WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.919 She screamed, it don't turn off the light. That it 2 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:06.559 was full on freaking out from the outside of the boat, 3 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.080 well on the boat, but on the outside part of 4 00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:12.759 the cabin. The light flickered back on, completely swallowed up 5 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:16.920 by the dark sea all around us. Someone had clogged 6 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:19.960 the toilet, and instead of fixing it, we collectively decided 7 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:21.920 to use the bucket with the rope and then just 8 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:25.120 slid it into the water, stuffing the toilet paper into 9 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:28.960 the yellow plastic bag from the grocery store. I could 10 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.600 still get some cell phone signal at that point, I 11 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.000 remember that much. I looked at it while I was 12 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.119 half asleep. Everything else was still debated by my own 13 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:40.359 stubborn mind. I was trying hard to make me believe 14 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:43.600 it never actually happened, that I'll wake up and see 15 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:50.119 their dumb messages again on my phone. My name is Edwin, 16 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:57.280 and here's a scary story. Eric's dad, the one who 17 00:00:57.320 --> 00:00:59.719 owned the boat, had told us that the toilet flush 18 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:03.039 goes straight into the water. Who knows if that was real, 19 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.319 but we took his word for it and figured it 20 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:07.640 would be the same thing with the bucket. We just 21 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:11.319 have to be more careful. I'd gotten sick almost immediately 22 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:13.719 once we stepped on that thing the boat. I mean 23 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:17.719 just two pills. I think I took the natural one 24 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:20.719 first and then the chemical one because it wasn't working. 25 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:24.239 I still felt the world twisting and flipping upside down 26 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:29.040 every four seconds I was counting. Plus I couldn't ask 27 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:31.040 my friends to leave the only room with the bed, 28 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:33.519 no matter how tiny it was. When the three of 29 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.200 them decided to go in there to hang out. It 30 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:38.519 was the only normal place in the boat with furniture 31 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:41.519 that wasn't made completely out of solid wood or rusted metal. 32 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:44.640 But they were laughing and joking around as if everything 33 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:48.480 was normal. The next thing, I remember that it came 34 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:52.159 in talking about what a waste of space Richard was. 35 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:54.920 Waste of space, she said, and I started laughing at 36 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:58.439 that right away. Then she said that he had dropped 37 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:01.400 the anchor, like literally dropped it, because the chain went 38 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.200 all the way down. I knew it was serious then, 39 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:06.879 but I still couldn't process what it meant. At the time, 40 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:10.479 we were supposed to be out there for the evening. 41 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:13.479 We had been joking about catching our own fish, because 42 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:16.199 we brought sandwiches just in case no one caught anything, 43 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.599 not that anyone actually tried. At least no one was 44 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:22.520 going to have to wash the frying pans. But then 45 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:25.039 it stormed out and kept yelling at Richard and Eric 46 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.639 about god knows what. It all blurred together, mixing with 47 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:30.800 the tiny waves bumping on the side of the boat, 48 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:34.919 my name being shouted among them. I rolled out of 49 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:39.280 bed and stepped out. All the lights were off. Don't 50 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.840 turn off the light, I heard from the outside before 51 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:45.960 the lights flickered on very I shouted toward the window. 52 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.039 There were windows all around that tiny cabin of the boat, 53 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:51.439 and yet I couldn't see her. I could tell something 54 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:56.039 was off, though. Suddenly something startled me from the side window. 55 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:59.400 Hands against the window, banging on it hard as they're 56 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:02.199 trying to break the glass. We had worked on that 57 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:05.479 thing together, all of us, Daddy, Richard, Eric, It was 58 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:09.800 our summer project, and knew it's every corner except well, 59 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:14.879 we didn't know how to fix it. It made it look nice, though, still. 