As The Raven Dreams Podcast - Glitch In The Matrix Stories Ep. 130 | ATRD Podcast

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

TODAY'S EPISODE IS brought to you in partnership with Laffwicks Studio! Check out the candles at https://www.astheravendreams.com/candles (Only available in the US for now!) Welcome to the 130th Glitch In The Matrix Stories Collection! Today we have 13 stories that will make you question reality itself, submitted and posted by everyday people. Today we have stories about disappearing objects, strange happenings, time skips and quantum immortality. Would you like to participate in the postcard exchange? It comes with a free ATRD Sticker! Just Send a post card to the following... Lucas PO BOX 8198 Rochester, MN 55903 If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like or rate the podcast, and leave me a comment with your thoughts if the platform your on supports it! I upload episodes every 3 days, so there are 2 days between new uploads. The podcast consists of new scary story collections, Glitch in the matrix collections, and also what I call the "Dark Dreams" collections (which are older stories, remastered and layered with rain sounds). If you have a story to submit, would like to find where to listen to the podcast, or want to find me on social media platforms, all of that info can be found at https://www.astheravendreams.com You can also send stories into my subreddit (r/theravensdream) or email them to me at [e-mail] Want to check out some ATRD Podcast Merch? ➤ https://teechip.com/stores/astheravendreams Or for signed merch ➤ https://ko-fi.com/AsTheRavenDreams I wrote a novel, "The Insomniac's Experiment" by Raven Adams! Check it out on amazon (Or you can email me for a signed copy!) Join Patreon to get early access and support the Podcast! ➤ https://www.patreon.com/AsTheRavenDreams Check out my gaming channel with my pal Ghost_Ink ➤ @superNefariousBros On YouTube Thank you to all of the authors that have stories in todays episode... J. Francis, Owen M, PT, Angel, Heather, Alias, Genna, Kim W, Crystal, Josh, Kim, Scott, Deni As Well As Any Author That Has Requested Anonymity. TimeStamps… Ad breaks after Story 1 & Story 10 1 ➤ 1:25 2 ➤ 5:04 3 ➤ 13:53 4 ➤ 18:30 5 ➤ 20:33 6 ➤ 25:19 Laffwicks Partnershiop ➤ 27:28 7 ➤ 28:42 8 ➤ 35:16 9 ➤ 38:02 10 ➤ 43:32 11 ➤ 47:09 12 ➤ 51:42 13 ➤ 55:51 ----- Disclaimer ➤ Episodes include a content warning for language and sensitive/disturbing content. Listener discretion is always advised. ALL Audio and visuals on this podcast are copyright of AS THE RAVEN DREAMS / RAVEN ADAMS and may not be duplicated, in any format. Bless This Mess. None of my audio is AI Generated, I am a real person reading real stories into a real microphone. Note: The podcast nor the host endorses any advertisements played during the podcast, ads are not chosen by ATRD or Raven Adams, they are chosen automatically by the advertisement systems by the platforms that host the podcast. I do not endorse, support, or promote any opinions or statements made in any adverts played during the show. #ScaryStories #UnexplainedMysteries #GlitchInTheMatrix Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join me and follow the podcast conspiracy theories, where we explore what's really going on behind the official narrative. Like, what if the Loch Ness monster isn't a monster at all, but an elephant? What do the richest 1% know that we don't? Why are they building all those bunkers? And really, what the heck is going on with the Denver airport? Join me every week to see just how high up this goes on the Spotify podcast, Conspiracy theories. Listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, friends, and good afternoon.

Hopefully you are doing fantastic on this Thursday. Wow. The week has dragged on and yet gotten away from you somehow. I'm doing pretty good. I got a mint-conditioned mocha from caribou with oat milk because I don't drink regular milk. Not because I'm allergic. It does cause me some stomach distress, but it's not like horrible. It just makes me feel blay.

So oat milk's been my go-to. And mint condition is actually pretty good. It's just a mint mocha, basically, from Caribou, which is a coffee place if you don't have it near you. Pretty good. I enjoy it. Not really relevant to anything I just wanted to tell you. So today, we have glitch stories.

Not much else say about it. If you like him, you like them. If you don't, you don't. And that's totally fine. If you can, you should do something. nice for yourself today. Get yourself a nice little latte if you're into that.

Or anything else. Have a nice lunch. Have a really good sandwich or something. Just do something nice for yourself, okay? Please, that's all I ask. And, you know, enjoy the stories if you want to. And that's all. We'll move on to the stories now.

Bye. Dear Raven, I love listening to your glitch podcasts. It helps me through these dull hours of cleaning the house. Thank you. Happy to do so. Happy to be of assistance? What am I trying to say there? Thank you.

In the past, I experienced some small glitches, but nothing noteworthy of sharing. However, last weekend, something happened that has left me completely baffled, and I honestly can't find a logical explanation for it. I've always considered myself a down-to-earth and rational person. In my daily life, I rely on facts, logic, and data, not wild theories, as I work and legal. But after last weekend, I maybe need to revise my self-image. I was out for a long solo mountain bike ride, and I deliberately chose a region that I wasn't familiar with because I wanted to clear my head and enjoy the nature. It happened quite early into the trip, around the 17-kilometer

mark, so I definitely wasn't fatigued or hallucinating from exhaustion. I transitioned off a single-track trail and came right out into a main rural road. Right across the intersection was a local police station with a few cars parked outside, including a distinct gray van. Beside the police station there were two, I guess, large water tanks. Since a branch had gotten stuck in my derailer, I pulled over right next to the station for a minute to remove it. After fixing it, I checked my GPS route. I used a garment edge, 840, and I turned left out onto the main road. That part of the route was simple, just straightforward down the road with a slight gradual incline.

