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Unusual Horror Stories That Don’t Make Sense (And That’s Worse) · Scary Stories Hub

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: I still remember scrolling through that subreddit one rainy afternoon
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: in Portland, the kind of gray day that makes you
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: crave connection like a shot of espresso. It was nothing
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: too serious, just a place to vent about life and
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: swap stories with strangers. That's where I found George's post
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: twenty six mail in La looking for someone trade playlists
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: and existential dread with bonus if you like Indi folk
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: and bad decisions. His words hooked me right away. I
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: was twenty four, freshly out of a soul sucking office job,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: crashing at my sister's place while I figured out my
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: next move. I replied with a link to my favorite
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: sufi on Stephens track and equip about how my dread
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: came with a sight of overpriced oat milk lattes. The
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: messaged back and forth for hours that first day. He
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: was funny in that self deprecating way, talking about his
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: gig as a wrista and Silver Lake, how he dropped
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: out of film school because the professors were too busy
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: stroking their own egos to notice mine was deflated. I
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: told him about my love for hiking the Columbia Gorge Trails,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: how I'd once gotten lost for three hours chasing a
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: waterfall that turned out to be a mirage. By the
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: end of the week, we were texting every damn day,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: good morning memes, late night rants about X's who ghosted
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: harder than Casper. He sent voice notes of him humming
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: along to bon Iver, his voice all gravelly and warm,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: like he'd just woken up from a nap in the sun.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: I started looking forward to those pings more than my
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: morning coffee. After a month, the text turned flirty. Do
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: you ever think about ditching the rain for some California chaos?
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: He'd write, followed by a photo of him. God, he
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: looked good. I laughed it off at first, but the
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: idea burrowed in. Why not Portland was starting to feel
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: like a soggy trap. Chaos sounds perfect, I texted back,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: But only if you promise not to make me regret
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: the train ride, he replied instantly. Deal, I'll show you
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: the real La, the kind that doesn't end up on postcards.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: So I booked the ticket Amtrak from Portland to LA.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Thirty hours of staring out at blurring landscapes, my stomach
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: could not have excitement and nerves. I packed light jeans
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: A couple of band tees. That black dress I had
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: bought on impulse from Urban Outfitters. Told my sister I
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: was meeting a friend. Downplayed it when she raised her eyebrows.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: It's just an adventure, I'd said. She hugged me tight anyway,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: slipping a twenty into my pocket like I was still
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: her kid's sister. Heading to prom. The train pulled into
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Union Station at dusk. George was there, leaning against a
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: pillar in faded levis and a threadbare radio head tea
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: scroll his phone. He looked even better in person, taller
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: than I'd imagined, with those green eyes that crinkled when
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: he spotted me. Holy shit, you made it, he said,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: pulling me into a hug. His arms were strong around me,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: and for a second I melted into it, the exhaustion
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: from the ride vanishing. But then he pulled back, rubbing
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: his eyes like he was hung over from hell. Fuck sorry,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: I'm a mess. Partied too hard last night, didn't crash
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: till five am. These industry assholes kept buying shots. He grinned,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: but it didn't reach his eyes. I brushed it off,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: blaming the travel fog. No worries lead the way to
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: our guide. We walked a few blocks to his place
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: in Echo Park, the streets buzzing with evening traffic and
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: distant base from someone's car stereo. He rambled about the
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: name hood, the taco trucks, the murals that scream gentrification.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: But there was an edge to him, like he was
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: forcing the charm. When he got to his house, a
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: sagging craftsman divided into too many units. He unlocked the
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: gate with a key under a fake rock. Home sweet,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: he muttered. His room was eight by six and a
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: half feet tops, barely enough space for a thin mat
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: on the scuffed hardwood floor. His duffel of clothes shoved
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: in the corner like an afterthought. A single bulb dangled
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: from the ceiling. On the suitcase serving as a nightstand,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: sat a tiny wooden box crammed with faded ticket stubs
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: and polaroids, mementos from a life that felt worlds away
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: from this. It's cozy, I said, forcing a smile as
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: I dropped my bag. Ah, well, rents a filmed, don't
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: pay the bills. We collapsed onto the mat, his arm
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: draping over me like it belonged there. The nap hit fast,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: his breathing steady against my neck, the distant hum of
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: the city lulling me under. I woke to him, stirring. Hungry,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: he asked. We grabbed ramen at a hole in the wall,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: spot down the block, steam rising from plastic bowls. It
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: was good, spicy miso with extra pork belly. But when
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: the bill came he fished in his pockets and came
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: up empty.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Shit.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: I left my wallet at home. You mind spotting me.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: I'll venmow you later. I waved it off, sliding my
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: cart over. It's cool, consider it my la tax. He
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: grinned all teeth. You're a saint. Most girls would have
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: bailed back. At his place, we sprawled on the mat again,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: his ancient bluetooth speaker crooning fleet foxes while we waited
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: for the party invite to solidify. It's gonna be epic,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: he promised, passing me a warm beer from a mini
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: fridge that hummed like a dying bee. My buddy's throwing
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: it at his spot in the hills. You'll love the crowd, musicians, artists,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: the works. I nodded, sipping slow my jet lag. Catching up.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: His hand found mine, thumb, stroking my knuckles. It felt nice,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: almost normal. By ten, we piled into an uber with
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: two of his friends. He texted Jake and Mia. The
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: ride up into the Hollywood Hills was a blur of
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: laughter and inside jokes. I didn't get. George's energy shifted
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: the second we arrived at the sprawling mid century house,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: lights pulsing through floor to ceiling, windows, base thumping like
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: a heartbeat. People spilled out onto the lawn, red solo
