As The Raven Dreams Podcast - Glitch In The Matrix Stories Ep. 87 - ATRD Podcast

Episode Date: January 8, 2025

Check out my upcoming Novel, "The Insomniac's Experiment"! It is a Psychological Thriller, and it's available for pre-order on both Kindle and Signed Physical copies! Release date is January 10th! Check it out here... Physical Signed Copies: https://ko-fi.com/s/bfdb8cb5f2 Digital Pre-Order: https://a.co/d/4voCEK1 Welcome to 87th 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. So, turn down the lights, tune in, and let the haunting tales of everyday people take you down that dark and creepy road. Remember, these aren't just stories... these are true experiences that remind us that our world can truly be scarier than fiction. Time Stamps  3:50 ➤ Story 1 11:06 ➤ Story 2 18:54 ➤ Story 3 23:23 ➤ Story 4 25:56 ➤ Story 5 28:32 ➤ Story 6 42:17 ➤ Story 7  43:59 ➤ Story 8 59:49 ➤ Story 9 1:04:13 ➤ Story 10 1:06:04 ➤ Story 11 1:09:18 ➤ Story 12 1:12:38 ➤ Story 13 2 Ad Spots at ~28 and 64 minutes Thank you to all of the authors that have stories in today's Video... AussieCoffeeSnob, Kallie , Artemisa, Emilie, Grannie Annie, Sam, Jonah, Morgan, Devin Shaw, Dee Allen, IndigoAsh As Well As Any Author That Has Requested Anonymity. ----- #TrueScaryStories #AsTheRavenDreams #GlitchInTheMatrix #RedditStories ➤ Stories include a content warning for language and sensitive/disturbing content. Viewer discretion is always advised. ➤ ALL Audio of this Podcast are copyright of AS THE RAVEN DREAMS / RAVEN ADAMS and may not be duplicated, in any format, without explicit permission ➤ If you like any of the following stories, consider subscribing! - Dark Web horror stories, creepy lets not meet stories, stalker stories, Glitch In The Matrix Stories, Unexplained Horror stories, Paranormal stories, cryptid encounter stories, Crazy ex lover stories, creepy neighbor stories, quantum immortality, true scary stories from reddit, or any other True horror Stories! ➤ And Remember; You are loved, you are important, and you are valid. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey there, friends. Before we get into today's stories, I promise this is not a sponsor spot. I would like to promote something. That something is titled The Insomniac's Experiment. I've mentioned it a few times in random places here and there, but I haven't really just done like a forefront's promotion for it. Now, what is that, you may ask? The Insomniac's experiment is a novel. It is a psychological thriller novel, 375 pages, that was written completely by me. I wrote the entire thing, start to finish, edited it with patience, my other half. And overall, I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Now, why am I promoting this at the front of a glitch video? Well, I want more people to know what's coming out. Why am I promoting it at all? Well, it's because it comes out this week, the 10th, to be exact. and it is actually available for pre-order right now. It's available on Amazon.com for Kindle, digital version basically. Just search the Insomniacs Experiment, find the one by Raven Adams. That is it.

Pre-order it, $4.99 on Kindle. If you want to pre-order, it will be auto-loaded on January 10th. Awesome. Physical pre-orders have taken a little bit longer to get set up because it's taking longer to get the print copies to my house. They should get here very quickly, though, and I'm hopeful they're in perfect condition. I'm kind of putting all my eggs in that basket at this point, because physical pre-orders are also now available on my coffee page. The URL for that, it will be down in the description, but if you want to just go to it right now without looking, it is K-O-F-I.com slash as the Raven Dreams.

You'll find the shop there. You will find the Insomniacs Experiment signed novel pre-order. If you pre-order it, I will send it to you as soon as I get them from the printer. I will not be waiting till the 10th to ship them out unless I get them on the 10th. But if I get them early, I will sign it. I will put a sticker in the pages. I will put it in a bubble mailer that I'm thinking I have upstairs, and I will ship it directly to you.

I have a limited number of those. I think I limited it to 40 and I've already sold some. So, if you want a pre-order of the Insomniacs experiment signed with a free sticker and maybe something else, depending on what I have over here in the bin, just go to K-O-F-I.com slash as the Raven Dreams.

That is coffee.com slash as the Raven Dreams. Pre-order it there before January 10th. If I have any left, they will be available after January 10th, and it will also be available in physical version on Amazon. If you again search the Insomniacs Experiment by Raven Adams, you'll find it. The physical version from Amazon will not be signed just FYI. So yeah, psychological thriller, full-size novel, written by me, Raven Adams. Very proud of it, and hopefully you guys enjoy it. But I have gone on too long about this.

Sorry for craming this in the intro, but I need more people to know it exists because I worked very hard on this and I really want people to read it. So anyways, yeah, the Insomniacs Experiment, available pre-order digital on Amazon.com on coffee.com slash as the raven dreams. That's ko-fi.com slash as the raven dreams. Available for pre-order comes out January 10th. Now, on to the stories. Hey, Raven. I know I've been telling you that I had glitch stories, but things escalated, so I wanted to double check that my theory was correct. I confirmed my theory November 30th, 2024.

This is going to be long, but I promise you it's worth it, so stick with me. I'm going to hold you to do that. All of this is centered around a pink flip-flop and a yellow swimming cap. My mom's side of the family holidays at the same place every year. the Sapphire coast, on the south coast of New South Wales here in Australia. We would make the eight-hour drive from Victoria up to two particular towns, Pambula and Marimbula. I know there's a number of Aussie listeners that are sitting up and paying closer attention due to the popularity of these resort towns. My parents, sister and I, would rent beach houses every summer for three weeks in Pambula,

while my grandparents, aunties and uncles, and my eight cousins stayed in Marambula. We had a view over the water and an easy walk to the beach. We would spend three amazing weeks, swimming, bodyboarding, playing beach cricket with the other kids that we met up with every year, and doing all the tourist trap stuff for the giggles. Anyway, my best friend would sometimes join us. There's an eight-year age gap between my sister and I, so my parents knew that I would like to have someone my own age. We've been friends since we were one.

