8. Nearly Almost Cursed But Not Quite | True spooky stories of the strange & unusual

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The stories in this podcast may
not be suitable for all

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listeners.
Listener discretion is advised.

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If you have a true strange story
you'd like to hear narrated on

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the show, submit it now on
madamstrangeways.com or e-mail

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it to
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

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That's MAD.
AM E oh, you're here.

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Thank Pluto the sun was out for
a bit earlier and you always

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bring the rain with you somehow.
Give me a nice gloomy rainy day

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and an esoteric grimoire or
cursed tome and a cup of tea any

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day.
And a cat to curl up in my lap,

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obviously.
Speak of the devil and she doth

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appear.
Look who it is, Cleocatra, your

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favorite person.
Now help yourself to a cup of

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BlackBerry leaf and candied
ginger tea.

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Sit back, relax, and let me
share some new strange stories

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here on Madam's Strange Ways.
My Encounter with the Black Dog

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of Hanging Hills by Tristan
Mason.

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Let me preface this story by
stating this is one of the

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weirder experiences in my life
because it's a shared one.

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I'm open to any natural
explanations as I'm thinking it

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might be some shared
psychological experience.

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This is the best explanation I
could come up with.

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Anyway, here's the story.
In Meriden, CT, about 10 minutes

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outside of where I live, there
exists a range of mountainous

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trap rock ridges called Hanging
Hills.

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The easiest way to get up them
is to park in a wooded

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mountainous park called Hubbard
Park and take a trail that

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starts with a slightly
intimidating passenger bridge

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that crosses over the highway.
I am afraid of heights, but

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always try to challenge myself
by going hiking and putting

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myself in slightly uncomfortable
situations to overcome my fears.

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In the spring of 2014, my wife,
girlfriend at the time, and I

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decided to take our umpteenth
hike up Hanging Hills to see

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Castle Craig, a stone tower that
stood at the end of the main

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trail and overlooked the cliffs,
the city of Meriden and

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Quinnipiac Valley for the
umpteenth time.

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We launched into a discussion on
the drive there about the legend

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of the Black Dog.
I find ghost stories that have

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any shred of historical reality
to them intriguing, because most

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representations of ghosts on TV
or social media these days

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involve people becoming easily
scared by shaking or noises in

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an abandoned location.
The legend of the Black dog is

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an exception because it involves
the legend itself and a story of

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two geologists from the late
1800s encountering it and

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actually documenting it.
The legend has it that you see

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the black dog of hanging hills
once for joy, twice for sorrow,

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and three times for death.
There are plenty of legends of

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black dogs in folklore that tell
a similar tale.

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The two geologists, WHC Penchon
and Herbert Marshall, were

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conducting research of the area
in the winter of 1891 when they

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encountered the black dog.
According to the story, Penchon

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had seen it once and Herbert
twice before.

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Herbert didn't believe in the
legend.

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After ascending the hills again
alone, Herbert supposedly fell

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to his death.
I remembered the image of the

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black dog from WHC Pynchon's
story very clearly every time we

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hiked up the mountain.
This time was no different.

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That particular day, my
girlfriend and I encountered a

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hiker on the trail that was
letting his black dog without a

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collar roam loose.
We weren't sure whether it was

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to mess with people or not.
The dog wasn't like the one that

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was depicted in Pynchon's story,
rather it was bigger, like a lab

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terrier mix, and friendly too.
It came up to us and started

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panting at our legs.
Sorry about that.

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The hiker said as he caught up
to the dog and us.

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Not at all.
I bet you love having a little

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legend with you around here.
Oh yeah, the ghost dog.

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The hiker said, forcing a laugh
and grimacing as if he had heard

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that one too many times before.
As he walked away, my girlfriend

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made a comment about my
obsession with the stupid dog

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and not wanting to hear about
it.

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We made our way to the Castle
Craig about 20 minutes later.

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Unlike the trails off the
highway, the main trail from the

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park is not long or difficult,
other than a large hill at the

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end of it.
We took pictures on top of the

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tower and by the Cliff side, not
really thinking any more about

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the black dog.
We had made so many trips up to

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the tower and seen so many
hikers with black dogs that the

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legend almost seemed like a joke
at that point.

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Want to take the main trail down
or the road?

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I asked as we finished up taking
pictures and drinking whatever

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water and Gatorade we had left
in our packs.

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The road, she insisted.
We can see that river.

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The road leading up to Castle
Craig is typically taken by cars

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and bikers.
We sometimes hiked down it to

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catch a glimpse of the
Quinnipiac River on the way back

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to the park.
Despite it being a warm April

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day, there were very few cars
and bikers on the way down.

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It was nice and quiet.
About 1/4 of a mile into our

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walk, my girlfriend tugged me on
the shoulder and pointed to a

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figure on the side of the road
between some shrubbery.

