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Speaker 1: On Tuesday morning, I received a message from Marcus. At

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first I almost ignored it. Marcus and I hadn't spoken

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in years, and the preview just showed my name followed

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by a question mark. I figured it was some old

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contact cleaning thing, or maybe he was trying to reconnect

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out of the blue. But then I opened it. Hey,

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I don't know if you heard Ethan died last night.

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I read it again. Then again. It didn't feel real. Somehow,

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it still felt like he still existed out there. I

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typed back before I really knew what I was asking.

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What happened? Five minutes fell like five hours as I

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stared at my phone. Then I saw the typing bubble.

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They're saying suicide. That was it. I sat there for

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a long time after that. Ethan and I hadn't spoken

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in almost six years, not properly anyway. There had been

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the occasional message from him, a text every now and

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then a Facebook notification where he tagged a few of

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us in something I hadn't replied to most of them.

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It wasn't because I hated him, nothing like that. It

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was just easier not to, especially when I knew what

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the conversation would eventually turn into it always did. The

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last message he'd sent me was about eight months ago.

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I remember it clearly because I stared at it for

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a long time before deciding not to respond. Do you

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remember exactly what happened that day in the woods? No? Hello? Oh,

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no catching up? Just that. I closed the message and

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told myself i'd respond later, but I forgot. Marcus sent

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another message a few minutes later, with a funeral information.

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It was happening that Saturday back in town. I almost

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didn't go. The idea of driving back there after so

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long made my stomach not up in a way I

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couldn't quite explain. But something about the message Marcus had

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sent kept sticking with me. They're saying suicide. Something about

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that didn't sit right. It's not like Ethan didn't seem

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happy or stable or anything like that. The truth was,

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I had no idea what Ethan's life looked like anymore.

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But the Ethan I remembered wasn't someone who would just

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quietly disappear. If anything, he was the one who refused

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the lectings stay buried. Especially that Saturday came faster than

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I expected. The town looked smaller than I remembered. When

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I drove in, streets that had once felt wide and

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endless now seemed narrow and oddly quiet. Stores I remembered

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were gone or replaced by things that didn't belong there.

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The church was exactly the same, though, same brick walls,

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a crooked sign out front with changeable letters. Cars lined

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the gravel lot. When I pulled in for a moment,

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I just sat in my car with the engine off.

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I almost turned round and left instead. I got out inside.

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The place smelled faintly like old wood and flowers. Quiet

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conversations echoed softly under the high ceiling. Most of the

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people there were older than I remembered, teachers, neighbors, people

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who had known us when we were kids. I spotted

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Marcus sitting near the back of the room, his hands

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shoved deep into the pockets of a dark jacket. He

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looked older than I remembered. He saw me and gave

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a small nod. I walked over. We stood there awkwardly

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for a moment before either of us spoke Hey. He

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said hey. Marcus glanced toward the front of the room,

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where a closed casket sat surrounded by flowers. Claire's here,

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he said. After a moment I followed his gaze. She

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was sitting in one of the pews near the aisle,

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shoulders slightly hunched, staring down at her hands. Her hair

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was shorter than I remembered. When she looked up and

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noticed us, she gave a small, uncertain wave. Sam was

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standing a few rows behind her. He looked the least

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changed out of all of us. Same posture, same skeptical expression,

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like he'd just been told something he didn't quite believe.

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When he saw me, he lifted his chin in a greeting.

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The four of us hadn't been in the same room

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together in over ten years, not since the summer before

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high school started, back when everything still felt simple, back

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before we all agreed to stop talking about what happened.

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No one mentioned it. Now we stood together near the

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back while people filtered in and found their seats. Conversations

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between us stayed small and safe. Work where people lived.

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Now how long it had been since we'd been back

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in town. Claire kept glancing toward the kaskar, like she

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wanted to look, but couldn't quite bring herself to. Marcus

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didn't look at all. Sam eventually crossed his arms and

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leaned against the wall, anyone hear what actually happened? He

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asked quietly. Marcus just shook his head. Just what I

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texted you, guys. Sam frowned slightly, but didn't comment further.

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Claire spoke next, her voice softer than I remembered he

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messaged me last month. That got everyone's attention. What about

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Marcus asked Claire hesitated, Then she said it the woods.

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A strange silence fell over the four of us. Sam

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sighed almost immediately, like he'd been expecting that answer. Of

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course he did. Claire looked at him. He asked if

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I remembered exactly what happened that day. I felt their

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attention shift toward me. For a moment I considered lying instead,

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I just nodded, yeah, I said me too. Marcus just

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looked down with avoidance. None of us spoke after that,

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because in truth, we all knew why Ethan had been

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contacting us, even if none of us wanted to say

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it out loud. After the service ended, people drifted slowly

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out of the church in quiet clusters, handshakes, muted condolences.

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That strange heavy politeness that follows funerals, where everyone speaks

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softer than usual. The four of us stood near the

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parking lot for a while, sure what to do next.

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Claire was the first to say something, there's still that

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diner by the highway right. Marcus nodded, Yeah, it's still there.

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Sam shrugged, might as well. We all seemed to understand

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the same thing at the same time. None of us

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were ready to go home, yet we drove separately and

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met there twenty minutes later. The diner looked exactly the

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way it always had, same faded red booths visible through

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the window, even the same bell over the door that

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gave a dull jingle when you stepped inside. It felt

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strange walking into a place that hadn't changed when everything

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else had. We slid into a booth near the back,

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Marcus and I on one side, Simon and Claire across

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from us. For a few minutes, the conversation stayed careful

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and surface level. Claire had moved to Denver a few

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years ago worked in graphic design. Marcus stayed closer to

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home than the rest of us construction jobs mostly. Sam

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lived in Chicago, now doing something with software that he

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described in vague terms, and no one really pressed him

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on it. I talked about my job just enough to

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keep the conversation moving. In that moment, it was clear

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that if we ran out of small talk, the topic

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would gravitate back towards what we'd been avoiding. Eventually, Sam

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asked the question that had been sitting there the whole time, Marcus,

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when was the last time you talked to Ethan? Marcus

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leaned back, slightly, rubbing his thumb along the edge of

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his coffee mug. In the last few years, he only

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messaged me about one thing. The words seemed to settle

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over the table like dust. Nobody spoke, Marcus continued. After

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a moment, he asked if I remembered exactly what happened.

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Sam looked at him, unimpressed. Seriously, we were twelve, he added, kids,

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Mike stuff up. His tone carried the kind of casual

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dismissal that meant he didn't want the conversation going in

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that direction. Marcus shook his head immediately. No, he said,

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Sam raised an eyebrow. No. What No, something happened the

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way Marcus said. It made the booth feel smaller. Claire

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shifted uncomfortably in a seat. We all remember something, she said, quietly.

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That's not the same thing as it being real, Sam replied.

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Marcus looked at him. You remember digging, right, Sam sighed

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and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. Yer

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He admitted, I remember digging. Claire spoke again. It was

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behind the old logging road. I felt something tighten in

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my chest as the memory surfaced. We used to ride

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our bikes in the woods behind town during the summer.

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It was a stretch of forest that began just past

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the last row of houses and stretched for miles. Old trails,

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half collapsed tree stands, rusted signs from logging operations that

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had shut down years before. We found something buried out there.

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Sam rubbed his face with both hands. Jesus, he muttered.

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Claire looked up at him. You remember it too. Sam

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didn't respond right away, but he didn't deny it either.

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For a moment, the only sound at the table was

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the faint clinking of dishes somewhere behind the counter. Marcus

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looked at each of us in turn, you remember what

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we said? After? Claire nodded slowly. Sam stared down at

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the table. I didn't say anything, because we all remembered

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that part clearly. The four of us and Ethan standing

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in that clearing with the dirt piled around a hole.

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We dug terrified, confused and agreeing on one thing. We

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would bury it again, and we would never talk about

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it ever. The coffee and our corps had gone cold,

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but no one seemed to care. We seemed stuck in

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our own heads. Around us, the diner started filling up

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with the late afternoon crowd. The quiet clatter of dishes

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in low conversation drifted, but it all felt strangely distant.

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Marcus was the one who finally broke the silence. What

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do you actually remember? He asked. He wasn't looking at

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any one in particular when he said it. Sam leaned

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back in the booth. What do you mean? You know

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what I mean? Marcus said, that day, what do you

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remember happening? Sam gave a tired laugh. Man, that was

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twenty years ago, yeah, Marcus said, but do you remember it?

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Another pause settled over the table. Then they all looked

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at me. I hadn't realized that till that moment that

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I had been avoiding thinking about it. Even hearing the

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woods mentioned earlier had brought back only fragments, shapes without details,

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feelings without context. But when Marcus asked, the question directly.

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The memory came back all at once, not clearly, but enough.

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I stared down into my coffee and said, it was summer.