We have so much history and shared memories. So, the pink flip-flop. Yes, I know that we say thongs, but I don't want to throw off the USA listeners. Fair enough. We would have been around 10 years old. We took a walk along the beach after dinner. The sun was setting.

The sand had cooled down and the ocean was its usual amazing blue color. We found a mini sand dune and decided to jump off of it and see how far we could jump. My dad drew lines in the sand so we could try to jump further each time. My bestie took her third jump and her left pink flip-flop threw off her foot and landed to the left of the dune. I had taken mine off, but she was. wanted the challenge. We all laughed while we headed to the spot where it landed. We couldn't find it. It was a baby pink flip-flop. It should have been easy to find. We spent 10 minutes looking. We finally gave up and my dad piggybacked her back to the house so she wouldn't have to walk on the

gravel. We spent the rest of the holiday checking to see if we could find it, but no, it was gone. But being the weirdos we are, we checked every year as a joke. Have you found it yet? Nope, not there. Next, the yellow swimming cap. My sister had joined the swim team at school and needed a yellow speedo racing cap to match the color of the team. My mom and I picked it while we were doing some shopping at our local shopping center. We brought it home and my mom put it on top of the washing machine, while her towel and bathing suit were in the dryer, so she could pack it all into the sports bag when it was done. Yeah, you can see where this is going. The dryer beeped, and my sister went to the laundry with her sports bag to pack everything. Mom, where's the cap? It's on the washing machine.

It's not here. What do you mean it's not there? It's not here. But I put it there. It's not here. My mom groaned and stomped into the laundry. Me being the nosy older sister, followed. No yellow swimming cap. Mom opened the washing machine, still no cap. My sister got down on her hands and knees and checked under the machine. Not there. We stared at each other completely baffled.

And yes, another running joke. Mom, I can't find my other sock. That's probably with the yellow swimming cap. I can't find my insert item here. It's probably with the yellow swimming cap or bestie's flip-flop. You get it. This went on for decades. I'm not kidding.

These glitches were core memories. We always joked that somewhere there's a pile of lost items with a cap sitting on top like King of the Castle. November 30th, 2023. I called my bestie for her birthday. As usual, we started talking about the old days. And we joked about the pink flip-flop. January 2024, this is where everything got weird,

and why I hadn't sent you these stories. I was having dinner with my parents and sister. My niece couldn't find her pencil. So, me being me, said, it's probably with the yellow swimming cap. The three of them stared at me like I had grown another head. What are you talking about? Swimming cap?

I laughed and said, What, next you'll be telling me you don't remember the pink flip-flop? They were genuinely baffled. They had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. I sat there frozen. I was speechless, so I said, oh, I didn't realize it was so late. I have to go. And I booked it out of there.

Timeline shift? What on earth is going on? Meanwhile, my bestie was traveling for work, so she was hard to get a hold of, but I knew she would be home by her birthday. Will she remember the pink flip-flop? She remembered last time that we saw each other when we had lunch in March. That was after my sister and parents didn't know what I was talking about. So she'll remember, right? So last Saturday, I called her to wish her a happy birthday.

She was on a golfing trip and having a blast. This is when I decided to test my shift theory. I said to her, You should buy yourself pink flip-flops and finally replace the ones that she lost. Silence. My heart dropped. Why would I buy pink flip-flops? To replace the one you lost at the beach.

Silence. I held my breath. I have no idea what you're talking about. Lost flip-flop? Never mind, go have a cocktail for me and call me when you get home, okay? We'll catch up after Christmas. So everyone shifted. They have all lost core memories that became a huge part of our lives.

I feel lonely. I believe I experienced my first glitch in the Matrix last week. And honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. It's one thing to hear about these stories online. They're fascinating, sure, but it's a whole other feeling when it happens to you. Ironically, I've been falling asleep to your glitch videos almost every night. They've always been entertaining and oddly comforting, like bedtime stories for adults, who secretly wonder if reality isn't as solid as it seems.

I never expected to become part of one myself. It started off like any other day, except I was running late, really late. My shift at work was about to start, and I remember checking the clock as I rushed out the door. It was 310. The drive to my job is 40 minutes on a good day. There's no way to cut that down significantly. I have to go through another town to get there, and it's not like some shortcut would magically make a difference. But I wasn't thinking about that at the time.

I was just focused on getting to work without being even later than I already was. The drive started normally enough. I remember getting to the first stoplight and feeling frustrated because, of course, it turned red just as I approached. I glanced at the clock again and it was 3.15. The seconds seemed to stretch out as I sat there. and for some reason I couldn't shake this strange feeling. Like the air around me was heavy or thick. I didn't think much of it in the moment, though.

Then as I was waiting for the light to change, I blinked, or at least it felt like a blink. But when I opened my eyes, I wasn't at the light anymore. I was pulling into the parking lot at work. The car was moving, my hands were on the wheel, but I had out. absolutely no memory of the drive between the stoplight and my workplace. I froze for a second, confused. My first thought was to check the clock. It was 325. I'll never forget that time because

it hit me like a ton of bricks. How had I gotten there in 15 minutes? The math didn't add up. even if I somehow sped the entire way, which isn't possible because my car has a built-in speed warning system, I wouldn't have made it in under 40 minutes. I just sat there in the parking lot staring at the dashboard clock, hoping it would somehow change and make sense. It didn't. I turned off the car and checked my phone,

thinking maybe it was glitching. No, same time. 3.25. For the next 30 minutes, I stayed in my car trying to process what it just happened. I wasn't panicking exactly, but there was this creeping sense of unease that would not go away. I tried to retrace my steps, or rather my drive. I clearly remembered leaving my house at 3.10. I even checked the timestamp of a call I made to my mom right before I left.

It was logged at 305, so I know my memory wasn't playing tricks on me. And then there was the drive itself. It wasn't like I'd been lost in thought or daydreaming. I was fully alert when I got to the stoplight. What I can't explain is how I got from there to work in what felt like the blink of an eye. It wasn't just missing time, it was missing space. It felt like the universe had fast forwarded me to my destination. Maybe it doesn't seem all that crazy, but it didn't feel right.

