Latest / INSPIRE STORY / The Bearded Man In My Window

Transcript

The Bearded Man In My Window · INSPIRE STORY

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Full Black Friday. You can get the Creek Cast Beanie
• 0:02
  and the Who Up Creek and they Cast Pudding. These
• 0:05
  will only be available for Black Friday, so get them
• 0:08
  while you can before they're gone. And as always, thank
• 0:11
  you for the support.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Having no money prepared the tickets on the door. Thank
• 1:30
  you perfect.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately I won't be on stage.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I love you, Oh, thank you, thank you. I appreciate it.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: All right, cheer again.
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: I'm recording now, hm.
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: Hm, cut, cut up.
• 2:40
  Speaker 6: If I could be a fairy queen, I would hold
• 2:45
  a magic key to the deepest secret talk of mynd.
• 2:52
  Speaker 7: Good to see the jugs blue story that's part of you.
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: Now leave a spell to go away your sorrow, Very queen.
• 3:07
  Speaker 8: Fairy queen changing tear drops to a smile. Holy day
• 3:14
  dreams for a while, very queen.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, okay, okay, cut it. Cut the song coming.
• 3:25
  Speaker 7: Shack God, Hey, welcome back to Greencast.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you all so much for coming out tonight. It's
• 3:48
  going to be amazing night. I'm sorry about the rain.
• 3:51
  We didn't do that, I promise. We appreciate you all,
• 3:55
  appreciate all the costumes. You guys have been fantastic, and
• 3:57
  not only thank you for coming out, but thank you
• 3:59
  for coming. I mean for a good reason because, as
• 4:02
  mentioned before, all the proceeds from tonight's show go to charity.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: What that's right?
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: What are those two charities? Hunter? The ARP?
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: The ARP and.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: Saint Jude's Research Center because fuck Kidzer.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: And also the ARP, which many of you all know,
• 4:34
  is the charity I started with some friends after Hurricane Helene.
• 4:38
  We've done a lot of good so far, helped a
• 4:39
  few dozen families rebuild their homes, but there's still a
• 4:41
  lot of work to do, and you guys have managed
• 4:44
  to help that tonight.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: And in addition to that, because it's two YouTubers who work,
• 4:53
  be a little hypocritical if we didn't pitch in ourselves.
• 4:56
  So Hunter and I each are donating twenty five thousand
• 4:58
  to the other's charity. But in addition to that, we
• 5:15
  may be donating more because before we get into the
• 5:18
  stories tonight, we're going to play a little game. And
• 5:24
  that game is are you smarter than an obese man? Shot?
• 5:29
  Speaker 7: I don't think.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: So here's how this game's gonna work. I have a
• 5:37
  series of questions chewed up about creed Pass stories, We've
• 5:41
  covered and events from the show, and Hunter's not gonna
• 5:44
  get them right. So what we're gonna do is, I'm
• 5:46
  gonna pick three people from the audience to come up here.
• 5:51
  Hunter will get the question first, and when he inevitably
• 5:55
  gets it wrong, nope, he will donate an extra one
• 5:58
  thousand dollars to the ar and then the question will
• 6:02
  go to one of you guys. If you all get
• 6:04
  it right, I donate another thousand to Saint Jukes, So
• 6:11
  no pressure. If you get it wrong, that's less money
• 6:14
  going to cancer. Just keep in mind if that's on you.
• 6:17
  If somehow, by the grace of God, Hunter gets the
• 6:21
  question right the first time, I will donate two thousand
• 6:24
  dollars to Saint Jews. So I need let's get some
• 6:29
  lights on the audience.
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: How can we get some light bul.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's do.
• 6:42
  Speaker 9: I like.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Curl in the bride's dress. We'll get her curly haired
• 6:51
  guy with the blue nose that one, and then you
• 6:55
  picked one you don't know what this section? That section?
• 7:01
  Get it from over there? Just pick one.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: Oh, let me see. I'll take Brett Michaels.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Hello, Hi, Hello, Hi to meet you again.
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: Hello, good luck, money think.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you all would take good sir, and then
• 7:24
  you as well. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
• 7:27
  You all take a seat. Go ahead, all right? So
• 7:34
  as mentioned, Hunter gets the question first, right, no hints,
• 7:39
  no one shout anything out. Then the way we're gonna
• 7:41
  do it with you guys is you're all facing forward.
• 7:44
  You don't, don't look back at the screen. As soon
• 7:47
  as you know the question, raise your hand. He will
• 7:49
  get it wrong. When he gets it wrong, I'll pick
• 7:51
  whoever's hand I saw go up first. If you win,
• 7:53
  you get a point, and we've got some stuff for you.
• 7:55
  So all right. First question, what is the name of
• 8:07
  the cat in pin Pal? All right? Hunter?
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: The cat's name in pin Pal? That's a that was
• 8:16
  a while ago.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Fuck?
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: All right?
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Five four sprinkles? All right, so that's one thousand dollars.
• 8:29
  Would you like to guess boxes? That is? Correct? Boxes
• 8:34
  or nice? Excellent? One point to her, zero to Hunter,
• 8:40
  no pressure, all right. Question two? In what episode was
• 8:47
  the term bear trap coined? Man?
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: There's can I can I at least get a bear
• 8:55
  trap sound bite? Please? Thank you? I'm gonna say my
• 9:04
  best friend's ruining my life.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: No oh, he got first, Go ahead, take your guests house. Correct, right, No, no, no, no,
• 9:15
  it's it's a close title. Hold on, she to steal?
• 9:19
  Is it Azalea's cook house? Yes, that's it. Correct. I apologize.
• 9:26
  I heard Dianea, and I'm like, that's close enough to Azalea.
• 9:29
  It was not my bad. Two points for her, no
• 9:32
  pressure or anything. She's you just will get one. You're
• 9:34
  just the co host of the show.
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 9:38
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Question three. The man who wishes to be eaten like
• 9:45
  a bug puts up naturally in what two episodes?
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: Dinia House? And he's in two episodes?
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: He's just no, he's not.
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: He's not in house and fucking the floppy episode. The
• 10:05
  guy in the space.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: I'm on the show, I promise is that it? No?
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: Okay, okay, all right, well I guess I don't have
• 10:22
  to give money away.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Uh. The answer is Dinia House. Oh wait, sorry if
• 10:26
  there's a bonus to that, because you didn't even get
• 10:28
  the first one, right, okay, the answer is Dinia House
• 10:31
  and Ticky Toby Okay, tik Tob okay, hold on, hold on,
• 10:34
  bonus bonus we'll do away with. You can get the
• 10:37
  bonus bonus. What is his wife's name in both stories.
• 10:43
  The wife has the same name, which is how it
• 10:45
  came up. Got to be Julia, Julia any one. It's okay,
• 10:54
  it's just it's just kids who are sick. It's fine.
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, come on.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: The answer was Connie, beautiful name.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: Brought it up, beautiful name, so to.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Still two points to her. You've don't You've donated on
• 11:16
  every question? All right? Question four? Question four? In what
• 11:22
  episode did Hunter confess to allegedly murdering a woman on
• 11:26
  a Japanese train?
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: That is alleged allegedly?
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: No one I made these, So I'm like, well, if
• 11:35
  someone who watches the show will get it, but not Hunter,
• 11:40
  I can't remember. Wait, he's not gonna get it. Go ahead.
• 11:44
  I can't remember the episode name, but it's the one
• 11:46
  where the guy is frozen in time. You know what
• 11:49
  I'm talking about. No, no, not not not the one
• 11:56
  about if you've seen I'm at the Glenn Mott Metro shoot,
• 11:58
  it's not that one. That one someone shouted out, Harry's
• 12:03
  in the window. Yes, yeah, you know what, Just for that,
• 12:06
  I'll donate as if you were up here, we'll do
• 12:08
  that ship all right. Final question question five? All right,
• 12:16
  he's in the way. Question five. Which author has been
• 12:20
  featured the most on the channel, In other words, the
• 12:24
  most individual episodes.
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: Eli Witherow.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: It's not even his name ship and he guesses, come
• 12:43
  on home, someone yelling C. K. Walker?
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah, everybody, you have Funck's sakes? Okay?
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: C K. Walker. Yeah, there was a bonus question, but
• 12:56
  I'm not even gonna ask it most questions? Can you
• 12:58
  name all of them? That's not happening. Anyone want to
• 13:02
  try the five C. K. Walker episodes on the channel?
• 13:06
  I know you can go ahead, go wait, she raised first,
• 13:11
  go ahead. Okay.
• 13:14
  Speaker 10: There's Rosca Part one and two, would part like five?
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Count as another one?
• 13:19
  Speaker 10: Okay, there's uh church Church in the woods or deep
• 13:26
  Woods deep Woods Deep No, they didn't not spire spire.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, now I'm forgetting all. Okay, hold on, Brett Michaels,
• 13:36
  can you finish up? You have any more? Brosca one,
• 13:41
  Barrosca two, Deep one, Room seven thirty three and Mayhem Mountain.
• 13:48
  Five different episodes, five different episodes that shout up a
• 13:51
  different ones. Okay, So to my disappointment, that's the end
• 13:54
  of the that's the other questions. To my disappointment, the
• 13:58
  first place had two got too right, and that's our winner.
• 14:02
  So winner. There were two. That's right, So I will
• 14:11
  give you hold on, come here. Well how do I
• 14:15
  how do we agree to do it?
• 14:16
  Speaker 10: Well?
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like neither of you two?
• 14:18
  Speaker 7: Give them?
• 14:19
  Speaker 11: What the fu?
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Hold on one of those here, we'll do this. Get
• 14:25
  you get these two? There you go. Welcome you get
• 14:28
  this this? Thank you all very much. Y'all can go
• 14:33
  back to your seat. Appreciate y'all, Thank you, Thank you.
• 14:37
  Y'all can head back to your seats. Step forward. The
• 14:40
  clown guy, you go ahead, back right.
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: Break, get the hell out of here. I want this
• 14:44
  guy to stay up on stage.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: I have I have a question for you considering your outfit.
• 14:49
  What is this outfit? What am I looking at?
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: I'm a tramp clown?
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: Tramp clown? Interesting, very cool? Is this a Coupples costume
• 14:56
  you have?
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: It just might be.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: It just might be. Is the other part of the
• 15:01
  couple here tonight?
• 15:02
  Speaker 7: That she is?
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Can she come up here.
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: So we can see, Come on up here, nothing wrong,
• 15:13
  just so.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: We can see the costume side by side of us.
• 15:21
  That's a good costume. Hello, nice to meet you. What's
• 15:24
  your name?
• 15:25
  Speaker 12: My name's Bailey and this belonged to a dead old
• 15:27
  lady clown.
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: I have their portraits.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: That's excellent. Wow, that's incredible. Is there any is there?
• 15:35
  I think I saw? Was there something in your pocket?
• 15:37
  Is there like some bit to the costume or something? Oh, actually,
• 15:43
  there's one more question in the game.
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: You gotta answer question here.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: You show everyone your your thing while I go to
• 15:48
  the next question. There's yeah, sorry, I forgot about that.
• 15:51
  There's one last question in second Keep pulling it, go ahead,
• 15:57
  keep pulling him. I think the question is.
• 16:13
  Speaker 13: Yes, congratulations, congratulations, man, congrats you kids.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Get out of here. She said, you she's on the handkerchief.
• 16:53
  Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that just cute? Think? Thank god?
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: She said, yeah, God, no shit, dude, oh god.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: That had been hanging over my head, like could you
• 17:08
  imagine like that'd be really funny a month from now?
• 17:11
  But right now, all right, congratulations to the young couple.
• 17:19
  All right, Well, with that out of the way, I
• 17:21
  think we had a good warm up. Everyone should be
• 17:23
  in the building tonight. I think with that, let's get
• 17:26
  into some stories. Storytell now tonight we have three stories
• 17:36
  for you, all two of which are author actually, all
• 17:40
  three are authors that have never been featured on the channel.
• 17:42
  The third one is one that we had a recording
• 17:44
  of that's not up yet, and he's actually in the
• 17:47
  building tonight, but we'll get to that later. But so
• 17:50
  all three authors tonight are brand new, and we're gonna
• 17:53
  start a story called Ozzie Mandias. And this is from
• 18:02
  an author that's never been featured before. But you all
• 18:04
  are probably familiar with up and comer, so I need
• 18:16
  to rant for a second. So when we were deciding
• 18:21
  stories for the show, Harry kept telling me, why don't
• 18:25
  you get one of your stories and Hunter will get
• 18:28
  one of his. And I'm like, oh, that's a cool idea. Yeah,
• 18:31
  because I used to write a lot. Some of you
• 18:33
  may remember this when I first started a Patreon for
• 18:35
  Windy Goon, like a few months into the channel, I
• 18:38
  posted this like twelve people saw it. So I'm like, okay, cool,
• 18:42
  this is an old story. It's when I was younger.
• 18:43
  We can kind of clown on it some that'll be funny.
• 18:46
  And then we get to the show tonight and I'm like, oh, Hunter,
• 18:48
  what did you write? And he goes, I didn't write
• 18:52
  a story, found mine, and I go Harry said get
• 18:55
  our own stories, and Hunter goes, yeah, pick one. So
• 18:59
  I put mine in the slide show and Hunter did not,
• 19:05
  So that's cute. So yeah, yeah, cute. Whatever. So this
• 19:10
  is about me to I, not about him. Also, since
• 19:12
  I summoned his name, the guy who makes the show possible,
• 19:17
  not only this tour, but the show itself, getting stories inline,
• 19:20
  getting copyright figured out, posting, reviewing videos and all that.
• 19:24
  Without him, it would make the show impossible. Can we
• 19:27
  give a round of applause for Herring? Show would not
• 19:39
  happen without him?
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: How old were you when you wrote this?
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: So I wrote this when I was nineteen, I think nineteen,
• 19:45
  I think, if you can tell, I just watched Breaking Bad.
• 19:48
  I titled it Aussie Man yea yea yeah, which it
• 19:51
  is far more edgy than the rest of the story is.
• 19:54
  And I haven't looked at this in a while, so
• 19:55
  this might be embarrassing. But again, I thought we were
• 19:57
  both sharing our stories, so you know, but I'm dressed
• 20:00
  as Chef the Killer. What pride do I have? So
• 20:03
  all right, with that out of the way, are you
• 20:06
  ready to begin?
• 20:08
  Speaker 7: Lose get it?
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: Let us begin? If you could cue the music Ozzi
• 20:17
  Mandius by me, Oh, bear trap. What is the slide?
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: O got you? That's that's a late bear trap for
• 20:38
  me not writing anything, even even on my story.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: You can't get away from you call your shots? Now,
• 20:46
  what is this story about? What do you think the
• 20:48
  story is about? Titles? Ozzie Mandius.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Well, you said it was a breaking bed themed. But
• 20:54
  knowing you, it's gonna be religious.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Do what.
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: It's gonna have religious tones?
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: I think it's gonna be about an old man.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, hot or cold on that thig?
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: Is there an old man?
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: I'm not talking to you.
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: Definitely an old old man. And I like to think
• 21:13
  that he's gonna find some kind of obliss Dare I say?
• 21:16
  Love Craftian?
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: And I think it's gonna end with the with the
• 21:22
  old man.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: I think he's gonna get taked by demon.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: All right, Well we have show? What do we do?
• 21:34
  You're dressed like a fairy?
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: Hey, come on, man, look dude, my wife.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: Shoved lipstick on my face for thirty minutes before the show.
• 21:43
  All right, not like that? All right? All right, Ozzie man. Yes,
• 21:49
  she kept pulling and pulling. The fabric of the long
• 21:53
  neglected blanket began to rip as her feeble hands began
• 21:55
  to shake. That's the material, now unrecognizable as anything remotely hospitable.
• 22:00
  Tour in half, the embedded dust and rots seeped into
• 22:03
  the air, her nose filled with the newfound stench. As
• 22:07
  in one last effort, she jerked away, separating what she
• 22:10
  was holding from the rest. But it's perfect timing. Wow.
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: Usually this gets edited out by the sun.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and now I'm thinking, like, I hope it's
• 22:28
  turned notifications off. I'll find out. As she fell backwards
• 22:33
  onto the pile of bins. None of ever sorted amongst newspapers,
• 22:36
  None have ever cared to read, she saw to herself.
• 22:39
  Not because of any injury, not because of the hideous
• 22:42
  mound compiled of forgotten memories and leftovers, not even because
• 22:46
  this defeat was another in a series she would soon forget,
• 22:49
  but because she tore her Mickey Mouse blanket, her favorite one.
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: Of course. Of course, of course, I'm Isaiah, I'm nineteen.
• 22:58
  Of course.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: There's a fun you have a Mickey Mouse blanket that
• 23:04
  you did nineteen years old.
• 23:06
  Speaker 8: It's my most snugly woggly blanket.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: I don't know how I'm gonna get you back for
• 23:17
  telling me to write a story for this and then
• 23:19
  making fun of me. I'll find a way somewhere. It
• 23:22
  didn't matter that this was one of her many favorite blankets,
• 23:24
  and even one of her many favorite Mickey Mouse blankets.
• 23:27
  Nor did it matter that she had just now discovered
• 23:29
  it beneath a hill that had been building for nearly
• 23:31
  eight years. In this moment, her blankets lost form was
• 23:35
  gut wrenching and certainly worn to the grievance it received.
• 23:39
  Once her funeral was over, she cast the now useless
• 23:42
  piece of cloth atop the same pile it was buried beneath.
• 23:46
  Cathy was always thoughtful like that, and her empathy did
• 23:50
  not only belong with her wealth of soiled blankets. Whenever
• 23:53
  she wasn't home, she spent her time at church.
• 24:03
  Speaker 14: Mickey Mouse blanket. I'm nineteen and I just got my
• 24:08
  driver's license. I better put it in the passenger seat.
• 24:15
  It's safer to drive that way.
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: My lips are very large. Amen.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: That's funny to pray and just tell God, like, did
• 24:36
  you know? My lips are big?
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: And I love you God.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Small, white, steepled building was modest, just the way she
• 24:48
  liked it. Every Sunday she would sit on the left aisle,
• 24:51
  third road back, about halfway down the pew, next to Alice.
• 24:54
  Although it never occurred to Kathy that some may find
• 24:57
  it strange that her and Alice never spoke outside of
• 24:59
  church function in the forty year relationship, it wouldn't stop
• 25:02
  her from calling Alice her best friend. Whenever it wasn't
• 25:05
  Sunday service, Kathy would help at the church's food drive.
• 25:09
  She lived off her Social Security and barely at that
• 25:11
  between tides and birthday cards. Therefore, what she couldn't pan donations,
• 25:15
  she made up foreign labor and a valiant labor. It
• 25:18
  was the homeless would come to see her, veining, arthritic
• 25:21
  hands pour their potato soup as if God had ordained
• 25:23
  them for such. When the winter months came, she began
• 25:27
  to feel the cold prick needles into her bony fingers.