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: cups in hand. Inside it was crazy bodies moving to
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: some remix of Tame Impala, fairy lights strung like drunken stars.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: George's friends ditch dust immediately, but not before Jake clapped
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: him on the back too hard. Yeaw, George, still crashing
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: on that air mattress. When are you gonna level up, man,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Mia snorted, tossing her hair. Yeah, or at least get
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: a real bed. Can't be humping the floor forever. George's
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: jaw tightened. His laugh forced coffee too. Not all of
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: us sold out for Daddy's trust fund. They kept at
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: it as we wove through the crowd, roasts about his
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: starving artist vibe, his string of failed auditions. By the
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: patio doors, he was red faced, fists clenched. I tugged
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: his sleeve, pulling him aside into a quieter corner. Hey,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: I said, soft cupping his cheek. They're your friends, but
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: they're assholes.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: Don't let it get to you.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: He leaned into my touch, eyes glassy. Yeah, I know.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: It's just tonight's supposed to be good, you know, with
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: you here, Thanks for coming all this way means something anytime, I.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Murmured, hearts swelling a little. We slipped back in, but
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: he got swept up immediately, Hugs from old acquaintances, backslaps
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: from guys, and ironic mustaches. Gotta say hi to a
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: few people, he said over his shoulder. Grab a drink,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: I'll be right back. That right back stretched into three hours.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: I ended up on the patio with a loose circle
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: of strangers. Two girls from usc studying screenwriting, a guy
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: named THEO who rolled his own cigarettes and talked about
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: burning man like it was the second Coming. They were cool,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: trading stories about bad dates and worst tattoos, but I
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: kept glancing inside, scanning for his messy hair. Nothing. The
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: night cooled. Goosebumps prickling my arms under my thin sweater,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: A girl with blue streaked hair, sidled up during a lull,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: offering me a joint. Okay, it looks like he got ditched.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: I forced to laugh. Then nah, just people watching. But
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: then another guy, tall with a man bun leaned in seriously,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: though you could seemed kind of lost out here. I
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: shrugged it off, but it stung. Did I look that pathetic?
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: The loner from out of town nursing a warm Seltzer
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: while everyone else blurred into the fun. Finally I pushed
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: back inside the crowd, a sweaty wall. Elbows jabbed my ribs.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Laughter drowned out the music. No sign of George had
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: he bailed forgotten me. I spotted his roommate Alex, by
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: the kitchen island pouring shots. Hey have you seen George,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: I yelled over the din. Alex grimaced, handing me a
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: plastic cup. Yeah, he's around, partying like it's his last
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: night on earth. He paused, you need something? Tell him,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: I'm heading out. I'm gonna grab a motel. This isn't
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: my scene. Alex nodded, weaving off. He came back five
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: minutes later, faced dark found him. He's being a total douchebag, said,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: you're overreacting. Let me walk you back to the house.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: No way you're dropping cash on a room tonight. The
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: trek down the hills felt endless. Alex was quiet at first,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: then opened up A good dude deep down, but he's
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: too much into stuff, binges, chasing tail to feel alive.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: Probably inside right now, buried in some girl's neck who
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: were railing lines off the bathroom sink. Sorry you got
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: caught up in it. I swallowed hard, the cool air,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: biting my cheeks. It's fine, I just thought it was more.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Alex squeezed my shoulder. You're better than this circus. Trust me.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Back at the house, the gate creaked like a bad omen.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Thanks for the escort, I said, hugging him quick, seriously,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: you're a life saver anytime. Locked the door behind you.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: He vanished into the night, leaving me alone. I curled
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: up on George's mat. Sleep came, fitful, dreams tangled with
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: party lights and his laugh. Then, sometimes past three am,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: the door clicked, footsteps heavy and uneven. The matt dipped.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Hey missed you out there. My stiffened heart slamming George stop.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: I'm not I don't want this. He froze and then
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: pulled back, just enough to loom over me in the dark.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: What were you serious? You come all the way down here,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: crashing my bed, and now you're playing none. What was
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: the point of any of this?
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: You're such a goddamn waste of time. I just burned,
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: tears pricking hot. Get off me, I hissed, shoving him away.
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: He rolled off with a groan, muttering curses into the pillow.
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: I turned my back, body rigid, the hurt festering like
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: a bruise. Morning light filtered through the grimy blinds, earning
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: everything sickly yellow. George snored, oblivious. I grabbed my bag
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: and slipped out. I bought a ticket home with the
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: last of my cash. Portland welcomed me with drizzle, my
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: sister waiting at the platform with take alfhoe and no questions.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I crashed for two days, binging old brom coms, letting
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the ache dull. A month later, his text lit up
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: my phone. Hey been thinking about you rough patch here?
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Could you spot me fifty bucks?
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: Promise I'll pay you back.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: You are amazing. I stared at it, thumb hovering, then
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: deleted the thread blocked him clean.
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: I remember the exact moment I logged into the Sims
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: that summer after college. It was June twenty twelve and
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: I just graduated with a culinary degree from a state
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: school in Texas, feeling like the world was this big
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: shiny oyster waiting for me to shuck it. But reality
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: hit quick, student loans piling up, no job prospects beyond
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: flipping burgers at some chain, so I escaped into the game,
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: building virtual lives that were way better than my own.
• 14:19
  Speaker 5: That's where I met Henry, or at least that's what
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: he called himself online. Henry's avatar was this ripped dude
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: with a mansion, exotic cars, and a pool that could
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: have hosted the Olympics. We started chatting in a custom server,
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: trading tips on how to max out skills and cheat
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: the system. Dude, you got to sell those rare artifacts
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: in the black market forums, he messaged me. One night,
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: I made enough to build my real life rig a
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: beast with dual GPUs and water cooling. I was hooked.
