Shadowing Practice: 5 TRUE Horror Stories Animated to Watch at Night - Learn English Speaking with Video

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I used to go to Starbucks all the time.
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I would say at least two
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or three times a week I would stop at Starbucks for coffee on my way to work.
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I would order online every time as I left my house and then pick it up on my way.
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I got it so often that some of the employees started to recognize me
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and I would be friendly with a few of them.
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Sadly though, the lines of the location I usually went to were always super long and one day I realized another
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Starbucks that was also on my way to work.
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I made the choice to switch locations to see if it would be faster, and it was in fact quite a bit faster every single day,
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and it saved me some time.
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After I would say about a couple of weeks of going to the new location, one day I forgot to place my order online.
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It wasn't a big deal, but I would just have to order at the drive -thru at the Starbucks. When I got there,
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the voice on the other end of the speaker of the drive -thru said hi to me
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and called me by my name.
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This surprised me because I had only been to that location three
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or four times at that point and it wasn't a daily basis or anything.
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I also didn't recognize the voice as it was a man's voice
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and all the people I knew from the previous location were females.
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I pulled up to the next window after I ordered and a man with a headset came to the window.
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I paid and he handed me my coffee and smiled.
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He once again said my name and told me to have a nice day then he winked at me.
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The man was rather tall and had sort of long dark hair with a slight beard.
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I have to say I had never seen him before, but beyond that I really didn't think anything of it.
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It wasn't until every single time that I would go to Starbucks after
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that he would be working and would always be the one to hand me my order.
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Each time he would wink at me or have an almost creepy grin on his face.
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None of this really bothered me though, but it did feel a little bit strange.
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Then I stopped seeing the man.
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There were different people every time when I got my coffee in the morning,
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and I didn't really notice the fact that I wasn't seeing this strange guy anymore.
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One of the times I went inside to pick up my coffee, and was walking back to my car, when suddenly I saw the man again.
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He was in the parking lot, and he approached me as I was getting into my car.
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I didn't really recognize him at first.
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It took me a few seconds.
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He said hi to me and smiled and asked me how I was doing.
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I said fine in a confused tone, and asked what he wanted.
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He then asked me how the movie I watched last night was.
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Then he winked at me like the past times and walked away.
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I stood there next to my car in shock.
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I had, in fact, been watching a movie the previous night, but I had no idea how he knew about it.
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I was really creeped out, and for me, this was the last straw with the man from being slightly weird to completely creepy.
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I had no idea who this guy was other than the fact that he worked at the Starbucks and was creepy.
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I decided to go back inside the Starbucks and ask another employee who he was.
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I first looked around the parking lot, but the man was gone.
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I then walked inside the Starbucks, which was relatively busy, but nothing too crazy.
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I went to the counter and asked who the man was with longer brown hair, a slight beard, and pretty tall.
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I was told in response that it sounded a lot like a guy named Jonathan,
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who had worked there but had been fired for inappropriate behavior around the workplace.
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They said he had worked at another location close by, but had moved to that location shortly before getting fired.
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I briefly told my story.
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I was told by several people that they thought he seemed creepy
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and had apparently followed one of his co -workers home one night.
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It gave me the chills as I realized
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this Jonathan guy most likely was outside of my house the previous night and saw me watching a movie.
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So many thoughts started to race through my head, such as how did he know where I lived,
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and had he followed me home or been to my house before.
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I had to go to work at that point,
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so I left, but throughout the day I texted with several of my friends about what had happened.
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Later that day I got home from work and asked my friend Lisa to come over and keep me company.
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I got home and shortly after I heard the sound of Lisa pulling up.
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I was so relieved because I really didn't want to be alone in my house that night after what had happened.
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But then I received a text from Lisa saying that she would be there in about 15 minutes.
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I went over to look out the window and noticed a different car driving slowly down the street outside my window.
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I lived in a quiet neighborhood and there wasn't a whole lot of cars that went down the street,
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so I sort of noticed when they did.
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It was a black car and the windows were tinted.
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It parked across the street, but slightly past my house.
