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Hi listeners, I'm Michael David Axtel and I have a story I want to tell you.

A story of a seasonal caretaker whose watch is turned on him.

So gather round and listen.

Close.

Unspoiled peace and serenity.

That's what the job description from the Kentucky State Park Service had said.

It sounded beautiful, but most lies do.

I applied for a position as a winter caretaker for Caskey Mountain State Resort Park,

more out of desperation than passion.

I had a decent gig as a welder for a mining implement company,

but with many mines snapping closed I was one of the first laid off.

Desirable work in eastern Kentucky is few and far between.

You take what you can get.

Caretaker work at the State Park paid well,

and so I was a bit confused why the spot hadn't been filled.

Caskey Mountain closed on the first day of November and opened the following March.

The park superintendent hired me only 10 days before the shutdown.

My training was rushed to put it mildly.

The winter storms were never bad enough to close down the roads,

but the distance to the closest town and its remote location

...