The Discovery of Irwin's Fate

Today, I'm going to share two stories about people who found themselves in truly just hopeless situations And in both of these stories, the main character makes a very unexpected decision that completely changes their lives For better or for worse Before we get into today's stories If you're a fan of the strange Dark and mysterious delivered in story format, then you come to the right place because that's all we do, and we upload two, three, even four times every week. So, if that's of interest to you, please surprise the follow button with a brand new wireless controller for their gaming console. But don't tell them it's really just their old controller that you cut the wire off of Okay, let's get into our first story, which is called Homesick. So you know that uneasy, anxious feeling you get when you think about dealing with your insurance company? Well, there's actually a term for that. 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We help You say valid through six hundred twenty four while supplies last, seelection varyies by location excludes Alaska Hawai One night in late August of fifteen fifty seven. A French man in his thirties named Martin Guer, was laying in a bed in a makeshift military hospital in Stain. Quentin, France writhing around in pain So a few weeks earlier, Martin had fought in this massive battle between the French and Spanish armies. And it had been this just Horrible, bloody, violent battle And during it, Martin had been wounded very severely he had lost his leg But this injury was obviously just devastating and very painful Martin also knew he was just lucky to be alive here. The doctors who had treated him at one point had seemed certain that he was going to die. So Martin and his doctors were all very surprised when he didn't die and he pulled through and survived And Martin knew that a lot of his comrades who'd already left St. Quentin by this point and moved on with the army or gone back home They very likely thought that he had died, given how bad it looked, But he was alive, and in a lot of pain And really more than that, he was just like devastated. I mean, he was incredibly lonely You know, all of his army mates had basically left the hospital or just moved on with their careers or they'd gone home. And he was still here, you know, unable to leave the hospital. and he has this injury too. like he he hasn't really gotten used to life without the use of his leg. And so His whole world has come crashing down. He sort of by himself, you know, all he has is The few army doctors who periodically come over and check on him, but beyond those people, he was just isolated and sort of trapped with these awful thoughts in his head twenty fourty seven And eventually these spiraling thoughts became really like the worst thing he was dealing with Like they surpassed the actual physical pain he was dealing with. It was just this incredible depression that is set in So Martin, he had grown up in this small rural village in southern France called Rt Gop He had gotten married at a very young age to a woman named Bertrand And they had loved each other very much and they had a son together However, Martin had sort of completely messed up his life when he stole some grain from his father had to literally flee town stealing, especially from a family member at the time was not only criminal really quite shameful. And Martin had been so afraid of what people would say and what they would think of him that he decided not to face them at all and he just left Rt Ga leaving behind Bertrond and his son and his whole life initially after he had sort of run away He had considered going back and just saying he was sorry and accepting whatever punishment he'd be given He was always too scared to do it. And so he just didnidn't And then before long, he got caught up in this war. yearsars it passed by. It's like he's basically just gone. He's been removed from Bertrand and his son's life. L he's just out of their lives. He's left them And now, you know, he's had his leg blown off And in his mind, you know, in this depressed state he was in Now, you know, he had never really stopped thinking about his former life. He missed his wife terribly, but he's thinking to himself I'm not the person she married. I'm a different person. I'm a degraded, like bad person. Like she wouldn't even want to be with me at this point And then beyond Bertrand and his son, like in how they would look at him He also was thinking that like he was this thief, this this shameful person that the rest of the village would not welcome back. So in his mind, he really felt not just isolated in this hospital, you know, with no army mates nearby, you know, stuck injury, but he's also thinking, I don't even have a place in the world Like I have nothing, my life is ruined. And so as Martin lay in the hospital bed, you know, having these horrible thoughts feeling all this physical pain in his leg, you know, just having this horrible time He found his mind wandering to somebody else in his life that had been very important to him H friend Aro wished If there was one person that he could talk to right now It would be him. So Arnaaot was a fellow soldier before this really horrible battle where Martin lost his leg The two had been great friends and they bonded because they had a lot in common both from small towns in the south of France. And they even look the same They could pass his brothers So they gotten really close and they talked about their lives and they shared a lot with one another like everyone else in the military that Martin had been friendly with or just worked with Arneault had, you know, moved on. He was no longer here. He'd gone somewhere else, you know, wherever the army sent him And so our no was just yet another person in his life who he wished He could spend more time with, but knew he wouldn' And so Martin's recovery would take a very long time. He was stuck in a hospital Basically bedridden with these horrible thoughts and this awful pain for weeks Months and then years pass by And Martin still was just a shell of himself And so he actually was moved to hospice care However, after getting to