Adam (8:53)

When I was about nine years old, I spent a whole lot of time in my papito's house, my great grandfather's house. It sits on one of the many Mountaintops of Yaoko. It's on this little plateau that overlooks the cliff and the valley. And there's forest, forest, forest everywhere. It's like a jungle. It's very difficult to see a neighbor. The only other neighbors that were near were his brothers and sisters, who owned their own houses on this big property in the mountains that was all owned by my great grandfather. So one day I go up to Papito's house, which is a walk from my grandmother's house. I loved to hang out there because he had a bunch of interesting, random farm equipment and tons of farm animals. Cows and horses, goats. But nearby, there was an enormous bull. And I was deathly frightened by this bull because it was enormous. It was huge. So much larger than me, huge horns. So I was hanging out and playing in the front of his house, and this big bull came nearer to me. So I go to my papito and say, I'm scared of the bull, and it's coming close. He laughed because he saw the city kid being scared of the bull that no one pays any attention to. The bull was walking away from the house, and Papito did this super powerful whistle, like a fourth of July firework echoing through the mountains. And then the bull just stopped and started coming back towards us. That was really scary, as is the last thing I wanted. I was, like, pulling away from him, but he wouldn't let me go. And the bull is just lumbering over very slowly, and then he says, no, no, no, no. That's all he said. He said, no, no, no, no. And then he grabbed the bull by the horns and he lowered it down into the ground and made it, like, bow its head and put its horns towards the ground. And so he just grabbed me, picked me up, threw my leg over. The next thing I know, I'm riding on this enormous bull and holding onto the horns. And it was scary, but it was awesome and exciting. I felt much better because I saw that this thing did whatever he wanted it to do.

Narrator (12:19)

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. May is mental health awareness month, and Talkspace, the leading virtual therapy provider, is telling everyone, let's face it, in therapy, by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist. At Talkspace, you can face whatever is holding you back, whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma, bad habits, or another challenge that you need support to work through. It's easy to sign up. Just go to talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider, typically within 48 hours. And because you'll Meet your therapist online. You don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, talkspace is in network with most major insurers and most insured members have a $0 cop. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by insurance, get $80 off your first month with Talkspace when you go to talkspace.com and enter promo code SPACE80. That's S P A CE80 to match with a licensed therapist. Today, go to talkspace.com and Enter promo code SPACE80.

Adam (13:45)

