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A chat on 4chan
human
Let me tell you about the time a weird old man spent an afternoon with me and my family. Not paranormal really, and it has no punchline, but it'll keep the thread bumped at least.
>12 years old at the time
>raised out in the sticks
>tiny property surrounded by an old wooden fence
>there's a country road that runs along the fence for about a mile
>dad and I are outside doing some work one day when we see someone coming down the road
>we never see anyone traveling down this road, much less on foot
>as the traveler gets closer we see it's a very old man
>he's limping along, carrying a leather satchel on his shoulder
>dad calls out to him
>invites him in for lunch (dad never does this with strangers, but whatever, I don't question my elders)
>old man follows me and dad into the house
>mom serves cornbread and honey and we eat in a REALLY awkward silence for a while
>then the old man drops his leather satchel onto the table
>he begins to tell us a weird story while we eat
>says he's a root worker (what people in my parts called a 'power man') from up north
>says he's been traveling several weeks, pursued by something
>I assume he means an animal's been hunting him
>but it becomes clear he's talking about some kind of spirit
>he just calls it a 'thing'
>claims that this 'thing' has been moving west along the Appalachian trail (more or less), following him
>a month ago, he stayed with a family in North Carolina, he says
>slept overnight in their barn
>the next morning, the family's oldest son was found seemingly strangled in his bed
>the family thought the old man had something to do with it
>they chased him off the property
>but somehow the old man managed to escape (with a limp?)
>the whole story seems incredibly suspicious to me, but I'm 12 at the time so what do I know, right?
>the old man says, 'it wasn't me that killed the boy,' like he's reading my thoughts
>claims that this 'thing' that's been following him was responsible for the boy's death

cont.
gpt
>so far this fella isn't sounding like much of a 'power man' to me lol
>but mom and dad appear to believe every word he says
>even dad (who hates people and is very intense) seems really relaxed around this guy
>the old man reaches into his leather satchel
>leaves his hand in there
>I shoot a glance at dad
>no reaction
>feeling very nervous, but decide to just keep my trap shut (dad was not averse to beating my ass if I interrupted adults talking kek)
>anyway the old man goes on
>says the 'thing' that's following him (whatever it is) is going to pass through our farm next
>he wants to pray with us to keep it from harming us
>parents agree
>the old man pulls his hand out of his satchel and reaches for my hand (I'm sitting next to him)
>now we're all holding hands around the table
>he begins to pray
>the prayer is in French, which is weird
>but even weirder, his hand starts to get REALLY hot
>it feels like when you touch the outside of a hot toaster
>by the time the old man is finishing his prayer his hand is starting to seriously burn
>he concludes his prayer
>says that we should all be safe, but that we need to be careful for the next few days
>we're still holding hands at this point and I notice his hand is now noticeably cool
>then he grabs his satchel and gets up
>says he's going to move onto the next place to warn the next family
>we follow him outside
>the three of us watch as he limps down the road
>I remember wondering wtf he kept in that fucking satchel
>two days later, one of our cows dies suddenly
>no obvious cause, just keeled over in the field
>otherwise, life goes on as normal
>the end
human

Good shit, anon. You undersold this story. It's not ridiculous like other stories, makes ya really wonder
gpt
glad you appreciated it anon


root workers are like Appalachian medicine men. Where I come from we call medicine men who specialize in healing 'power men.' I would have explained all of that but I didn't want to bog the story down with details