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Welcome to into the night i'm nari your guide on
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today's excursion down a twisted path be careful not to
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get lost be it dark or light it's easy to
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lose your way are you ready then let's begin Sweet
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Chariot The clammy night encircled her as she strained to
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hear the sound of an approaching bus. She was early,
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she knew, and wishing for its arrival wouldn't change the
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realities of a public transportation bus schedule. Now all she
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could do was wait. Darkness seeped into the poorly lit
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spot where she sat. An involuntary shudder passed through her,
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and she pushed aside thoughts of her vulnerability. A young
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woman alone on a night like this could only wonder
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who she might encounter. Seeking solace from her plight, she
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wrapped her arms across her chest and did her best
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to think of the safety she'd soon have. If only
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her bride would arrive. Sixteen was too young to be
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in this place, and the guilt that came with knowing
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she'd done it to herself bore down on her. The
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chip she'd carried on her shoulder not that long ago
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had crumbled. and now she found herself craving the stability
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and safety of home. It was a home hundreds of
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miles away, but for the first time in months, her
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travels took her towards, not away from it. She once
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read a novel called Found Family, and the gritty allure
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of living tough on the streets had driven her to
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flee her conservative family. The romance of living wild, without
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anyone telling her who or what to be, had been intoxicating.
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Six months ago, she chose to strike out on her own,
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certain that somewhere along the way, she too would find
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a found family on the streets. People who understood her
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and wouldn't bind her to school or chores. That was
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what her restless spirit yearned for, freedom. She'd since learned
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that freedom from one perceived prison only put her in
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the middle of a different kind of one. A puff
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of breeze scattered the dead leaves around the bench. and
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they lifted and danced in the dim light. They reminded
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her of childhood and crisp autumn days spent playing in
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the raked leaves of the suburban home where she lived. Childhood.
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That idea seemed so far away. On a bright October
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day when she was six years old, Maddie Curtis thought
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she was in a magical land. The vibrant reds, oranges,
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and yellows of the autumn trees had transformed the world
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she thought she knew into a realm where handsome princes
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and fairy godmothers just might be real. Her parents feared
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that a corn maze, even in the daytime, might be
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too scary for their little girl. But a pumpkin patch
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and a hayride seemed ready-made for her innocent, adventurous nature.
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Maddie smiled, thinking back on that outing. Two Peas Pumpkin
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Patch wasn't simply a garden spot of pumpkins. More outdoor
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games than she thought were possible filled the acre-sized area
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that sat just inside the gate and on the outskirts
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of the corn maze. Her best memory of the place
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was the petting zoo. As a suburban girl who wasn't
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even allowed to have a dog as a pet, her
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parents claimed she was allergic. Petting goats, calves, ducks, and
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other farm animals left an impression on her. The goats,
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pesky and comical, were her favorites.
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Please, Mama?
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Mama? Can we please have a goat? I promise I'll
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take care of it. It can live in the backyard.
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Her mother was not amused. Maddie, Joe, we cannot have
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a goat in the city limits. Can you imagine what
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a goat would do to my azaleas? Maddie softly chuckled
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as she realized she'd never forgiven her mother. Now it
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seemed silly, and she realized the impracticality of having farm
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animals in the middle of town, and her heart softened
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toward her mother. Oh, Mom, I have blamed you for
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so many things that you didn't deserve. Her mother was
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strict and unyielding in her religious
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and social views. That
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was true. The world had brought home the point to Maddie, though,
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that adults live by as many, if not more, social
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constraints as children do. Even if they wanted to have
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a hobby farm in the backyard, the homeowners association would
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never have allowed it. we'd have been kicked out of
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the neighborhood. I held resentment for years over that goat,
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and now I can see how unfair I'd been. When
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she ran away at the age of 15, she thought
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she knew it all. She learned the hard way that
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the world owed no one anything, and there was a
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price to be paid for everything. What she thought was
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freedom was nothing more than a tangled quagmire of choice
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versus consequence. The wind whipped a little stronger now, and
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it caused Maddie to shudder. Her room back in Glenwood
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seemed like a safe haven that she missed terribly. I've
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slept in places that would frighten a grown man. Embarrassment
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swept over her as she then thought. I've slept with
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people who were just as scary. Maddie felt unclean and
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broken when she considered the price she paid for living
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on the streets. As a petite girl who left with
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little more than the clothes on her back, She had
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no currency to barter with other than her body. Men
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were too willing to name their price for even the
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most trivial benefit they provided. A part of her was
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taken away for any meal, for any protection, and for
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any shelter a man provided. Then there was Rubio. Handsome
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in a tough way, the boy who was no more
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than a few years older than she was seemed to
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know exactly what to do in every situation. He found
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her one afternoon, cold and sitting on a park bench,
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and he offered to bring her to his street family. Finally,
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she had the family she'd run away to find. Unlike
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the book, however, she found herself caught in a dysfunctional
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web of loyalty and never-ending demands. She was expected to
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pull her own weight, and any fruits of her labor
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were turned over to Rubio. Instead of a family, she
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was trapped in a prostitution ring with him as her pimp.
