text: The town of Caydesdale, Iowa cant be found on maps anymore. Caydesdale used to be a small farming town just outside of Ames. Characterized by its copious number of chickens, humble residents, and peculiar architecture. Every building in the town was almost funnel-like in shape with intricate carvings on the wooden walls, not even the oldest residents had any clue what the symbols meant. It was truly a welcoming place, but even then, with all of its otherworldly charm and bountiful job opportunities the town was not very prosperous and every year residents would pack up and leave. Then, on November 15, 1884 a nearby river overflowed. Only minor damage was done to surrounding areas, but somehow Caydesdale was entirely washed away. The few remaining residents tried for years to rebuild the town but after two major collapses, three deaths and five fires people just gave up trying to revive the place. Everything in the town rotted and became open fields, except the library which to this day still stands tall. Almost like a monument. The town hasn’t even been mentioned on a map since circa 1897. In fact, the only way I found out about it was through a comment left by a follower on my YouTube. I make videos of myself exploring odd, creepy and/or ancient sites and giving any information I can about them, like a sort of knockoff History Channel a la urban exploration. Not the type of thing people typically create on the platform, but hey, anything and everything has its own niche I suppose, Plus it helps me pay rent so it isn’t so bad. Either way, after receiving that comment I packed my bags and drove the 1200 miles to Iowa from my home in Massachusetts. It took almost three days of hiking, and a lot of avoidant bordering on hostile interactions with locals, but I eventually found the library. Worn and eroded in the ocean of weeds, the building looked more like a watchtower than a library. Night began to fall as I finished up recording the first bit of my video so I decided to set up camp inside the building rather than my van to begin editing what I had so far. Afterall, it’s not breaking and entering if the place doesn’t technically exist right?? About two hours in, I decided to explore a bit. All of the books on the shelves were rotted or the water had made the pages’ ink smear. A few more minutes of searching led me to a set of stairs leading down into a narrow hall. It was all dimly lit by my phone’s flashlight though at this point I mentally kicked myself for not grabbing my camera. At the end of that hall was a metal door. It had strange etchings on it similar to those on the outside of the library and I’m assuming to the rest of the buildings in Caydesdale. I tried the handle, which was shaped like some type of clawed leg, it was unlocked. I pushed the door open, immediately a smell hit me, familiar yet in this setting it was out of place, nearly unrecognizable. The room was dark except for a warm amber glow from some type of alcove at the back of the room. The walls and floor were concrete and there was a hissing noise coming from the direction of the light. There was movement. A shadow. Something was here, something was this in this old ass building, sealed away for god knows how long and I was stuck here with it. Logic kicked in as I took my first hesitant step forward, then another. My steps were silent as I made it to the alcove wall and peeked in while there was this kind of mantra going through my head: *There couldn’t be anything living down here for this long, it would be impossible and I’m just paranoid and too far from home. There’s nothing here...* but there was. It filled the small space, it was tall, even though it was hunched over I could tell. It was facing me and it was eating... something. Some kind of meat, the smell was stronger now, too strong. The hissing noises louder, too loud. Then it looked up. At me. Through me. Into my soul. The dim light lit its eyes with a predatory glint. I ducked back in an attempt to hide from whatever that thing was... I couldn’ get up fast enough. I was barley on my knees when I was met with gleaming white teeth shown through an equally snowy mustache, a smile all too wide. Eyes squinted in some type of perverse joy. He loomed over me as he made his way around the wall, the only thing keeping us separate. In his hands a bucket of fried chicken. It all hit me at once, I fell back from the shock. The shapes of the houses, the carvings on the sides, the chickens, the library itself. This is where Colonel Sanders has been living for hundreds of years... he sat me down and soon I knew everything. How Caydesdale came to be, the flood, and that the library was a collection of all of his recipes. He had me go and grab my camera so I could record the conversation for my video. Turns out he was the one who suggested I come out here in the first place, a huge fan as it turned out. After the video was posted I packed my things(with the addition of three buckets of chicken, all signed by the Colonel) and drove back to my home. The video was deemed a prank of course and received quite a bit of backlash, but I knew and the Colonel knew. And that’s all that matters. Plus I was given a lifetime supply of free KFC chicken valid internationally so really fuck those guys. &#x200B; (this is my first post to reddit and anywhere.