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Sam rolled his eyes a little. That narrows it down. No,

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I said, I mean it was one of those really

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hot days. All five of us biked out there, Ethan

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in front because he was the fastest, Marcus and Sam

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arguing about something behind him, Claire riding next to me.

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The logging road had already been half reclaimed by the forest.

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Back then, tall grass growing through the gravel branches leaning

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over the trail, so he had to dock under them.

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We ditched the bikes where the road ended and walked

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the rest of the way. I could see it clearly now,

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the clearing. Ethan was the one who spotted it first. There,

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he said, slowly, that patch of dirt. Claire looked up immediately.

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You remember that too, I nodded. There was this spot

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where the ground looked like it had been disturbed, like

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something had been dug up and filled back in. The

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dirt wasn't backed down the same way as the rest

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of the forest floor, the grass hadn't grown back properly.

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It looked like someone had buried something recently. Even back then,

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we knew it. Ethan had walked over and kicked at it.

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I remember that, Marcus said quietly. He started digging, I continued.

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None of us had tools, obviously we were twelve, so

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we used sticks, branches, our hands, anything that could find purchase.

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The dirt came up easier than it should have, packing

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under our fingernails. Sam shifted in his seat. Yeah, he said.

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We were digging for a while. I nodded. Then we

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hit something. I could still remember the dull clunk as

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ethan stick struck something hard beneath the dirt. We cleared

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the soil away until we could see part of it.

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It was metal, I said. Sam frowned immediately. No it wasn't.

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I looked up at him. Yes it was. No, he

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said firmly, it wasn't metal. Claire leaned forward slightly. What

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do you mean, Sam rubbed the back of his neck.

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It was wood. The three of us stared at him. Would.

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Marcus asked, yeah, Sam said, like a crate or a

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box or something. That's not what I remember. I said,

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it's what it was, Sam replied. He leaned forward, now

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more animated. It had boards, like old boards, and there

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was a symbol carved into the top. What symbol, Claire asked.

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Sam hesitated, I don't know. Something weird, like a circle

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with lines through it. I shook my head slowly. There

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wasn't any symbol. Sam gave a frustrated laugh. Dude, yes

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there was. Marcus held up a hand. Wait, we looked

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at him. You both might be wrong. Claire blinked what

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Marcus leaned back slightly. It wasn't metal, and it wasn't wood.

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So what was it, Sam asked. Marcus hesitated stone. The

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word hung there, Marcus continued, like a slab, part of

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something bigger underground. Claire sat very still. That's actually closer

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to what I remember, but not right. Sam threw his

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hands up. Okay, that makes zero sense. Claire ignored him.

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I remember Ethan brushing dart off something flat, she said, slowly,

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like a lid, exactly, Marcus said. Sam shook his head. No,

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it was a I'm telling you. I tried to picture

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it again, the object beneath the dirt. But the more

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I thought about it, the less certain I felt, because

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the memory that stood out the most wasn't the object itself.

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It was the sound we heard something. I said Claire

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nodded immediately yes, Sam frowned. What sound? I looked between them.

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A knocking sound. Marcus tilted his head slightly. What like

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something hitting the inside of the thing, I said, three

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or four dull tabs. Knock, knock, knock. Claire shook her

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head slowly. That's not what it was. Then, what was it,

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I asked. Claire's voice dropped when she answered it was breathing.

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Sam'scoffed No, it wasn't. Yes, it was, Claire insisted. She

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00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:15,359
looked at me. It was slow, like something was breathing

242
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under the ground. I felt a chill move through me.

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Marcus had gone very quiet. Finally, he said, you're both

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00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:31,559
missing something. Sam leaned back again, Oh, here we go.

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00:20:33,319 --> 00:20:38,279
Marcus didn't respond to the sarcasm. You're all remembering the digging,

246
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,279
he said, and the sound. But that's not the part

247
00:20:42,319 --> 00:20:47,880
that stuck with me. Claire looked at him. What part?

248
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Marcus took a slow breath, The part before we left.

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None of us said anything. Marcus looked at each of

250
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:04,519
us in turn. You remember we left the woods, right obviously,

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Sam said. Marcus nodded, yeah, but something happened right before that.

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Claire frowned. What do you mean? Marcus looked down at

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the table. Then he said, quietly, Ethan talked to it.

254
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The words seemed to pull the air out of the booth.

255
00:21:31,519 --> 00:21:35,680
Sam stared at him. No, he didn't, Yes he did.

256
00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:41,119
Marcus said, I've felt my stomach tighten. What do you

257
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:46,440
mean he talked to it? Marcus rubbed his palms together slowly.

258
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He leaned down into the hole. He paused, thinking about

259
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,240
how to phrase what he was about to say, and

260
00:21:55,319 --> 00:22:01,920
he said something. What did he say, Claire asked. Marcus

261
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:08,799
shook his head. I don't remember exactly. Sam laughed nervously.

262
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,000
You're seriously saying Ethan had a conversation with a hole

263
00:22:13,039 --> 00:22:19,000
in the ground. Marcus didn't smile. He said something First,

264
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:26,720
Marcus repeated, and then Clare leaned forward, and then what.

265
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Marcus looked up at us, and then something answered. For

266
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a little while after Marcus said that, none of us spoke,

267
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,440
the noise of the diner seemed louder suddenly, fouks clinking

268
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,839
against plates, someone laughing near the counter, a drug rumbling

269
00:22:50,839 --> 00:22:56,119
past outside, normal sounds, things that didn't belong next to

270
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the sentence we just heard. Sam finally broke our silence.

271
00:23:02,599 --> 00:23:09,200
That's not possible, he said flatly. Marcus shrugged slightly. But

272
00:23:09,319 --> 00:23:13,119
there wasn't any humor in it. I'm just telling you

273
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:17,519
what I remember. Sam looked at the rest of us,

274
00:23:17,799 --> 00:23:22,839
waiting for someone to back him up. No one did.

275
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,200
Claire was staring down at the table again, fingers tracing

276
00:23:27,279 --> 00:23:33,240
circles on the laminate's surface. That's not the part I remember,

277
00:23:34,079 --> 00:23:40,079
she said quietly, But I do remember something else. She

278
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,279
reached into a bag and pulled out her phone. Ethan

279
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:49,599
had been messaging me for months. Marcus nodded same. Here.

280
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:56,039
Sam frowned about the woods again. Claire unlocked her phone

281
00:23:56,319 --> 00:24:00,240
and scrolled through something before turning the screen towards us.

282
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:07,079
It wasn't just the woods. There was a conversation thread

283
00:24:07,079 --> 00:24:11,400
with Ethan. Most of the messages were short, sent days

284
00:24:11,519 --> 00:24:15,240
or sometimes weeks apart, but they all had the same

285
00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:23,319
tone questions. Claire pointed at one near the middle. Did

286
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:28,119
we bury it again? Another a few lines down? Did

287
00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:33,559
we actually close it? Further down the thread? Do you

288
00:24:33,599 --> 00:24:39,839
remember what it said? Sam shifted in his seat. That

289
00:24:40,279 --> 00:24:44,359
doesn't mean anything, he said, though his voice wasn't as

290
00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:50,119
confident as before. Marcus pulled his phone out. Next he

291
00:24:50,279 --> 00:24:54,200
sent me the same kind of stuff. He opened one

292
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,200
of the conversations and slid the phone across the table.

293
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:05,400
More questions, direct, almost frantic. Are you sure we covered

294
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,920
it back up? Did you hear it too? Think about

295
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:15,039
it carefully? Do you remember what it said? I felt

296
00:25:15,039 --> 00:25:19,160
a tightness building in my chest. Did he ever say

297
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:24,000
why he was asking? I said? Marcus shook his head,

298
00:25:24,599 --> 00:25:30,039
not exactly, He hesitated, then added, but he did say

299
00:25:30,079 --> 00:25:36,359
something else? What? Claire asked? Marcus looked around the table

300
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:43,759
before answering he had been going back out there. Sam

301
00:25:43,799 --> 00:25:54,920
frowned out where the woods. Claire blinked recently. Marcus nodded,

302
00:25:55,799 --> 00:26:01,799
last few months. Sam scoffed weakly. Why would he do that?

303
00:26:04,039 --> 00:26:08,839
Marcus didn't answer right away. Instead, he leaned forward slightly.

304
00:26:10,759 --> 00:26:14,640
The last message he sent me, he said, wasn't a

305
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:21,440
question about our memories? What was it? I asked? Marcus

306
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,319
looked down at his phone again. Then he read it

307
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:32,039
out loud. What if we didn't bury it? What if

308
00:26:32,039 --> 00:26:38,400
it buried itself again? No one said anything For a

309
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:42,359
moment after Marcus read the message, it just sat between

310
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:47,359
us outside the diner window the sky had started turning

311
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:51,480
that dull gray collar it gets before evening. The parking

312
00:26:51,559 --> 00:26:55,599
lot lights flickered on one by one, casting long reflections

313
00:26:55,599 --> 00:27:00,240
across the glass. Sam rubbed his face with both hands.

