As The Raven Dreams Podcast - "One Curious Invitation" By DarkHorseTales

Episode Date: December 9, 2020

I got a letter in the mail that stood out from the rest. Something about it drew me in; it was almost... enchanting. I opened it, and what I found was something I never anticipated... Be sure to leave a comment telling me your thoughts on the story! All stories come with a Mild Content Warning for Language and/or Graphic content. Viewer Discretion is advised. If you have a story you'd like me to narrate, send it my way! https://astheravendreams.reddex.app/submit ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬  【Join The Nevermore】 SMASH That Thumbs Up Button! Subscribble to the Chibble! ➠ youtube.com/c/astheravendreams Sub to my SECOND channel! ➠ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX9TQVx8YUuuI5gBP58NTtA Check out my Website!  ➠ www.astheravendreams.com Audiocast on Anchor/Spotify! ➠ https://anchor.fm/astheravendreams Send me Spooky stories! ➠ https://astheravendreams.reddex.app/submit EARLY ACCESS on Patreon!  ➠ https://patreon.com/AsTheRavenDreams One Time KoFi Donations  ➠  https://ko-fi.com/astheravendreams Official Merch Store ➠ https://teechip.com/stores/astheravendreams Follow me on Twitter  ➠  https://twitter.com/RavensDreamYT Join Our Discord ➠ https://discord.gg/ncT9j9H Check out my Subreddit ➠ https://reddit.com/r/TheRavensDream ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬ ✯ ✬  【Credits & Times】 0:00  ➠  Be Sure To Like The Video! 0:09  ➠  "One Curious Invitation" By DarkHorseTales  ➠  https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRavensDream/comments/jvf6ld/one_curious_invitation/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/astheravendreams/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/astheravendreams/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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WestJet, where your story takes off. If you're an athlete, you know the greatest motivator of all is the fear of letting your teammates down. After all, a team is only as good as its weakest link. So you owe it to those wearing the same jersey as you to be your best every time you step on the field. That's why there's no vape in team.

When you vape, you can expose your lungs to toxic chemicals that can damage your lungs. If you're a step behind, the team's a step behind. Brought to you by the real cost and the FDA. Today's story is one curious, Invitation by Dark Horse Tales. I had recently gotten a peculiar piece of mail with a strange transistor logo and some strange wax symbol on the back.

Of course, this item got my attention. I had opened it because it was not your normal mail. You know, like frozen food coupons, utility bills, insurance agents offering you a discount to get you on as a customer. but back to this rather alien-looking male. It had two parchments of futuristic-looking paper inside of it. It looked like paper, but felt a bit like a metallic substance. It was a bit heavier and similar to microchips or some electronic component.

The first one looked fun and intriguing and said, you've been one of the select few chosen for this rigorous contest where you will have a chance of getting a magnificent prize. Are you capable of obtaining the grand prize? The mysterious invitation promised a slew of prizes, ranging from a Ferrari portafino to an all-exclusive trip to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, where one could visit a host of indigenous communities. It teased a boating expedition where one could view the Uros people and witnessed the beauty of a cluster of over 50 islands where you can visit with the locals and explore what the unique place has to offer.

I think I even saw an opportunity to go to Puerto Rico with its captivating nightlife, its women, culture, and dance. It offered the chance to win many prizes, but it asked to see if I was willing. worthy. Then, I glanced over at the second parchment and noticed a puzzle. The luminescent piece of mail wanted me to solve a puzzle on the paper to find the next clue test. That's when I put it down. I thought, I don't have the time for this right now, and put it away. I had just gotten back from work, and I was tired. I didn't feel like solving puzzles right then and there, so you can imagine what I did. I tossed most of the mail out, saved this for later,

and put on a wildly popular cartoon called Dick and Shorty before dozing off. It was now about two weeks later, and I was thinking about the compelling piece of mail while at work. I was bored out of my mind and thinking about what made my life interesting. God knows my work was far from interesting. What did I do at work? I was basically a pencil pusher. You know, those types of jobs where you wonder where your life is going and why you're in this specific position.

