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- [00:00]
A
Hey, welcome to Scary Stories and Rain. Real quick. Before we begin, I just want to remind you that if you want to subscribe to this podcast for just 2.99amonth.
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B
You'Ll get rid of all of the.
- [00:10]
A
Ads across every single episode and you'll be automatically entered to win all of my giveaways that I do every month. Right now we have a PlayStation 5 on the line, so if you want to be entered to win, subscribe for just 2.99amonth, get rid of all of the ads and you'll also be supporting the podcast, which is highly appreciated. And last thing before we begin, I just want to say thank you so much for being here and I really.
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B
Hope you enjoy this episode.
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C
Learning through play starts with Lego Duplo With Lego Duplo, toddlers can develop real life skills while having fun with colorful bricks made just for them. Large, easy to grip and safe to explore. When children express themselves with Lego Duplo, they build patience, problem solving and empathy. See your child learn perseverance and self expression with everything they imagine and create. Visit lego.com preschool to learn more.
- [01:05]
D
Hey Olivia from Ollie here to help you ease into all things back to school homework, meal prep and pickup duty piling up Goodbye. Stress gummies help you keep your cool. Start the day with kids multi and probiotic for digestive and immune system health. They'll love to take them and that makes mornings easier. When back to school gets real, Ollie helps you deal. Find these and more@ollie.com or retailers nationwide. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
- [01:36]
E
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B
This happened a few years ago when I was bartending in college. I was coming home down a stretch of divided highway at around 3am when I noticed a car heading towards me in the wrong lane. I doubted myself at first and thought the car was on the other side of the highway. Sure enough, the white Ford sedan passed me at a really high speed, at least 90 miles per hour. It's worth noting for later that I Also drive a white Ford sedan. I was used to drunk idiot drivers in the middle of the night, so I pulled to the side of the road and let him pass me. I had a moment of clarity and thought to call the police, thinking this person could hurt themselves or somebody else. The dispatcher answered and after telling them which road and exit mile marker I was at, told me they would send a car. The state police station was only a few exits away, so I figured they would send somebody and I would just drive home. As I headed back onto the highway, I noticed some lights a few miles behind me. I live in a more rural part of southeastern Pennsylvania and traffic at 3am tends to be truckers and cops. The car gained on me as I was getting up to speed, so I stayed in the right lane and waited to be passed. Instead, they flipped on their high beams, making it uncomfortable to drive and rode my tailgate. At this point I thought I was going to be pulled over by the police. I drove a white Ford sedan and had just called about a different white Ford sedan. So I grabbed my registration for my glove box. Suddenly, the car behind me audibly slammed on the brakes and stopped in the middle of the highway. They must have shut off their car because the lights went out and I saw what looked like the same Ford sedan from earlier. Still, I thought this may have been a police car. They had a roof rack and it could have looked like I had reached for my gun in my glove box or something. I panicked and called 911 for the second time and asked the dispatcher if they had sent a cruiser to investigate. The dispatcher was a little curt with me and assured me that they would send somebody out. The dispatcher said, we have sent a trooper out to find the car, sir. I responded, I only ask because somebody is following me and acting weird. It could be a cop and I think I freaked them out by getting my registration. The dispatcher then replied, are you pulled over, sir? I responded, no, they didn't turn on their lights. Dispatcher says, let me try to get the trooper we sent out. As she was talking, the car again sped towards me and stopped inches from my bumper. Again their high beams were on and again they slammed their brakes. I told the dispatcher, I'm pretty sure this is not the police. Behind me. The car sped to my bumper again and turned their high beams on, this time laying on the horn. Hearing this, the dispatcher asked me what was happening. What's happening? Did you honk? I responded, that's the car behind me. I don't think it's a cop. Dispatcher replies, I'll try to get the trooper again, but I don't think that's him behind you for some reason. This is what shook me. Before that I was thinking I would get pulled over and maybe get a ticket. Up until then I was going the speed limit and trying to avoid getting pulled over. I told the dispatcher, I don't care if I get pulled over, I'm speeding and if they put their lights on then I'll pull over. I started to accelerate and the person behind me just kept up with me. The speed limit was 55 and they kept on my bumper the entire time, but this time they were swerving. I tried to signal for an exit and bail on it, but they followed. At the next exit I took the off ramp and continued