1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: It was at a flea market, of all places, the 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:08,720 kind you go to wonder aimlessly, pretending you're looking for 3 00:00:08,759 --> 00:00:13,519 something very specific, knowing that chances are you'll probably leave 4 00:00:13,599 --> 00:00:18,160 with nothing. Rows of mismatched tables stretched over the cracked 5 00:00:18,199 --> 00:00:22,719 pavement under the afternoon sun, piled high with old tools, 6 00:00:22,879 --> 00:00:26,399 scratched up, yellowing furniture, and junk people had dug out 7 00:00:26,399 --> 00:00:30,199 of their garages. The air smeled like kettle corn and 8 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,479 cheap sunscreen, with a faint tang of rust from some 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:39,880 vendor's collection of scrap metal. My apartment was still mostly empty. 10 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,600 I just moved in, and the empty walls and bare 11 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,439 corners were starting to really bother me. I wasn't on 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,840 the search for anything specific, just something to make the 13 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,119 place feel less like an abandoned storage unit and more 14 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:58,280 like a home. A lamp maybe, or an interesting piece 15 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:05,599 of furniture, cheap, preferably. It didn't take long to find something. 16 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,359 At one of the stalls, tucked behind a pile of 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,840 well worn tools and broken frames, I saw a bunch 18 00:01:12,879 --> 00:01:17,159 of mismatched furniture, a side table painted with white with 19 00:01:17,239 --> 00:01:20,840 chipped corners, a small stool, and an old couch that 20 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,519 needed a wash or two. It was a random assortment, 21 00:01:24,599 --> 00:01:28,879 tied together with fraying twine, but it was solid enough 22 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,560 for what I needed. A hundred bucks for the lot, 23 00:01:33,079 --> 00:01:37,439 the vendor said, catching me looking. He was older and 24 00:01:37,519 --> 00:01:39,680 looked like he'd been sitting in a folding chair for 25 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,760 his entire life. Before I got a chance to respond, 26 00:01:43,799 --> 00:01:47,079 he added, take it, and I'm even throw in that 27 00:01:47,159 --> 00:01:52,040 painting over there. I followed his nod and saw it 28 00:01:52,079 --> 00:01:55,840 propped against the back of the chair leg The painting 29 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,640 it was half hidden behind a stack of dens cans. 30 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:05,680 Its edges were frayed, and its frame was stretched. A 31 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,159 woman stood alone in a vast field of wheat, A 32 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:14,199 figure poised in a strange way, almost reverent. The wheat 33 00:02:14,199 --> 00:02:18,080 behind us stretched endlessly, But it wasn't as golden and 34 00:02:18,199 --> 00:02:23,360 vibrant as you might expect. It was gray, lifeless, and brittle, 35 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,759 burnt to a crisp. Each stalk bowed under a phantom wind. 36 00:02:29,479 --> 00:02:32,000 The texture of the wheat was so vivid that I 37 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,639 almost felt the dry rust of it brushing against my fingertips. 38 00:02:37,039 --> 00:02:40,360 The sky roiled with movement, as still as it was 39 00:02:41,319 --> 00:02:45,199 a violent storm of colors crashed into each other, waves 40 00:02:45,199 --> 00:02:49,560 of pigment and brushstrokes, deep purples melted into streaks of 41 00:02:49,599 --> 00:02:53,400 orange and crimson, shot through with veins of sickly yellow. 42 00:02:54,319 --> 00:02:58,439 The horizon was blotted with heavy bruise, like clouds threatening 43 00:02:58,479 --> 00:03:03,599 to open and bleed. Yet despite the chaos of it all, 44 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:09,039 there was a balance to it. Each hue blended seamlessly 45 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,120 into the next, like the canvas had been alive once 46 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:17,319 and was now frozen mid motion, like pausing a video. 47 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,800 And then there was the woman. Her pale dress rippled faintly, 48 00:03:23,199 --> 00:03:25,560 as though caught in the dying breath of the wind 49 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,479 that had long since left the wheat around her motionless. 50 00:03:29,479 --> 00:03:31,919 The fabric clung to her frame in a way that 51 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,759 should have made her seem fragile, Yet she didn't look it. 52 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,520 She was still a statue carved from soft light. She 53 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,840 stood with her back facing me. Her face was turned 54 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,319 just enough to reveal some of her profile, the curve 55 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,960 of her cheekbone and the point of her chin. But 56 00:03:52,039 --> 00:03:57,159 her eyes held me. It wasn't fearful or defiant. It 57 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,800 wasn't pleading either. Her gaze was resigned, mellow and accepting. 