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It stood about 10 feet ahead of
us.

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What the hell is that?
She said.

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I took a step forward, but she
tugged on my shirt and shook her

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head.
Is that what I?

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I nodded.
All I could do was nod.

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The figure was small and
resembled a black dog with

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floppy ears and a hot dog tail,
much like the one in Pynchon's

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illustration.
I wouldn't have thought much of

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it if not for the fact the
figure was blurry.

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It wasn't the distance between
us that made it blurry, and

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there weren't any fog related
conditions that day.

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It was almost as if Mother
Nature had taken the dog in a

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Photoshop program and used the
blur effect on it.

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Even when I took a step closer
to my girlfriend's hesitance, it

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still looked blurry.
We were frozen otherwise though,

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and didn't think to take a
picture of the figure.

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There was an unknowing
understanding between us that we

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shouldn't approach and just wait
for it to cross.

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As the figure crossed the road,
it didn't look at us, it just

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dawdled with its nose to the
ground.

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For the rest of the hike, we
were silent.

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We both knew what we saw but
couldn't put it into words.

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It was only after a while that I
said I should have taken a

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picture, but deep down I felt it
was a good thing that I didn't.

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Seeing the figure wasn't
frightening, but it wasn't

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pleasant either.
We have been back to hanging

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hills many times since.
We never encountered any luck or

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sorrow, just a memory of a
little blurry black dog and an

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understanding that when you see
an actual paranormal entity with

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someone else and understand what
it is, there isn't really a

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question about it.
I've read many stories posted

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online since about the black
dog.

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Few have described what we saw
though.

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Black dogs run loose in the park
all the time and a number of the

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encounters we read about seem
like fabrications or just

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encounters with stray dogs.
If you live in the area or have

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a similar story, I'd be very
interested in hearing yours as

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well.
I haven't met or spoken with a

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person who has a similar
experience.

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I also haven't been able to
objectively rule out what I saw.

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I'm open to any scientific
explanations on collectively

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seeing blurry figures in a
shared experience.

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It would be disappointing but
interesting to know about a more

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logical explanation too.
OK, Tristan, we established that

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seeing the ghostly black dog
once brings joy.

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You know, you were saying, well,
it didn't bring joy.

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It didn't bring sorrow.
I would pose the question to

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you, would you and your
girlfriends seeing the dog when

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she was so sick of hearing you
talk about the legend, would

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that not bring you some joy?
Being able to maybe not say

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aloud I told you so, but
secretly, quietly, with your

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eyes unspoken, I told you so.
Doesn't that bring you some joy?

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That you were right, You were
right to be obsessive about the

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history and the legend of the
black dog, right?

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Come on.
It must have brought you just a

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little bit of joy, a shred of
joy, even if it was also

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unsettling and may have
permanently altered your

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worldview.
The fact that when you saw that,

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when you both saw the black dog,
that it was blurry.

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Like I liked how you said, like
nature had taken it into

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Photoshop and applied like a
blur filter to it.

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That's how blurry it is.
Like I've never seen that.

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To be fair, I don't.
I don't need glasses to see on a

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hike.
However, if I did need glasses

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to see on a hike then everything
would be blurry and not just

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this one fabled dog of legend,
you know?

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So it's it's crazy that it's
just the dog that's blurry.

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So I don't know how you explain
that if nothing else is blurry.

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Like even if the dog was far
away, it would be an atmospheric

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distance situation with your
eyeballs, not just the dog.

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Blame being blurry, Maybe the
dog.

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Maybe the dog had had several
balloons rubbed on its fur and

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then let go and so all of its
fur was standing on end and

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maybe that gave it the
appearance of blurriness.

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I'm not claiming to understand
what happened either.

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Completely unexplainable.
But I do love that you saw it.

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You know, maybe it sounds like,
oh, be careful with you.

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Be careful what you wish for.
And maybe you might be thinking,

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oh, I kind of wish I hadn't seen
it now.

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But I'm glad that you saw it
because you had such an interest

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in it.
And it sounds like it was kind

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of one of your special
interests.

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And now if someone asks you,
have you ever met a celebrity?

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You can say why yes, I have met
a celebrity.

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It was the black dog of hanging
hills and actually he he was

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quite blurry.
Actually he was very blurry, but

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probably nice, did not bark.
So not cruel, not rude like some

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celebrities can be very down to
earth, just a little blurry.

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I think usually the people that
want to see ghosts or the

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unexplained or the paranormal in
general are kind of the people

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that are allowed to see them the
least.

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They are the last people to see
and have an experience because

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they want it so bad.
Whereas in your case, you know,

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maybe because you wanted to see
it or you had such an interest

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in it and such a curiosity and,
you know, I don't know, maybe

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the black dog could tell that
you had done your research and

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that you were very studious and
that your girlfriend was like,

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please stop talking about the
dog.