The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. I even checked my gas gauge to see if it had gone down like it normally would after a drive. It hadn't. It was like my car hadn't even burned fuel. That's when I started to feel genuinely unsettled. I drive an Audi. That absolutely never happens. I began running through every possible explanation.

Did I misread the time when I left? No. I double-checked before heading out. Was my clock broken? Unlikely since both my car and phone displayed the same time. Had I somehow disassociated? That didn't seem right either. I wasn't feeling stressed or zoned out.

But the weirdness did not stop there. As I was sitting in my car trying to make sense of it all, I started to notice some other odd things. The parking lot, which is normally bustling with cars and people, was eerily empty. It wasn't just quiet. It felt wrong. Like I was the only person there, even though I knew my coworkers should have already arrived for their shifts. But where were their cars? Then, my phone started acting up.

Apps that normally worked perfectly kept freezing or crashing. At one point, my screen flickered, showing static for just a split second before going back to normal. I shrugged it off at first. Phones glitch all the time, right? But combined with everything else, it felt like part of the same strange puzzle. And here's the part that really gave me chills. When I finally got out of my car and walked into the building, the clock inside. I'd read 310, the same time I'd left my house.

I stood there staring at it, trying to figure out if my brain was just messing with me, but the receptionist walked by and casually mentioned something about how late the day felt. She wasn't reacting like the clock was wrong. When I checked my phone again, the time had jumped to 3.20, as if it had caught up. At this point, I was so shaken that I couldn't focus on work. I kept replaying everything in my head, trying to make sense of it. Did I somehow step into a time warp? Did the universe glitch out and fold the distance between my house and work?

Or did I slip into some parallel timeline where time worked differently? The strangest thing is, I wasn't scared. I was fascinated. It was like I'd gotten a glimpse behind the curtain of reality and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Even now, days later, I keep looking for a sign that it might happen again. I know there are crazier glitch stories out there. People disappearing and reappearing. Entire buildings vanishing.

Doppelgangers showing up in places they shouldn't be. But this experience made me question everything I knew about time and space. Maybe reality isn't quite as fixed as we think it is. Maybe there are cracks in the system Little moments where the rules don't apply I don't know what happened that day But I do know one thing I'll never look at a normal drive to work

The same way again Hi Raven And hi to my best friend You know who you are if this gets on the podcast It did so hello to your best friend as well I've been listening to the podcast for a couple of months now ever since my best friend played a few episodes to fall asleep to when we were on holiday together. And I look forward to every new episode as I too like to fall asleep while listening.

You have a very nice voice. Thank you. Anyway, this incident happened to me last week and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, as not much of the sort has ever really happened to me. For some context, I live in an English, seaside town, and I work in the town center, which is where I was heading when the following happened. First things first, I nearly missed my bus because I had gone into a nearby shop for a drink, and the queue was fairly long, leaving me rushing to the bus stop once I eventually left. I managed to get there with a few minutes to spare, as the bus was a bit later than usual.

I bought my bus ticket and sat at the back of the bus, exactly where I always sit, back left corner. There was nobody else on the bus, other than the driver, which is important. The bus for my stop into town usually doesn't get very busy until around five stops into the journey,

so it's always just me and maybe one other person waiting at the terminus every morning. A lot of people tend to get the, other buses that stop at this same place. The bus wasn't due to leave for another two minutes, so I simply sat and waited. I'm never the type to use my phone while on public transport. I always prefer to listen to music and look out the window. But this time I looked ahead of me at the rest of the bus.

Still, nobody else. There was a middle-aged man waiting outside for a different bus, but other than him, there was nobody else. After a few moments, the bus started up, and the journey began. I turned my head to look out the window, watching for a few moments as we drove past houses and various shops, until I heard a noise despite my earphones being on noise cancellation mode. It sounded like a cough. So I glanced around, and to my genuine shock, the bus was suddenly packed.

all the seats were now taken, and some people were even standing at the front of the bus, holding on to the supports. The bus had not stopped since I got on, and I know that because I take this exact route to work almost every day. I know it like the back of my hand. My heart lurched forward, and I sat frozen for a moment, digging my nails into my palms as I tried to calm myself. The whole experience baffled me. What's even weirder is that, when I looked out the window, only for a second, the bus drove past a shop that I'd never seen before, replacing the original needle that's always been there. I thought long and hard while I was distracted for that second.

It seemed that everybody on that bus was now gone. They had all somehow disappeared and it was once again just me. A week later, and I'm still wondering what the hell happened. Maybe I somehow managed to enter another universe, a parallel version of my hometown. I've never been a genuine believer in parallel universe-related stories, but now I'm just confused. Why me? Why that specific bus? That specific time?

On that specific day. Was it a random occurrence of an important message for? the universe? I don't think I'll ever know. I try not to dwell on it too much, but thank you for reading and if anything like this happens again, I will be submitting an update. So about two weeks ago, at 8.30 a.m., I went inside one of six elevators from the basement of the building where my company rents for work spaces. The basement is also a parking lot and its floor number is negative one. Hall floor is zero, from fifth floor to 14th one are my company's workspaces. 15th is the highest floor. It's the canteen.

The elevators are smart ones, meaning that we can press to call a number of floor we want to go to from outside of them. Once there are enough orders, a certain elevator will open and display all the floors it will stop to during that session. Following our company's policies, we must check in, 4-845, so the elevators are full of people around that time. On that particular morning, I would like to go to the 10th floor where I'm currently working, and I stood very close to the elevator door. The floor numbers displayed on the LED screen inside were 0, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a 4.

It's a floor where people don't come as often as other floors because it's not a workspace. Continuing on to the story, the elevator stopped at seven, and when the door opened, what I saw was the scene around the fourth floor's elevator waiting area. For context, I had worked at the seventh floor for a long time, before my business unit moved up to the 10th last October. Then the seventh floor was returned to the building management committee for maintenance. So, it was like three to four months not seeing that particular place. Also, up to that moment, I had no idea which company would come in and rent the seventh floor.