One day I'm in my Madrina's house, which was at the top, highest peak of all of the hills that we lived on. I'm playing with my sister and my cousins. My Madrina, my godmother, was taking care of Papito at the time. He was in his late 90s and he had severe sort of dementia. Papito is laying in my Madrina's room in her bed. And as we play during the day, I start to get the sense that something is happening. Everybody is gathering at my Madrina's house and more and more people keep showing up. People from the town. Uncles, aunts, and a priest shows up. I peeked into the room and the room was filled with people. Papito is laying in the bed. He looked very small and skinny and pale. He looked gray almost. I started to feel uncomfortable. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew that I didn't want to be around at that moment. So I go to my abuela and I tell her how I feel. She told me that I could go back to her house, that the sun is just starting to set. If I leave now, I can make it before the sun fully sets and that I could wait for them to be finished what they were doing. So I leave my Madrina's house and I start on the path to my grandmother's house. I can hear the sounds that are fading away from the house and it sounds like crying. And I'm thinking, oh, okay. Whatever it is that I didn't want to be around for is happening right now. I'm entering the lower part of the mountains, the beginning of the valley and the forest. And I realize that it's much darker than I thought it was going to be. There is just so many trees, vegetation, tangly vines. I get to my grandmother's driveway, which is a long little road. And as I get there, I heard somewhere nearby a very strange sound, an animal sound. The first thing I thought of Was a cow, because there's cows everywhere. And then a moment later, it screamed in a way that I've never heard a living thing scream before. It was almost like a human whale coming from an animal. I get this cold tingliness throughout my whole body. Goosebumps going up my neck. I immediately just started to run towards my grandmother's house. As soon as I start running, I hear another. And now I'm sure it's an animal, but it sounded like someone, a person in pain. Then, in the distance, a bunch of other animals start wailing. The pigs in the valley, the dogs that were randomly all over the mountainside, the cows and the horses and the bulls. Some of it sounded like it was the pigs near the slaughterhouse that were not even on our property. They were in agony, as if they were being killed. And then the night is just filled with these wails. It's an igniting of voices that keep coming out of the darkness because I can't see where they're coming from. And so I'm running, running, running to my grandmother's house. And this wailing seems like it's chasing me, like it sounds like it's right in the back of my head, trying to grab at my ankles. Once I get to the top of the hill, I'm panting like a madman. I pass through the gates of my grandmother's house, slipping and sliding, Run up to her patio, Grab the door, yank it open, and slam the door shut. I'm all alone. The wailing is still going strong, and it feels like it's completely surrounding my grandmother's house. I run into the room where I was sleeping, and I lay on the cot. I just started praying. I just wanted the time to pass to wait for my grandmother to come back. Eventually, the animal noises finally died down. And shortly after that, my grandmother arrives. My grandmother comes up to me and asks me if I'm okay. And I sort of stammer over my words. I told her that when I was coming back to the house, I heard the animals screaming. And my grandmother said, of course they're screaming. Of course they're upset. And I asked her, why are they so upset? She said, because papito died. Papito's gone now. At first, I'm confused. I didn't understand that. I said, how could. How could they know that he died? And my grandmother said that all of the animals know these things. They sense his spirit. Papito was like their father, their master, their protector, everything to them, their chief. They could feel him leaving. They were sad and scared. So of course they know. That night, I was having a lot of trouble falling asleep. I was up thinking a bunch of things. How could animals know that Papito died? And I wondered, do animals have some sense that we don't have, or do we have that sense? I was so restless that I got up. I opened up the main door very carefully and quietly, and then went outside into the night. There was a place in my grandmother's house that I really loved to go during the day, and it was in the rear of the house where there was a hammock hanging and there was just like a cliffside, and it overlooked the valley. I went towards the edge of the cliff. I lay in the hammock in the darkness. I'm looking out over the valley, seeing the little bit of stars out there and just the blackness of the mountain. I hear the crickets and the coquis, the little frogs that make a very specific sound in Puerto Rico. And I hear an animal sound in the darkness. It wasn't a growl. It was more strange and scary than a growl. I don't know what it is, but it sounded scary. And it was coming from the darkness in front of me. The animal makes this sound a second time. It was a strange hyena, like, yipping, excitement, but not a good excitement. It sounded very close, and it sounds like something that wanted to hurt me. I'm frozen stiff. I can't move. I was just like a deer in headlights. The thought crossed my mind, oh, my grandmother's gonna be so mad if I die. And immediately after, I hear this whistle, like a firecracker in the darkness in the valley, and that animal sound stopped. I'm feeling like I just got shocked by electricity. And I feel a sudden flush of relief. And in that moment, I knew. I knew it. I just somehow knew that Papito made that sound. Papito was there with me. Papito's spirit said goodbye to the animals and even stuck around long enough to protect me and to say goodbye to me. I slowly get up and make my way into the house. And I'm thinking, there's something after death. I knew that death was something very, very powerful, very part of life. But Papito showed me that that death is not the end of our energy.

Ken Washington (25:11)

Thank you, Adam, for sharing your story. This spooked. That original score was by Doug Stewart. It was produced by Eric Yanez.

Narrator (25:41)

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. May is mental health awareness Month, and Talkspace, the leading virtual therapy provider, is telling everyone. Let's Face it in therapy by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist at Talkspace, you can face whatever is holding you back, whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma, bad habits, or another challenge that you need support to work through. It's easy to sign up. Just go to talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider, typically within 48 hours. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, Talkspace is in network with most major insurers and most insured members have a $0 copay. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by Insurance, get $80 off your first month with Talkspace when you go to talkspace.com and enter promo code SPACE80. That's S P A CE83. To match with a licensed therapist today, go to talkspace.com and Enter promo code SPACE80.

