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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/ThatAuldFool on 2025-05-22 13:55:56+00:00.

I work at Bill Grady’s All-Night Gas and Shoppe off the Erehwon County Loop Road (for those unfamiliar with America’s most isolated county, Erehwon is a large-ish island more than 100 miles out to sea from Baltimore. The loop road makes a circle around the island and connects most of the major towns). The station is located about halfway between Mudsark and Jerusalem, if you know the area then you know how isolated it is, which is why I took the job.

I always fancied trying my hand at writing a novel and working way out there with no civilization larger than a trailer park, or a farmhouse for 15 miles in either direction. And well long story short, that struck me as a good way to make some money while having free time to tackle this project. Despite that I assure you this isn’t fiction, I wish I was creative enough to make something this strange up.

First things first, my name is David (It’s not but I’d rather stay anonymous) and I’ve only had this job for about two weeks. The last guy to hold the job was a kid who helped train me for two days then shipped out. He was joining the Airforce and I was hired really quickly to fill the vacuum he would be leaving. To my understanding he kinda sprung it on the owner out of the blue. Anyway he seemed kinda nervous those two nights but I chalked it up to his being about to leave for basic training, and thought nothing of it.

I had been there myself one week exactly and had already fallen into a rhythm, the night shift only had a handful of customers and I spent most of my time writing or smoking (at a safe distance from the pumps obviously). When this trucker came in, probably early 20s, pale-skinned and dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt with its sleeves rolled up, and a pack of cigarettes in one of the cuffs. The way you see in old war movies, if you need a visual aid. He looked around for a few minutes before walking up to the counter with a bottle of coke and a pack of pork rinds.

He stood looking over my shoulder at the rack of cigarettes and vapes behind me, checking for his brand I assume. Then asked for a pack of Lucky Strike 100s. He had this odd, kinda cold sounding voice. That’s not a good description but it’s the best I’ve got. It wasn’t an accent really, just a cadence, and tone that made me wonder if he was on something. I didn’t care either way and rang him up. He paid cash and then he asked me a question,

“Do you know if Kelley’s Diner is open this late?” I had never heard of such a place, and told him. He gave me a confused look before shrugging and walking out of the shop. If that had been the last of it I’d have forgotten but ever since I’ve been hearing more and more weird remarks about a town that I know doesn’t exist.

The second event came a day later when an old guy in a suit pulled up outside in an antique black car that I guessed to be from some time around World War Two. (Give or take probably ten years on either side, I’m not really into cars). And he was wearing a suit to match, it was black and formal like you’d wear to a funeral and matched some old suits my grandad used to wear. He was visibly confused and I wondered if he was senile, which seemed confirmed when he opened his mouth.

He had this odd old timey way of talking, and it stuck with me. He said “Now I feel a right fool asking you boy, but how do I get to Winewater Springs from here? I’ve gone and gotten my fool self lost it seems.” I’d never heard of the place, so I asked him some questions trying to get a handle on where it could be. Or what it even was, as I wasn’t sure if it was a town, or a natural feature with that name.

He told me it was a town, located along this stretch of highway between Mudsark and Jerusalem, he swore he must have missed the turnoff in the fog, but couldn’t orient himself. I told him kindly that there was no such town, and asked if there was anyone I could call for him. But he just looked at me with a really odd expression before walking back out into the misty night air. I should have done something probably, but what? Call the sheriff’s office and report an old guy said something strange? Nah, dude. Not me.

By the third time I was almost expecting it. This lady with big poofy hair, came in wearing a bright pink jacket over fairly mundane clothes. She smiled widely and in a voice I can only describe as “Ditzy” asked me how far she had to drive before coming to the turnoff for Winewater Springs. At this point I was starting to suspect a prank, I had lived on the island for my entire life and knew exactly how many towns there were in the county. I knew all their names, and I knew someone from pretty much all of them. (Like I said, Erehwon is a small place). And I knew for an abso-gold-plated-freakin-lutely certain fact that there was no such town. So I decided to play along with whatever prank or hazing ritual this was. I asked her the same sort of “describe where it is” questions I had asked the old man, and she was a little clearer than him in her answers.

The conversation went like this

Me: Do you know how far the turnoff is from Jerusalem?

Her: like 20 miles?

(To be clear, that would place this town about two or three miles north of the gas station, in the middle of what I knew to be a corn field.)

Me: Is there a sign?

Her: Yeah, I mean there’s that green sign next to the highway, and a wooden one closer to town.

Me: How big is the town?

Her: Like, I dunno about the size of Whisper Bay?

(For those unaware: That’s the next town south of Jerusalem with about 2000 people in it.)

Me: When was the last time you went there?

Her: This morning, duh. I live there

The questioning continued like this for a few minutes but didn’t lead anywhere productive. I had neither been able to figure out where she was looking for or get her to break character in whatever joke this was so finally I told her I couldn’t help her and she left in a sulk.

Just to prove I wasn’t going crazy I drove the entire length of the road between work and Mudsark the next day, slowly and going both directions looking for anything that might say Winewater Springs. Nothing, nada, zilch, not even the hint of a sign or road ever having been there let alone existing today.

The next night nobody came in, asking about anything weird. Well, there was a weird dude; a priest with the robe and white collar wearing sunglasses inside, at night, when it was overcast. But that guy is only memorable because he had a “bad vibe” so to speak, nothing he said was weird.

So I thought maybe the joke or whatever it was was over, but the night after that two people asked for help finding things I’d never heard of. One gave me the name of a hotel that I didn’t know and when asked said it was in Winewater Springs. I gave them directions to Gillman’s Bed and Breakfast in Jerusalem instead saying I hadn’t heard of what they were looking for. They thanked me and left.

Then not twenty minutes later another guy walked in dressed wildly inappropriately for this time of year wearing shorts and a t-shirt when it was cold and rainy (like always around here) outside. He looked behind me at the rack of smokes and squinting, asked if we sold Diamond & Calloway brand cigarettes. I had never heard of that brand in my life, but just told him we didn’t sell them. He shrugged and left. But I swear he muttered something about knowing the gas station in Winewater Springs had them as he left.

I’ve also noticed that the radio in my car seems to get odd static sometimes around where the supposed turnoff should be. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but it’s all adding up to leave me really confused.

There’s a lot of creepy stuff on this island, we’re cold, foggy and isolated and that breeds superstition and folklore. Ghost stories and cryptids are probably thicker on the ground here than anywhere else in the country. But I’ve asked around among my friends and nobody has ever heard a legend about a missing town or anything else that could explain this.

If it’s real, why can’t I (or anyone else it seems) find the turnoff. And if as I suspected this is a prank, what’s the punchline? Does anyone have any idea what I’m dealing with? It’s starting to drive me crazy and I know, this being the internet people will mock me. Good, if there is a simple logical explanation for this that will make me feel stupid with how plain it was I’ll be happy. That’s what I want, a nice-little-tied-up-with-a-bow-answer that makes me feel like an absolute idiot.

UPDATE: I found the turnoff…