Hello and welcome to the mini-episode 270 of Real Life Gold Stories, and I have

one spooky story for you today and the story comes from the 19th of February 2023 and today's

story comes from Megan. My two older brothers Francis and Edward and I grew up in the southern

countryside of Canada's capital city Ottawa, from the early 1990s to the late 2010s.

I don't live in this area anymore as our family home was sold last year to a lovely expecting

couple. My parents were among the first to occupy forest green crescent in 1989, where the land

was large, serene and very quiet. If I were to yell as loud as I could for my yard, only the lots

beside us could barely hear. It was that thick. It was the best area a kid could be raised in,

as the dense forests and lush marshes were a focal point for our imaginary playtimes and childish

exploration. Those kids were allowed to leave on our own at the stroke of dawn and stay out

until bedtime. It was complete freedom and I will always be thankful to my parents for giving us

such a privilege as it blossomed a deep love for nature in Francis Edward and I. Such as its name,

forest green crescent was, surprise, shaped like a wavy crescent, and nearly every part of its

edge was inhabited by a kind family or elderly retired couple. But the exception to this was a

large swamp that occupied the hump of the crescent, marking the halfway point of the street.

As beautiful as it was, this swamp had no name and was owned by one of the neighbors that lived

beside it. They were a good family that we knew personally, as the wife was a secretary at our local

high school. She allowed all the children on the street to explore the swamp as they wished,

so long as they followed one rule. Never go alone. This was mostly due to the swamp's deep

waters and precarious grass hills, where one wrong step could trap your leg in an animal's underground

hutch. However, today I wonder if she knew what kind of secrets the swamp was actually hiding.

Back then, nothing was going to stop us from exploring. The swamp was a thriving ecosystem,

...