"Here's Why You Don't Explore Alone..." | CLANCYPASTA

[00:00:00] I was on a road trip by myself heading through the Midwest when I passed through an abandoned town, or a ghost town. I've always wanted to explore abandoned places, but I've never had the time or just didn't want to get in trouble with the police. I decided to pull off into the parking lot of an old gas station. I turned my truck off and hopped out. I started looking around at the pumps. They were rusty and the glass covering the meter was foggy.

[00:00:26] I took a picture of one of the pumps and sent it to my friend who usually goes exploring things. He didn't read it right away so I just went inside the gas station. Luckily enough for me, someone already broke the door down so I could easily get inside. I was fascinated with how well preserved the inside looked. There were some old snacks still on the shelves, drinks in the non-running fridges, and the cash register was still up at the front.

[00:00:51] The drawer was open, so someone either stole the money or they got it when the store closed. I started to examine the bags of chips and took a guess that this town was abandoned in the mid-90s. I looked around for a few more minutes, then left. I started walking over to another building when I turned back around. I didn't want to leave my truck where it could easily be stolen, so I drove it over to the next building I was going to explore.

[00:01:19] This building looked like an apartment building. It was white and the windows were all boarded up. I searched around for an entrance, but didn't find one. I tried the doors and luckily the back door was unlocked. The building smelled horrible and I knew people were living in here. My friend texted back and asked, Are you finally exploring? I replied with, Yes, I finally am. He called me and I went back outside to take the call.

[00:01:49] Where are you exploring? He asked. Ah, just some ghost town, I replied. Who's with you? Just me and my trusty Chevy C-1500. Of course. You really don't need to explore alone. You know that, right? I have my gun in the truck, I'll be fine. Keep it on you in case someone tries to jump you. Okay, it's in my waistband and my jeans. Good. Good. Make sure you can get it out quickly just in case. And make sure you're fully loaded.

[00:02:19] I am. I'm keeping the safety on though. Okay. Just be safe and don't kill yourself. I'll try not to. See you later. See ya. I hung up the phone and put it back in my pocket. The sun was beginning to set, but I couldn't fight the urge to explore just a few more buildings. I went back inside the apartment building and was met with the horrible smell again. It smelled like old food and dead things. I was hoping it wasn't a human body.

[00:02:48] It was just a large amount of dead mice, but it could be anything. The first floor was pretty much stripped out except for a few tables or homeless beds. I pulled my gun out and kept it low and headed up to the second floor. I didn't see anything in the hallway, but there was a curtain covering one of the rooms. I wasn't stupid enough to look inside. The other room was open, so I went inside.

[00:03:15] I turned my safety off and started looking around. Inside, there was a cheap-looking bed, a desk, a TV stand with an old box TV, a kitchen, and a filthy-looking couch. The TV was busted and the bed covers were all messed up. I walked over to the kitchen and started looking through all the cabinets. There was eerily preserved everyday life things such as sugar, cereal boxes, spices,

[00:03:44] pots and pans, dishes, and other kitchen things. I started thinking about all the memories that could have been made here and who lived here. The thoughts overwhelmed me, but they quickly cleared when I started hearing footsteps in that room with the doorway covered. I quietly hid behind the bar in the kitchen. I had my gun in my hand in case this person or thing wasn't friendly. A man came out from behind the curtain.

[00:04:13] He was wearing a dirty blue hoodie and some stained jeans. His face was covered and he had his hood up. The mysterious man walked down the hallway and outside. I watched out the window where my truck was visible. He started eyeing my truck. I slowly made my way downstairs, but by the time I got down there, the man was already down the street.

[00:04:39] I assumed he was going to buy drugs or go to the bathroom, so I left the building. I got in my truck and started it up. It's not a quiet truck, so the guy was probably going to keep his eye on me if he sees me driving around. It was really starting to get dark, so I decided two more buildings. I drove over to the neighborhood part of the town and picked the biggest house to explore.

[00:05:05] I could hear some commotion in a small house down the street, so I kept the safety on my gun off. I went around back and discovered some cars under a little carport. One was a boring old Toyota Camry and there was one under a cover. I pulled the blue tarp off the top and it was a 1977 Chevy Camaro. I went around to the front of it and saw the Z28 badge. The big house and the Z28?

[00:05:34] These people must have been loaded, but I was still confused on the fact why they would just leave everything here. Like this beautiful car. I'm a car guy, so I spent about 20 minutes looking at it. I finally made my way back to the house. I went inside and this house looked untouched. The house was clean, except for a little broken glass. And the furniture looked clean, but very dusty. As expected.