60 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:17.360 Something about hearing them hit the glass so hard made 61 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:21.879 my blood boil. I yelled out what as it reached 62 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:25.080 for the doorknob. Before I even touched it, it swung 63 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:29.759 wide open. Slamming against the outer wall. The wind rushed in, 64 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:33.639 but with it also came the darkness. I'm not sure 65 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:36.879 if anyone else had ever seen anything darker than that, 66 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:40.319 A door that opened to a deck against the wall 67 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:44.520 of nothing, an emptiness with a texture so heavy that, 68 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:49.000 if close enough, wouldn't let you breathe. I tried to 69 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.000 stay away from it as I walked around the boat 70 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.479 to the other side of the cabin, expecting to see 71 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.199 everyone sitting on the deck at the back, maybe cans 72 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:59.159 of soda in their hands, maybe the familiar songs of 73 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:03.039 Maroon five through Richard's cheap old speaker, though when he 74 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:06.479 bought at the swap meat the year before, a gift 75 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:10.479 when he never gave away. Five steps in and there 76 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:14.039 was nothing but the soft waves tinkling against the boat. 77 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:17.040 The orange light bulbs we put in looked nice but 78 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:20.360 did a terrible job against the darkness. Now I could 79 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.000 see were dark lumps a few yards in front of me. 80 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:27.399 I was about to shout out that is name when 81 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:29.600 I heard the door slamming on the other side of 82 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:33.639 the boat. I rushed over and watched as Steada was 83 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:37.600 opening and slamming. The door shut over and over again. 84 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:42.199 She stood completely still, looking at me with those wide 85 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:44.519 brown eyes she would make when she would tell me 86 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.160 one of her guys stories. They were large and un blinking. 87 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:52.800 That what the hell? I yelled, walking over to her 88 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:57.040 to grab the doorknob, But as it got closer, I 89 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:01.160 realized that it wasn't there day. Looking back, her mouth 90 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.560 was whiter, and her ears were large, her teeth yellowed 91 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:07.879 and dark between them. Something about her hair reminded me 92 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:10.519 of the pine needles we gathered on our gutters, the 93 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.879 same ones that were piled outside that very bulu cabin 94 00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:17.399 in layers. They had been thick enough for an apossum 95 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.000 to have made its home there, had its litter, and 96 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:24.079 then come back to die. She had stopped slamming the 97 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:26.360 door by this point and was looking right at me, 98 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.279 her head beginning to drop down enough for me to 99 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:32.879 lose her eyes. I took a step back, but she 100 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.480 rushed at me with impossible speed. Her cold hands gripped 101 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:39.000 my arms as she pushed me back toward the railing 102 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:42.319 that I knew wouldn't hold us both. She was yelling 103 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:45.519 something I couldn't decipher, an angry hiss coming from her 104 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:50.879 entire body, anywhere but her own mouth. I grabbed her 105 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:53.399 arm and twisted it, and then half of her body 106 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:56.560 went over the railing, and then the rest of it. 107 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:02.399 I heard no splashing, just a sudden PLoP into the water, 108 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:06.560 and then silence, broken only by bubbles rising to the top. 109 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:10.519 I held out her name and confusion, though I knew 110 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:13.560 it wasn't her, I ran across the deck of the boat, 111 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:16.439 yelling out for the guys, Richard and Eric, but there 112 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:20.000 was no response. I walked around the boat, my breath 113 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:22.879 now made up of soft screams as it looked for 114 00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:25.360 them and the emergency vests we had to buy for 115 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.040 our registration, the last thing to pay aside from fuel 116 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.680 before we could take it out to the water. There 117 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:36.000 were three empty hooks but the only vest, and in 118 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.920 a panic, I turned to my left and saw the 119 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.240 dark lumps on the deck by the orange lights we 120 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:45.959 had set up Eric Richard. I asked, half whispering by 121 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:50.920 this point, but the lumps didn't move. I walked up 122 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.319 to them cautiously, this time, afraid of them going after 123 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:57.079 me the way that it did. But once I got 124 00:06:57.160 --> 00:07:00.680 up to them, I realized they were only the chairs 125 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.199 they had taken out from the area inside the cabin. 126 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:08.040 My heart was racing by this point. I turned around 127 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:11.439 quickly to the railing that I had fallen off. I 128 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:13.879 thought of throwing the vest overboard, of putting it on 129 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:17.279 myself and jumping in there. Thought of everything but the 130 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:20.480 fact that whoever I had seen there was not my friend. 