onto the on ramp and the car behind me followed the whole time. I thought about trying to go to a Wawa, a convenience store gas station that's pretty much the only populated place in southeastern Pennsylvania at 3am but the dispatcher and I thought that it would be unsafe. She was calm and talking to another person, trying to send police to me. The other person, maybe a supervisor, asked if I could drive to the state police station. Realizing that I was one exit away, I told her I was coming there and that she would have the troopers meet me outside. As I pulled off the exit, the car followed me. I blew a few red lights trying to get to the police station and the car tried to pull into the other lane to pass me or pull up alongside me. Once the police station was in view, I put on my turn signal and the car slammed on its brakes again, turning off their lights and turned into the parking lot. The story ends kinda anticlimactically as I pulled into the police station and met the troopers. Two of them went to find the car and I stayed with the third trooper. I thanked the dispatcher and her supervisor and the state trooper escorted me home. After taking a statement from me, I was never called to follow up or testify, so I can only assume this person was never caught. Who knows what they wanted with me that night. I moved to a mid to small Midwest American town with my boyfriend and two doggies last June for my doctoral internship year. It was an adjustment after living in a southern beach town as well as a major city before that. Our living space is one of the factors that has made the move a positive experience. We are on one side of a Twinplex, a two story home with a dividing wall that sits on two acres with some tree areas around it. Our landlord is a retired man in his 60s kinda and gets stuff done quick. There's a badass single mom and her kids, a huge Akita and a firearm on the other side of the twin flex. The kids are ages 17, 13 and 8 years old. The family is wonderful. This story isn't about them though. It's about the man next door. I got a weird vibe from him the first time I met him. Not a knee jerk reaction or anything, just a sort of question mark hovering above his head like drawing a blank in lieu of overt negative interactions. My boyfriend and I have been your typical level of neighborhood friendly. We give the wave here and there and have no active grudge against him. Although my boyfriend doesn't have the same instinct about the man, he trusts mine. It's nothing I can point to, which as we all know means nothing. I am thrown off by this man. It doesn't keep me up at night and it's not something I ruminate on, but it's idling in the back of my mind every time I take the dogs in our large backyard in view of his home. I have been thinking back to the very few interactions I've had with this man, which I can count on one hand. The first interaction we ever had was due to a dog fight in fall 2019. A big male dog with no collar showed up on our property and approached my big dog. The dog wasn't displaying threatening posture, he was only curious. Unfortunately, my usually mushy gush snuggle bean boxer mix got attacked badly a few years ago by another dog and he's got little doggy trauma now. Anytime he sees a male dog his size or larger, he gets hypervigilant. He misinterprets any wrong move as ready to attack and attacks first. Think along the lines of a ready at any moment PTSD response in a soldier on the fight side of the fight or flight freeze appease reaction. So big Dog didn't take kindly to this unidentified dog fella. He responded like you would expect and went after him. I saw two men standing about 50 yards away near the house in the yard next door. I assumed the uncollared dog belonged to one of them and called out for them to help break it up and retrieve their dog. The two men ran over and broke it up. Meanwhile, I'm standing there hitting the dogs with my dog's leash trying to stop them, vicious snarls and all, which I am 100% sure was as dumb looking as it was ineffective. The other dog ran off for your peace of mind. By the way, that little sweetie is just fine. He escaped unscathed, aside from puncture wounds on his neck that require no veterinary action. So there I was, sobbing, thanking both of the men for breaking it up. It turned out it it wasn't their dog after all. The neighbor said he had seen the dog around before and believes that he tends to get out and he thinks he knows where the dog lives. They were kind and reassured me that my dog was in the right in protective mode and the other dog running up on the property was easily interpreted as a threat to him. The conversation was without incident. I thanked them and brought Big Dog back inside.
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Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
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B
Now.
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F
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H
Your sausage McMuffin with egg didn't change your receipt did. The sausage McMuffin with egg extra Value meal includes a hash brown and a small coffee for just $5 only at McDonald's for a limited time.
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- [12:21]
H
If you know your party's extension, press or say 1 to leave a message in our company mailbox. Press or say 2. Spoiler alert.
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B
It will be full representative.
