Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 17x06: The Panting Prowler at the Window

Episode Date: August 10, 2026

Story Submissions: [e-mail]   Stories in this episode: The Panting Prowler at the Window | SpringySpaniel (0:43)Waiting to Smoke Possibly Saved My Life | The Angel Maker (8:26) My Dad's Roommate | sunshine123_ (14:24) How My Aunt's Crazy Boyfriend Ruined Her Life | Dorfnox (21:01) Encounters in the Amazons | onlycato4 (28:57) Watching From My Front Yard | noraroar (36:47) Someone Punched My Glass Door | fawntrinket (41:41) Clinically Crazy Ex Boyfriend | Dumb Bitch Energy (48:32) Extended Patreon Content: The Uber Who Wanted to Take Us Into the Jungle | purpleunicorn10The Warlock | ErikaThe Date Who Thought Drinks Came With Expectations | Heather M.I Trusted My Gut and Ran | mykidsaremylife28The Night My Ex Left Me Outside  | Eren14 Due to periodic changes in ad placement, time stamps are estimates and are not always accurate. Want Bonus Weekly Stories? Hate Ads? Join our Patreon for only $5 a month for over 100 hours of bonus content, and it's all ad-free! Follow LNM:- Twitch - https://twitch.tv/crypticcounty- Website - https://letsnotmeetpodcast.com/- Patreon - https://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. The stories shared on this podcast are told from the perspective of the authors. Their accounts and opinions are personal and do not reflect the stance of the production team. Give your clothes a second life with Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn. Plus, for a limited time, enjoy free shipping in the US on Vinted.  Right now, Larineco is offering our listeners up to 50% off at BuyLarine.com/Meet.  For a limited time, because you are a Let's Not Meet listener, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping AND free treats for life, when you head to Smalls.com/MEET.The day always ends well with Casper. Right now save up to 20% on mattresses and up to 25% on everything else when you go to Casper.com.

This podcast contains adult language and content. The stories shared in this podcast are told from the perspective of the authors. Their accounts and opinions are personal and do not reflect the stance of the production team. If you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show. First, let me provide some context and a brief overview of the setting. I'm a woman in my 30s, caring for my elderly parents, so I'm currently staying in a downstairs room in my childhood home.

The window faces the main street, which is an average residential street and a quiet area. My bed faces this window. I often leave the window open at night since I need it to be cool so I can sleep, and I haven't really worried about it, since there's a cabinet with an aquarium somewhat in front of the window. It's not blocking the window from view, and I can reach up and open and close it, but the fixture makes it difficult for someone to try and climb in. My dog Sable also always sleeps with me in my room. While she is a sweet-natured, medium-sized dog,

who doesn't look the least bit threatening, she's a fantastic guard dog, who's always on alert to any noises and will stand her ground and bark and growl if she senses a threat. So I've never really worried about the open window. After this happened, though, I won't be able to keep having that window open. And now, on to the story.

It started at maybe 3.30 a.m. I was awake. Since I care for my parents, I often have disrupted sleep patterns, and I'm awake at odd hours. I was reading a book, and I heard Sable growl. It was a low and deep growl. She then jumped off of the bed and began pacing a bit. She was looking up at the window, before jumping up at the cabinet by the window, barking. I shouted,

Hey, we're calling the police, my dog will bite. Just in case there was someone there, and I went to look out the side of the curtains. I didn't see anything, so I pulled the curtains closed again, and I made sure to pull the right curtain over. I then drew the left side curtain, the one that covers the open part of the window, all the way over. I tucked them down so that the wind wouldn't be able to move them.

I wasn't extremely alarmed. As I mentioned, we were on a fairly quiet residential street, but there are foxes around and we sometimes hear them, and occasionally we hear someone passing by, or we'll hear the neighbor's gate next door. These sounds will make Sable growl or bark, but she doesn't usually react the way that she did this time. She'll usually growl and stay on the bed, but her reaction was much stronger and more instinctual than normal. I thought that even if it was someone scoping out the open window

to potentially break in, they would see that the room was occupied by a person and a dog and would go to an easier target, but mainly, I guessed it was just a random noise that she had heard outside. Quite a while later, after I had relaxed and I thought that I might doze off again, I heard her growl again.

It was a very serious, deep, and low growl. I listened again, thinking it might be foxes or something, but I heard what sounded like deep breathing noises. It sounded like the heavy breathing sounds a stalker makes on the phone when calling their victim in a horror movie. I sat up and looked up the window. My heart stopped. The curtain had been pulled back and lifted from the bottom,

like someone was peeking underneath it, and I could still hear heavy breathing. I shouted, Hey! Again, and then moved from the bed to the side of the window, so that I could see past the curtains. I saw the figure of a man move away from the window to the right

towards the front door and the exit of the garden. It was too dark to make out features or clothing, but I could see that it was probably a male figure. I was shaking, but I figured since he wasn't at the window anymore, I would reach and pull it shut. I grabbed my phone and I called emergency services.