So, when I saw the same scene as the fourth floor, I just guessed that the same company that rents the fourth also rented the seventh, and made the same floor set up. Turns out, that is not the case. The next day, I actually went to the seventh floor to check, and the elevator waiting zone is completely different from the fourth floor. So, the elevator stopped at the seventh floor, but the scene outside was of the fourth. Dear Raven, about a month or two ago, I submitted my story about losing my brand-new earbuds. At the end of my submission, I ended up joking about how maybe whatever took them would return them after I submitted it. Well, do I have a story for you? Probably two weeks after I submitted my story, I went outside to take a story.

care of my chickens. I usually give them food, gather eggs, and check the amount of water they have. However, this time was different. I had already checked on them that day. The water was low, but not low enough to refill it, so I left it for a few hours to fill again later. Upon refilling the water, I saw an egg and put it in my pockets to add to the egg carton inside. I was immediately distracted when I went inside for some reason.

and totally forgot about the egg in my pocket. The next morning, I had a cleaning job, and as usual, I was in a rush. I grabbed my coat, threw it on, and, you guess it, the egg broke right in my pocket. As soon as I felt egg whites sopping out of my coat, I realized my mistake. This prompted me to run into my room and grab another coat, and after I got it on, I realized there was something in the pocket. As soon as I grabbed it, I knew what it was. It was those infamous earbuds that I had lost months ago.

I remember hanging the coat on the hanger, and I did not have an earbud in the pocket when I did. My coat pocket would have been the first place I looked. I find it almost mesmerizing the way that if I hadn't started by filling the chicken water and then grabbing the egg to the egg then, breaking in my pocket, I would not have been in the timeline I needed to be to find my earbuds. Even the most mundane changes and actions can lead to something bigger and even change the course

of your life in specific ways. Not that the earbuds changed my life, but everything happens to lead you to a specific point. Even the smallest actions are meaningful in big ways. Anyway, thank you for reading my story and getting the message out for the matrix. to return those earbuds. I really appreciate it. Continue being awesome and stay spooky. Lasagne sur-joled, puissance-molyne,

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for your time I've never done this before so I apologize if my writing isn't that good. I won't be surprised if you think I'm talking crazy, but, however, if you choose to read my story

on your podcast, please do kindly let me know. I try to include as much detail as possible, and again, thanks, I appreciate it. This happened to me a few years back. My memory of it is still very clear, and I can't explain it properly to myself whether it's a glitch or something else. First, let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm currently 27, a full-time corporate girl and unmarried. I live with my parents and my younger brother.

We've always been a happy family, you can say. It was on February 11, 2022, when it happened. I was in my living room, sitting on the couch and scrolling Facebook. My parents were on a different couch watching. TV. It was around 8.30-ish p.m. at night. I remember because I was supposed to call my friend at that time and was constantly looking at the time on my screen. So I got up to go back to my room. The distance between my room and the living room is just a few steps in the corridor. And note that my room has two doors. One faced in front of the living room, like I said, and another one is faced to

my parents' room at some distance. I usually keep the first door closed, because it sometimes makes weird noises while opening, but it's never locked. So one can open it from both ends. Anyway, I walked towards my room and decided to go through the first door as it was near, and I don't know. I just didn't feel like walking all the way to the second door.

The moment I opened the first door, my head instantly went, wow, it didn't make that weird sound this time. And before I could even finish the sentence in my head, something happened to me. I felt a flicker of light in my eyes, like a camera flash. It was only for a second,

or maybe less than a second. I don't know what happened. I felt the strange pinch in my head and then suddenly discovered myself entering a different, room. Where was it? I looked around and saw that it was not my house. It had these small windows that were circular.

And that room also had two doors. I looked here and there. Everything was different. Everything. I can't really explain how. I don't know why I wasn't feeling anything at first. It felt like I was just blank. Is it so?

some kind of dream, I wondered, and somehow I went outside to see. There was a big open space, like a garden or a field, maybe, and at a distance I saw some people. If they were people, at least that's how they looked. I was so confused. Did I hear them talking or whispering? No, actually they were humming. Suddenly I realized that I didn't have my glasses with me. When I was in my house, I had my glasses on.

I didn't now, although I could see everything so clearly. So I stood there, stunned, in a corner, trying to grasp what was happening. I don't know how much time had passed, but then I saw this incredibly handsome man coming towards me. His eyes were an intense shade of gold and locked on to mine. And all of a sudden, a wave of recognition. surged through me. There was something about him that felt not entirely human. He was wearing a white shirt and his skin seemed to glow faintly under that fabric,

like it was lit from within. His face was sharp and perfect, almost too perfect, like it had been crafted by an artist. His eyes were very deep, and his gaze held a depth that was both captivating and unscathed. settling, as if he could see through every layer of my being. He stepped closer, and in that moment, it was as if the world had paused. He smelled like a mix of rain and amber.

It was almost intoxicating. He said some things I didn't understand. It was a different language, and I had never heard of it. But to my utter shock, the words echoed directly into my mind. Where were you? I couldn't answer what he was asking because I felt like I had lost my voice out of shock. He asked again. This time he put his hands on my shoulders and I heard it in my mind.

You shouldn't have left us like that. What took you so long? Are you doing okay? In that moment, a flood of emotions washed over me. Wonder, disbelief, tranquility, and an inexplicable sense of belonging. For the first time in my life, I felt utterly connected to someone, as if I had discovered a missing peace of myself. I could see his eyes were so gentle and steady, fixed on me. I hesitated, unsure whether to move forward or retreat.

And my thoughts raced. Am I dreaming, dead, caught in some kind of an illusion? He smiled. It was a sad smile, as if he could read. me. What he replied was beyond my understanding. He mouthed and I heard, You're not home, but you are. Here, I am your husband. We have a son. Although I was blank as hell, the mention of the child stirred something deep within me, a yearning so fierce that it nearly took my breath away. I think I tried to ask again, but his words continued to bypass

sound flowing directly into my consciousness. That man held me again and said, this has been happening for some time. It's hard to explain. I don't know what made me look elsewhere for a moment, and I saw there were two suns in the sky. The sky was kind of peachish, by the way, like when we have an evening sky.

