Speaker 1: Hullo. I'm welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here.
Let's get into it. Neve brought her swing to a
sudden stop. Her arms looked like they might snap as
they caught her flying weight midswain. She thought she had
heard a voice coming from somewhere near the pond in
the middle of the park, across the street from her house. Hi,
I'm be the voice repeated, I'm up here in the tree,
asked Neve. She directed her attention to a weeping willow
near the water. The tree, with its whispy tendril spurting
puny leaves, looked nearly transparent. Neve could clearly see each
branch contrasted against the gray october sky. There was no
boy up there, yet, that was almost certainly where his
voice had come from. Come up with me, be called
the true swayed from the top down like a billowing
dress hanging from the hips of an enormous woman. Neve
left the swing set and cautiously approached the tree. Its
branch is sprouted off at various angles, sometimes jutting out
over the pond. New stood near the trunk and stared
up into the dome the bubble of the yellowfish. That
was the willow tree. It was quite obvious no one
was up there. I don't see you, Neves said. The
tree swayed again. Long green tentacles spotted with yellowish orange
leaves danced around Neveh's head. Use the low branch over there,
said the voice of b Nimes had rotated on instinct,
and her eyes settled on a branch as bended over
the pond. The branch, as Genesus, was far above Nim's head,
but due to the tree sporadic angles, a portion of
the limb curve down low enough for her to wrap
her arms around it. But it wouldn't be easy. That
particular portion of the branch hung out over the water.
She could reach it from the bank, but one wrong step,
one slip of a hand or foot, and Neveh would
find herself swimming through pontscum. You've got to see how
pretty it is up here, be called from above. Neives.
I shot upward, going straight to the focal point of
his voice. Determined to find the boy, she planted her
feet in the bank and wrapped her arms around a
hanging branch. She jumped and tried to swing one leg
over the branch, but missed. Her feet came down, one
on the bank and one splashing into the shallowest water.
I can't do it, nih am mined, Yes you can.
You can do amazing things if you just try, said
b and I'm gritted her teeth. She knew he was right.
It was the message she had heard from every PBS
sure she had watched after school. To you best try,
she recalled a kid in a wheelchair playing basketball on
Sesame Street. Determined and Eve embraced the branch once again,
interlacing her fingers. She kicked off the ground and in
one perfect motion, wrapped both legs around the branch. Its weighted,
as if lazily trying to shake her off, but she
held fast. You did it, jeer Bee's voice for abuf
Neive couldn't contain her smile as she hoisted her slight
body atop the branch. Still smiling, she looked up. A
black crow swipped down from the highest branches of the
willow tree. It issued an angry squawk as it dove
straight for Knee's head. She screamed and put her hands
up to shield her face. She felt the crow's wings
beated her hands and twisted away. The sudden movement within
her already and stable position caused her to shift too
far to the left and fall. Neve opened her eyes
to see the scummy water rising to greet her in
slow motion. A bullfrog umped out of her way. She
squeezed her eyes shut again, but just before the inevitable
cold splash, something jerked nef toward the shore. She tumbled
onto the bank the same foot which had already splashed,
and the shallow water landed in it again, But otherwise
Neve was safe and dry. She opened her eyes. There
was Bee. He was real now. He wasn't just a voice.
He was standing above her, looking down of concern. He
had medium lent black hair, thick eyebrows, and the palest
skin Neve had ever seen. His face sort of looked
like an amateur artist's sketch come to life. I slightly
too far apart, nose a little too high, and slightly crooked.
He had a small mouth too, made smaller by his
word frown. He had both hands in the pockets of
his gray hoodie, and the legs of his blue jeans
were smudged all over dirt. That was close, he said, standing,
Neve said, thanks for saving me. Be smiled that water
looks cold, plus a kind of feel like it was
my faulty fowl. It's okay, Neve said, how did you
get up there? I'm good at climbing. After a pause,
he asked, want to be friends? Neve smiled and said ok.
She led me back to the swing set, where they
swung back and forth until her shot and foot dried out.
That they played children's games in between chatter but life
their families or Rodananiam's family. Thee claimed he didn't really
have the family and wouldn't share any more. When pressed,
Naim privately wondered if not having a family was why
his name was only one letter instead of fall like hers.
After nearly two hours, Nim began to shiver. Even when
keeping active, the moist air cooled by Autumn's frigid breath
had penetrated her jacket and clothes. Want to come see
my house, she asked. Be It's right across the street.