One thing that creeps me out in hindsight is that it would have taken a few seconds for me to move from the bed to the side of the window, and that was after I had shouted, and he knew he had been seen. He must have stayed there, knowing that I had seen him. The heavy breathing also had to be deliberate. It was way too loud. It was like he was intentionally trying to frighten me. While on the phone with the police, I went around the ground floor. of the house, turning lights on and making sure the rest of the house was still secure, and it was. I was very careful to lock the doors and all the other windows that night, and everything looked undisturbed. Two officers came shortly after 5 a.m. and took the report. They suggested asking the neighbors if they had camera footage and to let them know of a potential prowler in the area. They went to drive around, saying that the neighbor,

would want to know that someone was wandering around at 5 a.m. Since I only saw the shape of the person, I had no real description, so I doubt they could do much. I'm still scared, but feeling angry and violated, and I'm wishing that we had cameras now. We'll be looking into that. I never thought anything like this would happen in such a quiet neighborhood. I personally don't have any enemies or recent exes, and no one I know. is harboring any grudges, so I just don't know who this could have been.

I'm caring for my folks full time right now, so I'm not out socializing or making any enemies. Ever since this happened, new fears keep popping into my mind. Most nights I'm up at some point, late at night, or very early in the morning, and I'll let the dogs outside into the back garden for a quick pee, and I'm suddenly aware of how easy it would, be for someone to attack me or gain entry into the house.

There's a passage around the side of the house to go from the front to the back garden with only a small side gate. It's meant to keep the dog confined, not designed to keep others out. It would be easy for someone to access the back garden, then hide against the back of the house completely hidden from view. This man was bold enough to come back a second time, even knowing a person and a dog were in the room. Perhaps he was hoping I would have fallen asleep by the time he came back.

Whatever the case may be, it seemed like he was deliberately trying to scare me. But why? What's to stop him from coming back? I was 13 years old when this happened. Around that time, my mom began leaving me at home alone a few nights a week for a couple of hours at a time while she taught in a day. agility class. That particular night, she left for her class at around 7.30, and soon after it started pouring

rain. This didn't really bother me, as I've always found the rain to be peaceful. I came downstairs out of my room to watch something on television. Now, the television in our living room sits in front of two windows which look out onto our front yard. Our front yard is partially covered by a small forest. that separates our house from the neighbor's house. The center of our yard slopes downward and then back up again.

So when it rains, it creates a river flowing across the yard, about half a foot deep. Since it was pouring rain, the yard flooded fairly quickly. While I was watching television, the power was knocked out due to the storm. I didn't have much else to do besides sit in the dark and wait for it to come back on. Just then, lightning flashed, and I noticed a movement between the trees and the front yard. I decided to peek out the window. I couldn't see very well because it was so dark out, and there are screens on our windows,

but I thought I could make out a figure standing between the trees in front of my house. Then the lighting flashed again, which removed all doubt, since it revealed that somebody was definitely there. My heart started beating so fast as this person was standing only about 20 feet from my front door and the pouring rain just staring at the house. The figure then stepped out from the forest and directly into the river flowing through the yard. They placed their hands into the pockets of their hoodie. I couldn't see their face at all as they had their hood pulled down.

I backed away from the windows scared. It felt like I shouldn't be scared because I know it's quite hard to see into my house from outside, but somehow I felt that they knew I was there. Curiosity got the better of me and I pulled the curtain aside and peaked out again. Just then, the person pulled one hand out of their pocket and raised it. In a waving motion, they placed it back in their pocket. I flipped out. I ran to find my crappy little Nokia phone to call my mom.

I dialed desperately, but she didn't answer. My call went to voicemail. I looked at the time, and I saw that her class had about five minutes left. I kept dialing and redialing, praying that she would answer, but she wouldn't pick up. I kept peeking out the window every few seconds until I realized that the person had moved a few steps closer. Just then, the power came back on, and the lights on our porch flickered on. As this happened, the person hesitated for a second before turning around and bolting in the opposite direction. Fifteen minutes later, my mom arrived back home.

When I heard the back door open, I raced to the kitchen, hugged her, and started crying. I asked her why she didn't pick up her phone. She said that her phone had died on the way to class. I told her what happened, and although she tried not to show it, I knew she was legitimately freaked out. She told me to go to bed and that she would take care of it. I didn't sleep that night, or several nights after that. She never did tell me what she did to, quote-unquote, take care of it.

I stopped asking after a while, but whoever that person was, they haven't been back. To the person who was watching my house in the pouring rain, let's not meet. This episode is sponsored by Vented. I tend to shop seasonally. I rotate what I wear, pick up new pieces, and then suddenly realize I've got a closet full of stuff I haven't touched in months. Good clothes, just sitting there.

