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[Music]

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[Applause]

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[Music]

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[Applause]

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face file a001-1

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the night of the androids it was the

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summer of 1973 and i was 18 at the time

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my cousin tony and i were out late on a

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friday night and we decided to get a six

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pack of beer

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sit on the front steps of the nearby

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elementary school and quench our teenage

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summertime first

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we hadn't been there very long when we

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both heard the rumble of a very loud car

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approaching

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as it came into view we saw that it was

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a 1959 cadillac convertible the one with

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the huge fins

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it was moving no more than about 10

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miles an hour and it was apparent that

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the car had no muffler

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we watched it as it passed wondering why

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such an unusual old car would be

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cruising through our neighborhood after

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midnight

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the car disappeared up the street

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however and we soon turned our attention

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to other things

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after a while we got tired of sitting so

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my cousin and i got up from the school

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steps and decided to walk

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we rounded the side of the school

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building and found ourselves on a dark

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side street with no street lights and

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few houses

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we hadn't gone very far when again we

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heard the sound of that loud engine

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about a quarter of a mile up the street

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a pair of headlights swung toward us

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both my cousin and i froze the side of

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the street on which we'd been walking

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was wooded

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so we slowly edged back into the tree

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line and waited

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the car approached and as it slowly

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passed us we could see it contained a

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man driving

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a woman next to him in the front

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passenger seat and a small boy in the

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back seat

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the street was dark but their faces were

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illuminated by the glow of the dashboard

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lights

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my cousin and i agreed afterwards that

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none of the three moved the entire time

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we had them in sight

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they said nothing heads never moved

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facial expressions didn't change

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they were absolutely like mannequins the

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cadillac disappeared down the street and

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we never saw it again

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being teenagers out late this freaked us

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out a bit

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we decided that we'd had enough for one

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night so we headed for home

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as we rounded the block a police car

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approached us

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the car stopped and the officer asked us

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what we were doing out so late

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then he asked us if we'd seen anything

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unusual

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of course at this point we spilled our

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whole story

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he calmly explained that the car

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contained a family of bicycle thieves

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somewhat relieved we continued home

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after a bit

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i thought it seemed awfully convenient

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that the police officer pulled up when

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he did to offer a forsake explanation

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for what had been a very weird

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experience

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you have to wonder what kind of parent

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would take their kid out for a night of

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larceny

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yes there are some really dysfunctional

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families out there

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but this just seemed too bizarre it only

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occurred to me later that we had seen no

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bicycles in the car

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the trunks on those caddies are huge but

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i don't recall that the trunk lid was

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even a jar

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at least not obviously so so if they

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were bicycle thieves

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they must not have had any luck to this

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day i remember how eerie it was to see

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these motionless people driving down

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that dark street

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if they were looking for bikes don't you

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think they would have been scanning

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yards to see if some kid left one on the

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front lawn

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instead all three of those people sat

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bolt upright

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looking straight ahead you would at

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least expect the kid to be moving around

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but as

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long as we had them in sight he never

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did my cousin and i still discussed the

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incident from time to time

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and we still don't quite know what to

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make of our night of the androids

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[Music]

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case file a001 the odds

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i live in a moderate size borough in

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pennsylvania

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i live in the same house where i grew up

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in fact most of the neighborhood

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has remained the same for the past 20

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years or so

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this includes the family that lives

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across the street

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this family who i refer to as the odds

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is not normal by any stretch of the

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imagination

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there is the husband and wife who are in

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their 70s and their daughter

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carol who is now my age 52. they have

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lived there

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as long as i can remember carol and i

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went to school together

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though we barely knew each other she has

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always been very attractive

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though i never recall her ever having a

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boyfriend or girlfriend

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her parents maintain a very nice house

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and seem to get along quite well

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together

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in fact carol and her parents are always

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a trio

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they are never seen separate they do not

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go to church

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and are not involved in any civic

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activities

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but this isn't the strange part every

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spring since i can recall

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they dig up a huge hole in the backyard

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it's in the same location

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every year the size i estimate is about

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15 x 10 foot

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and about four foot deep as soon as the

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hole is dug they cover it with a huge

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tarp that is staked into the ground

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around the perimeter

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it remains like that for two days and it

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is quickly filled in and topped with new

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turf

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every year it's almost like a harbinger

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of spring

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the odds are digging the hole the odds

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don't talk to anyone

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never carol never talks to anyone i have

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only heard her voice on a few occasions

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and that was when we were in class

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together and she'd be answering the

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teacher

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i attempted to talk to her a few months

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ago during the holidays and she simply

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looked at me

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smiled and said nothing i have never

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heard her parents say

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anything that brings up another point

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carol doesn't look anything like her

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parents

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she must be adopted or as i suspect

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something else is going on here

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i remember when i saw the movie the

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truman show that is the odds

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everything stays the same one summer i

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took a photograph of a family member in

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our friend lawn

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in the background was the odds front

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yard and house

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a few years later i was looking at the

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photograph and was amazed at how similar

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the house

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shrubbery and flowers were at the

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present time it looks like the flowers

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came up the same way a few years later

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they seemed to follow a routine for each

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day of the week but the one thing they

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do every morning is really strange

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the three of them tour the outside of

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the house there are specific places on

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the perimeter of the house where they

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stop

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hold hands in a circle and look into the

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sky it's very strange

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because each time they perform this

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ritual i get a static feeling in the

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hands and feet

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it affects my mother the same way even

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when we are not watching them and

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somewhere else

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there are other oddities as well none of

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them has a job

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no one ever visits and they get a lot of

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deliveries it seems like

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every day something comes i'm convinced

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that these people are not entirely human

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i know it sounds nutty but i'm not the

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only person in the town

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that thinks that something nefarious is

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going on with the odds

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case file a001-3 the strangesmiths

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i grew up in a bedroom community outside

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of new york city

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it was the 1970s and all the fathers in

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the neighborhood commuted to work

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while our mothers were stay-at-home moms

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all the moms were busy bodies and

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basically had their noses in each

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other's business

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the talk of the neighborhood was the

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family that lived beside us the smiths

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the smiths were very strange there was

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mr and mrs smith who looked like they

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were in their 40s and their kids

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a son and a daughter the kids were early

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teens and we never knew their names

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they didn't go to school so we assumed

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they were homeschooled

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the only time we saw them was when the

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whole family would walk single file to

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the garage in the back of their house

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and drive away in their rambler station

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wagon

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my mom talked to mrs smith once right

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after they moved in

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but that was it they never answered the

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door and there was no telephone listing

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mr smith never drove to work and mrs

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smith was never seen shopping or doing

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any chores

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the yard work was taken care of by two

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men who would drive up in a gray service

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truck once a week during the spring and

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summer

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they would cut the lawn and trim the

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hedges there were no flowers or trees no

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lawn furniture nothing

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one of our neighbors called the mayor's

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office about the kids in school but we

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never saw anyone ever come to the house

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in fact they never received mail the

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postman told us

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and there were never any deliveries the

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smiths lived there for about four years

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we didn't even know they had left until

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another normal family moved in

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they told us that the house had been on

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the market for several months

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and that it was purchased through a

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government auction but that seemed

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this is lon strickler if you like this

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program

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it would help us if you would give it a

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thumbs up

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then subscribe and click the bell icon

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get notification when we upload new

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we have many more to come very soon and

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by the way if you have a suggestion