• 25:30
  She never complained on account of those who came to
• 25:32
  see her simply doubled up on mittens. She felt good
• 25:35
  about her role in the world, as she should. The
• 25:38
  fruits of her labor sat beside her every Sunday as
• 25:41
  those from the soup line made their way to the
• 25:43
  aisle next to her own. The pastor knew it was
• 25:46
  mostly because the church wouldn't give financial support to those
• 25:48
  who did not attend at least three services in a row,
• 25:51
  but the pastor felt that he would be quite literally
• 25:53
  damned if he spoiled Kathy's optimism.
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: It is a little it just reads like you're like
• 25:58
  role playing as an old woman.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: It is. It is quite dramatic, isn't it. The purbage
• 26:04
  and I'm an old woman? Yes, yeah, I'm Kathy me
• 26:09
  nineteen not starting YouTube.
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: You're like, fuck me nineteen is hard?
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: What if I was like an old woman?
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: Could I just.
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: Please be an eighty three year old woman? I would
• 26:21
  love that?
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Amen?
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: Amen?
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: I was that?
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: I don't know what the hell that was?
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Was that a sound bite that said I love you God?
• 26:39
  You had that chewed up man?
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: Get the ship queued up back there?
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: All right? Okay, this is besides, it wasn't all in vain.
• 26:53
  One eye during revival, Justin, who was once another junkie
• 26:56
  in the soup line and now a deacon, stood up
• 26:59
  during testimony time and spoke of Kathy's reputation to have
• 27:01
  seeing her serve him with a smile on Christmas Eve
• 27:04
  convinced him enough to get right with God. That Sunday,
• 27:08
  the pastor spoke on the widow's mind and had Kathy
• 27:11
  come to the front during an altar call. As the
• 27:13
  entire church prayed around her and thank the Lord for
• 27:15
  her spirit. She cried and told everyone she was just
• 27:18
  thankful to get up every morning. That was a good
• 27:20
  day for Kathy. Unpeknownst to those in attendance, Kathy was right.
• 27:25
  She certainly was thankful to get up every morning. Next
• 27:28
  to her bed was a meticulous pile of family heirlooms,
• 27:31
  everything from old wall clocks to boxes of porcelain dolls
• 27:34
  whose original owners she couldn't remember. Her morning routine was simple.
• 27:38
  She would wake up, grab her glasses, look to see
• 27:40
  if the precarious collection of goods near her had or
• 27:43
  was about to fall, carefully make her way out of
• 27:45
  the bed, over to the floor of compiled boxes, and
• 27:48
  get to the open corner of the bathroom, in which
• 27:50
  she would change out of her nightgown and start the day.
• 27:53
  Her routine mattered to her, even if she didn't know it.
• 27:56
  This level of normalcy helped justify her pictuals your hobby.
• 28:01
  Kathy had one problem, as the police would later attempt
• 28:04
  to understand she cared too much. Every person, word, and
• 28:08
  item were sacred to her. She embodied the spirit of
• 28:11
  charity and devotion in the way few others could. What
• 28:14
  are you laughing about?
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: I mean, what is this?
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: You're like, you're riding like a great day for an
• 28:21
  old woman.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: It's like, what, like?
• 28:24
  Speaker 4: Is this a horror story? Is this just like a
• 28:26
  what is this.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: You think? I just showed up to the show with
• 28:31
  like and then pathy went home to the kids.
• 28:34
  Speaker 4: I mean that would be a horror story.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: M No, it's it's going somewhere. But the mention of
• 28:41
  the precarious. Sorry, hey, did you hear the mention of
• 28:44
  like the boxes and the pile next to her?
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: I jumped the gun.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Whatever, just keep playing the music. Okay.
• 28:51
  Speaker 15: I'm ritter and I'm old, and I don't go to
• 28:55
  the doctor as much as I should, and I don't
• 28:57
  want to deal with an appointment insuranto bad out, so
• 29:02
  let somebody else handle it.
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: And that's why I use ZocDoc.
• 29:06
  Speaker 16: ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can
• 29:08
  search and compare high quality in network doctors, choose the
• 29:12
  right one for your needs, and click to.
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: Instantly book an appointment.
• 29:15
  Speaker 16: We're talking about in network appointments with more than one
• 29:17
  hundred thousand healthcare providers across every specialty from mental.
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: Health to dental health, to eye care, to skincare and
• 29:24
  much much more.
• 29:25
  Speaker 16: And the nice thing about zoctoc is that you can
• 29:27
  filter for doctors that take your insurance, that are nearby
• 29:30
  and are highly rated. It's super easy to use, and
• 29:32
  you can find an appointment time that works for you
• 29:34
  with the right doctor that fits your needs. Plus, ZocDoc
• 29:38
  appointments happen fast, typically within just twenty four to seventy
• 29:41
  two hours of booking.
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: You can even score same day appointments.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: You don't want to admit it, we should probably see
• 29:46
  the doctor.
• 29:47
  Speaker 16: Go to zogdoc dot com slash creepcast to find and
• 29:50
  instantly book a top rated doctor today. That's zoc doc
• 29:54
  dot com, slash creepcast, ZocDoc dot com, slashcreapcast.
• 29:59
  Speaker 9: Thank you so much for Dog for sponsoring this episode.
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: Back to the episode don't get too scared.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: This devotion, however, was to a fault. Every tin can
• 30:13
  and broken bowl held irreplaceable value. Walking across treacherous piles
• 30:17
  of glass and cardboard gave her a sense of self
• 30:20
  worth every item in this collection was personal. Her specific
• 30:23
  misplacement created a mosaic of stories and comfort. Kathy wasn't
• 30:28
  blind to her situation. She knew how others would surely
• 30:31
  feel about it, as she knew what her husband and
• 30:33
  son thought of her. It had been decades since she
• 30:36
  had seen her son's father. Things used to be better.
• 30:40
  They were married in that humble, steepled building and the
• 30:42
  house was fit for a couple of lovebirds. Of course,
• 30:45
  the floors and walls were visible back then. As her
• 30:48
  husband began to spend more hours at work, she began
• 30:51
  to find more collectibles here and there. This led her
• 30:53
  husband to stay away more, which led to her further collection,
• 30:57
  which led to her further in her collection, until this
• 30:59
  hopeless day ended with a note and an empty driveway.
• 31:02
  Kathy tried to confide in her son, but he had
• 31:05
  grown equally tired of her addiction. Every day the kids
• 31:09
  at school would call his mom a hoarder, along with
• 31:11
  other slurs on becoming up such a devout Christian.
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: The look.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: I was young, and also I don't see what's so funny.
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: I just love how the.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: Son and the dad are like, let's get the fuck
• 31:33
  out of here, Yes they did.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, the words never bothered Kathy,
• 31:41
  nor did the odd looks and whispers from neighbors. However,
• 31:43
  it seemed that all the grief fell in her son. Then,
• 31:46
  one day, not long after his fifteenth birthday, he was gone.
• 31:51
  She fought past the garbage bags gathered around his room
• 31:54
  and looked inside to see the idols, trophies, and photo
• 31:57
  albums she had accumulated in his floor, cast down, scattered
• 32:00
  with rage, into one shapeless heap. Unlike his father, her
• 32:05
  son had not left a note, nor had any other
• 32:07
  indication of his whereabouts, no doubt, a symbol of his absolutism,
• 32:12
  indicated by the disrespect for the belongings in his room.
• 32:15
  Kathy cried for him, then for broken things in his
• 32:18
  room than him. Again, the one area untouched by her
• 32:22
  compulsion was Kathy's prayer closet, or she called it her
• 32:25
  war room, her fucking war room.
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: That's awesome.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: I cannot tell you the number growing up at church.
• 32:34
  It's number. Passors are like, we need more soldiers in
• 32:37
  the war room. What they meant was people praying. It
• 32:39
  was like, it's like a slogan. Someone moved over there
• 32:41
  they understand what I'm talking about.
• 32:43
  Speaker 4: The rules.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: A modest space, no more than four feet in any direction,
• 32:49
  occupied by only a crucifix, her good Bible, and her
• 32:52
  Sunday dress. The dress was as close to vanity as
• 32:56
  Kathy could manage, one untouched artifact amongst a colisseum of
• 33:00
  ruined goods. Every Sunday she wore that dress and set
• 33:03
  in attendance to recognize what God knew. No one there
• 33:06
  was better than her, and either was she than anyone.
• 33:09
  Every morning she knelt in that war room and prayed
• 33:11
  for her son. Sunday dress gently grazing against her head.
• 33:16
  She prayed that the Lord would guide him and give
• 33:17
  him direction wherever he was, and that maybe he would
• 33:20
  find his daddy. She never prayed that her son would
• 33:22
  come back to her. God was a miracle worker. Some
• 33:25
  things are beyond reason. What did you laugh at, daddy? Yeah?
• 33:30
  Kind he would she was a steady year old woman
• 33:33
  or seventy.
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: No, Oh, we're so gross.
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: Come on, okay, cassy, okay, okay.
• 33:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Still she would wonder about it. Some days she would
• 33:47
  imagine he found a girl and smile at the thought
• 33:49
  of her grandkids. Other days she would thank him a
• 33:52
  pastor and fantasized about the works he had done for
• 33:54
  the Lord and her seventeen years of imagination. Not once
• 33:57
  did she ever consider his fate anything but spectacular. She
• 34:01
  was content to live this way alone, king amongst her castles. However,
• 34:06
  unlike Alice and Justin, who saw her as a kind,
• 34:09
  righteous woman, her neighbors believed her to be a decrepit hermit.
• 34:13
  The smell had begun emanating from her house, and the
• 34:16
  kids walking to the bus stop were the first victims.
• 34:19
  Some horrid combination of mold into go boxes created a
• 34:21
  cocktail of awful The kids began to tell stories of
• 34:25
  an evil witch that hides bodies in the basement and
• 34:27
  steals little children who missed the bus stop. Coincidentally, the
• 34:31
  corner by Kathy's house boasted the most successful bus route
• 34:33
  in the country in the county, a country close enough.
• 34:37
  While innocent at first, stories become rumors, and rumors become belief.
• 34:41
  The parents of the neighborhood began to talk about Kathy.
• 34:45
  Mothers did what mothers do and talked in circles about
• 34:47
  how something should be done and someone should do it,
• 34:49
  while fathers did what fathers do and walked by the
• 34:51
  house at least two times each, ready to brawl any
• 34:54
  beasts that were to approach them. Of course, all this
• 34:57
  strife could have been solved with a simple door knock
• 34:59
  or church in order to see that the big bad
• 35:01
  wolf is something much closer to Little Red's grandma. However,
• 35:05
  that would take all out all of the fun of
• 35:07
  a good game of gossip. Well, this was harmless for
• 35:10
  some time, if not rude. That all changed one Halloween.
• 35:15
  Speaker 4: Okay, okay, here we go now, now we're here, all right, Okay,
• 35:21
  here it is.
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: Dude, if Kathy doesn't like fucking eat a kid, and
• 35:29
  this is like literally like a warning for It's like
• 35:31
  every woman in here, your seventies is going to be.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: Horrifying again, what do you think this is? What do
• 35:40
  you think? Clearly I had way too much, Like I
• 35:43
  was playing with the language and like being oh the
• 35:45
  language is.
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: I just loved the idea of you, nineteen years old
• 35:48
  putting your mind in the head of a seventy year
• 35:51
  old woman.
• 35:51
  Speaker 4: It's like my favorite thing.
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: You're like, oh my god, I've never connected with anyone more.
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: It's so good.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: Okay, what about it.
• 36:03
  Speaker 4: It's sick.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: I'm stop anytime he tells me it's sick, it means
• 36:07
  it's not sick. It's good. That all changed one Halloween
• 36:13
  it was.
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: True, What the fuck is that?
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: That's like a Scooby Doo like uh, like, I say, thanks, Harry.
• 36:24
  It was tradition for Kathy to sit at her front
• 36:26
  porch and hand out king size Hershey bars to the
• 36:29
  approaching children. However, this year the smell had grown so
• 36:33
  rancid that even Kathy's generous offering was not enough to
• 36:36
  get kids to enter her front yard, and so she
• 36:38
  sat there alone with her chocolate. See how they say, awe,
• 36:42
  now it's sweet.
• 36:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah, now you care?
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it would be so dude, does she does she
• 36:48
  use a what is it a panic button or like
• 36:50
  I'm falling, I can't get up a life alert, a
• 36:53
  life alert? Yeah yeah, oh ah, the steps somewhat chocolate.
• 37:02
  Speaker 8: It smells funky, but I swear it's good.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: Wouldn't every story we read you have something against old women.
• 37:10
  There's always like some bit.
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: It's a long story, Okay.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: One of the boys ran home and told his mother
• 37:17
  that they had seen Amy Crabgrass get dragged into the
• 37:20
  stinky house by the creepy old witch. Of course, Kathy
• 37:24
  did not kidnap Amy Crabgrass, or did this child even
• 37:27
  know Amy Krapgrass. But it was Halloween, and perhaps one
• 37:30
  too many urban legends led this mother to believe her
• 37:32
  mischievous son devil costume and all. The police arrived at
• 37:36
  Cathy's house and quickly realized that she had in no
• 37:39
  way hurt Amy Crabgrass or any other kid for that matter. However,
• 37:43
  they realized the smell first. They told Kathy that they
• 37:47
  were going to call the health department, to which Kathy
• 37:49
  protested with all the fury of a seventy eight year
• 37:51
  old Baptist widow. Nevertheless, the officer's minds were made up,
• 37:57
  and after weeks of notices filling her unchecked mailbox, the
• 38:00
  Health department arrived at Kathy's storestep. She made no preparations
• 38:03
  for their visit, nor did she expect to make any
• 38:05
  changes after their departure. She simply stood in the front
• 38:09
  lawn as the men did their job. That was until
• 38:12
  she was told that they would be throwing things away
• 38:14
  or else Kathy would lose her home. She was devastated,
• 38:18
  the information almost too much to process. Men and Ppe
• 38:21
  walked to the to and from her home, carrying boxes
• 38:24
  that meant nothing to them with a weight that was
• 38:27
  too little. For the first time that she could remember,
• 38:30
  Kathy felt something close to anger. She washed his uniforms,
• 38:33
  hauled out picture frames they would never know, the placement
• 38:36
  of dolls of which they would never know, the name,
• 38:39
  clothes that could be worn given a slight wash, empty
• 38:42
  boxes that could make for excellent storage, and gifts that
• 38:45
  each carried a story. Kathy fought back in the best
• 38:48
  way she knew how, with prayer and kind words. Clean
• 38:51
  up leader, while Polite was absolute in his decision where
• 38:55
  it's like mold and hazard and meant nothing to Kathy,
• 38:58
  at least not at the expense of her hoard. Just
• 39:01
  as she began another round of niceties, the man received
• 39:04
  a call on his radio that made him take off inside.
• 39:07
  There's a commotion of odd looks and whispers around Kathy
• 39:09
  until a police cruiser showed up. After the officer stepped inside,
• 39:14
  there's about six minutes of anticipation as the air filled
• 39:16
  with silence and the combined crew stepped out there. Under a
• 39:23
  sheet the arms of the cleanup leader was the skeleton
• 39:26
  of a young boy no older than fifteen.
• 39:30
  Speaker 4: There it is what is that wrong?
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: It's not done?
• 39:40
  Speaker 15: He laid down, He didn't wake up.
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: I'm just spitball my own dialogue.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, I'm glad. I'm sorry. Didn't give you enough
• 39:52
  lines when I was nineteen, so now you're upset. Okay,
• 39:56
  Hi from out of the pile, long untouched, through a hallway,
• 40:00
  now cleared, The team followed behind, like a funeral procession.
• 40:03
  The body was something closer to a mummy than a corpse.
• 40:06
  What was once skin and flesh should become a dried
• 40:08
  paper gently laid across bones. Any resemblance to the child
• 40:12
  before was gone and replaced with other utter stillness. This
• 40:16
  information was beyond Cathy's comprehension. Years of prayer now meant nothing,
• 40:20
  and nearly two decades of hope it turned up worthless.
• 40:23
  Her mind ran far away from this new truth and
• 40:26
  the notion of what his final hours must have been like.
• 40:30
  Beneath an avalanche of her own design, her mind found
• 40:33
  another problem, one awful yet digestible. She looked at the
• 40:36
  empty body for some time, and then glanced up at
• 40:39
  the man holding it. Through her denial, she spoke. Her
• 40:42
  voice was shaky, yet desperate.
• 40:45
  Speaker 4: Can I keep my dress and that's it.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: That's the end of the story. Thank you, Thank you
• 40:59
  very kind man.
• 41:00
  Speaker 4: I was really hoping that she just started like kidnapping kids.
• 41:03
  She's like, you gotta come in here.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: No, sadly, her son just died. I'm sorry that's not
• 41:08
  enough for you. Well, yeah, revisiting it after all these years,
• 41:13
  for what I was hearing the dialogue, I'm like, yeah,
• 41:14
  that's about right to the kid that listened to my
• 41:16
  chemical romance constantly, and thank you. I figured this audience
• 41:21
  would like that, but no, I don't. Sometimes I'll look
• 41:26
  back on stuff I wrote and I'm like, I hate that.
• 41:27
  What was wrong? But I didn't hate that. No, that's
• 41:30
  fine enough. I'm glad I wasn't trusted. I'm glad you
• 41:33
  all enjoyed it. I'm sorry I didn't give you enough lines.
• 41:36
  Speaker 12: You being nineteen and then capturing the essence of an
• 41:39
  old woman beautifully is art.
• 41:44
  Speaker 4: It is nothing but art. I love too.
• 41:46
  Speaker 3: At nineteen, You're like, I just I love that you
• 41:48
  have got there. A lot of people at nineteen they'd
• 41:50
  be like they were old, they were thirty six?
• 41:55
  Speaker 4: Can you imagine that?
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: I think if I remember right, there was a story
• 41:59
  in the news about a woman who thought her son
• 42:03
  had run away, and then when they cleaned out her
• 42:05
  house after she died, they found his body and it
• 42:08
  was like, at first they thought it was foul play,
• 42:10
  but then they're like, well, honestly, there was such a horde.
• 42:12
  He may have just died in there and she never knows.
• 42:14
  So I'm like, oh, and that's where the stork came from.
• 42:17
  That's so it's theft. It's stealing something that happened. Uh
• 42:21
  you know, so said, let's go.
• 42:23
  Speaker 4: The story I found has similar scene.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: I have no idea what this story of yours is
• 42:29
  going to my story? Oh?
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: Sorry, the end? Yeah, oops, my story?
• 42:36
  Speaker 17: Right?
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, I keep back stilling. No, you can
• 42:39
  put the time, okay, alright. The title.
