(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Night has fallen, and the moon is a glowing golden orb in the black sky. See how it shines on the dark back roads of America, and on one road in particular. Come with us, and we'll take a walk down the moonlit road, for the night is waiting. And the moon is full. Over in Savannah, Georgia, there lived a wicked man. Everybody feared him. He'd get neighbors fighting one another. Oh, he loved that.
He would tie tin cans to the tails of cats, put poisonous things in children's food. He beat his wife, beat his dogs. Nobody liked him, except the devil. Because you know how the devil likes evil people. So that fellow was right surprised when he was walking down the street one day, and he felt a presence behind him. He turned and looked, and there he saw the long arm of the devil reaching out for him, and he said, Whoa, Mr. Devil, you're not coming for me, are you?
The devil says, I reckon I am. You've been here long's allowed. Oh, Mr. Devil, I got so much meanness left in me. Let me stay a little bit longer. Come on, please, just a little longer. Well, the devil was somewhat reluctant to take him back down anyway, so he says, Well, all right, just a little longer. And the fellow says, Oh, Mr. Devil, I know it's asking a lot of you, but next time would you not sneak up on me? Would you give me a sign? Something I could see, something I could hear?
The devil says, All right, no problem. It's a deal. And he goes on back down. That fellow gets a big grin on his face, because you see, he's not just as mean as the devil. He's as smart as the devil, too, because he is getting old, and he's going blind, and he's going deaf. So anything that he has to read or anything he has to hear, he ain't going to be able to do that. And that's just what happened. Time passed. He's doing his evil ways, and the devil comes back up for him.
He flashes his name out in the sky and lightning. He thunders it out in the clouds. But the fellow, well, he can't see it, and he can't hear it, can't die. Devil keeps sending out one sign after another until finally he gives up. There's nothing he can do. He's made a deal. So he goes on back down. And that fellow, well, he started wandering around spreading his nasty ways. People wouldn't talk to him.
He headed on up north from Savannah up to Charleston, up through Wilmington, on up far north is Virginia Beach, Virginia, on back down to New Orleans, Louisiana, and over to Jacksonville, Florida, and back up to Savannah. He couldn't eat anything. Berries would shrivel as he walked by. Animals would run away, and the water turned brackish before he could get a drink. Nobody would talk to him. He's all by himself. He's just getting skinnier and skinnier.
The only thing that's growing on him is his hair. It's getting long and gray and wiry and catching in every tree and bush that he passes, and the wind is blowing it all around until one day he just gets so skinny he disappears. Only thing left is that hair, and it's growing everywhere he's been. People down here, we call it Spanish moss, but it ain't. It's the hair of the meanest man who ever lived. Y'all come on down and try to pick some of it.
He's left a nice surprise for you, a chigger or two just itching to get under your skin, to let you know where that mean old man has been. That concludes this tale from the Moonlit Road. Be sure to visit our website at themoonlitroad .com to find out more about our stories and let us know how we're doing. The Moonlit Road is produced and directed by Craig Dominey, recorded and soundscaped by Henry Howard in beautiful Stone Mountain, Georgia. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.