Speaker 1: Appodchape Production.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to The Chills, the Spooky Story Podcast. It's
Speaker 2: hard to believe unless, of course, it happened to you.
Speaker 2: Here's a story from Maria, who didn't want to appear
Speaker 2: on the show. Now. I don't know if it's because
Speaker 2: the story is completely made up, although she doesn't want
Speaker 2: to bring back the bad juju. Either way. When we
Speaker 2: read this story, it gave us the chills. If you've
Speaker 2: got a story that can do the same, email us
Speaker 2: at the Chills at podshape dot com to read Maria's email.
Speaker 2: We've used a voice actor in some parts to help
Speaker 2: us out. So let's start Maria's spooky story. Maria was
Speaker 2: riding her motorbike home from a friend's place near Gimpi,
Speaker 2: which is near the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Her ride
Speaker 2: was about thirty five minutes back to her house near
Speaker 2: the coast. It was nearly midnight and a friend said
Speaker 2: that she could stay if she wanted. But there was
Speaker 2: one thing that Maria really really wanted.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to sleep in my own bed. I
Speaker 1: hate sleeping anywhere that's not my house.
Speaker 2: Maria said. It was one of those nights where everything
Speaker 2: just felt a little off. The roads were quiet, too quiet,
Speaker 2: and the cold seemed to cut right through her, which
Speaker 2: is a bit odd for Queensland.
Speaker 1: The drive was long, and the road wound through bushland
Speaker 1: that seemed to go on forever. Every now and then
Speaker 1: I'd catch a glimpse of a kangaroo or a possum
Speaker 1: in my headlights, but mostly it was just me and
Speaker 1: my bike. After what felt like ages, I came up
Speaker 1: to a bridge. It's an old iron bridge and locals
Speaker 1: always have stories about it, how it creaks and groans,
Speaker 1: and how people have had strange experiences there.
Speaker 2: The area Maria was riding through was pitch black except
Speaker 2: for one flickering street light the start of a bridge.
Speaker 2: I know this sounds like a scary movie. It cast
Speaker 2: these long, creepy shadows that made everything look a bit distorted.
Speaker 1: As I got closer, I noticed an old man standing
Speaker 1: under the light. He looked a bit rough, with worn
Speaker 1: out clothes and a leather bag. He waved me down,
Speaker 1: asking if I could give him a lift. He said
Speaker 1: he'd missed the last bus to Kilkevan and was stranded.
Speaker 1: It was cold and he seemed desperate, so I told
Speaker 1: him to hop on the back of my bike. When
Speaker 1: he climbed on, he put his hand on my shoulder.
Speaker 1: It was surprisingly strong, almost like he was holding on
Speaker 1: for dear life.
Speaker 2: So Maria takes off on a bike with a stranger
Speaker 2: on the back. It's the middle of the night and
Speaker 2: it's dark. I mean, I wouldn't pick him up, but
Speaker 2: Maria did so good on her That's when things get
Speaker 2: a little spookier.
Speaker 1: As we reached the other side of the bridge. I
Speaker 1: suddenly remembered that I had my phone and purse in
Speaker 1: my backpack. I started to worry, what if this guy
Speaker 1: tried something. I decided to slow down and move my
Speaker 1: backpack to the front. But when I reached back, I froze.
Speaker 1: The guy was gone, but I could still feel his
Speaker 1: hand on my shoulder, cold and heavy. My heart was racing,
Speaker 1: and I didn't dare look back. I just kept driving
Speaker 1: faster and faster, as if I could outrun the fear
Speaker 1: that was gripping me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've definitely got the chills. I think I now
Speaker 2: know why Maria didn't want to relive the story again.
Speaker 2: Let's join her back on her bike alone, except of course,
Speaker 2: for the feeling of a man's hand on her shoulder
Speaker 2: cold and heavy. Maria keeps riding. She said she saw
Speaker 2: some lights up ahead. It's a small town near Pomona,
Speaker 2: where she'd been a bunch of times as a kid.
Speaker 2: She pulled up to the first shop and jumped off
Speaker 2: a bike. As she spun around. There was no one there.
Speaker 1: The weird thing was the cold feeling on my shoulder, lingered,
Speaker 1: like something had really been there. I went into the
Speaker 1: shop feeling shaky and probably looking a bit freaked out.
Speaker 1: The shopkeeper gave me a concerned look, but I just
Speaker 1: mumbled something about needing to use the phone. I called
Speaker 1: my friend back in GIMPI, trying to make sense of
Speaker 1: what just happened. When I told them, they went quiet.
Speaker 1: Then they told me something that made my skin crawl. Apparently,
Speaker 1: years ago, an old man was hit by a car
Speaker 1: on that same bridge. He'd been walking home late one night,
Speaker 1: and the driver was never found. Ever since, people have
Speaker 1: claimed to see his ghost asking for a ride and
Speaker 1: then disappearing when they crossed the bridge. I didn't stick
Speaker 1: around after that. I got back on my bike and
Speaker 1: headed straight home. These days, I avoid that bridge whenever
Speaker 1: I can, and if I ever see someone standing by
Speaker 1: the road, late at night, I remember that icy hand
Speaker 1: on my shoulder and I just keep riding.
Speaker 2: If you've got a story that can give us the chills,
Speaker 2: and send it in the chills at podshak dot com.
Speaker 2: See you next time.