131 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:23.920 It couldn't have been. But I felt that small seedling 132 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.839 of a doubt sprouting in my mind that I knew 133 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:31.120 how to swim right. Why would she just sink down? 134 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:37.199 Did I just not hear her? The boat was small 135 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:40.120 compared to the ones we had run into earlier, not 136 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:43.160 far from the surface of the water. That's when I 137 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.399 thought of the boats. We hadn't been too far from 138 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:49.279 the shoreline on purpose. We wanted to stay close so 139 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:51.519 Eric could get back in time for something he needed 140 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:55.600 to do at night. And yet ere we were floating 141 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.079 in the dark waters, with no lights on the horizon 142 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:02.439 or signs of nearby boats. And that's what got me worried. 143 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:08.160 What if they had left me. I walked around the 144 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.439 remaining part of the cabin and back to the door. 145 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:14.839 I stepped inside and shut it behind me. I yelled 146 00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:17.600 out their names. I shouted hello. I pleaded with the 147 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:20.639 emptiness on that boat that someone else would be there 148 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:24.639 with me. And that's when, from the room I had 149 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.040 just been in, I watched the figure of a guy 150 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:33.200 move away back into that room. I hurried toward it. 151 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:37.639 Loneliness was scarier right there. And then I swung open 152 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:40.679 that door and found no one else, no other place 153 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:43.320 to hide, no other place to leave that room, but 154 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:48.679 that door. The confusion lasted just a couple of seconds 155 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:53.799 before fear started crawling all over me. Nothing felt right there. 156 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:57.159 The wall of darkness outside the boat, even the shapes 157 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:59.759 of the chairs, the ones that were outside on the deck, 158 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.399 it didn't seem to match. I sat on the floor, 159 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:06.120 grabbing the sides of my head, wondering what could have 160 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:12.159 possibly happened. That's when the voices started again, laughing and 161 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:17.240 then shouting my name, being yelled through the glass, tapping 162 00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:21.279 on the windows non stop, over and over. I would 163 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:23.559 hear those voices, and at times I could hear them 164 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:27.360 say to open the door. The door in my mind 165 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:32.559 was wide open. I heard that of repeating herself about 166 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:35.360 Richard and the anchor time and time again, should call 167 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:38.080 them a waste of space. I heard myself laughing. I 168 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:41.360 could hear Eric yelling for Theddi. It was just all 169 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:45.840 too much to bear, so I went outside again. I 170 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:49.000 went to the bow of the boat. The anchor was missing. 171 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.120 We had rigged one up on to the front side 172 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:54.799 of it to crank from the front directly. It was 173 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:58.679 the one that Thedda had been complaining about in tears. 174 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:01.200 By this point, I went back inside and shut the door, 175 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:05.480 begging my mind to stop circling around. So I closed 176 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:07.519 my eyes and put my hands against my ears to 177 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:12.240 hear nothing else. It was still dark out when I 178 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:16.200 woke up. I stepped on that cold wooden floor. I 179 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:19.639 hadn't brought a jacket. No one had. We weren't going 180 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:22.919 to be out for that long. I felt that sickness 181 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:25.799 to my stomach again, but no way I was going 182 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:28.440 to take more medicine, and instead I just walked over 183 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:33.399 to the door. Everything was still on the outside of 184 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:35.480 the door. I saw the bright pink shoes at that 185 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:38.279 it wore. Next to them were the two pairs of 186 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.919 sandals we made fun of when Eric and Richard showed 187 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:45.039 up with him. In the distance, and I'm saying, really 188 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:48.159 far away, I could see the lines of tiny light. 189 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.879 That was it. I rushed back inside to look for 190 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.000 my phone, and fortunately I still had battery and signal. 191 00:10:57.240 --> 00:11:01.159 I looked through my messages, dozens of them, where are you, 192 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:05.200 When are you guys coming back? And I kept scrolling 193 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:08.440 looking for something about my friends, but there was nothing. 