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From Wondery, I Hear Fear

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is a new anthology series of suspenseful

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stories hosted by Kerry Mulligan.

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I'm about to play a clip from I Hear Fear.

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Follow I Hear Fear on the Wondery app

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or wherever you get your podcasts.

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From Amazon Music and Wondery, I'm

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Kerry Mulligan, and this is

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I Hear Fear, an

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anthology of six stories that might

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seem too scary to be true,

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but they're all inspired by real events, and

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each of these stories could happen to you.

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I've been stumbling around downtown Boston

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for over two hours, and it's been snowing

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all day. The

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snow's up to my ankles. I almost

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have to hop to walk.

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I'm also ridiculously

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high. Who

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knew this day could get so bad? I thought

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I'd hit my low point when I opened a pregnancy

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test with my teeth in a bathroom stall

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at some dive club, and

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then another low when I accidentally

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peed on my own hand. But

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things got worse, because that's

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when the shrooms kicked in. I

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couldn't tell if I was looking at two pink lines

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or five. I'm

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still in the club, and I'm not sure why. Since I left the club, the wind's been slapping

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me sober.

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The temperature keeps dropping. My face is prickling. Maybe

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I still haven't gotten to the

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day's low point. Maybe I'll be dying of hypothermia.

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I hear the engine before I see the

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yellow

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with dark stripes. The

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gypsy cab. Hey,

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you need a ride? You look

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cold.

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Thanks.

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I thought I was gonna die out here. And I'm

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glad I found you. The cold's no

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way to die. He

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smiles at me. He has curly black

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hair and clear amber eyes. He'd

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be handsome, but his eyes are just

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a little too far apart. Like

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a watchful reptile. Part

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of me wonders if I

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should have just kept walking. So,

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where are you going? Berkeley

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College of Music. Oh, so

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you're a musician. What do you play? Classical

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guitar and some jazz guitar too.

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No kidding. I'm a musician too. Oh

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yeah? I think

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music's how we connect one

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body to another. I've

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been working on a demo. Something new.

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Let me play it for you.

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Back at school, I've perfected the art

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of avoiding other people's demos. But

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if the choice is between bad music or

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hypothermia, I'll choose

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the music. Sure. Yeah,

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okay.

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I

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used to be a classical musician, but

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music has to speak to the times. And

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the violin doesn't make people move

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the way it used to.

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Filmmaker

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doesn't make you want to dance.

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It's interesting. It

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reminds me of... But

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I can't finish the thought. It

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doesn't remind me of anything. That's

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not that it's bad.

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It's just wrong.

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Music usually feels like a punch

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to the heart. And it makes me

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laugh, cry, or want to fall in

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love. But this music,

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I don't feel it in my heart.

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I feel it in my body. My

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throat's tingling. My

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toes are squirming. I

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put my hand over my heart. The

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rhythm's changing. It's

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syncing up to the song.

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Where are we? The

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campus should be coming up about long. Are

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you listening? I want you to hear this.

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Do you know where I can walk in the way

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you look like this? I look

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down, and I see a step.

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Then my chin starts snapping

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up and down. I said here. You're

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dead? That's good. Even

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though... Outside the city

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is a wall of white, but I see a flicker

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of red fast approaching. A

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red light.

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When I feel the car slow, I lunge

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for the door handle.

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It's stuck.

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What's wrong, Anna? A

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little early morning sickness? How

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does he know my name?

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Oh, man.