At age 18 you would think that a person would be full of expectation and energy. However, as we all know, the life of a teenager is somewhat of a paradox.
Boredom can come all too easily, especially if you live in a small town and there is nothing much to do. Such as it was in my home town in Yorkshire in the North-east of England. All any of the local teenage community could think about and talk about was when they would one day leave the small town to explore the great big world out there.
On Saturday evenings we would hang around on street corners and fantasize about the future.
And it was on such an evening that Bob, who was one of the more…well let´s just say he was borderline crazy….in fact we often called him; "Bob Bonkers". Anyways..he suddenly turned up in an old worn out banger of a car. A light blue 1970s Cortina, if I remember rightly.
"I´m board of this f*cking town, I need to get out even if its it just for a few days. Anyone want to come along for a long drive?" He shouted out of the window. No one responded."Come on you boring f*ckers where is your sense of adventure! What about you Arthur?"
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Where? Anywhere that´s away from here, I don't know, somewhere. Are you f*cking coming or not?" He demanded, with that typical crazy look on his face. I don't know what got into me but something told me to get in that car and seconds later we were off into the unknown. Bob Bonkers explained that he had bought the car for a mere £50 which was not more than it was with as scrap metal. "It could break down at any moment but that´s what makes it an adventure!" He said. I began to wonder what I had let myself into.
And so we drove and drove for miles and miles until we came to the famous Yorkshire Moors. Or perhaps I should say notorious. Notorious because of the Moors murders that had happened 20 years earlier during the1960s. Myra Hindley and Ian Brady had kidnapped and murdered several children and then buried them somewhere on these desolate moors. Even today in 1981, some of the bodies had never been found. It was not the nicest of areas to have a drive especially at night.
"Put your foot down Bob, it would not be nice if we broke down here in the middle of nowhere!" I said.
It was dark but it was a full moon that night and all we could see were empty fields for miles and miles. The car chugged along at 40 mph, which I think was its top speed and then I saw some faint lights way of into the distance. It was the prison. A prison located in the middle of nowhere that held some of Britian´s most dangerous criminals. The prison was also notorious due to the fact that there had been some famous escapes. Most had all been captured within a few days due to its remote location but one or two had hijacked a passing car and that´s what was going through my mind when I saw the prison.
I held my breath as though by doing so it would keep the engine going. And then almost as if my fears had been heard and answered, the engine suddenly stopped. It was like it just died. We just sat there in silence in shear disbelief.
"What do you know about cars?" Asked Bob, as he stared straight ahead through the windscreen.
"It´s not a good time for jokes Bob!" I said, in a serious tone.
"I´m not joking. You´re supposed to be the clever one, I figured you would know abut engines and stuff?" Said Bob turning to look at me.
"You figured?" I replied
"Well, do you know about cars or not!" Shouted Bob in an angry tone.
"For f*ck sake Bob we´re in the middle of nowhere!" I was getting angry myself now
"No shit Sherlock!"
I suddenly remembered all the times that I had watched my father working on his car. "Open the bonnet and I will have a look." I said
"How do I do that?"
"Oh for f*ck….the lever is usually down at the side of the…oh just get out and I´ll do it myself." I said, rolling my eyes.
I opened the bonnet and we both looked at the engine as though it was the first time we realized that such things are what make a car actually move.
"Can you fix it?" Asked Bob, as though he believed I had been secretly studying car mechanics for the past five years. I just glared at him. He then went to the side of the road to have a; "piss."
"Hey, there is a crazy goat watching me take a piss!" Shouted Bob
"Yeah it´s the goat that´s crazy?" I commented to myself.
"SPARRRRKPLUGSSS, SPARRRRK….PLUUGSSS"
"What the f*ck!. Arthur did your hear that.? The f*cking goat is talking to me!" Shouted Bob, as he continued emptying his bladder.
"SPARRRRKPLUGSSS, SPARRRRK….PLUUGSSS" - was the strange sound that was apparently coming from the goat.
"Jesus, it sounds like it´s saying..spark plugs. Come over here and have a listen!" Said Bob as he zipped up his jeans. I walked over to see what on earth Bob Bonkers was going on about. Indeed there was a goat standing there and it appeared to be looking straight at us. It had huge horns that twirled in a kind of a spiral, and it´s eyes…well they looked evil.
"SPARRRRKPLUGSSS, SPARRRRK….PLUUGSSS" - "said" the creature. And for a second I thought it really did sound like it was saying; Spark plugs. The goat then "spoke" again
"SPARRRRK PLUGSSS, SPARRRRK….PLUUGSSS"
Bob thought it was hysterical but I didn't think it was funny at all. I had heard of such things as black magic and I felt a cold chill come over me.