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: He sent pics of his setup, this glowing tower that
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: looked like it belonged in a sci fi movie. Then
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: came the stories how he turned in game hustles into
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: real life cash. Enough to fund rock climbing trips with
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: his girlfriend. He shared photos, and holy moldy, she was hot.
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: She's a badass, and I'm head chef at the subscale
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: spot downtown. You said you're a chef too.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: We could use a.
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: Guy like you, he typed. I laughed it off at first,
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: but the more we talked, the more I idolized him.
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: He was everything I wasn't, Confident, adventurous, living large. We'd
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: voice chat for hours, him bragging about whipping up gourmet
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: fusion dishes while I slaved over ramen in my crappy apartment. Man,
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: after you graduate, come up here to Seattle, he said
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: one evening, his voice crackling through my headset. I can
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: hook you up with a manager gig at my restaurant,
• 15:41
  Speaker 5: starting pay solid, like fifty k plus tips. Just say
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: the word. Graduation came and went, and I was still jobless,
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: crashing on my buddy's couch. Henry's offer echoed in my head.
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: You serious, dead serious, bro pack your shit and drive up.
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: I'll sort out the details.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: He replied.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: That was it.
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: No resume, no interview, just blind faith in this online bromance.
• 16:08
  Speaker 5: I pawned my old laptop, my TV, even my chef's
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: knives for quick cash. I loaded up my car with
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: what was left clothes, a sleeping bag, and dreams of
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: starting fresh. The drive took seven brutal days, endless highways
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: through deserts and mountains, blasting podcasts to stay awake. I
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: texted Henry updates just crossing to Colorado. Halfway there, he'd
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: reply with thumbs up emojis and promises of epic nights out.
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: An hour from Seattle, my phone rang hey man, bad news.
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: The manager spot fell through. Owner hired his nephew with
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: some shit, you shouldn't come.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: My heart dropped.
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: What I'm almost there, dude, like literally an hour out silence,
• 16:54
  Speaker 5: Then all right, fuck it, come anyway, crash with us
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: till you sort something. I pulled up to this rundown
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: complex and a sketchy part of town, peeling pain, trash
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: bags piled by the dumpsters, Section eight housing. I later
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: learned Henry greeted me at the door, looking nothing like
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: his photos, skinny, unkempt beard, eyes, bloodshot. Bro you made it.
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: He pulled me into a bro hug inside a one
• 17:21
  Speaker 5: bedroom crammed with four other people, two guys on the
• 17:24
  Speaker 5: couch playing Xbox. A girl in the kitchen doing I
• 17:29
  Speaker 5: can't even describe it. Here three cats prowled around, shedding
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: fur everywhere. I am allergic as hell. My eyes started
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: watering immediately. Then Mia emerged from the bedroom, gorgeous. Hi,
• 17:41
  Speaker 5: I'm miya. Henry's told me all about you, she said, softly,
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: shaking my hand. We shot the shit that first night,
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: but it turned fast. Pills appeared one end, Henry asked,
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: popping a couple. No, I'm good man, I muttered, nursing beer.
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: The party raged till dawn, music blasting, people laughing hysterically
• 18:05
  Speaker 5: at nothing. I crashed in the floor, sneezing from the cats,
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: wondering what the hell I'd done. Day two, I hit
• 18:12
  Speaker 5: the pavement. Gotta fine work, I told Henry as I
• 18:15
  Speaker 5: headed out. Good luck, man. I landed a dishwasher gig
• 18:20
  Speaker 5: at a greasy diner, minimum waight, graveyard ships. It sucked,
• 18:24
  Speaker 5: but it was survival.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Beck.
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: At the apartment, tension simmered. Henry and Mia argued constantly,
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: voices rising through thin walls. You're such a bitch, he'd snap,
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: she'd cry. Then they'd make up like nothing happened. By
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: day three, Henry corned me in the kitchen. Hey, we're
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: all moving out soon to a better place, two bedrooms,
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: no more crowding. You in where, I asked, skeptical Subsidi
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: spot downtown. Me has got connections through her job. Mia
• 18:57
  Speaker 5: worked retail from what I gathered, but I didn't press.
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: We scraped together deposits over the next weeks, me from
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: my shit job, them from god knows where. Week three,
• 19:09
  Speaker 5: we moved into the slightly less shitty apartment, fresh pain,
• 19:12
  Speaker 5: actual space. First night, we celebrated with pizza and beer
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: to new beginnings. Henry toasted clinking bottles. But midnight hit
• 19:23
  Speaker 5: and it exploded. I heard shouting from their room. You
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: felthy woman, Henry yelled, Then thuds fists on flesh. Mia
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: screen I bursting. Henry had her pin face red, swinging.
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: The cat scattered. Stop what the hell?
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Man?
• 19:42
  Speaker 5: He turned wild eyed. Mind your business. Mia sobbed, bruises
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: blooming on her arms. Please just go, she whispered to me.
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: I backed out, heart pounding. That night haunted me, her
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: cries echoing in my dream. It happened again a week later, louder,
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: more vicious, Glass showered. You're worthless, You're worthless, you're worthless,
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: domestic violence and progress. He's beating her bad, I told
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: the dispatcher. Cops arrived quick, two officers. Badge is gleaming.