The kind where if you didn't come into work for a week, they could easily replace you with another person. It's a job where one feels as if one is a mere cog in the vast machine of some corporation that is effectively diversified into different industries, ranging from paper products to other aspects of industry. Sure, you get paid decently, but you feel rather anesthetized while at work, close to brain dead, but with a few neurons firing to keep you in the game. I had just come back from visiting a local chip-oodle for lunch and was wondering what I had to do for the rest of of the workday. There were no pressing tasks, and that's why I was just sitting there twiddling my thumbs,

thinking about what I could do that was fun or interesting. That's when I thought about the invitation and the puzzle. Wait a minute, I thought to myself, didn't I snap a picture of the puzzle onto my phone? So I rifled through the many images on my phone, shared it to my personal email on my work desktop, put my phone away and started to look at this puzzle. It was an interesting word puzzle. It was square with over ten letters missing which I had to replace. Every row, column, and the main diagonals contained all the letters in a specific word. If I solved it, I could move on to the next stage. It was far from easy, and I'm sure I spent over 12 work hours on it pretending to be

busy at my desk. It took over several days of hard thinking, testing, puzzle-solving to get the answer, but I finally did it. When I did, I was taken aback. It was a location, date and a time. The location was three states over. Fuck me. Why? I thought to myself. Thankfully, the date was the 15th of November, and the time was set at 1.30 p.m. that was just a week away. Wow, things were really getting exciting, but then I remembered that I was a working man and I had to get permission from my boss,

who at times could be a real jagoff, a bosshole, if you will. Surprisingly, gave me a few days off, and that gave me the time to plan my trip there for the road. It was going to be a grueling road trip as it states over, and I'm hoping it'll be worth it. it. Plus, the challenge is kind of fun, and I'm wondering what's next on this intriguing journey. I pack, toss my luggage into the car, and make sure to take the invitation with me to make sure I didn't miss any details.

As I'm traveling throughout the States, I can't help but notice the beautiful scenery and wonder why I haven't gone on a road trip in years. The first day goes off without any issues, and I sleep in my car. I didn't want to burn through too much of my meager funds. The second day of the road trip brings a surprise. I find out that a gray pickup keeps riding my cartel. I'm wondering why, and if it's only in my imagination. I keep driving and seems to be right behind me. Even if I speed up or slow down,

Most people would have just sped on by. What is this, I wonder? Maybe I can test if the pickup is actually following me by pulling over at the next gas station, whenever or wherever that is. About 15 minutes or so later, I take a left into the gas station. He does as well.

So I go pump gas, and he pulls up right next to me and starts filling as well. I ask the guys, why the heck have you been pursuing me? He says, well, I just wanted to make sure our contestants make it to their destination in one piece.

I say, well, I thank you for your concern, but I think I can manage to make it there on my own. Thank you very much. He says, Okay, but here's a few secrets as to how they play their game. Would you like to know them? I once again say, well, thanks, but I'll not be paying for the info

that might be credible or not, but I will take my chances with what rules they have already set for me. I'll play by their rules and see how this thing all turns out. He says, but I assure you, there is only one real way to win the big grand prize, and that is you have to, as he was explaining it, a big 18-wheeler comes rushing past, and I was unable to hear him. And that's how I was able to complete the last and final task to win the prize. Anyway, he says best of luck to you and wanders off. I wanted to stop him and ask him to repeat what he said, but the whole thing seemed so strange. I don't act on my gut instinct.

I jump in my car, and I head on to the next state, thinking about what a way for them to see if I was going to be able to cheat. Maybe that was one of their ways of weeding out some of the not-so-trustworthy contestants. I figure I must have passed one of their games already, and I figured it must have been some sort of a test to see if I was really worth getting the top prize or not. As I'm driving along, everything seems to be fine, but as I'm crossing into the next state, I start to get some phone calls.

