that has flourished 93 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:01.360 over the centuries that does not include them in one 94 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:02.160 form or another. 95 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.879 That's doctor Fritz Hagstrom, he spoke to me via telephone. 96 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:09.639 He's Professor Emeritus of Divinity at Whittier College, a southern 97 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:13.240 California secular institution of higher learning that can be found 98 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:17.079 amusingly enough in a county literally named the angels. 99 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:21.160 The modern conception of an angel, both physically and motivationally, 100 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:25.240 is stitched together from all these religions. Islam provided them wings, 101 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:28.519 Neo Aristotelian thought showed the breadth of their power. He 102 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:31.720 break tradition gave us the notion of there being emissaries 103 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.759 and warriors in God's service, with Michael as the leader 104 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.319 of his army Gabriel as his embodiment of justice. Those 105 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:40.279 are the only two I'd like to point out given 106 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:43.399 names in the Old Testament, since an innumerable amount have 107 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:45.519 been named, But in all my reading, I've yet to 108 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:48.839 encounter an angel. Nclarence, that's a new one. As to 109 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.519 the business of granting wishes, seems more the domain of 110 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.639 the jin from the pre Islamic Arabian tradition, but it 111 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:57.839 isn't without the realm of possibility. If you believe angels 112 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:00.639 to be the personification of the will of the then 113 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:04.199 they'd be imbued, barring certain limitations, of course, with any 114 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:07.319 power imaginable. If God can create the world, a wish 115 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.600 must be, if you'll pardon the colloquialism, small potatoes. 116 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:12.560 And what might those limitations be? 117 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:15.399 Too many to name in one sitting, though certainly the 118 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:18.639 most inviolate would be angels cannot usurp the throne of God. 119 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:21.759 Such a coups attempted, and as you know, they didn't 120 00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:22.879 farewell afterward. 121 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:31.480 It's easy to forget that the devil the Brimstone coated 122 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.360 Yang to God's yen. Not to mix and match Eastern 123 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:38.240 and Western philosophies too terribly, was once an angel himself. 124 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:41.759 Some believe he was the first and most beloved by God. 125 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:45.040 When he, in a veritable legion of angels, bought to 126 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.639 overthrow the Kingdom of Heaven, they were cast out of 127 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:51.360 Paradise and into the depths of Hell. They've been labeled 128 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:55.000 as beasts or brutes, the depraved, or demons ever since. 129 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:59.639 But are they still not angels? Do they not still 130 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:03.680 have the power they once wielded in celestial spaces. It's 131 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:05.759 a question that loomed a large in my mind while 132 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:09.399 choosing to stop in at Martini's Bedford Fall's oldest tavern. 133 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:12.600 It's the watering hole where Lulu Bailey's grandfather imbibed more 134 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:14.879 than a few spirits on that night back in nineteen 135 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:17.519 forty seven. The site of the original bar was over 136 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:20.639 on Bridge Road, not far from that fabled canal bridge. 137 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.040 But a fire in nineteen sixty four proved devastating and 138 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:27.720 they relocated to a more centralized spot on Washington and Genesee. 139 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:31.279 It's there I met Elliott Parnell. He's retired now but 140 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:33.240 spent the better part of his life as the floor 141 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:36.879 supervisor at the Wainwright Plastics factory. He's a Bedford falls 142 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:39.679 Man through and through, only ever having ventured as far 143 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.879 as New York City, and as it turns out, the 144 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:45.840 perfect man to shed light on what happened next. 145 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:52.000 There were four of us poor that night. Poor darc 146 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.759 Reynolds had his hands full. He was the most born 147 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.360 on any Christmas night open until that point. 148 00:08:58.720 --> 00:08:59.679 And what year was this? 149 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:06.039 The year? This was nineteen forty seven. I suppose every 150 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:09.440 parent thinks their kid is a miracle, But for the 151 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:13.759 four of us, we were told straight out, and no 152 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:18.879 doubt about it. See that very night, when most of 153 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:23.279 the town was home and warm and cozy, our parents 154 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:27.039 were still at the hospital. In those days, it was 155 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.600 a little bitty place, and the maternity ward was pretty 156 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:32.480 well shared by everyone who. 157 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:33.080 Was with child. 