WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:11.160 My family on my mother's side have unique abilities. My grandfather, 2 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.240 as told to me by my grandmother, was for lack 3 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:17.480 of a better term, a witch doctor. People would come 4 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:20.280 to him because he could cure different types of illnesses. 5 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:23.719 He said my mother would be next in line, but 6 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:27.079 he died before he was able to teach her. She 7 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:29.719 was still able to predict births and feel the moods 8 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:34.520 of people around her. My abilities are the opposite. For me, 9 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:40.079 it's death and ghosts. I've had many strange things happened 10 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:42.880 to me, and there was one incident that bothers me 11 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:47.960 to this day. It changed my life. There's a church 12 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:51.159 near the Southern Park Mall in Boardman, Ohio, where my 13 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:55.640 brother's friend was a caretaker. It's a church and school combined, 14 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:00.640 so it's a large building with two large chapels, a classroom, offices, 15 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:04.640 and community rooms. A good sized group of us were 16 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.159 meeting there to play some game or another. One night. 17 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:10.480 We showed up early, so my brother's friend asked me 18 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:12.760 to walk around with him to shut off the lights 19 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:15.840 and lock the doors and generally just check the building. 20 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:18.400 It was I that he asked me to do this, 21 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:22.280 because I was always seen as George's little brother, not 22 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:26.439 their friend Christopher. These were all my brother's friends, and 23 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.000 I was happy to do it, though, because I saw 24 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.840 it as me being accepted into their group. All was 25 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:36.599 okay until we reached the room where the priest gets ready. 26 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:41.480 The worst feeling hit me. The pressure seemed to increase 27 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:44.239 and there was a disgusting feeling coming from the room. 28 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.359 I stopped and I said I can't go in there. 29 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.200 My brother's friends said, don't worry about it. You won't 30 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:54.920 be breaking any religious rules by going in. Well, that 31 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.159 wasn't quite what I meant, but I couldn't explain why 32 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.280 I felt that way, so I went in. It was 33 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:04.599 even worse inside. We walked through and went out the 34 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:09.759 other side. Instantly everything felt normal again. We locked some 35 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:12.400 doors and turned off a couple of lights before coming 36 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:15.599 back to the room. The second we approached it, I 37 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:18.639 got an awful feeling again and I begged not to 38 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:21.479 go in there. I even asked to go outside and 39 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:25.159 wait by another door, but he said no. It was 40 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.319 late February, with the temperatures and the teens and half 41 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:31.360 a foot of snow on the ground. At six feet 42 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:34.120 I only weighed one hundred and twenty five pounds, so 43 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:37.759 no thermal on me, and I was only wearing a 44 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.120 T shirt. But I didn't want to go in that 45 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.919 room so much that I would have willingly stood outside 46 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:48.120 to avoid it. I had no choice though. My brother's 47 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:51.960 friend was a former lineman for the football team. He 48 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.800 wasn't small, and we went in and the room felt 49 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:59.479 even worse this time, Just like the first time, As 50 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:02.039 soon as we left the room, the feeling went away. 51 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:05.560 Next we went to the basement, where there were some 52 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:10.000 more classrooms, the cafeteria and kitchen, and some storage areas. 53 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.479 Then we went back upstairs and entered the old chapel 54 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:16.560 from the rear side. We had to go across the 55 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:20.319 back to set a couple of doors just inside the chapel. 56 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:23.240 I stopped, I can't go in there. I told him 57 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.120 there's a ghost and it doesn't like me, and then 58 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:29.400 I pointed it out to him. He could see the 59 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:33.520 black shadow near the front by the organ. He uttered 60 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.120 an expletive and we headed for the doors across from us, 61 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:41.400 and it started following us. The faster we moved, the 62 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:45.479 faster it moved. There was just the one shadow, not 63 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:48.840 too so it wasn't our own shadows we were seeing. 