194 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.360 I walked around the boat again, checking every area of 195 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:16.559 it with my phone. I went to the bathroom, to 196 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:18.399 the bottom part of the deck and looked under the 197 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:22.639 chairs in case I missed something, each bringing further confirmation 198 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.639 that I was alone. I went to the navigation chair, 199 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.519 not sure if that thing had a name or not. 200 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:33.279 I looked around for anything that looked off, but it didn't. 201 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:36.679 I went back to the room, looked at the bags, 202 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:39.919 the ones that belonged to them, and uneaten snacks by 203 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:43.639 the table, searching through things to see if anything was 204 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:47.840 out of place, but it wasn't. I called my mom 205 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.000 at that moment. I told her where I was and 206 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:54.240 what had happened. She was panicked over the whole thing, 207 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:56.399 but I could tell she was relieved by the tone 208 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.720 of her voice. She called back with another man in 209 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:02.799 the line, some type of officer, coast guard or something. 210 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.840 I gave him the information they needed about the location 211 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.600 and boat or vessel. He called it, and about an 212 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:13.679 hour later a light started shining in the distance. They 213 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:16.080 came on board, asked if I needed medical help, and 214 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:19.399 then asked about my friends, but I had no answers 215 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:23.039 for them. They were able to bring the boat back 216 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:26.399 to the dock, filed reports with the local authorities that 217 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.919 his parents showed up first, followed by Eric and Richard's 218 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:33.000 parents and some of their family, all of them asking 219 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:37.799 what happened and where were they? We found out the 220 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:40.840 next day when they washed up ashore on one of 221 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:45.399 the nearby islands. A fisherman called in to report Eric first, 222 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:49.919 and after a quick search they found there and Richard 223 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:53.000 no signs of foul play, and after them hearing my 224 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:54.960 account that I had been asleep while I heard the 225 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:58.840 shouting on the motion sickness pills, they called it an accident. 226 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.480 Richard had bruising on his hands and tore so consistent 227 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:06.759 with getting tangled up with the anchor chain. They assumed 228 00:13:06.759 --> 00:13:09.519 Derek had jumped in after him after throwing the life vest. 229 00:13:10.600 --> 00:13:12.799 It was unlikely for Thedda to also jump in, they 230 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:16.240 said so, despite her cause of death being drowning. The 231 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:24.000 investigation remained inconclusive. But then there's a part I kept quiet, 232 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:29.240 the thing that wasn't theda rushing at me part of 233 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:33.159 me that believes something else was on that boat, And 234 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:36.200 yet I have to stay with the story, the one 235 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:51.080 of the pills for my own sanity. Up next, we 236 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.360 have an old favorite. This one's called about a Ghost, 237 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:56.799 and it's based on a request from Gabby, one of 238 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:59.600 our loyal listeners, over on a comment that we received 239 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:05.559 in one of our channels. I opened my eyes to 240 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:09.240 the golden light of the sunset. Marissa chose the curtains, 241 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:11.559 which I thought let too much light into the living 242 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:14.240 room at one point, but I had grown to love. 243 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:19.679 The light shining in my face. For an instant reminded 244 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.759 me of the day we got married. I looked over 245 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:24.600 to the table in the middle of the living room, 246 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:27.399 across the couch and picked up the face down portrait 247 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:30.639 of our wedding day. I put it back where it belonged, 248 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:33.799 trying not to look at just how happy we used 249 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:37.679 to be. Those rays of light highlighting the edges of 250 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:43.279 her dark hair. It wasn't always like this, well, she 251 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:46.200 had always been this way, Yeah, with the light and everything. 252 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:50.480 She had always loved the sunny days, laughter, and places 253 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:54.399 where there were crowds. You mentioned a crowded mall or 254 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.360 a festival, she wanted to go. When we walked around 255 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:00.879 and by pure coincidence we saw a group of people 256 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.799 gathered around a street performer, or because something was being 257 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:07.919 given away for free, I would let out an audible sigh. 258 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:13.159 She would want to go. I was different, though. I 259 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:16.759 like rainy days and sad stories. Sometimes not all the time, 260 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:20.080 but there's something about cozying up around a fireplace and 261 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:23.399 falling asleep to that instead of the late night comedy shows, 262 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:28.440 the ones that Marissa loves to watch. She hated that 263 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:31.639 about me. She was the biggest chicken in the world 264 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:34.720 and could not manage to get through a simple horror movie, 265 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:37.600 even a kid one. And when I convinced her to 266 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:40.039 do so, she would make me walk with her everywhere, 267 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:43.559 and sometimes in the middle of the night she would 268 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:45.440 wake me up to walk with her and wait outside 269 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:49.440 the bathroom for her. Yes, she was this afraid of 270 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:53.039 things like that. I use it to my advantage when 271 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:56.720 we got into arguments if I said something insensitive or 272 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.480 forgot to take out the trash, and she'd be visibly 273 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.759 upset and short with me. I would wait until nighttime. 