58 00:04:04,599 --> 00:04:09,520 It's part of the bundle. I asked, sure, is the 59 00:04:09,599 --> 00:04:13,280 vendor said, tipping back a can of soda, take it 60 00:04:13,319 --> 00:04:17,839 off for a hundred The painting stayed tied up in 61 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:22,319 the bundle until I got home. I carried it all 62 00:04:22,399 --> 00:04:25,800 into my living room and untied the twine, letting it 63 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,959 all tumble onto the floor. The painting was the last 64 00:04:29,959 --> 00:04:33,800 thing I pulled free. It was lighter than I expected. 65 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,160 I set it against the wall and stepped back, letting 66 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:43,120 myself take it in fully. Again, the details came into 67 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:47,519 sharper focus. I hadn't really wanted the painting to begin with, 68 00:04:48,399 --> 00:04:50,879 so I placed it against the corner of the wall 69 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,040 and left it there. Truth be told, I didn't like 70 00:04:56,079 --> 00:05:00,120 it too much. It was eerie to look at, but 71 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,600 couldn't bring myself to throw art made with such care away. 72 00:05:04,959 --> 00:05:07,800 It wasn't to my taste, but maybe I could find 73 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,319 a home for it, to some one who could appreciate it. 74 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:18,879 For three days, the painting sat in the corner. I 75 00:05:18,879 --> 00:05:21,879 couldn't bring myself to hang it, but I didn't want 76 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,680 to hide it either. Every time I passed by, I 77 00:05:26,759 --> 00:05:31,319 caught myself glancing at it. Then on the fourth day, 78 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,319 I finally decided to hang it above the couch. The 79 00:05:37,439 --> 00:05:41,839 news came a couple of days later. I was scrolling 80 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:45,439 through my phone over breakfast my TV, murmuring something in 81 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:50,600 the background when I saw the headline wild fire ravages 82 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:57,279 Kansas farmland, one fatality. I tapped the article and the 83 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:01,759 image of the blaze filled my screen. The fire had 84 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,920 consumed acres upon acres of farmland, leaving nothing but ash 85 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,560 and blackened stalks of wheat in its path. The sky 86 00:06:09,639 --> 00:06:13,680 above was hazy, streaked with deep purples and reds as 87 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:19,839 smoke billowed and faded, leaving behind traces of yellow. I 88 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:24,839 stared at the photo. It looked eerily familiar, but it 89 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:29,839 wasn't exact. There was no woman, no dress, just an 90 00:06:29,879 --> 00:06:35,040 empty field and the fire ravaging it. I shook my 91 00:06:35,079 --> 00:06:38,439 head and put the phone down, and had to be 92 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:44,079 a coincidence. Fields burned all the time. The painting wasn't unique. 93 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,040 It was probably just an artistic take on a generic disaster. 94 00:06:49,079 --> 00:06:51,279 All the stress that had been building up over my 95 00:06:51,399 --> 00:06:54,240 move and my all new long commute to work was 96 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,680 just making me overthink things and making the painting more 97 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:03,800 special in my head than it actually was. Still, I 98 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:08,040 didn't like it. I put the painting back in the corner, 99 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:12,920 thinking of disposing of it as soon as possible. The 100 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:18,600 second painting arrived about a week after the wildfire. This 101 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,240 time I didn't find it at a flea market. I 102 00:07:22,319 --> 00:07:26,279 didn't look for it at all. It was delivered straight 103 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:33,000 to my mailbox. The container a tube was unmarked. There 104 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,800 was no return address, posted, stamp, or anything to suggest 105 00:07:36,839 --> 00:07:40,399 where it had come from. But there it was in 106 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,360 my mailbox, sitting among the pile of junk mail, like 107 00:07:44,439 --> 00:07:49,839 it belonged there. I almost didn't even open it. I 108 00:07:49,959 --> 00:07:53,319 considered throwing it away. I got the first painting by 109 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,040 pure coincidence, but now I was getting it in the mail. 110 00:07:58,279 --> 00:08:00,240 I thought about going back to the vendor I had 111 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,399 initially gotten the first one from, but the flea market 112 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,240 was seasonal, so I had no way to find him 113 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:14,959 even if I wanted to. So I unrolled it. It 114 00:08:15,079 --> 00:08:20,920 showed a train. The perspective was striking painted from the 115 00:08:20,959 --> 00:08:24,120 inside of some sort of vehicle looking toward a train, 116 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,800 but the location was not discernible, and train tracks were 117 00:08:28,879 --> 00:08:32,080 laid out in the distance where the silhouette of a 118 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:36,200 train sat derailed, his frame twisted and broken like a 119 00:08:36,279 --> 00:08:42,000 crushed can. Cars careened off the rails, some split, others 120 00:08:42,039 --> 00:08:45,120 piled on top of each other in jagged heaps of metal. 