My parents and brother are home, so you can meet
my whole family. Bee looked uncomfortable, looked away. Neve touched
his hand. This was something she had seen in her
movie once and said, it's okay. If you're shy. We
finally agreed to go with Neve. She led him across
the street, prancing all the way. She burst through the
front door of her house, shouting, Mom, Dad, I brought
a friend home. Somewhere deep in the house. That chaer slit,
and a door opened in another place. A light switch
cla Then two sets of footsteps converged upon the entryway.
Neie's parents appeared at the same time, with broad prepared smiles,
which vanished as soon as they saw Bee. This is
my friend I met at the park, Neieve said, not
letting her parent reaction fase her. His name is b B. Huh.
Her dad asked, is that short for something? Wehn B
didn't answer. Nian turned toward him. She saw he was
shaking his head. Her dad stared incredulously. It'd be as
if his silent answer wasn't good enough. Niam's mom was Bird,
it's okay. I had an imaginary friend when I was
her age too loudly, she said, it's nice to meet you.
Be welcome to our home. Thee shut the door a
little harder than he thought he probably meant to. It
boomed and rattled some pitch of frames on a shelf
in the living room. The sound must have startled her parents,
because they both jumped and stared with white eyes. Case
is getting windy out there, her dad said. Her mom said, Nive,
why don't you you and d go play downstairs for
a while with Jeremy. I'm finishing up some work and
your dad needs to stop making dinner. It be mom,
Nieve corrected. Her mom bit the inside of her cheek
and nodded slightly out right dinner. Her dad groaned. Then
I forgot to pull out the chicken. He vanished, sucked
away in a tornado of long brown hair and baggy sweats.
Her mom walked away without another word. He remember I
told you about my brother, Jeremy niebass Be. He nodded.
She led him toward the basement stairs. Be whispered, sorry,
I slammed the door. I think it made your parents mad. No,
they can just be really weird, Niam said. Jeremy is
kind of a weird or two. Mom said, we should
play with him, but I never really play with him.
He thinks he's too cool. He sounds like a jerk.
Nim smirked, Ye, kinder, the basement was one sem I
finished room with carpet and the floor and bare walls.
The exposed ceiling showed all the pipes and ducks and
wires running beneath the above. In the corner as far
from the air conditioner in furnace as possible, Jeremy sat
on a folding chair with an electric guitar in his
hands and one foot propped up on a small amplifier.
He barely spared, never a glance, and didn't seem to
notice be at all. Jeremy Neive shouted as Jeremy launched
into a poorly executed system of a damer Jeremy, What,
fifteen year old Jeremy demanded. He muted his strings with
his right hand and curled his left into a fist.
I want you to meet my friend Bee from the park.
What kind of a name is that, Jeremy asked, appalled
Nigh and said that's rude. Well, you and your ghost
friend go do something that won't bother me, all right,
I'm trying to learn this sum not trying hard enough,
be said Nigh and giggled. What Jeremy demanded? Nim covered
her mouth with her hand and said nothing. I thought
I heard her say something. Nope, Jeremy rolled his eyes.
Just leave me alone, O k His amplifier squealed so
suddenly and so loudly that Jeremy accidentally kicked it over.
He immediately shut it off and began inspecting his gables.
Come on, I want to see your room, be said,
Neive showed him the way. I'm so sorry every one's
being so rude to you, Nieve said. Once they were
in her room, Bee walked around taking the room in.
It's okay, you're really nice. That's all that matters to me.
Want me to see if it's ok you stay for dinner,
Nieve asked. B said no, I think I should go soon.
Thanks for inviting me over it. Though he met Nev's eyes,
then his eyes looked just past her, and he cocked
his head. He sat hold still and reached over her shoulder.
When he brought his hand back, he was holding a
stem from the weeping willow tree. It had five leaves
in the early stages of their utumn turn attached to it.
Was that in my hair now, I am asked, giggling.
It must have gotten caught on you when you felt
B said you should keep it. It can be a
reminder of the day we met, Naim took the stem,
smiling broadly, and thanked him. She didn't want him to go,
but she showed him the way out anywhere. Dinner passed
as usual, was sparse conversation. Being a Saturday evening, there
wasn't even school for the parents to ask about. Without
that time this conversation piece, nobody really knew what to
talk about. N I'm tried to bring up be a
couple of times, but no one seemed interested in that topic.
