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Speaker 1: You take a final look at the cabin, then turn

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Speaker 1: back to the forest. Just then something bursts out from

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Speaker 1: behind a distant tree. It looks like a small child

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Speaker 1: in a bright red hooded cape, running away at speed. Hey, wait,

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Speaker 1: you cry out as you start to give chase. You

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Speaker 1: fight desperately to keep up, swatting branches away and leaping

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Speaker 1: over the undergrowth as the child keeps on ahead of you,

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Speaker 1: swerving in and out of the trees, but soon you're

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Speaker 1: reeling them in, and finally, just when you think you

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Speaker 1: can't run any more, the child stops. Hey, you call

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Speaker 1: out again, as they stand still with their back toward you,

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Speaker 1: their head shrouded in that big red hood. What's your name?

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Speaker 1: You ask? As you draw closer. Do you know the

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Speaker 1: way out of here? And now you are only meet

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Speaker 1: us away? Even with their back toward you, you can

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Speaker 1: see their chest heaving up and down as tentatively they

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Speaker 1: pull down their hood to reveal a matted cascade of hair.

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Speaker 1: Then slowly they begin to turn around. You gasp in

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Speaker 1: terror at the oddly waxy and rigid, childlike face of

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Speaker 1: the thing that now stands before you, and barely notice

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Speaker 1: the movement of its hand shooting out toward your stomach.

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Speaker 1: Then you feel the sting and see the rip in

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Speaker 1: your t shirt. Lifting it up, you look down in

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Speaker 1: horror at the fine etching in your skin, then at

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Speaker 1: the sharp claw of the figure's hand, now held out

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Speaker 1: in front of you. Then the blood appears, seeping out

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Speaker 1: of the cut, and soon it is gushing from your belly.

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Speaker 1: As the incision slowly begins to expand you grab at

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Speaker 1: it with your hands, trying desperately to keep it closed,

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Speaker 1: but you can only look on in disbelief. As your

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Speaker 1: hot innards begin to still from your stomach, crying out

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Speaker 1: in agony, you work fast to keep them inside, grabbing

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Speaker 1: at what you can, but there is just too much

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Speaker 1: to hold. Only then when you look back up at

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Speaker 1: the thing in front of you do you realize its

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Speaker 1: face isn't a face at all, but a mask made

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Speaker 1: of skin, dried out and crudely stitched together. Under those

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Speaker 1: rigid lips, you can just make out something twitching into

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Speaker 1: a grin, and from under the eye holes, two beady

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Speaker 1: eyes stare hungrily out at you. All the while your

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Speaker 1: entrails are steadily squirming out of your stomach, until finally

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Speaker 1: they fall to the ground with a wet slap. You

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Speaker 1: can only stumble back, hopelessly, collapsing to the floor. As

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Speaker 1: the thing moves closer toward you. You turn and claw

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Speaker 1: at the dirt, trying to drag yourself away, only to

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Speaker 1: then feel the weight of it on top of you,

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Speaker 1: pulling you back, and then you realize it is gnawing

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Speaker 1: on your insides. With your last ounce of strength, you

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Speaker 1: try to push it away, but only succeed in grabbing

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Speaker 1: the mask, which slips off in your hand. But before

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Speaker 1: you can see what is underneath, the light and the

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Speaker 1: pain are fading, the edges of your vision beginning to

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Speaker 1: blur and darken until a final Now it's time to

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Speaker 1: take care of yourself to make time for you. Teledoc

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Speaker 1: gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you

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Speaker 1: get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed

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Speaker 1: therapist by phone or video any time between seven a m.

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Speaker 1: To nine pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc

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Speaker 1: Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the

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Speaker 1: app or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast

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Speaker 1: Today to get started. That's t e LA DC dot

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Speaker 1: com slash Unexplained podcast