• 42:41
  Speaker 3: The title is My best friend is the Bearded Man
• 42:44
  in My Window.
• 42:49
  Speaker 4: The best part of this is I have no idea
• 42:52
  who wrote it.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Reacted the name was redacted or you just forgot to look.
• 42:58
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, they deleted the rented.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: They deleted their reddit. Okay, all right, so you really
• 43:03
  have no idea who wrote it?
• 43:04
  Speaker 4: No idea?
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: This is the only story I wouldn't be crazy about,
• 43:07
  Like it's me.
• 43:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: Wait, what uh, there's just there's I read a little
• 43:15
  bit of it.
• 43:16
  Speaker 4: I haven't read it yet, not all of it. I
• 43:19
  wouldn't it be surprised with you. I thought it would
• 43:22
  be nice way up here and we're pounding around.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: I'm like, I don't know historically us blank yessing stories.
• 43:31
  Speaker 3: If we go to charted territory, you have there's like
• 43:35
  fucking twilt people dressed up like Tommy Taffy here.
• 43:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, in the.
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: Front row, which where were all of you when everyone.
• 43:45
  Speaker 4: In the damn well?
• 43:47
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think you're gonna dig this, and I
• 43:50
  will say, there's a lot of lines for me to read,
• 43:53
  so I'm stoked.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, but before the show, I'm gonna go Before the show,
• 44:03
  we were doing sound checks and they were running through
• 44:05
  the sound effects and there was one of a baby
• 44:07
  crying and I go, Hunter, is that your story? And
• 44:10
  he goes yeah, And now he just told me he
• 44:14
  hasn't finished the story.
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: And there's a baby here, a baby there. Let's see
• 44:21
  what happens. Let's just dive in.
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: I have nothing to do with this either, do I.
• 44:27
  If I kill a kid in a story, they're fifteen. Okay,
• 44:30
  we've proven that it's fine, all right, all right, I
• 44:33
  redacted it does they redacted? Okay, let's begin, let's do it.
• 44:41
  How we got a Oh, that's a cute animation? Is
• 44:43
  it horses? Lamb? That's good?
• 44:45
  Speaker 4: Okay, Dear Lord, please give me a friend.
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: Who is that impression of?
• 45:02
  Speaker 4: I don't know? Amen?
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: A hopeless prayer. On a late October night, a thick
• 45:14
  fog rolled between the trees next to my house, churney
• 45:18
  covering every bit of wooded ground. My mind was racing.
• 45:22
  I tended to psych myself out too much, making little
• 45:25
  things to be more than they really are, a habit
• 45:28
  that has become exhausting. I felt like I could hear
• 45:32
  the faint crying of a baby. I'd honor.
• 45:44
  Speaker 4: Little baby.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: Is that you don't? Maybe it's just okay, bones breaking
• 45:51
  with every well, I heard a bone breaking one too,
• 46:01
  and he goes, wouldn't it be funny if those two
• 46:03
  were together?
• 46:06
  Speaker 4: It was funny. It was good.
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: You've started a story. You're like, baby, bones break. I'm in.
• 46:13
  I don't even need to read the rest. I see
• 46:16
  a lot of quotation marks. We're good. Yeah, okay, bones
• 46:19
  breaking with every whale, filling the hollow forest with a
• 46:22
  haunting song that feels distinctly met for me. I kept
• 46:26
  looking out my window, hearing these horrible cries. Snapping again,
• 46:31
  they were interrupted by my mom.
• 46:38
  Speaker 12: It's getting late, sweetheart, get ready for bed.
• 46:44
  Speaker 4: Okay, do you hear that crying?
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: I asked my mom, wide eyed, looking for her comforting
• 46:50
  response for the millions time. She cracked an all too
• 46:54
  familiar smile.
• 46:55
  Speaker 12: Shaya, We've been over this a thousand times. It's just coyotes, foxes,
• 47:04
  just our woodland friends out in the woods playing breaking
• 47:07
  branches and twigs.
• 47:09
  Speaker 4: You've got nothing like that. You've got nothing to be
• 47:12
  afraid of, sweetheart. Now would you get some sleep?
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: I let down my guard. My mother's setting me at
• 47:18
  ease like she always did.
• 47:20
  Speaker 4: Okay, good night, mommy.
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: She smiled and softly shut the door behind her. As
• 47:30
  she left, a high pitched wine came against the window
• 47:36
  as a bitter, biting wind collapsed against the house, crowding
• 47:40
  the window seal. As I went to shut the window,
• 47:43
  I looked down into the forest. Four deers stood looking
• 47:46
  up at me, not moving, not grazing, just looking directly
• 47:49
  at me. And the deafening quiet, I could still hear
• 47:52
  the baby crying I could hear its endless cries echoing
• 47:56
  through the forest. I hurt. I heard the bones snapping
• 48:05
  every three seconds.
• 48:12
  Speaker 4: You gotta keep reading here.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: That's a sound effect. That's your department.
• 48:20
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, you're supposed to read it for effect.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: Snap whale, snap whil oh. The deer had me frozen
• 48:41
  in their gaze. Though something compelled me to stay and
• 48:44
  look back at them. I was simply transfixed. It's as
• 48:48
  if we were conversing, not sharing words, but understanding each
• 48:51
  other's thoughts. We held this exchange for a minute before
• 48:54
  the deer turned their heads in unison moved deeper into
• 48:57
  the cher blackness of the forest. If not a gaze broke,
• 49:01
  my sense returned. Rushing into my bed, I threw back
• 49:05
  the blankets and covered them over my head. Why were
• 49:08
  those gear looking at me? Why did they just stop
• 49:10
  out of nowhere to make sure and look up my window? No,
• 49:15
  don't do this, don't make something out of nothing. We'll
• 49:18
  just scare yourself again. This is why people don't talk
• 49:21
  to you at school.
• 49:23
  Speaker 4: This is why this.
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: Is why you freeze. Are you sure you didn't right this,
• 49:34
  because so far it's been like, yeah, I'm in bed
• 49:37
  and then my mom comes in and she's like hi.
• 49:39
  And then now you hear a baby crying, the bone snapping,
• 49:41
  and then a baby crying and bones.
• 49:42
  Speaker 4: So it's like, I mean, it's awesome.
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: This is why you freeze anytime someone looks in your
• 49:49
  general direction. This is why you always get picked on.
• 49:54
  You make yourself an easy target. My thoughts sober, any
• 49:57
  fear that I may have conjured and comfort pity. Dug
• 50:01
  deeper into my bed and wrapped the blankets tighter, Finally
• 50:04
  able to calm myself down. Still, I can't shake the
• 50:07
  feeling that something out there in the woods was crying
• 50:09
  for me, in somewhere in that cold, vicious fog. The
• 50:15
  next day at school, I had a newfound confidence to
• 50:18
  try and win over the bullies at my school, the
• 50:20
  Williams brothers, Jackie and Robbie. Jackie Williams, the I'm such
• 50:28
  an awful person. I was thinking, that's the baseball player.
• 50:31
  That's Robertson.
• 50:34
  Speaker 4: He was an old baseball player. You see, I had
• 50:39
  to do research for my room.
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: Yes, twins that were the size of mountains for us
• 50:45
  regular fifteen year olds. They used their size to enact
• 50:49
  all kinds of terror on our classmates. I'd always been
• 50:52
  afraid of them, but I would stand up for myself.
• 50:55
  I would show them that I am not one of
• 50:56
  the dorks at school. This is such a story you
• 50:59
  would write, Hi, just the you love like the eighties
• 51:07
  movies where it's like yeah, and then the bullies got
• 51:10
  ran over and like a monster killed me.
• 51:12
  Speaker 4: It's a popular trump.
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, I don't am I wrong?
• 51:16
  Speaker 4: Could you read?
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah? The Williams brothers were on a special tirade today,
• 51:21
  carry around a dead blue chand one hand, dead blue
• 51:25
  jay in one hand and asking classmates to kiss the
• 51:27
  bird in order to attend their Halloween party.
• 51:30
  Speaker 4: What the I don't know. What the fuck? That is.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: A party only the coolest of kids got to go
• 51:37
  to at our school. I don't think the cool kids
• 51:39
  are going to a party have to kiss a dead bird.
• 51:44
  That's the hunter level, where like the weird kids were
• 51:46
  kissing dead things. You're like, man, I wish I was
• 51:48
  one of the cool kids.
• 51:49
  Speaker 4: Could I be your friend? Police?
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: Man? They're so cool to keep dead animals in their bag.
• 51:58
  I wish I had a dead bird and this was
• 52:02
  a chance for us lesser beans to be invited to
• 52:04
  the table. Chance for me to show that I could
• 52:07
  be one of their kind. That's just the idea of
• 52:12
  a jock in like a movie being like, here's a
• 52:14
  dead bird, like just a.
• 52:18
  Speaker 7: Step up, step up.
• 52:20
  Speaker 3: Anyone who kisses this beautiful bird will be invited to
• 52:23
  our Halloween party Friday night.
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: No, don't get hit that. No, don't give him moves.
• 52:33
  He doesn't know, No, said Jackie with a contorted smile,
• 52:40
  chubby cheeks inflated, the freckles on his pale face, a
• 52:44
  red curly mane on top of his egg shaped head. Yeah,
• 52:48
  the cool kids.
• 52:49
  Speaker 4: He's a cool kid. Kiss the bird, kiss a bird.
• 52:54
  Yeah yeah, He.
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: Parroted his brother Robbie, who didn't speak much for himself,
• 53:04
  carbon copy of his brother in every way. The bird
• 53:07
  was disgusting. One of its eyes had popped out of
• 53:09
  its body, hanging limply. It looks soft like a rot.
• 53:13
  Someone went off like, oh loves all down for the
• 53:15
  dead bird until I found it was like really dead.
• 53:18
  It looks off like a rotten potato being squished in
• 53:21
  the ogre's hand. I was repulsed and was already thinking
• 53:25
  of how the bird would come back to life and
• 53:27
  pick up my face flapping its wet, tattered wings in
• 53:29
  a panic squawking with the demonic tones, and he shivers
• 53:33
  down my spine. No, it's a dead bird. Don't shreak
• 53:41
  yourself out. Just be cool.
• 53:45
  Speaker 4: Ugh, I'll kiss the bird.
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: You're sure you're not impersonate anyone specifically? No, no, I
• 54:04
  said louder than I intended, trailing off at the end
• 54:08
  the hallway came to a hush. The brothers turned me,
• 54:10
  mouth stretching slowly into an evil smile.
• 54:14
  Speaker 3: Shya, a scaredy cat wants to kiss our bird.
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: I must be dreaming, Jackie said in a loud, boisterous stone,
• 54:22
  gesturing into the crowd that it gathered around us.
• 54:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we must be dreaming.
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, parrot at his brother. It describes them like they're
• 54:31
  in the mafia, Like there's a pin stripe one and
• 54:34
  another one like yeah yeah. I stepped forward to the brothers,
• 54:38
  who outstretched the disgusting bird in front of my face,
• 54:41
  its wings splay out openly. Trying to play it cool,
• 54:44
  holding back every notion. I had to be squeamish and
• 54:47
  make a scene. I killed it.
• 54:48
  Speaker 3: This morning, About fifty of them are flying by my house,
• 54:52
  and I was able to shoot one out of the
• 54:53
  sky with my dad's gun.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: You know, I figured out what it is why you
• 55:00
  picked this, and why I think you would write it.
• 55:02
  This sounds like a story you would just tell me
• 55:06
  about your childhood.
• 55:10
  Speaker 4: Ah, that's cute.
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: Juh, don't give me that tone, just like the the like. Yeah,
• 55:18
  one time I was in high school and like a
• 55:20
  shot a bird with my dad's gun, and I made
• 55:23
  all my friends kiss it.
• 55:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we called it kissy time.
• 55:29
  Speaker 11: All right.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: I didn't like that, Okay, Yeah, Jackie bart triumphantly, looking
• 55:33
  around as if that was to impress the other students.
• 55:37
  Speaker 4: That's gun, Yeah.
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: Robbie, apishly muttered, apishly muttered.
• 55:51
  Speaker 4: That he's good.
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: I closed my eyes and pursed my lips, moving slowly
• 55:59
  trying to quickly make contact with the birds beak so
• 56:01
  I could be done and attend this party. I could
• 56:04
  see it starting my new life, not lonely, more friends
• 56:08
  than I would know what to do with. My wife's here,
• 56:22
  by the way, so don't Yeah, that was for her,
• 56:29
  is what I'm saying. This fantasy was cut short when
• 56:32
  I opened my eyes and Jackie had turned the bird
• 56:34
  I had kissed its ass. The crowd of kids laughed, hysterically.
• 56:42
  I quickly wiped my face, but the damage had been done.
• 56:48
  The brothers tackled, and the orchestral laughter filled the halls,
• 56:51
  echoing and coming back all around me flouder. I tried
• 56:56
  to play it cool, slowly smiling, then joining in with
• 56:59
  the laugh, trying to reclaim any dignity that I had
• 57:02
  before kissing a dead bird's ass.
• 57:06
  Speaker 4: So what time is the party?
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: I sat, trying to act smooth the party. You'd think
• 57:15
  we would let you come to our party, Jackie blurted out,
• 57:20
  accompanied by his brother.
• 57:21
  Speaker 4: No waye hoose.
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: The crowd erupted in laughter again. I felt myself deflating
• 57:29
  with each passing second before her voice cut through the crowd.
• 57:32
  Speaker 4: Would you guys cut it out?
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: It was Sarah Martin. She was one of the few
• 57:37
  people in school who was ever nice to me. Admittedly,
• 57:40
  and not surprisingly, she was my crush.
• 57:44
  Speaker 14: Sarah, Sarah.
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: From Spire in the Woods. I have learned to not
• 57:52
  get too enthusiastic about what I think is a wholesome,
• 57:56
  like teen romance story. Yeah, I'm not saying anything. I'm
• 58:00
  not fair. That's fair. They dragged us through the trenches
• 58:03
  on that one.
• 58:04
  Speaker 4: We were drug efittingly.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: I'm not arguing it's not so yeah you can. You
• 58:09
  can move Sarah Martin all you want. I'm staying out
• 58:11
  of this. The brothers laughter faded quickly.
• 58:14
  Speaker 3: Oh hey, sar uh, we were just messing around.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: Jackie said, sheepishly. Yeah, just joking, muttered propping. It's just
• 58:24
  like snapping in the leather jacket like you come on, sir.
• 58:31
  Sarah old her eyes at the brothers and turned her
• 58:33
  attention towards me. Are you okay? Sarah said sweetly. Brown
• 58:37
  hair splashed against her slender shoulders, gentle stars of freckles,
• 58:42
  dodged her cheeks and nose. Picked myself up, acting like
• 58:47
  nothing had happened, trying to play it cool.
• 58:50
  Speaker 4: Oh me, Oh yeah, I'm totally fine. I meant to
• 58:56
  kiss the bird like that, so that's it was all intentional, smooth. Okay. Well,
• 59:08
  the parties is Friday at eight pm, so please come by.
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: It should be fun, Sarah said, turning to the Williams brothers.
• 59:15
  Speaker 4: Right, guys, brother's just.
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: Nodded their heads in agreement. Confused, see you, then, Sarah
• 59:22
  said softly, before throwing her hair confidently and turning to
• 59:25
  walk off down the hall. The brothers frowned at me
• 59:27
  and followed her as she left it. So, my you said,
• 59:31
  you haven't read this whole story, right, Yeah, So my
• 59:34
  bear trap, or my prediction that I hope becomes a
• 59:36
  bear trap, is like she is going, it's like a
• 59:40
  ritual or something. He's going to want him killed. She
• 59:43
  wants him to be there so she can kill him
• 59:44
  or something like that. I love a nice ritual killing,
• 59:47
  like she's a witch or something like that.
• 59:48
  Speaker 4: I mean I would love that.
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, this would be.
• 59:51
  Speaker 4: The I have not gotten this scorn yet.
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: Okay, this is all new for you. Yes, everything now.
• 59:57
  Speaker 3: I chose his story probably after like the first page.
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 4: I was so in this is great, creep cast fire.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: You didn't you have no idea? No, that's not a
• 1:00:11
  good thing. Come on, you have no idea what happens
• 1:00:20
  out of the high school party?
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 4: No idea? Okay, yeah, sorry, I don't know.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: I'm not I didn't do I didn't have anything to
• 1:00:27
  do with wherever this goes.
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 4: He didn't know.
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: I have nothing to do with this. I see. When
• 1:00:31
  I said the witch thing, my brain was like, make
• 1:00:33
  a Jacoby joke. No, because I've learned my lesson, especially
• 1:00:37
  when you pick stories. I had done it. I had
• 1:00:41
  been invited to my first party.
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 4: I'd been invited to my first party.
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: I got invited to stuff. I just had to kiss
• 1:00:47
  a dead bird walking home from the bus stop. I
• 1:00:50
  felt on top of the world. I had so many ideas.
• 1:00:54
  I had so many ideas for my costume for the
• 1:00:56
  Halloween party. Okay, I was gonna quit the voice, but
• 1:01:05
  thinking through the rolodex of characters from stories I loved online.
• 1:01:09
  Would I be dressed like this? Would I be a
• 1:01:12
  de minute serial killer, a ghostly apparition, or maybe just
• 1:01:18
  a pirate. I don't want to bring myself out too much.
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 3: This kid rules, this kid bucks, dude, Yeah.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: No, he doesn't. Clearly.
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 4: Come on, man, I was.
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: Hunter actually wrote this about his childhood, and he's over
• 1:01:37
  here like this kid's cool, right.
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 4: Pretty badass?
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: Actually, yeah, I was. I keep touching my face to
• 1:01:45
  scratch it, and I'm smearing pain all over my laptop.
• 1:01:50
  I was still thinking of my costume when I heard
• 1:01:52
  a baby crying. Oh, I forgot about that. When I
• 1:01:54
  heard a baby crying from somewhere in the dinch trees
• 1:01:57
  to my right, loud shrill, unmistakable. This wasn't a trick
• 1:02:03
  of the mind. My breath held, waiting for each horrible
• 1:02:06
  long well to fill the empty road air. I wanted
• 1:02:10
  to turn and run away. But what kind of person
• 1:02:12
  would I be? Knowing that a child was out in
• 1:02:14
  the woods crying and I didn't help? Did the only
• 1:02:17
  thing that seemed right? Followed the cries into the forest.
• 1:02:22
  It's gonna go well for him. Sure. As I walked
• 1:02:25
  deeper into the woods, I could notice how much darker
• 1:02:28
  the woods were than the open road. The tall trees
• 1:02:31
  shrouded the pale sun above, veiling everything in a blanket
• 1:02:34
  of shadow. The baby's cries were still flooding the woods,
• 1:02:38
  but as I moved further through the dense brambles and brush,
• 1:02:42
  took a new shape. Strange, awful mixture of sails, A
• 1:02:48
  youthful cry intermixed with the cries of a man is awesome?