274 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.000 I would approach her and come in for a hug. 275 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:10.519 If I saw her pull away slightly, I would simply 276 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:15.600 mention something scary, a thing about a ghost. She'd immediately 277 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:17.919 step closer to me and tell me to stop, which 278 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.519 I would, but then she would stay close to me. 279 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.120 Soon we would be speaking to each other as we 280 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:30.799 normally would. Those were the days. We would laugh about 281 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.639 it afterward. But I remember when I stopped joking around 282 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:36.360 that way as much like the time we had been 283 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:38.840 sitting on the couch and she found something on Instagram 284 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:42.679 that she absolutely had to show me another cat video. 285 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:48.440 I suspected, but no, she said, I absolutely had to 286 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:51.679 watch it. It was a video of a cave where 287 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:54.200 a small woman was seeing walking around in the dark, 288 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:57.320 and then suddenly she got up close to the camera. 289 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:01.720 The thing made me flinch. I'll admit that. She laughed, 290 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:04.799 and I laughed too, scaring her by telling her that 291 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:07.799 I would get her back. Now you won't, she said, 292 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:11.240 sticking her tongue out. Do you want me to talk 293 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:15.519 about the ghost? Huh? I asked, stop it? She yelled, 294 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:20.319 half jokingly. I knew she was serious. Though. For a 295 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:23.079 while we had been talking about some strange noises in 296 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.880 the house. Even though I liked to joke about that 297 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.559 a lot, I was a little scared of it, also, 298 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:33.559 scared of those simple things. I made a face at 299 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.759 her playing around like children on the couch. I missed 300 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:42.039 those moments. We had ordered Chinese food and were eating 301 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:44.519 in the living room couch when Marissa mentioned the light 302 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.640 bulb that had gone out in the kitchen the night before. 303 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:51.400 When suddenly, I swear we both heard something fall and 304 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:53.839 shatter against the floor on the other side of the house. 305 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:57.160 We were the only ones in there, so I grabbed 306 00:17:57.160 --> 00:17:59.759 the iron stick thing that we kept next to the fireplace. 307 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:02.279 I sprinted off the couch and walked up toward the 308 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:07.359 dining room area. I could see nothing there. I got 309 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:10.480 feel Marissa against my back, her hands gripping my shirt. 310 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:15.680 As I stepped closer to the kitchen counter, I saw it, 311 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:18.400 a thousand pieces of glass of the light bulb, forming 312 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.079 a tiny hilt of white dust against the floor. I 313 00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:28.000 looked back toward Marissa. Her eyes were opened wide. It's 314 00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:30.920 probably the ghost, I said, trying to ease some of 315 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.720 the fear I was feeling, but the shiver that ran 316 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:38.960 down my back gave it away. I was afraid too. 317 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.119 I grabbed a dust pan in the hand room we 318 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:43.960 had while Marissa stood behind me, holding her own hands 319 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:47.759 against her chest. But what was it? She kept asking, 320 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:53.000 how could that happen? I had no clue. Obviously, I 321 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:56.920 didn't know what to do or what to tell her. More, 322 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:01.119 things kept happening, mostly with things being misplaced. Part of 323 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.319 me believed that this thing that was in our house 324 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:05.559 had something to do with the arguments Marissa and I 325 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:09.160 were having. I stayed out a little later than usual 326 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.720 one day at work, less than an hour, but the 327 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:15.240 sun had set and Marissa had made a big deal 328 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.359 about it. I nearly yelled at her for the first 329 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:21.599 time since we had met, but I held my anger back, 330 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.680 simply throwing my jacket against a chair in the kitchen 331 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.680 area as hard as I could. She was visibly scared 332 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:32.000 and literally ran away from me, leaving the sturf for 333 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:35.680 burning on the pan. I ran up to it and 334 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:39.240 turned it off. The steam was turning to dark smoke 335 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:42.839 when it placed the oversized lid on it. When the 336 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:47.880 pan stopped crackling, I could hear Marissa sobbing in the bedroom. 