158 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:39.720 Now, this is the way my ma tells it. She said. 159 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:43.679 It was a little before midnight, and out of nowhere 160 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:45.679 there was this sound like. 161 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:49.559 A train hurtling by. 162 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:55.600 Filled the entire room, just getting louder and louder, so 163 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:04.159 loud that it hurt to see here se, So she 164 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.639 shut her eyes tight, and when the sound went away, 165 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:12.120 she opened them and saw an angel standing in the ward, 166 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:18.600 white robes, wings, the whole bit. Now, I know that 167 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:22.120 sounds loony, but if you knew my mother at all, 168 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.759 you know she wasn't a woman given to flights of fancy. 169 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.399 And she swore up and down that I was the 170 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:36.399 easiest birth she had ever been through. I'm the youngest 171 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:40.799 of five, so there wasn't any possibility of her memories 172 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:45.120 clouded by morphine or the like. And besides, even if 173 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:49.559 she was, there were seven other witnesses, and this angel 174 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:54.679 tells them that tonight is special, that the Lord has 175 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:59.960 made Christmas Eve a divine occasion here in bedfoot Fall, 176 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:04.679 and starting that night, anyone born in town on the 177 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:09.120 twenty fourth from now on were worthy of one wish, 178 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:13.879 and whatever was given couldn't be given back. They took 179 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:17.399 him pretty serious, I'd say, as far back as I 180 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:21.120 can remember. They yell and holler. Anytime I started to 181 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:26.039 say the words I wish hell on my birthdays, I'd 182 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:28.279 be told to close my eyes and be thankful for 183 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.320 what I had been given, blowing out the candles. It 184 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:33.639 wasn't till I was seven that we were found out 185 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:38.559 the truth of things, that the wishes were real. If 186 00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:40.879 the other three born that night had made a wish 187 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:46.519 before me, they hadn't told anyone, So I suppose I 188 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:47.519 was the first. 189 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:49.240 What happened when you were seven? 190 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:51.879 My dad was a miner. 191 00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:55.240 Most of those men used their headlamps strapped out in 192 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.720 front of their tin cap, but my father hated those 193 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:02.159 things with a passion. He'd take a stretch of cloth 194 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:05.639 and tie that lamp to his forehead. Used to tie 195 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:08.039 it so tired. My mother a joke, You tie that 196 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:12.120 an it tied, and your head's liable to bust. My 197 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:17.320 dad was a strong man, decent, mostly child of the Depression, 198 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:20.480 and from what my mama told me, he had a 199 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:25.799 hard go of it, growing up, harder than most nowadays. 200 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:29.759 They'd put him in therapy and it would help, I'm sure, 201 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:33.200 because as strong as he was in good deep down, 202 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.759 he could be mean. And I'm not excusing him by 203 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:40.320 telling you he had it hard. There's no excuse for 204 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:45.600 a violent act against anyone, but especially not family. And 205 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:49.120 one time he was beating on my older brother, Caspar, 206 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:53.279 and I got so mad hollering for him to stop. 207 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:58.279 He didn't stop. He paused and turned to me and 208 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:04.440 told me I was next. Well, that's when I finally 209 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:06.759 made my wish. 210 00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:12.080 I wished that his head wood burst, and before the 211 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:18.240 wood burst was fully out my mouth, that's exactly what happened, 212 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:20.720 just like a soap bubble. 