314
00:27:01,039 --> 00:27:05,640
This is ridiculous, he said. Eventually, we're sitting here trying

315
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,640
to piece together twenty year old memories because Ethan sent

316
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:14,640
a few weird texts. Marcus didn't respond. Claire was staring

317
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,319
at Ethan's messages again. What if he wasn't just remembering

318
00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:25,160
things wrong, she said quietly. Sam looked at her. What

319
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:29,000
do you mean, Claire set her phone down on the table.

320
00:27:30,279 --> 00:27:34,880
What if he was trying to figure something out? Sam

321
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:39,079
led out a short laugh about what some imaginary box

322
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:43,319
we dug at when we were twelve. Marcus leaned forward.

323
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:48,680
You heard the messages, yeah, Sam said, I heard them,

324
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:54,000
and Marcus asked, and people get weird when they're dealing

325
00:27:54,039 --> 00:27:58,279
with stuff. Sam replied, maybe he was depressed, Maybe he

326
00:27:58,319 --> 00:28:00,920
got stuck thinking about something for and when we were kids.

327
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:06,200
Claire shook her head. That's not what this feels like.

328
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,559
Sam opened his mouth to argue again, but she kept going.

329
00:28:12,759 --> 00:28:16,200
He asked if we buried it again? She looked at

330
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:22,440
each of us. What if we didn't, Sam scoffed. Of

331
00:28:22,519 --> 00:28:29,119
course we did. Are you sure, she asked. Sam hesitated

332
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:34,839
only for a second, but it was enough. Claire leaned

333
00:28:34,839 --> 00:28:38,640
back slightly in the booth. Marcus said Ethan had been

334
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:44,880
going back out there. Marcus nodded more than once. The

335
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,599
dinah suddenly felt too warm. I found myself staring at

336
00:28:48,599 --> 00:28:52,119
the condensation of my water glass, watching a drop slowly

337
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:58,000
slide down the side. Claire spoke again, we should go,

338
00:28:58,119 --> 00:29:06,440
Look led out a disbelieving laugh. You're serious, yes, for what?

339
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:12,759
He asked closure. Claire didn't answer right away. Then she

340
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:18,920
said Ethan's parents gave me something after the service. She

341
00:29:19,039 --> 00:29:22,079
reached into a bag again and pulled out a small

342
00:29:22,079 --> 00:29:26,400
wooden container. It took me a second to understand what

343
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:32,720
it was. Sam's expression shifted when he realized you're saying,

344
00:29:32,799 --> 00:29:37,799
we scatter his ashes out there, he said. Claire nodded once.

345
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:43,599
It seems like something he would have wanted. Sam leaned

346
00:29:43,599 --> 00:29:47,359
back again, staring at the ceiling for a moment. This

347
00:29:47,519 --> 00:29:53,279
is insane, he muttered. Marcus didn't look convinced either, but

348
00:29:53,359 --> 00:29:59,599
he didn't object. Instead, he asked, you mean tonight Claire

349
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:06,799
shrugg all tomorrow morning. Sam was quiet for a long moment,

350
00:30:07,519 --> 00:30:13,519
then he sighed heavily, fine, he said. Everyone looked at him,

351
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,000
but only so we can finally stop talking about this.

352
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,400
He added. We go out there, scatter the ashes, see

353
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:27,759
there's nothing there, and we move on. Claire nodded slowly.

354
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:33,599
Marcus gave a small shrug. Works for me. The attention

355
00:30:33,799 --> 00:30:38,680
drifted toward me. I hadn't spoken since Claire first suggested it.

356
00:30:39,559 --> 00:30:42,000
The thought of going back to those woods after all

357
00:30:42,079 --> 00:30:46,279
this time made something twist in my stomach. But the

358
00:30:46,319 --> 00:30:50,359
truth was I'd been thinking the same thing since Marcus

359
00:30:50,359 --> 00:30:55,519
mentioned Ethan returning there. If Ethan had gone back, if

360
00:30:55,519 --> 00:30:59,400
he'd been digging again, then maybe the thing we buried

361
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:05,720
it wasn't just a half forgotten childhood story. Maybe he

362
00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:15,240
was still there waiting. Miswallowed and nodded. Okay, I said

363
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:29,160
we'll go. We decided to go the next morning. No

364
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,960
one said it outright, but I think all of us

365
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,799
preferred daylight for what we were about to do. We

366
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,359
met just after nine in the same gravel lot behind

367
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:42,200
the diner. Claire had the small wooden container with Ethan's

368
00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:46,599
ashes tucked carefully into a bag. No one commented on it,

369
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,400
but everyone noticed. From there, we drove the rest of

370
00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:55,119
the way out of town. The roads felt narrower than

371
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:59,160
I remembered. Houses that once seemed far apart were packed

372
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,720
closer together. Now a few new developments had crept out

373
00:32:02,759 --> 00:32:05,920
toward the edge of the woods, but the forest itself

374
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:11,039
still loomed behind them the same way it always had, dark, dense,

375
00:32:11,279 --> 00:32:16,680
and quiet. We parked near the old logging road. The

376
00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:20,319
gravel path was still there, though we looked more overgrown

377
00:32:20,359 --> 00:32:24,759
than before. Tall grass had swallowed most of the tire tracks,

378
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,319
and thin saplings leaned over the trail where trucks used

379
00:32:28,319 --> 00:32:34,720
to pass. For a moment, none of us moved. Then

380
00:32:34,799 --> 00:32:40,759
Marcus opened his door. Guess this is it, he said.

381
00:32:41,359 --> 00:32:46,000
We stepped out into the morning air. It was cooler

382
00:32:46,039 --> 00:32:50,119
beneath the trees, the sunlight breaking into thin strips through

383
00:32:50,119 --> 00:32:53,480
the canopy. The smell of damp earth and pine needles

384
00:32:53,559 --> 00:32:58,160
hung in the air, sharp and familiar. I hadn't been

385
00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:02,359
back here in nearly twenty years, but my body recognized

386
00:33:02,359 --> 00:33:07,319
it immediately. We followed the old road on foot, the

387
00:33:07,359 --> 00:33:11,359
gravel crunching under our shoes. Sam walked ahead for a

388
00:33:11,359 --> 00:33:16,079
while before stopping and turning around. Was it this way,

389
00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:25,279
he asked. Marcus looked uncertain. I think so. The deeper

390
00:33:25,359 --> 00:33:29,960
we went, the more wrong everything started to feel. The

391
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:34,839
woods seemed smaller. When we were kids, the place felt endless,

392
00:33:35,279 --> 00:33:37,920
like you could walk for hours without seeing the same

393
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:43,359
tree twice. Now the forest felt tighter somehow, the spaces

394
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:49,799
between things shorter, the trails narrower. Branches scraped against each

395
00:33:49,839 --> 00:33:53,599
other overhead in the breeze. Claire slow to a star.

396
00:33:55,240 --> 00:34:02,000
I don't remember this part, she said. Marcus glanced at around. Yeah,

397
00:34:02,519 --> 00:34:07,279
the trail shifted. He stepped off the main path, slightly,

398
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:12,199
scanning the trees. This used to open up somewhere around here.

399
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:18,360
Sam kicked to the ground. Great, he muttered, we're looking

400
00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:20,480
for a random spot in the forest we haven't been

401
00:34:20,519 --> 00:34:26,440
in since middle school. Marcus ignored him. Instead, he walked

402
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,519
a little further into the trees, pushing aside a low

403
00:34:29,559 --> 00:34:37,559
branch as he moved. Then he stopped. Wait. The rest

404
00:34:37,559 --> 00:34:41,159
of us followed. Marcus pointed a head through the trees.

405
00:34:42,559 --> 00:34:47,519
You see those. At first I didn't understand what he meant.

406
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:54,159
Then I saw it. Three tall pines growing unusually close together,

407
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,760
the trunks twisting slightly around each other near the base.

408
00:34:59,199 --> 00:35:03,760
Something about the sh shapes stirred a distant memory. Marcus

409
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:12,199
nodded slowly, Yeah, he said, that's it. Claire stepped forward.

410
00:35:12,639 --> 00:35:17,000
Are you sure? Marcus moved toward the trees without answering.

411
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:23,320
We shaddered behind his curiosity. Just beyond them, the ground

412
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:27,360
dipped slightly, opening into a small clearing, no bigger than

413
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:31,599
a backyard. I stopped as soon as I saw it,

414
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:38,840
because even after all these years, I recognized the place immediately.