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H
Would you speak to your mother in that tone?
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B
Speak to a real human being.
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C
You shouldn't need to shout into the.
- [12:39]
B
Void to get your health insurance questions answered. Pacific Source Health Plans this is a real person.
- [12:44]
D
How can I help you?
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B
Human service, not automated phone trees. Pacific Source Health Plans Another interaction we had was a few months later when the neighbor was in his yard an appropriate distance away and I was taking out Big Dog and Small Dog. Small Dog is a personal perma puppy sized beagle trouble with a capital T, but disgustingly sweet and cute. Big Dog is well trained and can be off leash in appropriate areas no problem. My neighbor said hello and made conversation about how he's never sure if he's able to pet my dog because he always barks at him from our window. I assured him Big Dog is extremely friendly not to worry. I also made an irrational, irritating mental note that the neighbor inquired about Big Dog's threat level and I told him he's zero threat at all. I don't know about you, but my automatic reaction is to calm situations, make others comfortable, etc. And I have got a very high tolerance for odd behaviors. Overlooking odd behaviors is detrimental in these kinds of situations. I think it was normal conversation to ask if your neighbor's dog is friendly, right? A learning moment for next time I guess. Aside from this, there was one time when we briefly spoke about how deer come through our backyards and he puts out food for them and other critters and a few feeders. I see him in his backyard sometimes doing what I assume is normal yard stuff and critter feeding. I don't remember any other instances distinctly. This brings us to today. All morning and afternoon I have been working on a scrapbooking project for my friend's 30th birthday which is seven months late. Thank you for the free time Covid. The dogs are chilling by our sliding door that overlooks the back deck, large backyard and the trees. My hot glue and I are minding our own business when all of a sudden Big Dog starts growling and small dog started barking. Regular barks are usually squirrel or chipmunk alerts, but growls are for threats. I looked up and followed their gaze. There in the trees on the border of our backyard was my neighbor. He was barefoot and dressed in khaki shorts and a black shirt. He was fussing around near the ground in the middle of the tree lined area that separates our expanses of unfenced yards. I figured he was refilling one of the feeders for the animals or something, but I kept watching because of the back of my head question mark on this guy. Then he moved. He was already flirting with the property line where he was initially standing. He walked further several paces into our property in fuller view of our back deck and sliding door. I watched silently because I am an anxious gal. I do double check my alert reactions for anyone who hasn't experienced anxiety. It's like having a jumpier needle than your average bear to make sure I'm keeping my thought process relatively rational. I watched like this for a few seconds until he stopped moving. He halted on a patch of land a few paces beyond the property line, obscured by pine tree branches. All I could see was hips down. His knees were pointed at my window. While our yards are unfenced, there's an unspoken boundary. Neighbors don't cross here. It's a Sloppy looking star shape. There is a house at each point and the expansive backyards are meld converging into the center lawn. He had no business being in our area of the yard. There is nothing else to look at. It's our twinplex and it's our side of the home. Which begs the questions exactly what the hell are you doing, sir? Get your knees out of my trees. The best excuse I can come up with is that he was wistfully surveying his home and yard with the pride of a man who mows it himself. But that's a long shot. Doing anything resembling looking at his own home or yard would have required him to rotate his body more than 70 degrees degrees to his left. I stood up in the middle of the room and approached the window so that he could see me looking out directly at him. Keeping him in my peripheral, I glanced around briefly to find my phone so I could take his picture, which I am happy for him to see me doing in broad daylight. I couldn't find it though, so I just watched. My body was stable, but I noticed my bones started shaking a little. I think I was having that behind the scenes brain acknowledgement that there was no other explanation for him to have been postured like that facing toward me. After about 30 seconds, he casually walked back over to his side of the property and made what looked to me like a half assed attempt to look like he was just picking a few things off of the ground like you would do to clear a few pieces of litter. He paused in his yard, still obscured by the trees. From the hipster down, he was stationary. I walked to our bedroom to get a closer view out of our partially drawn blinds. In the five seconds it took to walk from the main room to our bedroom, he disappeared. I immediately called my boyfriend at work to let him know what's up. Even he agreed it was weird and he's the polar opposite of dramatic versus understated. I walked out on my back deck in what would have been full view if he had still been outside and knocked on my neighbor's sliding glass door overlooking the deck. I told her what I noticed and we agreed it was weird. She asked if big or small dog reacted negatively to the neighbor and I said no. She agreed it was weird and we're both on the lookout now. We both went outside and blatantly stood where he was standing to get a look at the view. It was a clear shot to our window. I noticed it was dark inside my home, so even though I was standing in plain sight and staring at him, he likely wouldn't have seen it. I texted my landlord next and he doesn't know the man at all. My landlord's mother in law lived in this space before us and she hadn't mentioned anything. He was quick and responsive and encouraged me to call our sheriff's office. I touched base with my boyfriend again too. I asked him about Big Dog's reaction to the neighbor just to be sure, and that's when I found out I was wrong. Apparently my boyfriend noticed Big Dog growls at this neighbor hair up every time he sees him. No one else, only him. As far as I'm concerned. Three strikes you're out baby. My weird feeling My dog repeatedly growling and knees in my trees. I have my eyeballs trained straight on you. Don't try it again.