[00:06:03] They had nice recliners, a nice TV for the era. And they had fine china in the kitchen cabinets. These people were definitely the loaded people in town. I wanted to find out some more history, but there was no one to ask. I just kept looking around the house. I saw the door to a basement and peeked inside. It looked like a typical basement. Washing machine, dryer, furnace, water heater. So I didn't bother going down there.

[00:06:31] I looked around in the few other rooms on the first floor, but didn't find anything super cool. I went upstairs to the top floor and saw some odd dolls pinned to the wall. Weird. I didn't have my gun in my hand since this house didn't really feel all dangerous. I walked over to a door and opened it up. This room caught my attention.

[00:06:57] It had loads of model cars still in the box, just on display. I assumed this guy was a car guy, just like me. I looked at most of the models that I took a liking in, fighting the urge to load all of them up in the bed of my truck and drive away with them. I moved on to the next room. The next room was a bedroom. It looked like a boy's bedroom. It was messy with clothes and toys all over the floor. There was a paper on the desk in the corner.

[00:07:26] I picked it up. It had a date on it. The date said, 06-23-97. So this paper is from June 23rd, 1997. The paper read, The government is forcing us to leave the town. There was a problem with the lab at the hospital, and now everyone has to leave with just the bare essentials. Mom and Dad are making us take the station wagon, even though I want to take the Camaro. Anyways, I wrote this paper because I was bored.

[00:07:56] And if anyone finds this, Tamagotchis are the best. From Evan The paper seemed very strange to me. What happened in that lab? Was a creature created? Was something on the loose? Why couldn't people take everything? Why didn't this kid's parents take the Camaro? So many thoughts. I put the paper back on the table since it's the

[00:08:23] only thing that tells the history on this town so far. I took a picture of it and posted it on Instagram. I also started thinking about the Tamagotchi part. I remember mine. I never took care of it. I never took care of anything. My mom told me I should start caring for my Tamagotchi more. I asked why. She replied with, Because if you don't take care of things, they won't last.

[00:08:49] Even something as simple as that changed my whole outlook on things. The owner of this house must have known that lesson. I looked around the room a little bit more and then headed outside. I could hear some strange noises, like screaming. I got in my truck and put the gun on the seat next to me. I cranked my window down and slowly drove through the street. I was like, There was one street light in the distance. It was flickering.

[00:09:19] There was someone standing under it. So I rolled my window up in case it tries to jump inside. I slowly pulled up next to it. It was the homeless guy from earlier. I couldn't see his face earlier since he had something covering it and his hood was up. But now I could see it. It scared me. His face was half eaten away by who knows what. He was just standing there looking down the road I just drove.

[00:09:47] I was examining him closer when he snapped his head right at my truck. It scared the crap out of me. I asked if he was alright through the window. No response. I asked again. No response again. I drove away from him shivering a little bit. I turned around and saw him still looking at me. His body was facing down the road but his head was turned all the way around.

[00:10:15] I turned the corner up here and started to make my way towards Main Street. I saw another person standing in the yard of another abandoned house. The same thing was wrong with their face. For now they seemed peaceful. But I wasn't going to say that they were. I found Main Street and there were more people or things lining the street on each side. There were four on each side of the street just staring at me.

[00:10:44] A few of them were bloody and they were smiling with the scariest smile I'd ever seen. I put the pieces together. I put the pieces together. These were the people affected by the hospital lab problem. I guaranteed that's what the problem was and that's why everyone had to leave. I drove on the street in between them and their gaze followed my truck. Only their heads moved. Their bodies stayed locked in one direction.

[00:11:13] I took a picture of them. I started slowly driving off. That's when they started following me. They walked towards me and stopped when they were about ten feet away from my truck. I drove forward. They followed. I backed up. They backed up. It was super weird. It felt like they were robots programmed to always stay within ten feet.

[00:11:40] I drove into the gas station lot and sure enough, there they were. I imagined that they were going to follow me home so I had no choice. I rammed into them with the bed of my truck. They fell and didn't get up. I looked over and one was standing extremely close to my window. I hit that one too. More started coming out of the buildings and started approaching my truck.