One sun was slightly orange, and the other one was green. This was the first time I started to really notice anything around. The houses lined a winding path ahead, though calling them houses felt inadequate. They appeared more like crystalline structures, refracting light in prismatic patterns. The trees were different. The leaves were luminescence and ever-changing in hue, not like we have here on our world. It's like those trees had branches.

but like braids they had touched the ground. The leaves were all blue. Some had flowers, but I've never seen those types of flowers before. They were glowing like stars. The air was lighter, sweeter even, with a faint floral scent that didn't belong to any flower that I knew. This time it terrified me for the first time. I looked for my phone, which was in my hand before coming.

coming here, but now I couldn't find it. I began to tremble like crazy. Where was I? This place, as breathtaking as it was, was not home. The realization struck like a thunder clap. I had no idea how I'd come here, nor how to return. Then again, his voice echoed. You have to calm down.

I've been waiting for you. You have to stay. I just didn't know what I should do. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack, and then when I looked at him, I sensed him saying, You have to stay. Just calm down. And that was it. A dizzying rush of vertigo gripped me, and everything went dark. I think I woke up from it, or that's what I thought.

I was lying on my bed, in my room. Was I sleeping? But surely it didn't feel like I was sleeping. So I got up and looked around, and yes, I was home. I found my phone beside me, and the time was exactly 8.30 p.m. as I clearly remember. Then, I noticed the first door was closed. I panicked, rushed, but hesitated to open the door again. But I heard the TV outside, so I opened it.

It even made a weird cracked sound, but there was nothing on the other side, just the corridor. I ran to the living room and saw my parents were still there as I had left them, and I also had my glasses on. It was as though no time had passed at all. I was feeling once again blank, and had a strange pinched ache in my chest for days after that night. I couldn't understand what happened. It's like one second I was there and another second I'm here. I didn't fall asleep or faint all the sudden. That's what I'm sure of, at least.

Something happened, and I can't explain it. I never had any mental health issues or neurological issues or anything, nor has anyone in my family, till now, so I'm pretty sure I wasn't hallucinating as well. For a long time, I thought it. it was a dream, but as time went on, I began to think that it's not. Is it possible I was living another life in a different world, alongside this one, where I have a husband and a son? Have I been unknowingly traveling like this all this time? Or is it like dream hopping or something? Was it the door that somehow opened another dimension? Is this the

only possible explanation? Or is there any of a... all. What did the guy mean that I have to stay this time? Did it happen before? I can't stop thinking about him ever since. His deep piercing eyes, and the way his thoughts spoke directly to mine still haunts me. The connection we shared both felt strange and natural, like it had always been there. I wondered endlessly what did he feel when I disappeared. Did he miss me? Is he searching for me as I'm searching for answers here? I've been trying to figure this out ever since. I've been reading things like dreams or parallel universes and stuff like crazy,

and that's how I handed up listening to one of your stories. My thoughts often drift back to that door, though, if I can ever explain this to myself. But it remains as it is. I know people won't believe me or will say that I imagined it, yet I'm left with an unshakable certainty that place exists. I know it in my heart. Somewhere just beyond the veil of comprehension.

The memory of that place became a secret burden over time, too unreal to share. In quiet moments, sometimes, I find myself crying silently for this unknown world. I would feel an ache that isn't just for the man but for the child, a motherly longing I had never known existed, and I feel suffocated and helpless. How could I explain it to anyone without sounding insane? I'm home now. The air feels different, heavier but safe.

Yet every time I replay that moment in my mind, the desire to return burns me. If the man was slash is real, then February 11th is again coming, two to two and a half months away at the time of writing this. If it kept happening before, like that man had said, is it going to happen again in the future? I don't know.

It's been two years since that incident, and nothing has happened in the meantime. And here I am, living my ordinary life, wondering if the man who smelled like rain is dreaming of me too. The memory of his touch sometimes feels like a never-ending echo. Warm, fleeting, and just out of reach. I think I just had my first glitch, the first noticeable one at least. It's extremely small compared to some of the other stories than are read here, but to me,

it still feels like something. I have a lot of stray cats around my condo complex. Side note for the animal lovers, they're very well taken care of by the residents of the complex. And although there are a lot of cats running around, I'm very familiar with what they all look like. The only black cat that lives here likes to hang out in my backyard. This morning he decided to use my flower bed as his bathroom, so I opened the door to shoe him away, because my dog will eat it. When I did that, he turned around and ran.

and straight back to the bushes. I then looked at the spot where he'd gone to the bathroom and glanced over at my neighbor's patio. When I did, I saw a black cat sitting there looking at me. Like I said, we only have the one black cat here in the complex, and I had just seen him run the other way into the bushes. There's no way that cat could have run into the bushes, and then come all the way back out and ran to my neighbor's patio in the 15 seconds. seconds this all took place without me seeing him.

Is it possible there are just two black cats? Of course, but this feels more like a glitch to me. Hey, Raven, a bit of a trigger warning on this one. This parallel universe and glitch story contains subject matter, involving child endangerments and implications of a child's death. So, if anyone is really sensitive to that, I recommend you skip ahead. A few weeks ago, I was at a bar with my husband.

We don't normally drink at bars. It's too expensive, and I don't normally feel comfortable drinking outside of my home, as I don't like the risk, as I'm 100% against drinking and driving. You never know if you have to leave sooner than planned due to an emergency. But I wanted to enjoy a little date night with him, as we struggle seeing each other due to our busy work schedule. We don't go out much at all without our kids. I wish we did, but you know how tight money can get.

One drink down and feeling a little nostalgic, I opened up to him saying, Do you remember that one night when we went out to that karaoke bar with our friend? And we had so much fun. I guess I just wanted to recreate that by coming here. My husband chuckled and told me, Oh, the one we went to several times, because you insist to that we go?