415
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:47,239
This is it, Marcus said quietly. No one disagreed. For

416
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:51,599
a moment, we stood there, taking it in. The clearing

417
00:35:51,679 --> 00:35:54,760
looked smaller than I remembered, just like the rest of

418
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:58,719
the woods. The grass was patchy, thin in places where

419
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,559
sunlight struggled to reach each through the canopy, but the

420
00:36:02,599 --> 00:36:07,320
center of the clearing was impossible to miss. The ground

421
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:14,599
was darker uneven. Claire stepped forward slowly. Was it always

422
00:36:14,679 --> 00:36:22,760
like that? She asked? I shook my head. No. Marcus

423
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:25,960
crouched down near the center. He didn't even have to

424
00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:30,400
brush the dirt away to see it. The soil was loose,

425
00:36:31,159 --> 00:36:36,920
recently disturbed, like someone I'd been digging there not long ago.

426
00:36:40,039 --> 00:36:43,320
Marcus stayed crouched near the center of the clearing, slowly

427
00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:45,840
dragging his fingers through the loose earth like it was

428
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:53,000
testing it. It's fresh, he said, Sam frowned. Fresh how

429
00:36:54,639 --> 00:36:58,960
Marcus lifted his hand. Dark soil clung to his fingertips.

430
00:37:00,199 --> 00:37:04,480
This hasn't been like this for long. I stepped closer

431
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,280
now that I was standing over it. The shape of

432
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:12,719
the ground was obvious. Some one had dug here recently.

433
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:17,199
The earth was piled unevenly around the center, the way

434
00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:20,360
dirt looks when it's been shoveled out and pushed aside

435
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:24,280
in a hurry. But the hole itself wasn't open anymore.

436
00:37:25,199 --> 00:37:28,760
The middle had sunk inward, like whatever had been dug

437
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:35,679
out had collapsed back into itself. Claire noticed something first, wait,

438
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:39,960
she said. She walked a few steps to the side

439
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,679
of the clearing and bent down. When she stood back up,

440
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,960
she was holding an empty beer can. Ethan didn't drink,

441
00:37:49,559 --> 00:37:53,880
Sam said automatically. Claire turned the can in her hand.

442
00:37:54,639 --> 00:38:01,519
The metal was dirty and slightly dented. Someone did. Marcus

443
00:38:01,559 --> 00:38:04,320
stood up and started looking around the edge of the clearing.

444
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:11,320
He didn't have to look long. Here, he said. Leaning

445
00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:14,880
against one of the trees was a shovel, or what

446
00:38:15,039 --> 00:38:18,719
was left of one. The wooden handle had snapped cleanly

447
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,840
in the middle, leaving the metal blade half buried in

448
00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:25,320
the dirt where it had fallen. The pale wood inside

449
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:29,360
hadn't darkened yet. Sam walked over and picked up the

450
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:34,440
broken handle, turning it in his hands. So someone came

451
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:39,039
out here, dug a hole, broke a shovel, and just left,

452
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:44,639
he said. Marcus didn't answer. He had already stepped back

453
00:38:44,679 --> 00:38:48,800
toward the center of the clearing. The shallow pit was

454
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:53,239
easier to see up close. Someone had definitely dug there.

455
00:38:54,119 --> 00:38:56,440
The dirt around the edges had been thrown outward in

456
00:38:56,559 --> 00:38:59,840
rough piles, and the middle had sunk into a dark

457
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:03,599
hollow with the soil that had collapsed inward, like the

458
00:39:03,639 --> 00:39:09,400
ground had given way. After the digging stopped, Marcus crouched again.

459
00:39:11,119 --> 00:39:17,199
Ethan was here, he said, quietly. No one argued. Sam

460
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:22,920
crossed his arms. Okay, he said, let's say he was there.

461
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:29,599
Still doesn't mean Marcus suddenly leaned forward. Wait, he brushed

462
00:39:29,599 --> 00:39:33,119
the patch of dirt aside with his hand. Something black

463
00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:36,800
was sticking out of the soil. At first I thought

464
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:40,360
it was a piece of plastic. Then Marcus pulled it free.

465
00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:46,039
It was a phone. The screen was cracked and dirt

466
00:39:46,079 --> 00:39:50,280
filled the edges of the case, but it was unmistakable.

467
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:58,480
Claire stepped closer. That's his, she said. Marcus turned it

468
00:39:58,519 --> 00:40:02,760
over slowly in his hand. The phone was caged with

469
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,840
dried mud, like it had been dropped directly into the

470
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:10,599
hole while someone was digging, or while something else was happening.

471
00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:16,199
Sam stared at it. You're telling me he just left

472
00:40:16,199 --> 00:40:23,079
his phone out here. Marcus didn't answer. Instead, he pressed

473
00:40:23,079 --> 00:40:28,559
the side button. For a moment. Nothing happened. Then the

474
00:40:28,599 --> 00:40:34,320
screen flickered weakly to life. Marcus stared at the screen

475
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:37,480
for a moment. The phone had turned on, but the

476
00:40:37,519 --> 00:40:40,360
battery icon flashing in the corner told the rest of

477
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:45,880
the story one percent. Then the screen went black again.

478
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:54,559
Sam exhaled through his nose. Great Marcus pressed the button again. Nothing,

479
00:40:56,440 --> 00:41:02,000
it's dead, Claire said quietly. Marcus looked around the clearing,

480
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:08,599
then back down at the phone. Not necessarily, he reached

481
00:41:08,639 --> 00:41:11,480
into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small power

482
00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:15,280
bank with a charging cable wrapped around it. Sam gave

483
00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:21,599
a short laugh. Of course you brought that, Marcus shrugged, habit.

484
00:41:23,119 --> 00:41:25,880
He crouched again and brushed more dirt off the phone

485
00:41:26,159 --> 00:41:30,519
before plugging the cable in. For a moment, nothing happened.

486
00:41:31,599 --> 00:41:36,360
Then the screen lit faintly, a charging symbol appeared. Every

487
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:40,960
One leaned closer without meaning to. Marcus set the phone

488
00:41:41,039 --> 00:41:44,880
carefully on the ground between us. Give it a minute,

489
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:50,880
he said. So we waited. The woods were quiet in

490
00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:55,079
that strange way Forrest's get where the wind stops, not

491
00:41:55,440 --> 00:42:00,440
silent exactly, just muted the occasional creak of and just

492
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:04,440
shifting somewhere deeper in the trees. A bird calling far

493
00:42:04,559 --> 00:42:09,679
off in the distance, but the clearing itself felt strangely still.

494
00:42:11,159 --> 00:42:14,480
Sam paced a few steps away, kicking at loose dirt.

495
00:42:16,079 --> 00:42:21,440
This proves he was here, he said, that's all. Claire

496
00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:26,079
didn't answer. Her eyes stayed fixed on the phone. Marcus

497
00:42:26,159 --> 00:42:30,760
crouched beside it, arms resting on his knees. I noticed

498
00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:33,880
he kept glancing at the shallow pit beside us, like

499
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:38,039
he was expecting something to change while we waited. I

500
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:42,639
tried not to look at it. After a few minutes,

501
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:47,280
the phone vibrated softly. The screen came fully to life.

502
00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:52,639
Marcus picked it up and unlocked it. The lock screen

503
00:42:52,719 --> 00:42:58,440
was cracked badly, but it still responded. He opened Ethan's files.

504
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:04,000
There weren't many recent ones, just a handful of photos

505
00:43:05,199 --> 00:43:09,480
and one audio recording. The timestine showed it had been

506
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:14,960
made five nights ago. Marcus looked at us. This has

507
00:43:15,039 --> 00:43:18,280
to be from when he was here. Sam crossed his

508
00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:23,960
arms again. Then play it. Marcus hesitated for a second,

509
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:30,800
then he tapped the file. The recording started with a

510
00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:34,480
soft rush of static, then the sound of dirt moving,

511
00:43:35,519 --> 00:43:40,960
shoveling a metal blade scraping through soil. The rhythm was

512
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:44,440
an even as if Ethan had been digging quickly, then

513
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:49,159
stopping to catch his breath. For a while, the only

514
00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:53,559
sounds were that and the forest around him. Heavy breathing,

515
00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:57,760
dirt shifting, the dull thud of the shovel hitting something

516
00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:02,440
harder beneath the surface. Claire's hand moved to a mouth

517
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:08,519
because we all recognized that sound. Marcus turned up the

518
00:44:08,599 --> 00:44:14,800
volume slightly on the recording. Ethan stopped digging. There was

519
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:21,400
a pause, then his voice, breathless and excited. I found

520
00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:25,119
it again, The four of us looked at each other.

521
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:33,320
The recording went quiet. For several seconds. There was nothing

522
00:44:33,519 --> 00:44:39,639
except Ethan breathing into the phone microphone. Then something else,

523
00:44:40,679 --> 00:44:45,400
a faint movement, a scraping sound under the dirt, like

524
00:44:45,519 --> 00:44:51,880
something shifting beneath the ground. Sam frowned, what is that?

