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October 30, 2000

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   In Salisbury, North Carolina, in my friend's Rocky and Frances' yard, there grows this odd little plant.
    This strange looking spiny pod grew on a single stem approximately a
quarter of an inch in diameter and about 10 inches tall. This peculiar pod
on the top of the stem was accompanied only by a single tiny leaf on the
side of it.

    It is my belief that this pod may grow quite large at full maturity.
Maybe even as large as an adult human.
    What it is, or what it was, we may never know, but since my trip to
their house I noticed that my friends have been acting in a very peculiar
manner. They even got married a few weeks ago which is something that they
both said that they would never do.

    They had a small party for the weekend. The first day they took us all
to an old abandoned gold mine. Down deep in the dark tunnels we saw remains
of the existing mine equipment and places where people must have perished in
the quest for fortune and riches. Along the tour we saw a small bat hanging
onto a rock there in the cave. They kept trying to get us all off the main
tour and into the darkness of the deep mine shafts. We all managed to make
it to the surface without losing anybody.

    Back at their house they took us all for an extensive tour of their
densely wooded property where I happened to notice quite a few large holes
in the ground scattered throughout the woods.
    I'm not sure what they were really up to but it seemed as though they
kept trying to lead us further away from the house into the woods. Luckily a
few people in the group insisted upon returning to the house and would not
continue the rest of the "so-called" tour.

    Later that evening, at the dinner table, while enjoying our barbecued
chicken, I noticed that another party guest, Bob, was not present. When
asked about his whereabouts and why he had to leave so suddenly, Rocky, carving an unusually large slab of meat,
simply replied, "That's a rather tender subject."
    I then mentioned that the chicken had a strange flavor and made the
comment that it taste almost like human flesh. Whereas Frances replied, "I find that
hard to swallow."
    Somebody else spoke up and said that they missed Bob and wished that he
were there. Rocky, with a dull voice and a blank look on his face (Like
that's anything new) said, "You know, we shouldn't miss him, I'm sure that
there's a little Bob in all of us."
    Then came the frozen margaritas. After several of these, ( I can't
really recall exactly how many) I began to feel a little disoriented as
though there was some kind of alcohol in the mixture. They insisted that we
indulge ourselves and have more. I noticed that there were considerable
amounts of beer and various other forms of libations passed around the
house. With very little of my senses left I knew that I had to get out of
there before it was too late. I carefully staggering and stumbling to my
vehicle and I was finally able to get it started and drove off into the
darkness and to a nearby hotel where I checked in under a different name.
    When I returned the next morning I noticed that all of the people that
had remained at the party were acting very differently. It was as if they
weren't even the same people. They almost looked the same but their eyes
were all bloodshot, their skin had turned much more pale and their
personalities had died down to a dull and almost zombie-like demeanor.
    I decided not to stay any longer when Rocky, with a blood-thirsty look
in his eyes, asked me to take another tour out into the woods. Then the rest
of the party chimed in with the same request.

    I have not been down to North Carolina since and have not heard from my
friends Rocky or Frances or any other members from the party. Bob was never
seen or heard from again.

    However, I did notice, out by my parking slot, in front of my car, in
the soft moist soil, an insignificant, odd-looking sprout with a very small
spiny pod growing on the very top.


Have a Happy Halloween!!
            Danny Gali


*Note:    No plant, animal, or human was injured in the making of this
email.
        Also, I did not get too intoxicated and/or drive in such a manner
nor did any other party guest.

    However, the truth is still out there; my friends DID get married and we
all had a great time.