"It´s telling us to check the spark plugs. Even I know what spark plugs are." Said Bob, with a big smile on his face. We wandered back over to the car and looked at the engine again.
"Where are the spark plugs then?" Asked Bob.
"So you have heard of them but you don't know what they look like?" I said shaking my head. Luckily I remembered seeing my father change the spark plugs at one time and so I had some idea of what to do. I pulled off the ignition wire from each spark plugs and basically checked to see if any where loose.
"Do you know what you are doing, I hope you´re not making it worse." Commented Bob and I gave him a stern look as if to say; I´m gonna punch you in a minute. We could still hear the goat in the background. "SPARRRRK PLUGSSS, SPARRRRK….PLUUGSSS"
Strangely enough one of the spark plugs was indeed loose. "This one seems loose. We need a special spanner for these but I can try to tighten it as much as I can with my hand." I explained. "Ok try it now" I said. Bob eagerly got back inside the car. He was smiling as though he knew it was going to start. It did. I looked in disbelief and the sound of the rumbling engine filling the silent night also filled me with relief.
"I f*cking told you it was telling us that it was the spark plugs!" Said Bob, I had never seen his face look so overjoyed.
"Right yeah, it was the goat that fixed the car. Now can we get the hell out of here!" I said. We both looked to see if the goat was still there, but it had vanished.
About two miles later we were heading down into a valley and at the bottom we could see the friendly light from a local pub. Ironically it was called; "The Goat Tavern"
We decided we could do with a drink and thankfully we were just in time for last orders. When we walked in everyone look around at us for a second but did not give us much attention after that. "Two beers please." I said.
"You folks aint from around here, where are you from?" Asked the barman, whom I would say was in his late 50s. Before I could reply Bob interceded. This was not surprising as Bob was a bit of talker.
"You wont believe what just happened to us on the hill up there. Our car broke down and some f*ckin goat told us how to fix it." He told. Almost as soon as he finished the sentence the whole pub became silent.
"What´s that you say, a goat?" Asked the bar tender. He seemed frozen in the action of placing the beer glass down and it just hovered an inch above.
"Take no notice, my friend here is just making a joke." I explained. I was now aware that the atmosphere in the place had just altered dramatically. Bob seemed to have no idea of this and just continued thinking he now had a big audience.
"Im telling you the goat spoke to us as clear as I am taking now. It said; ´Change the f'cking spark plugs´, and Jesus would you believe it was spark plugs that need fixing!" Explained Bob. He was really enjoying himself now. The barman placed the beer glass down and then made the sign of the cross on his chest. I looked around and saw that everyone else in the pub did the same thing. My body went cold. Bob now understood something was wrong and the expression on his face changed from one of glee to one of fear.
"You folks have no idea how lucky you are to be standing here right now." Said the barman, in a very serious tone. The whole pub was now staring at us.
"W..wh..why ?" Asked Bob, nervously.
"Well because the goat in the other field knows nothing about cars!"
OK, so it´s not a true story. However, if I had you going there for a minute then that was the intention. For this story has a somewhat sinister function as well as being funny. Would you believe that it is sometimes used by psychiatrists to test to see how susceptible you are to being manipulated by a psychopath. The idea is to demonstrate how a psychopath is clever to get into your mind. They are brilliant liars but tend to exaggerate the facts of a story. And yet at the same time, the way they tell the story, gets you intrigued to know what actually happens at the end even if you are suspicious that it is a lie. In this way the psychopath creeps into your mind as you find yourself making images in your head of what they are saying. This story is merely an innocent tale but this is exactly what psychopaths do when they are trying to persuade you to buy something or to invest in a scam. Their story captures your attention, it sounds crazy but at the same time it just might be true.
The first clue, albeit a subtle one, was that Bob´s nick name was "bonkers". The fact that it was a "full moon" was also a subtle clue as such references are often used in stories to create mood. In a true story the teller will often forget to tell such details.
The moment the story mentioned that the goat had apparently said; "SPARRK PLUGGS," you should have at least become a little suspicious.
When it turned out that the spark plugs were indeed the problem with the car you should have become more skeptical.
When the pub turned out to be called; "The Goat, Tavern" you should have got warning lights. The chances of such a thing being true is thousands to one, and yet such things do happen, right?
When the barman made the sign of the cross that should have enough to make you realize it was a joke and there was a punchline coming. If you got to the very bed without figuring out it was a joke then you are in serious trouble and could be manipulated by a psychopath very easily.
