As The Raven Dreams Podcast - FaceBlindness | Creepypasta/Horror Fiction

Starting point is 00:00:00 This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most.

Starting point is 00:00:26 Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify. life serves you an ace or an unexpected backhand. The high-protein yogurt, Oikos Pro, is there to feed your strength and help you turn every challenge into a smash. Oikos Pro helps build strong muscles and support muscle recovery with high protein and contains no added sugar because true strength isn't about being able to take the hits. It's about being able to bounce back. Oikos Pro, feed your strength. Visit oikos.ca for more details. Today's story is faceblind. by Cyber Bunny from the Creepa Pasta Fandom Wiki. You must imagine me as someone who would get lost in a crowd.

Starting point is 00:01:19 Even more so in the dazzling, overzealous masses flooding the amusement park day after day. It was a small yet popular establishment, tucked away at the next freeway exit on a stretch of undeveloped barren land. But they had mascots. They did birthday parties. They kept the kids coming back. When I had seen it for the first time, my mouth agape, tightly clasping my grandfather's hand, it must have been much like a castle, a fantasy land in its resplendent glory. Now, after closing hours, little remained of its once brightly colored facade. The attractions lay dormant, gigantic structures eroded by the wind,

Starting point is 00:02:05 eliciting creeks of metal of loose screws or of chipped paint. They were its cold and unyielding guardians. I traversed the Great Expanse. The walkways seemed dauntingly large in their solitude. There were candy wrappers swept up in a gust, newspapers, torn up park maps. Before I even became aware of it, it had become a habit. Every time luring me in with the faint hope of a discovery,

Starting point is 00:02:35 a clue, if not an answer. But I wouldn't dare think that far. Let me start anew. I'm five years old. I'm on the carousel, the white unicorn. It's so big that I can barely wrap my hands around it. I wave to my grandfather every round. I see his friendly face in the crowd,

Starting point is 00:02:57 even between the many adults doing the same. I remember where he was standing. I must. I remember to meet his gaze until I don't. The ride hasn't ended yet, but I grew impatient with each rotation. The colors blur before my eyes. I jump. I simply must, and I only tumble. Nobody noticed. Nobody here knows me.

Starting point is 00:03:25 I push my way through a crowd. I get lost. This is how you must imagine me. They're all too tall to see over, and no hand is there to hold mine. The rest was a mere sequence of dazed images, so that I could only trust imagination to fill the gaps of memory. I see the Cotton Candyman. He's a friendly man. Now, I believe that he did not work here anymore. I wait. I eat Cotton Candy until I feel sick. The gates close with the last trickle of this.

Starting point is 00:04:02 visitors, like bathwater escaping through a drain, I think. I remember my address, and even if I don't, it is written on a sticker inside of my pocket. I have it because Grandpa forgets things sometimes, I think. The friendly man sees how there is still nobody to hold my hand. He takes me home. It isn't far. I am doing the right thing, I think. Mom says I am doing the right thing.

Starting point is 00:04:33 It's not my fault. Still, my eyes are the ones that he escaped from, and they ask me many, many questions. I still didn't have the answer. With each passing year, it seemed that a chance at closure was slipping from me. That must have been why I started, climbing the fence, opening old wounds.

Starting point is 00:04:58 I felt, as a shadow among the painted walls and stalled rides, emerging like grimaces from the darkness. I saw the park change, but never by daylight. I was only a quiet observer, an old friend familiar with its every singularity. I thought often about the witness reports. A few claimed they had seen him just days after the incident,

Starting point is 00:05:23 an elderly, disoriented man wandering the park grounds. If these held any validity, one thing was certain. He never came home. Everything only led back to this place. You know, I had done this enough times to lose my fear of the darkness. The sound of ancient machinery were at most of a comforting familiarity. But the many, many times I had soaked up the moon's shimmer on the stained pavement that I had been drawn to gaze at one,

Starting point is 00:05:56 and then the other rusted mechanism. Never had I encountered a living soul. No guards, no travelers. Almost as if they knew not to disturb the park's nightly rest. It began as usual. I let my flashlight guide the way ahead. It must have been dark enough that I needed it. Maybe a faint, sickle moon.

Starting point is 00:06:21 When I mentioned they had mascots, I didn't mean merely the themed restaurants or cardboard cutouts. They had teens from around town slipping into those uncanny full-body suits for a summer job. You could see them parading along the path by day, and the empty suits rested in the badly secured locker room by night. I had seen them there, devoid of life, saggy and twisted to an everlasting smile. It was a god-awful job, if I could imagine one. See, it was common to come across them in the vibrancy of the park opened to. to the public, and this was the form they were known and well remembered in.