525
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:58,679
No one answered On the recording. Ethan moved closer to

526
00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:03,960
whatever he'd uncover. His breathing grew louder, closer to the microphone.

527
00:45:05,119 --> 00:45:11,679
Then he spoke again. His voice had changed lower, unsteady,

528
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:18,039
You remember us. The sentence made the clearing feel suddenly colder.

529
00:45:19,239 --> 00:45:25,039
For a moment, there was nothing. Then the audio walked slightly,

530
00:45:25,519 --> 00:45:29,880
like interference had passed through the microphone. A low vibration

531
00:45:30,079 --> 00:45:37,119
hummed through the recording, and underneath it a voice so

532
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:42,199
faint it almost blended into the static. Marcus turned the

533
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:47,400
volume up all the way. The words were barely there, distorted,

534
00:45:48,159 --> 00:45:55,679
but we could still make them out. You open the door,

535
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:03,480
Claire made a small sound beside me. The recording crackled sharply.

536
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:12,320
Then it stopped. For a few seconds. None of us moved.

537
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,199
Marcus was still holding the phone out in front of him,

538
00:46:16,239 --> 00:46:18,760
like the audio might start playing again. If he waited

539
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:25,280
long enough, it didn't. The words felt different now. I

540
00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:28,519
think it collectively dawned on us how far removed we

541
00:46:28,519 --> 00:46:34,519
were from safety. Sam was the first to speak. There

542
00:46:34,519 --> 00:46:38,480
could be anything, he said quickly. His voice sounded a

543
00:46:38,519 --> 00:46:42,400
little too loud in the clearing audio. Glitches happen all

544
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:46,760
the time, phones to pick a weird background noise. No

545
00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:53,000
one responded. Marcus slowly lowered the phone. You heard what

546
00:46:53,119 --> 00:46:58,679
it said, he muttered. Sam shook his head. I heard

547
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:03,679
something that's handled words. Claire was staring at the shallow

548
00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:08,039
pit again. What if we've been remembering this wrong the

549
00:47:08,079 --> 00:47:15,400
whole time, she said, Sam sighed. Claire, no, listen. She

550
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:19,840
stepped closer to the disturbed ground. What if we didn't

551
00:47:19,880 --> 00:47:26,800
find it? Sam frowned. What Claire looked back at us.

552
00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:33,719
What if it found us? The question hung in the air.

553
00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:39,880
Marcus slowly nodded, that's kind of what it felt like.

554
00:47:42,119 --> 00:47:45,599
Sam looked between us like we'd all suddenly lost our minds.

555
00:47:46,719 --> 00:47:49,719
You're seriously going to jump to that conclusion because of

556
00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:56,599
a creepy voice recording. Marcus ignored him. I keep remembering something,

557
00:47:57,280 --> 00:47:59,840
he said. He rubbed to the back of his neck

558
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:05,159
that day when we were digging, Claire turned toward him.

559
00:48:06,039 --> 00:48:12,159
What Marcus looked down at the collapsed pit. Ethan leaned

560
00:48:12,159 --> 00:48:17,920
into the hole. He was talking. You already told us that,

561
00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:23,840
Sam said. Sam shifted uncomfortably, like he'd been holding something back.

562
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:28,880
All this unanswered energy was breaking him down and he

563
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:34,679
was at his breaking point. Sam hesitated, Then he said

564
00:48:34,719 --> 00:48:42,480
something quieter, There's something I remember too. We all looked

565
00:48:42,519 --> 00:48:46,119
at him. Sam stared at the ground while he spoke.

566
00:48:47,719 --> 00:48:52,280
After we left the clearing, none of us interrupted. We

567
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:55,199
were all freaked out right, just trying to get back

568
00:48:55,239 --> 00:49:03,199
to the bikes. Marcus nodded slightly, yeah, Sam continued, I

569
00:49:03,239 --> 00:49:06,280
remember we were walking down the trail in a line,

570
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:11,320
Marcus in front, the rest of us behind him. That

571
00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:18,880
leaves Ethan last, Claire said. Sam nodded, yeah. He looked

572
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:23,679
up at us and the whole way back. He paused.

573
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:33,920
Ethan didn't say a single word. Marcus frowned, so Sam

574
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:38,400
shook his head. You don't get it, He pointed back

575
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:43,000
toward the clearing behind us. That kid never shut up,

576
00:49:43,519 --> 00:49:46,159
even when we were scared, even when we were running,

577
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:51,360
Ethan always had something to say. But that day he

578
00:49:51,559 --> 00:49:55,880
just walked behind us the whole way home. Sam swallowed.

579
00:49:56,679 --> 00:50:02,719
Claire crossed their arms. Does that mean anything? Sam looked

580
00:50:02,760 --> 00:50:09,519
at her. Maybe, then he added quietly, but he felt different.

581
00:50:11,519 --> 00:50:13,800
None of us asked him to explain what he meant,

582
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:21,599
because in that moment I realized something uncomfortable. I remembered

583
00:50:21,599 --> 00:50:29,199
that feeling too. The four of us stood around the

584
00:50:29,239 --> 00:50:32,960
shallow pit, the phone still in Marcus's hand, the broken

585
00:50:33,039 --> 00:50:37,360
shovel lying half buried beside it. The clearing felt smaller

586
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:39,880
than it had a few minutes ago, like the trees

587
00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:44,039
had leaned in a little closer without us noticing. Sam

588
00:50:44,119 --> 00:50:47,599
kicked a loose clump of dirt into the hole. Look,

589
00:50:48,280 --> 00:50:52,199
he said, his voice tight. Even if Ethan came back

590
00:50:52,199 --> 00:50:57,000
here and dug this up again, that doesn't mean but

591
00:50:57,079 --> 00:51:00,960
he didn't finish the sentence, because thing had been bothering

592
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:05,119
me since we listened to that recording, a small detail

593
00:51:05,159 --> 00:51:09,079
that kept turning over in my head. I looked at

594
00:51:09,119 --> 00:51:13,920
Marcus when Ethan leaned into the hole. I said, slowly,

595
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:21,039
you said he was talking. Marcus nodded yeah, and something

596
00:51:21,119 --> 00:51:26,440
answered that's what I remember. I looked at the collapse

597
00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:31,079
pit again. The loose soil, the broken shovel ethan digging

598
00:51:31,199 --> 00:51:36,519
five nights ago, finding it again, A strange thought began

599
00:51:36,639 --> 00:51:39,800
forming in the back of my mind. At first, it

600
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:43,679
felt ridiculous, the kind of idea you immediately push away

601
00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:46,760
because it doesn't fit how the world is supposed to work.

602
00:51:47,719 --> 00:51:50,599
But the more I tried to ignore it, the clearer

603
00:51:50,760 --> 00:51:56,280
it became. Claire noticed the look on my face. What

604
00:51:56,519 --> 00:52:02,360
is it? She asked. I hesitated, then I said it.

605
00:52:04,159 --> 00:52:07,159
What if we've been thinking about this the wrong way?

606
00:52:08,639 --> 00:52:12,440
Sam led out a tired breath. Please don't say something

607
00:52:12,480 --> 00:52:15,880
like it's cursed or haunted, or what if we didn't

608
00:52:15,920 --> 00:52:20,440
just find something buried? I said, That got his attention.

609
00:52:21,599 --> 00:52:25,960
Sam frowned, What do you mean? I gestured to what

610
00:52:26,119 --> 00:52:29,519
the whole We always talked about it, like we dug

611
00:52:29,599 --> 00:52:32,920
something up, like we uncovered something that was already there.

612
00:52:34,400 --> 00:52:41,039
Marcus was watching me closely, and he asked, I swallowed.

613
00:52:42,519 --> 00:52:48,280
What if that's not what happened. The words felt strange

614
00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:52,719
even as I said them. What if we opened something instead?

615
00:52:54,480 --> 00:53:00,519
Claire's expression shifted. You mean like a container? I shook

616
00:53:00,559 --> 00:53:06,360
my head slowly. No, something colder than the morning air

617
00:53:06,519 --> 00:53:09,920
moved through me. As the thought finally locked into place,

618
00:53:11,559 --> 00:53:16,639
like a door. No one laughed, no one even argued,

619
00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:20,840
because we had all heard the same words on Ethan's recording.

620
00:53:22,239 --> 00:53:28,280
You opened the door. Sam stared at the pit. That's

621
00:53:28,320 --> 00:53:34,519
not But he stopped again because suddenly something else made sense,

622
00:53:35,679 --> 00:53:40,280
something Marcus had said earlier. Ethan leaning down into the hole,

623
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:47,960
listening and talking. Marcus spoke quietly. If it was a door,

624
00:53:49,280 --> 00:53:53,280
I finished the thought for him, then something could have

625
00:53:53,360 --> 00:54:01,760
come through. The clearing fell silent again. Sam shook his head,

626
00:54:02,079 --> 00:54:08,599
but the movement looked weak. That's insane, is it, Claire asked.