64 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:51.919 We made it through the doors, moving at a pretty 65 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:55.479 fast pace. It was fifty feet to the corner where 66 00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:58.680 the stairs to this third floor apartment were, and I 67 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.879 started feeling hot as we walked to it. It was 68 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:05.479 like something hit me, but it wasn't physical. For a 69 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.360 few seconds, I was completely disoriented and I lost all 70 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:13.159 thoughts where I was or even who I was. And 71 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:15.560 I was just coming back to myself when the second 72 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:19.199 one hit. This was worse than the first one. Now 73 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:22.639 I had to grab the wall to keep from collapsing. Well, 74 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:25.680 it passed, and my head was beginning to clear when 75 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:28.439 a third one hit, and this one put me on 76 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:32.279 the ground. My brother's friend pulled me to my feet 77 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.199 and away from that spot. Now I got my head 78 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:37.120 on straight, and I told him to go stand in 79 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.120 the spot where I was attacked. Well, he was a 80 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:43.399 big boy, like I said, alignment on the football team. 81 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:47.639 He bounced off the wall like he was nothing. That 82 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.800 stirred him into motion, and he grabbed me and we 83 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.879 ran up the stairs, and I don't remember touching a 84 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:57.639 single step in two flights. When we got to where 85 00:04:57.680 --> 00:04:59.879 my brother was, he asked me how I knew of 86 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:03.680 the ghost, so I told him about my ability. About 87 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.560 a week ago. He said, I was getting in bed 88 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:09.759 with my wife. I just lifted my leg to climb 89 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:12.199 in when a face appeared in front of me. That 90 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.519 scared the crap out of me. He paused him minute, 91 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:18.480 and then he added it was just a face. There 92 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:22.399 was no head, no body, just a face. The next day, 93 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:24.720 he and his wife moved out of the church and 94 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:29.399 end with her parents. This happened back in nineteen ninety five, 95 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:32.120 A couple of years ago. I went back there to 96 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:34.759 talk to someone about it, and no one there was 97 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:38.120 able to tell me anything. I wrote down my name 98 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:40.639 and number, along with a note stating that I'd like 99 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:42.800 to talk to someone about what happened to me there, 100 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:45.920 but no one ever called me. It was still there. 101 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:49.439 I felt it that day that I went back. I 102 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:52.480 want to go there again. There are more details about 103 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:55.439 the church I'd like to clarify, but there are more 104 00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:58.399 stories of things that had happened to people there. But 105 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:04.000 whatever is there, it's very strong. Okay, that's a ghost 106 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:07.360 living inside a church. I don't know something about. These 107 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:13.199 paranormal events are just captivating. They're very believable. Some of 108 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:16.920 these are very believable, and I really enjoyed reading this 109 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:20.560 person's account. Chris, thanks for the story. I really appreciate it. 110 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:25.920 I used to stay with my papa in the mountains 111 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:29.040 of Virginia every year when school let out for summer break. 112 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:31.959 We like to sit out on the porch at night 113 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.839 and enjoy the cool of the evening and talk. On 114 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:39.160 one of those nights, our conversation turned to hunting and trapping. 115 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:42.879 We'd been talking for a bit when Paupaul paused for 116 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.560 a few minutes, during which he must have been pondering 117 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:47.879 whether or not to tell me something that happened to 118 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:51.199 him when he was my age. I was sixteen at 119 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:54.639 the time. He said he wanted to go out on 120 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:57.199 his own and hunt and trap and sell pelts, and 121 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:00.680 times were different back then. It wasn't nothing for a 122 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:02.720 young guy that age to go off and do his 123 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.279 own thing. There was an old wooden room cabin way 124 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:08.519 up in the mountains, far away from anyone, that his 125 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.160 dad used as sort of a hunting lodge when he 126 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:14.399 was younger, and that's where Paupaul decided to go and 127 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:19.199 try his hand at being an independent man. He spent 128 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:22.600 several months in that cabin, collecting a variety of pelts. 129 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:25.360 But the winter was hard and living off the land 130 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:29.199 wasn't as easy as he hoped. He spent all of 131 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:32.560 one day hunting and got nothing, and that night, as 132 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.519 he slept, a storm blue in, dropping two feet of 133 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:39.600 snow on the mountain. That made things all the more difficult, 134 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:43.279 and Papaul still had to eat, so he set out 135 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:46.720 to hunt some game to sustain him until conditions were 136 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:49.160 right and he could make his way off the mountain. 