This is my first webpage. Look, I can make the text purple. Isn’t that cool? And now it’s bold, too! I noticed something weird today and wanted to write down my thoughts and figured I’d figure out computers while I’m at it. Maybe I’ll make this some kind of world wide web journal?
I had a delivery today at the Church of the Living Word, but it wasn’t addressed to Father Brennan. The package was addressed to a Tadgán O’Briain. I asked Father Brennan if he recognized the name and he told me that that was his name. Apparently when he immigrated here from Ireland, they changed his name to make it easier to pronounce. How old is Father Brennan, anyway?
Regardless, what I really want to point out is something weird that happened before that. When I was carrying the package past the graveyard I walked through a cold spot. It was a particularly warm day, I was almost working up a sweat on my rounds, but that spot gave me goosebumps. And it only lasted a few seconds. Like I walked through an AC blast.
I walked backwards and it was cold again. I must’ve looked like a freak if anyone saw me, walking forward and backward like that. So I did start walking back and forth like normal. The coldness was only in that spot. Weird. It wasn’t there after I left the church, but what could have caused it? I looked around for anything and saw nothing.
The church is pretty far from my house and I still had plenty of deliveries to make, but the Willow Hill Cemetery isn’t too far from where I live. I might take a walk tonight and see if something happens there, too.
So, something definitely happened at Willow Hill Cemetery. I didn’t feel a cold spot, but I was taking my walk and thought I saw someone. I tried calling out and whistled to them. That might’ve been a mistake. Don’t they say you’re not supposed to whistle at graveyards at night? Something like that.
Anyways, I tried getting the person’s attention when I noticed they looked kind of billowy, for lack of a better word. And they might’ve been see through? I blinked my eyes tight like I was seeing things and when I opened them they were gone. Just poof, disappeared.
Very weird. Was it a ghost? I don’t even believe in ghosts. But if I saw one, then what? I don’t know what to think. What do you think?
I’ve been thinking about that possible ghost sighting in Willow Hill Cemetery. I still can’t be sure of what I saw, but it got me thinking about a really weird recurring dream I had as a kid. I kept dreaming over and over and over about being a worm. I’d wriggle and crawl, okay maybe not crawl, whatever worms do to move, I guess, through the dirt. I’d use my little worm nose to push the dirt away and I’d use my little worm mouth to eat the dirt and I’d just dig and dig, deeper and deeper.
I had this dream so often that I even asked my mom if she’d still love me if I was a worm and she’d just tell me that I’m ridiculous and to stop reading How to Eat Fried Worms so much and maybe I’d have better dreams.
And I did. I started reading more Nate the Great and Encyclopedia Brown and The Hardy Boys. But kept still having that dream.
And every time I had that dream, it was a different tunnel. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. I could feel it in my little worm bones. That got me thinking.
What if there’s a network of catacombs built under Yellowshade or something? I’m not saying it was bored through by some wormgod like Kyuss, because I know that’s just a D&D thing. I’m not crazy. But Yellowshade is, like, really old. It’s not impossible. I read online that Paris has catacombs beneath it full of bones and probably worms and maybe ghosts. I’m just saying.
Hi, everyone. This is Simon Grange. You know me and I'm sure you've seen me around delivering your mail. I got a little bit ahead of myself, didn't I?
What should I tell you about myself? I'm 36. I play the trumpet and sing in my band "Occam's Shaving Kit." I enjoy tabletop games. I like to have dinner in front of the TV and I would probably like long walks on the beach if the shore wasn't so far away.
This is starting to sound like a dating thing. That's not what I'm trying to do.
Although, I do cook a mean chicken carbonara!
But enough about me.
I had that worm dream again.
It's been nearly 25 years and suddenly I'm nosing and munching dirt again. I must've been thinking about it too much, but I'm still going to take a trip to the library and speak with Milton Fairbanks. He's been in this town forever and maybe he can tell me if my catacomb-worm has legs.