[00:12:07] I did a burnout and got out of the town before something could happen. I tried navigating an abandoned town in the dark with these things following me. My gas tank was running low. I drove out the way I came in and got onto the highway. I could see the silhouettes of them in my rearview mirror. It was an eerie sight. I decided I didn't want to continue my road trip after that encounter, so I started to make my way home.

[00:12:36] I stopped at a gas station, filled up, and headed back to my home state. I swear, I just wanted to pick up a hobby. After spending eight hour shifts in a boring office, I needed something. Anything to break the monotony.

[00:13:05] I wasn't a gym guy, but one night while driving home, I passed by a small 24-hour fitness center, tucked between a laundromat and a small Vietnamese cafe. It wasn't fancy. The sign was barely lit. The glass doors were tainted by glue marks from old posters, and the inside smelled like stale sweat. But it was cheap. Absurdly cheap. No contracts. No hidden fees. It felt like a good deal, so I signed up on the spot.

[00:13:35] That night, I went there at 10pm after a quick drink with my friends. The only other person there was a man on the treadmill, jogging at a steady rhythm while watching a movie on his phone. The receptionist barely glanced at me as he gave me the locker key. I changed into my gym clothes and started lifting five kilograms. Well, I wasn't strong, but it felt good to do something different. Then, halfway through my set, something caught my eye. A shoe.

[00:14:05] It was lying near the entrance to the locker room. I looked around. The treadmill guy was still running, both shoes intact. The receptionist was at the front desk. I turned back. The shoe was gone. I rubbed my eyes. I was imagining things. The long shifts at work had left me exhausted, and I had barely eaten all day. I pushed through the rest of my workout and headed to the locker room to grab my things. And that's when it happened.

[00:14:36] At first, it was just a sound. The faint shuffle of fabric, like someone moving inside a locker. I hesitated. I called out, trying to sound casual, laughing a little. You good? No response. I took a few steps forward. Suddenly, I smelled something damp and metallic.

[00:15:02] I reached for my locker, but as I did, I caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of the mirror. A figure, crouched by the farthest locker. Its back hunched head tilted slightly. I froze. The only other person working out in the gym was the guy on the treadmill. I knew it. I turned my head slowly. The treadmill guy was still running, still facing his phone attached to the holder,

[00:15:30] still moving at the exact same unbroken rhythm. So who the hell was in the locker room with me? I slammed my locker shut and walked, not ran, to the exit. As I stepped into the gym floor, I made the mistake of looking back. The locker room door stood slightly ajar, and from the darkness, a pair of eyes peered out. I didn't hesitate.

[00:15:57] I grabbed my bag, walked straight past the receptionist, and into the night. I cancelled my membership the next morning. The receptionist just smiled wryly and let me go, as if it wasn't a big deal. The whole thing bugged me. Maybe I had imagined it. Maybe I was just tired. Or maybe it was a homeless guy who got the owner's permission to sleep for the night.

[00:16:22] It was a cheap gym after all, not a fancy fitness center with stuff worth stealing. That's what I told myself. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen something I wasn't supposed to. That night, I looked up the gym's name online, found it, and I went straight to the reviews where there were like a hundred of them. Most of the reviews were normal, praising the student-friendly membership fee and the 24-hour service.

[00:16:52] They offer no personal trainers, but if you come during lunchtime, this gym is packed with the other blokes that are happy to assist you. I'm an introvert and I love redacted gym. It feels like a private gym after 9pm. Mostly, it was only me and that one runner guy on the treadmill. LOL. If you don't mind the rusty dumbbells, this place could turn you into Mr. Olympia for just a few bucks per month.

[00:17:18] I also found a number of one-star reviews, mostly complained about broken machines and the smell. Classic. Then, further deep down, almost obscured by other one-star reviews, I found something strange. A few mentioned feeling watched in the locker room. Something is off about this place. The first time I came here, I thought I saw someone inside the lockers. I turned around and they were gone.

[00:17:46] One cancelled my membership immediately. Another. I swear I felt someone standing behind me when I worked out. But when I turned around, there was never anyone there. Why would they build a gym on a haunted place? I felt a chill run down my spine. I stopped scrolling and I closed my laptop shut. But curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to search more about the location.

[00:18:14] After a moment of scrolling, I found a news article. A man found dead in an abandoned building. Case remains unsolved. I clicked on it, my pulse quickening. The article was brief. The victim had been missing for weeks before his body was discovered in an abandoned structure on the outskirts of the city. The police found no suspects, no murder weapon. The case went cold. Something gnawed at me.