137 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:53.120 He saw a deer and he took a shot. About 138 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:55.879 the same time he pulled the trigger, something spooked it 139 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.839 and it took off running. Popav said that he'd hit 140 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:02.360 the deer in its hind leg, and he set out 141 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:04.439 to track the blood trail through the snow, but it 142 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:08.680 was getting late in the day darkness covered the mountain 143 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:12.319 and he had to give up. He was disappointed, and 144 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:14.319 he made his way back to the cabin, and he 145 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:16.600 built the fire and made some coffee and tried to 146 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:20.199 stem the hunger with some hard tack next to the 147 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:23.120 warm fire. With the little food in his belly and exhausted, 148 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:27.680 he fell asleep sometime in the night. He awoke to 149 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:32.639 a strange, deep guttural sound, and he heard voices. Rocks 150 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:35.679 and sticks were being thrown at the cabin. He was 151 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:38.039 scared now, and he stoked the fire, and he lit 152 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:40.320 a lantern, and he hunkered down in the corner with 153 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:44.919 his gun, waiting for the worst. It didn't last long, though, 154 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:48.120 and once things had quieted down, he drifted off to 155 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.240 sleep again. A few hours later, he woke up with 156 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:55.759 a start. He was confused and angry with himself for 157 00:08:55.879 --> 00:09:00.200 having fallen asleep in such a situation as this. His 158 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:03.039 cabin had no windows, but he could see sunlight coming 159 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:07.039 around the door. It was morning. Paupaul opened the door 160 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:11.519 slowly and peeked outside. He was still a little concerned, 161 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:14.720 and when he didn't see anything, he stepped outside to 162 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:18.240 find footprints in the snow all around the cabin. They 163 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:22.639 were giant human tracks, he called them. Judging by the 164 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:25.039 size and the number of tracks, he guessed there must 165 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:28.840 have been two or three individuals. He went around to 166 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:31.399 the side of the cabin to grab some firewood before 167 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:34.799 going back inside, and there laying on top of the 168 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:38.120 wood was a hind leg of a deer. It had 169 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:40.960 a single bullet hole right where Paupau had shot it. 170 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.000 Whatever those things were that scared him half to death 171 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:48.039 the night before had tracked the deer that he had 172 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:51.519 shot and took their share for tracking it, and then 173 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:55.279 they gifted Paupaul the hind leg. He was grateful for 174 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:57.679 the meat, but as soon as he was able, Paupaul 175 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.639 made his way down off the mountain, never having seen 176 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:03.080 what kind of buggers could make those tracks or rip 177 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:08.679 the hind leg of a deer off. I was born 178 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:12.080 the youngest of six children in a small Connecticut town. 179 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:14.759 We had a couple of dogs and a whole lot 180 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:18.639 of cats that my siblings that I looked after, since 181 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:20.799 they were all quite a bit older than me. It 182 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:23.480 wasn't long until they'd all gone off to college or 183 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:26.799 gotten married and moved out, and that left me to 184 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.759 care for the animals alone. By the time I was twelve, 185 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:33.600 we were down to just one dog. He was a 186 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:38.799 Norwegian elkhoun with a strong pull. Every day I walked him, 187 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:41.919 or maybe he walked me through the woods behind our 188 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:44.840 house to the tobacco fields far from the road, where 189 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:48.159 I could turn him loose and let him run. There 190 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:51.120 was a huge track of land owned in part by 191 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:55.159 members of my family and mostly surrounded by neighboring shrub 192 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:59.879 and tobacco farms. At twelve, I was finally allowed to 193 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:04.399 go alone on these daily walks. I wasn't afraid. We 194 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.360 had no black bears to speak of back then, and 195 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.679 the coyote seemed to stay away, and I'd never seen 196 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:14.639 a bobcat. A few years later, while I was in 197 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:19.080 high school, I encountered a mountain lion back there. They've 198 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:23.360 only recently acknowledged their presence in my state, but all 199 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:25.720 in all, I had no fear of anything, so I 200 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:28.320 would often take off on my own with the dog 201 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:33.200 Norwegian elkhouns, or a medium sized dog for sort of 202 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:37.200 compact version of a husky. They're known for hunting in 203 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:41.240 packs and bringing down moose and bear. My dog took 204 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.639 advantage of my female build and lack of strength to 205 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:49.440 pull extra hard and practically drag me through the woods. Nevertheless, 206 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:53.639 I started taking him to the fields every afternoon. We 207 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:56.960 walked up the wooded hill alongside my house and wound 208 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:00.440 our way on a well worn path and continue on 209 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.919 the thicket and more woods until we got to the fields. 