And for a long time, I would think I'll donate everything eventually and then eventually never came. What finally got me moving was realizing I was literally leaving. I was literally leaving money on the table every time I ignored it. That's why I'm happy I found Vented. Vented is a second-hand app that makes it easy for everyday sellers,

people like you and me, to sell pre-loved fashion and earn some extra money. And honestly, the thing that sold me on Vented specifically was that there were no seller fees, none. That's a big deal when you're used to platforms

that take a cut before the money even hits your pocket. Listing on Vented is quick, and simple. A few photos, a short description, your price, and you're done. And once something sells, Vented creates a prepaid shipping label for you. I didn't have to figure anything out. It just worked for me. The closet feels lighter, the wardrobe feels more intentional, and the extra cash doesn't hurt either. Vinted genuinely changed how I think about the clothes that I own. Give your clothes a second chance with Vented. Download the Vented app for free and start selling with no seller

fees, so you keep everything you earn. Plus, for a limited time, enjoy free shipping in the U.S. on Vented. Around two years ago, my friend Jenny decided to throw a party for her birthday. She hadn't celebrated her birthday in many years and was really excited. Something important to know about Jenny is that she had an addiction problem. It was all kinds of different drugs. I think it mostly depended on whatever she could get. It was really bad. She's a lovely person and she's doing very well right now, but I do think that her drug use was one of the reasons why this went so wrong. Her circle of friends consisted mostly of people she used with. She had a few good and close friends, but not many. A week before the party, I asked her how many people she had

invited, and she said around 80. I laughed, and I asked her why so many? She said, well, I invited people that I don't know too well, but they're pretty chill. That was already a red flag for me. That night, I had another party to go to before hers. I knew that Jenny's party was going to have several attendees whom I didn't know, and I knew that they would be on hard drugs, which I had never done, so I needed some liquid courage. I ended up going to Jenny's party with my friend Noah. She had rented a small venue, to fit all the people. It was essentially an abandoned lot on a very quiet street. There were almost no houses on this street and a few factories. The layout of this space is pretty important to know.

Basically, there was the entrance with the tiny yard for people to smoke. Then you had to enter the building and go up the stairs to get to a living room in a kitchen area. And next to that, there was a small room with a DJ. Now, everything was fine at the beginning, and I was having a lot of fun. But then, at around 1 a.m., there was a small fight. I didn't witness it, but I was told about it immediately. Four guys tried to get in, but only one of them was invited. They were told to leave by some of the guys, and when they didn't, a small fight ensued. Nothing noteworthy, at least that's what I thought at the time. I asked Noah if he wanted to go out for a smoke. He said that he was going to finish his conversation and then we could go together.

A little while later, we walked out of the kitchen and towards stairs, but there were six people huddled at the top of the stairs. Instinctively, I took a step back. I just turned around to Noah with this what-the-fuck look when we heard people screaming and glass-shattering. Then all of the people who were standing in front of us jumped back. We did as well. There was more screaming, and people were stumbling on the stairs.

Then I saw my friend Oliver, one of the few people I knew at the party. It was walking up the stairs. His head was covered in blood. This other guy I knew had a bloody nose. And I also saw my friend Jason grasping his shoulder with his girlfriend behind him. Earlier that evening, I drunkenly fell onto the cement with both knees. scraping them open. But because of that, I knew where the first egg kit was, and I've never had any issues with blood. I might have challenges with other bodily fluids, but when someone is bleeding,

I can help them, no problem. I saw Oliver go into the kitchen, and I wanted to go after him to help him. Now this is where things get kind of gross, but bear with me. I saw that Oliver had something stuck in his forehead. Because I heard the glass shattering, I assume, that's what it was, but when I got closer, I saw that it was a piece of his skull sticking out of his forehead. That was too much for me. That instantly sobered me up, and I promptly turned around and went into another room. He was surrounded by a lot of people, though, and 911 was called immediately. It turns out those guys who were rejected from the party came back with 30 other guys. They were carrying bats, steel pipes, and they just started hitting the first people they saw.

They left as quickly as they came. The whole attack didn't last any more than 30 seconds. I found my friend Jason still grasping his shoulder. He and his girlfriend were closest to the entrance of the property, so they were attacked first. These cowards did indeed beat up women. They didn't care at all. Jason's shoulder was disloyal. located and luckily his girlfriend wasn't too wounded. The police and an ambulance arrived pretty quickly. Oliver was taken to the hospital and thankfully made a full recovery after surgery. My friend Ginny was in hysterics, both because of what happened and because of whatever

was in her system. The cops were of no help. At one point, they yelled at her because she was too upset to complete a sentence. They left after a while, and so did most of the people. Noah and I were still there. We tried to help wherever we could. I was still in shock and kind of numb. But what snapped me out of my days was seeing people scrubbing the blood off of the staircase.

