what is a secret that you will never tell anyone Story one about a week before I graduated high school my family experienced a massive house fire we lived out in the country and since no one was home by the time anyone noticed it was on fire it was already too far gone Flames were shooting 30 ft above the roof we lost everything but thankfully we had insurance and no one was hurt at the time I was taking a chemistry class where about 70% of the grade depended on a lab notebook that was graded all at
once at the end of the semester we would do Labs every week and then complete writeups in the notebook unfortunately I had been slacking off and was way behind on the assignment to catch up I would have needed to pull a few all nighters just to turn something in the day after the fire I went to class and told my teacher that my notebook had been destroyed in the fire and that I had no idea how I would ever complete the assignment he was incredibly kind told me not to worry about it and gave me
100% on the entire assignment he said I had bigger things to worry about I was about to graduate and he hoped my family was doing okay well the notebook was in my car the whole time I threw it away and swore myself to secrecy story two when I was in high school I had trouble talking to people I was the shy kid one day I found out my cousin went to the same school he was in a similar boat as me though he was more social and funnier however he didn't really click with others just
with me we became best friends and had a blast at at lunch every day one day a really cute girl invited me to go eat sushi with her and I was so excited I had plans with my cousin it was sort of a tradition for us but I decided to bail on him I told him yo this really cute girl asked me to eat sushi with her and although he seemed upset he told me cool have fun when it was time to go eat I went with the girl but when we met up with her
friends they decided to eat somewhere else the problem there was only room for one more in their car without hesitating the girl said yes hopped in and left me behind I was devastated I didn't have the courage to face my cousin or tell him what had happened as I walked through the hallways I was scared of running into him eventually I passed by the library and saw him sitting there alone passing the time it broke my heart I had ditched him and for what never again bros before everything Story three when I was six I
had an experience I didn't tell my mother about until 15 years later my paternal grandmother had two dogs Tessa a ditsy maltz and Bindy a Rhian ridgeback Tessa was too sweet and clueless to ever be mean so we always played with her during visits Bindy on the other hand was always locked away in part of the house when I asked why my mother would just say Bindy doesn't like kids my mother had reasons to be wary of dogs like Bindy when I was born she had to put down her first dogs because they were aggressive
toward me even throwing themselves at Windows if they saw me for the first year and a half of my life we operated under an airlock system with two doors always between me and the dogs when my grandmother moved to the house directly behind ours we installed a gate between our yards suddenly Bindy was accessible we kept a respectful distance from her most of the time one day I was playing in the garden with KD our very patient Labrador we were playing circus a game that KD endured with endless patience the only thing that ever made
him mad was seeing a horse Bindy wandered into the yard and started watching us in a burst of foolishness I ran toward her trying to involve her in the game she panicked and bit me not hard but enough to leave some indents in a small bruise I didn't bleed but I was scared so I cried and sulked in my cubby house until I calmed down I knew I couldn't tell my mom because I'd get in big trouble for playing with Bindy the next day I was back in the garden with KD and Bindy was there
too but I ignored her for weeks I avoided her whenever she came near then something changed Bindy started following me everywhere she'd sit with me cuddle on the sofa and stay at my side wherever I went it was like she was making up for that bite from then on she became my sweet and loyal companion we were best friends for four more years until she passed away my parents always remarked on how miraculous it was that Bindy an old orary dog who hated everyone had suddenly become this oversized lap dog even years after her passing
they marveled at her transformation I didn't tell my mom until my 20s that the reason Bindy loved me so much was because she had bitten me story four when I was in second grade I had one of the most humiliating experiences of my life three days in a row my teacher had a strict policy no bathroom breaks even during free time in class the first two days I ended up wetting my pants in class because she refused to let me go the third time I spent 10 minutes begging her before she finally relented but I
didn't make it I wet my pants on the way to the bathroom my family only knows about one of those incidents but I had to endure the embarrassment three times all in the first week of school after that I started bringing a water bottle to class and discreetly peeing in it whenever I had to I did this for the rest of the year looking back if I could go back in time I'd tell my younger self to just pee on her desk that would have been less humiliating than wetting myself three days in a row
Story five Perron a s remember when I was a teenager I saw my friend steal two cans of soup I was on my break at the grocery store where I worked and thought I saw her walk in curious I went looking through the aisles to say hi when I found her she had her back to me and was holding a big Satchel style bag I watched as she quickly tossed two cans of soup into it and looked around nervously to make sure no one had seen her she didn't look behind her if she had she
would have noticed me she started walking away so I called her name cheerfully as though I just spotted her she turned looking startled and terrified she stammered out a quick hello and said she had to run to her mom's car because she forgot something she didn't come back inside this was a 16-year-old girl with three younger sisters and a single mom who was battling addiction she had to be more of a parent than her mom ever was if she was desperate enough to steal two cans of soup so her family could eat that night who
was I to embarrass her or say anything to anyone story six around 10 years ago when I was a teenager my dad who worked in the video game industry gave me a high-end gaming laptop worth $3,000 he didn't need it but he made it very clear no drinks near the laptop because I was notoriously clumsy one night I brought a huge bowl of cereal into my room and set it next to the laptop while I went to get a spoon I had a blanket over my shoulders and as I sat down I accidentally flipped the
bowl over milk flooded the open laptop I panicked I turned it off cleaned it as best as I could and went to bed terrified the next day the laptop wouldn't turn on when my dad asked what happened I lied saying it worked perfectly the night before years later I finally confessed to him to my surprise he had no idea what really happened he wasn't even mad he laughed it off and was impressed that the story had gone viral online telling him the truth felt like a huge weight off my shoulders and I'm glad I finally