337 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:52.079 Our arguments were never like that, but now, whenever something 338 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:54.240 came up, I would say or do something that would 339 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:59.000 make it worse. Very unlike me, she would do the 340 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:01.759 same things, bring up things that I had been doing 341 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:04.720 forever and finding a fault with them. That was tired 342 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:07.920 of it. She was tired of it, and it had 343 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:11.279 been this way for months. Sometimes the only way to 344 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:13.799 stay sane as a couple was to simply not talk 345 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.640 to each other, or to limit our interactions. Not a 346 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.519 great idea, I know. I walked up to the bedroom 347 00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:23.640 door that night and got to see her grabbing one 348 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:26.640 of the blankets from the closet. I thought it was 349 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:28.559 for me to sleep in the living room, something that 350 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:31.960 I would do for the first time, but no, she 351 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:36.039 walked right past me, ignoring me calling her name. I 352 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:39.680 felt that anger once again, the sudden rush to push 353 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:42.240 her away from me, to yell at her for being 354 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:46.799 so emotional or unreasonable or dumb. So many words came 355 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:50.319 across my mind as she disappeared into the hallway. Hate 356 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:52.920 was not strong enough to describe my feelings toward her, 357 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:57.680 But again I knew these were simply rushes of anger. 358 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:04.680 They would go away in a few minutes. That night, 359 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:07.359 I felt Marissa get back into bed and turned away 360 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:10.680 from me sometime in the middle of the night. Then 361 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:12.640 I felt her get up before dawn to get ready 362 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:17.079 for work. I kept waking up, adjusting myself over and over, 363 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.079 but still I refused to turn around to face her 364 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:25.880 that anger. There was no way this would last another day. 365 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:29.640 It never had, but that other day, when I woke 366 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:32.519 up in the living room, Marissa still hadn't come back home. 367 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:36.880 The sun had completely set by that time. While I 368 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:40.160 was sitting there in the dark, not wanting to or 369 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:43.880 unable to turn on the lights to the living room, 370 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:45.720 I must have been dozing off when I heard the 371 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:49.720 keys against a doorknob. Marissa was picking off her jacket 372 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:51.599 when she peeked into the living room to see me. 373 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:55.240 She ignored my hello as she walked over to the 374 00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:58.640 kitchen to drop off some leftovers from wherever she had dined. 375 00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:03.279 She walked over to the living room, my mind went 376 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:06.720 dark with fury. I wanted to scream and destroy the 377 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.559 useless curtains she had decided on for the living room. 378 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:12.160 I wanted to shred them to pieces and then move 379 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.759 on to the disgusting green chair she picked for the 380 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:19.480 living room. Then I wanted to pay her a visit. 381 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:24.799 Hold back, I told myself. I took a few deep breaths. 382 00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:32.000 This was going to go away, and it did. That night, 383 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.599 Marissa grabbed the blanket and walked over to the living 384 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:38.000 room once again without saying a word, and again I 385 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:40.519 held back saying what I was thinking. As she settled 386 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:43.519 into the couch and I could see her knowing phone 387 00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:47.599 screens still on, I knew that I wouldn't be able 388 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:50.799 to sleep well once again, and it was going to 389 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:55.319 be her fault. Sure enough, at around two in the morning, 390 00:22:55.400 --> 00:22:58.000 I felt her next to me on the bed, too 391 00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:02.079 much for her. I figured I really didn't want to 392 00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:04.880 look at her face, and that came as a courtesy 393 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:07.200 from those pointless curtains that let all of the light 394 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:10.519 from the street lamps outside in. But I needed to 395 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:14.279 use a bathroom. I crawled out of the bed, not 396 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:17.279 even minding making too much noise, not caring if she 397 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:20.359 woke up. I opened the door and stepped out into 398 00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:24.960 the hallway when something caught my eye. It was a 399 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:30.160 light floating in the living room. I rubbed my eyes 400 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:34.119 and I felt them adjust to the darkness. It couldn't 401 00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:38.680