hospice, Martin actually didn't die. Typically hospice care is for people that are at the end of life and that no longer is it about trying to save them. It's about keeping them comfortable until they pass away, but For Martin he didn't die. He actually got better. And one afternoon in early September of fifteen sixty, so now about three years or so after he had lost his leg Martin sat on a bench outside of the hospice that he had been staying in since the war ended. Now where he was located was actually just, you know, a few miles from his hometown, Artiga despite the now close proximity to, you know, his former life, if you will. To Martin, it felt like, you know, Artig G could have been a million miles away. Couldn't have felt further away from him So after Martin sort of miraculously healed inside of hospice care and he was outfitted with a wooden prosthetic leg and was told that he could now leave and go about his life It was good on the one hand, he got to go, you know, back into reality But he still had a lot of health problems as a result of his injuries And you know, given this treacherous stretch of time where he had just been like stuck in bed having these horrible thoughts He had completely convinced himself that truly he was like a shell of the man he used to be, and that nobody from his previous life would want him, not his wife, not his son Not anybody. like he was he was nothing now And so even though Martin was like better at this point in his mind He sort of had resigned himself to simply wasting away and dying all alone. He just figured, evenven though the doctors say I'm better That's the path I'm on, and I'm not gonna change it. But now, as Martin sat outside on this bench, he heard a voice When he looked over at the road in front of the hospice where he heard this voice He saw there was a man that he had never met before who was clearly walking towards him, like that was the person speaking to him As the man approached Martin, he asked him Are you Martin Gre Martin slowly nodded, saying yes, I am This man's face lit up, and he explained that he'd been looking all over for him. He said he'd been sent here on behalf of Martin's family back in Artiga. And he wanted to bring Martin back to them. When Martin heard this He couldn't believe it. I mean, he really was so convinced that he was just destined for a life of shame and agony until he died and now to hear that His family wants him back. They're looking for him. likeike this was incredible. This was unbelievable I mean, he really assumed he would never go home again And now here was this guy saying, comeome with me, let's go home However, before Martin could ask any follow up questions of which he had many, like about his family and what they asked about and that kind of thing The man told Martin that Actually, he had been sent here to get Martin and he was going to bring him home, but first They needed to stop at the courthouse in a city called Tououse Martin looked at him like, what do you mean And the man explained the reason behind it Martin simply couldn't believe what he was being told A few days later, on the morning of september twelfth Martin climbed out of a wagon in front of the courthouse in Toulouse a city about forty miles away from Ari Got. And Martin, he felt butterflies in his stomach as he, you know, used his cane to climb the court steps to get up to the front doors And when he got up there, he took a deep breath. Threw open the double doors and stepped inside And the instant he did, the first thing he saw is the entire courthouse was filled with people turned to look at him and everyone's speaking with these hushed voices, like, o my goodness, I can't believe it. And that's when Martin realized he had just walked directly in to the middle of a trial And so Martin for a second, he just stood there staring back at all these people who are turned to look at him. And he realized that he recognized many of their faces. He saw some of his friends, he saw his uncle Pierre and some of his sisters He saw his wife, Bertrand, as well as a boy sitting next to her. who must have been his son? All of these people there' looking at Martin with just looks of absolute shock on their faces. likeike they were completely stunned to see him And they're all looking at his wooden leg and they're looking back at him. it was like they couldn't believe He had just walked in here However Before Martin could really, you know fully appreciate the emotional moment he was having here, you know, seeing his loved ones after over a decade First look towards the front of the courthouse. And as soon as Martin saw what was up there He knew that what that man had told him who came up to him on the bench in front of the hospice was true Martin had to bite his lip from screaming It would turn out Martin was wrong to believe that, you know, his wife and town of Artia would never accept him back, that he was worthless and should never return Because his wife Bertrand and the town of Artiga actually did Welcome him back or so they thought Because when Martin walked into that courtthouse and looked towards the front of the room What he saw was his long lost buddy, Arnaault from the war No was on trial Arnaaot did not just look like he could be Martin's brother He looked exactly like Martin And since Arneaot really had been very disliked in his own hometown for being a con artist He wanted a fresh start in a new place after he left the army. So, years earlier While Martin was lying in a makeshift army hospital so badly injured The doctors were telling him he was almost certainly going to die while that was happening Best bud R no was using their likeness and his knowledge of Martin's life All the times that Martin had confided in his friend to literally steal Martin's life. Arnaaot had waltzed into Artig Gas and told everyone there that he was Martin Gre entire town not only believed him They celebrated his return Ar no was actually so convincing Even Bertron believed Arnnaot was her husband. And she had gone on to have two additional children with him believing this was Martin. However One person, Martin's uncle, Pierre He just didn't buy it. He thought this guy was a fake. He