I kept pedaling for just under 10 minutes, but when I reached the end of the straight stretch, my stomach completely dropped, because there it was again. The exact same police station, the exact same two water tanks, the exact same cars and the exact same gray van part. parked in the same spot. For a second, my head was spinning. I knew for a fact that I hadn't turned around, and the road had been completely straight. A bit confused, I just kept pedaling and finishing my ride.

At the moment that it happened, I still had a long way to go, for over 70 kilometers, so I did not want to turn around and investigate on the spot. When I got home, I did immediately investigate. I checked Google Maps to find the location. Sure enough, there's only one police station with the two distinctive water tanks on that road. Then I checked my recorded GPS track log to see what the hell happened. According to the data, I supposedly wrote a loop that brought me right back to the station. The problem is, I know with absolute certainty that I never made those turns. To make things even weirder, the data shows my speed increasing as

I passed the station the first time, even though that was the exact moment I had completely stopped to remove the branch from my derailier. I don't have any explanation, and I don't think that I'll ever forget this. During the remainder of the MTB trip, I kept asking myself whether this was some sort of proof that we are indeed living in a simulation. Has anyone experienced anything similar? I have a personal and weird story that I wanted to share. It's a lot like some of the stories you've read in the past,

so I'm sorry if it kind of feels like a repeat, but I needed to throw my hat in the ring because it was weird. I'm a pretty normal dude, nothing crazy about me, so I won't go into the personal details about myself, but I will detail someone else for this story. I want to talk about my uncle Gregory, or Uncle G, as I used to call him. My Uncle G is my late father's younger brother.

He's a gruff and retired mechanic who spent 20-some-odd years chain-smoking menthol's in his two-car garage while rebuilding small engines. He's actually the man that taught me how to change my brakes, and he lent me the money to get my transmission fixed back when I was like 20 years old. He's a good guy. He helped me what I needed it, and he always said. seemed to be in the background and stepping forward if he was needed. He could be seen as a bit reclusive, always doing his work, but if you called, he would answer. So, when I was 25, which would be somewhere around 15-ish years ago, Uncle G had a cardiac scare. It wasn't fatal, but it was enough that everyone in the family knew the clock was ticking.

and we were all worried about his stubborn refusal to make any sort of life changes. From here, I have to mention that there are two timelines that seem to exist. So I'm going to explain my side, and then the other side, I guess. If it gets confusing, I do apologize, but I'm confused, so that may come through in how this is written. On my 27th birthday, the actual day of my birthday, I remember getting a call at around 10.30 in the morning. I had taken the day off work, and I was just at home watching some TV at the time. I answered because the person calling was my dad. The moment I answered with, hey, dad, I could tell that something was wrong.

My dad wasn't really one for calling, so I had a nervous feeling as to what it was. but then he mentioned that my aunt Linda had called him and told him that Uncle G had collapsed at the breakfast table that morning. He told me that Linda tried to do chest compressions until the EMTs got there, but there was nothing that she could have done. He'd had a massive cardiac event that pretty much killed him right then and there. I remember thinking at that very moment that, as awful as it was, at least there was no long-term suffering.

It was quick. I don't know what he felt or thought in his last moments. But I knew that it happened and then it was over. It was a morbid thought, but for some stupid reason it gave me some level of comfort, I guess. He mentioned that he was heading out to Linda's house to help her, and that he would get me the details for the funeral as soon as he had them. And that was that. We had the funeral.

It was painful to say goodbye, but the family all came together for Linda, and it helped her to know that even though she was married into the family, that we would all be there for her, and that she was family. From there, life went on as normal. That is, until about three years ago. In 2023, my father got sick and then died within the span of about six months. He'd had cancer that he was. wasn't aware of until it was too late.

He didn't like to go to the doctor, and by the time he decided he needed to, it was too late. They tried, he fought, he did everything he could to stick around, but it just wasn't quite enough. When he passed, it hurt like hell, but I pushed through to help my mom with everything. Thankfully, he spent the time that he had making sure his affairs were in order, and spending some time. with all of us kids, so we had that, which was more than everyone had with Greg. Again, a morbid thought, but it was true. At least I thought it was true. That is until the day of my dad's funeral. I was there talking to my grandma and my mom when in walks none other than my uncle, G. He had less hair, but he lost weight and looked healthier, and like he was taking a lot better

care of himself. Well, that was great since I was under the impression that he'd been dead for a decade. I watched him walk into the funeral home, and I watched him hug my grandma. He gave me a tight hug and said that he'd missed me and that he was so sorry about my dad. I almost wanted to cry, because I did really love my Uncle G, and here he was, giving me a hug 10 years after I watched them bury him. This is where that second timeline that I mentioned comes into play. After the funeral, I was talking to my mom about things and I said something like, it was weird to see Gregory here, right? She laughed and responded with, oh, I know, right?

He looks like he's doing so much better. We haven't really seen him much since Linda died. This was the point where things split into those two paths. Since I don't want to make this too long, I'll just kind of explain it here. My timeline, my uncle died in 2013 of a massive coronary, leaving my aunt Linda as a widow. The family rallied around her and helped her through everything, and I hadn't really seen her since that same year. I kind of pulled away from everyone just doing my own thing, but, to the best of my knowledge, she was doing well with her now adult son in college a few states away.