As she got ready for bed and I'm her Jeremy
playing guitar in the basement again, only this time he
actually sounded good. She didn't like the kind of music
he played, and usually hated it even more because he
couldn't stay in two nor unbeat, but she could tell
he was hitting all the right notes this time. Suddenly,
Jeremy burst into her doorway. She looked up at him,
pinching her eyebrows together. He was looking at her as
if she had just performed some impossible magic trick. They
stared at each other that way for five full seconds
while the system of a down riff echoed up through
the vents. Jeremy's dumbfounded look more oft into something like disgust.
He ran to the basement without a word. A few
seconds later, the guitar went silent, and Jeremy came running
back to NIV room panting. Did you how could was?
He stammered. He looked from side to side, unable to
keep still. Neve waited patiently for him to ask whatever
it was he wanted to ask her. Then she noticed
something just behind him. She hadn't noticed at first because
it looked like Jeremy's shadow, but now she saw familiar
pale skin peeking out from behind her him, and an
eye which winked at her. When Jeremy finally walked away,
Bee was fully exposed. He stood in the hallway. We
were in the same dirty clothes. The only change in
him was a pair of dark circles, almost like bruises,
now surrounding his eyes. What are you doing here, Neve whispered.
Be tiptoed into her room and closed the door. Sorry,
I didn't want to go home, he admitted. Was that
you playing guitar? Yeah? I didn't like how Jeremy talked
to you, so I wanted to make him feel bad.
Why would you want to make somebody feel bad? Ni'm
asked innocently, b shrugged. Don't you ever want to hurt
people when they're mean to you? I don't want to
hurt anybody, Niam said. She looked at her new friend
as if she didn't know him at all. Okay, then
what would you change about your family? If you don't
want to hurt them, what would you do to make
them different? Naiam thought about this, temporarily ignoring the fact
that her new friend had apparently snuck back into her
house to taunt her brother. She said, I wish this
smile more. I almost never see my parents smile, and
Jeremy never smiles ever. Be studded her thruq eyes. He
said nothing until he suddenly asked, can I sleep here tonight? Why?
Asked Niam, slightly uncomfortable. I told you I don't want
to go home. I could sleep under the bed so
no one sees me. Neeve considered as carefully. She didn't
really want to be sleeping under her bed. That was
kind of creepy. He was kind of creepy all of
a sudden, How about this? Be said, I'll sleep here tonight,
and if you don't like it, I won't do it tomorrow.
Can we just try it? Neve gave him a slight
nod and said, yet, okay, let's try it. Do you
need any p J Mine might all be too small
for you. That's okay, uncomfortable like this, Be touched her
hand away she had touched his at the park. He
crouched down at her bedside, then slept underneath. Neeve laid
down and closed her eyes. For a while. She thought
she wouldn't be able to sleep. It seemed impossible, with
every firing sinnhaps reminding her of the dirty boy sleeping
beneath her it, but an imposing docas crept into her mind.
After the first ten minutes or so. It pushed away
to pesky thoughts and questions, which kept her awake and
lulled into a deep weedss lumber. When I woke one
Sunday morning, Bee was already gone. She walked through the
creaky house, giving the floorboards the morning stretch, calling for
Bee in hushed tones, but she could not find him.
I guess he got up even earlier than me and
finally went home. She thought a floorboard she had not
been heavy enough to pop crack behind her. She turned round,
still expecting to see bee, and was surprised to see
her father there instead. He was usually the last to
get out of bed, but there he was, smiling at
her from the hallway. She waited for him to say something,
but he only beamed at her as if she was
his favorite comedian about to put on the shoe. Hi, Dad,
Niam said apprehensively, Good morning, he replied. His voice sounded
low in groggy. He was typically a Sunday morning grump,
and despite his cheery face, his voice told Niam he
had maintained his regular attitude. Speaking seemed to snap him
out of whatever trance he had been in, but the
smile remained at to cross his face. Niam's mother came
down the whole way shortly after her dad disappeared into
the kitchen. Niam was immediately horrified to see the same
awful smiles made on her mother's face. Like a bad
maker job. Have you been watching TV already? Her mother asked,
like her father's. Her mother's voice did not at all
reflect the smile on her face. No, I just woke
up a little bit ago, Niam answered, Mam, why are
you smiling? Her mother's hand went to her own face,
to the corner of her mouth as if dabbing away
some spaghetti sauce painted by wayward needle. She shook her
head at Neve with an exasperated shrug, then joined her
father in the kitchen. Neve sat alone in the living room,
listening to the bubbling sound of coffee percolating, catching the
homey arooma as it intensified. She hated the taste of coffee,
but absolutely loved the smell. An observer would have seen
only a vacant, blinking child sitting on the couch, but
Nime's mind had turned into a pimball machine. Occasionally she
would struck a thought or an idea, and her light
would flash. One such thought was a memory from the
night before her last conversation would be before he slipped
under her bed. He had asked her what she would
change about her family, and she had said, oh no.