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Of course, I was paranoid and worried that it was the Jonathan guy.
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I watched the car from my window, hoping to see somebody, anybody, get out of the car that wasn't Jonathan from Starbucks.
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But nobody was getting out.
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Then my phone started to vibrate
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and ring in my left hand as I held the living room curtain open with my right.
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It just about gave me a heart attack, and I closed the curtain and looked at who was calling me.
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It was a number that I didn't recognize.
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I decided to answer it.
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The voice on the other end was the familiar voice of Jonathan.
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I heard him ask me why I was watching him and told me to come outside.
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I freaked out at this and screamed as loud as I could that I was calling the police.
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He then hung up on me, and I opened the curtain slightly to see his car pulling away.
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I then called the police, and they said they would be on their way.
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They arrived a short time later along with Lisa.
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I gave them as much information as I could on Jonathan, and I stayed at Lisa's house the next few nights.
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Finally, I was told that Jonathan had been found, and I would no longer have to worry about him anymore.
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He had worked at the first
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Starbucks I had been to almost every day, and apparently asked to transfer when he realized I had gone to another one.
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I just wonder how long he knew where I lived, or how many times he had been to my house without me noticing.
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This happened just a couple of months ago.
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I was on Facebook on my phone one night, as I would be on almost a daily basis.
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I was scrolling through my friends' posts and looking at news and other stuff for a while.
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I was kind of bored, so I just decided to click on the Marketplace tab to see if there was anything cool on there.
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I had used Facebook Marketplace once in the past to buy a phone, and it worked out really well,
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so I would go back and look to see what they had occasionally.
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I saw the average stuff you see.
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Cars, phones, laptops, and other random junk.
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Then I saw an ad for a free TV.
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It looked like a newer TV
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and I was actually kind of wanting to get one from my bedroom so I clicked on the ad.
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I was wanting to see if the TV was broken
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or had a problem with it and that's why it was free or if it was good and working.
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When I clicked on it I saw that it was a 50 inch TV.
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The pictures showed that it was standing on the floor of a carpeted room
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and they had one of the TV on showing that it worked.
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The post was made by woman named barbara
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and she said she was moving out and didn't need the tv anymore
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but it worked just fine
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when i looked the listing said it had been posted about an hour ago i responded to the post asking
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if the tv was still available and if so i could pick it up at the earliest convenience
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i got a message back from the owner about 10 minutes later barbara said
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that yes it was and if i wanted the tv i could come
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and pick it up the next evening we agreed on 8 pm and it was set
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I was really excited to get the TV
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because I knew it was most likely worth hundreds of dollars and I had been thinking of buying one soon.
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The next afternoon, I messaged Barbara to confirm
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and she told me just to let her know when I was there and she would let me in.
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I went to work that day and when I got off, I went home for a while before leaving for Barbara's.
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She had given me her address earlier in the day and she seemed like a very friendly person.
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I put the address into my phone and followed the instructions on getting there.
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It wasn't too far away, maybe 10 or 15 minutes.
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When I got to the neighborhood, it seemed pretty average, a little bit farther out from the city,
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and the houses seemed to have a little more land.
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I then turned onto a road which had a sign that said, Dead End.
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I kept driving, and when I got to the end of the street, it led to a single skinny driveway,
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which according to my directions was Barbara's house.
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The long, skinny driveway led right up to a detached garage with an old -looking pickup truck parked in front of it.
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I decided to drive into the driveway
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because I didn't want to carry the TV that long of a ways to my vehicle, and I thought it would be easier.
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Once I parked, I messaged Barbara telling her that I was there.
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She responded almost immediately, saying that I could come right on in when the TV was on the floor in the living room.
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I got out and walked up to the front door.
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It was dark out by now, and as I approached the door, I noticed that all the lights in the house appeared to be off.
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It seemed a little strange, but I got to the front door and slowly opened.
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It was unlocked, and when I got inside, I couldn't really see anything.
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I looked around on the wall for a light switch,
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and had to turn on the flashlight on my phone after I couldn't find one within a few seconds.
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Finally, I found one, and I turned it on.