owned up to it story seven when I was 8 years old we had pet mice one of our female mice gave birth but she started eating some of her babies I was horrified and distraught why would a mother do that to her own babies upset and angry I rushed to tell my stepfather instead of comforting me his reaction was monstrous he forced me to kill the mother Mouse he filled the sink with water dragged me into the kitchen and grabbed my hand despite my cries and struggles he made me hold the mother Mouse underwater until
she drowned I was sobbing the entire time desperately trying to pull my hand away but he wouldn't let me as if that wasn't horrifying enough he then took the surviving baby mice and fed them to his fish I think it was called an oscar fish though I'm not entirely sure I was too young to understand everything but I knew this was wrong my stepfather was a deeply abusive and deranged person eventually my mom left him after he beat her so badly that she almost didn't survive to this day I've never told anyone this story even
though I was just a kid and I know he forced me the shame and Pain still linger story eight I was walking my dog on a dirt road near my subdivision this road ran parallel to several backyards and was lined with trees making it feel like a secluded nature trail it was my escape from people and noise one morning as I was walking I spotted two of my neighbors they were both married to other people they were making out and clearly about to take things further they were so engrossed in each other that they didn't
hear me approaching until my dog barked we all froze for several seconds just staring at each other in stunned silence then without a word they bolted in the direction of their respective backyards I knew both of them but we weren't close and I didn't know their spouses well either I decided to keep what I saw to myself neither of them ever acknowledg what happened and I've never mentioned it to anyone I have no idea if that was a one-time thing or part of a long-term Affair but I never saw anything like it again story n
last Christmas it was just me and my mom she's the only family I have she had prepared a lot of food for the day but she started drinking heavily and got completely drunk I didn't realize how bad it was because I was only 17 and had little experience with alcohol at one point she tried to cut a piece of pork to give me but she was so drunk that she couldn't even manage that about 20 minutes later she was trying to take the pork out of the oven and ended up dropping it on the kitchen
floor hot oil spilled everywhere coating the floor and making a huge mess as she clumsily tried to pick up the food she slipped on the oil and hit her head on the floor she wasn't knocked unconscious but she was Dazed and Confused I had to clean the food off the floor wipe the oil off her and carry her to bed after that I spent the rest of the night cleaning the kitchen once everything was as clean as I could get it I drove around town Town looking for a place to eat on Christmas but nothing
was open I ended up going to bed hungry to this day the only person who knows about that night is my girlfriend Sten I've never shared the full details of the story because I'm still deeply unsettled by what I witnessed or think I witnessed it's one of those things where no amount of talking about it would ever change what happened a few years ago I visited my mother's Hometown in Mexico with her and my younger sister this was shortly after the Durango crash and the anxiety from that combined with adjusting to the time difference kept
me up late at night we were staying at my great uncle's house where I was sleeping on a futon while my mom and sister shared the bed one night as I lay awake playing games on my phone I heard a gunshot I live in a dangerous neighborhood back home so I didn't think much of it at first then I heard two more gunshots much closer this time I thought it could be someone drunk it was wedding season or maybe I was hallucinating from exhaustion no one else woke up so I stayed quiet and tried to
go back to sleep the next morning my mom asked if I'd been awake the previous night when I said yes she asked if I'd heard anything I told her I'd heard gunshots but didn't think it was anything serious her face went pale she told me that the neighbor two houses down had murdered his wife with a shotgun that night the entire town knew and he was arrested quickly she had been shot at least twice I asked if anyone else had been hurt but my mom said it was just the wife the town was close to
a city with strict gun control laws so Firearms were rare but here's what I can't stop thinking about the first gunshot I heard it didn't sound like the shotgun it was sharper more like a handgun who fired that first shot did the wife have a gun and try to defend herself was it just a drunk person as I originally thought or did someone else die that night and no one knows about it I've tried asking people in the town but no one else seems to have heard that first shot just the two from the shotgun
it's a small town where everyone knows each other but even they didn't suspect the neighbor was capable of this I don't know if I want to know who fired that first shot the uncertainty still haunts me story 11 when I was in sixth grade my math teacher held a contest where teams of two had a week to guess how many jelly beans were in a large container the team that guessed closest would win all the Jelly Beans kids were obsessed with it counting individual jelly beans before class and walking around it analyzing itself one day
the teacher accidentally mentioned that the correct number was written on a piece of paper under the screw on lid of the container that gave me an idea I approached a kid named Nate and told him I'd split my share of the jelly beans with him if he helped me the plan was simple on our way to lunch Nate would tell the teacher he forgot his lunch box and run back to the classroom while there he'd unscrew the lid check the number and then fill out a guess form with my and my partner's names on it
I specifically told him not to guess the exact number because that would look suspicious by the end of the week I won the contest when Nate came to collect his share I gave him one handful of jelly beans just one he was Furious saying it wasn't fair but I Shrugged and basically told him what are you going to do about it then I ate the rest of the 300 jelly beans over the next 3 days I know I sound like a jerk but I swear I'm not as bad as I was in sixth grade I
just really love sugar I told this story to my wife once and I I think she sees me a little differently now story 12 I'm a gay man and a while back I met an older guy online we clicked immediately playing games together chatting a lot even FaceTiming I thought we were just good friends until one day he admitted that the only reason he started talking to me was because I seemed gay he wasn't wrong after a few dates we ended up hooking up a few times then just weeks later my parents invited me to
a family event to meet some distant relatives I didn't really want to go but my cousin convinced me it could be fun at the event I was surrounded by unfamiliar faces my grandfather has 11 sisters and two brothers so the family tree is massive but then I saw someone I recognized my internet friend we pretended to be meeting for the first time and quietly tried to piece together how we were related it turns out he's my grandfather's sister's son my first cousin once removed to make matters worse he's married with three kids he had told