- [19:42]
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- [20:12]
E
Max Cooper loves that shoe too.
- [20:14]
G
Oh, now he's into Cooper's food. Wow, he is loving it. What do you feed Cooper?
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E
Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula. He never leaves a crumb. I love it because it's made with high quality protein, nutrient rich fruits and veggies, and wholesome whole grains.
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G
Looks like we're switching to Blue Blue.
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B
Buffalo foods are made with the superior.
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Ingredients your dog needs to thrive. Can your dog food say that?
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G
Visit feedbluefood.com to learn more.
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H
Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void? But with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching the right decision makers. A network of 130 million of them. In fact, you can even target buyers by job title, industry company seniority, skills and Did I say job title? See how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Get started@LinkedIn.com Campaign terms and conditions apply.
- [21:14]
B
Let me tell you a story about an idealistic overly not in my senior year of college, I decided to study abroad, inspired by a now ex friend who was going to information sessions during my Japanese language class. The cost was the same tuition wise and I got scholarships for the study to cover that entirely. I only paid for housing, food and my ticket. It was the opportunity of a lifetime that turned into the trauma of a lifetime. Now on my way to Japan, I was panicking in the car I didn't think I could do. Didn't help that my flight was very early and I had never flown alone, left the country and hadn't lived alone since my sophomore year. My house was only 40 minutes away from campus so I was never on my own. Really. We got to the airport and waved to my family and went through the bag check only to hear my dad mumble he actually did it. Thanks Dad. I surprised myself too. So off to Japan I fly. Smiling and feeling free. I enjoyed my first two weeks, but things took a turn soon after. Now this is where my story branches off into two tales, the Story for Another Time and today's main course. Brief Summary My friend and I had a falling out before in Japan. Somehow we ended up befriending the same people and hang out as a large group. This was fine for a while, but him being a gem led to me getting kicked out of that group. At this point, everyone had already formed cliques in our program, so I was alone. The treatment of that group and one clown made it hard for me to socialize due to gossip and people reading the air and judging me. I was alone in a foreign country, actively being shunned by the study abroad crowd and gloriously, all my anxiety came back with a vengeance. Now here's the thing. I really was struggling. I have been struggling with selective mutism. I had overcome it before, but a stressful situation brought it back. Now mix in a foreign language and I could barely speak at all. All things Japanese escaped my brain so I was literally only able to say a few basics. Being alone made me decide to try online dating and meetup apps. I know, but I was desperate for someone to talk to and I considered a study abroad romance romantic. I never really tried dating before because I wasn't interested in anyone seeing me as a man in a sexual way being trans. But this was my chance to really mature and I desperately wanted to make a few friends to explore with to really make lasting bonds. All that BS they sell you at the study abroad fair. Here we go. Match number one. Cute guy claims he's in an acting troupe. He'll swing by if I want to mess around. I slow it down and we chat. He moves around because of the troop and offers to pick me up. Thinks that I should join since study abroad sucks. I decline. Match number two. Calls me baby right off the bat. A little forward but I don't mind. I am awkward and have been accused of being forward so I go with it. He keeps calling me baby. He rants about getting out of his long relationship. Asks me what I think of cheaters. Red flags. But I try to be open. I explain my views. He then asks me what I like, what movies and foods. Says he would like someone to stay home and cook for him. Okay dude. Says that he considers cuddling and watching movies a good time. Likes to have deep conversations. Sounds great. I'm lonely and open book and hate bullcrap. His perfect date is mine as well. He calls me baby Baby repeatedly. Asks me tons of personal questions. But I get one word responses to mine. I flip it back to him, ask the same questions and he asks another deeply personal question. Instead of giving me an answer, something feels off. This isn't normal. He swings from erratic