Then, there's the timeline that seemingly everyone else experienced. Apparently, my aunt Linda had the coronary back in 2013, and she left my uncle G, a widower. We all wanted to be there for him, but he became reclusive after her death, and pretty much no one had heard from him for a decade until my dad died. Same son was away at college though, so no change there. So I have my memories of Greg's funeral, of Linda crying, of saying goodbye to Uncle G in my mid-20s, and of everyone staying close with Linda.

But everyone else has memories of Linda dying and Greg being quiet at the funeral, and then shutting himself away from the family for nearly 10 years. and now Uncle G is still alive and healthier than ever, clearly having taken better care of himself after she passed. The main thing that seems to be consistent in the two timelines is Uncle G's minor cardiac event when I was 25. Except in my memories, it was the start of the bigger issues which killed him. But in this, it happened,

but then Linda had the major cardiac issue that killed her, and he took it as a sign to get healthier. That, to me, doesn't even make sense. Because Greg and Linda were not the same in their habits. Greg smoked like crazy, ate fast food all the time. His favorite food was bacon-wrapped bacon. And Linda was ironically healthier. She didn't smoke or drink.

She ate a fairly balanced diet, and she was always nagging at Greg to be better in his habits. So the fact that she had the life-ending heart attack just doesn't make sense to me. Greg dying from a heart attack does make sense. But I guess it is what it is in the end. Everything changed and I can't seem to accept it, but honestly, what else am I supposed to do? Hi, Raven. My name is Jenna.

First of all, I want to say that I really appreciate your work, and I've been a regular listener for a while. Thank you. For some reason this morning, I remembered an experience I had early in my youth and felt compelled to share it with you. So, here it goes. When I was around six years old, my older sister took a class from a really cool lady in our town that we called Ms. Shea. Ms. Shea held the art class in her house. More specifically, she held it in her basement. Now, an important note for later is that Ms. Shea was older, like 50 to 55 years old, and her kids were grown and not living with her.

There was never anyone in the house when we were there, except for her, and occasionally her husband. Anyway, I was too young for the art class since my sister was significantly older than me, so my mom and I would hang out in the lounge area of the basement while my sister did her lesson. One day while waiting, I got bored of watching TV with my mom, so I asked Ms. Shea if I could go into the playroom. She had a ton of cool toys in there from when her daughter was small. She had a whole collection of vintage Barbies, too, which was heaven for me as a little girl. She said, yes, you can play in there, without a pause, because the room was never used as anything else except for her collectibles. So I go over to the other side of the basement, turn the light on in the play.

room, ready to have fun, and to my shock, there was a person in the bed. They stirred a lot when I clicked the light on and mumbled something incoherent, as if I had woken them in the middle of the night or something. This person was definitely child size, maybe five to eight years old, but I couldn't see them very well because they had the blankets covering themselves. My heart absolutely jumped out of my chest, and I stood there first. a second completely confused as to why she didn't tell me there was somebody sleeping in there during the day. I closed my eyes out of fear and turned the light off. My instinct was not to say anything to my mom because I was so afraid she wouldn't believe me. I was not a troublemaking kid by any means,

so I sat back down on the couch wide as a ghost and made up some excuse like I changed my mind, or I didn't want to play alone. I must have looked terrified, but my mom was preoccupied with the book or something, so she didn't question me. I was expecting the person to come out of the room at some point, since apparently I had disturbed them so much. But there was no one there at all once after that. I was utterly and completely spooked.

The art lesson lasted like 45 minutes, and then Ms. Shea took us into the playroom again to look at the Barbies. There was definitely no random extra child in there or anywhere in the house for that matter. Now, fast forwarding a bit, I have tried to come up with a logical explanation for what the hell I experienced back then, in 2001. But I really don't think there is one. Just to clarify, there were only three to four kids in that art class. and I really doubt that one would be sleeping in the playroom alone. Plus, I saw them all gathered in the art room just moments before I went to go play.

Ms. Shea was also a very attentive person. If there was a child trying to take a nap in that room, she absolutely would have told me. My conclusion is that I may have experienced a very brief time glitch. That playroom belonged to her daughter when she was small. Like I said, so maybe for a second I went back 20 years to when her daughter was little. I am a big believer in glitches. I've read and listened to hundreds of glitch stories, and I'm convinced they're real. But the question is, why?

Why in the world would I see such a strange thing? I may never have the answer to that, but I can say that that experience still, hills me to the bone. I'm not sure if this is a glitch in the matrix, but it has given me something to think about for a few years. I live at the foot of a steep hill. My driveway is long compared to the others around me. One morning I woke up early to check and see if it had snowed overnight. I love the beauty of an untouched snow. It did in fact snow that night. We had at least three to four inches. As I was peering out my window and enjoying the beauty. beauty, I looked at the hill that I spoke of, and what I saw was quite startling. I saw footprints

coming down the hill and then up my driveway. They went all the way around my house and ended at my front door. That's the mystery. They ended at my front door. They didn't turn around and walk away, and they most certainly did not come into my house either. It was as if whoever it was had just vanished. I woke my family up and they saw it too. We had a dog that would usually bark if someone was outside and he didn't make a sound all night or that morning. The footprints were that of a man, they were large, I would estimate a size 13 to 14, and they were obviously tennis shoes. Remember, this was completely untouched snow. All but the shoe prints that came down my hill, up my driveway, all the way around my house and ended at the front door.