me he was single after the That Awkward encounter we distanced ourselves from each other though we occasionally still play games together on Steam I've never told anyone about this because well who would want to hear it I had us with my first cousin once removed and a married man it's a secret I plan to keep to myself story 13 from fourth grade until my senior year of high school one of my best friends was a compulsive liar I love this kid like a brother we did everything together and he had this amazing ability to make
me forget about my own problems when we hung out he was genuinely a nice guy but the lies started early on and I still remember the first one he told me he claimed to have written a song and sang it for me I instantly recognized the song but didn't call him out I thought he was just joking as time went on the lies grew by high school he was lying about everything his parents his job who he hung out with and what he was doing when I'd ask him to hang out for a while I
thought he just didn't like me anymore after school we lost touch then one day I was out running and he stopped in his car we hadn't spoken in years but he pulled over and we ended up talking on the side of the road he told me he missed me and wanted to hang out again I followed through and messaged him a couple of days later no response after that his life seemed to spiral out of control he started arguing with his parents and eventually got kicked out of their house in 2013 he moved in with
another friend and their parents but they kicked him out too he ended up living out of his car one night he asked if he could crash at my place for a few nights I said no even though I could have said yes by then the years of Lies had chipped away at our friendship I didn't feel like he was my best friend anymore or even a friend at all after that night we never spoke again story 14 when I was about 5 or six years old I got in trouble for saying a silly word my
mom warned me that if I said it again she'd wash my mouth out with soap being a kid I ably said it again true to her word she dragged me into the kitchen made me sit on the counter and stuck a bar of soap in my mouth I had to sit there with it for what felt like forever and it tasted horrible when my dad found out he was Furious a massive argument broke out between my parents it ended with my dad holding my mom down on the sofa by her throat and then taking me
out of the house we drove around all day and I remember feeling like my whole world was falling apart I didn't fully understand what was happening but I knew things would never be the same when we returned that evening the house was in chaos bags were packed and my mom had smashed a large glass encase radio and vinyl player from the 80s there was blood everywhere my memory Fades to Black after that even as a kid I knew something was profoundly wrong that moment stayed with me shaping who I am today it's the root of
my attachment and abandonment issues it's why I find it so hard to trust anyone and why the moment I sense something is off with someone my defenses go up and I emotionally shut down I do everything independently because relying on people has only ever let me down this experience has left such a deep scar that I struggle to see myself ever having a truly happy relationship whoever I end up with would have to understand and accept these deeply ingrained issues and honestly I'm not sure anyone would want to take that on story 15 I used
to work at an adult foster care Ma sha group home and it was one of the hardest experiences of my life one of my co-workers was always high during her shifts and her behavior quickly escalated into abuse toward the residents I reported her to management multiple times but no one took it seriously eventually I had enough and decided to take matters into my own hands I anonymously contacted CPS Child Protective Services and APS Adult Protective Services and reported the abuse I also reached out to the rights office and other organizations making as many calls as
I could someone had to care about these vulnerable people even if the management didn't no one believed my claims until one of the residents was raped that tragedy set off a chain reaction and suddenly everyone wanted to know who had been anonymously complaining they even suggested that the person should show their face since they had been so right I never came forward but I was relieved when all the staff including the managers were investigated and ultimately fired still I hated every moment of working there I worked over 100 hours a week just to ensure the
residents weren't being abused on my watch but I still feel like I didn't do enough some days the guilt is overwhelming and takes away my appetite for weeks I'll never understand why some people work at group homes if they don't genuinely care about the residents no one forced them to take the job it's not hard to be a decent human being especially to those who can't fully comprehend or navigate life story 16 it was 1969 and I was 11 years old my bedtime was 900 p.m. but around 9:30 the phone rang and I picked up
the extension near my bedroom it was my mom's best friend Charlotte in absolute hysterics her ex-husband Jack had a rifle pointed at her and I could hear him threatening to kill her I was terrified but what scared me even more was realizing that my mom was going to drive over to Charlotte's house to intervene back then the police wouldn't respond to domestic disputes so my mom felt she had no choice without her knowing I threw on some shorts and quietly climbed into the back seat of the car lying flat on the floor I stayed silent
as she drove across town into an incredibly dangerous situation when we arrived Charlotte was outside in just her bra and panties blood dripping from her nose and ear Jack stood nearby holding a rifle aimed at her my mom got out of the car and started talking to him for over half an hour she calmly but firmly negotiated with him until he finally handed her the rifle she then helped Charlotte into the front seat of the car and drove us all to the police station on the way there Charlotte told us she had called the police
five times at night but no one would come when we got to the station my mom confronted the police chief as I hid in the floorboard I heard her address him by his first name Mike and threaten him I'm going to make sure you don't even get elected dog catcher if you don't go and throw him in jail now years later we never spoke about that night but it stuck with me my mom passed away 6 years later but her courage and strength that night have stayed with me ever since she will always be my
hero story 17 from 2015 to 2017 I worked for what I thought was my dream company my dad had worked there for 20 years and I believe they treated him well the pay was great and I loved the work during those two years I thrived receiving great reviews and forming strong relationships with my clients but after 2 years the department was restructured and the last 10 hires myself included were laid off it felt like my world collapsed my clients and managers complained to no avail and though some clients wanted to hire me their offers required