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A very dim light in the corner of the room appeared,
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I could see that it was an old living room with long carpet and some furniture.
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I didn't see a TV at all inside, and I suddenly started to get a bad feeling.
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I walked a little bit farther into the house.
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There was a kitchen off the living room, which looked pretty average, and then a hallway leading to a back door,
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and another type of living room, it appeared.
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There was also a staircase going upstairs and one going down to the basement.
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I couldn't find the TV anywhere, and the place was giving me the creeps.
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I opened up the Facebook app and messaged Barbara again telling her
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that I couldn't find the TV and confirming the address with her asking if it was correct
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I waited in the silent house for her response I was getting the urge to just leave
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Finally, I got a response from Barbara.
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Barbara said, yes, it's the correct address.
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And then she said, sorry, I meant the upstairs living area.
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There's a staircase in the living room you can take.
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I got suspicious and was wondering why Barbara didn't just come
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and talk to me and why she wouldn't have mentioned to go upstairs right away.
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I walked towards the stairs anyways, though.
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But as I was about to take my first step up, I heard someone walking to the front door of the house.
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They were outside, and turned around, and saw the screen door open up, and the front door to the house,
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which I had left half open, then swung shut.
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All I saw was an arm closing it, but not the person.
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It appeared it was a man's arm, and after the door shut, I heard someone start to come up the stairs from the basement.
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I walked away from the stairs, and then went to the back of the house.
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I was really creeped out now, and once I saw the back door, I made a run for it.
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Just as I was, I heard whoever was coming upstairs from the basement move faster up the stairs.
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Once I got to the back door, I opened it and went outside.
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It was tall grass, and I saw many trees and wildflowers.
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I ran sideways through the backyard until I was in the neighbor's backyard.
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Then I went through a few more yards.
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I basically walked through a few people's backyards and then past someone's house to get back to the street.
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I looked from there at the house I had just been to.
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I couldn't see much in the night, but my car was there and I knew I needed to get back to it.
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I then looked at my phone and saw several messages from Barbara.
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She said, come back, and she asked me why I left, in all caps.
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I certainly did not want to go back there, but I walked slowly down the street to get back to my car,
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which was parked in her driveway.
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Once I made it to the front of the driveway, I didn't see anybody in the front yard at all.
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I then sprinted to my car and unlocked it.
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When I got inside, I saw that my front windshield had been smashed and the glass was all shattered.
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I backed out of the driveway, and as I did, I appeared to see a man looking at me from the front window of the house.
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He had a sort of evil smile on his face.
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When I got back, I reported Barbara and what had happened.
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I really don't think Barbara was even real, and it was probably that guy that was looking at me through the window.
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I think I might have walked into some sort of setup, but beyond that, I have no clue what was going on there.
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Two years ago, I had a problem with the tires of my car.
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My car was fairly new and reliable, but over time the tires started to get a ton of wear on them,
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and I found out that I needed them replaced.
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One day when I was out, I happened to be shopping at the Walmart near my house.
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I was in sort of the corner of the store, and I noticed that they had an auto center there.
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The auto center was at the very far back corner, and I had never really noticed it before,
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but I decided to give it a look and see how much their tires were and what kinds they had.
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As I walked into the area, I could see that nobody else was really over there.
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I walked over to the desk that they had to see if anybody was working there that I could talk to.
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There was nobody there though, and when I looked around the auto center, it didn't really look like it was used much anymore,
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and seemed pretty outdated.
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After a minute or so, I decided to just look at the tire information that they did have, and then just leave.
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The next day however, as I got home from work and got my mail,
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I saw that in my mail there was a postcard from the Walmart Auto Center.
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It was basically just an advertisement to go, and I found it a funny coincidence how I had just been there the day before.
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But the next day, I got the same thing in the mail once again.
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It was the exact same postcard, and now it went from a funny coincidence to a bit strange.
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I took it inside and threw it away.
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The very next day, I got one again, and the day after that, and the day after that.
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I was getting the same exact flyer from the Walmart Auto Center every single day as part of my mail.