This blizzard is something else, isn't it?
I don't think I've ever seen so much snow before in my life. I'd reckon there's nearly 30 inches of snow on the ground!
The USPS has halted mail delivery today because of the dangerous conditions. You'll have to wait until I get the go ahead to resume my duties before I can give you all your letters, junk, and packages. Sorry.
I have been given the go ahead to resume delivering mail.
Like we say, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds!”
Please shovel around your mailboxes.
I know the snow is deep and iced over. But I can't deliver your mail if I can't reach your mailbox.
You help me by digging out the box a little bit and I'll help you get your hundreth AOL disc.
I was heading to the library to talk to Milton when I saw an honest-to-goodness BIGFOOT just past the tree line near the library.
I'm not making this up. I know we've always had stories in this town that the Jersey Devil frequents these woods, but everyone knows that's just stories.
Or maybe not? Now I don't know if that's entirely true since we apparently have Bigfeet stomping around.
Has anyone else seen him? Big, hairy, and standing upright like a man? I can't be the only one. I wish I had a camera. It locked eyes with me before running into the woods. It looked at me like it's been observing me for a long time. It was so weird. I'm not going to be going into the woods anytime soon and I suggest you don't either.
I wish I had more to tell you. I don't know if a Sasquatch is dangerous, but it's not normal for a "missing link" to just rock up like they own the place.
What is going on in Yellowshade? How have I never noticed any of these things before? How has no one else?
Or have you?
If you have a story to share, I spend most mornings at The Corner Lunch before I start my rounds. Come have a coffee on me and tell me your story.
I want to thank John Doe (Name changed for anonymity) for joining me for coffee at Lunch the other day and speaking with me.
It was a really interesting talk ... for lack of a better word.
I just want to go on record that I believe that we DID land on the moon and that the Earth is round. I watched the moon landing with my own eyes on the TV when I was nine. There's absolutely no way that could ever have been faked.
I was half expecting them to tell me that, I don't know, the world was going to end in, like, 16 years or something!
If anyone else has seen something that actually can't be explained, I'm at The Corner Lunch every morning.
I finally got a chance to talk to Milton and he couldn't tell me anything any which way about suspected catacombs underneath the town. I guess I'm the only one suspecting them, but still. We dug around in the stacks for what felt like hours. The dust was really making my allergies flare up.
I did find something else that was really interesting, though. I found a very weathered slip of paper dated "1693!" Apparently this town is even older than I had ever imagined.
However, that's not what's so interesting about it. I'm assuming it was written by some kind of churchwarden, maybe? I think it's a register of expenses or something of that sort. A lot of the ink is smudged and faded and the paper was incredibly brittle and fragile. I didn't want to handle it too much. I got the feeling Milton didn't want me to damage anything in his shelves either.
Of the things that I could make out, there was one particular entry that really took my interest.
What could all of this mean? I don't want to sound crazy and go off on a limb, but ... could that word be wytchcraft? Like "witchcraft?"
And what are "s" and "d?" I recognize the Pound sign. Shillings, maybe? And, I don't know, dimes?
I don't know. Maybe something to look into more one day. Milton seemed like he wanted me to stop man-handling that fragile bit of paper, so maybe one day under better conditions.
Also, and sorry to tack this on here, but since I saw you in the library when I was leaving ... I'm sorry I mistook you for a Bigfoot, Dolores. I didn't realize you had just bought a big, furry coat. It's a very nice coat. But, again, sorry. My mistake.
Hey, all. Since Monday is President's Day and I don't have to deliver any mail and now that I know I didn't see a Bigfoot in the woods, I'm going to treat myself to a little bit of a camping trip in Deepwood State Forest.
It's been ages since I've gotten to just be out in nature and I want to take advantage of the three-day weekend.
See you when I get back!
I'm back from my camping trip and I saw the most incredible thing. On Sunday, I thought I saw some lights out in the distance from where I pitched my tent. I thought there might be some other campers in the area, but it was already getting quite late. I figured I'd grab my flashlight and head out that way to at the very least introduce myself and at worst help someone if they needed it.