thought he was an imposter And he took him to court for fraud. trial was why the man had tracked Martin down at the hospice and brought him to Toulouse. proroved to everyone there that look, Arno's an imposter because here's the real Martin. And of course, it worked becausecause when Martin stepped into that courtroom And his own family laid eyes on him, the actual Martin Gere. realized right away that R no truly was a fake Arnaot was ultimately sentenced to death and hanged in front of Martin's house in Artigas while the entire village watched. As for Bertrand, Martin's wife, she was horrified to learn that she had not recognized her own husband and that she had had two kids with a stranger begged Martin to forgive her There's a lot of ways to feel alive One way is to forget everything and be in the moment of excitement That's the idea behind the Genesis GV seventy. It's built to thrill A thrilling, yet elegant design always makes driving the Genesis GV seventy an exciting adventure powerowerful athletic stance, screams performance, and turns heads Command the road and experience a class leading standard three hundred horsepower Plus, discover the different dynamic drive modes for all different terrains. 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Expedited transfers available for a fee, tips are voluntary and don't affect the service. Available in select states, terms and restrictions apply, visit Erninot com for full details. Our second and final story today is called Layers. One morning in November of nineteen forty An eighty four year old prospector named Irwin Robertson hiked down a snowy ridge in the Alaskan wilderness. He was pushing this sled that was full of supplies and animal firstur, and it was pretty hard. I mean, as he was pushing this thing along Working so hard that he was breathing really heavy and even though it was really cold outside He could feel himself sweating underneath his clothes, like he was going to be covered in sweat Irwin knew that what he was doing was, you know risky. all he certainly was not as young as he used to be. You don't want to get hurt out here or you know, totally exhaust yourself out here. I mean, this is the wild Irwin was not about the slowdown. because he could just not Wait to get up. Irwin had comeumped to this area about forty years earlier as part of the big Alaskan gold rush. And so like basically every other prospector, he spent every summer and every fall t a cabin up in the mountains, predominantly hunting and mining. real home, you know, where he really considered where he lived was in the pioneer town of Eagle, Alaska. where he lived during the winter and the spring And that is where Irwin was headed this morning He had just wrapped up a very successful fall season up in the mountains. And he'd actually intended on staying in the cabin up in the mountains a bit longer A few days ago, the temperature had suddenly dropp Irwin did not have the supplies to wait out of winter storm Cabin So he had packed up his things, told the handful of other prospectors in the area where he was going He set out for Eagle Now this was a one hundred mile trek to get to his home in Eagle And it was through some very rough terrain. and also he's in Alaska. So this is like a very rough area to be navigated Irwin had made the trip at least once a year for the past four decades, so he knew he was doing So despite really exerting himself here pushing the sled He kept up as hard of a pace as he could manage for the next couple of hours And then finally, around midday, he allowed himself to slow down and just take a quick break. However, after stopping and reaching into his parka and pulling out his canteen to take a sip of water As he's sipping the canteen somethingomet catches his attention out of the corner of his eye. And even though all he saw was just like a flash of movement out in the trees They knew immediately what it was. During this trek so far, there was this pack of wolves that was following him. He knew they were following him. But again, this is a man who lived in the wilds of Alaska. and so he was not unacustomed running into packs of wolves. He knew they were quite dangerous, especially for a guy who's alone in the woods right now. But he wasn't that concerned However, he's thinking, okay, they're right over there I'm going to take a very quick break this canantine, put it back in his parka and he's like, I'm going I'm going to keep on moving here. A few hours later, Erwin was a good ways further down the ridge, but he was starting to get cold ice had formed on his beard and on his eyelashes So the temperature had dropped much faster than he had expected was starting to get worried. because he knew it was only going to get much worse after the sun went down and Remember, he's been exerting himself this whole time. He's been sweating under his clothes, so he's wet under his clothes the temperatureures dropping, so he's like getting really, really cold And so he decided that it was in his best interest to actually just stop right now B a fire make sure he was warn And so Irwin, he continued pushing his sled, you know, keeping his eyes peeled for a good spot to actually stop and make camp As he's moving along He hears something that causes him to just stop wasn't the sound of wolves It was the sound of trickling water. muchuch like the wolves waterater was quite dangerous out in the wilds of Alaska But in many ways water, especially in a very cold environment like this was like the most lethal to people Because getting fully wet in these temperatures basically guaranteed you would freeze to death. So Erwin moved very cautiously forward because again, all he can do is here the trickling water. He doesn't know where it is and hes he's thinking I better be careful. I don't accidentally like step into a creek or something and get wet here You know, he's already wet from sweating underneath his clothes. He can't afford to get more wet. And so he's been moving carefully and cautiously. And then he rounds a band and he actually sees the source of the sound It was a creek that had basically completely frozen over with the exception of a little bit of water that was