Fan Favorite - "You Can't Leave That Way"
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Today's episode is a fan favorite. The audio in the story has been remastered for today's episode. Today's story is about a woman who goes missing from a psychiatric hospital in 1900. Now, at first, this story will seem like a pretty ordinary missing persons case. That is, until you reach the very end. Let's just say this story has one heck of a plot twist.
What is the story about Carrie's disappearance from the psychiatric hospital?
But before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast because that's all we do and we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday, as well as this very special episode of a new format I'm calling You Can't. If you're a fan of my YouTube channel, you know that I've told several stories that revolve around places you can't go and people who went there anyways. And I decided to tell some stories like that here on this podcast. but a little different. These are stories with some very unique twists, like today's. They aren't going to be the exact same type of stories you're used to hearing on YouTube, but trust me, you will remember these.
And if it seems like people enjoy this particular format, we will continue to add them periodically on this podcast, just to give you even more of the Mr. Ballin stories that you love. So if that's of interest to you, on the next hot summer day, open a can of sardines and pour the juice into the follow button's air intake of their car. Okay, let's get into today's story.
On the morning of March 11th, 1900, 43-year-old Carrie Selvidge stared out her bedroom window into the front yard of the building where she lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. The sun shined bright on her face, but it was surprisingly cold for March, and there was a chill in Carrie's room. She wore a heavy flannel blue dress and slippers, but she still shivered as she stood by the window. Carrie heard footsteps behind her. She turned and saw a young woman standing there. Carrie smiled, exposing her gold filling and several false teeth that she barely even noticed anymore. The young woman smiled back and then put her hand on Carrie's shoulder. To someone walking by, this might have looked like two friends enjoying the view outside the window.
But that's not what was happening here. Because the building where Carrie lived was not her home. It was the Union State Hospital, a turn-of-the-century sanitarium, which today would be called a psychiatric hospital. Carrie was a patient, and the young woman standing with Carrie was a nurse, whose job was to keep an eye on Carrie basically all the time. And Carrie hated it here. Up until a year ago, Carrie had been a schoolteacher, saving money and building a life for herself. But over time, Carrie had become overwhelmed and sad, and she couldn't even explain why. She felt tired, but she struggled to sleep, and there were days when she just felt sort of frozen, like she couldn't leave the house. Doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong with Carrie other than some problems with her vision and her teeth.
So, the doctors did something that was unfortunately pretty common at this time for women. They diagnosed Carrie with hysteria and told her family to put her in an institution. That was how Carrie had lost her teaching job and her freedom and ended up living here at Union State. Now, in Carrie's room, the nurse told her that she had to go check on another patient. She told Carrie not to go anywhere until she got back. Carrie nodded and watched the nurse walk out of the room and close the door behind her. Once Carrie was alone again, she turned back to the window and looked outside. Her eyesight was terrible, so the view was not clear, but she could still make out people down below on the sidewalk walking past her.
They looked like little blurs, but she watched each one for as long as she could. She felt jealous of these people, out walking by themselves. Carrie desperately wanted to go somewhere on her own, where nurses and doctors weren't hovering over her every few minutes and telling her what she could and couldn't do.
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