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I decided that this was fishy enough so I drove back to the same
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Walmart to try to see what was going on.
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I took a handful of the flyers that I received
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and went to the same auto department that I had been to before.
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This time there was actually someone working there.
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A man was behind the counter and I showed him the flyers and told him my situation.
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He looked at them and said that he didn't know why I kept getting them
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and basically didn't have an explanation for me.
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However, he pointed out to me
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that none of the postcards had actually been addressed to me
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and showed me a large stack of them that they had near the counter.
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When I saw this, it made me realize that whoever was giving me these postcards was not actually sending them to me,
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but physically putting them in my mailbox every day.
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I went back home after that
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and decided I would try to keep a look out of my mailbox to see who was doing this.
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The first two days, I once again got more flyers, but failed to see who did it.
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But the next morning, I was up early at about 6 a .m.
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It was before the sun had risen, and I just happened to be looking out of my window.
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When I did, I saw a man slowly walking down the side of the street.
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My eyes locked onto him when I noticed him walking closer to my mailbox.
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Then, I saw him reach into the pocket of his jacket and place something in my mailbox.
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I had finally seen who did it, but right after he did, I noticed him look to my window, and then looked directly at me.
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i didn't know what to do when i saw this
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but before i could think of anything the man started sprinting up my yard
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and towards my house he ran all the way to the front door and tried to open it
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luckily it was locked and i watched him run away i thought he was leaving
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but a couple of moments later
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i heard the sound of the back door to my house trying to be opened that's
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when i decided to call the police clearly somebody was trying to break into my house
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when i had called 9 -1 -1 I told them what was going on and started to walk into my bedroom.
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But as I was on my way there, and literally right after I hung up the phone, I heard the sound of glass breaking.
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That's when I decided to run into my bathroom instead and lock the door.
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I didn't hear any noises though after the breaking of glass.
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I was thinking maybe the man never did enter my house and had just left.
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I waited and waited in my bathroom for what felt like forever, not hearing anything and waiting for the police to arrive.
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I couldn't take it anymore, and I finally decided to leave the bathroom and walk out.
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But as soon as I did, I saw the man standing inside my house about 10 feet away from me, smiling.
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It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen.
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The man was wearing a jacket with the hood up, and I couldn't really tell much details of his face,
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other than he looked like a pretty average guy.
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I ran back inside the bathroom and locked the door quickly.
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Thankfully, at around the same time, I started to hear the sirens.
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The man never did try to enter the bathroom, and the police showed up, only to find the man completely gone.
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They looked around my property and neighborhood, but never found him.
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After that, I never got anything else strange in the mail, and I never saw the man again, but sometimes I worry he will return.
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I also wonder what he was doing, if he had seen me at the Walmart and decided to randomly stalk me or what,
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but I'm glad I've never seen him again.
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When I was younger, I used to work the night shift at a gas station on the edge of town.
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Overnight, it would usually be pretty dead.
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The gas station was not off of a major highway or anything like that,
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so overnights I would usually be the only person there for a great deal of the night.
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I didn't mind because I could just chill behind the counter
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and listen to a podcast or something like that
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when the place was empty on one night it was probably about three o 'clock in the morning
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and we hadn't had anybody get gas in about 30 minutes at least i was standing behind the counter
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when i noticed a car slowly pull in we only had four gas pumps
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and a small parking lot and the car pulled just between the two pumps
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and sort of just sat there i assumed whoever it was would just get some gas
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and then i noticed another car pull off the road
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and up to the other one they both sat
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there in the parking lot sort of next to each other for a little while.
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Then the windows rolled down on the two cars and I saw the drivers were both wearing ski masks.
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This is when I got sort of concerned.
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They were not getting gas and appeared to just be talking to each other.
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Finally, I saw their doors both open at the same time and both men got out.
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When they did, they both started heading towards the store where I was sitting behind the counter.
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As they walked towards the door, I looked at the man reached for his side and appeared to me that he possibly had a gun.
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I was terrified.
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I ducked down and while crouched over, I ran for the back of the gas station where the bathrooms were
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and then ran inside one of the bathrooms and locked the door behind me.