627
00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:13,639
She nodded to other phone, still in Marcus's hand. We

628
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:20,039
heard something talking. Sam didn't answer. Marcus looked down at

629
00:54:20,039 --> 00:54:25,199
the disturbed earth. Ethan kept coming back here, he said,

630
00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:32,519
over and over. Claire hugged her arms around herself. Maybe

631
00:54:32,559 --> 00:54:37,559
he remembered something we didn't. A memory surfaced suddenly in

632
00:54:37,599 --> 00:54:40,400
my mind of the way Ethan had stayed behind us

633
00:54:40,440 --> 00:54:46,039
the whole time. Quiet. I felt a slow creeping realization

634
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:51,719
settle over me. We had opened something, and whatever had

635
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:56,840
been inside hadn't stayed there. It had followed us out

636
00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:00,000
of the woods, followed us all the way back to town,

637
00:55:01,599 --> 00:55:08,239
but not with all of us, just one. I looked

638
00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:10,880
at the others and finally said the thing none of

639
00:55:10,960 --> 00:55:15,679
us had considered before. It didn't stay in the ground,

640
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:20,239
I said. My voice sounded distant in my own ears.

641
00:55:21,559 --> 00:55:27,840
It came with us. Claire's eyes widened. Marcus went very still.

642
00:55:29,199 --> 00:55:35,159
Sam whispered, what are you saying. I looked down at

643
00:55:35,199 --> 00:55:37,960
the pit, then back toward the trail that led out

644
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:41,079
of the woods, toward the life Ethan had lived for

645
00:55:41,119 --> 00:55:48,119
the past twenty years. We let something out, I said.

646
00:55:49,000 --> 00:55:51,880
No one spoke, because of the rest of the thought

647
00:55:52,119 --> 00:55:54,800
had already reached all of us at the same time.

648
00:55:56,360 --> 00:56:01,039
It hadn't followed Marcus or Claire, Sam or me. It

649
00:56:01,079 --> 00:56:04,360
had chosen some one else, some one who had leaned

650
00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:12,000
down into the hole, some one who had spoken back Ethan.

651
00:56:14,079 --> 00:56:17,800
The idea sat there between us, heavy and impossible to

652
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:23,639
move around. Sam shook his head slowly. No, he said,

653
00:56:23,719 --> 00:56:28,719
under his breath. No, that still doesn't explain why he

654
00:56:28,719 --> 00:56:35,519
he stopped. Margus looked up. Why he what? Sam gestured

655
00:56:35,599 --> 00:56:40,159
vaguely toward the town behind the trees, Why he killed himself?

656
00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:46,159
The words sounded wrong. The moment, he said it because suddenly,

657
00:56:46,639 --> 00:56:50,880
looking at the disturbed earth in front of us, it

658
00:56:50,960 --> 00:56:56,199
didn't fit any more. Claire said it first, very quietly,

659
00:56:57,679 --> 00:57:04,880
What if he didn't? Sam frowned what Claire nodded toward

660
00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:09,679
the pit. He came back here. Marcus glanced at the

661
00:57:09,679 --> 00:57:13,280
broken shovel, the empty beer cans, the phone buried in

662
00:57:13,360 --> 00:57:18,519
the dirt. Then he looked at the hall again. Understanding

663
00:57:18,639 --> 00:57:26,280
crept slowly across his face. Oh, he said. My stomach

664
00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:31,360
dropped because the same thought had already hit me. Ethan

665
00:57:31,519 --> 00:57:35,159
hadn't come out here, to remember, he had come back

666
00:57:35,199 --> 00:57:41,440
for one reason, to finish something. I logged at the

667
00:57:41,440 --> 00:57:44,760
collapsed pit, the ground that had been dug open and

668
00:57:44,840 --> 00:57:48,519
then closed again, like someone had tried to force it shut.

669
00:57:49,719 --> 00:57:55,000
The realization landed all at once. Ethan hadn't killed himself.

670
00:57:56,199 --> 00:57:58,639
He had come back to the woods, back to the

671
00:57:58,679 --> 00:58:07,360
place where we opened it, to put it back. Sam

672
00:58:07,440 --> 00:58:12,639
finally broke the silence. So that's it, he said, He

673
00:58:12,840 --> 00:58:15,639
just came out here and tried to bury it again.

674
00:58:17,360 --> 00:58:22,840
Marcus didn't answer. Claire slumped his shoulders and defeat. It

675
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:28,199
doesn't make sense, she said, quietly, What doesn't Sam asked

676
00:58:29,320 --> 00:58:32,920
if it attached to him. She said, why come back

677
00:58:32,960 --> 00:58:37,280
here at all? No one had an answer to that.

678
00:58:38,239 --> 00:58:41,880
We'd come to a logical dead end, having exhausted all

679
00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:46,960
our testimony and found evidence with barely a word. We'd

680
00:58:47,039 --> 00:58:50,320
decided to head back to somehow process all this in

681
00:58:50,440 --> 00:58:54,719
future therapy sessions. We'd almost reached the edge of the

682
00:58:54,760 --> 00:58:59,280
clearing when all four of our phones vibrated at the

683
00:58:59,320 --> 00:59:03,599
same time. The sound was so sudden it made Claire jump.

684
00:59:04,920 --> 00:59:10,400
Sam pulled his phone out first. What there? Marcus was

685
00:59:10,440 --> 00:59:15,440
already looking at his screen. I checked mine. We had

686
00:59:15,519 --> 00:59:23,000
awe received the same message from Ethan. For a moment,

687
00:59:23,239 --> 00:59:26,519
none of us moved. The timestamp said the message had

688
00:59:26,559 --> 00:59:30,280
been sent five nights ago, but the delivery notification just

689
00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:34,800
read now. Marcus looked back toward the trees behind us.

690
00:59:36,519 --> 00:59:41,199
No signal in the clearing, he said slowly. Claire nodded.

691
00:59:42,440 --> 00:59:46,880
Once we started walking, the message had finally gone through.

692
00:59:48,719 --> 00:59:54,559
Sam stared at the screen. It's a video. Marcus took

693
00:59:54,599 --> 00:59:58,920
a moment for resolve and just said put it on.

694
01:00:00,960 --> 01:00:03,760
Sam opened the message and turned the phone so we

695
01:00:03,760 --> 01:00:09,199
could all see. The video started shaky and dark. For

696
01:00:09,280 --> 01:00:12,920
a moment, It was just Ethan's flashlight being moving across

697
01:00:12,920 --> 01:00:18,119
the trees he was walking. You could hear leaves crunching

698
01:00:18,280 --> 01:00:22,559
under his shoes and his breathing in the microphone. Then

699
01:00:23,039 --> 01:00:27,960
he flipped the camera around. Ethan looked older than when

700
01:00:28,000 --> 01:00:32,159
I'd last seen him, thinner, His eyes looked tired. But

701
01:00:32,239 --> 01:00:39,159
there was something else there too. Relief. Hey, he said

702
01:00:39,199 --> 01:00:44,119
to the camera. His voice sounded hoarse. If you're watching this,

703
01:00:44,960 --> 01:00:49,519
it means I finally figured it out. He glanced over

704
01:00:49,519 --> 01:00:53,960
his shoulder into the trees behind him, before continuing, I

705
01:00:54,000 --> 01:00:56,320
know you guys probably think I've been losing it for

706
01:00:56,360 --> 01:01:01,960
the last few months. A faint smile crossed his Honestly,

707
01:01:02,480 --> 01:01:06,440
I thought so too for a while. He walked a

708
01:01:06,440 --> 01:01:10,000
few more steps before stopping. The beam of his flashlight

709
01:01:10,119 --> 01:01:15,760
tilted downward dirt the edge of a hole, the same

710
01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:19,880
clearing we were just standing in. But Ethan looked back

711
01:01:19,920 --> 01:01:24,920
into the camera. It took me twenty years, he said,

712
01:01:25,719 --> 01:01:31,480
but I finally understand what we found that day. He hesitated,

713
01:01:31,960 --> 01:01:38,039
then shook his head. Actually, that's the first mistake. We

714
01:01:38,159 --> 01:01:44,920
didn't find it. His voice dropped slightly. It found us.

715
01:01:46,480 --> 01:01:50,559
The woods were silent around us as we watched. Ethan continued,

716
01:01:51,960 --> 01:01:55,360
It doesn't move, not really. It doesn't crawl out of

717
01:01:55,400 --> 01:01:58,119
the ground or chase people through the woods or anything

718
01:01:58,239 --> 01:02:03,159
like that. He looked down at the hole again. It

719
01:02:03,280 --> 01:02:11,000
spreads through memory. A slow chill ran through me. Ethan

720
01:02:11,079 --> 01:02:14,360
ran a hand through his hair. The day we dug

721
01:02:14,440 --> 01:02:19,480
that thing up, we all saw it. That's how it attaches.

