I am an avid hiker and amateur mountaineer. While on, what I like to call an "explorative backpacking trip" I became extremely disoriented and was thrown wayyy off course. My plan was to hike the entire Appalachian trail, I started in Georgia and I was determined to go as far as I had to, to complete the trail.
I met a few friends along the way and I have quite a few stories of crazy encounters with strangers and wildlife that happened to me along the way..
One of the scariest moments I endured on this trip was when I got lost in NY. A few things led up to me getting thrown off course, and an encounter with a certain individual cut my entire trip short.
I had gone three whole days without cell service and not even a single meal. This is when the encounter happened. I walked into Teta's, and nobody was in the store. I myself was in an extremely fragile state, my hair hadn't be brushed in weeks, it was filled with leaves, mosquitos and pine sap. My clothes were ripped, I only had one lens in my sunglasses and I had poison ivy all over my body!
STARVING is an understatement, I had never been so hungry in my entire life. I began calling out "Hello?" I was curious as to why the door had been unlocked if nobody was in this deli/pizza shop.. I said again "Hello, is anyone in here. I am really hungry!" I was so desperate I started pleading. "Please! Can anyone hear me, I really need help, I need a meal!"
Thats when I heard a sound, it was a slight crash of what sounded like silverware rustling around in the kitchen, and a consistant squelching noise... As I walked toward the sound, I saw what had horrified me. On top of the counter was a tall thin man named Primo. Primo had his pant legs rolled up to his knees in the fashion of modified high water pants. Barefoot I saw him squishing and mashing san marzanno tomatoes with his bare feet and toes. There was tomatoes sauce everywhere, and this man was covered in it. He was just minding his own business, seemingly with not a care in the world, singing Italian songs. I screamed at the top of my lungs because I was so startled to see what he was doing. Primo then slipped out of the metal container he was standing in and off of the counter he went with a crash, I was so scared I had no idea what to do. So I ran out of the store. I didnt even look back, I just kept my head down and ran as fast as I could. I made it about a quarter mile down the road before Primo caught up to me. He hit me right over the head with a pizza paddle, and then the lights went dim. I awoke to the smell of fresh pizza wafting into my face. Primo had tied me up in the middle of the store. Obviously concussed, even my dizzy state did not suppress the fear. I did not know if I was going to make it out of this one. When Primo noticed I was awake, he began to show how displeased he was that I had snuck up on him. Primo must have known how hungry I because of how thin I had become, or maybe my stomach was growling. Either way, as punishment Primo began to feed me slice after slice of the delicious pizza he had made. The strange part is how good the pizza tasted and also how many slices I was able to eat (which was 16 slices), but the strangest thing of all was Primo forcefully fed two whole pies to me with his feet. He would grip each individually slice with his toes, fold it in a NYC style grip, and slowly, careful not to burn my lips or mouth, he would blow on to cool down each bite and slowly fed me. To this day I have not met a man that matches how flexible Primo is, he was able to do things with his legs and feet like nobody I have ever met. I bet you Primo could compete in a contortionist foot archery competition! Anyways, once I had my full of pizza Primo untied me. I thanked him for the meal and he told me if I ever told anyone how he made the pizza sauce he was going to come after me. Recently I decided to move to Australia, since Im pretty sure Primo has no means to find me out here, I figured I would share my experience with what happened when I went to this place. God Bless, try the pizza it is good, if you dont mind feet touching your food, and whatever you do - DO NOT sneak up on Primo..... read more