• 1:03:11
  What in God's name was happening in these woods? It's
• 1:03:16
  just my mind playing tricks on me again? It had
• 1:03:19
  to be no, I had to check against my better judgment.
• 1:03:24
  I pushed on, forcing myself along on legs that felt
• 1:03:28
  rail thin and shaky, moving further into the trees. What
• 1:03:36
  why was his ready to count deleted.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 3: Oh shit, all right, to be fair, there is a
• 1:03:45
  baby and a man in the woods alone.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 4: So I have no idea.
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: I was the story? What was this? No sleep? Yeah?
• 1:03:53
  Was this tagged with anything?
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 4: I don't remember? I don't think so. I'm sorry. I
• 1:03:59
  barely remember our episode. Sare cordy, you expect to remember them?
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: No fucking know. On on my right, a collection of
• 1:04:14
  deer rush past, jumping and contorting themselves as they moved.
• 1:04:18
  Other woodland critters dashed by, flying and jumping ahead of
• 1:04:21
  me towards the growing noise. It crossed over a mound.
• 1:04:25
  My feet stopped, stunned in terror. In front of me
• 1:04:30
  saw where the horrible noise was coming from. On the
• 1:04:33
  forest floor, twisted massive vines and blood seep through the
• 1:04:37
  grass and roots, spilling into the soil. The upper half
• 1:04:41
  of a man split open, leaned against the base of
• 1:04:43
  a thick tree trunk. Oh thank god. The man had
• 1:04:48
  grabbed onto mounds of grass and roots and was screaming
• 1:04:51
  in agony. An infant, still crying, crawled forward, inching its
• 1:04:56
  way into the open cavity of the man, Twisting strands
• 1:04:59
  of us and tendons clawed out, latching onto the baby's
• 1:05:03
  hands and head, slowly dragging it into the open cavity
• 1:05:07
  of the man's chest. Sick, A deer walked up, using
• 1:05:12
  its long antlers to nudge the child deeper into the
• 1:05:15
  open cavity. As both the baby and man began to
• 1:05:18
  scream in pain. As the organs and entrails were pushed
• 1:05:21
  deeper into the open maw, the baby screams were muffled
• 1:05:25
  into a putrid, suffocating gurgle.
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 18: Hell yeah, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry Springer did what
• 1:05:43
  the fuck are you talking about?
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: Horrified? I began to back away slowly, trying to not
• 1:05:49
  make my presence known, until the twig under my heel
• 1:05:52
  snapped and the forest immediately went deadly silent. The animals
• 1:05:57
  all slowly turned to look at me. With the jagged motion,
• 1:06:00
  the half man slowly contorted his neck, looking up at me.
• 1:06:04
  Our eyes met trembling smile across his face. Screw this.
• 1:06:12
  Without hesitating, I spinned that sprinted in the opposite direction,
• 1:06:17
  trying to put as much distance between myself and the
• 1:06:19
  broken torso of the smiling man as possible. I could
• 1:06:22
  hear the animals closing in on me, but I was
• 1:06:24
  too scared to look back. I just kept running as
• 1:06:28
  fast as I could, jumping over roots and diving under
• 1:06:31
  branches climb my back up, never stopping for a moment.
• 1:06:36
  The hordes of hoofs and wings flapping grew thunderous behind me,
• 1:06:39
  the shriek of deer, thousands of squawking just behind me.
• 1:06:44
  Keep pushing, just keep pushing. Finally I met with fresh air.
• 1:06:49
  I had made it back to the road. I whipped
• 1:06:51
  around to see the onslaught of animals that I was
• 1:06:53
  sure was just behind me, but there was nothing, nothing
• 1:06:56
  at all. I swung open the front door to my house,
• 1:07:01
  slamming it immediately shut behind me, bolting it.
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 4: WHOA, what's going on here? Is everything okay?
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: My father said, propped up at the dinner table, searching me.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 4: Dad, I saw something in the woods. It was like
• 1:07:18
  a baby crawling into a half man.
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 14: They were screaming, and the animals in the woods were
• 1:07:24
  watching and helping it.
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 3: Shaia, what did I tell you about reading those damn
• 1:07:30
  horror stories.
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: So it's Hank killed. It's Hank killed. Then the father,
• 1:07:42
  it's Hank killed. I tell you what, Mobby, my father said,
• 1:07:47
  pitching the bridge of his nose and dropping his gaze
• 1:07:49
  for a moment before looking up at me again, disappointed.
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 3: You get so worked up that you send yourself into
• 1:07:56
  these fits.
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 4: A baby crawling in a half man would listen.
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: To yourself, my father, my father said, concerned.
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 4: What's wrong?
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: Said my mother, coming down the hall, her feet tapping
• 1:08:11
  quickly against the hard wood.
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 4: There was a baby in the woods, and this man
• 1:08:16
  who is splitting happen.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 3: He's been reading those scary stories and getting himself into
• 1:08:20
  a frenzy again.
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: My father said, turning to face my mother as she
• 1:08:24
  came into the room, starting lighting her face.
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 4: I thought we were agreed.
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 3: We weren't supposed to be on those damn sights anymore, sweetie.
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 4: Why don't you go to your room and wash up
• 1:08:36
  for dinner?
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, my mother said softly. I knew her. This was
• 1:08:41
  her gentle way of telling me that I was creeping
• 1:08:43
  them out again, that I needed to relax. It's funny,
• 1:08:47
  it's funny how much I said the story was you
• 1:08:49
  and this was actually me. When I was a child. Admittedly,
• 1:08:54
  I remember multiple conversations where my Dad's like, you gotta
• 1:08:56
  quit scaring yourself so hard. I remember eating the Russian
• 1:09:00
  sleep experiment. My dad getting furious. He like googled it
• 1:09:04
  and there's like a picture like a dead guy or whatever,
• 1:09:06
  and he was like, what is this? What are you
• 1:09:08
  looking at?
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 4: What the hell are you doing?
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's laughing now, Dad, I say, covered in face pain, defeated,
• 1:09:25
  I drudged upstairs to my room. I felt so stupid.
• 1:09:29
  Did I really just imagine all of this? It's so strange,
• 1:09:33
  felt so real in my head. I could still hear
• 1:09:36
  the animals just behind me, hoofs beating against soil, distant
• 1:09:40
  howls and screeches pulling closer, hot breath on my neck.
• 1:09:45
  If you're saying it out loud to my father, it
• 1:09:47
  was easier to see how ridiculous it all sounded. And
• 1:09:49
  even the walk up to my home room had me
• 1:09:51
  almost laughing at how absurd this whole situation was.
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 4: God, I need to be medicated.
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm muttered to myself, shaking my head as I
• 1:10:07
  climbed the stay. It's funny about how old is he?
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 4: Fifteen?
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a fifteen year old. I need to be medicated.
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 4: God give me a pill.
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: I got to my room, took off my jacket, I
• 1:10:19
  took a seat on my bed and rubbed my hands
• 1:10:21
  against my face, chuckling softly. Man, man, I'm a mess.
• 1:10:30
  At least I had the party to look forward to.
• 1:10:33
  I needed to at least try and find a bit
• 1:10:35
  of normalcy before then. He's so okay with a baby
• 1:10:39
  crawling inside of a.
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 4: Man and all that.
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: I couldn't go there so flustered. I had to make friends.
• 1:10:45
  This was my only chance. Maybe it was good that
• 1:10:48
  I got this hallucination out of the way now and
• 1:10:50
  no at the party right. Maybe this was all blessing
• 1:10:53
  and disguise. Tap tap? What was that? Tap tap? I
• 1:11:07
  looked at my door, thinking that maybe my mom had
• 1:11:09
  followed me up and was checking on me. There was
• 1:11:12
  no one at the door. Turned back following the sound,
• 1:11:16
  there was a gaunt, bearded man looking at me from
• 1:11:19
  my window, smiling. Up until this moment, I forgot about
• 1:11:23
  the title. Complexly Tap Tap. I don't think I had
• 1:11:29
  ever screamed as loud as I did just then. The
• 1:11:33
  man's teeth looked soft, like they were pushing against each other,
• 1:11:36
  folding and shifting into place. His hair was patchy and thin,
• 1:11:40
  lay soft, like they were pushing each other. I don't
• 1:11:48
  need to stop.
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 4: The fuck are you guys wooing about?
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: Just a vague description of a man?
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah exactly, yeah, exactly.
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: His hair was patchy and thin, laying flatly against his
• 1:12:00
  balding head. His eyes his eyes were yellow, gross, sickly color,
• 1:12:16
  hollow and unmoving. The skin was papery, thin, burnt, reddish,
• 1:12:21
  pink tap tap. The door to my room flung open,
• 1:12:28
  gliding against the walls. My mother and father rushed in.
• 1:12:33
  I looked at them, trying to find words in my panic.
• 1:12:35
  At a loss, I looked back to my window. No
• 1:12:39
  one was there. I had nothing. Frustrated, my father let
• 1:12:51
  out a deep sign and stormed off. My mother looked
• 1:12:53
  at me and then raised her hand as if to
• 1:12:55
  comfort me. I just lowered it back down in a
• 1:12:58
  sort of de feet. She slowly and calmly shut the
• 1:13:01
  door behind her As she left. Feeling terrified and alone,
• 1:13:04
  I looked back at my window, searching the infinite, black,
• 1:13:07
  starless night. I thought I might be going insane. The
• 1:13:12
  next day at school was exhausting. I barely got any
• 1:13:15
  sleep and struggled to make sense of the day before.
• 1:13:17
  Nothing made sense. The more I thought about it, the
• 1:13:21
  more it confused me. I felt defeated, but I knew
• 1:13:24
  I had to hold it together for another day. The
• 1:13:27
  Halloween party. It was something real, something I had to
• 1:13:31
  be excited about to keep me grounded. Even with everything
• 1:13:35
  going on, horrible nightmares from the past few days. I
• 1:13:38
  couldn't wait to go to the party, couldn't wait to
• 1:13:40
  prove to everyone that I could be normal, I could
• 1:13:43
  be cool, I could be a friend. Just hold on,
• 1:13:51
  just hold on, please, brain.
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 11: Oh I need is one more day from you?
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 7: Shaw yuh shay yuh shah yeah shah.
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I felt a kick in my back from the
• 1:14:11
  desk behind me. I turned to see Jackie and his
• 1:14:17
  twin brother looking at me. They shared a desk, Jackie
• 1:14:20
  and his twin brother looking at me, their bright red
• 1:14:22
  hair flashing like fire against the fluorescent overhead lights.
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 4: You better not show up to the party tomorrow.
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: Jackie said, puffing his chest out as far as he could.
• 1:14:31
  An alpha in the sound of something breaking open. What
• 1:14:46
  was that sound effect? No? Yeah, is that an alpha noise?
• 1:14:54
  Is that the idea? He's like? Yeah, yeah, shirt buttons
• 1:14:58
  ripping everywhere. I'm an the sad. Yeah, yeah, I know
• 1:15:04
  you'd like that one.
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: The morosca, all right, continue, Robbie watched Jackiet instantly mimicked
• 1:15:16
  him while looking at me dead in the eyes.
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 4: But Sarah invited me.
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 1: I said, trying to force a smile and play off
• 1:15:24
  this uncomfortable interaction.
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 4: You're gonna do or you can't make it, Understand.
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: Jackie said, whispering with a bite, leaning in just inches away,
• 1:15:34
  just inches away, careful to not draw attention. Understand, Robbie,
• 1:15:40
  mind almost on top of me. How do you your
• 1:15:46
  ability to find these stories even on accident.
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 12: I know, I don't want to have to do something serious,
• 1:15:55
  but I will.
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 1: If we're getting in we're getting into. Uh always the name,
• 1:16:01
  everyone gets the name. When you turn eighteen, you get
• 1:16:04
  a slip with the name. Oh yeah, h how he
• 1:16:07
  accidentally just read like a fan fix some kid wrote
• 1:16:10
  about himself. I don't want to and by the way,
• 1:16:13
  in hinde sight laid into him, over him. He did
• 1:16:17
  not deserve that.
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 12: I don't want to have to do something serious, but
• 1:16:22
  I will if.
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: Just then, a buff dove through the window, kicking and
• 1:16:30
  slipping on the freshly waxed blorn its spindley legs splayed
• 1:16:34
  out awkwardly on all sides. The other students screamed in horror.
• 1:16:40
  Missus Laurence tried to settle the class but was unable
• 1:16:43
  to raise her voice over the cries of the students
• 1:16:45
  and the pained animal shrinks of the bunk. And it
• 1:16:48
  cut itself badly jumping through the window. Blood gush from
• 1:16:51
  its neck and the many deep gashes on its legs
• 1:16:54
  and body. It leaned to the side and collapsed on
• 1:16:56
  the ground, choking on its own blood, gurgling as it
• 1:16:59
  cried out dying. There was nothing we could do, hushed.
• 1:17:04
  The murmurs overtook the classroom. Missus Lawrence couldn't look away
• 1:17:08
  and stood in disbelief behind her desk. Jackie and Robbie
• 1:17:11
  talked to themselves. I saw Sarah talking with Rebecca Wheeler,
• 1:17:15
  who was supposed to be going to the party as well.
• 1:17:18
  Then I looked over the broken window. The bearded man
• 1:17:21
  who had come to my window stood smiling, looking at
• 1:17:24
  me the same twisted smile. That he was slightly different.
• 1:17:28
  His brown hair was longer, fuller, and had begun to
• 1:17:30
  fill in patches on his face. I rubbed my eyes
• 1:17:33
  with my hand in disbelief. When I opened them, he
• 1:17:36
  was still there taunting me. Before I could say anything
• 1:17:39
  or alert anyone in the class, the intercom overhead chirped.
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 3: On, sters, evacuation, Please line up and follow your teachers onside.
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 4: This is an adrenal Thank you.
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: The intercom chirped off. I love how calm they are
• 1:17:54
  about a deer.
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 4: Bleeding And seriously, could you guys just.
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 1: All the deer doesn't dismiss you, the bell does. I
• 1:18:04
  looked back to the window, but the man was gone again.
• 1:18:08
  I couldn't tell if I was just in shock from
• 1:18:10
  the deer, but I wasn't afraid. I was frustrated. What
• 1:18:13
  was going on with me? Was it? What was going
• 1:18:16
  on with me? Was this man real? Was it? My
• 1:18:19
  mind slowly dissolving inside my head? I could barely take
• 1:18:23
  it anymore. Are you doing okay, Sarah said, tearing me
• 1:18:28
  from my thoughts.
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 12: Oh yeah, I'm fine. That was wild, right, Yeah.
• 1:18:36
  Speaker 1: There's blood everywhere.
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 4: This is kind of strange, right.
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 12: Yeah, hopefully all this crazy stuff is happening now instead
• 1:18:48
  of at the party.
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: Right, she's gonna kill him, She's gonna beat him to
• 1:18:53
  death or sacrifice him or something. Her smile, Sarah added
• 1:18:58
  her her smile was perfect. I felt. I felt myself
• 1:19:03
  grin in respond. Every time I go to quit, he
• 1:19:06
  says something else.
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 4: My thoughts exactly like that.
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: Her eyes lingered on mine for what felt like forever.
• 1:19:15
  Even with everything going on, I felt happy, finally right
• 1:19:19
  where I was supposed to be.
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna be a pirate.
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 1: Sh that's good. I like that. Her smile was shaken
• 1:19:37
  by my comment. Why did I say that.
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 4: Pirates are cool?
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 1: She says she's gonna kill him, she said, simply, before
• 1:19:47
  walking off.
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 4: Holy shit, that was awesome.
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: I was fine. I was I was finally able to
• 1:20:00
  sleep last night, RESTful, nothing abnormal. I haven't went to
• 1:20:04
  school with those strange men or deer looking at me,
• 1:20:07
  so that was a bluss as well. Though, something much
• 1:20:10
  worse happened. My parents told me that they weren't going
• 1:20:14
  to let me go to the Halloween party anymore.
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 4: Hey, what the fuck?
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 7: Boom?
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 4: That's a bullshit, that's what I said. That's a bullshit?
• 1:20:28
  So what bullshit? Oh bullshit?
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 10: It's like.
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: I thought you were saying it's some like bell or
• 1:20:35
  you're making up a word. I'm like, what are you
• 1:20:37
  talking about? My parents told me that they weren't going
• 1:20:41
  to let me go to the Halloween party anymore. We
• 1:20:44
  had a long drawn out argument that pretty much resulted
• 1:20:46
  in my parents telling me that I've been acting crazy,
• 1:20:49
  seeing things that aren't there fair. They told me it
• 1:20:52
  was probably set off by all the horror stories I've
• 1:20:54
  been reading online. They didn't want me around that stuff anymore,
• 1:20:58
  any scary stories and costumes. They said it would probably
• 1:21:02
  cause me to go into another fit. I said in
• 1:21:06
  my room on the bed, feeling frustration rise through me,
• 1:21:09
  I had to go to the party. There's everything to me.
• 1:21:12
  The only thing keeping me going through all the nightmares.
• 1:21:15
  I had to see Sarah. I could hear my parents downstairs,
• 1:21:19
  the grating of the dining room chairs sliding against the
• 1:21:22
  hardwood as they talked. Every now and then, I could
• 1:21:25
  hear a sentence coming through the walls.
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 4: We should have never shown him horror films when he
• 1:21:31
  was younger.
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: This is my parents having a conversation. My mother said,
• 1:21:38
  I'm turning the internet off tomorrow from my father. Great.
• 1:21:48
  I had two options. I could sit here tonight, turn
• 1:21:51
  on my computer and read scary stories like I do
• 1:21:53
  most nights, and pretend nothing wrong with that, and pretend
• 1:21:57
  it's more special because it's Halloween. Yeah, what are we
• 1:22:02
  doing right now?
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 7: Dude?
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 4: Just wait, or.
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: I could sneak out of my window, off my roof,
• 1:22:15
  cut through the forest, and go to the party that
• 1:22:17
  is sure to change my socializing future. I knew what
• 1:22:27
  I had to do. I put my costume on. I'm
• 1:22:32
  a weird character from an obscure I'm a weird character
• 1:22:40
  from an obscure internet story that I'm sure no one
• 1:22:42
  will know. It's a bit tongue in cheek. Honestly, the
• 1:22:49
  character gets bullied, burned alive, and comes back and kills everyone. Wow,
• 1:23:11
  I'll take that one. That felt good. All right, you
• 1:23:14
  know you're right the story rules. Surely that's not Surely
• 1:23:20
  that's not a bad omen right. I zipped up my
• 1:23:23
  hoodie Jeff didn't have a zip up pudding in the story,
• 1:23:26
  by the way, Mine's comic minds tchnically accurate, and opened
• 1:23:30
  my window, quietly, checking to make sure I could still
• 1:23:33
  hear my parents talking. They wouldn't notice that I'm gone.