121 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,200 Flames spat from the wreckage, consuming wood and broken glass. 122 00:08:50,919 --> 00:08:54,600 Thick and black smoke curled into the sky, walking out 123 00:08:54,679 --> 00:09:00,279 the pale blue above. Yet the focal point wasn't the wreckage, 124 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:06,039 but the figures. A woman in a red scarf was 125 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,200 on her knees at the edge of the tracks. She 126 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:11,919 was close to one of the train cars, her arms 127 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,919 stretched out toward a child dangling from a broken window above. 128 00:09:17,159 --> 00:09:21,000 The child's miniature body teetered on the edge, tiny fingers 129 00:09:21,039 --> 00:09:27,600 reaching desperately towards her, but she was stuck. The fire 130 00:09:27,759 --> 00:09:32,559 illuminated their faces with painful clarity. The woman's face was 131 00:09:32,639 --> 00:09:36,440 painted with desperation, her mouth half open in a cry 132 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:40,519 I could almost hear if I strained hard enough. Her 133 00:09:40,519 --> 00:09:44,559 scarf fluttered in the heat. The child's expression was frozen 134 00:09:44,759 --> 00:09:48,840 in wide eyed terror. She was so close to the woman, 135 00:09:49,519 --> 00:09:54,399 yet so far, and the scariest of all the train 136 00:09:54,519 --> 00:09:57,399 cars seemed as if it would tip over at any moment. 137 00:09:59,039 --> 00:10:02,279 The details were so vivid and precise that it did 138 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,279 not feel like a painting, but a picture of a moment. 139 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:12,679 It happened the next day. I was driving home from work, 140 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,360 dragging myself through traffic on a suburban road when I 141 00:10:17,399 --> 00:10:22,039 heard it. At first, it was just a distant sound, 142 00:10:22,759 --> 00:10:25,679 a strange screech that didn't belong in the hum of 143 00:10:25,799 --> 00:10:29,840 rush hour at all. Then it became the screech of 144 00:10:29,919 --> 00:10:33,759 metal against metal, a sound that would make your teeth ache. 145 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,840 The sound was distant still, but it grew louder with 146 00:10:38,039 --> 00:10:42,720 every passing second, raw and visceral, cutting through the air. 147 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,919 The railroad ahead was already crowded with cars, and brake 148 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,519 lights glowed in the evening haze. Beyond the train barrel 149 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:57,480 toward the intersection. I watched as the train swerved violently, 150 00:10:58,039 --> 00:11:02,519 sparks flying as the wheels left tracks. The first car 151 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,559 tip sideways, dragging the rest of the train with it 152 00:11:05,799 --> 00:11:10,639 in a cascade of catastrophe. I stopped the car, instinctively, 153 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,200 gripping the steering wheel as the chaos unfolded in front 154 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:21,120 of me. The deralment was horrific. Passenger cars crumpled and 155 00:11:21,159 --> 00:11:24,080 people flew out of the train cars as they collided 156 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,559 with one another. The force of the crash sent debris 157 00:11:27,639 --> 00:11:31,519 flying into the air with a loud bang. The engine 158 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:35,000 smashed into the support beam near the crossing, igniting an 159 00:11:35,039 --> 00:11:38,519 explosion that lit up the sky with orange and red flames. 160 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:49,240 It was chaos. And then there they were, the woman 161 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:55,799 in the red scarf and the child. She was kneeling 162 00:11:55,879 --> 00:11:58,639 by the edge of the wreckage, her arms stretched out 163 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,960 in a feeble attempt to rear the dangling child. It 164 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,320 was exactly what I had seen from the painting. The 165 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:10,519 firelight danced across their faces, their expressions frozen in the 166 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:16,480 same raw clarity. I sat frozen in my car, my 167 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,840 hands gripping the steering wheels so tightly I could hear 168 00:12:19,879 --> 00:12:24,480 it groan in protest. I wanted to move, get out 169 00:12:24,519 --> 00:12:30,759 and help somehow, but I couldn't. And then it happened. 