So, any guesses as to where this person went? Or why they picked my house? I have no idea myself, and it's been about ten years, and I still think about this in wonder. Just to add, my daughter's fiancé gave me a gun that afternoon, if that gives you any idea of just how uneasy we all felt. She saw it all also, and so did my son. Hey Raven. My name is Owen, long-time fan, first-time submitter. Thank you for reading this story. It's a small glitch in the matrix that I've been experiencing for the past one and a half years.

And also a bigger glitch in the matrix that just happened recently. They are both related. I like to experiment in the kitchen with a lot of different recipes. And about a year and a half ago, I started learning how to make fried coconut shrimp. I use frozen shrimp to thaw them out whenever I make these. The first time I made them, I didn't count them. I just eyeballed a good serving size for me, my brother, and my mom. This is important for later.

I served them to my family, and they all said that I did a good job. Next time I made them, I decided to count them out. I took out 16 in frozen shrimp from the bag. I dipped them in flour, egg, and then coconut flakes and breadcrumbs, counting in the back of my head as I went. I stacked the raw breaded shrimp up in a pile and heated up my oil. I fried them in batches of four, since I took 16 out, but the last batch had five in them. I ended up with 17 shrimp.

I shook it off as a simple miscount since the shrimp gets stuck together in the freezer, and I may have counted two as one. I would have just forgotten this, as it's a simple mistake to make when trying a recipe out early on. However, the next time I tried the recipe, the same thing happened. I counted out a certain amount of shrimp, and then divided them into even batches. The last batch had one more than I expected, and I got one more fried shrimp. I counted the shrimp out so that they are divisible by four, as that leaves enough room for them in the pan, so I'm a little frustrated. Okay, I guess I could be a little absent-minded when pulling shrimp out of a freezer bag.

I chalk it up to my brain being weird. I've made this fried shrimp recipe eight more times after that, though, and each time there seems to be an extra shrimp. The last three times I've been extra careful while pulling out the shrimp to thaw. I count them out, holding them up to my face when doing so, and then put them in a bowl to thaw. Every single time, there is an extra one that appears. Fully breaded.

This has been happening for about a while. a year and a half, and I really haven't been too freaked out by it. Honestly, I've been enjoying it a little as it feels like when a McDonald's worker gives you an extra nugget. This is when the second glitch comes into play. I made this recipe last night, and the same thing happened. I counted out 16 shrimp and ended up with 17. I fully expected this and have even told my mom and brother to expect one extra shrimp in the past. Once they were all finished, though, I asked my mom and my brother if they wanted any. My mom laughed and said yes, but then asked me if I was trying to kill my brother.

My brother was also laughing, so I asked what was up. My brother then said something along the lines of, uh, because I'm allergic? I was so confused, because I've never been aware of this allergy. In the past seven times I've made them, he's eaten them with no problem. I thought they were joking with me, because they do joke around like that, but knowing them, they would only do something like that for a minute or two before revealing it and then accepting the shrimp. My brother never budged, though, and both of them insisted that he has always been allergic

to shrimp. The final thing that has been really messing with my head is that my mom pulled out an epipen from her purse and showed it to me in a, uh, don't you remember this kind of way? I've never seen her carrying that before, and my brother has never mentioned that. My mom and I ended up eating the shrimp, but he had none. In the past, when I made this recipe, he really loved the shrimp, so I know he wouldn't be so committed to such a weird prank. And even if he was, I know that he wouldn't get my mom involved, as she doesn't like

pulling long-term pranks like this, and wouldn't invest in a full-blown epipen. I'm kind of freaking out, since I feel like I either have made up memories of my brother enjoying my cooking, or I've slipped into some weird, alternate reality. And I have no clue what to think. I have to first say that I love your voice and all of your podcasts, and I've been listening for a few years, so great job. I always look forward to the new episodes. Thank you for that sincerely. On to the glitch. I want to say it was sometime in May of 2026.

My son gave me his bank card. I kept it in the middle console in my truck. After paying my car insurance, I put my driver's license in the console with the bank card. Pulling up to our driveway, I retrieved my driver's license and the bank card from the console, and immediately put them both vertically in the front pocket of my purse. The one end was clearly visible sticking out of the pocket. I collected the bags and I carried them in. As soon as I saw my son, I pulled out the bank card and handed it to him.

My driver's license was still sticking out of my purse pocket. Fast forward to the next morning, my son calls me from work and says, Mom, you gave me your card. I was just getting up, so I heard him, but didn't. Anyway, I pick him up from work, and as he's getting in, he hands me the card. I look at him puzzled, until I read the name on the card. It was my bank card. I didn't have my purse with me, so I had to get his card when we got home.

Returning to my purse, my driver's license was still where I remembered it being. I pulled out all the cards in that pocket and found my son's card in the center of about ten other cards. I was dumbfounded. I clearly remember not using his card, picking it up, reading his name on it. it and putting it with my driver's license in my purse pocket, then handing it straight back to him. I just, I can't explain it. My son and I still laugh about it, but thank you, and remember that you are loved. May you have many blessings, and again, thank you. Today's episode is brought to you in partnership

with Lafwick Studio. Lafwick Studio makes candles that inspire, and we've partnered to bring you to candles based on this podcast you were listening to. The Raven's Dream is a dreamy white sage and lavender that will help you stay cozy as you drift into the dark, and a glitch in reality, which is a deja vu inducing citrus and sandalwood, certain to make your world feel a bit out of sync. All of Lafwick's soy candles are hand-pored in the great state of Vermont, are paraben and die-free, plant-based, have cotton wicks and come in recycled can containers. The as the Raven dreams, Cross Lafwick Studio co-lab feature sent chosen by me, Raven, as well as gorgeous labels, if I may say so myself, designed by me specifically for this collaboration.

