Speaker 1: Refresh your spring cleaning to do list with an oil
Speaker 1: change bundle for your vehicle at Advance Autoparts. Get five
Speaker 1: ports of Mobile one castrol, valveoline, pensoil or bram oil
Speaker 1: bundled with a select oil filter for one low price
Speaker 1: and right now. Choose a Mobile one full synthetic oil
Speaker 1: change bundle starting at thirty nine ninety nine and get
Speaker 1: a drain pan and funnel free right oil, right filter,
Speaker 1: right price, every day only at Advance Autoparts and participating
Speaker 1: Carquest locations. Use the Advanced Autoparts app to build your
Speaker 1: bundle and pick it up at your nearest store as
Speaker 1: your local Benjamin More dealer. South Bay Paints has supported
Speaker 1: our community for generations. This includes paint contractors who are
Speaker 1: struggling right now, painters who provide quality work. That's why
Speaker 1: we offer free contractor referral to customers seeking project help.
Speaker 1: If you can hire a painter, call South Bay Paints
Speaker 1: today and mention audio referral to save twenty percent on
Speaker 1: paint with curbside pickup. Find us at south Bay Paints
Speaker 1: dot com. That's south Bay Paints dot com. Welcome to
Speaker 1: Unexplains two and nineteen Halloween special with me Richard McClean smith.
Speaker 1: Before we begin, I have to issue a warning that
Speaker 1: the following experience will contain scenes of an extremely graphic, intense,
Speaker 1: and sometimes bloody nature, which may distress some listeners. Parental
Speaker 1: discretion is advised. And now that's out of the way.
Speaker 1: If you're still here, let's proceed. I want you to
Speaker 1: imagine you're twelve years old, riding a bike along a
Speaker 1: small deserted country lane, sipping along at speed past fields
Speaker 1: of wheat and bright yellow sunflowers. All about as far
Speaker 1: as your eyes can see. You're surrounded by rolling hills
Speaker 1: in many shades of worn and green, dotted with small
Speaker 1: clumps of trees and pretty hedgerows. Up above a majestic
Speaker 1: golden sun, the warmth of which you feel on your skin,
Speaker 1: sits high in a pale, cloudless sky that seems to
Speaker 1: stretch out forever. Cycling faster, now, you feel the cooling
Speaker 1: air on your face as you whizz along the road.
Speaker 1: Up ahead in the distance you see a small forest
Speaker 1: into which the road disappears, the final stretch of the
Speaker 1: journey back to your grandmother's house, where your family and
Speaker 1: lunch are waiting for you. At twelve years old, You've
Speaker 1: found yourself occupying a strange, liminal space, caught between the
Speaker 1: innocence of childhood and the creeping onset of adolescence, having
Speaker 1: already begun to sense an untethering from the child. Perhaps
Speaker 1: it has unsettled you. You worry it's all happening too soon,
Speaker 1: and that the pull of this unknown, grown up world
Speaker 1: that lurks on the horizon is something to be resisted.
Speaker 1: Or maybe you can't wait to escape the juvenile world
Speaker 1: of children, to shed its skin, excited by the prospect
Speaker 1: of all that is to come. Whatever the case, whether
Speaker 1: you want them to or not, changes are coming. But
Speaker 1: right now, that's okay. Right now, under this sun, as
Speaker 1: you revel in the freedom of two wheels, everything feels good.
Speaker 1: So you plow on ahead, keeping your eyes on the
Speaker 1: forest that seems to grow larger as you draw closer
Speaker 1: and closer to it. Though it's only a short section
Speaker 1: of woodland, you've always felt a little uneasy cycling through it,
Speaker 1: trying your best to banish all thought of those dark
Speaker 1: fairy tales that you enjoy reading so much, trying hard
Speaker 1: not to think about what monsters might be lurking behind
Speaker 1: the trees, it's silly really, After all, on a day
Speaker 1: as bright and balmy as this, there really is nothing
Speaker 1: to worry about. But just then you notice something strange.
Speaker 1: It can't be, you think, as you bring the bike
Speaker 1: to a sudden stop, staring ahead in disbelief. Where only
Speaker 1: a moment ago a road runs straight through the woods,
Speaker 1: there is nothing but trees. It's as if the forest
Speaker 1: had just suddenly grown right over it. It must be
Speaker 1: some mistake, you think, perhaps you took a wrong turn
Speaker 1: at some point, but when you look back, everything behind
Speaker 1: is just as it has always been. Confused, you put
Speaker 1: down your bike and wander to the end of the tarmac,
Speaker 1: which stops dead at the edge of the forest, and
Speaker 1: stare into the thick mass of trees beyond. There is
Speaker 1: no sign of the road further on, and now what
Speaker 1: happens next is up to you. If you choose to
Speaker 1: step into the forest for a better look, go to
Speaker 1: episode two. If you decide instead to turn back and
Speaker 1: find a different way home, go to episode three. Now
Speaker 1: it's time to take care of yourself. To make time
Speaker 1: for you, TELEDOC gives you access to a licensed therapist
Speaker 1: to help you get back to feeling your best speak
Speaker 1: to a licensed therapist by phone or video anytime between
Speaker 1: seven am to nine pm local time, seven days a week.
Speaker 1: Teledoc Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download
Speaker 1: the app, or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained
Speaker 1: podcast Today to get started. That's t e ladoc dot
Speaker 1: com Slash Unexplained Podcast