relocation which I couldn't afford I tried to stay positive leaning on the grid I'd inherited from my tough military agricultural family but being jobless for three months in a small town with limited opportunities and $1,700 a month in student loan debt weighed heavily on me I've always owned firearm arms for hunting and protection one night while spiraling in my thoughts I found myself holding one of my guns considering the unthinkable but when I checked the chamber a wave of clarity hit me I Put the gun down and cried myself to sleep a moment of vulnerability
that was hard to admit as a 6'7 300lb man the next morning I collected all my weapons guns bullets bows arrows knives and gave them to my dad I simply asked him to lock them up and told him I'd ask for them back someday he didn't ask questions he just agreed deep down I think he knew what was going on but he never brought it up a week later I reconnected with the woman who would later become my wife she encouraged me to go back to church where I found strength and purpose again four months
later I secured a temp job which led to another and eventually a full-time role in my current career field about a year ago just before I got married and moved out I asked for my guns back my dad handed them over without saying a word about that night years ago no one knows I was contemplating sews that night outside of possibly my dad it scares me to think how low I was but I remind myself that I persevered I don't share this with loved ones because I don't want them to worry especially now that I'm
in a much better place story 18 when I was living on an American Military Base in Germany I used to sneak into the tiny convenience store and read porno magazines I'd carefully open them on the shelves pretending to look at something else and read them while trying to be inconspicuous my plan was to drop the magazine and act like I was reaching for something innocent if I got caught one day I did get caught and my plan failed miserably the store clerk scolded me saying the magazines were a pain to send back because of their
plastic packaging that wasn't the only time I got caught I also tried stealing Pokemon cards using the same tactic opening the packs on the shelf and pocketing the cards once a random army guy caught me in the ACT he stly warned you cut that ish out before I send you to jail son that moment scared me so much that I almost literally my 11-year-old pants after that I kept my hands off the magazines and the cards at least on base story 19 in high school I tried to befriend a girl who didn't seem to have
many friends I went out of my way to be nice to her I bought her lunch lent her clothes and even sent Pizza to her family for dinner once when a school dance came up I found out she'd never been to one so I decided to take her as a friend date I went all out I bought her a dress but when she didn't like it I let her wear my favorite dress and shoes instead I wore the dress I'd originally bought for her I took her to dinner and dessert got her a corsage and
made sure everything was perfect but as soon as we arrived at the dance she disappeared she didn't respond to my text and I didn't have anyone else to hang out with so I left early she stayed when I saw her next I asked for my dress and shoes back she told me she'd bring them but didn't show up to to school for weeks when she finally returned she said the dress was ripped and one of the heels on my shoes was broken I was upset but told her it was fine and tried to move on
two days later she stole $80 from my bag the money wasn't even mine it was for a club fundraiser I reported it to the school but they wouldn't do anything about it that's when I decided to get back at her her boyfriend who always flirted with me sold Coke I convinced him to give me some for free and slipped it into her bag during gym then I reported her to campus security for the reward money I thought she'd just get sent to boot camp for a week like everyone else it wasn't supposed to be a
big deal but it turns out she'd been lying about her age she was actually 21 and already on probation she ended up going to prison part of me feels bad because I didn't mean to ruin her entire life I just wanted to get some justice for how she treated me but another part of me feels like she brought it on herself story 20 my father once told me a story from his Youth and made me promise never to tell anyone it's one of the most bizarre and haunting things I've ever heard when he was around
20 years old he met a couple of argentinians who were eccentric hippies they taught him how to make mushroom tea a recipe that I now know too after they left my Dad decided to try making the tea not to drink it but because he was fascinated with chemistry he ended up with a dark black liquid which he poured into a small Coca-Cola bottle that same day he was invited to a festive junina a traditional country themed party in Brazil he brought the bottle with him and for reasons he couldn't explain poured the entire contents into
a large cauldron of Quint town a mul wine drink when no one was looking the rest of the night was absolute chaos people were freaking out left and right having panic attacks seeing hallucinations and thinking they were dying every time one person calmed down another would start screaming or behaving wildly my father watched in absolute Terror as the entire party descended into madness realizing what he had done he never confessed to anyone and just kept quiet horrified by the scene he'd created to this day the thought of that story haunts me it's such an insane
thing to imagine happening and knowing my dad was behind it is both surreal and unsettling story 21 I'm deeply convinced that I'm going to become homeless while this fear isn't uncommon among people with severe mental illness like me it's not not just fear it's a persistent all-encompassing belief I spend so much time zoned out imagining what it will be like and trying to plan for it I think about how I'll survive where I'll sleep where I'll find food and how I'll stay safe when I'm out in my city I Scout places that look safe to
sleep I take mental notes of food banks shelters and places where I might shower or wash my clothes I've even planned how I might get to a warmer state in the winter I I've been doing this for over a decade every day my mind goes there two people I grew up with became long-term homeless due to substance use and mental illness watching them slip through the cracks has reinforced this fear for me rationally I know I have a loving partner and friends who would never let me end up on the streets but a part of
me is certain it's going to happen anyway at its core this belief comes from anxiety and a hyper awareness of how fragile life is most people seem to subconsciously believe that things like homelessness can't happen to them but I don't feel that way I feel hyper aware that terrible things can happen to anyone I see people living on the streets and think why not me there's so little separating us it feels like it all comes down to luck and my luck has never been good story 22 when I was 15 I tried to take my
own life I overdosed on about 40 extra strength Tylenol pills the only thing I had access to at the time a few hours later as the realization of what i' done said in I panicked and stumbled into my parents room in the middle of the night I was terrified to tell them but I did they rushed me to the hospital and I was flown via helicopter to a larger facility for treatment afterward I spent 2 and a half months at a residential treatment facility where I finished out the school year only my immediate family knows