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Can we not talk about the dog
for 5 minutes?

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Maybe the dog was like, hey,
Tristan, don't worry, I got your

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back.
I got you.

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Story #2I Taylor.
I was sitting on my bed, staring

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into the abyss, questioning,
wondering, pleading when I would

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wake up from this nightmare.
It was late, probably 1:00 AM,

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and I had just gotten home from
my grandma's house.

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Most of my family was there.
It wasn't the typical Sunday at

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Granny's.
Nope, this is 1.

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I would go on to hate the rest
of my life one day earlier.

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I was 17 and a week into my
junior year of high school.

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Life was great.
I had a great group of friends

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on my second year on the dance
team.

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My best friend just got her car
and I had two classes with

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Landon Miller and it was
blatantly obvious the crush was

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mutual.
I woke up earlier than I

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normally would have after a
football game.

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00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,720
We would all go to IHOP after
the game and I would just get

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home sometime the next morning.
When I woke up, I had a missed

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call and text from Jake.
Jake is my younger cousin.

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He was only 12 but always seemed
older and more mature than he

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was.
I guess that happens naturally

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when your mom, my aunt, is not a
stable figure in your life.

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00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,800
Jake never knew his dad and none
of our family did either.

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00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,160
Jake and I were incredibly
close.

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00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,000
He and his mom lived with us on
several times through his 12

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years, sometimes for a week and
sometimes for months.

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I always looked at him as a
little brother.

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00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,400
I didn't call him back right
away, but read the message that

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said ask your dad if he'll take
us boarding to Morrow.

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My parents had a boat, their
only redeeming quality, and I

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learned to water ski before I
could write my name.

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By third grade I was awake,
boarding, and never looked back.

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Jake picked it up quickly too
and we would spend weekends on

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the lake and hours being pulled
around attempting X Games

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maneuvers and crash landing into
the boat's wake.

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Those are memories I will
cherish for eternity.

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I wanted to respond to him with
you, ask him.

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He pissed me off again last
night as my dad usually did, but

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I also remembered Landon
mentioned a last hurrah pool

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party that I definitely did not
want to miss.

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But I said OK, yeah, let me ask.
I figured I could fit in both.

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I didn't ask until that night.
And I will regret that for the

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rest of my life because I didn't
ask until later.

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Jake and his friends made plans
to go ride their dirt bikes at

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Folsom Park.
It was out in the middle of

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nowhere and barely an excuse for
a park.

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Just some unkempt dirt piles.
The draw for Folsom was that

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there was a path to off road,
which is what most people did.

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00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,800
They went off road so far they
ended up on a random County

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Road.
Jake was going uphill, throttle

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00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:40,640
down, and when he reached the
top he was struck by an F-150

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truck going 75 miles an hour.
I was told they rushed him to

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00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,680
the emergency room but would
later find out that he was

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killed instantly.
His lungs filled with blood and

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00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:02,440
he drowned inside his own body,
an occurrence known as pulmonary

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00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,680
edema.
I don't remember much of what

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00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,480
happened between being told Jake
was being care flighted to the

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00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:14,280
hospital, a brief 10 minutes of
being at my granny's house, and

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00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:19,280
the moment I was staring into
the abyss, sitting on the corner

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00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,880
of my bed looking at an area of
my room that was filled with

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00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,960
Jake.
The corner by the TV where we

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00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:31,680
set up a fake music video set
and recreated the mambo #5 music

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00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,760
video.
The bean bag chair that he sat

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00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,920
in while I covered him, and the
entire chair with our beanie

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00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:45,000
babies. 132 to be exact, where
you could only see his head.

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00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:49,640
No sign of the chair or his
body, just an optical illusion

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00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,520
of sorts.
My shelf with a stereo on it we

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00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:58,400
sat next to for hours 1 summer
waiting for who let the dogs out

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00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:03,640
to play or to be the 10th caller
and when coveted Britney Spears

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00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,840
tickets.
The window we watched fireworks

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00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,120
out of the summer.
My mom had surgery and we

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00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:14,120
couldn't go watch them IRL.
Above that window, hanging from

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00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:19,120
the ceiling was a gold metallic
star about as thick as cardboard

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00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:23,440
and 12 inches in diameter.
It had a hole punched in the top

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00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:27,400
with a black curly cubed ribbon
dangling around the star.

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00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,280
I had received this when I made
the dance team, saying my name

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00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:35,920
on one side and O3O4 new member
on the other.

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00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,320
This is how we found out I made
it.

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00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,680
They turned over the new member
side to reveal the names.