• 1:23:36
  Something tells me they aren't going to want to see
• 1:23:38
  me for a little while. I climbed onto the roof, slowly,
• 1:23:42
  sneaking to the trail is speckled with ivy on the
• 1:23:45
  side of my room and climbing down. I'd practiced this before,
• 1:23:48
  just never with anywhere to go.
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 4: It's so pathetic. Yeah, one day I'm gonna do this real.
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: One day, I'm gonna go to a dead bird party.
• 1:24:02
  As soon as I hit the grass, the motion light
• 1:24:05
  flashed on, flooding me in its wide beams. Without pausing,
• 1:24:09
  I rushed out of its vision and into the woods
• 1:24:11
  before my parents would notice anything from the back window.
• 1:24:14
  The woods were much scarier at night. All around me snarled,
• 1:24:18
  malformed branches stretched into impossible darkness. I turned on my
• 1:24:22
  cell phone flashlight and short being barely lighting the trees
• 1:24:25
  through a constantly shifting mist that had come after sundown.
• 1:24:29
  I felt proud of myself. I never would have chosen
• 1:24:32
  this path before, Proud that I would be brave enough
• 1:24:35
  to traverse this dark terrain. He's talking about a yard
• 1:24:38
  dark terrain. I felt like I was growing. Maybe this
• 1:24:41
  weird brain malfunction, Maybe this weird brain malfunction that I
• 1:24:45
  had had been had been having, was starting to end.
• 1:24:50
  I was feeling more excited for the party than ever before.
• 1:24:53
  It was so close. As I pushed my way through
• 1:24:56
  the brush, careful not to trip him up, turned root,
• 1:25:00
  hashed out all the things that I might say, Oh,
• 1:25:03
  here we go, Quips that I the voice gets grating
• 1:25:13
  after too long, but he's begging for it.
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 4: You have to persevere, quips that I can.
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: Throw at people.
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 11: People love quips.
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: Rolling through these thoughts, I couldn't believe how charming I was.
• 1:25:32
  You know, it is funny reading this that so clearly
• 1:25:37
  is targeted at this point, right after reading my old
• 1:25:41
  story that was melodramatic, over the top. If it's perfectly,
• 1:25:47
  I couldn't believe how charming I was. Finally it would
• 1:25:50
  be all smooth sailing from here. Everything was possibility. It's
• 1:25:56
  good grammar, snap, great. The screams had returned. This time
• 1:26:18
  it was deeper, furious, wounded. This time it wasn't there
• 1:26:26
  were other screams you could have picked from a library.
• 1:26:30
  This time it wasn't a child. It seemed to be
• 1:26:32
  the scream of a grown man. There's no way you
• 1:26:38
  didn't pick this story. This is the most this is
• 1:26:42
  the most jeered story we've ever had. Okay, just like
• 1:26:47
  a man can stripped open and then a baby get
• 1:26:49
  jumped inside of him, and then I can just scream
• 1:26:51
  a lot. The scream was loud, irritating. I braced myself
• 1:26:56
  against it, covering my ears. It almost didn't sound I'm human.
• 1:27:01
  They changed in frequency, too, drawing out in longer gaps,
• 1:27:05
  always coming back just as I thought they had ended. Worst,
• 1:27:08
  I thought, as I pushed myself forward against everything and
• 1:27:11
  me telling me to turn and go home. It seemed close.
• 1:27:16
  This was just my mind playing tricks on me. Right,
• 1:27:19
  It's been happening for days, so I wouldn't happen now,
• 1:27:22
  right before the big party. Just ignore it. You can
• 1:27:25
  control your mind. Give no attention to the screams of
• 1:27:28
  a man somewhere in these woods. It's easy, I said.
• 1:27:35
  I stepped over a deformed route, jutting up like a tendril,
• 1:27:39
  and noticed the sounds of something foaming, bubbling, a collection
• 1:27:42
  of sounds folding over each other, slushing together in a
• 1:27:46
  horrible sway. I turned towards the sound, the dim beam
• 1:27:49
  of my flashlight catching something there moving. It was the
• 1:27:54
  bearded man, emaciated, crawling on all fours into the sunken
• 1:27:58
  husk of an older man. His eyes were closed, but
• 1:28:02
  as I watched, frozen in horror, they ripped open and
• 1:28:05
  the man let out a blood curdling screen. The man
• 1:28:12
  was split at his stomach. He was screaming, unaware of
• 1:28:15
  his surroundings. The thin, balding man pushed open, exposed skin,
• 1:28:20
  folding back against itself, and proceeded to enter the yawning
• 1:28:23
  cavity head first, draping the wet skin over his balding head,
• 1:28:27
  dragging himself inside the carcass. A disgusting, squelching noise came
• 1:28:32
  from the inside the flesh as he grabbed ripped bones,
• 1:28:37
  pulling himself forward inch by inch. I stumbled forward a
• 1:28:42
  step as something bumped me from behind. A deer pushed
• 1:28:45
  me ahead, nudging me toward the man. I tried to
• 1:28:49
  spin out of its grasp, but was pinned by its sharp,
• 1:28:52
  browning antlers, broken in places, my heels dugging in the
• 1:28:56
  dirt as I pushed back with everything I had, trying
• 1:28:59
  to stop the beat, but I couldn't overpower him. The
• 1:29:02
  bald man finished pulling himself into the corpse, his face
• 1:29:06
  fitting into his skin as it overcame him, and he
• 1:29:08
  smiled at me. I didn't scream. I couldn't. I hyperventilated.
• 1:29:14
  This couldn't be real, This couldn't be real. My eyes
• 1:29:17
  darted left and right. All around me. Woodland animals stood
• 1:29:21
  and watched. I needed this to stop. I was losing
• 1:29:24
  my mind. A bullet ricocheted off the tree just to
• 1:29:30
  my left. The animals rushed away in all directions. The
• 1:29:33
  deer urging me forward, released me from its antlers and
• 1:29:36
  bounded off into the surging darkness. I fell flat on
• 1:29:39
  my back without thinking. I flipped onto my front, pushed
• 1:29:43
  up on all fours, and sprinted away as fast as
• 1:29:45
  I could. A bullet flew past me inches away.
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 7: Stopped shooting.
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: Interesting strategy, I screamed at the top of my lungs.
• 1:30:04
  It's cool, I can just do that. B I saw
• 1:30:11
  the flash of the gun, the bullet zipping past me,
• 1:30:14
  and hid in a tree, splintering woods. Stop shooting, I
• 1:30:21
  screamed again, even louder, flailing my arms. He's literally dressed
• 1:30:27
  like Jeff the Killer doing that. The silhouette of two
• 1:30:31
  figures walked towards me, the Williams brothers, Shaiah.
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 4: What are you doing out here? You're just sneaking around
• 1:30:40
  our house.
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 1: Jackie said, annoyed. Did they just shoot at people that
• 1:30:44
  walk through the woods?
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 4: What are you sneaking.
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: For Croppie shopped.
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 4: Why are you shooting at me?
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 1: Man, I exclaimed, more exhausted than I'd ever been in
• 1:30:55
  my life. Jackie snarled, this.
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 12: Is my dad's and he said, I can shoot into
• 1:31:02
  the woods anytime I want.
• 1:31:03
  Speaker 1: Robbie smiled, nudging his brother quickly shaped up.
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 3: Oh hey, actually, we're glad that you're here, though everyone
• 1:31:10
  else has been arriving in the front door for the party,
• 1:31:12
  but we're glad you're here.
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: Come on, let's go, Jackie said excitedly a grin, lifting
• 1:31:17
  the edges of his lips, and naturally, yeah, let's go,
• 1:31:22
  Robbie headed, beaming. The party was amazing. Everyone was dressed up, laughing,
• 1:31:27
  having a great time. I was welcomed by everyone. People
• 1:31:31
  patted me on the back, people offered me drinks. Someone
• 1:31:34
  even offered me some alcohol, to which I had to
• 1:31:36
  politely decline, Oh, come.
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 4: On, he's cool.
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: This kid is so me, But no one made fun
• 1:31:52
  of me. Some people even try to guess what I
• 1:31:56
  was wearing, which which was cute, but none of them
• 1:32:00
  got close to the right answer. The one guy called
• 1:32:04
  me Jeff, which made me does he say go to sleep? God?
• 1:32:18
  I hope I hope, which made me curious if they knew. Regardless,
• 1:32:23
  this was everything I could have ever wanted. I found
• 1:32:27
  Sarah across the room. She turned to look at me
• 1:32:30
  just then, and her eyes connected. She floushed her perfect teeth,
• 1:32:34
  brushed a long strand of hazel hair out of her face.
• 1:32:38
  She had never looked more beautiful.
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 4: Hey, you made it, she.
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 1: Said, reaching out and touching my arm.
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't miss it for the world.
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: I nervously set back, just happy. I kept my words together.
• 1:32:55
  She lean closer to me, her grip growing tighter. What
• 1:32:58
  does she gripping?
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 4: I have something for you. Can you come with me?
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: High school kids? High school party? High school children, she smiled,
• 1:33:21
  sliding her hand down my arm to my hand as
• 1:33:23
  she pulled me through the party. I'm so glad I
• 1:33:26
  didn't dress up as the pirate. Sarah opened the door
• 1:33:29
  to the garage and led me inside, shutting a chest
• 1:33:31
  behind us. We said in the darkness for a moment,
• 1:33:34
  my heart was racing. Garage light turned on and the
• 1:33:38
  Williams brothers were standing in the middle of the room
• 1:33:40
  with a large red box. In the center of the
• 1:33:42
  empty garage, a speckle cartoonishly giant bow was on top. Hey, guys,
• 1:33:51
  I said, confused, looking to Sarah, who gestured me over
• 1:33:54
  to them. Go on, Sarah said, letting go of my arm.
• 1:33:58
  Both the brothers stood in front of me. Jackie put
• 1:34:00
  his hand on my shoulder. His grip was impossibly strong.
• 1:34:04
  Speaker 3: I know we've given you a lot of hard times,
• 1:34:07
  but we just wanted to give you a gift to
• 1:34:09
  show that it's all water under the bridge.
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: Jackie's grin spread across his face. Robbie, however, was almost
• 1:34:17
  purple in the face, contorting and shaky eyes tearing. I
• 1:34:22
  walked up to the box, looking at Sarah, Robbie, and Jackie.
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 4: Thanks, guys, this is so kind of you.
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 1: He honestly deserves it.
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 4: He's a good kid.
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 1: He was walking. He had practiced sneaking out of his
• 1:34:40
  room and then was walking through the woods practicing his quips.
• 1:34:45
  And then he gets to the party. He's like No
• 1:34:47
  one can guess what I was like. No. I tore
• 1:34:52
  into my gift, unwrapping the bow and taking the top
• 1:34:54
  of the box. I hope it's a bomb. Come on.
• 1:34:58
  When I saw what was inside, my smile faded. Dead animals,
• 1:35:03
  dead birds, dead deer, rabbit, squirrels, everything stuffed horribly into
• 1:35:07
  the box inside, stangled together, bones snapped off in angles.
• 1:35:14
  Probably immediately burst out into laughter, followed by Jackie, then Sarah,
• 1:35:25
  all laughing at me, howling. Sarah, covering her mouth laughing,
• 1:35:34
  pressed the garage button and the door lifted up slowly,
• 1:35:38
  each panel folding up and away. The entire party foot outside,
• 1:35:46
  every single one of them shrieking with laughter, hysterical. My
• 1:35:51
  eyes begin to flood with tears. What can I have
• 1:35:54
  done to deserve this?
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 1: Jackie's shouldered past me, his hand around Sarah's waist. Robbie
• 1:36:02
  sprinted out of the garage and started high fiving the
• 1:36:05
  crowd of kids.
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 7: Yes, dead animal box.
• 1:36:13
  Speaker 1: Epig break. Jackie and Sarah turned back to me as
• 1:36:16
  I stood alone in the garage, next to the putrid
• 1:36:18
  rodding present they had left for me. It's not even
• 1:36:21
  like it's not even like making him do something or
• 1:36:23
  like dunking something on it. It's just like those are dead, Like, oh,
• 1:36:30
  we got you good. I bet you didn't think that
• 1:36:31
  was in there.
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 12: Yeah, ah man, he didn't really think we wanted you
• 1:36:36
  to come to this party, did.
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: You, Jackie said, squealing Sarah couldn't hide her laughter, and
• 1:36:41
  she buried her face in a Jackie's jacket. I couldn't
• 1:36:44
  fight back tears, not anymore, not after this. I just
• 1:36:48
  let them spill, raising my forearm up to my eyes,
• 1:36:51
  quickly wiping them, not trying to give them the satisfaction
• 1:36:55
  that they were so desperately craving. I wouldn't let them win,
• 1:36:59
  not like the not.
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 4: Like this, not like these, Not like these.
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 1: I would leave with my head held up high. I
• 1:37:06
  wiped my face in my sleeve and, composing myself, looked
• 1:37:09
  up to the crowd, finding all of them. As I
• 1:37:12
  scanned them in disbelief and horror, I saw it, a
• 1:37:16
  man standing in the very back, taller than everyone else,
• 1:37:20
  no expression on his face. His hair was long and unkempt.
• 1:37:24
  He was bearded, covered in rags. Terrified, closed my eyes.
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 4: God, get me out of here.
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 1: Amen, Amen. Robbie snorting, turned around and noticed the man
• 1:37:41
  before letting out a piggish squeal and running over to
• 1:37:44
  his brother. The crowd screamed and gasped, all moving away
• 1:37:53
  from the man and into the garage. The man didn't move.
• 1:37:57
  Jackie looked to Sarah, who had fear in her eyes.
• 1:38:00
  Stepped forward.
• 1:38:01
  Speaker 3: Hey man, this is a private party, so why don't
• 1:38:05
  you get your homeless ass out of here?
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 1: The man didn't move. Jackie, frustrated, moved up to the man.
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 4: Did you hear me, asshole? I said, this is a boo.
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: Jackie's words escaped him. The man stood with his eyes shut. Suddenly,
• 1:38:24
  the man grabs Jackie by the arm. He flailed, trying
• 1:38:28
  to escape. The man opened his eyes, A blinding, piercing
• 1:38:33
  light emanated from them. He looked at Jackie in the eyes.
• 1:38:38
  He was immediately blinded. Jackie fell to the ground, screaming
• 1:38:43
  in pain, writhing on the ground. The crowd screamed in terror,
• 1:38:49
  trying to scramble, but the man opened his eyes again
• 1:38:52
  and shone it at the crowd, blinding everyone who stood outside.
• 1:38:56
  They all fell and screamed in pain, kicking and screaming
• 1:39:00
  on the ground. The sound of sneakers and boots scrape
• 1:39:03
  the asphalt, fingernails tearing against the concrete. Kids screamed for
• 1:39:08
  their mom, others, for each other, all falling on deaf ears.
• 1:39:12
  I could hear the man's bare feet walking on the
• 1:39:14
  garage floor. I didn't open my eyes. I didn't have
• 1:39:18
  the courage. The man stopped and waited. It was excruciating.
• 1:39:23
  Just kill me, get it over with.
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 4: Already, Open your eyes, my child.
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: That this does roll. You're right, says the man. His
• 1:39:41
  voice is comforting. I trust him, slowly letting my eyes open,
• 1:39:46
  revealing the man in front of me.
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 4: Jesus, that's right, Shiah. You called to me, and I answered.
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 1: There's no way.
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I wrote this.
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I fell to my knees in disbelief thinking about
• 1:41:09
  in the last couple of days, thinking of the baby
• 1:41:11
  born in the dark woods, he gathered the animals of
• 1:41:15
  the forest to resurrect himself. For what for me?
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 4: You don't need to seek validation.
• 1:41:28
  Speaker 1: That's the wait. My slide ends there. Huh, Mine ends there.
• 1:41:35
  That's the last it goes off.
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 4: Then I'll keep reading.
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 3: You don't need to seek validation from these people, Shaya,
• 1:41:49
  which is kind of like Isaiah. You need to find
• 1:41:53
  love in yourself then and only then will the others
• 1:41:58
  seek you as a thread.
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 4: Thank you, Jesus.
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 3: Jesus smiled, putting his hand on my shoulder. I have
• 1:42:10
  to admit it was comforting. You're going to cure these
• 1:42:15
  people's blindness, right, Oh.
• 1:42:18
  Speaker 4: Oh yeah, totally definitely. Jesus stood up and waved his
• 1:42:22
  hands over the kids.
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 3: Terrified, they regained their vision, screaming, scurring off into the night.
• 1:42:29
  The William brothers sat in the driveway, rocking back and forth.
• 1:42:32
  Jesus walks over to them, kneeling down to them. This
• 1:42:38
  is a blessing, but always no, I am watching it
• 1:42:45
  all times.
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 4: Do you understand you want to read that? Sorry? Here
• 1:42:55
  I wanted to hear you read the thing. So it's
• 1:43:00
  a good story.
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 1: I have never been god so good in min tart.
• 1:43:06
  You named him Shia out of letters from my name.
• 1:43:12
  Speaker 4: It's almost nice.
• 1:43:12
  Speaker 1: And it's about a kid who was a nerd who
• 1:43:15
  read creepypastas and prayed, and Jesus showed up and blinded
• 1:43:20
  the people that made fun of him.
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 4: That's right, we got a.
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 3: Little bear finishing off at least, yeah, finishing off for
• 1:43:35
  the people right here.
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah. The brothers shook their heads nervously. They got up
• 1:43:44
  and sprinted back into their house, slamming the door behind him.
• 1:43:49
  Jesus turned and moved back to me, hovering his hand
• 1:43:53
  over the box of dead animals began to chum and
• 1:43:55
  move in a crazed motion. Suddenly, the animals came back
• 1:43:59
  to life, jumping and flying out of the box and
• 1:44:02
  back into the forest. Praise Crimsy. I put my hands
• 1:44:10
  over my head as they rushed past and reclaimed the
• 1:44:12
  forest as their home once more. When I looked up,
• 1:44:16
  he was gone. I just looked at the last line.
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 4: You have to keep reading.
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 1: I was making fun of his voice. The rest of
• 1:44:32
  the school year was a lot different people treated me differently,
• 1:44:37
  and things became normal after a while. Though not a
• 1:44:41
  lot of people talk to me. That was fine. I've
• 1:44:45
  done a lot of personal growing. I think I've been
• 1:44:50
  able to be more comfortable with myself and have poured
• 1:44:54
  my interest this is like a flogging. Have poured my
• 1:44:57
  interest into were internet horror topics, and have even started
• 1:45:04
  making videos online. I've got to say, I think my
• 1:45:20
  parents are even a fan now. They even appreciated my
• 1:45:24
  user name windagoon. Oh cool, oh cool, my first comment
• 1:45:54
  this Iceberg video rules.