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: What's going on, one asked Henry and me a suddenly united, Nothing, officer,
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: just a lover's quarrel. He's overreacting. Our friend here me
• 20:35
  Speaker 5: a forced a smile. They pointed at me. He's the
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: problem causing drama. The cops eighed me suspiciously. So you
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: need to leave, they said, escorting me out there. I
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: was two am on the curb oney, seven hundred miles
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: from Texas, no keys, no wallet left inside. In the rush,
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: homeless broke alert sneeze is racking my body. Rain started
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: Seattle's infamous drizzle, turning to a downpour. I huddled under
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: an awning phone, dying, scrolling contacts. Who to call family,
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: They'd say, I told you so. A cab passed. I
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: flagged it with my last twenty nearest motel, I said.
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: The driver grunted, rough night, Huh, you have no idea?
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: Checked into a fleabag place, stained sheets, roaches skittering. I
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: lay there, staring at the ceiling, replaying it all. How
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: had I been so stupid, chasing some online fantasy, ignoring
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: red flags. But wors was thinking about me, trapped with
• 21:48
  Speaker 5: that monster. Should I have fought harder? Called social services?
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: Morning came.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: I pawned my phone for.
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: Bus fare, hitch ride south. Took day, sleeping in stations,
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: eating vending machine crap. Back in Texas, I crashed with
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: my sister. What happened, she asked, hugging me. Tight long story,
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: but I learned never trust pixels over people.
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: I had a hard time at college. I didn't get
• 22:25
  Speaker 6: any scholarships, and I wasn't rich like a lot of
• 22:28
  Speaker 6: my classmates. I had to work two jobs in addition
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: to all my classes. Most of my professors were pretty great, though.
• 22:36
  Speaker 6: They knew my situation and gave me extensions when I
• 22:39
  Speaker 6: needed them. Plus they weren't too upset if I dozed
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: off in class after working all night. The only person
• 22:45
  Speaker 6: I had an issue with was my history teacher, Professor Williams.
• 22:50
  Speaker 6: Because it was a small college, there wasn't a lot
• 22:52
  Speaker 6: of teachers to choose from. I had to take four
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: of his classes, and each time he treated me like dirt.
• 22:59
  Speaker 6: He graded my papers more harshly than anyone else's. He
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: chose to call on me whenever he knew I didn't
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: know the answer. Instead of calling me by my name,
• 23:09
  Speaker 6: he just called me Hillbilly for four freaking years. When
• 23:14
  Speaker 6: I confronted him between classes sophomore year, he straight up
• 23:18
  Speaker 6: told me that he was harder on me because he
• 23:20
  Speaker 6: wanted me to excel. He wanted to push me to
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: my limits. I knew that was BS. The real reason
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: was that he was an elitist. He saw me as
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: the poor kid who wasn't supposed to be there, and
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: he wanted to push me until I dropped out.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: I'd seen him do.
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: It to a few other low income students at the school.
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: There was this one guy in my dorm, Terry's Something.
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: Great guy, full of enthusiasm. He wanted to become a doctor.
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: First semester he was happy acing all of his classes.
• 23:52
  Speaker 6: Then he had Professor Williams and he lost all motivation.
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: He gave up on his dreams of becoming a doctor
• 23:59
  Speaker 6: and dropped out of the end of the school year.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Well, I didn't let that happen to me. I stuck
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: it out and graduated.
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: With reasonably good grades. Never let Professor Williams strip me
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: at my confidence. And now two years after graduating, I
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: owned my own company with a staff of twelve. I
• 24:19
  Speaker 6: was making way more than Professor Williams, ever had.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: I decided to track him down.
• 24:25
  Speaker 6: I went back to my university to receive an award
• 24:27
  Speaker 6: for the Alumni Association. It was an amazing moment, and
• 24:32
  Speaker 6: all my former professors were there to congratulate me. Professor
• 24:36
  Speaker 6: Williams was the only one who didn't bother to show up.
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: I figured he didn't want to admit that he was
• 24:41
  Speaker 6: wrong about me. I know this sounds petty, but I
• 24:45
  Speaker 6: needed to talk to him face to face, to show
• 24:48
  Speaker 6: him my award, see his expression, and to finally get
• 24:52
  Speaker 6: over all of the trauma. I got his address from
• 24:55
  Speaker 6: another professor who was glad to help. She said he
• 24:59
  Speaker 6: was at home drinking by himself. That's what he did
• 25:02
  Speaker 6: most nights. So I got in my car feeling pretty
• 25:05
  Speaker 6: good about myself, and then drove to the address. He
• 25:09
  Speaker 6: lived in a part of town that I didn't really know,
• 25:11
  Speaker 6: so I followed my GPS. I got to a winding
• 25:15
  Speaker 6: road with no lights. Everything was dark, and I had
• 25:19
  Speaker 6: my high beams on because there was no other cars
• 25:21
  Speaker 6: in sight. And that's when I saw a shape dark
• 25:25
  Speaker 6: right in front of me. It happened so fast I
• 25:29
  Speaker 6: didn't have time to swerve. My car hit something. I
• 25:34
  Speaker 6: slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. Whenever
• 25:37
  Speaker 6: I hit, thumped against my hood and flew off to
• 25:41
  Speaker 6: the side of the road. I had to stop and
• 25:43
  Speaker 6: catch my breath. I didn't see what it was, but
• 25:47
  Speaker 6: I knew it was a person. I had just hit
• 25:50
  Speaker 6: someone and maybe just killed someone. I kept my head
• 25:55
  Speaker 6: lights on and stepped out of the car.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: Hello.
• 26:00
  Speaker 6: I saw a crumpled body lying at the edge of
• 26:02
  Speaker 6: the asphalt. I knew it was a man in brown clothes.
• 26:06
  Speaker 6: I knew his legs were twisted in unnatural angles, but
• 26:10
  Speaker 6: he also knew that he.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: Was still alive.
• 26:13
  Speaker 6: I could see his stomach rise and fall as he breathed.