Nimes snuck a round the corner, despired her parents in
the kitchen. She wanted to see if they still bore
those hideous smiles. Her dad at his back turned and
her mom was sipping on a steaming mug. When she
lowered the mug from her lips, Neve was relieved to
see her mom's relaxed lips through the steam. But when
her mother's eyes flicked toward Neve, her lips spread into
that broad, unnatural smile. Kneeved up to weigh again. Bee
had done something, She was sure of it. She had
suspected there might be something ought about him, and now
she knew what he was magic. She felt compelled to
find him again, although subconsciously she felt him nearby, still
in the house, even she needed to tell him to
stop it. She had wanted her family to smile more
because they were happy, joyful, maybe even laughing together, not
because of some whitchy trick. How long would it last?
Would it ever stop? Neive jumped off the couch. She
had to find Bee. She snuck out the front door
barefoot and ran through the cold grass of their front yard,
across the street and into the park. The weeping willowed
done slowly in the fog. The rising sun behind it
created a perfect outline of its thinning brunches, and sitting
atop the house branch was the silhouette of a young boy.
The time she reached the willow tree, Neve's toes were numb,
the hems of her pajama pant legs were soaked thee
she called into the tree. Yes, his vose answered from
behind her. Neve spun around and saw her friend standing
there with a patient look on his face, as if
he had been waiting there for her the whole time.
Did you do something to my parents, she asked, amrful
grun sprayed across PA's face. Of all the creepy smiles
she had seen that morning, his was the worst. He asked,
your parents. No, he told me you wished your family
smiled more. I thought you would be happy. You look happy.
He pointed at her, at her mouth. Neve raised a
hestined hand to her face, touching the corner of her
mouth the way she had seen her mother do. She
followed her lips of one finger tracing the outline of
a white grin. She took a big step back from Bee. No,
she yelled, make it stop. She tried to frown, felt
her muscles contort, but her fingers told her. The smile
remained distined to her face. It's what you wanted, Be
said flatly. No, it's Be tilted his head to the side.
Neive said, I want my family to be happy. I
want them to be fun and laugh and aunts, and
I don't want Jeremy to be so mean to me.
I want them to smile for real, not pretend. She
felt angry at being now, she said, I don't want
to see you any more. These had straightened, and his
smile widened. Without another word, he faded into the fog,
all but his smile. Neive reached out a hand to
grab him, to hold him there. As much as she
wanted him to go away and leave her alone, she
still had questions. She wanted to know what he was,
what he really was. But even as her hand entered
a space he had occupied seconds before, he was gone,
all but a smile, a tongue, and a fob, like
the Chesha Cauntney had seen in the Alice in Wonderland cartoon,
and a moment later that vanished too auspicious. Neve walked
through the foggy park back to her house. From across
the street, she heard a loud crash. The tinkle of
shattered glass was punctuated by a single high nerd expelled
by her mother. Nive waited, listening for an angry shout
or an injured cry, but she only heard them muted
and distant sound of her father laughing. Maybe the shattering
hadn't been something bad after all, she envisioned to see.
As she crossed a quiet road her dad at the
kitchen sink shrubbing a plaiter, rinsing out a glass as
it fell into the basin and shadowed. Startling her mom.
Neve entered her home, fully convinced the scenario she had
concocted was true. Whoa watch your step, her grinning father warrened.
When Heeve approached the kitchen, her mother was sweeping thin
shods of glass into a crystalline pile in the middle
of the floor, humming as she worked. The shards did
not belong to a plate or glass, or any kitchen
were for that matter. Nee may not have recognized the
shattered item at all if the kitchen wasn't noticeably brighter
than usual, causing her to look up at the newly
exposed light bobs in the center of the ceiling. How
did that fall, she asked, pointing at where the light
fixture used to be. No idea. Her father shrugged, then
he laughed forcefully. One second it was up, the next
it just fell. Did you do it? No? Neva blied.
The breaking conversation allowed her to hear her mother faintly giggling.
Now Yeve asked, what's so funny? Huh, nothing's funny, her
father answered. Her mom ignored her. Have you ever seen
Jeremy messing with this? Her father continued to laugh as
he pointed up at the empty brass ring where the
bowl shaped glass fixture should have been. Neve's mother glanced
away from her pile of shods to look up at
the empty fixture, which she apparently found to cyrically hilarious.