170 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,080 The train car, which was balancing on its side, tipped 171 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:40,279 over in slow motion, and I watched as the child 172 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,799 was eaten up by the flames, and the woman's legs crushed, 173 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:49,279 now trapped as the fire ate or away. I couldn't 174 00:12:49,279 --> 00:12:54,559 look away. I felt tears running down my cheeks as 175 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,559 I finally regained my senses, the screaming around me breaking 176 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:02,840 me out of my trance. The painter hadn't just known 177 00:13:02,879 --> 00:13:07,320 this would happen. They'd known where I'd be and what 178 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:14,000 I'd see. I don't remember driving home. The crash broke 179 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:18,840 something in me. I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed 180 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,440 my eyes, I saw the woman and the child frozen 181 00:13:22,639 --> 00:13:27,320 in that terrible moment, just as the painting had depicted it. 182 00:13:27,399 --> 00:13:31,399 The fire's light, the scarf, the desperation, and the reaching out. 183 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:37,440 It was all burned into my mind, replaying over and over, 184 00:13:38,039 --> 00:13:41,240 like a punishment I could do nothing to escape from. 185 00:13:42,879 --> 00:13:46,879 I was in purgatory. I didn't go to work the 186 00:13:46,919 --> 00:13:51,120 next day either or the day after. At first I 187 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,240 called in sick, telling my boss I had the flu, 188 00:13:54,919 --> 00:13:59,600 until I stopped answering my phone all together. I threw 189 00:13:59,639 --> 00:14:03,559 the painting away, but it did little to numb my thoughts. 190 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,679 I let the dishes pile up and clothes scatter across 191 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,440 the floor. Everything in my fridge went bad, and the 192 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:16,000 stench of rotten food filled the apartment, aiding in my misery. 193 00:14:18,279 --> 00:14:21,960 I didn't care about it. All I could think about 194 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,080 was how, even though I knew I was powerless, I 195 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,480 blamed myself for not at least trying to save them. 196 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,960 But then I realized I owed it to them. At 197 00:14:34,039 --> 00:14:41,639 least I needed answers, and the fog of guilt finally 198 00:14:41,679 --> 00:14:44,840 eased a little. I was consumed by they need to 199 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:49,919 know why this was happening. I scoured the Internet, searching 200 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:53,960 for everything and anything that could explain the paintings. I 201 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:58,399 posted and obscure forums, and searched for artists and local galleries, 202 00:14:59,279 --> 00:15:04,200 but I found not. Even the paintings themselves offered no hints. 203 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,399 I still had the original painting of the field, so 204 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,080 I picked the first one up from the corner and 205 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:15,320 inspected the entirety of it. I looked for a signature, 206 00:15:15,519 --> 00:15:20,000 a date, or a stamp, but still there was nothing. 207 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,799 The more I searched, the more questions consumed me. I 208 00:15:25,919 --> 00:15:28,480 kept asking myself why I was the one who had 209 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,200 to find these and how they accurately depicted things unseen. 210 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,360 I tried putting a stop to the next painting I 211 00:15:35,399 --> 00:15:42,679 received to no avail when it arrived, a flood swallowing 212 00:15:42,679 --> 00:15:48,240 a small street. I tried memorizing every detail, the crack sidewalk, 213 00:15:48,559 --> 00:15:51,200 the cars in the middle being submerged by muddy water. 214 00:15:51,919 --> 00:15:55,480 A then stop signed in the corner. I sifted through 215 00:15:55,559 --> 00:15:58,840 maps and my memories. Searching for streets that matched the 216 00:15:58,879 --> 00:16:03,440 one in the painting. I spent hours driving around, hoping 217 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:08,440 to stumble across it, but I never found it. I 218 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,080 hadn't even stopped to consider how I would prevent a 219 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,720 flood of that scale, because if I did, it made 220 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:19,679 me feel all the more powerless. Days passed, and the 221 00:16:19,799 --> 00:16:23,360 dread gnawed at me, growing heavier with each day that passed. 222 00:16:23,399 --> 00:16:29,399 In wait. When the flood finally happened, it was nowhere 223 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:34,960 near me. I dreaded the rare times I would receive 224 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:41,480 a painting, But soon they started appearing everywhere, in my mailbox, 225 00:16:41,679 --> 00:16:45,120 propped against the front door, even in the passenger seat 226 00:16:45,159 --> 00:16:50,159 of my car. They all came without warning. A bridge 227 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,120 collapsing into a river, cables snapping like aged threads as 228 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,360 cars plunged into the waters below, the faces of passengers 229 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:02,480 visible in their final moments, and a tornado ripping through 230 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,720 a tiny farmhouse, the roof torn away to reveal a 231 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:11,079 petrified family huddled inside. The aftermath of a sinkhole appearing 232 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:16,160 below an apartment building. The details were always painfully vivid. 