anger about past relationships not working out to heavy flirting to deeply personal quiz show question questions. All within an hour of first contact. I'm in my room thinking what the hell? Am I being pranked? I wasn't. I put the phone down and get in the shower. I come back to more messages. The last one angry that I am taking so long to respond. I apologize and explain that I was in the shower. He gets madder, calls me a liar. I apologize. We keep chatting. Now as this is going on and alarm bells are ringing, I start thinking this guy's trying to get my info to impersonate me or something. Bad crazy I know, but why else would this conversation be so one sided? I am more talkative via text, but damn it, not that chatty. We are now on hour three. My head is spinning as I get swept around by the barrage of messages. Never really having time to think. I decide to tell him I think I've had enough. He apologizes and tells me a sob story. I bite and go in deeper. He tells me his ex kicked him out. I offer sympathy and this guy starts saying words are better than actions. Calls me baby again and tells me I should run to a store and get him a damn gift card for PlayStation Network or something like that. It's been a year. It might have been a specific game, maybe Fortnite or one of those MMO games. I say I think this should be the end. He immediately replies okay. No anger, no rant. Just okay. Something about that was the creepiest part it made me think this wasn't over, but honestly, I still thought I was being catfished by by the assholes in my program. I mentioned it to someone I thought I could trust and he told me there's no way I'm being crazy. This guy sort of let me lean on him a little, but turns out to be two faced. But that's part of story number two for another time.
- [27:34]
I
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- [27:50]
J
By the time I hit my 50s, I'd learned a few things, like how family is precious, work can always wait, and 99% of people over 50 already have the virus that causes shingles. Not everyone at risk will develop it, but I did. The painful blistering rash disrupted my life for weeks. Don't learn about your shingles risk the hard way. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist today. Sponsored by GSK this episode is brought.
- [28:21]
E
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- [28:47]
B
I turned to the one other person I'm still friendly with. We barely had spoken before, but she was sweet. I had tried to help her make friends after she was sick the first week. She ended up helping me in return. Later, as things got worse for me, she and I are actually still in contact. She agreed that wasn't normal and we walked to the 711 for some chicken and drinks. That night I get a message from an older man. He tells me he's married and straight and just looking to experiment. Says he has never done this before. Yeah right dude. He literally says every cliche, every come on, the works. It's like a bad rom com. I should know since since I love them. This guy talked like he was out of an episode of Will and Grace. So I'll call him Will because honestly, I don't remember his name. I told Will one I am not interested in a sexual relationship, two I will not break up a marriage and three I am not into older men and Will was old, at least in his 50s. He had a blurry profile picture. Picture and sunglasses. No close ups on the profile, but sent me a picture that could pass for the guy in the profile. When I asked him to, he wasn't attractive to me at all, so I thought that it could be real. Otherwise, why send an average older man's picture? We talk a little and I'm clearly not interested but also don't want to be rude, but he keeps pressuring me to meet up and asking me questions. He likes that I'm a virgin. I'm starting to get freaked out and tell him he's making me a little uncomfortable. He apologizes and assures me he's never done this before. I roll my eyes and say sure. We talk some more and he invites me to his hotel room so he can take my virginity and I can be his first. I cringe. He then disappears as quickly as he came. Whole profile deleted. I think that's weird. Conversations disappear with him. Apparently that's how this app worked. The next day I get a message from Will. Sends the same picture of the guy without glasses. Starts asking me about sex again. Tried to talk dirty to me and I say I'm not interested. He disappears again. Now this is where stuff gets creepier. We are on to day number three of this behavior. He tells me he's in the town I'm staying in, still says that he's there one more night and wants to pop my cherry. Hard pass dude. No means no. And now I think of how persistent he's been. I thought about stories of being kidnapped or raped in hotel rooms and how this dude does not accept no. I get an inappropriate picture while I'm thinking about what to do. I can't block him since he just pops up with another profile a day later. Life goes on and I just