• 26:17
  Speaker 6: I should have called nine one one right away, but
• 26:20
  Speaker 6: I wasn't thinking straight. I crouched next to the man
• 26:23
  Speaker 6: to get a better look. That's when I saw a
• 26:26
  Speaker 6: large green disc clutched in his arms. It was a
• 26:29
  Speaker 6: medium sized turtle. The guy had wandered into the road
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: to save a turtle. How could he not have seen
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: my high beams coming straight at him. The turtle's little
• 26:40
  Speaker 6: legs were wiggling around. He was totally fine from the accident.
• 26:45
  Speaker 6: Then I looked closer at the man's face and I
• 26:48
  Speaker 6: went numb.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: It wasn't just a stranger.
• 26:51
  Speaker 6: I hit Oh my god, And in that moment, I
• 26:56
  Speaker 6: didn't feel any guilt for hurting or possibly even killing
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: my professor.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: If it were anyone else, I.
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: Would be hyperventilating right now. What I felt in the
• 27:08
  Speaker 6: moment was panic I would get arrested. People would think
• 27:12
  Speaker 6: that I did this on purpose, that I had chosen
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: to run him over. He looked up at me, barely
• 27:19
  Speaker 6: conscious and mumbling out a.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: Single word, Hillbilly.
• 27:25
  Speaker 6: I pulled out my phone to call nine one one,
• 27:28
  Speaker 6: thinking that if the professor died, he'd finally get what
• 27:31
  Speaker 6: he wanted to ruin my life. But before I dialed,
• 27:36
  Speaker 6: I took a second to think I wasn't going to
• 27:39
  Speaker 6: get in trouble for this. I wasn't speeding. The tire
• 27:44
  Speaker 6: marks proved that. Plus he was in the middle of
• 27:47
  Speaker 6: a dark road as well as drunk. Even through the
• 27:52
  Speaker 6: stench of blood, I could smell the liquor on him.
• 27:56
  Speaker 6: Everyone could see that this was an accident. And then
• 27:59
  Speaker 6: I had another thought, a darker thought. The longer I
• 28:04
  Speaker 6: waited to call an ambulance, the less likely he would survive.
• 28:09
  Speaker 6: I'm not a bad person, but my hatred for this
• 28:12
  Speaker 6: man was strong enough to put me in a really
• 28:14
  Speaker 6: dark place.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Oh God.
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: By then, the turtle had wriggled out of his arms
• 28:21
  Speaker 6: and walked back across the road. I stood near his body,
• 28:25
  Speaker 6: thinking about what to do. Should I let him die?
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: I almost did, but in the end I didn't have
• 28:34
  Speaker 6: it in me. I'd survived four years of this man's torment,
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: and I wasn't going to let him turn me into
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: a murderer. I called nine one one. A little bit later,
• 28:45
  Speaker 6: an ambulance came. The Professor's injuries were severe, but it
• 28:49
  Speaker 6: looked like they arrived in time. In a way, I
• 28:52
  Speaker 6: was relieved, but another part of me wishes that I
• 28:56
  Speaker 6: just waited a little bit longer. Then the pair came
• 29:00
  Speaker 6: out of the ambulance. I didn't recognize him at first,
• 29:04
  Speaker 6: but once I saw how he reacted to seeing the
• 29:06
  Speaker 6: Professor's body, I knew exactly who it was. Terry, the
• 29:11
  Speaker 6: failed doctor whose life was ruined because of Professor Williams.
• 29:16
  Speaker 6: I guess he stayed in town and became an emt
• 29:19
  Speaker 6: as he loaded the professor into the stretcher. We shared
• 29:22
  Speaker 6: a long, meaningful look. I think he smirked a little,
• 29:25
  Speaker 6: but neither of us said anything. I watched the ambulance
• 29:30
  Speaker 6: drive away. It was going very, very slowly, almost intentionally slowly.
• 29:38
  Speaker 6: I didn't have the nerve to let Professor Williams die,
• 29:41
  Speaker 6: but I guess Terry may have. When they reached the hospital,
• 29:46
  Speaker 6: it was already too late. So yeah, I never got
• 29:51
  Speaker 6: to show the professor my award, so I brought it
• 29:54
  Speaker 6: to his funeral.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: Back in twenty eighteen, I was dropping into fortnite maning
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: a sweaty skin with a pickaxe i'd grinded V bucks four.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: My squad was tight, about ten of us, spread across
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: the Midwest and the East Coast, but we clicked like
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: we'd been building forts together forever. Voice chat knights ran long,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: yelling about loop drops or roasting each other's builds. That's
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: where I met Jake and Sarah. Jake was the agro player,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: always rushing with a shotgun, his booming laugh cutting through
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: discord cover me dumb ass. He'd bark when he dove
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: into tilted towers. Sarah was the strategist, calling out rotations
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: and sniping for the bush. Her voice calm but sharp.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Don't choke now, rookie, She'd tease when I fumbled a
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: one v one and I'd fire back. Savior med kits
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: with the pros. Babe. We played together for three years straight.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: Offline meetups happened naturally, first to Gaming Expo in Chicago,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: then a land party in Milwaukee. Sarah rolled in from
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: Kansas City. We hugged like we'd squatted up forever, split
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: a six pack of IPAs, and by the weekend's end
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: it felt like family. Jake rambled about his long haul trucking,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: how the miles paid but left him empty. Sarah vented
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: about wrangling their two kids, Ellie five and Max three,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: while he was gone for weeks. It's like solo queuing
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: with a ghost teammate, she'd sigh over drinks. I nodded,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: feeling the weight of my own dead end life in Cleveland,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: where rust belt winners ate your soul. One sweaty drop
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: into retail row. After Jake ate a rocket launcher to
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: the face, he threw out the idea, Yo, man, why
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: are you still in that frozen dump? Sarah says, we
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: got room in k C. Basement's open move out crash
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: with us. I laughed it off, What so I can
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: carry your ass and duos while you're hauling freight, But
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Sarah jumped in her voice, warm through the headset for real, dude,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Jake's gone half the time, beat up with the kids,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: keep me sane. Plus, Kansas City's got barbecue that doesn't suck.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: I have nothing holding me a warehouse job stacking boxes
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: for pennies, parents gone, no girl since college. Two weeks later,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: I u hauled my life west heart racing like I
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: just landed a victory royal. Sarah I met me at
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: the door, Ellie on her hip, max yanking her shorts.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the squad, she said, hugging me tight enough.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: I caught her vanilla shampoo. Jake clapped my back, grinning.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: Basement's yours, bro, got a mini fridge for your monster cans.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: The setup was solid footon desk for my rig, a
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: window barely cracking the dirt. That first night, we grilled burgers,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: kids chasing fireflies, and I felt anchored, like I found
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: a new landing zone. But job hunting in Casey was brutal.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: Endless applications to warehouses, call centers, anything, quote unquote logistics.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Weeks blurred mornings on indeed afternoons, wrangling Ellie and Max,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: while Sarah ran to her part time salon gig. You're