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This wasn't at all what she had left home for.
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She thought of those golden October days of her childhood.
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Back then, she had no idea not every little girl
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went on hay rides and visited pumpkin patches. As she
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grew older, she had no idea that not every girl
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had nice clothes or plenty of food or money to
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spend on anything she wanted. Growing up in an affluent neighborhood,
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she only saw what she and her friends had, and
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she took what was freely given to her for granted.
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Strings were attached to that good life, however. She was
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expected to present the image of a perfect girl to
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the world. Steve and Mary Ann Curtis had a reputation
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to uphold, after all, and that meant their daughter must
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perform accordingly. She had to wear the right clothes, have
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her hair styled the way her mother told her to,
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play with only certain children, and a hundred other spoken
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and unspoken requirements. She grew sick of it. As she
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became a teenager, the pressure to perform became too great.
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Instead of shying away from the troubled kids at school,
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she gravitated toward them. She snuck out of the house,
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and when she was caught, she was grounded, stripped of belongings,
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and put on an even tighter leash. This caused more
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anger to build inside her, and she came to resent
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her parents and everything they represented. I will be free
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from this, she told herself. She devised her plan, and
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after a heated argument with her parents, she struck out
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on her own. It didn't take long for the romance
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of life on the street to disappear into a haze
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of abuse and wrong turns. After rereading Found Family, she
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decided that maybe stability wasn't such a bad fate. Perhaps
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living under her parents' roof with food, hot water, and
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no one demanding her body, only her love and obedience
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wasn't so bad after all. The final fight with Rubio
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ended it all. Sitting on the bus stop bench, the
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details were fuzzy in her head, but she remembered she
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had made up her mind to escape, and Rubio was
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not happy about it. He was violent. She knew that.
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She watched him brutalize people who came between him and
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what he wanted, whether he knew them or not. She
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winced slightly at the memory of his fist hitting her face,
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and she gently touched her bruised cheek and swollen lip.
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The lights of the oncoming bus caused her to wince
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at the bright beam. The bus brakes screeched as the
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bus came to a stop, and the smell of diesel
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exhaust wafted into Maddie's face as the breeze swirled around her.
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The doors opened, and she stepped in. Maddie gasped, and
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she turned to exit the bus, but the doors had
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already closed. Take a seat, young lady. Sorry I'm late.
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I wasn't expecting you to be here tonight. Her brow wrinkled. Wait,
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what do you mean? You had no way of knowing
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that I was going to get on a bus tonight.
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You had to know that someone would be waiting at
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the bus stop, though. No, young lady. I only arrive
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when I know I have passengers to pick up. That's
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the way this line runs. Confused, she studied his face
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and arms. He looked kind but weary, and he seemed
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apologetic to see her there at all. His arms didn't
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look quite right, but she couldn't put her finger on
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what exactly was different about him. His arms seemed too bright,
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and his hair seemed to be blowing in a breeze,
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but there's no wind inside the bus. She shook her head,
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not caring at this point what the man's story was.
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She was going home, and that was all she cared about.
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Whatever you say, she mumbled. Find a seat. It's pretty
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full tonight. You were my last pickup. Turning to walk
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down the aisle... She stood, frozen in place. What is this?
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Let me off! Now, honey, don't get upset on me.
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I know it must be a shock for you, being
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so young and old. Sitting wide-eyed, staring at the latest
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rider to board the express bus, sat the ghostly figures
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of others whose time had come to be collected. Miss,
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why don't you have a seat? It's been a long
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night for all of us. He's only doing his job. Unsteadily,
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she found a seat and sat as the bus rolled forward.
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Only after she was seated did she notice that her
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arms and legs were ghostly pale, the same as the
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apparitions who surrounded her as they sat on seats of
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their own. As the bus picked up speed, spontaneously, the
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riders on the bus broke into a subdued song.
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Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.
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Without meaning to, Maddie's own voice joined in the chorus,
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and she finally realized that the home she would return
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to was not found in any suburb. Thank you for
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joining me for this episode of the Into the Night
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Anthology podcast, written by Caroline Giamonco, narrated by Nari, theme
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music by Nico Rodriguez. You can find our links in
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the show notes. Into the Night is on your favorite podcatcher,
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so make sure to like, subscribe, and leave a five-star
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review to help other excursionists to join us. I'll see
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you next time. And remember, whether in the shadows or
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in the daylight, all twisted paths lead you into the night. Hi, excursionists.
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I'm so glad you stayed. If you ever wonder what
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I'm working on when I'm not here, you can find
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my current and past projects at narinarates.com. That's also where
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you can sign up to be a story in my library,
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where every story somehow finds its way back home.