210 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:06.600 Every day, when we got to the top of the hill, 211 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:09.639 which was about halfway on our journey to the fields, 212 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:13.840 I would hear a strange knocking sound and the quiet 213 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:16.559 of the woods. I would hear a long tree cracking, 214 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.200 and then it would be followed by three knocks. I 215 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:22.840 thought it must be a woodpecker, and so I shrugged 216 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.039 it off. After a while, I noticed that the tree 217 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:29.279 knocking only started when I stepped foot on a particular 218 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:33.039 part of the path. I never suspected that Bigfoot was 219 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:35.720 anything more than what I had read about in books 220 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.279 about the lock Ness Monster and other cryptids, and it 221 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:41.639 never occurred to me that that was what it could be. 222 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.120 But day after day, walk after walk, when we reached 223 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.480 that one specific spot on the trail, I would hear 224 00:12:49.720 --> 00:12:53.080 exactly three knocks, and then I would go on my 225 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:57.799 way without incident. Pretty soon, though, my happy, go lucky, 226 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:01.360 hearty and hard pulling dogs stop trying to ease so 227 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:05.679 far ahead of me. He became clingy, hugging my side 228 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:09.360 until we got out of the area. Sometimes I could 229 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.360 hear something moving around in the woods, but I always 230 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:15.159 thought it was some deer watching me or some other critter. 231 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.840 And it was definitely watching me. I could feel it 232 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:23.000 the footsteps of whatever was making the noise were moving 233 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:26.600 toward me as well, not away from me. And once 234 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:30.080 I stopped, and the footsteps stopped, And when I moved, 235 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:34.159 it moved, and when I stopped again, so did it. Still. 236 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:36.960 I wasn't afraid. I was sure it was a deer. 237 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.440 I didn't realize back then that deer don't track people, 238 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:46.360 and my dog continued to look petrified. As I got 239 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.600 older and joined our high school's cross country track team, 240 00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:54.120 I used that same route to get in some extra practice. 241 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.799 Sometimes I brought my flute with me, and when I 242 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:58.960 got to the top of the hill before the descent 243 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:02.200 into the field, I'd lean up against what we call 244 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.600 the big tree that grew there and play freestyle for 245 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:09.759 an hour. Each time I passed by that one spot, 246 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:14.200 I would hear three knocks. I didn't know to look 247 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:17.000 or listen for sosquatch, so it was quite a while 248 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:21.960 before I realized there were specifically three knocks. Eventually, the 249 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:25.840 pattern became hard not to notice. I started to believe 250 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:29.679 there were forest spirits, more along the lines of ghost 251 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:36.120 rather than bigfoot. I somehow knew intuitively that those three 252 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:40.559 knocks were not for me. They were about me. It 253 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.360 was as if they were telegraphing the arrival of the 254 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:48.080 human into the area. One winter day, I went up 255 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:51.200 the hill to take pictures of icicles on bushes for 256 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:55.000 my photography class. It was my dream back then to 257 00:14:55.039 --> 00:15:00.240 become a national geographic photographer. I was enjoying pretending that 258 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.080 I already was one as I flopped down in two 259 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.519 feet of snow on my belly to get the right 260 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:09.120 angle from my shots. And as I did so, I 261 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.639 noticed an odd and increasingly familiar smell that reminded me 262 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:18.559 of really strong cat urine. Sometimes the smell was there 263 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:22.039 and sometimes it wasn't, but when it was, it was 264 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:26.879 always exactly where the tree knocks happened. I began to 265 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:30.360 look around for cougar tracks. At that point, I had 266 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.399 already seen the cougar that lived back there, and I 267 00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:36.559 hadn't noticed that there were big, deep tracks all around me, 268 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.840 But now I was paying attention. I put each of 269 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:43.639 my feet inside a pawprint to see how big this 270 