that I went to my parents for help when I returned to school rumors swirled about why I had left and eventually people found out I had attempted sews I've never told anyone that I saved myself myself because I've always been afraid people would think I wasn't serious or that I just did it for attention what most people don't know is that I had been carrying those pills with me for a long time waiting for the right moment on the night I finally did it my little brother was asleep in the bunk bed above me as
I lay there waiting the thought of him finding me the next morning is what ultimately saved me that Moment of clarity the love I had for him pushed me to get up and ask for help it was the darkest time of my life but I'm here now because I couldn't bear to hurt him that thought stays with me to this day story 23 there was this girl I was friends with years ago someone I cared about so deeply that I could say I loved her I never told her though not until I finally had the
chance and chose to cast it aside we were great friends and I loved her so much that I became whatever she needed me to be her Confidant her protector her advisor her chauffeur and the guy who stayed sober so everyone could get home safely I knew everything about her her dreams her fears her wishes I wiped her tears made her laugh and stood by her side no matter what around her I felt like the best version of myself a loyal Knight unshakable always smiling and ready to bring her Joy but she didn't know me beyond
that she never saw past the armor my mind is a nightmare shaped by a tough upbringing riddled with anxiety panic attacks and a deep lack of self-respect I struggled to sleep felt like like a zombie and at my lowest points thought I might die at any moment yet I always stood by her hiding everything I was going through one night we were lying on the ground drinking and she told me she loved me it was the best feeling I've ever had even to this day but I couldn't accept her love my life was a mess
family issues Financial struggles mental health problems and uncertain future I couldn't bring myself to share that burden with her I couldn't let her see the broken person beneath the armor so I let her down gently and it crushed me I still think about that decision and wonder if it was the right one did I protect her from my chaos or did I miss out on something beautiful I'll never know it's my little secret now ours story 24 forgive the format I'm on mobile I've been battling depression for about 10 years maybe even longer my life
has been extraordinarily shy but I've worked hard to make it better I went from having no education to earning a degree and Landing a job that pays $67,000 a year all within 3 years I married someone I truly loved and he's been a good dad to my son but then things fell apart for three years my husband ignored all my physical and emotional needs even after I tried talking to him about it eventually he cheated on me and that was the breaking point I snapped and told him I wanted a divorce I moved out got
some of my life together and tried to move on on my son stayed with my ex because he's in the final years of school doing well academically for once and I didn't want to disrupt that I tell people it's better to be alone than to feel alone in a relationship but honestly I don't know anymore I don't miss my ex or love him anymore but I feel stuck sometimes I think about how I could disappear and it wouldn't make much of a difference my son forgot my birthday and Mother's Day and while holidays don't matter
much to me it reinforced this feeling of just exist being here but not really being seen don't worry I'm not going to harm myself my son depends on me and even when he's grown and on his own I refuse to leave him like my mom left me I've thought about getting help but deep down I don't think talking to someone will change anything for now I just keep going hoping things will feel better someday Story 25 when I was around 15 or 16 I'm 28 now I got into an online game called gun Z The
Duel the game had an option to purchase in-game items using simple bank details the account holder's name bank account number and the Associated Bank being a brilliant teenager I thought how hard could it be to get this info after some digging I stumbled upon an online form for a web shop where people were posting these exact details calling out sellers they suspected were scammers I started using this information to buy tons of in-game merchandise I Justified it to myself by thinking they're scammers so it's not really wrong this worked fine for a while until one
of the accounts I used turned out to belong to an innocent person who'd been falsely accused on the Forum that person noticed the unauthorized transactions reported them to the police and everything spiraled out of control detectives were assigned to the case and it was treated as serious bank fraud they eventually traced everything back to me when they reached out I panicked and came up with a story I claimed that I'd been scammed by someone online who gave me the bank details and told me to use them for my transactions in the game shockingly they believed
me the game officials cleared all the merchandise from my account and the case was closed to this day no one knows I was The Mastermind behind the fraud it's a secret I've kept all these years and it'll stay buried here with this confession story 26 when I was about 10 or 11 I went to a friend's birthday pool party there were around 15 other boys there most of whom knew each other from school but I didn't I felt like an outsider the pool was incredible uniquely shaped with Boulders a rock water slide and lots of
hidden spots to hang out one of the boys Chad stood out immediately he was the stereotypical spoiled kid athletic Rich good-looking and Incredibly arrogant even though it wasn't his party or house he acted like he was the leader he hogged all the toys made sure he was first for everything and somehow everyone else seemed to adore him at one point we were throwing all sorts of balls in the pool footballs basketballs beach balls and it got chaotic I noticed that with all the balls flying around it was dangerous to keep your head up in the
water if you were in the middle of the pool so when Chet was in the middle of the pool I positioned myself on a step near a boulder it gave me cover and great leverage I used every ounce of strength to throw a football at him from about 10 to 15 feet away I didn't think I'd actually hit him but I did right in the side of his face no one saw me do it or figured out the trajectory of the ball it was so chaotic that people just Shrugged and moved on Chad on the
other hand wailed and cried while everyone said I don't know who threw it it could have been anyone he was fine 30 minutes later and back to being his usual self but I wasn't intimidated by him anymore I've seen him a few times near where I grew up he's still kind of a jerk but seems happy enough with his life mean while my world has grown much larger than his and I'm very happy with where I am today compared to where he ended up that moment in the pool let's just say it felt like a