213 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.679 Never did get the stain off our bedroom wall. 214 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:30.559 That was my one wish. Used it up. So now 215 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:33.840 when my birthday comes, I can wish on my birthday candles, 216 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:40.159 just like everyone else tried it once too. I never 217 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:44.759 puped so hard in my life, which was too bad. 218 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:47.399 That was a good looking cake. 219 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:57.159 Officially, Silas Parnell Elliott's dad's cause of death is listed 220 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:01.279 as decapitation on the coroner's report. It's neatly typed, followed 221 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:04.559 by the date. In the notes sanctioned beneath a fountain 222 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:09.240 pen has scrawled two words spontaneous combustion, followed by two 223 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:12.240 question marks. I would have liked to talk to the 224 00:14:12.279 --> 00:14:14.559 other three children born on the same night as mister 225 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:19.399 Parnell back in nineteen forty seven, but they've all passed away. Luckily, 226 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.600 there have been plenty of children born on Christmas Eve 227 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.360 in Bedford Falls in the years following, and while many 228 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.120 flat out refused any in all contact, I exchanged emails 229 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:32.279 with several and was able to talk by phone to 230 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:35.559 many more, though both groups agreed I could share their 231 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:38.720 stories under the condition I not record their voices or 232 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:42.600 divulge their names. And most of their stories are actually 233 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:45.320 quite sweet, happening when they were young enough that the 234 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:47.320 most they could ever wish for was a new puppy 235 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:50.360 or a video game, or a better home for their family. 236 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:55.679 Selfless wishes as light as gossamer, seemingly without repercussion, no 237 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:59.120 ec comic style twist, like the new home becomes reality 238 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:01.440 thanks to a real relative dying at the same moment 239 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:03.440 the wish was spoken, which is not to say there 240 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:07.480 were no stories without menace. One respondent, who spent summers 241 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:09.600 with his family on Van Cleef Lake told me he 242 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:12.480 was racing his brother to a floating platform found thirty 243 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:15.120 yards from shore. He thoughtlessly wished to be able to 244 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:18.559 swim like a frog. His email ends, thank God for 245 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:21.879 voice to text software. You've no idea how hard it 246 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:25.480 is to type with tightly webbed fingers. Another told me 247 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:27.720 of her experience near the end of her junior year 248 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:30.159 in high school. It was early June, and she felt 249 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:34.080 overwhelmed with the coursework and impending final exams, and wished 250 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:37.559 to be anywhere but here, only to suddenly find herself 251 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:40.960 at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, where an early winter had 252 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:45.080 just set in, stranding her there till September. My parents 253 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:48.960 were not pleased, she wrote, Only one agreed to speak 254 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:52.399 on air, and enthusiastically at that we arranged to meet 255 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.039 at Martini's, where I should note they make a terrible 256 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.840 martini the following day. That night was a restless one 257 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:02.080 in Bedford falls as troubling as the notion of people 258 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:04.759 given the power to shape reality to their will might be, 259 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:08.720 It's dwarfed by the far more sinister possibilities of its source. 260 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:12.240 It seems entirely likely that George Bailey was visited by 261 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:14.799 an angel of God. There have always been stories of 262 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:18.399 angels bringing visions, but what about the one that appeared 263 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.039 across town. Isn't it possible that, in the face of 264 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:25.480 a divine emissary granting a wish here and on such 265 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:29.279 a holy evening, that those fallen angels might not seize 266 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:32.240 on that ability and use it for their own horrible, 267 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:38.000 unholy purpose. Could saving one man's soul have damned everyone 268 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:43.120 else in town. I'm back at Martini's and speaking to 269 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:47.039 Rafael de Soto. Great name for radio coming up next, 270 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:53.080 Rafael de Soto on WAAF AAF. You grew up in Boston, Seattle, 271 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:55.120 but I went to school there me too. 272 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:58.600 U mass Amhurst. It's funny how you mentioned radio. I 273 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:02.879 took a communications course sophomore year. No kidding, yeah, went 274 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:05.440 in for on air talent. Did maybe three shows in 275 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:08.079 the school station before my professor quite rightly urged me 276 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:10.720 toward the technical side of things. I had the drive, 277 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:11.599 but not the talent. 