I eventually realized there was nothing more that I could do there, and more importantly, I needed to go home. Noah went with me, and we stayed at it. up for hours talking and processing everything. To think that if we had decided to go smoke, even a minute sooner, or if Noah hadn't had that one conversation, we would have been in the middle of all of this.

It would also have been a real possibility that these guys had guns or knives. We lived in a pretty rough area. That is even more terrifying to think about. Hands down, that was the worst party I had ever been to, So to those guys who ruined my friend's party, let's not meet. This happened around three years ago. I was 14.

My parents had been separated for a long time, and I used to live with my mom during the week and my dad on the weekends. My dad always made significantly less money than my mom. He lived alone in a house that was honestly too big for one person, and he struggled a lot with paying rent. One day, one of his friends asked if he could move in, his friend John. He needed a place to stay and my dad needed money. So John offered to pay rent every week in exchange for one of the spare rooms.

My dad agreed, and John moved in with us. Since I only stayed there on the weekends, I didn't see John too often. But whenever I did, I always felt uncomfortable around him. He wasn't scary or aggressive or anything like that. Honestly, he was usually nice, but there was something about him that seemed off, and I couldn't explain it. At some point, he had taken over one of the drawers in our bathroom,

and one day I looked inside of it and found a ton of pills, like a worrisome amount. I had no idea what they were for, and I still don't, so it freaked me out. My dad also always had somewhat questionable friends, so I already didn't love the idea of living with one of them. I was probably a bit overly cautious since I remember being way too obsessed with horror stuff at the time.

But I even remember hiding a kitchen knife under the mattress in case he ever came into my room while my dad wasn't home. At the time, it felt more like a comical and ridiculous jealous, rather than self-defense, since John had never given me any real reason to be afraid of him, but for some reason that knife just reassured me. Even my dad didn't really like leaving me alone with him, not because John ever did anything weird with me, but my dad used to say that he was a little weird himself.

Still, he needed the money, and John was his friend after all, so he stayed with us for around two months. The first month was normal. Nothing bad happened. John paid his part in rent and sometimes even bought groceries for us. Eventually I got used to him being there, but during the second month, things started to get weird. My dad and I have a cat, and John started making disturbing comments about it.

He would say weird things about how my dad acted around the cat, implying some things that weren't true at all, At first, the things he was saying just sounded bizarre, not dangerous. As I said, he had always been kind of odd. But over time, the comments got more intense and more detached from reality. Eventually, my dad started making sure that John was either out of the house or in his room whenever I came over. Then one day, I got to my dad's house and noticed that John wasn't there at all.

As usual, when I arrived, I asked where he was. That was when my dad told me that John wasn't living there anymore, and he explained what happened. John had been acting seriously unstable the last few weeks. My dad told me about things John had been saying and doing while I wasn't there, things he never told me so that I wouldn't be alarmed. My dad also told me that, a few days before I visited, they got into a huge argument.

John then accused my dad of sexually abusing our cat, which never happened. My dad told him to get out after that, but John completely lost it. He started yelling about how my dad abused me too. He just kept saying that he knew what was going on, and he made a bunch of other claims. The argument kept getting louder and more aggressive until it eventually turned physical. I'll skip some details, but my dad found. finally managed to force him outside and call the police when he refused to leave. When the cops showed up, they saw the state John was in, so they arrested him and took him away.

After that, we never really heard from John again. But for weeks after it happened, I was terrified every time I went to my dad's house. I kept imagining John showing up while I was home alone, especially since he was probably still angry at my dad, and totally unstable. Every weird noise in the house freaked me out, but thankfully he never came back. Eventually life moved on and we kind of stopped thinking about it. His mom came one day to collect his stuff and after that,

he disappeared from our lives for about three months. One night my dad sent me a news article. John was on the front page, and the content of the article made my stomach drop. According to the article, he had walked into an apartment building carrying a hammer. He smashed windows, destroyed parts of the building, and eventually set it on fire.

A woman trapped inside her apartment died in the flames. He violently attacked another person in the building with a hammer before the police finally arrested him. The creepiest part was that nobody in the building even knew him. He had absolutely no connection with any of the victim. They were complete strangers. I'm pretty sure he's locked up now, but even years later,

my dad and I still think about it sometimes. What would have happened if he had stayed with us? It's crazy to think that we lived with a man, accused of first-degree murder months before he snapped. I'm always ready to upgrade my routines, and recently I heard about Lorentico, a chewing gum that actually makes your teeth stronger every time you use it.

Loreneco is better for you, chewing gum, that uses the same mineral your teeth are made of to support daily enamel health. Specifically, it uses nano-hydroxyapatite, a mineral that your enamel is actually made of to strengthen your enamel and repair damage. Loreenco sent me the gum, and I'm a huge fan. The taste genuinely lasts long, and my mouth feels a lot cleaner and fresher throughout the day, and I've talked about how I like a gum that has a lot of umph to it, I guess. It's got a good chew, and this is the best gum I've ever had. I'm not exaggerating. I can't stop chewing it. I've been chewing it after my meals, when I go to the gym.