When the psychopath tries to manipulate you there will always be warning signs. Did any of you notice the car registration number changing giving you a message the story was fake? Did you spot any others?
We are all susceptible to this which is why is why we often vote for the politician who is the best at talking. There is an old saying, a person who tells a story balder is usually telling the truth. If we want to have honest politicians then vote for the one who is boring and not charming.
Hope you found this interesting, if you did then give me an upvote or a rested.
Thanks for visiting my blog and I give you a warm welcome back next time.
You had me going there - very good, funny as well as informative and a little bit scary at the same time
well, it all sounded like sf story, but I had feeling like it was joke about superstitious believes and waiting for moment where everything will be revealed in real life moment..
As regards politics, Hahaha, you got me there..we are having city elections in 2 weeks from now...so many promises that my head hurts..
We are country in mainland, robed with politicians for decades with huge help of EU, providing them easy interests and cheep labor...
So, few days ago I made note at my Fb profile asking..
Did any one promised that we will enter the sea region? - pointing meaningless of all lies and promises told to people..
the story is designed to show just how easy it is to draw people in to believe in something that is not true. This is what politicians do this all the time. They abuse the honesty of decent folk who want to believe in the goodness of people. Until the masses realise this we will always put corruptive people into positions of power. It is very sad.
Well the beautiful Soul Arthur after reading this factious story at first i was actually fall into psychopath approach as the Bob's character is so common in our daily lives that gave me some real feelings :D
Other than the content your choice of pictures is so so wonderful that actually made me to think that SPAAAAAARKKKK PLUGS story is true :D although i forgot how could you fix the spark plugs as you just saw your father changing them once :D :D ( I am sure you are not at all Einstein or Newton to remember all those things just after having a single look, i am saying all this in Bob's tone :D :D )
This is so true that we are so hollow both inside and outside that we all caught into the planing of the politicians and they then use us for their means and manipulate the nations for the greed of power.
Thanks a lot for the wonderful write up and some serious message at the end of the blog, you really deserve my 100% upvote My Great Friend @arthuradamson <3 <3 <3
Hey thank you for that @salmanbukhar54,
yes indeed ....you see the example and message of this is a strong one, we want the story so much to be true and that is how these psychopath types manage to get in side our minds to manipulate us.
Well i am honored after recieving so much kindness from your end Arthur <3
Whom you consider the biggest psychopaths of the society Doctors or Politicians ??
Firstly, your selection of images makes the post look so realtime!
My heart missed a beat when the engine of the car stopped. And I was actually led to believe that you were narrating a real story, until I reached the part where you say that it is not a true story - like your previous post which was one hell of a true story, a great one indeed!
Now looking back after reading the story, I think there were tell tale signs that it was a work of pure fiction. Your points are quite on the dot with all the giveaway clues that you reveal later.
I never thought of looking at the car's number plate! I wish I did, but then the post would not have been half as interesting!
All said and done, I am quite sure that a psychopath is going to get me soon, for whatever he wants to sell. By the way I have been sold to in such a fashion, so many times - especially online... lol!
Very interesting post, and highly engaging! Upvoted and resteemed!
Check out some of my posts too, whenever you get the time. (-:
Ha ha thanks man ; ) - Well dont feel bad if you did not catch on, the story is specifically meant to catch you out and some of the cleverest out there are caught out by it. Well at least you enjoyed it. It is suppose to be entertaining as well as to get you ti think. Always nice to a comment from you my good fellow : )
I was trying to picture who Bob was from your last post and was debating going back to read that one...then as I was reading more my BS meter started going off. Not that weird stuff doesn't happen, but a freaking goat....lmao.
Will say I don't think the whole "I can't wait to get out of here" mentality is limited to small towns. Nor is the "there is nothing to do" attitude. Grew up in a town of 90k give or take with towns directly surrounding it totaling at least 600k in total population and within 10 miles of my house at least a million. So many kids still felt the same way there.
Think the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" mentality is really strong in kids.
Ha ha ha, I figured you might be one of the people who would not fall for it so easily ha ha. Well Im glad you liked the story. Yeah small towns, we cant wait to leave them when we are young and then cant wait to get back there when we are old.
Like anything that gets me thinking and you always manage to do that. Sometimes you drag up memories of the past like your last post, other times about what could be in the future, then today you tossed a curveball and made me wonder what drugs you were on...lol.
Glad that you are back to posting on a more regular basis. Always enjoy your posts and then our side conversations that spur from the posts.