I was confused. Sure, I was drinking, but I was still engaging in normal conversation, and I could still recollect memories. I asked him what he meant, because I swear we only went once. Just adding some context and backstory here, I remember distinctly that it was fall of 2019. I wore purple, and I was feeling really good,

about myself having lost just about 30 pounds, the good old-fashioned way, calorie deficit and exercise. I poorly sang a panic at the disco song, met some interesting but friendly people, had something that tasted just like liquid apple pie, sang some more, and remembered how liberated I felt, as I was raised to see drinking alcohol, as being one of the worst things you could do to yourself. Of course, if you aren't responsible, it can be. But I know when enough is enough. I was safe and my husband was there with me. It's a core memory.

It's also why, fast forward to today, I wanted to go to a bar with him and relax, and maybe talk to some people, hear their stories, and enjoy the little things. Despite only remembering one instance, he insisted that we went several times. But how is that possible? It's not like me nor likely for me to have had so much to drink every time

that I would not remember. Like I said, I hate being drunk outside of my house because you never know what could happen if you suddenly have to leave due to an emergency. My husband remains sober, of course, but still that anxiety remains. Not to mention hangovers are terrible. Alcohol can really mess you up.

Both of my parents were alcoholics, and my mother had to go to the ER more than once to get her stomach pumped. It was terrifying. I understand why the rest of my family tried scaring me away from it. I'm predispositioned for alcohol abuse. It can be a slippery slope, which is again why I do not drink heavy. and I'm careful. As I do not drink myself to oblivion outside my home,

how do I not remember going to this karaoke bar multiple times as my husband claims? This was the moment I began to realize that I must have, at some point, jumped to some different timeline or reality. I doubt myself quite often, but all of these glitch stories now really have made me consider it a real possibility. I have gaps in my memory that I cannot explain, and it can't all be from alcohol. In our guest bedroom, we have a bunch of silly signs we printed out from the internet. We used to host Dungeons and Dragons at our home, and it was another fun way to entertain players.

We even have some AI images, Renaissance-themed generated paintings of women holding their noses and disgust. You get it. I generated a few myself. Anyway, I once walked in to find newly printed jokes on the wall that I had never seen before. The thing is, my husband wouldn't have been able to make or print this one in particular, as our printer was misbehaving, on top of the fact that he would have had to have rearranged the others to put his TP meme in that particular spot. The print paper could have ripped and we would have needed more tape.

It would have been too much of a hassle to rearrange the bathroom memes. It was very unlikely that anyone did. I also no longer saw a printout of Mr. Rogers did not adequately prepare me for my neighborhood anywhere. We had it on our wall, now we don't. It was a subtle change, but I know I remember how these pictures. were arranged. Now, it's slightly different. All that said,

from all my adventures in life, it's a miracle that I'm still alive today, unless, what if I didn't survive a few? If there is such a thing as guardian angels protecting us on Earth, mine was pulling out their hair with me growing up. All my life,

I've had a tendency to end up accidentally injuring myself. a lot Millennials will know this reference when I talk about a particular show on Nickelodeon in the late 90s a show featuring a protagonist with an unusually shaped football head you know that one cheerful friendly kid

that constantly fell in ditches ran into things and ultimately was a walking self-hazard on two legs yeah that's me in a nutshell I have two linked stories that makes me wonder whether I've experienced quantum immortality.

The first happened when I was only two weeks old. Back in 1992, my grandmother took my mom in. My mother suffered mental illness so crippling that she couldn't maintain a job or live by herself. Mental health care wasn't as well understood as it is today. She had to file for disability and was thankfully granted benefits, so she could help with the bills. My parents were never really together, and he was only in the picture off and on.

So there we all were in a small three-bedroom house. It was the four of us. My mom, my grandmother, myself, and my older brother. When I was still a newborn at two weeks, my grandmother insisted to my mom that she give me baby food. The type you're only supposed to give to infants that are old enough to sit up. That way my hunger would be satisfied. and everyone could sleep through the night. Who knew babies cry at night when they're hungry or wet?

This backfired big time, as newborns cannot digest anything but milk straight from the mother or formula. I was very colicky and I cried a lot, likely because I was in pain as my digestive tract didn't know what to do with purate peaches. Feeding infants' baby food under six months can lead to on my own. autoimmune disorders, food allergies, and choking. Therefore, the baby can expire from not knowing how to swallow food. What if, in some alternate timeline, I didn't survive this.

I know knowledge on proper care for babies was limited back then, but how could they have not known it was way too early? And they were putting my life at risk. My grandmother had three children. Did she do this with all three of her babies? I can't ask them about it because my mother's gone and my grandmother is in the last stages of dementia. None of my other relatives were sick like how I was growing up. Then again, kids get sick often, but I missed a lot more kindergarten than others. I now know that I have an autoimmune disorder that presents itself as psoriasis, an angry cousin of eczema.

A major part of your immune system starts in your gut. Which is how I know at least parts of my issues with my immune system started when I was two weeks old. If you have an autoimmune disorder, and you don't eat right or get stressed or do anything that can put a strain on your immune system, it just makes it worse. According to my pediatrician, the earliest you can safely offer a baby food is six months. Ten years ago, it was four months, but they've since revised it. I have two kids, and I'm so happy to know now that my autoimmune issues are not genetic. Neither of my kids have any of the health issues I had growing up, and I'm so very relieved they're not going to suffer like I have been.

I break out when I get severely depressed or anxious, and it can have a snowball effect. From my teen years to mid-20s, I would get flare-ups so bad that it was like having poison ivy that wouldn't go away. I'd get stared at often, and more than once, these open patches of skin would get infected. There have been several other possible times in my life where I could have jumped timelines, but I would end up writing a short novel if I did, and I can share in the comments if anyone's interested. Like I said, my guardian angel was working overtime, like when my 11-year-old self decided to take a walk on I-70, a very busy and dangerous U.S. interstate, and when I cut an active electrical wire with scissors, or when I nearly got struck by

lightning under a tree. I owe that angel a huge apology. Another instance, when I was a baby, was when my dad came back around. He and my mother got drunk, and my genius father decided to drive drunk with me at three months in the front seat of his car. According to the story, my aunt had to rescue me after he somehow safely made it to his place. Interesting to note here, my aunt doesn't remember. I know she would have if something like that happened. My stepmother told me and she would have no reason to lie. Again, I can't yell at my dad about it as he's gone too.