It just fits into my routine naturally, so it doesn't feel like a health habit. It just feels like chewing gum. Good gum. And it feels good to know that I'm helping my teeth stay strong and healthy every time that I use it. It comes in tons of flavors, including mint, cinnamon, bubble gum, and berry, which is my favorite. And they also have a really great fluoride-free toothpaste. it's a totally effortless way to make sure that you are taking the best care of your teeth possible. Right now, Lorene Co is offering our listeners up to 50% off at bylorine.com slash meet.

That's by Lorene, L-A-R-I-N-E dot com slash meet for up to 50% off. This all started when I was about 16 or 17 years old. My aunt had a boyfriend whom I never really knew that well. I'm honestly not even sure what their relationship was. He wasn't living with her, but he was always around, helping with repairs, working on the roof and doing odd jobs around the house. My family lived out of state and only visited New York every so often, so I mostly knew him from those trips.

As far as I could tell, he was always nice to my sister and me. Every time we visited, he would hand each of us a silver dollar. He would tell us the silver would help keep him. us from getting sick. Being a naive kid, I thought it sounded kind of cool. He owned this strange machine covered in dials, switches, and wires. Whenever we came over, he would proudly demonstrate it for us. He claimed that if you connected the wires to it in the right order and touched them to your skin, it could cure almost anything. Colds, fevers, chicken pox, and even cancer. As a kid, I never even questioned any of it.

My aunt was in her late 40s and one of the sweetest people I've ever known. She always greeted my sister and me with hugs and kisses, even after we had reached the age where we thought we were too old for that. She called us her honeies, asked about school, our friends, and whatever else was going on in our lives. She had two grown children of her own. one was working overseas and the other was attending graduate school

and she loved talking about them over the years something started to change every time we came back to visit she had gained a little bit more weight and she would apologize for it before anyone could say anything insisting that she knew she needed

to lose it but just couldn't find the motivation and then she stopped taking care of herself altogether She still asked about my sister and me. She still smiled and asked, How are my honeies? But she no longer talked about her children, her hobbies, or anything that happened in her own life.

Looking back, it felt like someone was slowly draining the life out of her. Then one summer, we all gathered for a family reunion. She arrived with her boyfriend, and the difference was impossible to ignore. She looked exhausted, older, and even broken. She smiled, but it looked forced, and she was pretending everything was okay.

Her boyfriend gave my sister and me our usual silver dollars before launching into a conversation about conspiracy theories and a popular website about them. He proudly showed us a sticker on his truck promoting it. Even today, I refused to visit that website out of sheer disgust. for this man. As soon as the reunion ended, and he drove away, my aunt completely fell apart. She started sobbing. For years, she insisted that she didn't need help, but that day, she begged us to save her. So we brought her back to my uncle's house where she finally told everyone

what had been happening. For over a year, her boyfriend had been giving her what he called medicine. Sometimes it was crushed pills, sometimes supplements, sometimes it was mysterious powders or pills that he bought online or had gotten from friends. He convinced her that they would help her lose weight, cure her eczema, and fix every other health problem that she had. She trusted him, but that night, she was absolutely terrified he would find her.

She barely slept. none of us did. Some of my cousins were convinced that he was going to show up at the house with a gun, demanding that we give her back. Instead, he spent the entire night calling family members, insisting that she needed her medicine, but the calls continued until nearly four that morning. Thankfully, no one told him where she was.

The next day, we admitted her to the hospital. However, she was never the same again. Over time, she lost her memories of my sister and me. She stopped calling us her honeies. She stopped hugging us, and stopped recognizing our faces altogether. Every time I visit her, I have to fight back tears because the woman lying in that bed isn't the aunt that I grew up with. The doctors were never able to determine exactly what she had been taking. They only knew the mixture she had been given caused her mental state to deteriorate over the course of a year.

Even after the medications stopped, the damage continued. She experienced withdrawal symptoms, and her cognitive decline never recovered. The most infuriating part is that her ex-boyfriend never stopped trying to reach her. He repeatedly attempted to visit the care home so he could continue giving her his medicine. A restraining order was issued against him eventually, though. I don't know whether he genuinely. believed he was helping her, or whether he was simply controlling her through fear and dependency. But honestly, I don't care. All I know is that one of the kindest women I've ever known

slowly disappeared because she trusted the wrong person. If someone ever tries to convince me that they have a miracle machine that cures cancer or a homemade medicine that fixes everything, I'll remember my aunt. And to the man who stole her from my family and me, long as well, long before she has left us physically. Let's not meet again. Our next sponsor is Smalls, and I want to share something a customer wrote. Emily L. said that their cat's life was completely changed by Smalls