I'm super excited to be working with Lafewicks, and I sincerely hope that you'll take the time to check these candles out, as well as all the other great offerings that Lafewicks has in store. For more information, just go to as-the-ravendreams.com slash candles, and a huge thank you to Lafwick studio for partnering with me to make this possible. And now back to the stories. I've been a bit of a lurker here on your channel and over on the subreddit for glitch stories, and while I enjoy them, I've honestly always thought that a lot of people just have overactive imaginations. Or maybe they experience some kind of weird hallucination while half asleep in some cases, or whatever. I never thought that I'd be having to type up a story for you.

mostly because I've been middle of the road on most of them, and yet here I am. I was definitely not half asleep, and I definitely did not imagine what happened. So, I guess that makes me a believer. Cue up the Imagine Dragons song right here. I take the subway to work every weekday, at roughly the same time every morning. If you're like me and have to commute by rail in any major city, You know that most of the time it's boring. You also know that there are unwritten rules when riding the rails.

Eyes forward, don't make eye contact with others, and mind your own damn business. I'm the type that likes to listen to music and pretend that there aren't a couple dozen other people crammed in this tin can with me. I'm not rude about it. I just don't like social interactions and it just seems safer to keep to yourself. I got on at my usual stop at around 7.15 in the morning, as always. The car was half full, which means most of the double seats had a person in them, but the aisle seats were open. I sat in one of the rows near the center door and did what I could to tune things out, just staring out the window with my AirPods in.

Now, I did a pretty good job at ignoring other people, but two stops later, I happened to look up and make eye contact with a random guy that was entering. It was an unfortunate moment because this apparently led Mr. Mann to think that I was friendly enough to sit by. He gave me a slight nod and a smile that was friendly enough, and then walked down the aisle and took the empty seat next to me. It wasn't a huge deal. He looked normal enough, like he was going to work or an interview or something. buttoned down white shirt with the blue tie, khaki-colored pants. Actually, now that I think about it, he was almost dressed like SpongeBob. Not relevant, just an entertaining thought that I had just now.

Anyway, he sat down next to me, giving me that same slight smile. It wasn't creepy. It was more of an acknowledgement that he had taken the seat next to me, like, Hey, sorry, I don't want to sit here, but I feel like if I do, it'll be the least problematic place. I gave a slight smile back and went back to staring out the window. I want to mention that this whole time, I could feel his messenger bag bumping into my side. It wasn't a problem. It was just something that's important to mention, because it was a constant thing that I could feel. I looked back at my phone, skipping a few tracks on my playlist, trying to find something to wake me up a bit more,

and then I zoned out for a few moments, staring at the scuffed linoleum on the floor between my stars. sneakers, kind of just getting into the rhythmic sway of the train on the tracks. I was just trying to let the time pass because what the hell else was I supposed to do. Then the train slowed, and the voice came over the intercom mentioning the next stop. The doors opened, nothing new or crazy. Again, I just kind of sat there, staring at the floor and at my feet like a weirdo, just waiting to get to my stop. At this point, I decided to glance up again and look over at the people getting on at said stop.

This is the point where I kind of freaked out. Because when I looked up, I saw the guy that was sitting next to me. But he was getting on the train. Dude had the same white shirt, blue tie, khakis, and messenger bag. I kind of chuckled at first thinking, wow, this must be today's generic dude model. and I shifted to look at the guy next to me. I want to emphasize again that up until this exact moment, I could still feel the messenger bag nudging my side.

That was my main indicator that the guy was still sitting next to me. Yet, when I turned my head to look at the man sitting next to me, he wasn't there. The seat was empty. No man, no messenger bag. I wasn't sure what to think at that moment. I knew the guy was still there as I could feel his bag, but when I looked up, he was just getting on the train, and the seat next to me was empty. In spite of my desire to not look like the weird person on the train, I quickly looked around at all of the other seats, trying to see if he had just moved or what had happened.

But I ended up just looking like a crazy person standing at my seat and looking around the train car. The weirdest thing is that I swear it on my life, I felt the messenger bag prodding me in the side up to the split second that I looked away. When I glanced over at the seat next to me, I didn't feel it. It was like it had to teleport right at that moment. When my brain was stalling and trying to figure out what had happened, the man walked down the aisle to find the seat. He gave me that same smile from earlier, but walked right past me into his seat closer to the back. Honestly, I felt almost paralyzed. It was such a weird feeling to see that man walk in after he had already been there, but then he wasn't there at the same time? Like the only thing I could think was, if that was so weird for me, what the hell did everybody else see?

Did anyone else even notice this? or was I the only one cursed with this knowledge of this happening? It honestly felt like I watched an event happen, and then rewound and watched it again. But only the man was affected by it. I don't know. It was weird, and like I said, I guess I now have to say that, to some extent, I'm a believer.

Hey, Raven. I've been watching you for a good while now and enjoy your stories, but I was skeptical until a very weird glitch happened this morning. I had a very vivid dream, although it didn't feel like just a dream. It felt like a genuine life until I woke up. It was awful. In this, I was myself, but the worst version of myself. For context, I grew up in an abusive home.

I was overweight because I looked to food for comfort while growing up, and eventually I had enough, and started taking care of myself physically and mentally, left my house and rebuilt myself from scratch. Good job. Very, very good job, my friend. This dream was kind of like an alternative timeline where I never did that. I was still fat and taking care of my abusive parents who had become too old to do things for themselves, living every day and hoping it would end soon. And that's the weird part.

