Hello, gentle listener, and welcome to Nocturnal Transmissions, the fortnightly podcast that brings you dark tales both old and new, performed by voice artist Kristen Holland.

This episode will be sharing a tale with you from the great American writer Ambrose Beers.

However, before we get to that, a quick reminder that nocturnal Transmissions is now on Instagram.

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All right, episode 28, Nocturnal Transmissions is proud to present Ambrose Beers'

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.

An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Pierce

Chapter 1

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama,

looking down into the swift water twenty feet below.

The man's hands were behind his back,

the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross timber above his head, and the slack fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the ties supporting the rails of the railway

supplied a footing for him and his executioners,

two private soldiers of the Federal Army,

directed by a sergeant who, in civil life, may have been a deputy sheriff.

At his short remove upon the same temporary platform was an officer in the uniform

of his rank, armed. He was a captain. A sentinel at each end of the bridge stood with his rifle

in the position known as support. That is to say, vertical in the front of the left shoulder,

the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight across the chest. A formal and unnatural

...