233 00:17:17,279 --> 00:17:20,039 I could almost feel the heat of the fire, smell 234 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:23,799 the smoke, and hear the screams. Each one stayed in 235 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:30,559 my mind like a deep scar. I woke up to 236 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:35,039 find one leaning against the foot of my bed. I 237 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,680 felt the tube before I saw it. As I got 238 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,640 out of bed, my feet brushed against something and tipped 239 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:47,640 it over. Another painting, except this one was not a disaster. 240 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:52,440 It showed a small and dilapidated house with a sagging 241 00:17:52,559 --> 00:17:56,920 roof and boarded up windows. The yard was overgrown and 242 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:02,440 the porch steps were broken. In the ground stood a figure. 243 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,640 The man wore a jacket identical to mine. His hands 244 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:10,640 were shoved in his pockets, and his posture was stiff. 245 00:18:11,759 --> 00:18:15,119 His face was obscured, but there was no mistaking who 246 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:22,240 it was meant to be me. In the corner of 247 00:18:22,279 --> 00:18:26,920 the painting was a street sign Ashwood Lane, and in 248 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,519 the bottom right corner, scrawled in the dark paint it 249 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:36,680 was a signature E V. The signature seemed to be 250 00:18:36,799 --> 00:18:40,200 there purely to mock me, a final taunt from the 251 00:18:40,279 --> 00:18:44,640 person who had been controlling my life without permission. This 252 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:50,720 wasn't a prediction, It was an invitation or a trap. 253 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,400 I was furious at finding a painting in the sanctity 254 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:59,480 of my room. The guilt and fear had built up 255 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,359 and exploded into a rage that stripped me of rational thinking. 256 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,000 Ashwood Lane wasn't hard to find. It was on the 257 00:19:08,039 --> 00:19:11,880 outskirts of the city, a forgotten road, choked with weeds 258 00:19:12,079 --> 00:19:14,599 and lined with houses that looked like they'd been used 259 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,640 in the set of a bad zombie movie. Regardless, it 260 00:19:18,759 --> 00:19:23,759 was still on my car's GPS. So I took this 261 00:19:23,839 --> 00:19:28,279 invitation as a challenge, and I wanted this all to end. 262 00:19:31,279 --> 00:19:34,240 The house was exactly as it had been on the canvas. 263 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,440 The roof sagged in the middle and the windows boarded up. 264 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:41,640 The air was thick with the smell of damp earth 265 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,119 and petroka. I pulled the car to the curb and 266 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:50,200 stepped out, my legs unsteady beneath me. In my dash 267 00:19:50,279 --> 00:19:53,200 to come here, all the emotions that were running through 268 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,680 me were now fading, replaced with a sense of unease. 269 00:19:58,279 --> 00:20:00,920 I was about to face with whoever had been doing this. 270 00:20:02,519 --> 00:20:06,839 I knocked thrice, and with each knock the door opened wider. 271 00:20:08,519 --> 00:20:14,640 The inside of the house was horrific. The walls were 272 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,680 lined with the canvases, some stacked too deep, some stacks 273 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:23,039 six deep, Some leaned against the furniture and others piled 274 00:20:23,079 --> 00:20:29,119 on the floor. They were all disasters, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires. 275 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,079 Each was as vivid as the ones I'd seen. The 276 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:39,039 colors roar, violent, and impossibly sharp. At the center of 277 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:46,960 the room was a person ev He sat, hunched over 278 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,200 his back to me, a brush moving steadily across the canvas, 279 00:20:52,519 --> 00:20:56,359 who was still taking shape swirls of black and crimson, 280 00:20:56,559 --> 00:21:00,000 dancing in an abstract chaos that it could not decide 281 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:05,920 nor care to. His frame was thin, almost non existent, 282 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:11,160 his hair wiry with spots of gray. He didn't turn 283 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,640 when I stepped inside, didn't seem to notice me at all, 284 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:22,079 or simply didn't care. You found me, he said, without turning. 