278 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:15.160 Oh, I'm sure you were fine. Now, Raphael, you were 279 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:19.000 born on Christmas Eve nineteen ninety, that's correct. I was 280 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.960 hoping you could share your experience with the wishing phenomenon 281 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:23.359 here in Bedford Falls. 282 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.200 Has anyone else spoken to you about this aside from 283 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:29.400 the Bailey family. I mean, the great Christmas miracle from God? 284 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:30.039 What a joke. 285 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:32.279 Bells and wings, bells and wings. 286 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:36.359 They didn't tell you that part. Shocking. Yeah, she always 287 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:38.640 said a bell ringing is a sign that an angel 288 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:40.839 has received their wings, not even joking. 289 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:43.279 Well, I did speak to the Bailey family, but I 290 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:46.480 also spoke with quite a few others. They wanted anonymity, 291 00:17:46.519 --> 00:17:48.440 but they did share their stories. 292 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:52.759 Let me guess, boo, bet she talked to you. 293 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:55.039 Oh she did, And like I said, they don't want 294 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:55.960 their names released. 295 00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:59.200 Damn it. Sorry. See that's why you're the big time 296 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:02.599 radio guy and I'm the third shift forklift operator at Wainwright. 297 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:04.720 But if she talked to you, I think I can 298 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:05.839 guess which others did too. 299 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:08.400 Well, they've been very forthcoming. 300 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.000 I'm sure, why wouldn't they be. Most of their stories 301 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:12.759 a tailor made for the Hallmark. 302 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:16.240 Channel, and your experience was less than wonderful. 303 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:22.519 Experience experiences plural. Let me tell you, just being around 304 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:25.279 the event when it happens can be traumatizing. Seeing something 305 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.319 so bizarre happened right in front of your eyes can 306 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:29.119 really do number on you. It's like they say in 307 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:31.920 Apocalypse Now. It puts the WHAMMI on your head, makes 308 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:35.720 you question reality, whether the outcome is awful or adorable, 309 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:39.079 makes no difference. And there's another part of it. This 310 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:42.039 is a little harder to describe. Every time it happens, 311 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:44.319 and ask anyone in town, and if they don't agree, 312 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:48.880 they're lying. Whenever it happens, everyone seems to feel a 313 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:55.680 little dimmer inside, a little wearier, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, 314 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.599 maybe spiritually, if that's your thing. See, there really aren't 315 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:02.359 many of I know that even one of us having 316 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:04.559 this power is a major deal, But think about it. 317 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.359 The odds of being born at all are crazily against you. 318 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.720 Not to mention born here in Bedford falls, not to 319 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:14.400 mention being born on Christmas Eve, those have to be 320 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:18.799 astronomical odds. So there aren't many of us. We all 321 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.279 tend to gravitate toward one another. And I'm not saying 322 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:24.960 we're wearing matching jackets or anything. There's just a familiality 323 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.559 that we feel with each other, especially given the way 324 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:29.400 the rest of the town tends to treat us. 325 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:32.440 And how's that gently but. 326 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:36.000 A merciless kind of gentle smiling too much and treating 327 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.039 you maybe a little too nicely. But it becomes obvious 328 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:41.759 that it's an act pretty quickly, which is worse than 329 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:44.160 the ones that are straight up avoid you. You know 330 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:47.920 they're scared, but the others faking that they're not. After 331 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:51.079 a while, it just grates on you. Anyway, Since we 332 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:53.240 tend to be around each other, we also tend to 333 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:55.839 be the witnesses to the events when they happen. I remember, 334 00:19:56.680 --> 00:19:59.000 Oh god, it's hard not to say their names, but 335 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.680 I'll do my best. Okay. There were these two boys 336 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:04.759 a couple years older than me. Twins. How's that for 337 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:08.640 astronomical odds. As if twins aren't just naturally weird enough, 338 00:20:08.839 --> 00:20:12.079 these ones have on unnatural power. I was ten, so 339 