They're in a robotic voice saying that I have done well for my first task, and that there will be a few more. They want me to stop. at some town that's a few hours ahead of where I am at, so as I'm heading there, and I have to stop to get more gas. As I walk up to pay the attendant, this girl walks up to me and tells me, hey, you're almost there. Keep it up, and the prize will be yours in no time. Just a few more hours before you get to where you're going. I say all right, and get back on the road. As I'm out and about on the road, I wonder, how did they know where I would be?

I know how they got my address and my phone number. They must have gotten it from some game or pop-up that I ignorantly put my information into to verify or set up my profile. But how did they know where I would be on the road trip? How did they know I'd even taken the road trip? That's good. Via Rai. Embarked and profite.

Embarked and celebrate. Rigolet. Publiere. Savour. Admir. And profite. Viaray, the voice that we love that we am.

That was strange and pretty cool at the same time. It must be some elaborate game, I thought. As I'm going on through the next town that they say to go to, I'm seeing some of these billboards that they have. that they have. It says, Welcome, we've been expecting you with a big arrow pointing in the other direction.

I'm taken aback by the sign, and I'm like, are they throwing me a curveball? This leads me to another destination, right? I follow the billboards and the signs in this different direction to where the sign leads to. And now I'm heading down this dirt path and I come across an old-looking commercial warehouse

with some lights on. I think this must be the place. There's really nowhere else to go. So I get out of my car and head over to the door and ring the bell. I wait a few moments, and they push a button, and the door starts to come up, and an exquisitely dressed man appears and says, Welcome, Mr. Andrews. I'm Mr. Smith.

We have been expecting you. You've arrived a few hours before the others can get. here, so take a sea over in the lounge and make yourself comfortable. It rather seems like the others have gotten delayed and are still finalizing their initial tasks. Well done, Mr. Andrews. You are one of our sharpest contestants yet. I sit down gleefully, and he pours me a shot of some smooth-aged whiskey, and then hands me some papers, and he asks me to fill them out. I ask what it is, as I point over to the paperwork. He says it's just some forms for the prize that you might be able to take home with you

if you're one of the winners of the contest. I say, all right, I'll go on ahead and just fill them out as I'm thinking, why do these companies always have to have reams of paperwork for you to do? As I'm starting to write some of the stuff down, I noticed blood droplets in the form. I'm wondering if it's me? Or if it was already there. It's blood dripping from my nose. I say, dang it, I guess it's the dry air that's causing my nose to bleed.

Mr. Smith hands me a rag and says, here, this might help. And as I go to put the rag at my nose, I pass out. I wake up, strapped to some sort of medieval torture device, where my arms and legs are strapped down. Then a man starts to turn the wheel And my arms and legs began to stretch The man says You know

We really know how to stretch the competition out Don't we So that was once again One curious invitation by Dark Horse Tales A good friend of the channel A good person overall He's written a few stories for my channel actually The Ozarks story

the perfect house with the thing in the basement. I won't go into specifics. The mystery truck with the mystery meat. I won't go into specifics. This one. And he has another one that I will actually be doing later this month. So look forward to that. These stories are always good, a little short,

but he does a good job telling the whole story. And this one ended in a manner that I did not anticipate with the main person. falling victim to, I'm assuming, another contestant that was trying to win the prize. So, I was really rooting for the main character to win and have the prize be something interesting. But the fact that the main character fell victim to another competitor just makes it that much better, in my opinion. So thank you, Dark Horse Tales, for writing the story. I really do appreciate it. He submitted this story to my subreddit, which all of you can submit your stories to my subreddit,

or you can email them to me. If you go out of my website as the raven dreams.com, there is a link on the top that says, submit your story or submit or something like that. And it takes you to a page where you can send me your story directly, if you have one you want me to read. All this is optional, of course, but appreciated. Always nice to have more content.

You're also always welcome to follow me on all my social media, subscribe to the channel or support the channel over coffee or Patreon. All of it is appreciated more than you know. The more support I get over all these platforms, the more I really just want to do this day in and day out. I do it day in and day out anyways, but you know if that goes. Anyway, I hope you all have a beautiful day. I will see you on the next video, but until then, stay safe, stay foxy, much love, and

sleep well.