The dream wasn't one day. It was a few days until I left. I can't remember now, but I had a routine and I followed it every day. But it was one that only made my health worse. Then my fiancé woke me up saying that I was angrily swearing in my sleep. Weird, because I don't think I ever spoke in my sleep. My fiancé and I've been sleeping together for years now, and this is the first time she noticed it as well. The part that blows my mind even more is that for the first few seconds of waking up,

I was confused at who she was, and then who I was. But then after a few more seconds, it all came back to me. I haven't seemed to forget anything more about my, let's say, active timeline, and I don't seem to remember too much about that dream either. What I've said all this time is all that I remember about it. it genuinely felt like I was changing timelines when I woke up. The reason I said it felt like days is because I remember going to sleep and waking up in the dream. I don't know how to explain it except an alternate timeline where I didn't make the decisions I did.

I know that we haven't studied dreams enough to understand it clearly, but let's see if I can eventually find out why it happened. Until then, thanks for reading my story. Hopefully, someone in the comments can help. And thanks for what you do. It's genuinely so calming when running errands. The pleasure is all mine, my friend. Hi, Raven. I love your channel.

I like to sit on my back porch and listen after work. Stories in your amazing reading voice help me to unwind. Thank you very much for that. I want to share with you the story of a strange encounter experienced by my husband and daughter on a highway in northern Minnesota, in the wee hours of the morning. The following is my husband's recounting of the incident. In May of 2012, my family and I, who live in St. Paul, drove 230 miles north to the little town of Toft for a short vacation.

We plan to hike a couple of state parks and just enjoy some family time. We made the trip in two groups, Our two sons and my wife made the three-and-a-half-hour drive up Scenic Highway 61 during the day. They stopped frequently to roam the rocky shores of Lake Superior and enjoy some spectacular views. Our daughter, Laura and I both had to work that day, and we hit the road after Laura's shift ended at 11 p.m. Laura and I were in high energy as we left the Twin Cities. We sang along to the radio and checked. had about this and that, and enjoyed the generous amount of snacks that we brought along.

After a couple of hours, we were quieter, each lost in our own thoughts. I devoted more attention to the road, which became less familiar the further we were from home. It seemed completely normal to me that the four-lane highway became a single lane each direction as we headed more into rural areas. The trees drew in closer and closer to the road. Eventually, they seemed to grow right next to the pavement, with branches arching over the road from both sides to create a canopy that blocked out the moon and stars. There wasn't even a shoulder to pull over onto. Whether it was the late hour, the density of the foliage, or the sparsity of population,

the road was pitch black. I could not see any houselights or anything, just the headlights illuminating the narrow road ahead me. After a while, I got this weird feeling like there was nothing beyond the trees, just a ribbon of highway and a tunnel of foliage winding through space. That's when I noticed the bugs. Minnesotians are no stranger to bugs, truth. In some areas, the mosquitoes can be as thick as fog. But these were like no bugs I had ever seen or even heard of. Wing to wing, they were as large as dinner plates, easily 12 inches across. They looked a little like giant mosquitoes, but their wings were different shapes, more like a butterfly, but not in an attractive way. For a few miles,

I gawked at these impossible insects popping in and out of the woods. Sometimes they would fly along next to the car for a few seconds, even though I was driving over 50 miles per hour. I didn't say anything to my daughter, no need to frighten the poor girl that her dad was hallucinating while driving down a strange highway in the middle of the night. However, after several minutes of this, Laura said in a small voice, Um, Dad, do you see those weird bugs? I said yes, and then asked her to describe what she saw. And she described the same bugs exactly. Laura dubbed the giant impossible bugs dragon spiders.

The name seemed to fit, even though we both agreed that they looked like neither dragon nor spider. After about 15 minutes, the bugs just stopped showing up. The road got wider, and the trees were further from the road, allowing us to see the sky again. It was maybe 40 or 50 minutes later that we came to the town of Toft and located our hotel. We enjoyed a fun family weekend with no other weird insects. On the way home, I realized that most of Highway 61 in northern Minnesota is a full highway with wide shoulders, and the tree lines way back from the road the entire way. At no point do trees completely overhang the road.

In fact, most of the trees are tall evergreens that just grow straight up. The drive from St. Paul to Toft is Highway 61 the entire way. There's no way that I could have taken a wrong turn or ended up on the wrong road. And yet, the road on which I drove home looked nothing like the one that I drove up in in the middle of the night. Since then, I've told this story to several people. I've talked to a lot of people who spend time in northern Minnesota. I've searched online for other encounters with giant bugs in northern Minnesota. or southern Canada.

Nobody else seems to have encountered anything like the dragon spiders. I have no explanation for what happened to my daughter and me that night, and what we experienced was impossible. But it happened. This submission is two separate glitches and one. Just kept him as one story instead of keeping him as two. Glitch number one. Hi, Raven.

and this just happened today, August 12th, 26. I had to come on and tell this one, it's wash day, which I hate so much, but what can you do? So I have to drag my clothes downstairs and take them to the car. I'm on my way to the car to load the clothes, and as I'm going toward the car, I start hearing a cat meowing, and it keeps getting louder.