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: a life saver, she'd say, ruffling my hair as she
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: bolted out. Helly's already calling you, uncle sniper. I'd heard
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: the kids and naps their sticky hands on my shirt,
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: demanding stories about the battle bus game. Jake's road trips
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: stretched five days to Denver, ten to Dallas. When he
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: rolled in, smelling of diesel and diner coffee, we cracked
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: PDRs and squat up till our eyes burned. Missed the shit,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: he'd grunt, clinking bottles. But Sarah, she lingered mornings in
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: the kitchen, pouring coffee too close, black two sugars right,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: she'd murmur fingers grazing mine. Then came the setups. Was casual.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Her coworker, Lisa, a fiery redhead from the nail station,
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: squat up my treat, Sarah insisted, over Taco's kids asleep.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Lisa's single loves that gamer vibe you got, Come on,
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: get out there. I went awkward in a target buttoned
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: down Lisa was cool, laughed at my fortnite emode impressions
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: split a picture of Margarita's, but it fizzled after two dates.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Sarah didn't quit new plan, she said, one afternoon folding
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: laundry while I built legos with Max, Jenna and Mia.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Jenna's visiting from Minnesota, Blonde, outdoorsy, total bushwookie. MIA's local
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: curves for days, builds like a pro. I choked on
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: my beer both at once, she winked, tossing a sock
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: at me. Why pick Life's a short drop sniper? Let
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: me play wingman. The was a mess, barbecue at the lake,
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Jenna grilling me on crypto while MIA's hands. Sarah watched
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: from the cooler, smirking options right. Her eyes held mine
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: too long when Mia leaned close. Money got tight. My
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: savings bled out on gas and groceries that I chipped
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: in for, but Sarah brushed it off. Squad sticks together,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: she'd say, squeezing my shoulder as we tagged teamed bedtime nights,
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Jake was gone. She'd knock on my door after the
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: kids crashed. Can't sleep, she'd whisper, slipping in with popcorn
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: or a joint. We'd talk for hours, her dreams of
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: a tattoo parlor, my regrets from Cleveland. The air got heavy,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: her laugh, low, foot nudging mine. One muggy night, ceiling
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: fan humming. She sprawled on my futon and shorts that
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: rode up, venting about Jake's distance, his endless routes. Sometimes
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: I wonder if he even sees me, she said, voice breaking.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: I nodded the roat tight, he'd be blind not to
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: her hand hit my knee electric. You're sweet, too sweet
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: for this town. We didn't cross the line, not then,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: but the room shrank, her scent lingering like a trap.
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: I landed a job forkliff driver at a distribution center,
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: moving Amazon pallets for eighteen dollars an hour, graveyard shift,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: but it paid. I stashed cash in a coffee can
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: under the futon, eyeing my own place, helped more around
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: the house, mowed the lawn, fixed the sink, drove Sarah
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: to a doctor's visit when her car died. My hero,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: She teased, linking arms in the waiting room. Ellie drew
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: me pictures. Life felt close to normal. Then Jake rolled
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: in early October, leaves falling, air sharp with midwest chill,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: I just clocked out, wiped when I heard his Peterbilt
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: rumble in downstairs. I crashed on the futon, scrolling insta
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: till sleep hit. Woke to boots stomping, door flying open.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: Jake filled the doorway, face red veins, popping you piece
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: of shine, he roared, lunging. I scrambled up, pulse raising Jake,
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: What the hell? Sarah hovered behind, eyes wide, robe, clutched, Baby,
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: it's not he cut her off, spinning. Don't lie. I
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: saw the texts the late nights, this curse after my wife.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: I raised my hands, man, nothing happened. She's yours. I
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: did never He grabbed my collar, slamming me into the wall,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: plaster or cracked. I know you're kind, but he moves
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: in eyes my girl, like that toll with my ex
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: banger in our bed while I was on the road.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: His breath stank of whiskey, eyes crazed. I knew the story,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: his high school fiance, the betrayal that broke him. Jake listen,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: I gasped, pushing back. We talked, Yeah, she's lonely when
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: you're gone. That's it. Swear on my mom. He laughed, cold, lonely,
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: that's your play, get your shit and go now. Sarah
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: stepped up, tears streaming. Jake stop, he's family, We invited him.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: He jabbed a finger at our family. This snake pack
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: his crap, Sarah, or I'll torch it. The next hour
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: blurred me shoving clothes and the Duffel's gut churning while
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: they screamed upstairs. You think I don't see the looks
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: the uncle sniper crap, Jake yelled. Sarah's voice broke back.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: You're paranoid. He's been good to us for me. It's
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: the kids, Ellie whimpered. Max wailed. I paused in the kitchen,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: spotting my coffee can empty, a grand gone, My PS
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: four lugged cross Country missing from the shelf. Guys, I
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: called voice, shaky, my stuff the console, the cash silence.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Then Jake's boots thumped down Finder's keepers for the trouble.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: He shoved me out, Duffel in my arms outside Dawn Gray.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: Their garage door rattled up. Sarah stood at the window,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: mouthing sorry she didn't stop him. I crashed at a
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: motel six eighty nine bucks, straining my debit call the
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: squad mate some it guy in Saint Louis who wired
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: bus fair roaded greyhound east, staring at fields, replaying every
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: late night knock, every touch. Betrayal cut deepest from them,
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: people I trusted, like squad mates.