Starting point is 00:07:02 But the nighttime was different. Its reflective eyes gazed into the distance, blankly, curiously. It's warped shape through long shadows on the ground. Its matted fur dragged behind, with every slumped heavy step. I could tell there was definitely someone inside. I approached the obscured figure carefully, but filled with determination. Messing with the suits, that was no novelty. Putting one at the dead of night, that was peculiar, to say the least, but nothing I couldn't imagine.

Starting point is 00:07:43 I might have done it myself had I gotten the idea first. What's it but a silly joke? I felt invincible in the park's embrace. It was bound to me more than. than to anyone. Maybe then, I said something irrelevant to get its attention. Could have been any kid from the neighborhood, I thought. Whoever it was, they didn't feel like talking.

Starting point is 00:08:09 The suit and its wearers sped up to make a getaway. I felt strangely compelled to follow. Dammit, I wanted to talk to that guy. It was the only form of change I could grasp in over a decade. Before I knew it, we were on a day. reckless chase in between giant structures and cold dark air. The kid was pretty fast, but I knew the place inside out. The shaky beam of my flashlight caught its shape every now and then. The closer I got, the more something started to bother me. Something that almost stopped me in my tracks.

Starting point is 00:08:45 Through their pervasive presence in the park, I had of course become well acquainted with the characters. I knew those suits. I knew them enough to realize. this wasn't one of them. Worse even, it looked vaguely like bubbles. The blue bear. But the colors were off, the fabric disheveled and misshapen. Like a cheap off-brand of his likeness. Like a fading childhood memory.

Starting point is 00:09:15 Whatever that was, I could not let it get away. Now more than ever. I soon realized it wasn't heading for an exit. Rather, was it leading me deeper into the park, as if it had a specific place in mind? That place was hidden, resting behind tall greenery just off the path to the giant Ferris wheel. It seemed at peace, and yet some gondolas swayed dangerously in the breeze. It would be the last thing I saw. There was a slim, unassuming door.

Starting point is 00:09:51 There the intruder had slipped away. just barely within my field of view. It was left unlocked, and a flight of stairs led downward to a corridor lined with flickering neon lights. It must have been an old service tunnel, running directly underneath the attractions. I lowered my flashlight, quieted my steps, there was nowhere much it could go from here. Albeit in largely faded colors, the walls were decorated with childlike illustrations of the mascots. It was only strange because none of them quite seemed familiar. The little princess, the fox, the hair, they were all there, but nothing about them matched their original counterparts.

Starting point is 00:10:38 And there was bubbles, too. This twisted, color-inverted version of him. Orange instead of blue, black eyes instead of white. Determined to get to the bottom of this, I advanced quickly through the narrow passageway. It wasn't long until I sensed distant footsteps, thinking itself safe in the refuge of the tunnels. I barely spotted its tail end when the tunnels diverged into a set of three, and then it happened again. And I wondered how far we had already traversed the park, as every wall, every corner, seemed identical. Out of breath, I stayed a safe distance behind, thinking it couldn't be much further until we hit a dead end.

Starting point is 00:11:24 But quite the contrary. A door slammed, a gust of air, another flight of stairs. I emerged from the same entrance we had once passed through. In my confusion, I had lost sight of the mascot entirely. It must have used its knowledge of those tunnels to lead me in a circle. I felt foolish but rightfully defeated. What a night. Drained of my stamina.

Starting point is 00:11:52 I surrendered and made my way home. As I sunk into the couch, I was far from racking my brain over what I had seen. That was a matter for another day. I didn't expect it to catch up to me. Not so soon. I flicked through a number of TV channels, crime drama, nature documentary. presidential speech.

Starting point is 00:12:15 I stopped, not because I was particularly interested, but because I did not recognize the man labeled president. My nervosity grew. I listened to him. I checked the channel, the program. I scrolled to news articles, Wikipedia, anything. I became frantic. The day, the year, it was all correct.

Starting point is 00:12:40 I considered everything but found nothing. Undoubtedly, this was our president, only that I felt as if I did not know him. Was I dreaming? Maybe I should just go to sleep. Maybe I would tell someone about it tomorrow, and it would all be but a grand joke. Tomorrow came. You can guess what I did first when I woke. My heart sank.