722
01:02:21,679 --> 01:02:25,480
He looked back at the camera, seeing it is enough.

723
01:02:28,000 --> 01:02:31,400
Sam shifted beside me, but none of us looked away.

724
01:02:33,000 --> 01:02:38,320
Ethan continued. The difference is you guys stopped thinking about it.

725
01:02:39,159 --> 01:02:48,719
You buried it. His expression tightened slightly. I couldn't. He

726
01:02:48,800 --> 01:02:52,000
glanced toward the woods again, like he expected something to

727
01:02:52,039 --> 01:02:57,079
be standing there listening. That's why it stuck with me.

728
01:02:59,719 --> 01:03:04,840
Then Ethan said something that made my stomach draw, And

729
01:03:04,920 --> 01:03:13,519
that's why I kept messaging you. Marcus whispered Jeez on

730
01:03:13,599 --> 01:03:17,199
the video. Ethan nodded slightly like he could hear him.

731
01:03:17,679 --> 01:03:20,960
I wasn't trying to catch up, he said, I was

732
01:03:21,039 --> 01:03:26,440
testing something. He took a slow breath. I needed to

733
01:03:26,519 --> 01:03:32,480
know if you still remembered the flashlight beam shifted as

734
01:03:32,480 --> 01:03:37,000
he moved the camera slightly. You see it gets stronger

735
01:03:37,039 --> 01:03:41,400
when people remember it together, every time someone thinks about it,

736
01:03:41,800 --> 01:03:46,639
every time someone talks about it. He gave a tired laugh.

737
01:03:47,800 --> 01:03:50,920
So every message I sent you, every time we tried

738
01:03:50,920 --> 01:03:55,199
to remember what happened that day, he shook his head.

739
01:03:56,639 --> 01:04:02,519
We were feeding it. No one spoke. The video continued

740
01:04:02,559 --> 01:04:06,280
to play in the quiet woods. Ethan looked straight into

741
01:04:06,280 --> 01:04:11,360
the camera. Now that's the real problem. It doesn't want

742
01:04:11,440 --> 01:04:15,679
out of the ground. He gestured toward the hole behind him.

743
01:04:16,840 --> 01:04:22,599
It wants out of us. On the screen, Ethan turned

744
01:04:22,599 --> 01:04:26,599
the camera slightly, angling it toward the hole behind him.

745
01:04:27,000 --> 01:04:30,159
The beam of the flashlight lit the disturbed earth, the

746
01:04:30,199 --> 01:04:34,639
same patch of ground we were standing beside now. For

747
01:04:34,679 --> 01:04:37,880
a while, he said, I thought the only way to

748
01:04:37,920 --> 01:04:42,000
stop it was to forget. He let out a quiet breath.

749
01:04:43,159 --> 01:04:48,000
But that's not how it works. The camera shifted as

750
01:04:48,039 --> 01:04:51,679
he crouched near the edge of the pit. I tried,

751
01:04:52,360 --> 01:04:56,199
he continued, I stopped coming out here. I stopped thinking

752
01:04:56,239 --> 01:05:02,079
about it. He gave a small, humorless smile. But it

753
01:05:02,159 --> 01:05:08,079
didn't stop thinking about me. None of us moved. As

754
01:05:08,079 --> 01:05:11,800
the video played. Ethan brushed dirt away with a side

755
01:05:11,800 --> 01:05:16,039
of his hand. I kept hearing it again, he said

756
01:05:16,679 --> 01:05:20,880
in my dreams. When I was awake, his voice had

757
01:05:20,920 --> 01:05:29,039
gone lower, calling. He looked back into the camera, and

758
01:05:29,079 --> 01:05:33,400
then I realized something. A flashlight beam dipped toward the

759
01:05:33,400 --> 01:05:40,079
ground again. It's tied to this place, the hole. He

760
01:05:40,199 --> 01:05:44,800
gestured toward the disturbed soil. As long as this spot exists,

761
01:05:45,199 --> 01:05:50,000
the memory is somewhere to live. So it came back

762
01:05:51,440 --> 01:05:55,719
to finish it. He reached behind him and grabbed the

763
01:05:55,719 --> 01:05:59,480
shovel lying in the dirt. The metal edge scraped against

764
01:05:59,519 --> 01:06:03,239
the ground as he dragged it closer. I'm going to

765
01:06:03,280 --> 01:06:09,559
dig it up again, he said. Everything. Then he nodded

766
01:06:09,599 --> 01:06:13,519
towards something off camera, and I brought in a fuel

767
01:06:13,599 --> 01:06:18,480
to burn the rest. Claire sucked in a quiet breath

768
01:06:18,519 --> 01:06:23,360
beside me. Ethan looked back at the camera one last time.

769
01:06:24,880 --> 01:06:28,239
If the place is gone, the memory won't have anything

770
01:06:28,280 --> 01:06:33,159
to attach to. The video jolted as he set the

771
01:06:33,159 --> 01:06:37,639
phone down on the ground nearby. The camera angled tilted sideways,

772
01:06:37,920 --> 01:06:40,840
showing the edge of the pit and the dark outline

773
01:06:40,840 --> 01:06:47,679
of the trees beyond it. Then he started digging shovel,

774
01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:53,079
biting into dirt soil, shifting heavy breathing between each movement.

775
01:06:54,960 --> 01:06:58,039
For nearly a minute, no one spoke in the video.

776
01:06:58,719 --> 01:07:05,360
Ethan just kept digging. Then the shovel struck something. A dull,

777
01:07:05,559 --> 01:07:12,159
hollow clang echoed through the phone speaker. Ethan froze on

778
01:07:12,239 --> 01:07:16,000
the video. He leaned forward, slightly, peering down into the hole.

779
01:07:17,400 --> 01:07:22,920
His breathing had slowed. I can hear it again, he

780
01:07:22,960 --> 01:07:28,920
said quietly. A faint distortion flickered through the audio. At

781
01:07:28,920 --> 01:07:33,760
first it sounded like wind brushing against the microphone, then

782
01:07:34,159 --> 01:07:40,000
something else. Her voice so quiet it almost blended into

783
01:07:40,039 --> 01:07:44,000
the static. The words were impossible to fully make out,

784
01:07:44,880 --> 01:07:50,280
just a low whisper under the noise. Ethan's shoulders shifted.

785
01:07:51,360 --> 01:07:57,679
Then he shook his head sharply. No, he said. The

786
01:07:57,760 --> 01:08:04,920
whisper continued. Lean closer to the hole. You don't get them,

787
01:08:05,400 --> 01:08:12,079
only me, he said firmly. For a second, the camera

788
01:08:12,159 --> 01:08:16,399
picked up a deeper vibration in the audio. Then the

789
01:08:16,520 --> 01:08:24,760
video cut to black. Tom's phone was still held out

790
01:08:24,760 --> 01:08:28,800
between us, the dark screen reflecting our faces back faintly.

791
01:08:29,960 --> 01:08:33,359
The woods around us felt unnaturally still, like everything had

792
01:08:33,399 --> 01:08:38,359
paused to let the lasting. Ethan said, settle in. Marcus

793
01:08:38,520 --> 01:08:42,279
was the first look away. He stepped forward slowly back

794
01:08:42,279 --> 01:08:45,600
to the clearing, the dry leaves under his shoes crunching

795
01:08:45,680 --> 01:08:49,399
louder than they should have. His eyes drifted back toward

796
01:08:49,439 --> 01:08:53,119
the claps pit in the middle of the clearing. When

797
01:08:53,119 --> 01:08:56,079
he reached the edge of the hole, he crouched down again.

798
01:08:57,159 --> 01:08:59,680
The broken shovel blade was still lying there where we'd

799
01:08:59,680 --> 01:09:06,239
found it earlier. Marcus picked it up. For a second.

800
01:09:07,119 --> 01:09:12,159
He just held it, staring into the loose dirt. Then

801
01:09:13,800 --> 01:09:17,399
he started digging, like he already knew what he was

802
01:09:17,439 --> 01:09:20,520
going to find and didn't want to rush getting there.

803
01:09:22,119 --> 01:09:24,920
The metal edge scraped against the soil as he pulled

804
01:09:24,920 --> 01:09:29,159
it back toward himself. Dirt shifted and slid inward with

805
01:09:29,279 --> 01:09:33,359
the ground that collapsed earlier. Sam watched for a moment

806
01:09:33,840 --> 01:09:41,359
before finally saying Marcus. But Marcus kept going. Another shallow

807
01:09:41,399 --> 01:09:45,039
scoop of dirt pushed aside. The rest of us moved

808
01:09:45,079 --> 01:09:50,399
closer without meaning to. After a few seconds, the color

809
01:09:50,439 --> 01:09:54,880
of the soil started to change. At first, I thought

810
01:09:54,920 --> 01:09:58,479
it was just a lighting under the trees. Then Marcus

811
01:09:58,520 --> 01:10:01,119
paused and brushed the dirt to side with his hand.