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:48.360 cougar was. The stride was my whole height of five feet. 271 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:52.960 There was also a long straight mark alongside the prints, 272 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.879 which I assume must have been its tail dragging I 273 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:59.600 was so excited because now I could show my mother 274 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:01.639 and preof to her that I really did see a 275 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:04.720 mountain lion up there. So I ran back to the 276 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:07.440 house and I got her, and she took one look 277 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:10.559 at the tracks, and with a funny expression on her face, 278 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:15.039 she said, I don't think those are cougar tracks. And 279 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.679 then that awful smell came back, and she remarked about it. 280 00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:22.159 Her eyes got big, and she said, I don't think 281 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:26.120 we need to stay here. Looking back, I think she 282 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:30.320 knew something she didn't reveal. She tried to dissuade me 283 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:34.440 from following the tracks, but I was determined. She went 284 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:37.840 home and I went tracking, and I followed them, passed 285 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:41.480 a bunch of tobacco sheds to a swamp. They led 286 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:45.679 right up to the swamp, and then they ended. Things 287 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:50.679 felt odd. It was unnaturally quiet. A ghostly steam rose 288 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:54.879 off the frozen black water. The remains of a couple 289 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:58.000 of old cars from the nineteen fifties poked out here 290 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:01.000 and there, as if they were reaching out for salvation 291 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:05.599 against the encroaching decay of the hungry swamp. The woods 292 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:09.079 felt as if they were encircling me, closing in and 293 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:11.960 reaching out their naural limbs to wrap around me and 294 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:16.880 throw me in the cars. Call it intuition or maybe panic. 295 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:20.400 Whatever it was, I felt like the cougar must be 296 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:24.000 lingering near and watching me, So I turned around and 297 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:28.640 I ran home. There definitely was a cougar living in 298 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:32.440 that area. I'd seen it with my own eyes, but 299 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.640 it wasn't until years later that I realized what I 300 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:39.799 followed that day could not have been cougar tracks. I 301 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:42.079 hadn't paid attention to the fact that it was not 302 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:45.200 a set of four tracks, but it was two feet 303 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:49.000 The imprint I had taken to be the cougar's tail 304 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:53.440 was probably made by someone dragging a stick. My earliest 305 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.079 bigfoot encounters went on for six years, and I was 306 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:01.440 oblivious to them. Only after I saw a bigfoot did 307 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:05.079 I start to research them and finally interpret my childhood's 308 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:09.759 experiences correctly. I often think how lucky I was that 309 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:14.079 I wasn't attacked. Now I've since encountered those who were aggressive. 310 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:18.920 Also can't help but wonder what my silent, hidden audience 311 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:25.359 must have thought of my flute playing. When I was 312 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.359 a young girl, I lived in a familiar community in 313 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:32.640 a rural farming area in the Midwest. My grandfather had 314 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:37.599 one sister, Aunt Roseanne. She lived one mile south of 315 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:41.359 my grandfather's home, and our family's property went almost two 316 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:45.359 miles north to south and nearly one mile east to west. 317 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:50.000 Aunt Roseanne's husband farmed this land with my grandfather, and 318 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.559 we lived in another house on the same farm. So 319 00:18:52.599 --> 00:18:54.559 I got to spend loads of time with all these 320 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.880 wonderful older folks who taught me more about life than 321 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:01.720 anyone else could imagine. They loved telling me old stories, 322 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:06.079 and I loved hearing them. I especially loved Aunt Roseanne's stories, 323 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:08.519 and I asked her to repeat them over and over. 324 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:12.160 I'd love to share my favorite story with you. I 325 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:14.559 wish I could tell stories like her, but I can't, 326 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.720 but I'll do my best to remember the words. When 327 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:21.640 I was a child and through my teenage years, there 328 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:24.039 was a scary old woman who lived down the road 329 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:28.240 from my aunt's house. She disliked my aunt very much 330 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:32.839 and dabbled in dark, scary stuff. At some point, Aunt 331 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:35.359 Mary was sure the old woman had put a curse 332 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:39.000 on her and her family to scare them or harass them. 333 00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:43.559 Every morning, Mary and the girls would do the housework 334 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.799 before going upstairs for breakfast. While the men did the 335 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:51.160 barn chores. They would fix breakfasts and sit down together 336 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:55.599 before the day of real work started. Soon they began 337 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.640 to notice the beds were unmade, no matter how many 338 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:02.039 times they made them in the morning. Clothing was on 339 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.599 the floor no matter how many times they hung them up. 340 00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:08.960 And then strange things began happening in the barn. The 341 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.559 animals became skittish, and it seemed impossible to keep up 342 00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:15.759 no matter how much they worked. But worst of all, 343 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:20.279 charm marks began to appear on the doors of the outbuildings. 