• 1:46:18
  Speaker 4: A couple fun facts.
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 12: Me and my friend Dave, who's here standing somewhere off
• 1:46:25
  to the right over here.
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 4: We wrote this today in five hours.
• 1:46:38
  Speaker 3: Also, the best part of it all is I got
• 1:46:41
  your wife's permission.
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 1: I'm speechless, no rebuttal, no response, how when did you
• 1:46:58
  decide to do that?
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 3: I think I decided I wanted to write it a
• 1:47:02
  while ago, but it got really busy and then I
• 1:47:04
  was like, oh shit, today's the show.
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 4: So yeah, so.
• 1:47:10
  Speaker 1: There you name the character after me who praised God. Yes,
• 1:47:16
  I was making fun of him so much, and the
• 1:47:22
  Jeff that kill just.
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 4: Just over and over.
• 1:47:27
  Speaker 3: You did kind of call it a little bit, so you.
• 1:47:35
  Speaker 1: Know, when when did I call it?
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 4: You kept saying like, oh, this is something you would write.
• 1:47:42
  Speaker 1: That's a bear trap once again, just like how old
• 1:47:45
  you are, which I still don't know. It's I just
• 1:47:48
  wouldn't expect you to lie to me so hard.
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 4: I guess I thought it was a good story.
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 1: Four a story you wrote in five hours that was
• 1:47:54
  well done.
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 4: Oh good, I'm glad you like it.
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 1: The yeah, like the bay being shoved in by the
• 1:48:01
  deer and stuff like that. That was sick. That was cool.
• 1:48:03
  Speaker 3: It was, But like I was like, you can't like
• 1:48:06
  just have him stand up and be like I'm Jesus, yeah,
• 1:48:09
  you know right.
• 1:48:10
  Speaker 4: So I was like, what's a cool way for a
• 1:48:12
  guy to be resurrected?
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 3: And it's like if he is growing his other self
• 1:48:16
  and his younger self is just crawling inside of him.
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 4: That's kind of cool that.
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: It is pretty sick. Yeah, it's pretty metal. Yeah. And
• 1:48:23
  then he shows up and blinds everyone at the end. Gosh,
• 1:48:25
  the amount I was like, didn't drink alcohol. It's like me, huh,
• 1:48:30
  I was doing the voice. I was doing the shinji voice.
• 1:48:33
  Speaker 4: It's beautiful.
• 1:48:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, because un ironically good story, but also I I
• 1:48:42
  will get you back at something.
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 4: Please do.
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, well done, good story. So that take that sto
• 1:48:53
  our final one of the night.
• 1:48:55
  Speaker 3: I was just saying, heaving the story here since the
• 1:48:57
  slide's not working, do you want to read it together?
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 4: What?
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 1: No? That was the last of that, okay oka, Yeah, okay,
• 1:49:03
  just making sure all right. So story three. It's called
• 1:49:07
  The Journal of a Coal Miner's Daughter, and it is
• 1:49:11
  written by Travis Weaver, who goes by Strange Accounts on Reddit.
• 1:49:16
  This is someone who began posting stories to the r
• 1:49:19
  slash creep cast subreddit. So a few weeks ago, I
• 1:49:28
  flew to Hunter's house and we recorded a whole bunch
• 1:49:30
  of episodes to try to get ahead of the curve
• 1:49:33
  a bit. And that's when the goop suit incident took
• 1:49:35
  place right to which, by the way, now that it's out,
• 1:49:39
  did he not kill that short film?
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 4: So gone?
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 1: Incredible? But anyway, I gotta be there for the last
• 1:49:50
  few days of that. But while we were there we
• 1:49:51
  recorded six episodes, I think three of which are posted now.
• 1:49:55
  We're just sprinkling them as weekends come. One of them
• 1:49:58
  we read was called A Counts of a Soldier of
• 1:50:02
  a Lone Soldier or something like that. It was about
• 1:50:04
  a soldier in like the American West. It was an
• 1:50:06
  excellent story. I was fangirling over the whole time. This
• 1:50:09
  guy had a ton of accounts, so I said, hey,
• 1:50:11
  for the show, let's do another one of his. And
• 1:50:14
  then turns out he lives in Chicago, so he's here tonight.
• 1:50:19
  So Travis, thank you very much. Yessir, Yes, sir, very nice,
• 1:50:32
  very nice. So with that our final story of the night.
• 1:50:36
  Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to begin?
• 1:50:38
  Speaker 4: Let's do it.
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 1: Let's do it. That's a really good animation, all right.
• 1:50:45
  From the diary of Clara Mayor Hutchins May Hutchess already
• 1:50:50
  messing it up? Yeah, sorry, Clara May Hutchins, West Virginia,
• 1:50:56
  March nineteen oh seven March the twelfth, Papa got stuck
• 1:51:00
  the coal mine. This morning, the men from the If
• 1:51:03
  this also turns out to me about me, I'm gonna
• 1:51:07
  This morning the men from the mine come running up
• 1:51:10
  the road. Uncle James first black soot, all about his cheeks,
• 1:51:14
  hollering for Mama.
• 1:51:16
  Speaker 3: He said, Sarah, the chef's band. But the men are
• 1:51:19
  in now, we'll get Henry out.
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 1: That's my papa's name. Mama went wide in the face
• 1:51:25
  and clutched hold of my arm, near to pulling it out.
• 1:51:28
  Speaker 4: She said, you swear it, James, Tell me he'll come
• 1:51:31
  back to me.
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 1: Uncle James said, I swear.
• 1:51:34
  Speaker 4: We'll dig till our backs give. We got the boys
• 1:51:37
  on picks and shovels already. We use the dynamite we
• 1:51:40
  have to.
• 1:51:41
  Speaker 1: Mama lifted her chin as if she was queen of
• 1:51:43
  the town.
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 4: Then use it. Don't you dare telling me he won't
• 1:51:47
  come home.
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: Uncle Henry looked at her long but didn't say no more.
• 1:51:52
  He went back down toward the mine with the others.
• 1:51:55
  I heard the clank of iron and the shouts of
• 1:51:57
  the men humming about the shafts like bees. I asked
• 1:52:01
  Mom if Papa was hurt. She knelt before me and
• 1:52:04
  took my cheeks and her palms and said.
• 1:52:06
  Speaker 12: Your daddy's the strongest man God ever made. He'll claw
• 1:52:09
  through rocks for us. He'll be sitting at this table
• 1:52:12
  by your birthday.
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 4: You mark my words.
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 1: I said, what if the air runs out?
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 4: She hushed me quick, don't you let such talk pass
• 1:52:21
  your lips.
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 12: Clear made air or no air. Henry Hutchins will find
• 1:52:26
  a way. He's got fighting them, the kind no mountain
• 1:52:29
  can bury.
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 1: Later, when the lambs were lit, Uncle James came again.
• 1:52:35
  His boots left red clay clumps on the floor. He
• 1:52:38
  looked tired. Mama asked, have you heard him? He rubbed
• 1:52:43
  his forehead and.
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 4: Said, no sound yet, We'll keep on.
• 1:52:47
  Speaker 1: She would not let him rest.
• 1:52:48
  Speaker 12: James, you know your brother. He'd never turn over. You'd
• 1:52:52
  dig till your arms fall off.
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: Uncle James pressed his cap tight and muttered, we'll do
• 1:52:57
  all we can do. Turned to me, try to smile,
• 1:53:02
  Oh broal quick.
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 4: Clara, you're bobb be proud to keep and watch it
• 1:53:06
  with your mom.
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 3: Mama snaps, he'll be here soon to say to himself,
• 1:53:12
  I fucked that up one more time.
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 4: Just sorry, I'm so nervous. He'll be here soon to
• 1:53:17
  say that himself.
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 19: Nailed it as always, you do like you're reading comprehensions.
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: Excellent when you're making fun of someone.
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Amen.
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: After he left, Mama pulled me onto her lap. She
• 1:53:42
  rocked me back and forth, near to breaking my ribs,
• 1:53:45
  whispering in my ear.
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 4: He'll be home by your birthday. He'll bring you ribbons
• 1:53:49
  from down, don't you doubt it.
• 1:53:51
  Speaker 1: Her words ran over and over until they made me drowsy,
• 1:53:55
  so I could feel her trembling. I tried to think
• 1:53:58
  Papa's laughed. He always laughed like it surprised him, quick
• 1:54:02
  and bright. I shut my eyes and heard the mountain
• 1:54:05
  groan in the dark. When I went to bed, Mama
• 1:54:09
  tucks me in time.
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 4: Say your prayers. By the time the candles are gone,
• 1:54:14
  your dady will be on his way home.
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: Candles burned, nubs, the windows stayed black. I will say
• 1:54:23
  this about this author right now, not just because he's
• 1:54:25
  in the room, but.
• 1:54:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, plug your ears, yeah, plug your ears.
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 1: There is When we were reading the Soldier story, there
• 1:54:33
  was so much language, juices, and like tone of it
• 1:54:35
  that was about like a gruff soldier, like in the
• 1:54:39
  American West, like eighteen hundreds that I was like, Oh,
• 1:54:42
  maybe the author just like is that kind of guy
• 1:54:45
  or's familiar with that kind of riding. But now he's
• 1:54:47
  doing all of it for a kid on the other
• 1:54:49
  side of the country fifty years later. So I think
• 1:54:51
  he's just good at riding again because he's in the room.
• 1:55:01
  It's the first day without Papa's voice in this house.
• 1:55:05
  All rite more. Soon March the fourteenth, Sunday church bell
• 1:55:10
  banged and banged down the lane. Mama never looked up
• 1:55:13
  from the stove, seeing puff like smoke curled around her face,
• 1:55:17
  kept hearing Papa's name tumble from her mouth as if
• 1:55:20
  she was talking to the kettle. When the bell went quiet,
• 1:55:24
  I sneaked out the door. Uncle James leaned on the
• 1:55:27
  fence with two miners. Their coats were gray as ashes,
• 1:55:31
  and mud swallowed their boots. I crouched behind the wash
• 1:55:34
  barrel and pressed my cheek against it so I could hear.
• 1:55:38
  One miner scraped his boot in the dirt.
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 3: He said, ain't no use digging. The mountain eats the
• 1:55:43
  hole as soon as it's made.
• 1:55:45
  Speaker 1: Uncle struck the rail with his fist.
• 1:55:48
  Speaker 4: He's my brother I'll not stop.
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 1: The second miner spat into the mud.
• 1:55:53
  Speaker 4: And said, Sayer's wound end up too hard. She won't
• 1:55:56
  listen to Eve with the truth hollers in her ear.
• 1:55:59
  Speaker 1: Uncle hit the skin Rayell snapped and jumped a splinter.
• 1:56:03
  He said, let her keep hope.
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 4: What's it matter to you?
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 1: The man stopped off down the lane. Uncle wiped his
• 1:56:10
  brow with his sleeve. Then he saw me peeking by
• 1:56:13
  the barrel. He bent down close and said.
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 3: But you don't repeat a word, Clara. Your mama's heart
• 1:56:19
  hanging by a thread.
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 1: March the fifteenth, the lamp still burned. When the rooster called,
• 1:56:25
  smoke pressed against the glass. Did you jump at that?
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 4: Huh?
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 1: Oh? I thought so, you jumped when.
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 4: The road rocked, I almost didn't.
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 1: Smoke pressed against the glass, leaving a blackness soot. I
• 1:56:38
  reached for the wicks, but Mama swadded me back.
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 4: Leave him. He'll need the light so we can find
• 1:56:42
  the door.
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: Near noon, Uncle James came up the steps. I knew
• 1:56:47
  him by the slam of his boots before even showed
• 1:56:49
  his face.
• 1:56:50
  Speaker 4: Sarah.
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: He called, we braced.
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 3: The chap with timber or the But she groans like
• 1:56:56
  an old woman. Damn, it might be. It might be
• 1:57:00
  we got to clap before them. Sorry, we might be
• 1:57:04
  we got to quit before the mountain berries.
• 1:57:06
  Speaker 1: Is my favorite thing is when you recover in the accent. Oh,
• 1:57:11
  like the guy's coming up to all the kid It's
• 1:57:13
  like we better get what the what was gone?
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 4: Oh?
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 1: Mama stepped into the doorway, hair falling wild across her back.
• 1:57:20
  Speaker 3: You'll not stop you, hear me, James hutchins not to
• 1:57:24
  Henry walks out.
• 1:57:25
  Speaker 1: Uncle stood dripping on the boards, cap twisting between his palms.
• 1:57:30
  His coat was streaked with red mud, looked worn to
• 1:57:33
  the bone.
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 4: My be he's gone already.
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 1: Mom'sat her chin.
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 4: He ain't gone. He still draws breath. I feel it.
• 1:57:43
  Speaker 1: Uncle raked at the dirt in his beard and would
• 1:57:45
  not meet her. Look. He caught me peeking from the corner.
• 1:57:50
  He knelt a little, lips tugging up, crooking.
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 3: Don't mind me, clearly, your papa's mule stubborn. If any
• 1:57:57
  man could beat out of mountainous here.
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 1: I tried to smile, but my belly twists something bad.
• 1:58:05
  March the twentieth, So so far she wants to get
• 1:58:10
  her husband back, and she the brother's like you maybe then,
• 1:58:12
  and she's like, no, keep looking for him. If you
• 1:58:16
  were trapped into mine, Oh, how long would Alison send
• 1:58:24
  people to look for you?
• 1:58:26
  Speaker 4: God, I never leave me, leave me to run?
• 1:58:33
  Speaker 1: What if there wasn't even a can? Like you were
• 1:58:34
  just lost somewhere in there.
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm just wandering around. I think then that that
• 1:58:39
  point too. Never, just like he's gone.
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're in the parking lot and you're like, oh,
• 1:58:44
  the gift shop.
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 3: And she's walking around like a giant baby, just like
• 1:58:47
  aimlessly walking around Chicago.
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: Kay I'd give Kayla. If there was a guy next
• 1:58:59
  to her, she'd be like, can you go look for him?
• 1:59:01
  But if there wasn't, she'd be like, uh.
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 4: Huh, there it is.
• 1:59:05
  Speaker 1: He's gone, ye, Marsh something about Kayla. Yes. March the twentieth,
• 1:59:16
  Three Nights Now. Mama is set by the window, back
• 1:59:18
  stiff as the chair slats, staring toward the ridge where
• 1:59:22
  the mine lies. Tonight. She called me close.
• 1:59:25
  Speaker 4: Listen count Clara. Do you hear him tapping?
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: Oh? I held still, and all I heard were crickets
• 1:59:33
  singing in the weeds. Mama dug her nails in my arm.
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 4: That's him. He's still us not to friend. He's coming home.
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: I wish to tell her there was nothing. Her days
• 1:59:46
  burned so bright. I bobbed my head, her face offten,
• 1:59:49
  the way it does when she breaks my hair.
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 4: He'll be right here before the month ends, you'll see.
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 1: After supper, Uncle James came heavy up the steps. He said,
• 1:59:59
  his land on the table, and said.
• 2:00:01
  Speaker 3: Sarah, the crew can't hold much longer. The timber is
• 2:00:05
  grown worse each day. We'll lose men if we strike again.
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 1: Mom sprang up from her chair.
• 2:00:11
  Speaker 4: You're lying. You'd leave him down there to rot if
• 2:00:14
  you stopped.
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: Uncle trace the lines on his brow with his hand.
• 2:00:18
  Speaker 3: I trade my own lungs to bring him back. But
• 2:00:20
  there's nothing left below for us to gain.
• 2:00:23
  Speaker 1: The table shook my Mama struck him. The lamp flame
• 2:00:26
  left high.
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 4: Not another word, James. My Henry's alive. I hear him
• 2:00:31
  calling from those hills.
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: The room winds still. My throat twisted till it hurt.
• 2:00:37
  Uncle said, deep, it's done, Sarah, I'm sorry, flicked a
• 2:00:42
  look toward me, turned his back, and left without another word.
• 2:00:46
  Marched the twenty second. The house grows colder with each day.
• 2:00:51
  Mama no longer cooks full meals. She says Papa will
• 2:00:54
  be home soon, so we must save the best for him.
• 2:00:57
  I nibble what bread has left, and right on my
• 2:00:59
  hands let me I think of Uncle James sometimes, faces
• 2:01:05
  long as a shovel handle, worn with sadness. I think
• 2:01:09
  he carries the truth Mama will not hear, and I
• 2:01:12
  cannot bring it to my tongue either. If Papa's gone,
• 2:01:17
  why do I feel him in the halls at night?
• 2:01:20
  It's as if he walks here already and no door
• 2:01:23
  is open. Told myself it was dreams. Yet last night
• 2:01:28
  I heard his boots scrape the porch. The weight of
• 2:01:31
  them was like haystacks thrown on a car.
• 2:01:34
  Speaker 3: I will say, I can't tell this is like her
• 2:01:36
  actually thinking that it's like a ghost.
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 4: But if my mom was being fucking insane.
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 3: And being like, here's one more day, I feel like
• 2:01:44
  I'd start freaking myself out too.
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: Dude, you hear him right.
• 2:01:48
  Speaker 12: Exactly, I'd be like, no, yeah, please get out what
• 2:01:55
  I mean, close the hook.
• 2:01:59
  Speaker 1: Dad's dead. Mom.
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 4: That's so hard for you to figure it over, Jesus Christ.
• 2:02:03
  Speaker 1: I will say this reminds me so far because like obviously,
• 2:02:07
  growing up around coal country. But everyone's got family members
• 2:02:10
  that were killed in the mines and stuff like that.
• 2:02:12
  There'd always be legends about, like you know, their ghosts
• 2:02:14
  haunt the mines or you still hear them. There's a
• 2:02:16
  place near I grew up in Bell County, Kentucky where
• 2:02:21
  which no one in here has heard of, where okay uh,
• 2:02:25
  there was a mine collapse, like back in the twenties.
• 2:02:28
  There's a group of guys who said they were on
• 2:02:30
  the other side of the rock, and then seven men
• 2:02:33
  swore that out of the side of the rock, a
• 2:02:36
  man opened a door like out of the solid stone
• 2:02:39
  and said, oh, come this way, and they all followed him,
• 2:02:42
  and they walked through the rock and came out the
• 2:02:44
  other side. He shut the door was never seen again.
• 2:02:46
  So people like, there's all these weird stories about mine
• 2:02:48
  collapse and shut ins. And one of the things I remember,
• 2:02:51
  like an old wives tale to get talked about, is
• 2:02:53
  if someone dies in the mountain, they stay on the mountain, right,
• 2:02:56
  their spirits always there. So it's almost like he died
• 2:02:58
  down in the cave and I was ghosts just went home,
• 2:03:01
  even if he doesn't know he's dead kind of thing.
• 2:03:04
  It's interesting. I told myself it was dreams. Last night.