and genuinely believes that she wouldn't still be here without finding it. She was almost 20 years old, and within two months of switching to Smalls, she was acting like a kitten again. Now, I have friends with cats, and that kind of cat story doesn't surprise me anymore. Cats are carnivores. and they need real meat to thrive,

but most cat food cuts corners with cheap grains, fillers, and meat byproducts. Big pet food does that because it's cheaper. But what they save on cost, your cat pays with their health. Smalls is different. Fresh cat food made with preservative-free 100% human-grade ingredients,

over 80% animal protein, no fillers, delivered right to your door. After switching to Smalls, 88% of cat owners reported overall health improvements. Forbes ranked them the best overall cat food, and if your cat won't eat it, they'll refund you. So stop serving your little carnivore a bowl of processed shortcuts.

For a limited time, because you're a let's not meet listener, get 60% off your first order plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com slash meat. One last time, that's 60% off your first order plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com slash meat. In April 2019, I was an exchange student in South America.

I went on a trip to the Amazon with a group of other exchange students. At the time, I was 18 years old, tall, thin, and since I had blue eyes, I've always stood out as a tourist. I was fluent in Spanish, though, and it allowed me to talk to the locals without any misunderstandings. The first incident occurred on our first morning in the Colombian town of Leticia. We were all staying in a hotel. It had a strange vibe, and it didn't. feel comfortable to me or my friends.

The hotel staff was staring at us like creeps, which made it even more unsettling. During breakfast, I overheard other exchange students discussing a missing phone. I offered to help locate it using my Find My iPhone app, and we were able to track it down to a sketchy part of town. The police accompanied us to the location, and we found the house where the phone was.

The family denied involvement, but their behavior and the fact that the phone signal was coming from their place made it clear to us. They had stolen it. They came out with knives and machetes, yelling at us and confronting us. It was intense. I felt the shiver down my spine, and I had a very strong gut feeling that we needed to leave. We told the police to go back and not do anything about the phone because we were worried about our phone. safety and the phone wasn't worth it. We went back to the hotel.

The police wanted to see if there were any cameras that pointed at the door of the room from the outside or the inside. The scary part was that they had cameras both inside and outside. Only these two cameras were mysteriously turned off for two hours that night. I also know about another incident and found out why the cameras were turned off by someone from the hotel staff. I don't feel comfortable sharing that as it involved one of my friends.

It was very serious and legal actions were taken. One of our other stops was in a small village in Peru's part of the Amazon. I don't remember the town's name, but it had around 150 people. The village was built on pillars

above the water as the Amazon River was overflowing. After we arrived and settled, in at the local hotel, we were taken to a stage where we were introduced to the region's indigenous dances, songs, and culture. After the performance, the group returned to the hotel, but I decided to stay back and talk to some of the locals. Plus, I wanted to see an anaconda, as some had told me, this was a good time to see them hunt. I started talking to a local guy and he claimed that

he couldn't show me where to see a live anaconda, but offered to show me a picture of one that he had taken a few days ago on his phone. Despite what my parents always taught me about going to strangers' houses, I foolishly decided to follow him to his remote, isolated home, deep in the jungle. As we walked, I could not shake off the feeling of unease

and danger lurking around every corner. When we arrived, he instructed, me to wait in the living room while he searched for his phone. But as I stood alone in that dimly lit room, my gut told me something was wrong. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was in danger. After what felt like in eternity, he returned and said that he couldn't find his phone. He asked me to come back the next day, but I knew I had to get out of there as soon as possible. I thanked him and left, but my heart was pounding.

When I returned to the hotel and told my friends what happened, they were horrified and couldn't believe that I put myself in such a dangerous and vulnerable situation. I couldn't shake off the feeling that something terrible could have happened to me if I had stayed any longer. Looking back, I realized that the encounter was bizarre, even if he was truly a kind person. But I can't shake the feeling that something could have happened, and it scares me to think about how naive I was. Even though I consider myself rational and sometimes paranoid, I didn't listen to my instincts, and I put myself in danger. My parents divorced when I was pretty young. When this happened, my younger brother and I were spending one of our court-ordered visitation weekends at my dad's apartment. His apartment wasn't in the best part of town.

The complex had a reputation for drugs, fights, and police showing up regularly. Even as a kid, I knew it wasn't somewhere that you wanted to be after dark. He lived in a small first-floor two-bedroom apartment. My brother and I shared one bedroom whenever we stayed there. Each bedroom had its own bathroom, and the living room opened up into a small patio through a large glass sliding door. One night, we were both asleep when we were jolted awake by someone pounding on the front door. They weren't knocking. They were slamming it with just enough force to shake the

apartment. My dad got up and looked through the peephole. He didn't recognize the man who had been standing outside. Through the door, the stranger kept demanding to know where his ex-girlfriend was. Apparently, she lived in that apartment before we moved in. My dad yelled that she didn't live there anymore. However, the pounding did not stop. Instead, it became even more violent. My dad shouted that there were children inside and told the man to leave. He completely ignored him. By then I was fully awake, and my dad rushed into my brothers and my room. He hurried us into his bedroom, just as the banging moved from the front door to the sliding glass door off the patio. That sound still sticks with me to this day.