Her giggles bubbled into a chortling laugh so intent she
dropped her broom. All of this commotion finally brought Jeremy
out of his room. At the sight of the broken glass,
he two busted out in hysterical laughter, kneeved up nervously,
and took a few steps away from her cacking sibling.
Was she the only one who didn't see any humor
in a broken light fixture? Guys, I don't get it,
she said, loudly enough to be heard over their syncopated laughs.
What's so funny? Jeremy shook his head and laughed even harder.
The exposed light bulbs cast a glaring reflection on the
kitchen window. The fog outs eye made the reflection crystal clear.
Neve had paid no mind to the window until her
mother bent over to scoop the collected shods into the
discbane where her mother's bright pink shirt had been reflected.
Neve peripherally noticed the faint features of a peal face,
but anther fraction of a second it took her eyes
to focus on the window of the face vanished. Neve
took a few more steps backward, distancing herself from her
laughing family. Jeremy's laugh was such a foreign sound. It
had been so long that Neve had forgotten what his
laugh even sounded like. It sounded absolutely insane. It made
her think anything could happen, that her brother could, at
any given moment, lose control and attack. This was Bee's fault,
Neve was, once again sure. She tried to recall their
conversation by the weeping willow. What had she said this time?
Last time? She had told him she wanted her family
to smile more had she asked for them to laugh.
I want my family to be happy. I want them
to be fun and laugh and dance, and I don't
want Jeremy to be so mean to me. I want
them to smile for real, not pretend. The words played
back in her memory. This was Bee's fault, and nozzo hers.
THEE was only doing what she had asked. Did he
really think this is what she had wanted? Though the
family of maniacs who would laugh at broken glass? Thee
must have known what she had really meant. He must
have understood her true meaning. So why was he doing
this to her? To her family? Niam ran to her
bedroom and slammed the door shut. A distorted cord, saturated
and reverb, echoed up through the vent next to her bed.
It was loud enough to hide her parents laughter, which
continually wafted through the closed door every minute or so.
Niam apprehensively listened to her brother tune his guitar below her.
Although she didn't have the language to describe the feeling,
she felt an impending sense of dread. She felt like
once Jeremy finished tuning, something awful was going to happen.
In preparation, she dove beneath her covers and curled into
a ball. The high YEA strain of Jeremy's guitar ran
out as he finished tuning. It lingered morphing into harmonic
overtones as it echoed through the vents, ratcheting up the
tension in Knee's chest. Then, with perfect precision, a which
Jeremy launched into the opening riff of Van Halen's Panama.
Neive recognized the song from the radio, even without the
rest of the instruments playing along. Joy's exclamations came from
the kitchen. Somehow, these joyful sounds terrified Neve. Jeremy didn't
stop at the introl riff. He continued to play the
panamine peffet rhythm and tune. Neve had never heard Jeremy
play a single measure of a song perfectly, let alone
in entire verse. And when he hit the chorus, repeating
the main riff with bound supercision, Neive heard feet stomping
along in the kitchen. Nei thought at first her parents
were rearranging the dining chairs. For some reason. It sounded
like someone was knocking furniture around, but in perfect time
with the music. Curiously, she slid her sheet down past
her forehead, past her eyebrows, and an angle which allowed
only one shimmering eye to peek out. Thee stood at
the foot of her bed, between her and the door.
He had his hands on her footboard, His eyes studded
her with clinical observation. With a shrull's quak, nee flapped
the sheet back over her head and of beneath her pillows.
She brought her legs up tight against her chest, her
knee so high. One struck her chin and made her
teeth click together. Another's quak met her ears, muffled by
the pillows and blankets. This sound was intimately familiar. She
heard it each morning when she went out to greet
the day, and each night when she shut out the well.
It was the sound of her bedroom door yawning. It
was swinging open, destroying the barrier between the terrified child
and the disturbing foreign place that had so recently been
her refuge, her home. The longer nave waited beneath the covers,
the deeper her dread bird. The faux safety of the
sheets fleckered intermittently, allowing his idea abou where Bee was
in what he was doing, to infiltrate the fabric. As
Jeremy entered the second chorus of Panama, and her parents' footsteps, yes,
they were undoubtedly dancing. Footsteps pounded along. Neve couldn't handle
the stress any longer. She threw off the pillows and
sheets in one furious motion and prepared to scream, But
bad again vanished. All Neave saw was her open door,
beckoning to her, luring her back out into the house.