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.039 they were twelve. And you know how twelve is. You 340 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:17.839 want to stand out from the crowd, assert your individuality, 341 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:19.559 and these boys are trying to do it with a 342 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.599 literal mirror image doing exactly the same. Well, one day 343 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:24.680 they finally had it out. There was a group of 344 00:20:24.759 --> 00:20:27.200 us behind the high school football field and these two 345 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:30.000 are rolling around on the ground, punching, kicking, screaming at 346 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:32.559 each other. How they were sick of each other, sick 347 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:35.000 of sharing everything. Then they were back in their feet 348 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:36.400 and it happened. 349 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:38.759 They wished yeah, not. 350 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:41.519 At the same time, one wanted the other to be older, 351 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:43.839 or old enough so they wouldn't be mistaken for each other, 352 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:46.240 and once that happened, the now older one wanted the 353 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:48.519 other to be younger. Next thing you know, they're back 354 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:52.240 on the ground, both of them drooling, an infant laying 355 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:56.359 next to a withered old man, and both with identical DNA. 356 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:58.880 Their family moved away a couple months later, I don't 357 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:01.440 know where, probably to a town where they wouldn't be 358 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:03.720 questioned about a brand new baby and an elderly man 359 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:07.240 that they introduced to people as Grandpa. Another time, there 360 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:10.480 was a girl in my biology class just obsessed with unicorns, 361 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:14.359 stickers on her locker, a thousand scribbled drawings on her notebooks. 362 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:18.680 We were studying fauna, different classes of animals. She insisted 363 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:22.640 on the existence of unicorns. Our teacher disagreed, and not 364 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:25.160 very nicely, which is how Bedford Falls ended up with 365 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:27.519 the world's only unicorn, racing down the halls of BF 366 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:29.599 High School and onto New England Street and out in 367 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:31.839 the forest. You see him every once in a while, 368 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:34.119 people who didn't know the story would freak out when 369 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.319 they saw him. Oh my god, it's a unicorn, an 370 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:39.240 actual unicorn. I never had the heart to tell him 371 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:41.039 that his name was Karl and his favorite band was 372 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:43.960 run DMC. And those are just the ones I witnessed 373 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:46.599 firsthand the event. I mean, heard the words, saw it happen. 374 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:49.039 We all saw the after effects on a half a 375 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:52.279 dozen others. A kid over at Potter Elementary School who 376 00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:54.519 wanted to fly. He must have floated over the town 377 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.119 for three days before spring storm blew him to who 378 00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:59.200 knows where. Don't know if you noticed the new police 379 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:01.920 station down the street. They built it about five years 380 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:04.720 ago after the first one disappeared. One day it was there, 381 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:07.599 and the next it and everyone who was in it 382 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:08.359 was just gone. 383 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:11.519 The way you talked about the Baileys, I suppose it's 384 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:14.039 safe to assume that you don't subscribe to their belief 385 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:17.720 in an angelic intervention, that a divine hand set these 386 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:18.680 events in motion. 387 00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:22.000 Maybe to start and maybe for them. But what kind 388 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.400 of divine being allows children to turn their parents inside out, 389 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:28.200 or cause a blizzard in the middle of July, or 390 00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:31.559 saddles a human being with that kind of power. I'm 391 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:34.079 not saying there hasn't been kindness because of it. But 392 00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:38.480 the bad is just so, and it keeps on rolling. 393 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:40.960 You know, every year there's at least one or two 394 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:43.039 new Christmas Eve recruits to this freak show. 395 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:44.359 Why don't you leave. 396 00:22:44.680 --> 00:22:47.160 And go be the same boring drone doing the same 397 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:49.200 boring thing, just in a new locale where I'm a 398 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:52.200 stranger and I don't have ties to anything. Yeah? No, thanks? 399 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.599 Is that it? Or is there something else keeping you? 400 00:22:56.599 --> 00:22:59.200 You haven't told us about your wish? 401 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:02.480