This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/DreadfulInc on 2026-08-06 21:36:34+00:00.

---

The doctors say I might never walk again, but that might not be a bad thing given my current situation. Everything hurts and hopefully it will keep hurting for a long time, because the longer it hurts, the longer I get to stay in this hospital bed. If given the choice, I’d stay here the rest of my life, because as soon as I exit these doors, the rest of my life may turn into hours.

Think of the smallest town you’ve ever been to, cut that into quarters, and take a slice out. That’s my town. The people who live here call it the depression capital of the world. There’s nothing to do, see, eat, or be excited about. The whole damn town walks around drunk from the morning into the night because the only semblance of entertainment they can find is hidden somewhere at the bottom of their fifteenth beer can for the day.

It never used to be this way.

Before 2002, you couldn’t ask for a better community. Every person you saw was always happy to stop and greet you, ask how your day was going, be quick to offer their help if it was needed, and overall make it their mission to spread kindness. Your neighbors were your close friends and the people across town were your damn good ones. Even though there wasn’t much to do, we had each other and there wasn’t much more we could ask for.

Then, in the fall of 2002, everything changed.

Tommy O’Donnell decided to leave this place by way of jumping headfirst off the one lane bridge right at the entrance of town. After that day, people called it O'Donnell bridge.

Tommy was eighteen and one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet. I was eleven at the time and Tommy would come to our school after hours to help us with our homework. He was as cool as they came and everyone of us wanted to be just like Tommy. Needless to say, the entire town went into deep mourning after his passing.

When tragic events like these happen, everyone, in every community across the country always say something along the lines of, “I just can’t believe something like this would happen in our community.”

The trouble was, after Tommy, it didn’t just happen to our community, it became our community.

Six months after Tommy passed, someone else decided to leave town without crossing the bridge. Six months after that, another. People of all ages, men and women, just woke up one day and decided they didn’t want to live here, or anywhere, anymore.

The town started to decay. Lawns became overgrown, houses fell into disrepair, even the grass and sky seemed to lose their color. As I lay here today, I couldn’t even tell you the last time I saw someone out in public smile, let alone look at me.

Unfortunately for me, I think I know exactly what’s going on.

About a week ago I was walking through the woods, the last place in this hellhole of a town that still has some beauty inside it. It was a normal routine for me, a way to get some exercise and take in some fresh air without being bothered by the negativity of the people around me. I was hiking through my normal route, a route I’ve been taking nearly every day for the better part of a decade. Then, I saw something out of the ordinary.

Beneath a thin veil of fallen leaves, something was reflecting the light into my eyes.

I walked over to the leaves and brushed them away. Buried underneath was a first gen iPod with a pair of wired headphones wrapped around it. Immediately, I was like, “What the hell is this doing out here?” I hadn’t seen one of those bricks since I was a kid. The thing was a little beat up and had a crack going down the screen, but all in all, it was in pretty good shape.

To my surprise, the thing actually turned on and had a full charge.

I kept on walking my route, now with a huge smile on my face, hoping I could bring a smile to some other faces when I showed them that old marvel of technology. I thought about how fun it would be to have one of those huge, obnoxious armbands to slide it into for the rest of my walk. The thing was just too damn cool.

I started scrolling through the menu to see what kind of music was on there, but to my surprise, there wasn’t a single song, just a list of numbered files all the way into the thousands.

#0001

#0002

#0003

#0004

So on, and so forth.

I wish I had thrown the iPod away, or buried the fucker ten feet into the earth so nobody could ever find it again, but I did what anyone in my situation would have done and popped in the ear buds and played the first track.

This is what I heard…

“He holds the iPod and listens to #0001. He wonders who left the iPod here…”

Then there was silence.

Immediately I thought I was being pranked and looked around to see if anyone was watching.

The silence broke.

