AI Summary
5 min readMy Hometown Has a Strange Leap Day Tradition
Eddie Estrada left Carrow Falls at eighteen, two days before Leap Day 2016, and swore he'd never return. The town is a picture-postcard New England village with a mill, a covered bridge, and a waterfall you can hear from Main Street. But when his mother calls at six in the morning to announce that his seventeen-year-old sister Dean has been drawn as the lantern bearer for the Leap Day festival—the first Estrada to carry it since "well, ever"—Eddie knows he has to go back. His girlfriend Cameron, a claims adjuster who spends her days catching people lying about water damage, takes one look at his face and decides to come along. "You've got a whole family you never talk about," she says. "I'd like to see the place that does this to your face."
The Boards and the Rules
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:59) **The Call That Pulls Him Back** - Eddie gets a call from his mother, who tells him his younger sister Dean has been chosen as the lantern bearer for Carrow Falls' Leap Day festival.
- 2 (03:17) **Cameron Insists on Coming Along** - Cameron, a skeptical claims adjuster, recognizes something is deeply wrong and decides to join Eddie on the trip to his hometown.
- 3 (06:38) **The Road to Carrow Falls** - The drive into the valley reveals the town is preparing for Leap Day with decorations and a bridge closure.
- 4 (08:48) **Boarded Windows and a Town’s Secret** - As they drive into town, Cameron notices every single window is boarded up from the inside, a custom Eddie confirms has happened his whole life.
- 5 (14:05) **The Lantern and the Rules** - Eddie reunites with his family and sees the ceremonial cloak, but the house is dark and every window is sealed.
- 6 (18:18) **Eddie Confronts His Father** - Eddie tries to reason with his sister and then finds his father in the garage, who finally gives a direct answer about what is coming.
- 7 (20:23) **The Night in 2012** - In the dark, Eddie tells Cameron the full story of what he saw as a teenager on Leap Night.
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Show Notes
My Hometown Has a Strange Leap Day Tradition.
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