My dad then locked his bedroom door, ushered us into the attached bathroom, grabbed a golf club, and locked us inside. My little brother was sobbing uncontrollably while we sat together in the bathtub. I remember feeling strangely calm, not because I wasn't scared, but because I really couldn't process what was happening at that age. I just sat there while my dad called 911 and the apartment office. We then heard the sound that I had been dreading. Glass shattered.

For a few seconds, everything seemed to go quiet. Not long afterward, the police arrived. When my dad finally opened the bathroom door and told us it was safe to come out, it was around three in the morning. My mom had already been called and was there to pick a side, up. The man was gone, but there was blood everywhere. The police later told us that when the man punched through the sliding glass door, he had severed an artery in his wrist. Instead of continuing into the apartment, he panicked and fled into the wooded area behind the complex.

The trail of blood was apparently so significant that the officers were able to follow it through the trees, find him, take him into custody, and get him emergency medical treatment. I never found out what happened to him after that. I assumed that he survived and ended up in jail. That night left a much bigger mark on me than I realized at the time. Even now, one of my most common anxiety nightmares involves someone breaking into whatever home I'm living in. I already struggled with nightmares growing up, but after this happened, they became much more focused on home invasions. Thankfully, medication has helped tremendously over the years.

As one final unsettling detail, several years after my dad moved out of that apartment complex, there was another man terrorizing residents by climbing through people's windows in the middle of the night. Sometimes he would simply crawl into bed beside them, while other times he reportedly attempted far worse. Despite being caught on security cameras multiple times, it still took police nearly three months to identify and arrest him.

It's safe to say, I have absolutely no desire to live there ever again. And to the man who mistook our apartment for his ex-girlfriends and turned one terrifying night into a lifelong fear of home invasions, let's never meet again. You know what's very important to every human being? Sleep. And I trust my sleep to Casper.

But honestly, I'm not the only one in my house getting the Casper treatment. My dog has been sleeping on a Casper dog bed in my kitchen while I cook every morning and every night, and I have never seen an animal more committed to a nap spot in my life. Every single time I look over, they're on it, completely passed out, living their best life.

This podcast is sponsored by Casper. Casper makes reliable, high-quality, mattresses designed to deliver consistent, comfortable sleep night after night. That's why out of 99 mattresses, consumer reports, named Casper's The One mattress, their top-rated all-foam mattress of 26, and that's a big deal. Right now, it's a great time to upgrade with Casper's back-to-school sale. Head to casper.com and save up to 20% on mattresses you deserve. Casper mattresses are built to be durable and long-lasting, designed to withstand the test of time while maintaining support and comfort. Plus, they just launched a brand new kids' mattress, so even the youngest

sleepers in your family can get the same comfort and quality that you do. And with a 100-night-risk-free trial and over 110,000 five-star reviews, there's really no reason not to try. If you're going to invest in your home, invest in your mattress and your dog. Remember, the day always ends well with Casper. Right now save up to 20% on mattresses and up to 25% on everything else when you go to casper.com. One last time, that's C-A-S-P-E-R-com and save up to 20% on the mattress you deserve. Our final story contains non-graphic references to animal harm. Listener discretion is advised. I met Austin in the fall of 2024 after he messaged me on Facebook. At the time, I was incredibly lonely. I had just transferred from community college to a university in a city and hardly

knew anyone. We had a mutual friend, so when he reached out, I figured she had probably mentioned me to him, or he had seen me around. Either way, I decided to answer. We talked constantly, and before long, we met for our first date. Things moved fast after that. We spent nearly every day together, stayed at each other's apartments most nights, and he seemed genuinely sweet. Looking back, I know that's how these stories usually begin. Within a couple of months, I moved into his apartment. It was a rushed decision, but my living situation had become unbearable. I was sharing a house with six other girls,

and the environment had become incredibly toxic. At first it felt like I made the right choice, but then I started seeing who he really was, He introduced me to his young daughter Lily, and I adored her. He constantly told me that her mother was quote-unquote crazy and was keeping Lily away from him to control him. I believed him. Then his temper started to show.

Initially, he would boil over about little things. If I misplaced a phone charger, put something in the wrong place, or forgot something small he would yell. Before long the yelling became almost a daily occurrence. Everything was somehow my fault. If he lost his keys, if I got home from work later than expected, if I wanted to visit my family,

if child care fell through, it always came back to me. What I didn't know at the time was that he was also cheating on me constantly. Later, I discovered he was messaging dozens of girls between the ages of 15 and 22. He was 25. Despite all of that, we moved into a larger apartment together

in another suburb, and for a little while, things calmed down. Then one night after work, he came home carrying this tiny kitten. He whispered to me, I found her at work. I brought her home for you. I named her stripe. She quickly became my little shabre. She followed me everywhere, slept beside me every night, and helped me through what had become a miserable relationship. About one month later, I came home late from my serving job. Austin was furious because he needed me home to watch his daughter before he left for work.