My Wife grew up in a small town and she still has zero desire to return to that life. Our kids have started saying they want to move to a farm and my Wife has zero interest in anything like that. The kids have no concept of what small town living would be like or the work involved with a farm. Not sure why they have it in their heads that it would be fun, but they do.
Doesn't matter as the boss doesn't want to move to a farm, so the kids can nag all they want but they don't win over my Wife. Haven't been happily married for 16 years by ignoring her wishes.
Will be interesting to see if her thoughts change when she gets older.
ha ha...interesting that the children want to move to a farm. I have noticed that this is a growing trend with the younger generation. It seems they are searching for an alternative way of life in order to avoid the stressful 9 to 5 office/worker bee environment. In my county of Norway there are more farms coming up for sale and any of the younger generation who live in cities are buying them. Needless to say they are finding it much harder work than they thought.
Always good to chat with you too my good friend : )
My kids only real experience with a farm had nothing to do with a true farm. They visited a friend of ours with my Sister and her kids. They got to shoot guns, ride 4 wheelers, ride a "hillbilly roller coaster" (a tractor pulling a seat that is on a roller frame and spins), and then have free run to hike and explore. They had a blast, but no work was really done.
"Granny" (our friends Grandma) spoiled the kids rotten. This is when they decided living on a farm would be a great idea.
To be fair, my oldest had already started talking about it long before. Saying when she grows up she wants a farm with lots of animals. She love riding horses and I haven't found an animal she doesn't love.
Doesn't surprise me that the younger generation is finding that farming is harder then they thought. A farmer has a crazy hard job for a good part of the year and they have a TON of risk is the rains don't happen when they need them too. To much rain, to little rain, to hot, to cold...so many issues outside their control. Anyone that thinks farming is the stressfree way to live needs to actually talk with a farmer about what it entails. We have farmers in our family, my Wife's side and mine so have a decent idea.
What an interesting way of relaying an important message. Thanks Arthur, I will have to remember this one. I think some people that might be resistant to the direct approach of explaining this stuff might be more receptive to something like this.
At first i thought you were just embellishing a bit to keep things interesting but then with the talking goat I started thinking this can't be true.
Over the years I have built up a pretty good BS detector. A lot of times I can see through politicians lies without even really knowing why. Then later when more facts come out it turns out my gut was right.
It is good that your antenna gave you a warning signal when the goat started "talking", this means you will not be so easily fooled or swindled .
I have had a lot of experience with psychopathic types over the years and have learned a thing or two of how they work. It is not something I like to talk about because...well its just not a nice topic. People are very naive about such people even though there is so much out there about then these days. Folk generally fool themselves into thinking they can spot one but there is a saying in psychiatry circles: "if you think you can spot psychopath then you are exactly the type of person who will be swindled by one . Even the person with the highest IQ can be easily fooled by a psychopath with low intelligence". This is so very true. Some of the best trained psychiatrists in the world, who have had specialist training for psychopaths, which take seven years, are still fooled by them. And yet we novices think we can spot one.
This story is give a clue as to how they do get inside your head.
You have God gifted talent dear @arthuradamson. You know how to spread the words how to play with them. This is not a joke to write such a comprehensive Article only for the sake of people's interest. And I know you write the stuff only once you get a deep research on the topic. The true people like you are rare in the world, so I SALUTE you on your amazing work which you have done so far.
Although this story is not real, but believe me I was thinking it's true story and you have something secret which you will share at the end along with behind the scenes.
Keep it up your great work and always keep smiling!
Thank you so much my dear friend, your words always lift me.
Stay blessed my dear fellow.
You're so kind to your followers and always ready to support them. That's why everyone loves you and writes such lovely words. I bet you have quality followers in your list and everyone loves you. Thanks for being in my life dearest @arthuradamson!
when ever i see your writeup , i most try as much as posible to read it because i know i must learn something. starting from the arrangment of the pictures, the story and its ending makes it wounderfull .i respect you alot because i know i cant write like you.you are just God in writing.
psychopaths operates in many form which you listed most of them, and that is the main information you just passed.
thanks @athuradamson for this great story of life and environment .looking forword read more of your classic writups.
remain bless friend.
Thank you for your support my good fellow : )
Hiii My friend @arthuradamson, nice to see you again here. wonderful written story of life.My love and support for you man. I dont think what is written in story, I just see how can you wrote much more pretty content. There is no doubt in your writting skills A Genuine Author you are. I am a little bit not so well due to headache, so a short comment here in hurry. Because always my wish to comment on your all Posts. take care. good Night.