[00:18:44] The article didn't specify where the abandoned building was. But something about the wording. Recently abandoned structure. Made me pause. A stupid, paranoid thought warped into my head. I opened Google Maps and searched the gym's address. The current view showed the building as it was now. Just a regular run down gym I had visited the previous day. Then I clicked on the historical images.

[00:19:12] I traced it back a year. Same gym. Three years. Same gym, but in a better condition. The facade was immaculate. The glass doors were much cleaner. Five years. The gym was not there. Instead, I saw a different building. An empty, decaying structure covered in graffiti. Windows shattered. Its front entrance blocked off with police tape.

[00:19:39] I stared at the screen, my chest tightening. The place where the man had been murdered was the exact same spot where the gym stood now. And then I saw it. In the old street view image from a broken window on the second floor of the abandoned building. A pair of piercing eyes stared back at me. The same eyes I had seen peering from the locker room that night.

[00:20:08] I don't know what I saw in the locker room that night. And I don't know who or what was hiding inside those lockers. But I do know one thing. I'll never step foot in a random gym again. I heard it again last night.

[00:20:37] They are calling out to me. No one understands it because it's meant for me. I think I will join them. I liked my uncle. He wasn't that much older than me and he always made me feel included whenever we were together. He bought me my first gaming console and taught me how to play Dungeons and Dragons. I remember being told by my mother that he was gone. She wouldn't talk to me about it. Wouldn't even let me ask.

[00:21:04] I didn't hear anything more about it until I was twenty and received a knock at my door from his lawyer. Apparently, he had left detailed notes about his inheritance and he had finally been ruled dead after all this time. I remember thinking the lawyer looked strange, but every time I think about him I can't put my finger on what threw me off. He was wearing a nice black suit and he looked old. But that was it. He had no other notable features.

[00:21:31] I remember expecting a few knickknacks and games, maybe. So I was surprised when the only thing the old man handed me was a small, ancient-looking radio. It was a handheld thing with a flat profile, a long metal antenna, and some much-abused dials. I remember it being cold to the touch as I took it from the lawyer. Something like relief crossed his face.

[00:21:57] I thought it was some kind of joke at first, like, my uncle had orchestrated this whole thing just so he could disappear to another country and this was just the cherry on top. I called my mom immediately and apparently the lawyer had visited her too with her portion of the inheritance. When I told her about the radio, she seemed equally confused. She had just gotten some money and his old beat-up car. That evening, I sat down to watch a movie.

[00:22:24] Nothing special, just some comedy schlock. About halfway through it, I started to hear a sputtering fritzing underneath the sound emanating from my TV. At first, I thought it had started raining hard and I was hearing the droplets of water dash themselves against my windows, but as I glanced to my left, I saw the sky was clear. I tried to ignore it. It was probably just my shitty TV acting up and I didn't want to find out that I needed to buy another one.

[00:22:53] But as the movie went on, the quality of the noise changed. It was static. That much was clear now. But it shifted in pitch and tenor every few moments. I used to have bad migraines as a kid and the only way I can describe that noise is that it sounded like how migraines feel. So, agonizing and fundamentally wrong in some way.

[00:23:16] I decided to turn off the movie and head to bed early, but when I shut the TV off, I realized the sound wasn't coming from it. It was coming from an object I had placed on the console beneath it. The old radio my uncle owned. It must have turned on by accident when I set it down. I didn't even think it would work to be honest, but hearing that strange noise coming from it, I decided I'd play around a bit.

[00:23:43] I walked into my room and sat down on my bed, fiddling with the dials on the ancient piece of technology. The noise shifted and changed like an animal being prodded until I could finally make out some noise. It was a local radio station hosting a dreary sounding quiz. Satisfied with my progress, I got ready for bed and headed to sleep.

[00:24:05] I don't remember what I dreamed of that night, but I recall waking up to a tear-stained pillowcase and feeling the smooth afterglow of a shot of adrenaline. The radio was still playing, I realized, but it had gone back to that strange warbling noise. In the weeks that followed, the thing became just another object in my increasingly cluttered apartment.

[00:24:29] I talked to my co-worker and best friend Andrew about it at the time because he is a big analog tech nerd, and he said that my uncle might have willed it away to me because it's a rare model that was discontinued pretty soon after its release. I idly thought about selling the thing, but it felt like a slap in the face to the memory of my uncle. It slipped from my mind entirely by the time it intruded on my life once more. I was disturbed awake by the static coming from the radio.