Starting point is 00:13:09 The image remained the same, clearly and terrifyingly unduly. familiar. I remembered why I had woken up so early. A series of knocks on the door shook the room until a key was turned impatiently. I froze on the spot upon meeting eyes with the intruder. Yet another man I had never seen before quite naturally entering the safety of my home. Who are you? The hell are you doing in my place? My voice must have sounded full of fright, confusion and a whirlwind of other desperate emotions. He laughed. He laughed like it was normal, and that freaked me out.

Starting point is 00:13:51 He messing with me? Come on, wake up already. I don't know you! I yelled almost in a blind stupor as though the world had begun spinning the wrong way. I barely noticed it then, but the stranger's expression changed significantly, from one of light-hearted banter to genuine concern. Hey, is everything all right with you? This isn't like you. I must have seemed afraid. Terribly and seriously so.

Starting point is 00:14:20 Maybe that was why he backed up toward the door, adding, Man, I'm your best friend, it's me. No way, I whispered. Matt looks nothing like you. Don't try me. And in an act of defiance, I pulled out my phone to dial my friend's number. A part of me wasn't surprised when a muffled ringtone sounded from the strange man's pocket. Shaking my head between mumbled expressions like, no, and it can't be. I saw no choice but to storm out of the apartment as I was, leaving everything I thought to know behind.

Starting point is 00:15:00 I tried my parents' house next. The couple opening the door were complete strangers. They called me by my name. They were their clothes, but I did not know them. Nearly insane, I found myself chasing through town on the search for glimpses of something familiar. People on billboards, on movie posters. They were celebrities, but I couldn't recognize them. I only came to a halt at the cold, hard permanence of a mirrored surface. While I hadn't stopped to observe myself since yesterday, I had been so sure to still inhabit a body

Starting point is 00:15:39 that was mine, that I controlled. The body in the mirror moved along with my thoughts. It was dressed in the same puzzled expression that I thought to be wearing. But his face wasn't mine. It was then that I realized that I could not even say why it was wrong. Had you asked me what I looked like, I couldn't have told you. There was no feature that I could name setting me apart from the creature that I'd become my reflection, except that he wasn't me.

Starting point is 00:16:14 I had no idea who I was. I now know why they never found him, and they wouldn't find me either. Maybe they would find what was left of me, a fragment, a twisted version of something I was not. Maybe this place below would soon cough up my counterpart, as wrong in my world, as I was in his.

Starting point is 00:16:41 I now know that there is a place for memories, for elusive dreams and faded images. This is where they go to die. So that was again, Faceblindness by Cyber Bunny from the creepypasta fandom wiki. A really fun and interesting story. As one commenter put it, a worthwhile spin on the concept of an abandoned place leading to an alternate to mention our timeline. I actually personally liked how they did that. It was an interesting fun thing, knowing that as a five-year-old, their grandfather disappeared and they kept coming back to this place to try to find him. And what they found was a method of escaping that

Starting point is 00:17:35 existence and ending up in another one. So, very fun. Very interesting. And I quite, I quite enjoyed the whole story. So, yeah. hopefully you enjoy the story as well and let me know down the comments down below if you're on Spotify I think that's only a place it allows comments if you did enjoy the story and went more like this I plan to do these again as I always do

Starting point is 00:18:00 randomly throughout the month just for fun because I enjoy doing fiction stories as much as I do true stories and I feel like some of the stories in the wiki don't get the love they deserve so you know so it goes um you can also go to the website

Starting point is 00:18:15 as the ravendreams.com where you can find all places where the podcast is hosted, all the stories I've written, fiction stories over there, and other things, send your story in. Support the whole show as the Raven Dreams on Patreon. Patreon.com slash As the Raven Dreams,

Starting point is 00:18:32 where for a dollar a month, get early access to all content, all content, including fiction and true stories. Never expected. Always appreciated. Yeah. Leave a rating on the podcast, if you so choose. Honest ratings are the best. honest reviews on Apple. Don't give me five stars because you think I want it.

Starting point is 00:18:50 If you think it's a five-star podcast, leave a five-star with your reasoning. If you think it's a one-star podcast, do the same, but at least have a reason, please. That's all I ask. I cannot grow if those that don't like my content don't tell me what they don't like. That's how I've always seen it.

Starting point is 00:19:06 All it said, friends, hope you have a beautiful week, and hope I see you again here soon, but until then, remember you are loved, valid, and important, and the world's better place with you in it. and of course much love and sleep well

As The Raven Dreams Podcast - FaceBlindness | Creepypasta/Horror Fiction

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