Either someone is lying, omitting something or something else happened. Like a quantum immortality event. I'll never truly know. My guardian angel was definitely working overtime when my psoriasis almost killed me last year. Last year, in 2023, I was severely depressed, as we as a family were stressed over certain things we couldn't control. Mostly money issues, especially after just having a baby. Postpartum depression hurts like any other deep wound. I have a lot to feel sad about in general, but it's not healthy.

to get stuck in that kind of mindset. But that day I sulked and caved in, letting the depression sink into my bones. I was unable to do much, let alone move the entire day. Thanks to this depressive episode, my immune system took a dive. Blisters formed on my left leg that I neglected to remember existed, and they became infected. As I was spiraling, I had forgotten to clean the blisters,

or apply neosporin. That was my biggest mistake that I came to regret soon after. At first, I thought it was the flu, as I had the classic symptoms. But when I hit a fever of 104, I found myself in the hospital with something called necrotic cellulitis, a fancy term for flesh-eating bacteria on my leg. Fortunately, we caught it early. I was admitted and put on a three-day steady stream of IV antibiotics.

I didn't lose my leg, or worse, develop sepsis, which is commonly fatal. A decent portion of the skin on my leg died, though. That hurt. A lot. It looked like someone lit the back of my leg on fire, and I was at an even higher risk of infection. Nurses were surprised at how calm I was, because it was really, serious. It was more serious than I realized. The first night that I was in my room, I swear I could sense someone in there with me. It wasn't a nurse or a doctor either. Whatever or whoever it was

woke me up. I didn't see anything, but I knew they were there. My guess was a relative long since passed on. Once or twice, I felt someone tugging on my shirt or blanket, just as if to make sure that I knew they were there. It was comforting. Not once did I ever feel isolated or alone in my hospital room. It could be chalked up to a hallucination, or another patient saying something, but something didn't completely add up.

It didn't bother me. Eventually, I recovered, and I have one gnarly scar on my leg to show for it. It could have been worse. I shared my story with someone, who told me they knew another person who had developed the same infection around the same time I did. That person didn't make it, but I did. I guess I've become numb to things like this happening to me, and I've come to peace knowing

this will likely be how I die one day. Honestly, I'd rather go from infection than dementia, which is unfortunately a real possibility for me. Hopefully none of that will come to pass any time. soon. Give me 30 more years and I'll be happy. If any of these events did make me shift realities, I'm really hoping that the one I'm in or could jump into will be a brighter one. I'm tired of accidentally flirting with death, tripping over manholes, breaking toes, you name it. Can I slip into a universe where I win the lottery? It doesn't hurt to dream.

Thanks for reading my long-winded thoughts, Raven. Take care and stay safe. This happened a little over a year ago, but it still really bothers me to the point where I probably think about it at least once a week. I have a small, little wallet. Really, it's just a little zipper pouch,

but I'll refer to it as a wallet. And I keep my credit cards in it, my license, and some cash. I'd always leave it in my purse. Well, one day, a Thursday. My husband asked if I had any cash because he needed some for something. I said yes, and directed him to my purse, which was sitting on the kitchen counter. He took out the money that he needed and put the wallet back.

I assumed. I was in the next room and could hear him going through my bag, but he was not visible. So, anyway, fastly. forward to the next day, Friday, I leave for work, grab my purse, and head out the door. Later, after work, when I needed gas, I go through my purse to grab my wallet, but it wasn't there. I was annoyed because I figured my husband was careless and forgot to put it back in my purse, and it was probably just sitting on the kitchen counter at home. I was certain that that was where I was going to find it.

But when I got home, it was nowhere to be found. Of course, I asked him about it, and he says that he definitely put the wallet right back in the purse when he was done. We spent a good amount of time searching everywhere for it.

The whole house, the cars, jacket pockets, etc. Even though he swears he had put it back right after he got the cash out. Anyway, we didn't find it, and we couldn't spend more time looking because we were supposed to be leaving that afternoon

for my parents' house out of state. It was a two-and-a-half-hour drive, and we had to get going because they were waiting for us for dinner. So the whole drive up there, I'm upset because now I'm traveling out of state without my wallet, credit cards and ID, and I'm contemplating whether or not I need to cancel my credit cards, which are joined with my husband. I first ask my husband if he is sure that he put it back in my purse, which he was.

And I made sure that he was not just messing with me for some odd reason. He wasn't. So I figured the wallet must have fallen out somewhere when I was out that day. So I proceed to cancel our cards during the long drive. We get to the restaurant, two states away, and I'm explaining to my parents how I lost my wallet, and they of course have no problem picking up the check, since I did end up canceling the cards.

Finally, we get back to their house where we're staying for the weekend, and as soon as we walk in, I set my purse down on a stool in the kitchen. My husband and I then go to make up the bed in the room where we are sleeping, and we put our bags in there and whatnot. I come back out about ten minutes later to see my missing wallet, sticking at least halfway out of the outside pocket of my purse. I just stood there in shock. It was not there before.

We had emptied out my purse at home before we left, every pocket, every little zip-up spot in the purse, everything. And it was not there. But now, later that day, two states away, it reappears, almost taunting me with how brazenly it's just sitting there, almost falling out of the pocket. So obvious to see. I checked inside, and of course, there were my credit cards and ID. Exactly what had been there before. This was over a year ago, and I still have absolutely no idea.

how it happened. It's never too early to plan your summer story in Europe with WestJet, from rolling countryside to cobblestone streets. Begin your next chapter. Book your seat at westjet.com or call your travel agent. WestJet, where your story takes off. I usually love decorating for Christmas. However, this year is different.