Brave little Neve, feeling not brave at all, snuck into
the hallway, passed room she knew should be empty, daring
not to look into them at the risk of meeting
the observant as she felt upon her. Jeremy's song was
almost over now, but their parents were still dancing noisily
in the kitchen at the end of the hallway. Niam
could see them. They weren't even dancing together. They were
standing apart on either side of the glass pile, each
moving in rhythms of their own, but keeping the same beat.
Nim had never seen either of and danced before. She
wouldn't have guessed they even knew how their faces looked
red they glistened. The physical strain of keeping the upbeat
temper made it even more bizarre for them to have
continued for so long. The mouse hung open, breathing hard,
that is until Nian's father noticed her and looked up
his mouth snapped shut, and he bared his teeth in
a manic grin, the rest of his body jangling beneath it,
as if he were a puppet on a strain. That's
what they had become, poppies. As never coiled into the hallway,
she noticed her mother staring at her with the same
hungry expression Neve. Her father's voice called out, come, dance
with us, Honey invited her mother. Neve began to cry,
what was wrong with her parents? Why were they acting
this way? Would they ever stop? They would? The song ended.
Jeremy muted the final chord and instantly returned tuning his guitar,
loudly enough to be heard upstairs. Naium's mother went right
back to scooping up the glass shouts, and her father
resumed washing the dishes. Jeremy finished tuning and started watching
some riff that didn't sound very difficult even to I am.
Sunday morning went back to normal, and I am as
uncomfortable as she was, tried to act normal do somehow
her family's lace. His fair demeanor during the rest of
the day was more offensive to Eve than smiling and dancing.
It made her feel as if her family had been
in on the jokun that she was the unfunny punch line.
She went to bed Sunday night without saying good night
to any one. She simply closed the door and shut
them out. Eventually, restless knee began to hear every one
else going to bed, to water hissing through pipes, causet
sliding open and shut, and dragging footsteps. Told the individual
stores of their bedtime routines, and went into oven compilation.
She heard her parents' bedroom door close, then Jeremy's, and
finally she could relax. She thought about going to school
tomorrow for the first time. All day, she tried to
remember if she had anything due and what Messssene said
they would be doing. Neve felt anxious to be at school,
to be away from her home and family for seven
distracting hours. Just as sleep began to stroke the edges
of her mind, a new question woke her back up.
Would befall over her to school? Then she wondered, what
about the smiles the dancing Deneveh's racing mind was interrupted
by the whisper of her bedroom door laped slipping from
the boor, the door broke away from the jam and
crept himward forward. With Bee already on her mind, Neveh
fully expected to see her so called friend standing in
the dark hallway asking to sleep under her bed again.
No way would she allow him to this night? Could
she deny him? Though? Would he let her? She would
not have a chance to answer those questions, because standing
in the doorway was not be but her father, Dad,
Neve asked. He stepped into the room, his feature shaded
by shadows cast by her light. He turned his back
to Niam and slowly quietly closed the door again. Dad,
Niam asked again, what are you doing? When he turned
back around, he was smiling that awful, be influenced smile.
Niam screened for her mommy. Her father lunged over the bed.
She threw up her sheets and rolled out of his path.
Her bed shed tangled him up for a second, just
long enough for Niam to put some space between them.
Her father had the advantage of being closer to the door.
Niam was trapped. She had no idea what her father
those intentions were, but she knew they weren't really his
intentions anyway. He pounced off the bed, and she barely
avoided his grasping finger. Tips. His momentum carried him into
the wall. He seemed to bounce off while he recovered.
Nim dotted toward the closed door. She only managed to
escape because it opened inward, creating a barrier for her.
As she ran out, Nev was smart enough to slam
the door shut behind her. She heard her father's body
thud against it, then slide down. She saw the crack
in the door go dot because he had blocked the
night lights glow. Unfortunately, that faint, leaking glow would have
been Nive's only light. She now found herself in perfect darkness.
Although she knew the house well enough to walk through
it with her eyes closed most nights, on this one,
she felt so out of place that she didn't trust
her muscle memory. She grazed the wall with her finger
tips as she tiptoed down the hallway, unsure of where
she was going to go. They had a few friendly neighbors,
and although Nian didn't know them too well, she thought
she might be able to get some help. She couldn't
trust anyone in her family, Hopefully she could still trust
other people. Behind her, a door opened, not her bedroom door,
thankfully by her parents. Niam turned around forgetting the holly
was too dark to see anything. A footstep creaked toward her,
then another. Niam continued down the hallway backwards, now keeping
her eyes trained where she thought the footsteps were coming from.