“He lifts his head and looks around him, wondering if it’s a prank, but only I am watching…”

When I heard that, I felt like something was in the bottom of my gut trying to claw its way out. Too freaked out to even breathe, I grabbed the wire of the headphones that was draped over my racing heart, ready to yank the earbuds out, but then…

“He grabs the wires across his chest. He wants to stop listening, but curiosity scratches at his skin. He decides to keep walking…”

It was as if something swatted me hand away from the ear buds, grabbed my legs, and dragged one foot in front of the other.

“He tries to stop, but there is no use in fighting. I have him now. I will always have him…”

Whatever had a hold of me sent me off the trail and sent me into the brush, trekking through thorns and tripping over vines.

“He falls on his face and tongues his missing tooth. He tastes the blood running across his tongue and feels its warmth drip down his chin. The thorns bury themselves into his face. He wants to put his hands up and block the thorns, he wants to scream for help, but he can’t…”

I was being held prisoner. I thought I was dreaming, but whatever was speaking through that iPod assured me that I wasn’t. Each thought I had, each involuntary movement I made, the voice narrated it in real time.

“He is terrified. He starts to cry, but the tears won’t save him. He’s mine now. He thinks about his mother and wishes she was there to save him, but she won’t. Nobody will save him. Nobody loves him. Nobody has ever loved him. The world would be better off without him. He tells me to shut up. He tells me it’s not true. But it is true…”

The thing kept saying awful and terrible things to me while dragging me through parts of the woods no person should ever wander through. I felt each branch and each thorn tear through my skin and all I could do was continue listening to the cold voice through the ear buds describe every harrowing moment.

The sun was starting to set and I had been in the woods for hours going God knows where. I was lost.

“His legs hurt. His lungs burn. He begs for it to stop. He wants to see his mother. He wants it to be over. He knows it will all be over soon…”

Then I heard a voice call out.

“Hey!” it said. “Hey, are you alright?”

Help had arrived.

“He tells me the man he’s alright...”

“Are you sure? You look lost as hell.”

“He tells the man he is lost. He tells the man he is scared and wants to get home…”

“It’s your lucky day. Well, maybe not in the condition you’re in, but I’ve been getting people out of here for over twenty years. Believe me, you’re not the first and probably won’t be the last.”

“He follows the man. The man asks him his name…”

“Well, nice to meet you. I wish I could remember my name, but it’s been so damn long since I’ve heard it, I couldn’t even tell you what letter it starts with."

I followed the man through the woods for what felt like another two hours. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. The voice in the ear buds made me. Even with the voice in my ear continuing to say awful things, the man brought me an odd sense of calm.

“How old are you, anyway?”

“He tells him his age…”

“Thirty-five? That’s a hell of long time to be living in this town. Never used to be this way, you know? This place used to be one of America’s best kept secrets. You couldn’t find a better town in the whole damn country. There was never much, but at least we had each other, right?”

A light shone through the trees. The edge of the woods was near.

“Almost there,” the man said. “Yeah, everyone used to know each other’s name around here and people actually enjoyed it. I sure as hell did. Everyone was your friend and actually cared about you. Now, people are too caught up with themselves to give a damn anymore. It’s a real shame, you know?”

When we finally got out of the woods, we were standing at the entrance of O’Donnell bridge.

“He walks to the center of the bridge and looks out. He looks down. He wants to go home, but he can’t. He tries screaming for help once more, but nothing comes out…”

“Well, bud,” the man said. “Looks like you’re home. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

The moon was shining between the gap in the trees and reflected off the crystal water flowing over the jagged rocks below.

“I really miss the way things used to be,” the man said. “The way things were before they named this bridge after me.”

When I turned to look at Tommy O'Donnell, all I could do was scream inside of myself. Half of his face was caved in and the speckles of rock buried into his tattered skin glinted in the moonlight. He had grown older, post-mortem, with the same injuries that claimed him.

“He begs to go home. He pleads and cries…”

“You are home now,” Tommy ...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1vhhiig/i_found_a_first_gen_ipod_in_the_woods_i_should/