I asked my nephew, Jason, to go to the shed and get our many totes of Christmas. decorations out and bring them in. He proceeds to bring in a huge tote and one kind of small tote. I asked him where the rest of them. He said that that's all there are. I said no way. We put up last year around five totes at least.

He said no, that's it. Now I know what I packed up and put away. So I start going through the small tote and nothing is wrapped in paper. for storage. I always wrapped my ornaments. Then I pull out an old-fashioned apron, the kind you put over your head like Grandma wore. I remember saying last year that I wanted one like that, but have never owned one. Then I pull out a tree skirt. I didn't own one of those, either. I found all sorts of Santa hats, stockings, an elf on the shelf doll. Some still had price tags on them from a store that I have never been in.

There are ornaments that I've never seen. They're not my style either. The really strange thing is, when I was telling my friend this, she interrupted me and said the same with her stuff. Things we remember having are gone, and in their place are just different stuff. I'm going to take a good pick of my tree fully decorated so I can compare it next year.

Hi, Raven. I've had many glitches in the past, but this recent one threw me off. I can't stop thinking about it. I'll try to keep it as simple as possible without going into too much details. There's a local girl that lives near me. I don't know her, but know her enough to say hi, and we both got each other on Facebook. Anyway, I see her posting family holiday pictures of her and her partner and their three children. A girl around 13 years, a boy around 10 years, and another boy around 6. I like to show love and support to anyone's pictures on socials because it's just a nice thing to do, I suppose. I've giggled to myself at how her two boys look like carving copies of each other, except for the fact that there is about four years between them.

Fast forward around two years, myself and my husband are chatting to a woman that has been a friend of ours for the past three years as she comes into our hotel bar a lot. Well, this woman happens to be the grandmother of these children that I've just mentioned. It randomly came up in a conversation one day that I think her two grandsons are carbon copies of each other.

Our friend looked at me and went white as a sheet and asked me what I meant. I was little taken aback and explained that I always see the photos of her three grandchildren as I have her daughter-in-law on Facebook, and the two boys look so much alike. I couldn't understand why she looked so taken aback. She went on to ask me to explain exactly what I was looking at, and how old I thought these boys were. So I explained, then I thought it was. would be easier to just pull up the photos on Facebook and show her what I meant.

What happened next absolutely floored me and made me feel so lightheaded, and just a general feeling of disorientation. I went ahead and pulled the picks up, yet now I could only see two kids on this girl's photos. The girl and the youngest boy were there in all of them. However, the older boy, who I previously assumed was around 10, was absolutely. nowhere to be seen, not in one single photo. Even the photos and albums I had already liked. He was nowhere. My head was spinning.

Our friend, white as a ghost, explained us that her daughter-in-law's son had indeed had a son around ten years ago, but he had passed away shortly after birth. So what I had been seeing was what? him at the age he should be now? Why was he suddenly nowhere to be seen in any of the photos? This absolutely blew my mind, and will do so for as long as I live. Hi, Raven. My name is Emily.

I'm 31 years old, and I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I started listening to your podcast on YouTube a few months ago, and it's so interesting to hear all the different stories. stories from different people and different perspectives. I've been going through what a lot of people would call an existential crisis, so I'm trying to find some kind of answer to my existence through the stories of others. Anyway, I've been wanting some kind of glitch in the Matrix or sign from the universe to just get some validation. The world isn't so black and white like it seems.

Yesterday I was sitting at my desk at work, listening to you tell stories about glitches in the Matrix, and the universe giving people signs, and the stories you were reading were making my want for validation even stronger. So I said in my head out to the universe, I want you to show me a sign or a glitch for validation. Pretty much begging at that point, because I so desperately wanted to feel that there's more, or that there's a good reason for all the negative things I've had to go through. I just want to know that there might be a point to my existence. On my lunch break, I usually just go for a drive to get away from the office for a bit. I always go the same way.

There's this weird old building that I drive by that looks like it might have been a small plant nursery or a convenience store. I'm not sure what it used to be, but it's... It's old and should probably be torn down and is definitely abandoned. There's this field next to it with a wooden fence around it, and on that wooden fence is a sign. Someone must have changed the sign or something, because I know a couple of weeks ago,

it said, I once had a girl, whatever that means. I remember what was written, because I was thinking that what was written didn't really make sense out of context. Long story short, after I spoke out to the universe asking for validation, I drove by that sign on my lunch break and it said, I want you to show me. It could just be a huge coincidence, but I felt really strange afterwards. And for about three minutes, I felt like I was back in a universe where I actually felt happy. and then all of a sudden I was back here in this universe and felt dread. I don't know if any of that makes sense, or is strange in a way, but these things just don't happen to me.

Validation, coincidences, etc. I can't help but feeling like that sign was the universe talking back somehow. Thanks for letting me ramble. and I appreciate what you do. We were outrunning errands. We've had this car for over a year. It's a 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander. Anyway, we use the backup camera all the time.

He put the car in reverse to back up. We have a soccer magnet to the left of the license plate. Usually you might get a tiny glimpse of the magnets and a little bit of the frame from the license plate holder. However, now almost the full magnet is visible as well as a large part of the frame. My husband and I looked at the screen, looked at each other, and then back to the screen. My first thought was that somehow the camera had been hit and was now showing a different angle. My husband parked again, got out of the car and took a photo of the camera.

The full camera apparatus had moved. Instead of being aligned with the license plate and near the button to open the back hatch, it was now two or three inches to the side. Total glitch. Even my teenage son who drives was a little baffled, even though he thinks that glitches are just in your head. It was wild. So that was this week's collection of Glitch in the Matrix Stories on the As The Raven Dreams podcast.

I hope you enjoyed this collection of glitchy goodness. If you did, and would like to listen to more of this, you can always check out the other episodes of the podcast, or support the channel further by actually going to my YouTube channel and checking out my videos. Just go to YouTube and search As the Raven Dreams. You can also go to Astherraven Dreams.com, or lots of other good stuff.

Ways to get early access, read stories that I've written, submit your own story, and things like that. All that said, friends, thank you very much for listening. I do hope to see you in two weeks on the next Glitch in the Matrix episode. But until then, sleep well.