Stories:
Respective authors are credited in each episode's description on all platforms

Logo:
Canva

Music and Sound Effects:
Epidemic Sound
(Minus ep 1+2 which also used audio from Fesliyan Studios and Ahmed Mechcouri )

Podcast Hosting:
Buzzsprout

Video and Audio Editing:
Movavi

Stock Photos:
Shutterstock

Checkered Background:
OwORikos

Fonts:
Dafont

Image Editor:
Vista Create

• Listener Submission by Mirrium

Ever since I was a young boy, I’d always play by the ancient brook next to my home; although, looking back on it, there was always something about it that didn’t seem quite right. Something in the deepest parts of my mind screaming to be heard, something begging me to run away as fast as my trembling legs could take me.I still couldn’t believe everything that had happened over the last few months. My mother and fathers’ disappearance came from nowhere. I’d spoken to them only a few days before they were reported missing, they seemed fine and happy. Regret ate at me as I neared my old home; if I hadn’t gone to the city for work, if I had just stayed with them then maybe I could’ve stopped whatever happened. I didn’t. It was too late now. They’d been missing for a while and were presumed dead, leaving me as the sole heir to their estate.It’d been years since I’d been back there, and I’d almost forgotten that feeling. I almost missed that feeling and how my mother would reassure my childish worries. ‘She was gone now though,’ I reminded myself reluctantly, the only one left to tell myself that my fears were ridiculous was myself. I told myself that there couldn’t possibly be anything in the water since it was barely even ankle deep and I could easily see the bottom.Still though, something about it refused to leave my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about it while sorting through my parents’ abandoned dust-blanketed belongings. Everything in the decrepit house unnerved me completely, it all felt too motionless; almost as if time was just frozen inside.A feint buzzing noise forcefully pulled me from my thoughts. Curiosity convinced me to check out the noise, which led me into my father’s unorganized study. On his desk sat our old family tv, the dials were worn from years of use but oddly clean compared to the rest of the house. There was no dust anywhere along the television. Had someone put it here recently? I couldn’t think. The static drove its wild screeches through me, digging straight through my skull driving me into a livid frenzy.I ripped the screaming box from its position and foolishly threw it across the room with all my might; kicking and hitting its shattered visage until the whining finally faded. A deafening silence filled the room again as I fought to calm my nerves in vain thanks to the summer heat, frying my common sense into a hazed fog. My eyes snapped to a flower in the doorway; rage still bubbling inside me. That flower wasn’t there before, and I’d make sure it wouldn’t be there much longer!‘Wait… That flower wasn’t there before…’ I thought softly to myself as my fury was drowned out by waves of confusion and dread. I knelt into the creaking floors and scooped the delicate ornate pot into my hands. It was my mother’s prized Orchid. Father had gifted it to her when they married, she would’ve never left this behind… Its petals shone a bright golden orange and danced in the gentle breeze like a beautiful fire.It suddenly struck me how odd it was that the orchid was not only alive but just as pristine as how it was when my mother cared for it. “What happened to you mom?” I quietly muttered to myself as I gazed at it almost hypnotized by its patterns.That’s when I heard it. A whisper, barely audible “Robert…” Was someone calling me? I could’ve sworn the voice belonged to my mother, but it couldn’t be. I waited in hopeful silence for a few moments waiting for some kind of confirmation, a sign that she might really be alive. Suddenly, there it was again, a little louder “I love you, Robert…”I gawked in disbelief; it was as if my mother was somehow speaking to me though the fiery petals of her beloved orchid. I cried out in joy “Mother! Where have you been? Where are you? Is father with you?”
I could swear I heard her giggle at my questions before she responded barely above a whisper “come to the brook where we played when you were little, we can discuss everything there.”I carried the decorated pot in my arms like it was a child and clumsily ran to the old brook, my juvenile heart skipping beats at the prospect of being reunited with my parents. I reached the brook and flung my head around desperately scanning for any sign of them as I called out for them “Mother, Father! I’m here, please, where are you?”Both of my parents replied this time as I stepped closer to the water’s edge, the setting sun twisted the flowing water into a sickening shade of crimson red. My mother spoke at a reasonable volume now, as if she was standing right next to me. “I’m here my sweet child. My darling boy we are here with you, step into the water.”“I’m so proud of you son, come now, join us in the water, won’t you?” His stern voice was softer than I remembered but I could still tell that his asking me to join them was not really a question. I did as they asked, putting my mother’s flower gently by my feet and stepped into the ankle-deep water. I cautiously watched the water lapping at the edges of the flowerpot for a moment before turning to the deepest part of the brook.I stepped into the center calling out again “Mother, father? I can’t see you, is this a joke?” I stood there waiting but there was no response this time. I couldn’t hear them anymore. Perhaps my mind was playing on my desperation to see them, a horrific nightmare of my own making. I defeatedly turned to head back to the house.The orchid was gone, in its place was something else entirely. Its golden locks directly mirrored the petals of the missing flower, its entire body was soaked and endlessly dripping with water. No, not water… As the droplets fell from it and splattered on the ground, all I could see was blood, deep crimson blood. The only thing nearby that it could’ve gotten soaked in was the brook, so I looked to my feet checking the water. It was now a thick almost black liquid and appeared to be rising fast.Desperately, I shifted focus to the bank and scrambled to get out. The creature was gone but I didn’t have time to think about it now. I had to get out. I got to the edge, my lungs burning, begging for air. I couldn’t breathe, like I was suffocating, drowning… I scratched at my throat frantically trying to suck in any amount of air. I turned to the water one last time and there it was, the creatures’ faces directly in front of mine surrounded in a black fog making it barely visible even this close to my face. It inevitably had me, its stabbing claws pierced into my flesh pulling me down until I finally gave in to the foul iron-tasting depths.So dear listener, if you are hearing my story, you likely already know the brook I’m speaking of. You will come and join us in the water sooner than you think…