On top of that, he lost his keys, which somehow became my fault as well. He screamed inches from my face while I sat there, crying. Then, in the middle of his rage, he grabbed Stripe. I won't go into details, but he ended Stripe's life. After that happened, I felt completely trapped. I had been isolated from my friends and I didn't feel like I had family that I could stay with. Financially, I couldn't afford the apartment on my own because he constantly spent both his money and mine. I dreaded coming home every day. I also dreaded. leaving because I knew I would eventually have to come back and I was so depressed.

In August of 2025, one of the girls he had been messaging reached out to me directly. That was the final straw. I ended the relationship. Unfortunately, we were still living in the same apartment. He stayed in one bedroom with his daughter and I stayed in another while I tried to figure out how to escape. A few months later, in November everything exploded. He started screaming at me again, but this time it became physical. He threw me around the apartment

and tried to choke me. When I attempted to leave, he physically stopped me. He also threatened to let my animals loose somewhere I would never find them again. At one point, he also aimed a gun at me. I genuinely believed I was going to die. I wanted to call the police,

but I was scared. In my state, domestic violence calls often result in both parties being detained while everything is sorted out. Austin had even scratched himself with his car keys so that he could claim I had attacked him. I had college finals the next morning and felt trapped between failing school and surviving the night. Eventually, I decided that none of it mattered if I didn't make it out alive. So I reached for my phone. Before I could call 911, he grabbed it and snapped it in half. By then, the only option I had left was to run. He ripped my house keys away from me, but I still had my car keys, so I sprinted out the door, drove straight to my dad's house and collapsed on his couch. That should have been the end of it, but instead, the harassment only got worse. Every day I received

countless calls and text messages. Some begging me to come back, others threatening me. Sometimes he would switch between apologizing to insulting me within minutes. Eventually, I moved in with my mother and got my animals somewhere safe. He refused to leave my apartment, even though he wasn't on the lease. He insisted he wanted to, quote unquote, fix our family. The holidays were miserable. I got more than 50 calls from him on Thanksgiving, around 100 on Christmas, and the same on New Year's. So, I threatened to file for a civil protection order if he didn't move out. And he finally left. When I returned to my apartment in January, it had been completely trashed.

Around that time, I started casually talking to someone long distance. He offered to help me clean my apartment and start putting my life back together. which was something he never had to do, but I'll always appreciate. Even after Austin moved out, the harassment continued. He started using fake phone numbers to threaten me. Sometimes he would pretend to be a stranger who claimed that they knew where I lived, or he would pose as someone who was, quote, coming to get me.

I finally reached my breaking point in February. I filed for a civil protection order. Based on my testimony, the judge granted me an emergency order. Almost immediately afterward, the texts from the fake numbers stopped, and the numerous calls from his real phone number stopped as well. After that, for the first time in months, everything was quiet. Even now, he still occasionally finds ways to interfere with my life. I will get random texts from strange numbers.

asking if I'm easy, claiming Austin gave them my number. Friends will tell me that he's made vague social media posts about me, or tried to get other people to contact me as well, but thankfully they never do. Nowadays my life is completely different. I'm with my childhood best friend, and for the first time, in a long time, I know what it feels like to be genuinely safe and loved. I still look over my shoulder in parking lots and I still jump when an unknown number texts me.

I'm still working through everything in therapy and I still need to report some of his violations of the protection order. Healing is an instant, but I did survive. So Austin, let's never meet again. If you're tired of ads and you want to get bonus stories every single week, make sure you go to patreon.com forward slash let's-not-me podcast to sign up and support the show today.

Again, you get ad-free versions of all of the episodes at a higher bit rate and bonus stories in these extensions every single week if your patrons stick around after the music for your extension. And be sure to send your stories into Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. Check out the new episodes of my other podcast like Odd Trails and the Old Time Radiocast at Cryptic County Podcasts.com. This week you have heard The Panting Prouler at the Window by Springy Spaniel, Waiting to smoke possibly saved my life by The Angel Maker,

my dad's roommate by Sunshine, One, Two, Three, How my aunt's crazy boyfriend ruined her life by Dorf Knox, encounters in the Amazons by Only Cat O4, watching from my front yard by Nora Roar, someone punched my glass door by Fawn Trinket, and finally, clinically crazy ex-boyfriend by, dumb bitch energy. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission

of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet a true horror podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. Again, if you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. We'll see you next week. Stay safe. Person background. I'm a gay Indian.