The next two came quicker, then a third pair followed
even more rapidly. By the fourth, they were running, and
so was Nim. Yet over here, Niam, her mother ordered.
Niam didn't slow. She could not afford you. Her mother
was rapidly gaining on her. In the living room, she
finally caught up the back of Nim's pajama shout stretched
and the front duck into her neck. Her feet tried
to keep running, but a forceful tug from her mother's
hand brought Nim to the ground. Nim opened her mouth,
by her mother's handsmacked it shut again. This unexpected violence
trigger and equal reaction. Niam rotated on her back and
kicked both legs at her mother's grinning face. Her mother
absorbed kicks to the forehead and cheeks, even one to
the nose, which made a bubble up crack. One of
knees beer he has caught her mother's throat. This made
her recoil and give neive a chance to reposition herself
and deliver a powerful need to her mother's temple. She
missed and instead struck her jaw, which had the same effect.
Her mother's unconscious body slumped to the floor. Neves scurried
to the front door and locked it and threw it
open so hard it bounced back and struck her behind.
As she opened the storm door into the night, she ran,
barefoot and with only her pajamas to protect against the
cold October night. She ran through the grass, crossing from
her yard into the neighbors. The moon hung low in
the sky, hovering right behind a weeping willow in the park,
illuminating its thinning branches. Naim Jeremy yelled. Now it was
the one running behind her. Gaining effortlessly help, Nine screamed, somebody,
please help me. Going to the neighbor wouldn't help any more.
Jeremy would be on her long before anyone answered the door.
She diverted to the park instead, a place she knew well.
She sowed it through possible hiding places in her head.
As she crossed the street, someone's porch light came on,
reminding Nine to keep screaming for help. Someone had hurt
her and maybe more would two. Jeremy was gaining so
rapidly that Niam had already abandoned the idea of hiding.
She wouldn't have enough time. More porch lights turned on
and a few windows lit up. Niam heard someone yell
who's out there? And she screamed louder. Still now, Nim
ran in a straight line, unable to afford to slow
down enough to change course. And where else was Jeremy
chasing her? But straight to the weeping willow Neiv wondered
where she would go. When she reached the pond, Ay,
ay you, somebody shouted across the park, Nive darling another cold.
Yet a third exclaimed, there in the park, we're coming, Knive,
stay away, creep. When Neve reached the willow tree, she
could run no further. She had two choices, climb or swim.
Her last climb hadn't gone so well, but she leapt
up and wrapped her arms around the lowest branch. Anyway,
she got one leg over the branch before Jeremy caught up.
He grabbed her stretched shirt and tried to pull her down,
but Neve held fast. Let go. A groff voice demanded
below her Neve heard a soft thump and two grunts,
and the tension in her shirt disappeared. Hot racing, she
pulled herself onto the branch, successfully climbing into the tree.
From there, she continued upward as one of the brave
neighbors wrestled her brother. Bellow, it's Nev and her brother.
A woman yelled, we've got you, kiddo, some one else said.
A second person joined in the wrestling match under the tree.
Jeremy growled and sent one of them scrolling. The other
he tossed into the coal scummy water. A by stutter yelled,
what the hell? Another diablo. The group of neighbors Nev
couldn't count them in the dark, formed a semicircle around Jeremy.
Neive climbed high enough that no one could reach her
and said, my brother isn't doing this. Something is making him.
Where are your parents? A woman asked this questions borne
murmurs throughout the group. I don't know, Nieve said, It
got them to you, and I'll take every one of
you who doesn't scurry away right now. Jeremy growled, a
deeper voice, splendid with his own. Oh god, it is
a demon. The man in the water yelled he stopped
cold in more ways. In one Jane Naim recognized mister Badgier,
who had yelled this word. He dropped his knees, folded
himself to the ground, and began to pray feverishly aloud,
Oh God, Almighty. One of the women began praying to
her own higher power. The man from the pond now merged.
Anching a crucifix out from under his shirt, he tackled
Jeremy from behind him pressed the silver cross to the
boy's forehead. His possessor howled and tossed the man off easily.
Others were praying now, People of varying fates whispered, enchanted,
and sung in an oral stew of languages. Some repeated
ret prayers, while others babbled off the cough. More symbolic jewelry,
hand signs and dettwos appeared amongst them. One woman yelled,
I have some holy water. I don't know if it works,
but she separated and ran off. Niam had recognized her
as Miss Brack, a woman her parents had told her
to steer clear of because she was into court, whichy stuff.