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00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:47,080
It was in that moment, as I
watched, that the star began

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00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:52,040
blowing dramatically out of
nowhere, as if the window had

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00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:56,680
opened, followed by a forceful
gust of wind.

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00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,960
But I hadn't moved from the
corner of my bed.

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00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,520
I didn't even feel like I was
breathing, much less opening a

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00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,400
window.
The star then went from

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00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,800
dramatically being tossed
around.

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00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:16,040
To moving just an inch or two
side to side.

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00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:23,840
I felt the air turn cold around
me, then a pressure around my

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00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:32,240
arms, and then I knew Jake had
come to tell me goodbye.

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00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:50,000
Taylor, thank you so much for
being vulnerable and being brave

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00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,320
enough to be vulnerable and, and
sharing that touching story with

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00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,080
me, for me to share with all the
listeners.

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00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,520
So thank you so much for that in
the 1st place.

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And you know, secondly, I'm so
sorry about what happened with

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00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,360
Jake.
I can't imagine the crushing

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00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,720
amount of guilt that you are
probably still to this day

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00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:16,440
holding on to at least a little
bit.

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00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,280
I think I would be remiss if I
did not also specifically tell

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00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,000
you that this was not your
fault.

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00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:28,160
And obviously Jake agreed that
it wasn't your fault, but it

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00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,240
definitely wasn't your fault.
There's not, it's not the

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00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,920
butterfly effect.
You know, that's not how the

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00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,880
world works and you just have no
idea.

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00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:39,280
You know, you could play the
what if?

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00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,320
We could play the What if game
all day.

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00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:45,280
What if y'all had both gone out
on the water?

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00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:47,960
What if something worse had
happened if you had gone out on

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00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,640
the water?
There's just no end to the

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00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,680
amount of what ifs that you
could come up with.

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00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,560
And I'm sure that you have.
I'm sure you have probably

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00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:00,840
exhausted that list in the time
since this happened, but just a

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00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,520
reminder, you are not
responsible for what happened to

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00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:09,000
Jake.
I'm so glad that he was able to

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00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,400
send you a sign, let you know
that he's still there.

305
00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,680
He's thinking of you too.
And I know the last thing that

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00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,640
Jake would have wanted would be
for you to beat yourself up

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00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,760
about it or to feel even
remotely responsible.

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00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,160
So sweet of him to do that for
you.

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00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,840
It sounds like he cared about
you just as much as you still

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00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,800
care about him.
I do want to take a moment to

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00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:37,880
share some quick thought
correction exercise mantras you

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00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,760
might say that are featured in
this excellent book called

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00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,360
Complex PTSD from Surviving to
Thriving.

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00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,120
It's by Pete Walker.
This is maybe not specific to

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00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:52,760
complex PTSD, but I think this
section on guilt can really help

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00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,680
you or anyone else that's
listening that may also struggle

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00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,360
with guilt.
Here's just a few that you could

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00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:04,080
try saying to yourself.
Feeling guilty does not mean I

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00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,440
am guilty.
I refuse to make my decisions

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00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:12,920
and choices from guilt.
I will not accept unfair blame.

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00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,360
Guilt is sometimes camouflaged
fear.

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00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:22,960
I feel guilty and afraid, but I
am not guilty or in danger.

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00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,440
Thank you so much again for
sharing the story with me, for

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00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,440
being brave, brave enough to be
vulnerable.

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00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,600
Thank you so much again.
And if anyone listening has any

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00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:39,120
thoughts or similar experiences
to this story, please go ahead

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00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,960
and e-mail it to me at
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

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00:23:43,200 --> 00:24:00,000
That's MAD AM E.
Thank you to Tristan, Mason, and

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00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,720
Taylor for submitting your
strange stories, and thank you

330
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:09,240
so much for stopping by for such
a lovely spooky time.

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00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:15,120
Now remember, if any of the
strangeness scared you, remind

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00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:20,440
yourself that you can feel
afraid and not be in danger.

333
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:26,560
You're safe here with me.
Until next time.

334
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,440
If you've enjoyed your time here
with me today, please make sure

335
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:36,720
you follow the podcast.
Follow me on Instagram at at

336
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,800
Madam Strangeways and share the
strangeness with a friend by

337
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:45,120
telling them about the podcast.
Those are the secrets to

338
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:51,160
unlocking my eternal gratitude.
Madam Strangeways is produced

339
00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,160
and narrated by me.
Madam Strangeways

340
00:24:54,840 --> 00:25:03,440
thememusicisbymarina.ryan@marinamakes.co
You can submit your own strange

341
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:08,440
story at madamstrangeways.com or
send in your thoughts or

342
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,120
theories on the stories in this
episode to

343
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:15,960
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
Thank you for listening.

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00:25:43,710 --> 00:25:43,790
The.