Ken Washington (26:59)

Okay, so Providence, Rhode island, far away from the cobblestone to touristy part. It sits a quiet building called Steer House. A nursing home is a hospice. And in this place lived a cat. Not a purring cuddle machine. No Instagram cutie. No. This cat is cold blooded. Name's Oscar. Gray, white fur, green eyes. Oscar doesn't care about sitting in your lap. Oscar doesn't chase toys. Oscar doesn't even want to be bothered with people much unless and until you are preparing for your final journey. And the first time this happens, no one really pays much attention. Oscar slips into the room of a woman who'd stopped speaking two days prior. Oscar jumps into her bed and this cantankerous feline actually curls up at her side and just wait. Hours tick by and quiet is mist. The woman passes away. The attendants think, what a sweet moment. What a cosmic coincidence to have the cat as a comfort during her final moments in another room. And another patient. Oscar disappears from his usual spot in the hallway and somehow winds up curled in a ball besides this man. Oscar lies still, eyes half shut, tail tucked. And this man, too, passes into the beyond. Another person. And another. And again. Another still. And by the time we arrive at the Strange Coincidence number 25, people aren't saying that's weird anymore. No, instead they say call to family. Oscar's on the bed. No heartbeat monitors, no vital sign. Crash is just a feline signal that the end is nigh. And Dr. David Dosa, he sees this and he's trying to make sense of it. He's a Man of science. But Oscar's. Oscar's throwing off his game plan. He starts tracking him. Oscar, he's right. Over and over and over again. More than 100 times. More than 100 people. And not just patients in decline. Sometimes Oscar curls up before anything looks different. Before the nurses even notice. Eventually, they stop questioning. Instead, they start trusting. Families say that when Oscar enters the room, something changes. It was eerie when daughter recalls he gave us time to say everything we needed another man, his eyes wet, voice cracking, remembers. He wasn't there for us. He was there for her. But he helped us understand what was happening. Oscar didn't howl, Oscar didn't demand, didn't console. He witness still a shadow when the breath slowed and the room filled with that silence born of absence and touched and moved. The good doctor wrote a book about what he saw. Called Making Rounds with Oscar. How do you explain what happened? Is it a trick? A gift? A miracle? Instincts? I don't know. But of course I tell you this story to ask a favor. Because if you have a knowledge of a non human neighbor, it seems to have a special connection to the inexplicable. Maybe even that special non human neighbor living in your house that you put food in their bowl twice a day. Well, I'd sure love to know about it. Why? Because, dear friends, there is nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. Spooked@snapjudgment.org Spooked is brought to you by the team that makes their own pet food for any animal in their care. Except for Mark Risch, who always says if I can eat kibble, so can they. There's Davy Kim, Zoe Ferrigno, Ann Ford, Eric Yanez, Taylor Ducat, Marissa Dodge, Miles Lassie, Doug Stewart, Elliot Lightfoot, Paulina Creaky, Juan Diego Baltran, Sasha Wilson, Dan Yashinsky on Team Snap. The union represented producers, artists, editors, engineers are members of the national association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians. Communications workers of America. AFL CIO Local 51. The spook theme song is by Pat Mesiti Miller. My name is Ken Washington. They say that time is just an illusion. Well, it's a pretty good illusion, right? It's a pretty good trick. Because time is relentless. Everything time giveth, time also snatcheth away. Nothing stays the same, even for a moment. The rules are harsh, unforgiving. Only forward, never back. No appeals, no regard, no back door, no secret hatch. All the money in the world can't buy a fast pass off this ride, right? Right. Well, I wonder sometimes if what we experience is supernatural, is paranormal. It's really just echoes of those that discovered an escape route from those that decided that this moment was too important to abandon and that part of them was going to stay right here, no matter what time said about it. And what is our responsibility to those lost echoes left behind? I don't have a magic formula. The best I know to do this will never, ever, never, never, ever turn out the lights.