A few brave neighbors emboldened by Jeremy's confused reaction to
the onsoort of spiritual attacks, grabbed a hold of him again.
He fought, clawing and spitting, but they put him on
his back. This whole time, Neve had continued to glim
time below her. Everyone who wasn't engaged in physical combat
had closed their eyes and either garden on their knees
or was standing with hands raised to the heavens. Almost
nobody noticed when Neve hoisted herself on to a dead limb,
which bowed dangerously under her weight. The two who did
notice were mister Hammond and mister Weeks, an Athea's couple
who sticker ridden bumpass had been the subject of constant
mockery for Nee's father. This couple were the only neighbors
who still had their eyes opened. Mister Hammond bosted mister
Weeks into the tree. Being much taller than Neve, was
able to reach the girl before she even recognized the
peril she was in. Mister Week's studded Neve on a
stronger branch, just as the dared one had started crackling,
which missus brack returned breathless with a small vial. Here
she shouted, diving into the fray. She had caught the
vial and sprinkled a few droplets of water on Jeremy.
He hissed him far harder against the hands, elbows, and
knies holding him down. The renewed our burst did not
last long. His strength quickly waned, and those holding him
so His eyes grew wide and desperate. They flashed from
neighbor to neighbor, looking more terrified of each one. In turn,
all the struggling had shifted the group toward the edge
of the pond. Jeremy's possessor had one final ultric candy.
Like a hungry alligator, he grabbed hold of one of
the men and flipped him into the pond. The shock
of Jeremy's sudden movement caused the rest to lose their
holds on him. The man and Jeremy tumbled into the water,
rolling deep enough that with each rotation one of them
was entirely submerged. A flowing elbow had not the vial
from miss Bruck's hand. It spun through the air, dashing
holy water as it flew. The now empty vial landed
with an inaudible splash next to the deafening struggle between
Jeremy and his victim. Jeremy, who had been on top
when the holy water rained on the pond, snapped his
head back and howled. The man below him managed to
slip out and raised his head high enough to chirk
down some are Jeremy remained paralyzed, with his head pulled back,
mouth open, and hands frozen and claws for a few seconds,
then went entirely limp. He splashed face first into the water.
At the vary instant Jeremy's face broke the surface, the
gaiser exploded upward from the center of the pond. It
looked as if a meteor had struck. Most of the
water in the pond either splashed out over the gathered
praying mabos were washed up past the bank, leaving a
muddy pit in its wake. The half drowned man combo
to his feet, and, in yet another instant of selfless bravery,
dragg Jeremy's limp body through the month before the water
could pour back and around them. Neiveh and Jeremy's parents
ran through the group of stunned onlookers. All prayers, chants
and songs had ceased, and everyone was on their feet again,
mister Hanlon and mister Weeks helped Neive down from the
tree while mister Bada performs CPR on Jeremy. News's parents
ran straight to her, not realizing it was their unling
and conscious a few feet away. The words He's alive
just barely uppace the fit of sputtering what costs from
the boy on the ground. Only then did his parents
realize what was happening and go to his aid. Neves's
parents never truly got to hear a full accurate account
of what happened that night. They rushed Jeremy straight to
the hospital and stayed with him overnight and most of
the next day. Consequently, the neighbors had plenty of time
to replay and retell the account of the terrifying experience.
Sirtain elements were forgotten, people left out, actions exaggerated, and
by the time the story reached Neve and Jeremy's parents,
it had been bent so far out of true that
they could not believe a word. Even Eve questioned her
own memory, as most of its contents were too fantastical
to be believed. Her parents and Jeremy have no memory
of anything between going to bed and the moment Jeremy
was saved. They still do not understand how Nivkov stuck
up in a tree in the middle of the night,
or how jereminially drown trying to attack her rescue her
neives satisfied, not letting them remember the full truth. The experience,
however vague in their memories, still brought them all our
little closer together and mended a few of the gaps
that had formed since Jeremy had become a raging teenager.
Naiam had but one fear remaining. She dreaded the day
she might see Bee standing in some corner, or peeking
at her from a reflection. She feared whenever she passed
beneath a tree, willow, or otherwise, that she might hear
his voice calling to her again. She has been steering
clear of the weeping willow in the park, and through
the stem beard plucked from her hair at the window.
She was glad to see the last of the tree's
leaves fall off near autumn's end, leaving nowhere amongst its
branches to hide. And that is the end. Thank you
for listening, and I will see you in the next one.