Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreigning. I'm Ben and welcome to the show where you and I gather around this campfire to hear some of our fellow campers scariest experiences. Whether you're a new or returning one, I'm glad you're here.
[00:00:17] You know, tonight's story feels all too familiar, like a few we've gotten before.
[00:00:24] It's a reminder that not all ghost stories are scary.
[00:00:28] Some are simply here to remind us that everything is going to be okay.
[00:00:34] Now, without further ado, do you want to hear a ghost story?
[00:00:41] The first time my television turned on, the applause woke me up.
[00:00:46] It was 12:43 in the morning.
[00:00:49] I remember because I stared at the red numbers on my alarm clock, trying to understand why a studio audience was cheering me on from my living room.
[00:01:00] I lived alone, but the blue light spilled through the bedroom door.
[00:01:05] Then came the bright brass music in the announcer's voice stretched with excitement.
[00:01:11] Come on down.
[00:01:13] I recognized this show immediately.
[00:01:18] The price is right one from, I think, the 80s.
[00:01:23] The wood paneled walls in faded colors bled through the screen.
[00:01:28] Four contestants were running toward the stage while strangers clapped as if they had all been waiting all night, not only for those four to take the stage, but for me to join the audience.
[00:01:41] My remote was on the coffee table.
[00:01:44] I picked it up and noticed the channel information said infomercial.
[00:01:50] I didn't really think anything of it, just turned the TV off and stood there staring at my own reflection in the screen. For a moment as I walked back to bed, I thought about my grandfather.
[00:02:03] He watched the Price is Right every weekday at 11.
[00:02:06] When I was little, I spent summers at his house and we treated the showcase like a matter of national importance.
[00:02:15] He would lean forward in his recliner, ask for my bid, whatever number I gave him. He would shake his head.
[00:02:22] Too high, too high. You always go too high, he would say to me.
[00:02:29] I hadn't watched the Prices Right with him or alone in years.
[00:02:34] I thought about that memory as I fell back asleep at 1:26. The applause woke me up again.
[00:02:42] The television was back on.
[00:02:44] Same infomercial channel, same episode, but this time I noticed the volume was set to 27, which was weird because my grandpa always used to say, 26 is too quiet.
[00:02:59] 28 is showing off, but 27 is where the volume should be.
[00:03:06] It was a weird coincidence. You know, electronics malfunction. Remotes get stuck. Cable boxes reset themselves on the screen. A woman hugged the host after winning a new dining room set. The audience laughed, but something about the sound made my skin tight or made my apartment feel a little too small.
[00:03:30] I pressed the power button, went back to bed again.
[00:03:34] I had a hard time falling back asleep. In fact, I don't think I did one. At 2:08 the TV turned back on, except this time I heard it click.
[00:03:47] Not the remote, but the physical button on the tv.
[00:03:51] Two contestants stood behind their podiums now, grinning beneath name tags I couldn't read.
[00:03:59] I didn't turn the show off immediately this time. I stood in the doorway, staring.
[00:04:05] The host described a boat. My grandfather always wanted one, though he never trusted any boat he could actually afford.
[00:04:13] I could almost hear him beside me, grumbling that the trailer wasn't actually included.
[00:04:19] For a second I just wanted to sit down.
[00:04:22] Instead, I crossed the room and and pulled the plug of the TV out of the wall and laid the cord where I could see it curled up against the carpet.
[00:04:32] I walked back to bed.
[00:04:34] At 3:17 the music from the TV started again.
[00:04:40] I ran out of my bedroom but stopped dead in my tracks.
[00:04:44] The cord was still on the floor next to the carpet, unplugged, though the television glowed above it.
[00:04:54] There was only one contestant that remained, an older man with a plaid shirt shown mostly from behind.
[00:05:04] Something about the slope of his shoulders made it hard for me to breathe.
[00:05:10] The host revealed the prizes. A refrigerator, a trip to the coast, a little red car, fairly ordinary things that were presented with such a furious happiness.
[00:05:22] Then the contestant made his bids, and out of nowhere and everywhere, all at the same time.
[00:05:30] What about you? What are your bids? I heard my grandfather ask.
[00:05:35] I don't know. 24,500.
[00:05:39] The screen then displayed the actual price.
[00:05:43] $24,501.
[00:05:47] The host exploded. The old man threw both hands in the air, laughing.
[00:05:52] Before he turned towards the host, he glanced back at the camera, lifted two fingers from his brow in a tiny salute.
[00:06:01] My grandfather always said goodbye that way.
[00:06:04] The host waved and the credits rolled and the TV just turned off.
[00:06:11] I sat there for a while, trying to make sense of everything until I laid back in bed, just staring at the ceiling. When my phone rang just after seven, it was my mother, and I just knew what she was going to say before I even answered.
[00:06:32] My grandpa had died during the night.
[00:06:36] She told me it was peaceful, that a nurse had been sitting with him.
[00:06:41] At a little after three, he opened his eyes and looked toward a blank television in the corner of his hospital room.
[00:06:50] Do you know exactly what time? I asked her.
[00:06:54] My mother paused before saying, 3:17.
[00:06:59] I looked across the room just to ensure that everything that had happened that night wasn't a dream.
[00:07:06] My television cord was still laying on the carpet and it's never turned itself on again.
[00:07:13] I don't know why my grandfather decided to say goodbye to me and no one else, or at least no one else in my family has shared their experiences, but I'm really glad he decided to come say one final goodbye.
[00:07:28] Thank you Carter for allowing me to share your story.
[00:07:32] There is something quite wholesome about this story and all the stories that I've been sent that are seemingly identical.
[00:07:40] There's a whole genre of ghost stories where people are just experiencing a final goodbye with their loved one.
[00:07:49] It gives me hope that no matter how far apart you are in life, that if someone truly cares about you enough that before they finally leave, they'll say goodbye with that. I have no show announcements, but if you'd like the shout out at end of an episode or access to our monthly bonus episodes, head over to patreon.com do you want to hear a ghost story?
[00:08:13] But as always, I'm just glad to have all you campers on this journey.
[00:08:18] Please keep sharing the show with anyone you think might like these stories or someone you're just trying to scare. If you're enjoying the show, please leave a review.
[00:08:28] I would love to hear from you.
[00:08:30] Until next time.