sort of leaking out and sort of spilling out over the ice itself like this water that was making the sound and leaking out, it was sort of freezing in layers on the surface of this creek. And so it was kind of like this moundy block of ice that was sitting on top of this creek, but you could clearly see water sort of trickling its way through it. And so when Erwin saw this, he realized that, you know, as long as he was very careful to avoid stepping on the frozen creek itself. This area would actually make a great spot to spend the night He could refill his canteen from the littleittle spout of water coming out of the creek Plus, there were a bunch of dead trees nearby which were perfect for firewood. And this was good news because by this point, Erwin was so cold he was shivering So he parked a sled and then began gathering up some firewood But as he was going around doing this, He spotted a few of those wolves who had not stopped following him Not very far away from him. they were sort of lingering in the trees, clearly watching him And for the first time Irwin started to feel pretty anxious about these wolves. You know, the fact that they were now even closer than the last time he saw them suggested that, you know, one, they're still following him, but two They're getting braver, they're getting closer. But Irwin's thinking like can't just continue on here You know, as much as it makes sense to get away from the wolves beat physically and I'm soaked, my clothes are wet. like I'm getting so cold. I'm gonna die of hypothermia if I'm not careful I got to start this fire. I have to make camper. I just have to About twenty minutes later, Erwin had gathered up all the wood that he would need piled it all next to a sled and he got ready to start his fire. And in this kind of very cold environment actually starting the fire, the process of igniting the fire was a potentially very dangerous process Because in order to light the match to light the fire Irwin would have to take off his mittens and expose his hands to the freezing cold Erwin had to do it. so he reached down and he bit one of his mittens and pulled it off with his teeth. And then with that hand, he reached into his parka and he pulled out his fire kit which contained these thin scraps of teinder that he would use as fire starting material Then he grabbed a match and he struck it to light it. But it didn't catch. like the head of the match did not catch on fire And so Erwin tried again, striking the match once more It didn't light, and again, he just kept trying over and over and eventually he just snapped the match in half Irwin didn't panic because he knew that, you know, an extreme cold Some matches light better than others and some don't even light at all. And he had seen this happen before, so he wasn't panicking. Instead, he pulled off his other mitten to make sure he had max dexterity here And he took out the other match and and he held th the thing he was striking it against And he struck the second match, thinking this one will light Ag and again ands he's starting to get a little panicked when finally He strikes the match and this one does catch By this point, he's now had his naked hands exposed to the unbelievably cold temperatures for over a minute And his hands were like starting to seize up from the cold. They were shaking, in fact, so badly from the cold that even though he's got this light His hand shook so much that by the time he transferred it to the tinder, the shaking caaused it. extinguish. It was out. And at this point, Irwin did start to pan because his hands are in so much pain and they're so stiff from the cold. that he was afraid that even if he put his mittens back on his hands, they wouldn't warm up fast enough for him to then remove his mitten and try this whole fire thing again. He really needed the fire in order to warm his hands, but obviously he needs his hands to make the fire And so he's got a problem here So, Erwin, who was not one to give up easily gritted his teeth, and with his, you know, failing hands, he just reached down you know, fumbled and grabbed a third match thinking, I got to light this one. I got to start this fire to warm my hands up to To warm my whole body up, I gotta do this He's got this third match, he's barely able to hold it, and it took all his focus just not to drop it, but finally he managed to scrape it against the side of this matchbook is relief And so immediately Erwin, very carefully, you know, kind of sheltered this little flame carried it over to the Tinder and he put the flame on the tinder Irwin waited for the bundle to catch fire, but it just it didn't And then the flame, the match just burned out And for a long moment, Irwin just stared at this scene in front of him in confusion He didn't understand because he knew that this time He had done it all right. He had lit the match, he put it on the tinder. 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Fast forward a few months, and no exaggeration, something amazing is born The Sugarbee Apple Packed with notes of honey, caramel and molasses, plus an extra crisp crunch, Sugar bee apples are perfect for snacking, baking, and everything in between. Download our new free recipe book and find a store near you at hellougarBe. com. Sugar bee apppples, naturally sweet, from B to you Several days later, there were some people living in Eagle, Alaska who noticed that Erwin was not in Eagle. He had not arrived And it didn't make any sense because he had told people when he would be there. and You know, there was no reason he would be late unless something happened. And so these folks were just concerned enough that they authorities And by november nineteenth, which is almost exactly a week after Irwin had struggled to light that fire The U. S. Marshal's offffice was out in force looking for Erwin. And so on november nineteenth, a deputy from the U. S. Marshal's office who was out in the wilderness, you know, a part of the search He and his team came through these trees and he saw this clearing up ahead and he noticed there was something in the middle of it. It was a sled that was surrounded by supplies and it was set up on the bank of a frozen creek