Episode 212: The Forever Employee – A Warehouse Where Time Never Clocked Out

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Some places don’t just collect
dust, they collect memories,

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echoes, presences, and every now
and then they decide to let you

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know they’re still there.
Welcome to Paranormal Night

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Shift, where your stories of the
strange, the chilling, and the

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unexplained take center stage.
I’m your host, Andy, and if

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you’re hearing my voice, you’ve
just clocked in for another

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shift on the edge of the
unknown.

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Before we dive into tonight’s
story, swing by paranormal night

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shift.com and grab your free
copy of The Birth of Dimensional

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Desperado.
It’s the first ebook in our

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paranormal time travel series
starring Buck Shadow, Sheriff

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Freeman, a man who’s always 1
ghost step ahead of danger.

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Now let’s get to it.
Tonight’s story comes from one

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of our listeners, Laurie, and
it’s set in a place most of us

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wouldn’t think twice about, a
warehouse.

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But what happens when the
building itself seems to

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remember a tragedy?
What happens when something or

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someone keeps showing up long
after the shift is over?

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You might want to leave a light
on for this one.

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I used to work in a warehouse.
One of those big, echoing

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concrete places with fluorescent
lights that always buzzed just a

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little too loud in aisles that
could swallow you whole if you

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weren’t paying attention.
It was the kind of place that

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felt like it had its own
heartbeat, slow and heavy,

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pulsing through the steel beams
and loading docks.

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You’ll learn to tune out the
creeks and groans of the

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building pretty quickly.
Or at least you told yourself

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to.
I was assigned to a specific

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section near the back where we
stored overflow inventory.

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It was quieter than the main
floor, a little darker too.

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Most people avoided it unless
they had to pull a product.

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I didn’t mind being alone back
there.

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In fact, I usually preferred it.
Just me, my task list and the

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hum of the conveyor belts in the
distance.

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That’s when it started
happening.

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At first it was just a flicker
in my peripheral vision movement

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that I couldn’t quite explain.
I’d be scanning barcodes or

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stacking pallets and out of the
corner of my eye I’d catch

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someone walking by.
Just a figure, never close

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enough to make out details.
But I’d turn my head, expecting

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to see a Co worker passing
through and there’d be no one

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there.
Not a soul.

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The first few times I chalked it
up to overwork, long shifts, bad

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lighting, caffeine withdrawal,
you name it, I blamed it.

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I even laughed about it a couple
times, telling myself I was just

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I had to seeing things.
But it kept happening.

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Always the same, just a glimpse
of someone moving past the end

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of an aisle or around a corner
that led to a dead end.

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I started paying attention to
the times It wasn’t random.

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It happened in the early
afternoon, usually between 1:00

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and 2:30.
Same path, same speed, like they

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were doing rounds like it was
part of their shift.

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One day I decided I’d catch
whoever it was.

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Maybe it was a prank, maybe
someone was just trying to mess

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with me.
So I waited, positioned myself

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near the edge of an aisle where
I always saw movement.

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I didn’t work.
I didn’t scan anything.

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I just stood there, pretending
to organize a box, watching.

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Sure enough, around 1:40 PMI saw
the figure again.

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Tall, human shaped, walking with
purpose.

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I stepped out immediately, ready
to say something, but there was

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no one there.
No footsteps, no shuffle of

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boots, just the hollow sound of
my own breathing.

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I wasn’t scared yet, just
confused, curious even.

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I told a Co worker about it
later that day, one of the older

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guys who’d been with the company
for nearly 20 years.

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I expect him to laugh, maybe
tease me a little.

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Instead, he just looked at me
for a long moment, like he was

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deciding how much to say.
Finally, he leaned in a little

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and said, Have you heard about
the guy who died back there?

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I felt a chill crawl up my
spine.

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What guy?
Back in the early 2000s, he

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said, lowering his voice.
Forklift accident, real bad.

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It happened in that back section
where they used to do sorting

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before the remodel.
He was crushed.

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Died before emergency services
even got here.

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They say he was working overtime
alone.

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I stared at him, half expecting
a punch line that never came.

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And you think he’s still around?
He gave a slow shrug.

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All I’m saying is, you’re not
the first person to see someone

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who wasn’t there.
After that, I couldn’t Unsee it.

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The next time it happened, I
felt it more than I saw it, in

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almost electric presence, a
pressure in the air, like

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someone was right behind me.
I spun around, heart pounding,

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but there was only the empty
aisle.

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Still, I never felt threatened,
never felt like I was in danger.

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Whoever or whatever it was
didn’t seem angry.

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Just there, moving, working.
After a while, we all just

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accepted it.
We even started calling him the

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forever employee, joked that he
still had a quota to me, left an

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extra spot on the clip during
the end of shift, head counts.

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But deep down, none of us
thought it was funny.

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Not really, because in that
warehouse, tucked in the back,

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under the dimmed lights and
dusty rafters, something walked

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the floor every afternoon.
A man who punched in one day and

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never punched out.
And he’s still there, watching,

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walking, working forever.
And that brings us to the end of

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tonight’s story.
Lori, thank you not just for

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sharing what you went through,
but for reminding us that

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sometimes the past doesn’t stay
put, especially when it still

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has work to do.
If you felt a chill run down

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your spine tonight, you’re not
alone.

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And if you want even more
stories like this, consider

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supporting the show.
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the night shift alive.
And hey, don’t forget your free

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ebook.
Visit paranormalnightshift.com

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and download The Birth of
Dimensional Desperado.

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It’s the perfect next step if
you’re itching for more

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paranormal adventures with time
bending stakes.

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Most importantly, if you’ve got
a story of your own, something

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real, something that stayed with
you, head over to the site and

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send it our way.
You’re always listening.

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Until next time, keep your eyes
open, trust that uneasy feeling,

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and remember not every shadow
fades when the lights come on.

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You’re on the paranormal night
shift.

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Stay curious, stay brave, and
above all, stay aware.