• 2:03:07
  I heard his foot scrape the porch. The waight to
• 2:03:09
  them was like haystacks thrown on a cart. Mama lifted
• 2:03:12
  her face to the window and kept her mind on
• 2:03:14
  the dark. Her eyes fixed on something through the glass.
• 2:03:18
  That's him, she said, he's about here. Shoved my blanket
• 2:03:24
  to my mouth so no sound would slip out. My
• 2:03:27
  belly hurt from holding still. I looked outside. I did
• 2:03:31
  not see Papa.
• 2:03:33
  Speaker 4: I'm I'm snuffing out mom. That night, a pillow was
• 2:03:38
  going over her face.
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 1: Go to him, Mommy, the amount the amount of times
• 2:03:44
  you talk about killing a mother figure in a sort,
• 2:03:48
  where's your mom at? She's back there right? Yeah?
• 2:03:51
  Speaker 4: You do you?
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Are you aware of how much he talks about
• 2:04:00
  killing you?
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 4: Yes?
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 1: Yes, okay, all right, she's fine with it.
• 2:04:06
  Speaker 4: I guess go to sleep. We need to put you
• 2:04:11
  in a home.
• 2:04:12
  Speaker 1: A min March the twenty fifth, today is my birthday.
• 2:04:20
  I am ten years old. I was fucking ten. Yes.
• 2:04:28
  I woke to Mama shaking my shoulder. She was smiling
• 2:04:31
  so wide on near thoughts she'd lost her senses for good.
• 2:04:34
  Her cheeks were as bright as if she'd run a raise,
• 2:04:37
  and her hair hung loose, tangled, like she had not
• 2:04:39
  closed her eyes all night.
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 4: She said, rise up, Claire, mate, your papa's here.
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 1: Set up quick thinking I was dreaming, but she pulled
• 2:04:48
  me from the bed and near dragged me down. The
• 2:04:50
  hall boards creaked under our steps. A mama paid no
• 2:04:53
  mind to him. She bent over and whispered, close to
• 2:04:56
  my ear, don't you so, child?
• 2:05:00
  Speaker 4: Oh Jee's be home this day. He's waited for the
• 2:05:03
  same as you.
• 2:05:06
  Speaker 1: When we stepped into the dining room, here stopped breathing.
• 2:05:11
  Papa was seated at the table. He had never gone
• 2:05:14
  missing at all. His boots were polished and his shirt
• 2:05:18
  looked clean. Lifted his face to me and smiled broad
• 2:05:21
  of summer side.
• 2:05:23
  Speaker 4: Happy birthday, clearer girl.
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: His voice filled the room, deep and rolling. My knees wabbled.
• 2:05:30
  I'd wished so long to hear him again. It sounded
• 2:05:33
  strange in my ears. Papa chuckled and reached out his arm.
• 2:05:39
  Speaker 3: Come, dear, old man, did you think I missed your day?
• 2:05:43
  Speaker 1: I stepped near, though my feet dragged. When his hand
• 2:05:47
  touched my shoulder, it felt warm. There was a weight
• 2:05:50
  in it. I didn't recognize. Mama clapped at the side.
• 2:05:54
  Speaker 3: See there, clearer, mate, didn't I tell you, didn't I say?
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 4: To keep his promise.
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: Papa waned at her.
• 2:06:01
  Speaker 3: Your mama never doubted it's worth more than all the
• 2:06:04
  digging them boys did.
• 2:06:08
  Speaker 1: I tried to smile her. Mama's eyes shone bright as stars,
• 2:06:11
  but I cannot keep from staring at him. Something in
• 2:06:15
  his look was not as before. The whites around his
• 2:06:17
  eyes seemed too wide, the brown to them too dark,
• 2:06:21
  near black as coal. When he laughed cut the air,
• 2:06:25
  though he made it kindly. Mom set a plate before him.
• 2:06:29
  The wall she had left was crusting beans. She said,
• 2:06:34
  we sipd the best for you. Henry.
• 2:06:36
  Speaker 3: You tap the table, fine feast, finest I've ever had.
• 2:06:41
  Speaker 1: He turned to me.
• 2:06:42
  Speaker 4: You ready for a good birthday, Clara.
• 2:06:45
  Speaker 1: I nodded quick, and my heart beat faster.
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 4: I'm gone. I'm running, dude.
• 2:06:53
  Speaker 1: Sure the there's a thing in horror stories where you
• 2:07:02
  somehow have to make the character maybe not helpless, but
• 2:07:05
  in danger, right like if it's disarming them, if it's
• 2:07:08
  injuring them or something like that. Uh. And the easiest
• 2:07:11
  way to do that's kids, right, like kids with parental figures,
• 2:07:14
  what are they gonna do? And there's something so menacing
• 2:07:18
  about the mother being like, he'll be here, he'll be here,
• 2:07:20
  and then one morning he's here, like no, yeah.
• 2:07:26
  Speaker 4: No, I don't think so, Haymaker right to the temple.
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 1: Didn't you? Didn't you as a kid curl up on
• 2:07:33
  your mother's floor like a dog. Just watch her in
• 2:07:36
  the dark. Yeah, yeah, yeah, You've got a lot to
• 2:07:38
  say about what's creepy for other families to spring on
• 2:07:41
  the floor like.
• 2:07:41
  Speaker 4: A tight little Chihuahua dog. Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah.
• 2:07:49
  Speaker 1: MoMA fetched the little cake she had made from corn
• 2:07:51
  mill and sweet drippings. She placed it in the center
• 2:07:54
  with the stuff, candle stuck in the top, flame tremble,
• 2:07:59
  so there's no draft. Scud you are you've been to
• 2:08:02
  apple latch of the corn mill with the sweet drippings.
• 2:08:05
  My gosh, Papa line near blow it out.
• 2:08:08
  Speaker 4: Girl, make your wish.
• 2:08:11
  Speaker 1: I shut my lids and wished everything would be the
• 2:08:13
  same as before. Then I blew smoke curled in the air.
• 2:08:17
  When I opened my eyes, he was still watching me,
• 2:08:20
  stiff as a picture painted with too many layers. I'm
• 2:08:24
  gonna kissed his cheek.
• 2:08:26
  Speaker 4: You'd clouded that mountain, Henry, I knew it.
• 2:08:29
  Speaker 1: Papa patted her arm.
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 3: A man don't lay down for stone, A man make
• 2:08:34
  stove bound for him.
• 2:08:36
  Speaker 1: They laughed together. I forced a laught.
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 3: Gotch their birthday too, by the way, Yeah.
• 2:08:47
  Speaker 1: I forced to laugh too, And my skin prickled if
• 2:08:50
  ants crawled under it felt Uncle James words in my head.
• 2:08:54
  He had said there was nothing of Papa left to
• 2:08:56
  bring home. Yet here Papa said, cheerful as you please.
• 2:09:02
  But I straight away from seeing his eyes. They're not
• 2:09:05
  the eyes I remember. March the twenty sixth I kept
• 2:09:11
  close to Mamma all day. Pappa sat in his chair
• 2:09:14
  like a king come home, and spoke of little things,
• 2:09:16
  as if the world were small enough to hold in
• 2:09:18
  his hands. When Uncle James came at noon, he did
• 2:09:22
  not step in at once. He stood at the door,
• 2:09:25
  rubbing the cuff of his sleeve.
• 2:09:27
  Speaker 4: Sarah, I came to see my brother.
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: Mama held her head high.
• 2:09:33
  Speaker 4: Then step in. He's right here.
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 1: Papa smiled wide behind her, as if the air were
• 2:09:37
  a joke between old friends.
• 2:09:40
  Speaker 4: Yes, come in, James, sit yourself.
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 1: Popa strode into the dining room and struck the table
• 2:09:46
  with his knuckle not hard, but enough to rattle the plate.
• 2:09:56
  What quote rods played?
• 2:10:01
  Speaker 4: Uncle Hunkin's Kevin looking at play Uncle hunk Henry.
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, that line ain't in mine. Uncle Haunkin's cap on
• 2:10:12
  the peg and stepped in his boots, made little sound,
• 2:10:14
  though Uncle is never a quiet man. Wait, I need
• 2:10:18
  the rest of that line, too.
• 2:10:19
  Speaker 3: Henry, he said, in a soft way.
• 2:10:23
  Speaker 1: I hardly knew.
• 2:10:25
  Speaker 4: Where did you come up? An hour?
• 2:10:27
  Speaker 1: Back to boy half again?
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 4: Where any men would pop?
• 2:10:33
  Speaker 1: Answered? Straight through Uncle's mouth, pinched straight through what brother
• 2:10:41
  Papa laughed, and the sound slipped around the room like
• 2:10:43
  a cold draft.
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 4: Through what stood in my way.
• 2:10:47
  Speaker 3: You set your feet down, you press in, and the
• 2:10:49
  mountain minds you. There's plenty of cracks to follow.
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 1: Mam mcclapped her palms at once.
• 2:10:56
  Speaker 4: There you hear him, James, you doubted, and now he's here.
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 1: Uncle turned from popping to me, then to Mama Sarah.
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 3: I have to say what's true. We pulled no man
• 2:11:08
  from that stink, from that scene. We boarded the chef's shut.
• 2:11:12
  Not a single body could pass through here. I'm telling you,
• 2:11:16
  Haymaker Temples, I'm already gone. I'm in a wagon or
• 2:11:22
  some shit righting away a wagon. Yeah, it'd be fucking
• 2:11:26
  tenth birthday to me, dude, I'm gone.
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 1: Papa bent forward with his elbows on his knees.
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 4: You calling me a ghost, James, I reckon. I don't
• 2:11:38
  know what to call you.
• 2:11:40
  Speaker 1: Uncle said his words shook, then flattened again. Mama moved
• 2:11:44
  between them. That is enough, James, Broom went still. Papa smiled.
• 2:11:49
  Did not change.
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 4: Quit your worries. The girl is having a birthday month.
• 2:11:54
  Do not sear with the idle to talk.
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 1: Uncle worked his jaw.
• 2:11:58
  Speaker 3: Sarah, take Cleaire, comes stay with Ellen me tonight. Let
• 2:12:02
  things be swored out before you come back.
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 1: He bent toward me.
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 4: You may bring your book if you wish.
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 1: Papa rose. The chair legs scraped the floor. How I
• 2:12:12
  do that? The chair legs scraped the floor, as if
• 2:12:15
  the wood did not care for the sound.
• 2:12:18
  Speaker 3: The women of this house stee in his house. The
• 2:12:22
  man keeps the gifts, giving them close.
• 2:12:30
  Speaker 8: Sleeve.
• 2:12:36
  Speaker 1: Uncle stud his ground, his palms hung open, cords in
• 2:12:40
  his neck, rising like rope.
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 4: Brother, tell me the name of your first mayor.
• 2:12:45
  Speaker 1: Papa looked at him. Mild old red. Uncle fixed him.
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 4: She was dapple gray.
• 2:12:53
  Speaker 1: Baba's cheeth buried in a strange way.
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 4: Gray turns red with it must.
• 2:12:59
  Speaker 1: Mama said, enough, her cheeks burned and her gaze ran wet.
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 12: James, when you spoke rotten my door, go on home,
• 2:13:06
  come again when you can behave.
• 2:13:08
  Speaker 1: Uncle snatched his cap, fixed on me a long while
• 2:13:12
  the belt close so Mama could not hear you.
• 2:13:14
  Speaker 3: Hear me clear, may if anything changes, you run to
• 2:13:17
  my door and pound to your fist ache.
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 4: No matter what your mama says. I'll go with you
• 2:13:23
  now right now.
• 2:13:26
  Speaker 1: Also, that answers a cop out where it's like, what's
• 2:13:28
  the name of our first horse, Old Red? It was great?
• 2:13:31
  Well you know what is Red? Not a great?
• 2:13:33
  Speaker 4: Okay, that's not really the question.
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: Mama moved toward him, but he slipped back and caught
• 2:13:39
  the jam.
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 4: I mean it.
• 2:13:41
  Speaker 1: When Uncle was gone, Papa shut the door with a
• 2:13:43
  neat snap and slid the bolt. He turned to me.
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 4: Let the man have his hero talk. Seems like he
• 2:13:49
  fancies it.
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 1: Mama kisses Papa's cheek.
• 2:13:53
  Speaker 4: He will keep quiet once he thinks on it, Papa.
• 2:13:56
  Speaker 1: Said, think could never help James. Then he looked at me.
• 2:14:00
  Speaker 4: Fetch me a water cup.
• 2:14:03
  Speaker 1: I brought it, his fingers closed over it like the
• 2:14:06
  lid of a box. He drank it greedily and smacked
• 2:14:09
  his lips.
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 4: Hmm, fine, Walter.
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: He said, as if the taste were richer than any
• 2:14:15
  soda at the store. March the twenty seventh, I'm gonna
• 2:14:19
  kept the curtain strawn, as if like do us harm?
• 2:14:22
  Papa said, you liked the room dim. The daylight struck
• 2:14:25
  in his head when it came too bold. After supper,
• 2:14:29
  he called to me.
• 2:14:30
  Speaker 3: Fetch your blanket, Claire girl, I'll sit you bed and
• 2:14:33
  give you a tale o fun.
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 4: You want to know what it's like coming back from
• 2:14:39
  a hill.
• 2:14:42
  Speaker 1: Sure, I feel like that would be you with your kid. Though,
• 2:14:48
  if the kids like tell me a bedtime story.
• 2:14:51
  Speaker 4: I'd be like, let's watch the thing instead.
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, now you pulled piece of baby, be like, well,
• 2:14:57
  there was a deer that flew through glass.
• 2:14:59
  Speaker 4: Jesus came.
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 1: It was also Jesus showed up and blinded everyone. Yeah,
• 2:15:03
  I'll tell you about my Isaiah.
• 2:15:04
  Speaker 4: He's a dork. He's long dead now, but I wish
• 2:15:11
  you could have met him.
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 1: How did he die? Dad?
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 2:15:18
  Speaker 1: Doesn't that seem kind of disrespectful that your co host
• 2:15:21
  died and you God.
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 4: I just forget how beautiful my daughter's voice is.
• 2:15:24
  Speaker 1: That, Daddy, I feel like you're bringing up something to
• 2:15:31
  run around the point I was making about you don't
• 2:15:33
  care about?
• 2:15:34
  Speaker 4: Is what happened to Isaiah?
• 2:15:37
  Speaker 1: Yes, I carried it quick for he waited at the doorway,
• 2:15:44
  smiling broad. He said, on the edge of my bed
• 2:15:47
  and folded the blanket up under my chin. His fingers
• 2:15:50
  were heavy, harder than he knew.
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 4: Your Papa's got a story fit for my clearer girl,
• 2:15:56
  he said.
• 2:15:57
  Speaker 1: His lips stayed curled with the joy seemed to reach
• 2:16:00
  the rest of his face.
• 2:16:02
  Speaker 4: It's about a man the deep dark.
• 2:16:06
  Speaker 1: Opened my mouth to ask for horses or fairies, but
• 2:16:11
  the words stuck. Can we do? Can we talk about
• 2:16:14
  anything else? I would love just.
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 7: Horses, please?
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 4: I feel like.
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 1: If I'm going to bed, this is a bad idea. Also,
• 2:16:26
  why don't you make noise when you walk? Yeah, it's
• 2:16:29
  because I float. You say that in the fairy Costumes.
• 2:16:36
  Speaker 4: My little wings panter.
• 2:16:41
  Speaker 1: You know what's funny about the Fairy Queen opening is
• 2:16:44
  I was talking in the car with Nate and I'm like,
• 2:16:47
  because we were talking about you're just gonna sing to
• 2:16:49
  the song. But when you sung it, and I sat
• 2:16:52
  there for a minute and I'm like, you know, there
• 2:16:54
  is a song fairy Queen, Yeah, that we could pull
• 2:16:58
  the actual song from. And Nate was like, I mean,
• 2:17:01
  why would we want to just let Hunters sing to himself?
• 2:17:05
  It's a whole thing.
• 2:17:07
  Speaker 4: It happens.
• 2:17:15
  Speaker 1: What is this football team you have?
• 2:17:17
  Speaker 20: I was calm, I'm not gonna do it.
• 2:17:31
  Speaker 1: Bonder, mh, I'm gonna have to go. I'm not gonna
• 2:17:48
  do him.
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 14: I'm shy, leave me alone.
• 2:18:01
  Speaker 4: Nothing.
• 2:18:07
  Speaker 1: It's a it's a quote.
• 2:18:09
  Speaker 3: Your papa's got a story fit for my Claire girl.
• 2:18:12
  There was a man who worked in the mines. Claire girl.
• 2:18:16
  Hey were strong, Oh yes, stronger than the timber that braced.
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 4: The mountain above.
• 2:18:24
  Speaker 1: This is still a quote.
• 2:18:27
  Speaker 4: Oh yeah, there's ship. My bad. My highlighter didn't sorry, But.
• 2:18:33
  Speaker 3: One day there was an accident. The roof fell all
• 2:18:37
  the stone above it. It did not cry out. He
• 2:18:40
  set his teeth down and clawed at the earth. He thought,
• 2:18:45
  I will see the sky again. So he scraped at
• 2:18:48
  the walls, tore his nails, spoke to himself of his
• 2:18:52
  wife and child, and of birthday cakes. Then the air
• 2:18:57
  thinned and the man coughed. He spat black, He choked black,
• 2:19:02
  He cried.
• 2:19:03
  Speaker 4: Black, okay, can I have cake? Now?
• 2:19:10
  Speaker 3: I'm almost done? His eyes strung and burned till he
• 2:19:14
  could not blink the sting away eve. His skin turned
• 2:19:18
  the color of the coal around him. Still he fought.
• 2:19:22
  He would not give over. But the dark as watchers
• 2:19:26
  clara things that where no sun has ever shone, They
• 2:19:31
  wondered what fire burned a man who would not die
• 2:19:34
  with the mountain told him so. They wondered what gift
• 2:19:37
  kept beating at the rock when every bit of him
• 2:19:40
  was already broken. So they leaned close to the man.
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 4: They spoke to him, give it to us, give us
• 2:19:48
  your gift, And so you say, just one piece of cake.
• 2:19:53
  And at last the man.
• 2:19:54
  Speaker 3: Sagged, his nails warn to nothing, his chest empty of air.
• 2:20:00
  He could not fight any longer. He lay upon that
• 2:20:03
  cold when the watchers touched. And the watchers touch him,
• 2:20:07
  they took the bright thing that burned behind his ribs.
• 2:20:10
  They pulled it out and drank it. Okay, And when
• 2:20:19
  they were done, they wore his shape, They filled his boots,
• 2:20:24
  They walked where he could not. They went to his house,
• 2:20:29
  to his bed, to his child. They came to sit
• 2:20:34
  at her table, to stroke her hair, stop touching me,
• 2:20:39
  to whisper. But it is to die in the dark.