But when I got pretty far away from my site and closer to where I thought I saw the lights I noticed the ground was getting softer and more marsh-like. I didn't want to go too much further because I didn't want to lose my shoes, so I just figured I'd backtrack to where the ground was a little more solid and wait to see if I saw the other campers.
I was probably sitting against the tree reading some more of The Green Mile for about 20 or 30 minutes when I caught another light out of the corner of my eye. I suddenly smelled something like a fart, but I know it wasn't me!
Then I saw the light again. It was a ghost light! Or a Will-o-Wisp if you're fancy.
I've heard of this phenomenon before, but I never thought I'd actually see one. It was so cool. I'm no scientist, but I think it's something to do with trapped marsh gasses that ignite when they hit oxygen in the air.
It was mesmerizing. I just sat there watching until I felt like it was getting too late and headed back to my tent to sleep. I really need to get a camera! Of course, I probably wouldn't have been fast enough to get a picture. But still! So cool.
Hey, guys. Sorry I haven't been posting as much as I usually do. But I have a good excuse.
I finally got cable TV! LOL (That means "Laugh Out Loud.") I just learned that in a chat room.
Anyway, while I was looking at the TV Guide channel, I got to wondering. Where is Channel 37?
Does anyone else remember that crazy storm we had in 1984, I think? The lightning was all purple and pink and the power went out all over town. But then my TV turned itself back on after a few minutes when we regained power and it was tuned to Channel 37.
It was static, as always, but it looked different. It felt different. I can't really explain it. I swear I could see something behind the static like it was swimming in it and trying to surface. The static moved all weird-like. Like it was rippling and wriggling and slithering and ... I don't know ... blinking, almost. But not like cutting to black. More like an eye. Or lots of eyes. I felt watched ... observed. It almost felt like it has always been observing me.
Does anyone else remember that storm? Did anyone else's TV turn on and tune to Channel 37? I'm going to make a guestbook, so let me know!
I remember the next evening when I turned on the TV to watch Wheel after dinner, it was back on Channel 37. I know I didn't do that because I was watching The Price is Right during lunch. The show was bizarre. Like one of those weird arthouse films that The Majestic loves to show every now and then. But I don't even think the cinema would go as far as this.
The show depicted a man, kind of. He seemed doughy and oddly proportioned. Think of something like a moist loaf of bread standing on end with thin legs, small eyes, and large crooked teeth too big for its mouth. I think he was naked, but the room he was in was dark. It was hard to tell one way or another with the shadows. The only other thing in the room with him was a chair. When he approached the chair, it shivered. Not the man, the chair! Then the cushion of the chair opened up in the middle like a mouth and the legs split apart into something like spider legs, all spindly and covered with bristles. The "chair" was quivering and shaking in ... anticipation? And then a tongue lolled out of the mouth in the chair and the man just ... smiled. And took a step forward.
And I had to shut the TV off!
What was that?! I went to the library the next day and Milton pointed me toward some periodicals after giving me a look like I was crazy. I don't blame him, but I know what I saw.
Do you know what I found? I found articles from the 1950s and 60s about scientists at the University of Illinois building a radio telescope at the Vermilion River Observatory. And this telescope observed cosmic frequencies at the range of UHF Channel 37! So what did I watch if that channel can't exist?
And what was watching me? What was that thing that felt like it's been always observing me.
I'm not an artist, so this is the best approximation I can make for what I think I saw behind the static.
I don't know what it is. I don't know what it wants. But I think it's been watching me for a long time.
I think the best thing I can do is try to take some control back so I'm going to make "Always Observing" my own motto. I started this website because I thought I saw something weird in the first place. It just makes sense.
Have you seen anything like this?
Did you see the comet last night?! Wow! It was incredible!
Forget about a camera. I wish I had a telescope! But it was so bright. Amazing!