Thanks for your support as always @rabeel, best wishes and get well soon.
pleasant to see you again here. magnificent composed story of life.My love and support for you man. I don't think what is composed in story, I simply perceive how might you composed significantly more really content. There is no uncertainty in your writing abilities A Genuine Author you are. I am somewhat not all that well because of cerebral pain, so a short remark here in hustle. Since forever my desire to remark on your everything Post.
Always nice to hear from you @max1994, best wishes and hope you feel better soon my good fellow.
@magoo-1 always on duty.
Hlw author this guy owner multi ID and always comment by multi ID.This person always try to chest and get your reward.
You can check transations
a very beautiful story @arthuradamson, your carita reminds me when I was still in school, there was a friend of mine who loved to really cry, because he was very afraid of ants. Every day my friends always ngerjain him by putting ants into his school bag. Every day he always cried, but I am very sorry for him. So he was named as transvestites or half-girl boy. But I did not think after he graduated from school, he became a brave and courageous soldier. Until now I have never met him again. That was my previous experience that has always been a memory for me and I have never forgotten. Like a story you write, it is very impressive to me. Thanks for sharing and hope you have a wonderful day ... :)
Thank you for sharing : )
thank you again @arthuradamson, your words should be appreciated very expensive. Because it can all be a very good motivation for the crowd. May you have a beautiful day and always head for more success ... :)
Congratulations! Your post has been selected as quality content that deserves more attention.
I upvoted your contribution because to my mind your post is at least 58 SBD worth and should receive 143 votes. It's now up to the lovely Steemit community to make this come true. By the way, your post is listed on rank 2 of all truffles found today! You can find the TOP DAILY TRUFFLE PICKS HERE.
I am
TrufflePig, an Artificial Intelligence Bot that helps minnows and content curators using Machine Learning. If you are curious how I select content, you can find an explanation here!Have a nice day and sincerely yours,
TrufflePigThat's what life says, sometimes it does not happen the way we want it to be. But all that we can still change to be better. Because of that success takes the struggle, work hard and never give up despite having many problems that we face. And wherever we live, in small towns, in villages and in big cities anywhere it will not be a problem. Because wherever we live, we will also be able to succeed, which is important we keep trying until we can be successful like the other people out there. The point is, as long as other people can do it, we can certainly do it all. Because there's nothing we can not do, as long as other people can do that. Thank you for sharing and hopefully you will be more successful to work @arthuradamson.
Thanks for that : ) appreciated
This post has been revived by steem-forever and will get extra rewards. This happens when a post is upvoted on steem-bounty.com after the 7 day post life.
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There's a goat on the internet telling me to upvo-o-o-ote... upvo-o-o-te! ;-)
This is really interesting and great fiction of your creative mind @arthradamson. I really appreciate your imaginations and creativity. The words, dialogues, actions and images that you have used in your story are so captivating and amazing. You have captured all the things very beautifully and perfectly. You have given a real touch to this great fiction. You are really talented and good author. I really appreciate your efforts to make this so interesting for us. The character of Bob and the goat are so funny and interesting.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful story with us.
Brilliant Post! My Friend.
I write short stories too, by the way.
Thank you my good fellow, I will have to check out your stories too.
hi @arthuradamson. Love your style of writing. will be following you for more :)
I am also a writer, although not quite as good as you. I hope you'd find something of interest on my blog :)
cheers :)
Nice goat
we need to be patient about life , but we cann't be able this as an teenager. I take resteem.
Hey my friend @arthuradamson once again you're out of the screen. Hope everything is fine there.
I will be back my friend - I am busy doing house repairs at the moment and there is much to do.
I will be back my friend - I am busy doing house repairs at the moment and there is much to do.
Hey friend @arthuradamson it's been a while that you're not here with us at steemit. I hope everything is fine there. Stay blessed!
@arthuradamson my friend I hope all is well. It's been some time since you have posted and haven't noticed you around lately. Drop a line to let everyone know you are doing ok. Guessing I'm not the only person wondering how you have been.
Hi my good friend. thank you so much for your interest and concern.
I am quite fine although I did have a recent bad spell of influenza. Truth is I have been very busy with my restaurant. I am restructuring and redesigning the whole thing and it is taking longer than I expected. I almost posted a couple of blogs but then changed my mind.
I will be back very soon now,
Best wishes to you my good friend, that was nice of you.
Glad you are doing ok. Sorry to hear about the ful...the flu bug has been nasty this year. Never fun dealing with that.
Updates on the redesign would be cool!Would love to see what you are up to with the restaurant when you get a chance.
Good luck with all the work in the mean time.