Strange thing is, there's no cat in sight. So I just keep on walking, but it gets louder. So I'm looking around and I see no cat. There are some cats that come by to eat as my family has decided to start feeding them. But anyway, I say as I'm hearing this cat and this is funny, I ask, where are you? Keep in mind, I don't see the cat, yet I can hear him crying. Oh well, I go back into the house to get another bag and I tell my family about it. it. They get excited as they just hear the word cat, because he doesn't come every day. So they thought

the cat was back. Anyway, they start to think I'm crazy. I know, but I just kept loading clothes and looking for this cat. I don't drive, but I moved the car up where my sister had left it. They get nervous, not about me moving the car, but oh, I hope the cat is okay. No, I didn't drive over the cat. But we're all set up. We're sitting in the car talking about the cat thing, of course. They're making jokes. But then, lo and behold, the cat runs up. Is that strange or what?

He was nowhere near the house or where I heard him. I guess they believed me then, though, because I heard this cat crying long before he ever showed up. And he was very hungry. Weird stuff. Glitch number two. I noticed the more I listen to everyone else's stories, the more I remember about things that have happened to me. They mention things like going to bed with the light off only to wake up and it's on.

Well, here goes my encounter. I had so many strange things happen. We lived in this one house and oh boy, the things that happened there. The house was newly built in 1997 or 98, so I know it wasn't the house itself. It just seems like a lot of strange things followed, certain people at least. Anyway, I can remember going to bed one night. I slept in my brother's room when he went off to college. I always locked my door to keep my family from just walking in without knocking.

On this particular night, I turned off the lights and locked the door at about 2 a.m. My oldest brother came in from work, totally different brother. He worked at nights and came in very very. late. I heard him coming down the hall. Then I jumped up to find my door wide open, and the light was on. I was so confused because I knew that I locked the door and turned the light off before bed. I sat there for a minute as he passed my door. Just what the heck was going on? Hi Raven. Love your channel. Got the t-shirt. Thank you. I was writing to suggest maybe you offer some new designs featuring your glitch artwork from your title screens of your channel.

That'd be interesting. Uh, anyways, I also figured I would maybe drop you a story. I'm sure I have a bunch from every genre, but I thought I would start with one that was the first time I was absolutely sure that I had witnessed the impossible, although somewhat mundane. I had something happened when I found myself living at a family farm that my family got a long time ago for recreational activities. I was staying in the old farmhouse and was playing video games in the living room and chipped a fingernail that created a sharp and annoying edge. So I went into the bathroom and found my good nail clippers to trim off the aggravating edge, noting that I should probably cut the rest of my nails. But I wanted to finish playing my game and I figured I would get back to it later. So I left the

fingernail clippers on the corner of the sink in the bathroom and went back to finishing my game. Afterward, noticing my freshly cut nails mismatched against the ones that I still needed to trim, I decided that I would go cut the rest, and when I went to the bathroom, I noticed the nail clippers were missing from the corner of that vanity. This began a detailed, tedious search around the edges of the sink along the floor and behind the toilet and garbage can, and in the garbage can, and the gap on the other side of the sink between the wall and the shelves, and the medicine cabinet, eventually leading me back into the living room, wondering if I may have brought them back in with me. I couldn't find the clippers anywhere. I got a flashlight out,

pulled the cushions, looked under the couch, around the coffee table, back into the bathroom using the flashlight, like a spotlight, checking every crevice, and even the closet near the bathroom, that I knew I had never opened. After about 20 minutes or half an hour, I gave up and just went back to watching TV. Maybe an hour and a half later, when I walked into the bathroom to use the John, the first thing I noticed when I flipped the light on was the nail clippers sitting on the corner of the vanity, exactly where they were supposed to have been, which was absolutely mind-bending. I'm sure at the time I chalked it up to some kind of paranormal activity, as the glitch in the matrix theory had not really been around yet. But I think this story falls very well in line with the glitch in the matrix theory, as I understand it now,

and represents the first time I noticed without doubt the impossible actually happens. I've since noticed things disappear and reappear, sometimes leading me to think in a parallel universe, I may have needed whatever more than I did at the time, and then it gives it back. I've also noticed if I end up blaming somebody that was innocent for something that comes up missing, I usually find it right away, but feel somewhat guilty for having blamed them, or that this was the goal of something else to get me to make a false accusation. I don't know. But I usually just wait, thinking maybe I've lent something that I don't need immediately to myself

in another parallel reality that did really need it. Also, I will search for something missing quite thoroughly, but not try to exhaust every potential, as I find things that have a way of coming back without creating an impossible perception, have a way to manifest back into this reality for fear that if there is no possibility, the equation may just keep the item. So basically, you search for almost everywhere except for possibly one location, and do you do that to leave one possibility open as that will be the likely end situation?

Okay. Sorry, that sentence slightly confused me. I had to work that out in my head. Anyway. You're welcome to this insight and story if you want to use it. And I do hope to see some new designs, as I would love a glitch in the Matrix title screen-style t-shirt, with As the Raven dreams along the bottom. Take care and much love.

You know that feeling when something happens so many times you can no longer chalk it up to coincidence? I haven't believed in coincidences for a long time, but I still get that high buzzing feeling every time this happens. Whenever I get a random, and I mean random, songs stuck in my head, I always know it's going to play for me somewhere. I don't know if the songs have any meaning behind them. If they do, I'm not sure what it is, but The first time this happened was about a year ago, when I started noticing the synchronicities more often and seeing angel numbers everywhere. My hubby was watching an anime show, and the intro song sounded a lot like Brandy by Looking Glass. So I started humming it, and it got stuck in my head. Fast forward a few hours, and we go out to eat at Chili's, and I have to go to the bathroom shortly before we were leaving.

