| rdfs:comment | - A few years ago my boyfriend and I went RV camping in the south around November. We passed through the panhandle of Texas and decided to stop in a small town called Desdemona. We fueled up and chose a quiet area to park the RV. Down the road a little ways was a small, fairly typical southern restaurant/bar called Boom Town, and we decided we could use a bite to eat. Not five minutes after we sat ourselves at a table, the waitress who was coming towards us suddenly stopped, eyes wide and terrified, and she quickly ran back to the kitchen. This woman was me, but clearly, she also wasn't...
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| abstract | - A few years ago my boyfriend and I went RV camping in the south around November. We passed through the panhandle of Texas and decided to stop in a small town called Desdemona. We fueled up and chose a quiet area to park the RV. Down the road a little ways was a small, fairly typical southern restaurant/bar called Boom Town, and we decided we could use a bite to eat. Not five minutes after we sat ourselves at a table, the waitress who was coming towards us suddenly stopped, eyes wide and terrified, and she quickly ran back to the kitchen. The manager shortly came out and asked us brashly to leave. No explanation, just "Get out. You are not welcome here." My boyfriend was confused, because even though we didn't fit the typical "southern" look, we weren't dressed outrageously or acting out of place. He asked for an explanation, and all the manager did was point to the wall behind the bar. Typical of many hodunk bars with rowdy regulars, there was a collage of pictures of patrons who were not allowed to return for whatever reason. Up there was a picture of me. I had never been to Texas before in my life, let alone come to such a small bar in a small restaurant. The manager threatened to call the police if we didn't leave, so we got the hell out of there. Spooked, hungry and confused beyond belief, we walked back to our camper to grill up a couple hot dogs and burgers for dinner. I had heard about doppelgangers before, just a silly horror story about how everyone in the world has a double that looks exactly like them, and in many versions the double is unspeakably evil. I figured I just had another person who looked a lot like me out there, who caused a lot of trouble in a small town. My boyfriend and I went into town a couple days later, to pick up some supplies and food from the local market. As soon as we approached any citizen, their eyes would grow as wide as our waitress' and they quickly ran in the other direction. I had to hide in the bathroom while my boyfriend gathered our purchases and checked out, then snuck out to join him when no one was looking. The more this happened the more weirded out I got. We ended up relocating to another nearby town hoping to get away from the obviously spooked town of Desdemona. However, no matter what town we went to, we encountered the same thing. Threats of cops being called, pictures of me hanging behind bars, terrified townsfolk refusing to come anywhere near us. Finally we decided we would just avoid any towns or cities and found another isolated area to park and relax. We started a small campfire and sat around roasting s'mores and just having a good time. After a little while, we began to run out of wood, and my boyfriend offered to go gather some lumber to burn while I promised to make him a double decker s'more. 30 minutes passed and he hadn't returned. I started to call out for him, but got no response. Getting worried, I got up and walked out into the woods with a flashlight, calling his name the entire time. Soon I began to see footprints in the dirt, so I began to follow them. Not much later did the footprints begin to turn into drag marks, and then the drag marks became littered with droplets of blood. I ran faster in the direction of the marks and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement in the distance. I shined my flashlight and saw a girl running, a knife in hand, covered in blood. She looked exactly like me. A few yards of sprinting and I found what I was dreading. My boyfriend was tied to a tree, throat slit and multiple stab wounds to the chest. I didn't know what to do. I panicked. I untied my boyfriend and draped him over my shoulder and ran back to the RV. I took a shovel and dug a deep hole behind the most massive sycamore I could find. I buried my boyfriend and drove back home, and told his family that he got lost on vacation. Years later he's still on the missing persons list, and no one knows what happened. No one but me. And...now you. Who in the world would believe me if I told them that he was murdered by someone who looked exactly like me? I know nothing else of the doppelganger I saw that night, the infamous woman who stole my face and did horrific things. No name, no information, and no one in any other state mistook me for her. The glimpse I saw of her was enough to haunt me for eternity, and I will never return to Texas for as long as I live. Doppelgangers do exist... They are not just a creepy fable, or a silly happenstance where you see someone that looks remarkably like you. This woman was me, but clearly, she also wasn't... So beware. If you ever find yourself in a town you've never been, and your picture mysteriously happens to be in a bar you've never heard of, or the townsfolk panic at the mere look of your face - get out. Get out immediately. Run like hell and never look back. And hope you never come face to face with your double.
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