small satisfying Victory story 27 years ago I was a heavy drinker problematically so Christmas has always been a big deal in my family with relatives coming from all over the country to gather at my parents house ironically addiction and alcoholism are also big issues in my family on Christmas Eve I went to a CVS drive-thru to pick up some medication after dropping off my prescription I decided to head to my usual Bar for a few drinks while it was being filled before long they called to say my meds were ready so I left the bar
and picked them up but since I had time to kill I went back to the bar for more drinks it was Christmas Eve and everyone was buying rounds of shots I drank hard too hard when I finally decided to leave I knew I was wasted at the time I had a terrible routine of taking an Aderall to sober up when I needed to keep going I was a bartender back then so in my drunken Haze I instinctively took a pill and started driving home on the way I passed the same CBS I had been to
earlier I was so drunk that I thought I still needed to pick up my meds I went through the drive-thru again and asked the pharmacist for my prescription they awkwardly told me to wait a moment and walked away the next thing I knew I was being woken up by a bunch of cops I had passed out in the Drive-Thru and the employees had called the police they asked me to park the car and step out at that moment the gravity of the situation hit me I realized I was about to get arrested on Christmas Eve
and my entire family would find out the shame of disappointing my mom overwhelmed me there were 11 officers surrounding me while I did the sobriety test I knew i r of alcohol and expected to be arrested after I finished the test the officers huddled up and disgusted amongst themselves finally the main officer came back and said you don't seem too drunk but I can smell alcohol on you I'm not going to arrest you but I can't let you drive I was so relieved I almost cried one of the deputies drove me home and scolded me
the entire way about how lucky I was he told me how dangerous my actions were and how easily this could have ended much worse I've never told anyone this story but it's one of the worst things I've ever done and gotten away with it's a painful reminder of who I used to be this happened over a decade ago and I've since gotten help I'm grateful to have turned my life around story 28 I come from a large family in a predominantly Islamic country in this country not only are Christians segregated but they are also physically
marked similar to what happened during the Holocaust my parents decided to convert to Christianity after I was born and our lives turned into a nightmare my Islamic relatives shunned my parents immediately when I was five my grandmother arranged for me to be sold to the Brotherhood while my mom was at work it turns out there were even doctors interested in buying me that was the breaking point we had to leave everything behind and flee the country a relative helped to sponsor our visas allowing us to escape but things didn't improve much growing up my parents
and I were never invited to family parties Vacations or Gatherings while my extended family formed bonds and built memories I stood on the outside watching from a distance to make things worse my dad a sociopath became a leader in another religious community he preach values he didn't live by making me resent religion even more I've never shared this with anyone because of the ignorance and judgment surrounding anti-islamic hate people don't realize that many girls wearing hijabs don't have a choice behind every child forced to cover their hair is a set of parents threatening them with
rejection from God if they don't comply I've grown to hate all religions especially Islam religion doesn't unite people it creates division imposes rules that strip away humanity and fills people with fear under the guise of morality it promises rewards like 72 virgins and a spot next to God but in reality it only enslaves people with false guidelines robbing them of their power story 29 years ago I worked as a fieldtech and it support one day I called ahead to my next stop about 20 minutes away to let the point of contact know I'd be there
soon to upgrade some equipment she mentioned she had to run to another office but would leave the door unlocked because someone was coming by to pick up a package when I arrived the office was empty just as she said so I got to work swapping out the old gear for the new as I was about to pack up and leave I was suddenly hit with a I have to sha now feeling I ran to the bathroom and did my business after flushing I went to wash my hands but then I heard an ominous sound the
toilet started backing up shh piss and toilet paper began bubbling over the rim and flooding the floor the smell was horrendous and it wasn't just mine I think the sep tank must have been backing up panicked I had no idea what to do so I made the terrible decision to put the old equipment back the way I found it and leave I called the contact and lied saying I'd been held up at my last appointment and would need to reschedule for the following week when I returned the next week the office was undergoing Renovations I
casually asked what had happened and she said the guy who came to pick up the package had apparently clogged the toilet causing it to overflow she mentioned that he denied using the bathroom if you're reading this package guy I'm so sorry life hadn't prepared me for that moment and you took the fall for it story 30 when I was around 10 to 12 years old I had Ross River fever for about a month it caused swelling pain and exhaustion I couldn't go to school and was essentially bedridden we lived in the Australian Outback so babysitters
weren't an option my parents had to work but my dad would check on me during lunch breaks other than an incident with Shooters on the property everything went fine I was too weak to even get out of bed so there wasn't much trouble I could get into about a year later we had a creative writing assignment at school and I decided to write a fictional story inspired by that time I made up an elaborate tale about how I'd somehow managed to pull my wardrobe over with the door open trapping myself inside it in the dark
too weak to escape and with no one to help me all day my mom unfortunately was a notorious Snoop she had zero respect for my privacy and went through my things regularly one time she found a Reader's Digest under my pillow and without checking assumed it was an underwear catalog and hit me with it one day I came home from digging forts or wandering the scrub and I found her in my room clutching my creative writing book and crying her eyes out she thought my fictional story was real and that I'd been trapped in a
wardrobe while I was sick I was Furious that she had read my writing but decided to play along I told her it really happened even managing to squeeze out a tear for good measure she was beside herself with guilt and terrified that the teachers would find out I'd been left alone while I was so ill nearly 30 years later she still brings it up occasionally saying it haunts her to this day she's still just as nosy and disrespectful of people's privacy so I've never told her the truth she'll likely go to her grave believing that