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Luckily, we had single room bathrooms and not just an open bathroom with some stalls, so I felt much safer in there.
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Just about the same time that I got inside the bathroom, I heard the door to the gas station being opened.
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I sat on the ground next to the door and tried not to make any noise.
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I heard the men walking around the store
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and could hear them say a few words to each other but couldn't make out what they said.
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Then I heard some louder noises as if things were getting knocked over.
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I did feel kind of bad for just running away but
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if these guys did in fact have weapons I was no match for them
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and I felt much safer locked in a bathroom than out there with them.
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Eventually, I stopped hearing the men and realized they must have finally left.
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I waited several minutes and then slowly opened up the bathroom door and peeked out.
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As soon as I did, I noticed that both of the men were still inside, and as soon as I looked out,
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they looked right at me.
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I saw one of the men was about 30 feet away from me.
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His mask had been lifted above his face, and I had a better look at him.
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I immediately shut the door once again and saw the men start towards me as I did.
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I heard one of them tell me to come out if I didn't want to get hurt.
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What I did instead was take out my phone and call the police.
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At this point, I didn't care if I was hurt because the men already knew that I was in there.
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I spoke to the police and yelled as loud as I could that I had called them at the same time.
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The men stopped telling me to get out at that point, but I did hear one of them try the door handle to open the bathroom.
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I kept the police on the line, and they said they would be there shortly.
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I stopped hearing the men after that once again, but I didn't dare open the door.
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I waited for what felt like forever but at last the police showed up, and I finally came out once I heard them.
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When I did, the men were gone, and the gas station was somewhat messed up.
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The cash register had been broken, and several other items were stolen or on the floor.
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I spoke with police for a while, and then stayed there for quite some time.
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After reviewing security footage, it was determined that the men did in fact have guns, which looking back makes me more scared,
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and all the more lucky I was okay.
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Last summer, my girlfriend and I went camping for a weekend.
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Camping is not something that we do a lot, but we do like the outdoors, so we were looking forward to it.
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We went to a little spot near the woods, and seemed to be the only ones camping in that area.
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When we got there, we had a tent to set up, which took a lot longer than I thought it would take,
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but once it was up, it made for a nice shelter, and it was a good thing we had it too, because on the first night,
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shortly after the sun set, it started to rain outside.
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We hurried to get inside the tent
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and decided to just go to bed early seeing as we wouldn't be able to make a campfire
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or anything like that with it raining.
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It wasn't like a pouring rain, but it was steady and there would occasionally be a little crack of thunder off in the distance.
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The sound of the rain hitting the tent was a nice relaxing sound.
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My girlfriend fell asleep not too long after, but it was only like 9pm and I wasn't used to going to bed quite that early.
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I just wasn't tired yet, and I couldn't sleep.
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I stayed up and watched YouTube videos on my phone for a while.
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I did, surprisingly, have pretty good service out there, which was nice.
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I had my headphones in not to wake my girlfriend, and as I was watching a video, I noticed at the top of my vision,
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past our tent, there was a shadow of someone walking by.
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I put down my phone and looked up to see the clear shadow of a man on the side of our tent.
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This was strange.
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We hadn't seen anyone else near us, and this guy seemed to be within a couple feet of our tent facing us.
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Plus, it was raining a lot outside, and I didn't know why somebody would be out walking.
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I watched the man slowly walk around to our tent to the other side of it.
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I removed one of my earbuds and felt my heart start to pound harder and harder.
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The man walked around to the side of the tent that was near the woods.
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He then went right by where I was,
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and I heard a small scraping as if he was running his hand along the side of the tent.
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I moved back suddenly when I heard this.
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The man seemed to notice me, but then walked off into the woods.
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I heard the leaves and trees rustling, going deeper and deeper away.
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I was glad the man was now gone, but I was concerned as to who he was and what exactly he was doing.
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I thought about waking up my girlfriend, but ultimately decided not to.
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I thought I should try to just lay down and go to sleep, because I thought if I stayed up, I might just get paranoid.