344 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:24.920 My uncle suspected someone was deliberately trying to frighten them away, 345 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:28.519 but Mary believed it was something supernatural and it had 346 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.839 something to do with the old woman down the road. 347 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:35.799 One evening in Midsummer, my cousins had a party on 348 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:40.160 Saturday night. Teenagers from all over the area came to 349 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:43.599 have fun and play games with us. My cousins began 350 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:47.359 to tell us about the strange happenings. They told the 351 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:50.720 story of the fiery man who had been seen around 352 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:54.119 the house, a man who was always on fire, but 353 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:57.599 he never died. The younger kids who were just hearing 354 00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:00.680 about these events. They made great bored out of it 355 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:04.720 by laughing and making fun of the stories. One girl 356 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:07.799 who was wilder than most of us, she laughed a 357 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:10.279 great deal, and she even went to the back door 358 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:13.000 and opened it up, and she pretended as if she 359 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:16.880 was looking for the culprits. Before she closed the door, 360 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:20.880 she cried in her rather loud voice, fiery man, come 361 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:25.000 kiss me. She slammed the door and continued to make 362 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:28.599 fun of the situation until the evening ended. And as 363 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:31.599 the first kids opened the door to leave later that night, 364 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:35.680 they saw burned handprints on the outside of the back door. 365 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:39.519 We all saw them, and everyone left to go home 366 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.720 that minute. No one ever made fun of what was 367 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:46.000 happening in Aunt Mary's house ever again, and none of 368 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:49.400 us were allowed to visit Aunt Mary's house until that 369 00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:57.119 dark old lady down the street finally passed away. It 370 00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:00.640 was late that evening in August nineteen fifty three when 371 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:04.640 the phone rang. The caller was one of my mother's sisters, 372 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:07.640 calling to tell her that my maternal grandmother had died 373 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:13.359 unexpectedly while visiting friends in Detroit, Michigan. My father was 374 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.440 at work at the time, and I was sent to 375 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:19.880 bed while my mother and aunt talked. I remember hearing 376 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.839 my father come home from work and my parents quietly 377 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:28.400 discussing things. The next thing I knew, it was four AM, 378 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:31.400 and I was being awakened and told to get dressed 379 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:34.960 because we were leaving for my mother's ancestral home in 380 00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:40.119 northeast Louisiana, near the little town of Oak Grove. I 381 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:43.119 was told that my grandmother's coffin was being shipped by 382 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:46.559 train to her home on their farm near the Beef River, 383 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:51.359 and the funeral would be in about five days. As 384 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.839 I sleepily walked outside to get in our nineteen fifty 385 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:59.480 one studabaker, all was packed and ready to go. We 386 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:02.720 were living in California's Central Valley at the time, as 387 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:06.480 my dad worked for an oil company there. All of 388 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.640 us being Southerners, we yearned to go back home, but 389 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:14.079 not under these circumstances. Blessed with good luck and no 390 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.079 car trouble, we made it to our destination after three 391 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:21.200 days and three nights of continuous driving, and as we 392 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:24.559 drove down the gravel road outside of Oak Grove, a 393 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:27.200 column of dust spread out behind us and we could 394 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:31.400 see my mother's childhood home up in the distance. It 395 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:34.599 was located well off the road, surrounded by their farm 396 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:38.559 land and further back by the dark woods. The house 397 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:41.920 was built long before the American Civil War and had 398 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:46.440 sheltered many generations, some of whom were still there even 399 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:49.880 though they had passed. I never felt comfortable in that 400 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:53.039 old house, especially when it was just me with no 401 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:56.640