• 40:27
  Speaker 7: The blossom tree had always been there for as long
• 40:29
  Speaker 7: as I could remember. It sat on the very edge
• 40:32
  Speaker 7: of the graveyard that my house overlooked, and every year
• 40:35
  Speaker 7: at the end of March it bloomed. There was one
• 40:39
  Speaker 7: thing that made it stand out from the other cherry
• 40:41
  Speaker 7: blossoms in town. Instead of pink or white, this one
• 40:44
  Speaker 7: had petals the color of blood. The fact that it
• 40:48
  Speaker 7: had been planted in a graveyard could be considered strange too.
• 40:52
  Speaker 7: It didn't quite fit in with the dark hues of
• 40:54
  Speaker 7: the gravestones or the somber oak trees that grew around it.
• 40:58
  Speaker 7: It was a splash of color on a monochrome canvas,
• 41:02
  Speaker 7: a splatter of blood on dark soil. It was approaching
• 41:06
  Speaker 7: the last few days of March when I noticed the
• 41:08
  Speaker 7: petals had yet to open. Blossoms could be finicky with
• 41:11
  Speaker 7: their timing, but I had never known this one to
• 41:14
  Speaker 7: be late in the many years I'd lived there. It
• 41:16
  Speaker 7: should have opened by now, and for some reason, the
• 41:19
  Speaker 7: emptiness of it was bothering me. One morning, I decided
• 41:23
  Speaker 7: to go down and take a look at the blossom myself.
• 41:26
  Speaker 7: Although I lived on the edge of a graveyard, nobody
• 41:29
  Speaker 7: I knew was buried there, and I had never had
• 41:31
  Speaker 7: a reason to visit, nor had I ever taken a
• 41:34
  Speaker 7: look at the cherry blossom up close. It was a
• 41:37
  Speaker 7: damp March morning. The soil was wet and squelchy, and
• 41:41
  Speaker 7: the air trembled with a light drizzle. Was the weather
• 41:44
  Speaker 7: the reason why the cherry blossom hadn't bloomed yet. I
• 41:47
  Speaker 7: wasn't very knowledgeable about botany, so I could only guess.
• 41:51
  Speaker 7: I approached the gate to the graveyard and opened it
• 41:53
  Speaker 7: with a soft creek. It was still early, so the
• 41:57
  Speaker 7: graveyard was empty. The overcast sky cast a dismal pall
• 42:01
  Speaker 7: over the rows of cracked headstones and filled me with
• 42:04
  Speaker 7: a strange feeling of despondence. I'd been living by the
• 42:07
  Speaker 7: graveyard for several years now, but I had never really
• 42:10
  Speaker 7: thought about the fact that I was so close to
• 42:12
  Speaker 7: a place of death, nothing but bones beneath my feet.
• 42:17
  Speaker 7: I shivered despite the mild temperature, and walked between the
• 42:20
  Speaker 7: graves toward the bare cherry blossom, without its bright petals.
• 42:24
  Speaker 7: There was something skeletal about it, like pale reaching fingers,
• 42:27
  Speaker 7: stripped flesh. I shoved my hands into my pockets, still shivering.
• 42:32
  Speaker 7: Why was I doing this? Why did I care whether
• 42:35
  Speaker 7: or not the cherry blossom was late to bloom? What
• 42:38
  Speaker 7: did it have to do with me? I wasn't sure,
• 42:40
  Speaker 7: but I was already here, so I told myself to
• 42:43
  Speaker 7: keep going. I hadn't realized how big the graveyard was
• 42:46
  Speaker 7: from simply overlooking it. The graves stretched on in every direction,
• 42:50
  Speaker 7: and every step barely seemed to bring me closer to
• 42:53
  Speaker 7: the blossom. The further I went, the more dilapidated and cracked.
• 42:57
  Speaker 7: The headstones became wrought with ivy and moss, the names
• 43:01
  Speaker 7: barely visible beneath the clods of dirt obscuring them. These
• 43:05
  Speaker 7: were the forgotten ones. Even in a month like March,
• 43:08
  Speaker 7: a month of new beginnings and new life, these graves
• 43:11
  Speaker 7: sank eternally into loneliness and decay. I finally reached the
• 43:16
  Speaker 7: cherry blossom and stopped just short of its searching branches.
• 43:19
  Speaker 7: Closed buds, like tiny clenched fists, peppered the branches. They
• 43:23
  Speaker 7: still showed no sign of opening. Part of the trees
• 43:26
  Speaker 7: almost looked as decayed and withered as the ground around it.