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But as I was laying there, all of a sudden, I heard more scraping against the tent.
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This time, I was at the side of the tent where our heads were.
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I looked up and saw the guy was standing right there.
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I couldn't see any details because I was just seeing his silhouette on the other side of the tent.
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I lay there not knowing what to do.
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If this guy did happen to be dangerous or something, I really didn't have anything to defend myself with.
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I then thought I could barely hear a man's voice mumble something outside of the tent.
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I couldn't make out anything he said, though.
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Eventually, I saw the shadow back away and out of sight.
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I didn't hear the man go off into the woods again or anything like that,
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but I no longer saw his shadow or heard anything other than the rain which was still falling.
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I laid there looking around for probably an hour and didn't hear or see anything else.
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Eventually, I was able to fall asleep.
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The next morning, I woke up early at about 7 a .m.
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It was light out now, and I looked around.
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The door to our tent had been unzipped and was partially open.
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I tapped my girlfriend on the shoulder until she woke up.
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I asked her if she had left the tent at all during the night, and she told me no. I got really creeped out after that,
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and left the tent and looked all around.
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There was nobody in sight, though, and after telling my girlfriend about what had happened the previous night, we decided to cut our camping trip short,
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and just go home that day.
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Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “5 TRUE Horror Stories Animated to Watch at Night”. This video has 353 sentences and 5211 words to shadow. The speech runs for 24:52. The speaker talks fast, about 210 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
tent noun/tɛnt/A pavilion or portable lodge consisting of skins, canvas, or some strong cloth, stretched and sustained by poles, used for sheltering people from the weather.
automobile noun/ˈɔː.tə.məˌbil/A type of motor vehicle designed to move on the ground under its own stored power and intended to carry a driver, a small number of additional passengers, and…
driveway noun/ˈdɹaɪvˌweɪ/A short private road that leads to a house or garage.
creepy adjective/ˈkɹipi/Moving by creeping along.
shortly adverb/ˈʃɔɹtli/In a short or brief time or manner; quickly.
shadow noun/ˈʃædəʊ̯/A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object.
stairs noun/ˈstɛɹz/A contiguous set of steps connecting two floors.
tire verb/ˈtaɪ̯ɚ/To become sleepy or weary.
upstairs adverb/ˌʌpˈstɛɹz/Up the stairs; on or to a higher floor or level.
creep verb/kɹiːp/To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.
whoever/huˈɛvɚ/Who ever: an emphatic form of who.
basement noun/ˈbeɪsmənt/A floor of a building below ground level.
backyard noun/bækˈjɑːd/A yard to the rear of a house or similar residence.
curtain noun/ˈkɜɹt(ə)n/A piece of cloth covering a window, bed, etc. to offer privacy and keep out light.
flyer noun/ˈflaɪə(ɹ)/That which flies, as a bird or insect.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordPronunciationMeaning
look around verbTo inspect a building or area.
get back to verbReturn to (an activity)
get out verbTo leave or escape.
go back verbTo return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
come out verb/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/To be discovered; to be revealed.
look out verbTo be vigilant and aware often as an imperative to alert a person to danger.
make out verb/meɪk aʊt/To draw up (a document etc.), to designate (a cheque).
open up verbTo open.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

  • I didn't really recognize him at first.
  • It was a number that I didn't recognize.
  • I just wasn't tired yet, and I couldn't sleep.
  • I couldn't make out anything he said, though.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer trueused to go · used to work
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itwas really creeped · was told · had been fired
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thingStarbucks, which was · guy that was · there, which was
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the pastwasn't seeing · was walking · was getting

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 52 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, couldn't, wasn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “th” sounds: bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, thunder /ˈθʌndɚ/
  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shortly /ˈʃɔɹtli/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, occasionally /əˈkeɪʒənəli/, shock /ʃɔk/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/
  • Long words — get the stress right: automobile /ˈɔː.tə.məˌbil/, occasionally /əˈkeɪʒənəli/, coincidence /kəʊˈɪnsɪdəns/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, surprisingly /səˈpɹaɪzɪŋli/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like tent, automobile, driveway.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →