Welcome, dear listeners, to scary stories told in the dark.

I'm Malcolm Blackwood, your host and storyteller.

And you know where I'm from, we don't do bedtime stories.

So, if that's what you're expecting, you're in the wrong place. If it's

terrifying tales you're after, well, then I've got just the thing. So, get comfortable,

settle in, turn off the lights, if you dare. Your night is about to get a whole lot darker.

Besides, who needs sleep anyway?

Good evening, dear listeners, and welcome back.

I'm your host Malcolm Blackwood.

Tonight's story begins the way many dangerous things do, not with terror, but with relief.

With the quiet hope that's somewhere beyond routine, beyond disappointment, beyond the familiar

weight of regret, there might be a place where everything finally makes sense, a place

where pain can be set aside, where loneliness loosens its grip, where the question of what went wrong no longer matters.

We like to believe salvation arrives with warning signs, with rules, with tests.

But sometimes it comes softly, wrapped in reassurance, wearing a smile, humming a tune that sounds almost comforting.

Tonight's episode explores what happens when the promise of happiness isn't earned, only

offered, when the path forward doesn't feel like danger, just inevitability.

So settle in, dim the lights, and remember, some promises aren't meant to lift you up.

They're meant to lead you somewhere you won't want to leave.

Before we begin, a brief word of thanks.

Scary stories told in the dark is made possible by listeners like you,

and by those who choose to support the show through our patrons area.

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