Well, guess what song was playing in the bathroom? Brandy. The restaurant was so loud, so I couldn't hear it at the table, but the bathroom was quiet enough that I could hear it. I took a video, and I ran out to tell my husband. Now, these other ones were more recent since we moved, and I started a new job. Two of these have happened at work. My boss usually has iHeart radio playing on the loudspeakers.

He usually plays 80s rock music, but on Fridays he's gone. So, my manager plays her country music. So the next happening was at work, and I usually have my earbuds in listening to, well, your stories, actually. But I heard a glimpse of a song that sounded like cold weather by the Zach Brown band. So I pulled out my earphones and realized that it wasn't. But then I started thinking about how Zach seemed like a cool dude and how I'd love to roll a big fat one with him. That's a line from another one of his songs. And not even two minutes later, guess what's playing?

Toes in the Sand by Zach Brown Band. And yes, later that day, colder weather also played. It gave me goosebumps. The next time was at home. I just randomly thought of Show Me How to Live by Audio Slave and immediately played it on my phone. A couple of days later, while I was driving, an Audio Slave song came on the radio.

It wasn't that song, so I switched stations kind of disappointed, but then the next station was also playing audio slave. It still wasn't that song, but it made up for it. And I had a good laugh about that one. The last one happened today at work, a Friday, so my manager was playing a country music station, which was honestly weird because our boss was there, but I guess he let her keep her radio day. Anywho, once again, I'm sitting there listening to some video, probably you, but I'm not 100% sure. And I hear a Johnny Cash song, so I pulled out my earbud and was like, dang, I just triggered a memory about the song a boy named Sue. And I thought it was so funny that I texted my husband saying,

Hey, I wanted to let you know that life ain't easy for a boy named Sue. At 10.20 a.m., and yes, I have screenshots, and yes, all this is real. My husband just calls them sinks at this point because this crap happens so often. I have so many other stories that I would love to send in. But I kid you not, at 1045, that freaking song comes on the radio. A boy named Sue comes on the radio. I immediately took a video and sent it to him. I was literally shaking, and I wanted to scream from excitement, but I probably would have looked like a crazy person.

But yeah, so these are some of my favorites. music sinks, and I'll definitely send in more. And also, I love your videos. Oh, thank you. Hello, Raven. I have a bizarre little story for you. It's nothing life-changing or astonishing, just a little quirk that I can't explain. A few weeks ago, I took my dog out for a walk. When we leave, I always do the same thing. I put my phone and keys in my left pocket and dog treats in my right pocket. The dog is so used to me. keeping her treats there that as soon as I put my hand in the right pocket she expects a treat. In this case, I also took a brush, because she was shedding quite a lot.

And I wanted to brush her while we were outside. I live in an apartment building. Our entrance is locked and to open it from the outside, you need a little chip. On the inside, the door opens freely. The same chip is also used to activate the elevator. Without it, you can press the button to bring the elevator car to your floor, but you can't make it move once you're inside. I'm explaining all this so that it's clear, that I could not have left without my keys.

I took the elevator, not the stairs. So I had my keys with me. We had our walk, we sat at a bench, and I gave the dog a good brushing, and then we went home. When I reached the entrance of my building, I needed to take out my keys to open the door, I couldn't find them. I checked both pockets, took out my phone, the remaining treats, everything. No keys. I was annoyed, realizing that I lost them, but it wasn't that big of a deal. A neighbor buzzed me and activated the elevator for me. Our apartment door was unlocked, and I had a spare set of keys and a chip at home. This is where the weird part happened. About an hour later,

that day, I needed to go out again. Out of habit, I reached to the peg where the supposedly lost set of keys always hung, and the keys were right there, in their spot. It was the same set, not the spare, which I knew, because they have a distinct recognizable key ring. I stared at them as if they were about to leap at me. I tried to think of some explanation, like maybe I didn't take them when we left for a walk at all, but, as I explained, then I wouldn't have been able to take the elevator down. Besides, I remembered putting them in my pocket with my phone and brush and thinking that it was really crowded in that pocket. So how did they end up back home? Like I said, it was nothing tremendous or terrifying that happened, but I still don't see how it could have happened.

Hey there, friends. Welcome to the end of this episode of the Glitch in the Matrix Stories on the As the Raven Dreams podcast. I hope that you enjoyed this collection of glitchy goodness, the weird, bizarre, and awkward happenings in our existence. If you did enjoy them, please do consider following the podcast, if the platform you're on allows that. Also, leave a reviewer rating as that does help the podcast grow. The algorithm favors those who have ratings, apparently.

You can also check out the YouTube channel, as the Raven Dreams, same name. I do the same stories just a little bit sooner, I guess. Different formatting, different styling, same stories. We also live stream over there, so if you're free on any Saturday at 6 p.m. Central, I'd love to see you over there. You can join the Patreon at patreon.com slash as the Raven Dreams to support the podcast and channel, and also get early access and other things, depending on what you sign up for.

You can also check out the website astherravendreams.com, where you can find on my social links, links to other places where the podcast is hosted, find the merch store, send in your own stories, as those are what keep the podcast going, so please consider doing that. And find information on the book that I wrote, titled The Insomniacs Experiment, by Raven Adams.

Also, lastly, if you're on a platform that allows commenting, please consider leaving a comment, just saying hi. I'd love to chat with you. Just see how you're doing. Talk about the stories if you want. It's up to you. Anyways, friends, I hope you have a lovely rest of your day, and that the rest of your week goes just as swimmingly. Hope to see you again here soon, but until then, remember that you are loved, you are valid, you are important, and you are the best you that you can be.

Do not forget it. And until next time, my friends, much love and sleep well.