They arrested the Unabomber last night. Good. What a horrible person.
It's crazy to think that he was just ... out in the woods.
I'm still here. I'm not dead. Just not a whole lot has been going on.
I'm still having my morning coffees at The Corner Lunch if anyone wants to hang out and chat. Marge saves an outside table for me if it's nice out and a corner both for when the weather is gray or cold.
I also saw that The Majestic is screening Tremors 2: Aftershocks, so I might go watch that. I liked the first movie.
"Broke into the wrong goddamn rec room, didn't ya you bastard!"
I swear I saw Bigfoot again and this time I know it wasn't Mrs. Childress in her coat because I saw the Sasquatch while we were having coffee at Lunch.
There was something big and hairy and it was lumbering just past the treeline to Deepwood. This is what I mean when I say "always observing" because if I wasn't, I probably would've missed it. Whatever it was. Presumably a Bigfoot, but after last time I'm going to err on the side of caution.
I tried to get Dolores to turn around in time to confirm I was seeing what I thought I was seeing, but she wasn't quick enough. Damn!
I'm going to have to go to the library and get to the bottom of this someday.
Do you play the trombone? My band, Occam's Shaving Kit, lost our trombonist not that long ago. We wish him the best as he pursues other musical endeavors, but it's really affected our sound.
The Childresses have recently been opening up their little book shop/café for local bands and open mic nights. We really want to play!
So, if you can play the trombone, get in touch. You know where to find me.
Have you ever tried to research the Founder of Yellowshade? It's surprisingly difficult. I've been spending a lot of time at the library trying to suss out any of the weird things that I've been noticing and thought maybe I'd go straight to the source, as it were.
Boy have I had my work cut out for me. I don't think I've ever gone down so many wrong paths that either lead nowhere or back to where I started before.
I thought maybe I'd look at the statue of the Founder that's erected near the bandstand in Founders Square and I never noticed how off the plaque looks.
Have you ever spent some time reading the plaque? It kind of looks like this:
Is "Founder" John's surname? Or is it an honorific? If it's an honorific, then what's his surname? Is it both?
So many questions. My head hurts.
I have been listening to Here to There with Bart Dell for a while now. I was vaguely aware of the program before I started observing all of the weird stuff in Yellowshade, but I never really listened in.
I know Bart is an old resident of Yellowshade before he moved out to New York City. I was pretty young when he moved so I never actually met him met him.
I really considered picking up the phone and giving him a call to ask if he ever saw anything weird before he moved or if he knew anything about the Founder.
But I got nervous and hung up before I even dialed three numbers.
It's a really good show, though! I wish I hadn't slept on it for so long. It's so interesting and the callers all have such unique stories. Maybe one day you'll hear me on the show. How amazing would that be?
No, not the David Bowie song.
Scientists might have found traces of fossils of microscopic bacteria on that Martian meteorite found in Antarctica, like, 12 years ago.
President Clinton had a speech about it and everything. Could there really be life out there?
The absolute worst thing that could ever happen happened.
You know those fancy blue boxes that you put your mail in if you're dropping off letters and small packages in town? I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but they have a special lock and key called Arrow Locks and Arrow Keys. This is a master-key system that's been used over 100 years.
And I lost the flipping key!
I'm not a forgetful person and I think of myself as pretty observant. I always leave the key in a dish by my door. I even bought and attached a lucky rabbit's foot (not lucky for the rabbit, I'd imagine) just to make it even harder to lose, just in case. I went out to do my rounds this morning and the key was just gone.
I checked my pockets in my coat. I checked my pants pockets. I checked yesterday's pants pockets. I checked my mailbag. I checked all around my car even though I hardly drive. I even checked in my freezer because my Mom would put things she didn't want to lose in there.
Nothing.
I had to borrow a spare from the Post Office just to do my work today. And then when I got home ... the key was in the dish. With the rabbit's foot!
How could this have happened? I live alone. And it definitely wasn't there when I left.