[00:24:58] I was reaching over to take the batteries out when I heard something in the cacophony of noise. It was a voice. Faint, barely even a whisper at first, but I could certainly hear a voice. My blood ran cold. It was probably just a snippet of a broadcast it was picking up, but as the voice clarified in the static, I knew that to be false. Work harder than him. You know it.

[00:25:27] It was Andrew's voice, unmistakably. My hand hovered over the radio, stopped in its tracks. He's been with the company for years. The voice was that of an older man. My boss. I couldn't rub my head around what was happening. Was this some kind of prank? I checked my watch and it was three in the morning. My boss was not the man to pull this kind of joke. And he does fuck all for it.

[00:25:55] You know I'm a better fit for this position. You've seen the stats. I could feel my stomach drop. I knew when this conversation took place. I had walked in on them talking that day and they had seemed a bit awkward, but that would be impossible. Was someone recording them? Why would they play this for me? Beyond the confusion and terror, I could feel the embers of rage begin to smolder within me.

[00:26:23] Everyone knew I was due the promotion after my manager quit. Was he trying to weasel his way in? The static cut out abruptly and I grabbed it to start fiddling with the dials to get it back. I heard nothing but static. For the next few days, I saw Andrew talking with our boss more and more. He tried to start conversations with me, but I knew his game. How he was only being nice to me because he pitied me.

[00:26:52] I wouldn't fall for it. I could hardly get anything done. All I could think about was the radio and Andrew. I spent all week trying to find the frequency on the radio that led to it dispensing its secrets, but it just wouldn't work. On Friday, my mom called me. Hey, sweetie. It was a relief to hear her voice. I didn't realize how stressed I was, but the week had really taken a toll on me. Hey, mom.

[00:27:22] Your friend Andrew called. He said he was worried about you, but you were acting strange in work. My blood all but boiled. He was talking to my mom now? I stopped myself. Taking a moment to breathe, I reeled in my thoughts. All of this caused by a radio message I could have dreamt up? Yeah, it's just been a really rough week.

[00:27:52] I responded, holding my head in my hands, feeling the weight of exhaustion pulling me to places I didn't want to be. Well, sweetie. If there's anything you need to talk about, just let me know. Thanks, mom. Love you. Love you too. Take care of yourself. She hung up. I took a moment to center myself after the call. I resolved to go to sleep early and apologize to Andrew in the morning.

[00:28:22] I opened my eyes and I was already sitting up in bed. The pitch black of my room was only punctuated by the stars that speckled my window. There were so many stars out that night with no moon to hide them from me. He's never been with it, Tom. It was my mother's voice coming from the radio this time. I pressed my hand to it.

[00:28:48] I could almost feel the static through the hard, cold metal like something was trying to reach out to me. You need to stop coddling the boy. He's an adult now. My dad's voice was rough. I just don't want him to end up like my brother. What were embers of rage ignited within me. I knew this wasn't a dream. I could feel just how real everything was. I could taste the blood in my mouth from biting my cheek.

[00:29:17] Smell a strange ferrous rust odor that seemed to waft from the radio. And most of all, I could hear the static in my ears like a choir of angels. I stayed awake that night, waiting until I knew my mother would be awake. I called her and she answered quickly. What's wrong, Dennis? She answered with what I knew to be faux sincerity. Never been with it?

[00:29:48] End up like your brother? I didn't think you'd sink that low, Mom. I bid back with as much venom as I could muster. What are you talking about? I- The lines started to break up a bit, but I soldiered on. I know what you were saying to Dad. I know what you really think! Tears of rage were streaming down my face by this point. I don't know what you were talking about!

[00:30:13] Static replaced her speech, a comfortable, keening static. One that promised to wash away all of the painful details in my life. I hung up with the assurance that at least someone had my back. I took the radio and put it in my bag as I left my apartment. The assurance, the weight of the device provided, carried me through the hall, down the stairs, and to my car.

[00:30:39] I nearly dropped my key several times before I could start my car. I didn't even realize I was trembling. Andrew's home was a small terraced house near the center of town. This early in the morning, traffic was almost non-existent, so getting there was easy. All of my car's radio channels produced static. I parked along the footpath and hopped over the small fence leading to his house.

[00:31:08] I was going to get the truth out of him, no matter what. I knocked on the green wooden door so furiously, the hinges started to shake. When he opened the door bleary-eyed and frightened, I started to lay into him, shouting at him about how he was a horrible friend, how he ruined my life, how I would never forgive him for what he did.

[00:31:33] The look of confusion on his face made me want to put my fist straight through it. When he spoke, his mouth blurred and distorted. His face started to fritz and fill with TV static as his words turned to the sweet chords of my angel song. The radio was protecting me from his lies.

[00:32:00] I knew what I needed to do now. It was all so clear. Without another word, I turned and left in my car. When I got home, it was night time. I didn't even question it. It seemed right. When I entered my home, I could see countless stars piercing through the night, shifting and twinkling against the black.

[00:32:25] Pixels of white and black dancing in an endless waltz across the cosmos. All for me. Even as I write this, the radio is calling for me. They want me to join them. No one else in my life has ever wanted me so wholly. I know what happened to my uncle now, and I think I will follow him.

[00:33:09] It began with the bus ride. Late at night, at Phones Inn, tears trailing silently down my face. The world outside the rain-slicked window was a blur, much like my thoughts. My boyfriend had left me that evening. The love of my life, gone. The ache in my chest was sharp, unrelenting. The bus's faint rumble was the only sound accompanying my quiet sorrow. When the bus hissed to a stop, I stepped off into the night.

[00:33:38] The station was eerily still. A couple of figures stood at the far end, unmoving. Their faces turned away. Something about them felt wrong. They were too still, like statues left out in the coal. The air around them carried attention I couldn't place. I didn't stay to watch them. My own misery felt louder than anything else.

[00:34:03] I tilted my head to the sky as rain began to fall, the drops cold against my skin. No umbrella. Just me. The rain and my grief, blending together in the stillness. And then it happened. A hand, freezing cold and unnervingly solid, brushed against mine. I recoiled, spinning around, my breath catching in my throat. At first, I saw nothing.

[00:34:30] But then, slowly, something seemed to step forward from the shadows themselves. It was tall, inhumanly tall. Its silhouette was cloaked in black, its edges shifting like smoke trapped in a jar. Its face was raw. A swirling, featureless blur where eyes, a nose, a mouth should have been.

[00:34:54] Yet, I felt it staring at me, as though its gaze pierced through the very air between us. Atop its head rested a black hat, its brim sharp against the dim light of the station. It spoke then, and its voice was a sound I cannot fully describe. It was low and soft, but it carried a weight. An echo, as though the words traveled from somewhere far beyond this world.

[00:35:24] I startled you, didn't I? That wasn't my intention. The words shouldn't have made sense, but somehow I understood them. My heart pounded in my chest, my feet frozen in place. What, what are you? I managed, my voice trembling. Its head tilted, the blurred face somehow conveying curiosity or amusement.

[00:35:50] People call me Nightmare, but you can call me Black Hat. I shivered, not from the rain, but from the sheer presence of it. The way it spoke felt deliberate, as if it enjoyed the weight its words carried. Why are you here? I asked. What do you want from me? It didn't answer immediately. Instead, it extended something toward me.

[00:36:16] A shape materialized in its long shadow-like hand. An umbrella. But it wasn't an ordinary umbrella. It was pitch black. No, darker than black. As if it absorbed every flicker of light around it. It seemed to pulse, faintly. Like it was a lie. You can't walk in the rain like this. It said almost gently. I stared at the umbrella, then at the figure.

[00:36:44] My instinct screamed to run, but I couldn't move. Something about it, about him, kept me rooted in place. Reluctantly, I reached out and took the umbrella. The handle felt strange. Warm, but not in the way something natural is warm. Thank you, I whispered. That's when I saw it. Or rather, felt it. A smile.

[00:37:13] Its face was a blur and yet the smile was there. Wide. Too wide. I could feel its edges curling in a way that didn't seem possible. I glanced down at the umbrella in my hands, trying to steady my breath. But when I looked up again, he was gone. Not a sound. Not a trace. Just the rain and the quiet shadows of the night.

[00:37:40] I walked home, clutching the umbrella like a lifeline. My mind racing with questions I couldn't answer. But as I neared my door, I felt it. Something following me. Not footsteps. Not movement. Just a presence. Lingering. Watching. When I woke the next morning, the umbrella was gone. I searched everywhere, but it had vanished as if it had never existed.

[00:38:09] And yet, the feeling remains. Sometimes, in the stillness of the night, when the rain falls just so, I feel him. The weight of that unseen smile pressing into my mind. A reminder that some gifts are never truly free. And some encounters are never truly over.