story was real story 31 when my friend and I were seven years old we had a neighbor named Tracy who lived across the street Tracy was awesome she was friendly and had two big golden retrievers we l to play with whenever we saw her outside with her dogs we'd usually run over to talk to her and spend time with them one day we wanted to visit her and her dogs we knocked on her front door but got no response being the stupid kids we were we decided to check her sliding patio door when we found
it locked my friend grabbed a rock and started smashing the lock until it broke we let ourselves into the house thinking we'd find our dog somewhere inside the house was eerily quiet but we didn't think much of it as we searched I spotted a bowl of Hershey's kisses on the kitchen counter and decided to help myself I ate at least 15 to 20 of them leaving the wrappers scattered on the counter Meanwhile my friend went upstairs and found $5 in Tracy's bedroom he decided to take it so we could buy ice cream from the truck
that came through our neighborhood daily after exploring for a bit we heard the ice cream truck outside we left Tracy's house bought ice cream and didn't think twice about what we'd done a few days later we saw Tracy parking a U-Haul truck in her driveway we ran over to say hi and asked her about the truck she told us that someone had broken into her house eaten her candy and stolen money from her bedroom she said she was moving to live with her mom because her ex-boyfriend who had been stalking her for 5 years had
likely found her again Tracy believed he was responsible for the break-in we acted shocked and said what a jerk not realizing the gravity of what we had done later the police came by to take statements from Tracy and the neighbors luckily they didn't come to my house 20 years later I ran into Tracy at an H&M store we caught up for two hours talking about life music and movies at one point she brought up the break-in from years ago saying her ex was arrested a couple of months later in charged with theft and breaking and
entering I smiled and said good thing you caught him while hiding the truth about that day story 32 as a kid my dad was distant and uninvolved he never took us on holidays to the movies or to restaurants even though we could afford it he seemed to despise my mom likely because their marriage was arranged very common in India he focused entirely on work rarely asked how I was feeling and never gave me advice he was like a robot coming home eating sleeping and going back to work the next morning to be fair he probably
had a lot of work stress as he was a scientist in one of India's top institutes still his lack of Engagement hurt fast forward to when I moved to Europe graduated and started my career our relationship had started to improve and I began sharing more with him one day I saw a heartfelt post on Facebook about how to raise kids and sent it to him I didn't think much of it but he called me soon after clearly panicked for the first time he opened up to me crying as he apologized for how he had been
as a father I assured him that I was doing well and that it didn't matter anymore two days later my mom called me repeatedly during the night due to the time difference when I finally answered she told me my dad had suffered a heart attack and passed away I can't shake the feeling that my message made him realize his mistakes and overthink them to the point of triggering the heart attack I've never told anyone in my family about this they all believe his death was due to work stress I still vividly remember his last phone
call and how emotional he was the guilt of possibly contributing to his death weighs on me even though I know he loved me story 33 years ago I spent my Summers working at a camp deep in the woods the camp was spread out with activities and buildings scattered throughout one weekend everyone had gone out to enjoy the day off I decided to have a little me time and went into town for a nice Mexican dinner a plate of quesadilla smothered in queso sounded perfect after dinner I headed back to Camp parking in the staff parking
area which was a dirt road in the woods from there it was about a 7 to 8 minute walk to the main camp area it was around 7 :30 p.m. and I figured I had plenty of time to get back and relax before anyone else returned but then the Rumblings began the kind that signals something serious at first I brushed it off I've been in situations before where I had to wait a while to find a bathroom and I've always managed to hold it together but this time it was different as I walked the urgency
hit like a freight train beads of sweat started forming on my forehead my gut felt like it was staging a full Rebellion I picked up my my pace and then Panic said in I don't think I'm going to make it the pool house came into view yes salvation it was empty and I knew I could slip in unnoticed I was so close 25 steps away then 20 steps then 15 I clenched harder praying for strength 10 steps the damn burst I froze mid stride desperately trying to stop the flood but it was too late my
bowels betrayed me in the most epic way once the immediate pressure subsided I regained enough composure to shuffle my way to the pool house cheeks clenched dignity hanging by a thread inside I made it to the toilet just in time for round two What followed was a scene straight out of the infamous Amazon reviews for harrybo sugar-free gummy bears wave after wave of Destruction left me in awe of my own digestive system the boxers Beyond saving they had heroically absorbed the worst of the disaster and had to be retired I found a plastic grocery bag
wrapped up the evidence and silently said a few words of gratitude for their sacrifice Commando and humbled I made my way back to main Camp I found a trash can tucked away from the main paths and discreetly deposited the bag by some miracle no one was around to witness my shame to this day I'm grateful for those form-fitting stretchy boxers if you ever need a pair of underwear that can keep your Secret Safe trust me invest in good ones they just might save your dignity or at least most of it story 34 when I was
8 years old I almost did something horrifying to my three-year-old brother though at the time I didn't realize just how bad it could have been we were at a playground with one of those multi-level towers with ladders and slides there had been some construction nearby and on a previous visit my friend and I had for reasons I can't explain hauled a couple of cinder blocks up into the tower on this particular day I was up there alone when I saw my little brother toddling over I had some tension with him as siblings often do but
I distinctly remember not feeling malicious I wasn't thinking about hurting him much less killing him I just thought it would be funny to scare him as he reached the base of the ladder I pushed one of the cinder blocks over the edge to this day I don't know exactly what happened he wasn't directly under the block when it landed it only clipped the tip of his big toe I assume he stepped back or slipped but instead of a life-altering tragedy he end up with a broken toenail he screamed my mom came running and a trip
to the ER ended with some nail trimming and a bandage no lasting harm now my family jokes about it as the beginning of my brother's extremely injury-prone childhood they have no idea how close it could have been I laugh along but inside I can't help wondering if that moment says something darker about me story 35 when I was in high school my family went out of town for a weekend and left me home alone Trust I'd be responsible and I mostly was a good kid but I was also a teenager naturally I invited some friends