812
01:10:02,520 --> 01:10:10,600
The ground beneath it was darker, almost black, charred. Marcus

813
01:10:10,640 --> 01:10:13,880
wiped his palm against his jeans and dug again, pushing

814
01:10:13,920 --> 01:10:17,439
more of the loose soil away. The smell hit a

815
01:10:17,520 --> 01:10:28,800
second later, faint but unmistakable, burnt wood. Claire stepped closer. Oh,

816
01:10:29,159 --> 01:10:34,439
she whispered. Under the thin layer of fresh dirt, the

817
01:10:34,479 --> 01:10:39,680
ground was completely blackened, like it had been scorched. Pieces

818
01:10:39,720 --> 01:10:43,039
of something brittle and dark broke apart as the shovel

819
01:10:43,119 --> 01:10:49,279
edge touched them, burnt wood fragments. Sam crouched beside him.

820
01:10:49,279 --> 01:10:57,359
Now geez, he muttered. Marcus uncovered another section, something metallic,

821
01:10:57,399 --> 01:11:01,680
called the Light. He pulled it free from the soil.

822
01:11:01,920 --> 01:11:06,319
The metal was twisted and warped, blackened by heat. The

823
01:11:06,439 --> 01:11:09,800
edges curled in strange directions, like it had melted and

824
01:11:09,840 --> 01:11:13,800
hardened again. Marcus stared down at it for a long

825
01:11:13,880 --> 01:11:19,000
moment before slowly setting it aside. Then he brushed more

826
01:11:19,039 --> 01:11:23,680
dirt away with his hand. Everywhere beneath the loose earth

827
01:11:23,800 --> 01:11:28,840
was the same black soil, burned debris, ash worked deep

828
01:11:28,880 --> 01:11:32,359
into the ground. It wasn't the kind of damage you

829
01:11:32,479 --> 01:11:36,399
get from a small fire. Whatever Ethan had done here,

830
01:11:37,039 --> 01:11:40,119
it had burned hot enough to scar the earth itself.

831
01:11:42,079 --> 01:11:48,159
Claire's voice came quietly behind us. He didn't just dig

832
01:11:48,199 --> 01:11:56,399
it up. Marcus shook his head slowly. No. He looked

833
01:11:56,439 --> 01:11:59,600
down into the pit again and the charred soil, at

834
01:11:59,600 --> 01:12:04,279
the frag of whatever had once been buried here. Standing

835
01:12:04,319 --> 01:12:07,520
there in the clearing, looking down at the blackened ground

836
01:12:07,800 --> 01:12:12,920
where something terrible it once lived, I realized something that

837
01:12:13,000 --> 01:12:18,720
made my chest tighten. Ethan hadn't been trying to prove

838
01:12:18,800 --> 01:12:26,760
we were wrong. He had been trying to save us.

839
01:12:26,800 --> 01:12:29,199
Marcus was still kneeling at the edge of the pit,

840
01:12:29,800 --> 01:12:33,720
the broken shovel blade resting beside him. The charred earth

841
01:12:33,800 --> 01:12:36,640
beneath the dirt looked darker now that we'd uncovered more

842
01:12:36,680 --> 01:12:40,079
of it, Like the ground itself had been permanently stained.

843
01:12:41,239 --> 01:12:45,680
Claire stepped forward quietly. She reached into her bag and

844
01:12:45,760 --> 01:12:50,720
pulled out the small wooden container. For a second, she

845
01:12:50,920 --> 01:12:54,119
just held it there, turning it slightly in her hands.

846
01:12:55,159 --> 01:12:59,399
No one asked what she was doing. She opened it,

847
01:13:00,479 --> 01:13:07,920
a thin gray dust shifted inside Ethan. Claire walked to

848
01:13:07,960 --> 01:13:11,560
the edge of the pit. She didn't say anything, no

849
01:13:11,760 --> 01:13:16,640
speech or good bye. She simply tilted the container forward.

850
01:13:17,119 --> 01:13:20,880
The ashes drifted down into the black and soil, disappearing

851
01:13:20,920 --> 01:13:24,000
into the same burnt earth Ethan had carved open a

852
01:13:24,039 --> 01:13:30,000
few nights earlier. Marcus lowered his head slightly. It felt

853
01:13:30,079 --> 01:13:34,159
less like a funeral and more like finishing something Ethan

854
01:13:34,359 --> 01:13:39,800
had started. The ashes had settled into the black and soil,

855
01:13:40,199 --> 01:13:43,239
blending with the charred earth until there was no clear

856
01:13:43,319 --> 01:13:47,760
line between them. The clearing looked ordinary again now that

857
01:13:47,840 --> 01:13:51,960
the digging had stopped, just another patch of dirt beneath

858
01:13:51,960 --> 01:14:00,920
the trees. Eventually, Marcus stood up. Guess that's Sam started,

859
01:14:01,840 --> 01:14:06,199
but the sentence faded out before he finished it. We

860
01:14:06,279 --> 01:14:13,319
turned toward the trail. Marcus took a few steps, then stopped. Wait.

861
01:14:15,119 --> 01:14:18,279
We all looked back at him. He was staring at

862
01:14:18,279 --> 01:14:21,960
the pit again, his brow furrowed, like he just remembered

863
01:14:21,960 --> 01:14:30,479
something important. What did it look like, he asked. Claire

864
01:14:30,520 --> 01:14:37,399
tilted her head. What that thing, Marcus said, gesturing vaguely

865
01:14:37,479 --> 01:14:42,680
toward the hole, The thing we dug off. Sam opened

866
01:14:42,720 --> 01:14:48,000
his mouth, then paused. I tried to picture it, the

867
01:14:48,039 --> 01:14:51,520
object under the dirt, the shape bed uncovered when we

868
01:14:51,520 --> 01:14:55,800
were twelve, the thing Ethan had spent twenty years thinking about.

869
01:14:57,600 --> 01:15:00,359
But the harder I tried to focus on it, the

870
01:15:00,359 --> 01:15:09,199
more the details slipped away. I Sam frowned, I don't remember.

871
01:15:11,199 --> 01:15:15,159
Claire crossed her arms, staring into the pit. It was

872
01:15:16,479 --> 01:15:24,279
something she said slowly metal. Marcus asked, or would, Sam said.

873
01:15:25,560 --> 01:15:32,319
Claire looked at her and no, that's not right. None

874
01:15:32,359 --> 01:15:37,399
of us could explain why the shape was gone. The sound, too,

875
01:15:38,640 --> 01:15:41,680
even the voice we just heard on Ethan's recording, felt

876
01:15:41,720 --> 01:15:44,920
distant now, like a dream. You can only recall the

877
01:15:45,000 --> 01:15:51,520
feeling of something had happened here once, something bad, but

878
01:15:51,600 --> 01:15:56,920
the details had already started to dissolve. Marcus looked down

879
01:15:56,960 --> 01:16:00,680
at the burnt ground one last time. Then he noted slightly,

880
01:16:01,159 --> 01:16:07,239
like he just accepted something. We left the clearing. The

881
01:16:07,319 --> 01:16:09,760
walk back through the woods felt shorter than it had

882
01:16:09,760 --> 01:16:14,399
that morning. None of us talked much. There wasn't really

883
01:16:14,439 --> 01:16:19,960
anything to say about. Halfway down the trail, a strange

884
01:16:20,000 --> 01:16:24,920
thought crossed my mind. I couldn't remember why we'd come

885
01:16:24,960 --> 01:16:29,640
out here. I remember the funeral, I remembered meeting at

886
01:16:29,640 --> 01:16:34,880
the diner afterward. I remembered Claire bringing Ethan's ashes. But

887
01:16:34,960 --> 01:16:38,560
the reason we had walked all the way into the woods.

888
01:16:38,960 --> 01:16:43,680
That part felt blurry now, like a story someone had

889
01:16:43,680 --> 01:16:48,720
told me once that I couldn't quite recall. Ahead of us,

890
01:16:49,119 --> 01:16:52,880
the trees began to thin, the old logging road appeared

891
01:16:52,920 --> 01:16:56,840
between them, and our cars waited where we'd left them.

892
01:16:58,680 --> 01:17:03,119
By the time we reached them, the woods were just

893
01:17:03,199 --> 01:17:07,039
the woods again, and whatever Ethan had saved us from,

894
01:17:09,039 --> 01:17:24,079
none of us could remember it any more.