• 2:20:45
  And the Watchers found what they wanted, Clara girl. They
• 2:20:48
  found it in the fight of a man too stubborn
• 2:20:50
  to lie still. They wear him still. They sit beside you.
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 4: Now, no way, seriously, okay.
• 2:21:04
  Speaker 1: Turn my face to the pillow, so you would not
• 2:21:06
  see the tears come. He bent near, his breath hot
• 2:21:11
  on my ear.
• 2:21:12
  Speaker 3: No, you will sleep and will not tell a soul.
• 2:21:17
  If you love your mama, you keep your lips shut.
• 2:21:21
  Remember love, It is quiet.
• 2:21:27
  Speaker 4: So why did you tell me? Kind of a fun's.
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 1: Little hunters like, yep, that's fine, not telling anyone, yep. Yeah,
• 2:21:41
  but think about it. If that was that was a
• 2:21:44
  very menacing sequence the watcher. They wore his shape, they
• 2:21:48
  wear it.
• 2:21:48
  Speaker 4: Sh It's fucked up.
• 2:21:49
  Speaker 12: Yeah, God, still just want to say, I just looked
• 2:21:54
  at it. She's just like, okay, thank you so much.
• 2:21:57
  You're getting birthday cake.
• 2:21:59
  Speaker 1: Was fine, right, Dad?
• 2:22:01
  Speaker 3: He's like you you might not think this, but I'm
• 2:22:03
  not actually your dad. His face is like sagging and She's.
• 2:22:07
  Speaker 4: Like, no, are you serious?
• 2:22:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, puffed out the lamb, dark folded round him like
• 2:22:18
  the mind itself, and I lay stiff, too afraid even
• 2:22:21
  calm on his name. March the twenty eighth. I got
• 2:22:25
  up before the rooster spoke, slid on my stockings and
• 2:22:28
  tied my shoes with a no squeak, and stood still
• 2:22:31
  to hear if the house woke. Almost slept in the
• 2:22:34
  chair by the stove, shawl crooked, mouth openly and nestline
• 2:22:39
  kept my face from the bedroom door where Papa lay.
• 2:22:43
  I eased the latch and went out. The yard was
• 2:22:46
  hard with cold, and the grass shone like glass when
• 2:22:48
  the faint light touched it. I kept in the fence
• 2:22:51
  where the ground is packed, and made no Prince. Went
• 2:22:55
  down the lane to Uncle James's place. Smoke came thin
• 2:22:59
  from his chin, and I could smell bacon rid. Tap
• 2:23:02
  twice with my knuckles. He opened, with his suspenders hanging
• 2:23:06
  and his hair pressed flat on one side. Clara girl,
• 2:23:10
  He said, the sleep sliding off him.
• 2:23:12
  Speaker 4: You all right, I said, Uncle, it's not him.
• 2:23:18
  Speaker 1: He pulled me inside and set me on the stool
• 2:23:20
  near the table. The kettle sang on the hob and
• 2:23:22
  he poured me a cup of coffee milk. I held
• 2:23:25
  up with both hands. My fingers were white at the tips.
• 2:23:29
  Tell it straight, he said, and he crouched in his
• 2:23:32
  eyes met mine, no shot talk. So I told him
• 2:23:36
  the story Papa told me about the deep Dark. Uncle
• 2:23:39
  closed his eyes and pulled air through his nose.
• 2:23:42
  Speaker 4: Lord help us, he.
• 2:23:44
  Speaker 1: Said, no louder than the kettle.
• 2:23:46
  Speaker 3: Clara, I'm sorry your ears took that in.
• 2:23:49
  Speaker 1: I said.
• 2:23:50
  Speaker 4: He's sweet to mom in his face, but there are
• 2:23:53
  teeth behind it. He told me to keep my lips
• 2:23:56
  shut if I loved her.
• 2:23:58
  Speaker 1: Good on her for going there and not being afraid.
• 2:24:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well, the only smart children in the story.
• 2:24:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and such. She's like, well, I guess I
• 2:24:09
  have to stay here with the demon thing. Yeah, Uncle said,
• 2:24:14
  his palm on the table, like it was the only
• 2:24:16
  thing holding them up.
• 2:24:18
  Speaker 3: You did right to comb. You stay with us tonight, Ellen,
• 2:24:21
  with fry eggs. We will think and make a plan,
• 2:24:25
  and we will fetch a share.
• 2:24:26
  Speaker 1: If it needs be. And Ellen came in tying her hair.
• 2:24:30
  She saw me. She put her arms around me quick
• 2:24:33
  and looked to Uncle. He said, only we just come
• 2:24:36
  to it. She nod at once and kissed my brow
• 2:24:39
  like I was fevered. We had no more than setting
• 2:24:43
  the plates down. When a shadow across the window. The
• 2:24:47
  door jumped under a hard knock. Mamma called through the door,
• 2:24:51
  hard as a whip.
• 2:24:52
  Speaker 4: James, you open up now, you took my child.
• 2:24:55
  Speaker 1: Uncle set his eyes stay behind me. He opened the
• 2:24:58
  door wide. Mamma stood on the stewp hair wild, shawl
• 2:25:03
  is still hanging wrong. Stare burned, hot and bright.
• 2:25:06
  Speaker 4: You hand her over. You will not turn my girl
• 2:25:08
  against her Papa.
• 2:25:10
  Speaker 1: Uncle spoke, plain.
• 2:25:12
  Speaker 3: Sarah, there is evil in your house. Let Clara stay
• 2:25:16
  here till I fetch the law.
• 2:25:18
  Speaker 1: She slapped him, fast, bright crack.
• 2:25:21
  Speaker 4: You would not shame my husband with foul talk.
• 2:25:24
  Speaker 1: There came hard through her nose. From hershawl. She drew
• 2:25:28
  Papa's revolver. She kept it low, metal, catching the morning
• 2:25:32
  like ice.
• 2:25:34
  Speaker 4: An Ellen cried, Sarah, put that down for God's sake.
• 2:25:38
  Speaker 1: Mom's hands shook Claire me, she said, and her voice
• 2:25:42
  turned soft, as if nothing had broke. Come to me now,
• 2:25:46
  Uncle lifting.
• 2:25:46
  Speaker 3: His hands, Sister, you put that way. I will not
• 2:25:50
  raise a hand to you, But listen. The mind has
• 2:25:52
  never brought him up. The shaft is boarded. What sits
• 2:25:56
  in that chair is not our Henry.
• 2:25:58
  Speaker 1: Mama's mouth trembled, then said.
• 2:26:00
  Speaker 4: You speak of this no more, Clara Now.
• 2:26:06
  Speaker 1: He gave one slow nod with his lips pressed high.
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 4: I'll come for you, he.
• 2:26:11
  Speaker 1: Said, close to my ear. I stepped Mama. She put
• 2:26:15
  the pistol in her pocket and pulled me close like
• 2:26:17
  a prize. She did not look back. As we went
• 2:26:20
  down the lane, frost had left. The path was wet.
• 2:26:24
  My shoes took the mud and let it go with
• 2:26:26
  the little sucking sounds. When we came to the house,
• 2:26:29
  Papa stepped from the parlor Nita as a man off
• 2:26:32
  to church. His collar was straight as a rule. He
• 2:26:36
  smiled so wide I thought his skin would split.
• 2:26:38
  Speaker 4: Where you are, that's what to fetch you too. I
• 2:26:42
  have a treat up the road. Fuck what tree?
• 2:26:53
  Speaker 3: I'm telling you a roundhouse kick straight to the jaw.
• 2:26:58
  Speaker 1: Again. Insert joke about you wanted to kill me other
• 2:27:00
  figures and stories, but in this case, yes, absolutely. There's
• 2:27:04
  one thing about being like in mourning, that you're in denial,
• 2:27:07
  and there's another of like everyone else can die for this.
• 2:27:09
  It's fine, Yeah, I'll kill my daughter, this is worth it.
• 2:27:13
  Her anger slid off her face like warm wax.
• 2:27:16
  Speaker 3: A birthday stroll to the works. There's a sight to
• 2:27:19
  show my girls.
• 2:27:22
  Speaker 1: The stomach flipped.
• 2:27:24
  Speaker 4: I don't want to go.
• 2:27:28
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's really cool. That at all I got.
• 2:27:33
  Speaker 9: I've got school something Dad, No thanks, or Clara, you're
• 2:27:41
  gonna want to see this, He laughed, pleasant as a
• 2:27:55
  song sung grong.
• 2:27:57
  Speaker 3: Now, Clara, girl, you do a man show his house
• 2:28:00
  to his own. The mine is my house too.
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 1: Mom's like okay, yeah, okay, that's great. Yeah, mine, let's
• 2:28:10
  go back in there? Or why not? He He took
• 2:28:14
  Mama by one hand and me by the other. His
• 2:28:16
  grip was warm, yet it felt like a jar with
• 2:28:19
  the seals snapped. Walked the track that climbs from the creek.
• 2:28:23
  The tipples stood like a black scaffold against the sky.
• 2:28:26
  The mule path lays stamped hard and smelled of damp earth.
• 2:28:31
  Crow followed us aways and then quit pop A step
• 2:28:34
  never hitched. He kept a hum in his throat. Tune.
• 2:28:38
  I did not know and did not like the mouth
• 2:28:41
  of the mine. There hung a fog that did not move.
• 2:28:45
  Chain crossed the opening with a sign wired on keep out.
• 2:28:50
  Papa raised the chain as if it weighed nothing, and
• 2:28:52
  let it fall behind us. He placed Mama the lip
• 2:28:56
  at the dark. You go first, Sarah, he said, sweet.
• 2:29:00
  Speaker 3: Sugar, I want you to feel how it's still it
• 2:29:03
  is inside.
• 2:29:05
  Speaker 1: Mama turned to the black and then to him. I
• 2:29:08
  saw a doubt tip across her face, pressed at her elbow,
• 2:29:13
  not hard, and it moved her. Go on, he said,
• 2:29:17
  easy as a hem, I'm right here. She stepped into
• 2:29:22
  the dark, her shape points small and was gone. The
• 2:29:26
  fog shut like a door. The sound rose from the deep.
• 2:29:30
  I cannot spell, not a cry, not a laugh. Like
• 2:29:36
  a grain sack torn and poured slow, Only the grain
• 2:29:40
  was not grain. It was wet. I felt sick now, you,
• 2:29:48
  Papa said. Gave my arm a light push, playful to
• 2:29:51
  a stranger. It moved me too far. No, he said,
• 2:29:56
  My words thinned.
• 2:29:57
  Speaker 4: Please Papa.
• 2:30:00
  Speaker 1: In staring black, it's cold.
• 2:30:02
  Speaker 4: Water, a good girl. Mind's your father?
• 2:30:07
  Speaker 1: Bootsteps hitting the stones behind us, quick and hard. Clara
• 2:30:12
  Uncle called come here, okay, Yeah, it's so funny to
• 2:30:24
  have like a football team pumped about creepy Pasta's uh I.
• 2:30:30
  The description of it sounded like a sack of grain
• 2:30:33
  but wet like she's like, okay, honey, just half no,
• 2:30:39
  thank you. I just remember and I'm actually allergic the games.
• 2:30:45
  Funny story with that, he came into the cut with
• 2:30:49
  Webb and ralls and pasce caps low and lamps ready.
• 2:30:53
  Webb gripped a pick, Pace carried a length of timber.
• 2:30:59
  Papa turned slow and set me behind him with one sweep.
• 2:31:02
  He smiled at the men as if they were boys
• 2:31:04
  at play. Uncle's face looked mean.
• 2:31:07
  Speaker 4: Stip away from the child.
• 2:31:09
  Speaker 1: Papa held me behind him like I was a basket
• 2:31:12
  of eggs. Uncle James and the men held fast in
• 2:31:15
  the cut. Their lamps lit their faces and threw long
• 2:31:18
  shadows up the timbers and stones, and the fog at
• 2:31:21
  the mouth curled like smoke that would not rise.
• 2:31:24
  Speaker 4: Uncle said, step from the girl. Do it now?
• 2:31:30
  Speaker 1: Papa laughed, sound rolled along the hills and came back
• 2:31:34
  like another man.
• 2:31:35
  Speaker 4: Answered, brother was so fierce. I bring my family to
• 2:31:39
  see what made me. This is a proud day. Come
• 2:31:43
  shake my palm.
• 2:31:45
  Speaker 1: Tipped his crown to his shoulders. So far click ran
• 2:31:48
  through him. His back rippled under the shirt like cats
• 2:31:52
  crawling under his sap, his knees hitched and set again
• 2:31:56
  two fast, as if joints found new runs. His shifted
• 2:32:00
  side to side, the way mill roaches slip into seams.
• 2:32:04
  Mister rawl said, name yourself, Papa said, I have a
• 2:32:10
  fine name at home and a better one below. That's
• 2:32:16
  as hard because when it when it's when he said,
• 2:32:22
  and name yourself, I'm like, oh, I don't know if
• 2:32:24
  I really want to give it a name, like it's
• 2:32:25
  too cool, and that's like, okay, we're cooking. I Pa.
• 2:32:29
  What if he was like Stephen, I was afraid I've
• 2:32:35
  forgotten who we were. I'm just so used to stories
• 2:32:37
  getting to that point of being like Lucifer. It's like
• 2:32:41
  whatever which you pulled to Jesus earlier, so wouldn't be
• 2:32:49
  he said, His palm on my shoulder again, each piece
• 2:32:52
  of it a separate weight. My stomach rolled and my
• 2:32:55
  knees knocked. Uncle's words pulled thin.
• 2:32:58
  Speaker 4: You will not have her.
• 2:33:01
  Speaker 1: Papa pitched forward, and the lamplight caught the whites around
• 2:33:03
  his stair thick as chalk.
• 2:33:05
  Speaker 4: You will not take my child. She is mine.
• 2:33:09
  Speaker 1: Uncle step closer, careful, his boots grinding the shell.
• 2:33:13
  Speaker 3: Henry, if any part of you hears I beg you
• 2:33:17
  let her go.
• 2:33:19
  Speaker 1: Papa. Hisster is teeth. Though the grin held.
• 2:33:23
  Speaker 3: You always envied Henry James, envied my strength, envied my wife.
• 2:33:29
  Now you take my daughter too.
• 2:33:32
  Speaker 1: Papa showed his teeth, all of them.
• 2:33:35
  Speaker 3: The mountain keeps what it claimed. I'll return another day
• 2:33:38
  and we will take your gifts from all of you.
• 2:33:42
  Speaker 1: Then he set both palms on the splintered boards of
• 2:33:45
  the gates and climbed like a barn spider up a sill.
• 2:33:48
  Speaker 12: Jesus God, see see, okay, so I'm not crazy favor.
• 2:34:01
  Speaker 1: His body bent, his body bent where a body should
• 2:34:04
  not bend, and his boots found holds where no holds were.
• 2:34:09
  He slid into the thinnest crack of the mines with
• 2:34:12
  a speed not men for men. The dark swallowed him
• 2:34:16
  a wet rope. Sound came again, softer, as if the
• 2:34:20
  cave welcomed him home. We stood there, with the water
• 2:34:25
  dripping and the chalk marks ghosting the boards. I once
• 2:34:28
  spoke for a long count. I could hear the cave
• 2:34:31
  breathing like a great chest behind the ribs of the hills.
• 2:34:35
  Uncle said, very soft.
• 2:34:38
  Speaker 4: Clear, of may you are coming home with me.
• 2:34:43
  Speaker 1: He wrapped his coat around my shoulders and smelled of
• 2:34:45
  sweat and salt and the tobacco he never lights in
• 2:34:48
  the house. July the second, It's been four months since
• 2:34:53
  Papa took Mama into the dark. I lived with Uncle
• 2:34:57
  James and Anne Ellen. Now I sleep in the sma
• 2:35:00
  all room under a quilt. Help with eggs and mendon.
• 2:35:03
  Aunt Ellen gives me ribbons and makes me comb my
• 2:35:06
  hair and kneat each morning. She said. A girl must
• 2:35:09
  keep herself proper even when her heart's heavy. Uncle tells me, clearer,
• 2:35:13
  may you were welcome here. But I miss Mama's laugh
• 2:35:17
  on her good days. I miss Papa's whistle as he
• 2:35:20
  walked the yard. I miss how they filled the house together,
• 2:35:24
  even when they quarreled. The days crept on plane. And
• 2:35:28
  when the sun drops and the rich turns black, the
• 2:35:31
  hills stir, the sye runs through them like a throat
• 2:35:35
  too big for its face. Come the voices and the stone.
• 2:35:42
  Last night it was Mama first, Clara, she called Jentalist
• 2:35:48
  when she tended to my dress.
• 2:35:50
  Speaker 4: Come home now, you bet it's cold without you.
• 2:35:56
  Speaker 1: Then Papa the same as before.
• 2:35:59
  Speaker 3: Clearer, girl, mind your father don't linger with others.
• 2:36:06
  Speaker 1: His words echoed around like water tripping down a deep well.
• 2:36:10
  I told myself it was only wind that the sound
• 2:36:13
  flung to the walls. I pressed my hands to my ears,
• 2:36:16
  but still I heard them calling. This morning, I asked
• 2:36:20
  Uncle of voices could travel from the mine, setting down
• 2:36:23
  his cup and looked away.
• 2:36:25
  Speaker 3: Mountains say many things, but we do not follow the
• 2:36:29
  voices that call us deeper.
• 2:36:32
  Speaker 1: Sometimes I think if I opened the door, I'd see
• 2:36:34
  Mom and Papa waiting at the fence. Other times I
• 2:36:38
  dread the thought that wouldever calls from the mountains and
• 2:36:41
  not wear their faces at all.
• 2:36:46
  Speaker 21: Yeah, another round of applause for the author.
• 2:37:08
  Speaker 4: You all have a good night, You'll have a good nights.
• 2:37:16
  Speaker 1: Happy Halloween. Thank you all so much for coming out tonight,
• 2:37:22
  and thank you so much of course for doing it
• 2:37:24
  for charity, for a good cause. You guys are certainly
• 2:37:26
  a blessing every day. Hunter and I, even if he
• 2:37:28
  doesn't act like it, are blown away by the amount
• 2:37:31
  of support and love you guys show, and we certainly
• 2:37:33
  don't take it for granted.
• 2:37:34
  Speaker 4: Thank you, Thank you all so much.
• 2:37:35
  Speaker 1: It means the world.
• 2:37:37
  Speaker 4: And be sure to check out the merch stand if
• 2:37:39
  you haven't yet. Thank you guys so much. Seriously, get
• 2:37:42
  home safe and happy Halloween.
• 2:37:43
  Speaker 17: Happy Halloween, thank you.
• 2:38:00
  Speaker 1: I don't need anything real.
• 2:38:01
  Speaker 5: Left the best anything but think other stories.
• 2:38:07
  Speaker 1: They have read.
• 2:38:10
  Speaker 5: They don't know at