over to drink beer smoke weed and smoke Shisha during the night one of my friends in a drunken stoer dropped a coal from the shisha onto the hardwood kitchen floor it burned a quarter-sized hole I knew my parents would be furious if they found out there was no doubt in my mind that there would be serious consequences for the first week after they returned I was a nervous wreck waiting waiting for them to notice Nothing by the second week I realized I needed to cover my tracks one day while my mom was making dinner I
casually walked into the kitchen pointed at the burn mark and let out a surprised gasp mom what's this burn mark on the floor did you drop something she looked at it thought for a moment and said oh I must have dropped something hot while cooking that was it the mark never came up again I was in the clear and my cover story held strong looking back I'm amazed I pulled it off but the stress of those first two weeks was enough to make me think twice about throwing another party story 36 this is one of
those wild stories I don't talk about with anyone except the two friends who were there with me a few years back we went to a new wing restaurant that had just opened excited to check it out we were enjoying some beers when suddenly across the room this guy threw a glass at a waitress's feet thankfully missing her and started shouting he and his girlfriend looked like they were on something meth most likely after yelling for a bit the guy stormed into the bathroom with his girlfriend while he was in there my friends and I quietly
agreed that if he came out and started trouble we'd have to step in since most of the other customers were older or women when he finally came out it seemed like he was leaving peacefully the manager had already called the cops so we figured it was over but as he was walking out an olderman in his 60s said you need some respect that set the guy off he turned around and punched the older man in the face in a split second I jumped up and tackled the guy into the bar area knocking over stools and
tables in the process I pinned him down and started dragging him out of the restaurant but his girlfriend began punching me in the back and neck while I was trying to block her the guy got loose and started swinging at me I'd had enough I grabbed him by the neck with both hands and slammed him against the window then in a final burst of frustration I threw him onto an older couple's table which broke apart sending beer nachos and wings flying everywhere at that point his girlfriend screamed he's only got one arm let him go
for F's sake let him go I immediately froze the guy had been wearing a leather jacket so I hadn't realized he was missing an arm horrified I let him go but then he picked up a chair with his one arm and tried to swing it at me my friend stepped in and knocked him down with one punch the couple quickly fled before the cops arrived when the police got there they took our statements the officer asked if I wanted to press charges and I replied what would I get his other arm everyone laughed including the
cop and we were let go since it was clear I was defending myself and others the restaurant was trash so we ended up going to another place to finish the night my friends and I don't talk about it much because well we beat up a one-armed man even if he deserved it it's not a story people tend to react well to story 37 when I was 15 my family hosted our annual Fourth of July party a tradition I always looked forward to it was a mix of family friends and co-workers my dad's best friend Jim
was a regular at these parties and that year he brought some family members who were staying with him for the summer two nephews and a niece named Emily The Moment I Saw Emily I was stunned she was my age and to me absolutely perfect looking back she was probably just a bit above average in terms of looks but in my eyes she was everything I couldn't stop thinking about her but was too too shy to even say hello I figured I had time she was staying with Jim and I could work up the courage eventually
a week later I overheard my dad and Jim talking and learned that Emily and her brothers were only visiting from out of state on the other side of the country my heart sank I felt like I had blown my chance and the thought of never seeing her again Hit me hard for months I was down on myself for not having the confidence to talk to her by January I decided I needed to change I real realized my self-consciousness about my appearance was holding me back so I started lifting weights my cousin who was into fitness
helped me out and by the time summer rolled around I had transformed I went from 135 lbs to just over 180 and people started noticing as July approached I couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and nerves I thought what if Emily comes back I was ready this time but she didn't that year I came to terms with the fact that I'd probably never see her again in I felt like all my effort had been for nothing to this day I've never told anyone about Emily or how she inspired me to start lifting I
also haven't felt that way about anyone else since she'll always be the person who unknowingly pushed me to grow even if we never had a single conversation story 38 I had a cat who was peeing all over the house she never used her litter box and I couldn't figure out why over the course of months I took her to the vet at least five times to check her health her bladder and for urinary crystals we tried two different anti-anxiety medications and even an anti-depressant out of desperation I hired a cat behaviorist but she turned out
to be completely unhelpful either a scammer or delusional she claimed that the lack of crystals and calming energy in the house was the issue and recommended getting rid of certain paintings and home decor and colors cats couldn't see arguing that it made the cat feel alienated I kicked her out of my house after one hour though I still paid her despite all my efforts the problem persisted my other cat began peeing in the same spots as her and my house started to wkak of cat urine the floors were ruined the urine seeped into the baseboards
and plaster of the old house and the smell was unbearable especially during humid Summers I felt like I was living in a litter box the breaking point came when my one-year-old daughter crawled through a puddle of pee we hadn't spotted yet that was it I had been trying to rehome the cat for months thinking maybe the other cat was bullying her when she tried to use the litter box but after countless failed attempts I gave up I drove her to a city shelter they made it clear she would be put down that same afternoon if
I left her there I left in tears devastated by what I was doing she was a sweet loving and cuddly cat who adored me I knew she wasn't peeing out of spite something was wrong and I couldn't fix it she trusted me and I betrayed her two days later I received a response to one of my old ads a kind woman offered to take her in and give her a fresh start it was 2 days too late if I just held out a little longer my cat might have lived and found a home where she
could be happy to this day I can't forgive myself for what I did and I'll never tell my wife or kids about it they don't know I had a potential solution within reach my cat deserved better than what I gave her and it haunts me still