accept this every day. The old chat is gone and a new one appears. I tell him no and block it. This goes on for a week and I get fed up and tell him to get a clue. I block and report him, knowing it will do nothing. At this point I don't leave my dorm for a few days, even for class. At this point I had stopped caring. I had coordinated my schedule with my friends and had to deal with at least two of them in every class. It made it hard to focus. The sweet girl checked on me and took me to a cute cafe above the station. I started hanging out there alone or with her. It just felt right. Like exactly what I wanted. A place to chill away from the those assholes at the dorm. A place just for me and my friend. Now Number three Or is it? A few nights into this mess, I get a message from a new guy. We chat and he seems cool, but the dude keeps trying to hook up with me. I guess the dating pool is slim if you only speak English. And he was super pent up. I explain I am not looking for sex and he says it's cool but keeps pushing. Lets me know he's actually going to be in my suburb of Tokyo. I say I can't meet up. I am actually in the main city with someone. He says cool. The next day I get the same message. This time I lie and say that I'm in the city again. He tells me that his friend lives by the station and he'll be there if I want to see him. Well, that's weird because I live by the station. My dorm is right by the station. That is too convenient. Well, here we go again. I get a message. I check and it's from the same guy. He says he thinks he saw me at the cafe. I look around and see no one who's not Japanese. I look outside and see an older man pass and think nothing of it. I say that he should come say hi if he's there. No response. I ignore the message and leave. For my other daily ritual, heading into the main area two stops over, looking at anime merch in animate and book off and visiting a local shrine. I had spent a lot of time at this shrine, praying. I found it relaxing and quiet. I had been frequenting different shrines and performing rituals, making offerings, filling out prayer cards and buying talismans. The works. I was looking for an answer to things in my life. About my mental health and loneliness, my struggles speaking, my ex friend and the people shunning me. I was praying to decide should I stay or should I go? Both about Japan and my life. Should I really transition? Should I go to grad school or get a job? Should I be a lawyer or work in entertainment? Entertainment. Really heavy stuff. Then all of a sudden, I feel this eerie sensation. Like I'm being watched. Now this shrine is quiet and I see nobody else. I decide to get out of there as fast as I can. All the way home I feel watched. But I'm being paranoid, right? It's in my head, right? No, it's not. I've seen that old white man before. He was outside the cafe. I start wondering if he was number three. He was at the cafe when three messaged me. And there aren't a lot of white people in Japan, so who else could it be? Then a Worse thought pops into my head. What if this is Will? I try to stay calm and walk to the train. This guy is still following me. I get on and he does too. Just as the doors are closing, I jump out. Will is at the other end of the cart and doesn't see in time. I wait for the next train and head home. Who do I see at my stop? You guessed it. Will. Now I have already made eye contact with him, so he knows I'm there. I remember something. There's a police box on the other side of the station. If I turn right instead of left, this guy will walk right by them. He couldn't possibly be gutsy enough to follow me. After that, I run past Will and up the escalator. He slowly follows me all the way to the police box. Now my Japanese was bad and I could barely speak over there. But I had a head start and tried to explain the situation but no words would come out at all. I was frozen there, trying to scream Help. But nothing. Up walks Will. He casually grabs me by the arm, smiles at the officer and says something in Japanese. He then looks down at me and tells me to be a good boy for Daddy. He pulls me away from the cops and I am speechless. Even more so than I already was. As he leads me away, I am shaking. This isn't going to end well for me. Tears fill my eyes and he keeps leading me away. But suddenly there's my friend walking down the street from the grocery store. I see a chance. I try to scream, but nothing comes out. By some miracle, she looks over at me anyway. She reads my face and shouts at him. He's startled. I bolt towards towards her. She charges at him, ready with pepper spray. He bolts. We both cry. I stuck with her even more after that. I eventually left because my anxiety was too bad. I'm still struggling with a lot, but I am doing better. I'm on hormones, looking into grad school program and I've tried to put the past behind me, but the anxiety is still there. And I have nightmares about trying to scream, but no words come out. It's. It's.