• 43:30
  Speaker 7: From a distance, it had always looked lively and healthy,
• 43:33
  Speaker 7: But up close, the cracked bark and shiveled petals told
• 43:36
  Speaker 7: a different story. I found myself reaching out towards the tree.
• 43:40
  Speaker 7: I wanted to touch one of the tiny buds, perhaps
• 43:43
  Speaker 7: under the naive inclination that it might bloom beneath my touch.
• 43:47
  Speaker 7: I stepped forward, ducking beneath the wider branches, and stretched
• 43:50
  Speaker 7: my hand out. The second my finger touched the bud,
• 43:54
  Speaker 7: something sharp and unseen pierced my skin. Pain twinging through
• 43:58
  Speaker 7: my nerves. I withdrew a sharp had blood welling to
• 44:01
  Speaker 7: my finger tips. There was blood on the blossom, too,
• 44:05
  Speaker 7: little droplets of red staining the pale bark.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: What had cut me?
• 44:09
  Speaker 7: I couldn't see anything sharp, no thorns, no jagged piece
• 44:13
  Speaker 7: of wood. As I watched, the blood slipped between the
• 44:16
  Speaker 7: cracks and the bud and disappeared as if it had
• 44:19
  Speaker 7: never been there at all. I frowned and stepped back.
• 44:22
  Speaker 7: A strange chill worked its way through my body, and
• 44:25
  Speaker 7: the sky seemed to grow heavier. Sensing an impending downpour.
• 44:29
  Speaker 7: I decided to take my leave for now. As I
• 44:32
  Speaker 7: left the graveyard, I realized I was no longer alone.
• 44:36
  Speaker 7: An old woman with gray hair and shriveled skin was
• 44:39
  Speaker 7: watching me between the graves. I offered her a faint smile,
• 44:42
  Speaker 7: but she did not return it. Her lips were moving,
• 44:45
  Speaker 7: but I couldn't quite hear what she was saying. I
• 44:48
  Speaker 7: stepped closer. Um, the march tree will bloom again. I
• 44:54
  Speaker 7: blinked at her, trying to understand the meaning of her words. Pardon,
• 44:59
  Speaker 7: I said, The march tree will bloom again, she murmured,
• 45:03
  Speaker 7: her voice carrying on the breeze. Um okay, I said,
• 45:07
  Speaker 7: turning away. I took a step forward and gasped when
• 45:11
  Speaker 7: something grabbed my arm. It was the woman. She had
• 45:14
  Speaker 7: moved closer, though somehow I hadn't heard a trace of
• 45:16
  Speaker 7: her footsteps. She had a strange glint in her eye,
• 45:20
  Speaker 7: her lips cocked into a twisted smile. The march tree,
• 45:24
  Speaker 7: thanks you, she said, her voice a breathy whisper that
• 45:28
  Speaker 7: made my skin crawl uncomfortably. That's great, I said, trying
• 45:33
  Speaker 7: to slide my arm free of hers. She finally let
• 45:37
  Speaker 7: go and walked away. Muttering under her breath. I shook
• 45:40
  Speaker 7: my head and left. Some people were really odd. That night,
• 45:45
  Speaker 7: I dreamt of the cherry blossom in the graveyard. I
• 45:48
  Speaker 7: dreamed of its dark, blood red petals as it stood
• 45:50
  Speaker 7: against the grayness of the cemetery. I dreamed of the
• 45:53
  Speaker 7: bones crushed beneath the ground, the body sown with its roots.
• 45:58
  Speaker 7: When I woke the next morning and looked out out
• 46:00
  Speaker 7: the window, the cherry blossom had finally bloomed. Its petals
• 46:04
  Speaker 7: were a dusty pink to start off with, but I
• 46:06
  Speaker 7: knew over time they would take on that reddish hue
• 46:08
  Speaker 7: that made this particular tree so striking. If only I
• 46:12
  Speaker 7: had known what it would cost. The next few days
• 46:15
  Speaker 7: were strange. Every night I would dream of the blossom
• 46:19
  Speaker 7: tree on the edge of the graveyard, and every morning
• 46:22
  Speaker 7: I would wake to find the petals a deeper shade
• 46:24
  Speaker 7: of red. That wasn't the only thing that was changing either.
• 46:28
  Speaker 7: With every day that passed, I seemed to grow more
• 46:31
  Speaker 7: haggard and tired. My body felt constantly drained, and I
• 46:35
  Speaker 7: would feel light headed and nauseous after only a little
• 46:38
  Speaker 7: bit of strenuous activity. When I glimpsed myself in the mirror,
• 46:42
  Speaker 7: I noticed that my skin had taken on a strange,
• 46:44
  Speaker 7: chalky pallor, like I wasn't getting enough sunlight. My body
• 46:49
  Speaker 7: was failing me, and I had no idea why. I
• 46:51
  Speaker 7: felt so weak, so frail, like the smallest thing could
• 46:54
  Speaker 7: break me. Deep shadows appeared beneath my eyes, sucking the
• 46:58
  Speaker 7: color out of my skin. I became a ghost, pale
• 47:02
  Speaker 7: and hollow and fragile. Then, on the last day of March,
• 47:06
  Speaker 7: I can no longer get out of bed. My body
• 47:08
  Speaker 7: had completely given up on me.
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: I was like those old.
• 47:11
  Speaker 7: Gravestones, crippled and weakened and forgotten. I knew somehow that
• 47:16
  Speaker 7: I would not be part of the living for much longer.
• 47:20
  Speaker 7: Just before I slipped into darkness for the last time,
• 47:23
  Speaker 7: a voice echoed in my mind, a strange, breathy whisper.
• 47:28
  Speaker 7: The March Tree, thanks you for your sacrifice.