285 00:21:22,759 --> 00:21:27,759 His voice was dry and ashy. I stepped closer, anger 286 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:33,119 taking hold of me. You knew I would, of course. 287 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,319 He dipped his brush into a smear of gray, dragging 288 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:43,079 it across the canvas. Everything follows a pattern. You are 289 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:48,400 always going to end up here. Why me, I demanded, 290 00:21:48,799 --> 00:21:52,240 my voice starting to crack. Why send the paintings to me? 291 00:21:55,200 --> 00:22:00,680 He finally turned, his dark eyes, locking onto mine. Yet 292 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:05,039 there was no malice in his gaze, no insanity, just 293 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:14,200 the cold detached clarity because you were paying attention, he said, 294 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:19,440 matter of factly, most people don't, you see. They go 295 00:22:19,559 --> 00:22:22,079 through their days blind to the cracks in the world, 296 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:27,440 ignoring the inevitable until it happens to them. But you 297 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:32,240 couldn't look away. You saw the patterns, even though you 298 00:22:32,319 --> 00:22:38,599 could not understand them. I refused to flinch. You're saying 299 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,119 all this was inevitable, that nothing I did could have 300 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:47,279 stopped it. Exactly. He finally set his brush down, folding 301 00:22:47,319 --> 00:22:51,640 his hands in his lap. The world is unraveling, one 302 00:22:51,759 --> 00:22:56,680 piece at a time. I just record it. There's no 303 00:22:56,839 --> 00:23:01,359 magic here, no divine inspiration. You people are just so 304 00:23:01,519 --> 00:23:07,599 stupid that it makes me seem prescient. He continued, record it, 305 00:23:08,319 --> 00:23:12,039 I repeated, my voice starting to rise and my anger building. 306 00:23:13,319 --> 00:23:17,759 You paint people dying, children falling into fires, buildings collapsing, 307 00:23:18,079 --> 00:23:23,319 and families getting whited out. You call that recording. What 308 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:28,400 would you have me do? His tone remained steady, his 309 00:23:28,519 --> 00:23:34,480 calmness maddening. Stop painting. Would that save anyone? Would it 310 00:23:34,599 --> 00:23:39,720 change something? My work makes it all visible, finds the 311 00:23:39,799 --> 00:23:43,960 beauty in it all. I clenched my fists and fumbled 312 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,680 with a zippo in my pocket. You could warn people 313 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:55,000 do something, Ivee chuckled softly while shaking his head. Warn 314 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:59,599 them you can't fix what's broken, and even if you could, 315 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,240 do you think they'd listen. People don't want to see 316 00:24:04,279 --> 00:24:08,799 the end. They'd rather stumble into it blind, believing they 317 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,079 have the control. I thought of the woman and the child, 318 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:17,319 the fire and the crash. There has to be a 319 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:23,920 reason for all this. There really isn't. Evie leaned back, 320 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,519 his bony frame, casting long shadows in the dim light. 321 00:24:29,039 --> 00:24:32,200 You want there to be meaning, a purpose behind it all, 322 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:37,079 because the alternative has too much to bear. But the 323 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:44,160 truth is simple and you already know it. The room 324 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:48,359 felt smaller and the air heavier. My gaze flicked to 325 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:53,960 the paintings surrounding us, each one laced with despair. I 326 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,559 thought back to the things I'd seen again, and my 327 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:01,519 inability to take action is voice cut through my thoughts. 328 00:25:03,079 --> 00:25:06,720 You just can't accept it. You've spent your life believing 329 00:25:06,839 --> 00:25:12,200 you're in control and that your choices matter, But they don't. 330 00:25:13,279 --> 00:25:17,880 You're just the witness, just like everybody else. You think 331 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,559 you're angry at me, but you're just angry at the truth. 332 00:25:22,759 --> 00:25:27,640 Stop it, I muttered, The only question is how long 333 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:34,079 you'll keep fighting before you accept it? Stop, I repeated louder. 334 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:39,559 You think you could change anything, he mused. You're wrong, 335 00:25:40,279 --> 00:25:43,880 I growled. You're just a coward that sits here painting 336 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:50,440 misery while the world falls apart. Evee smiled faintly, the 337 00:25:50,519 --> 00:25:57,000 corners of his mouth barely twitching. And yet here you are, watching, 338 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:03,200 just like I knew you would. That was it. My 339 00:26:03,279 --> 00:26:06,960 hand shot into my pocket, pulling out the zippo. My 340 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,839 fingers trembled as adrenaline rushed through me while I thought 341 00:26:10,839 --> 00:26:14,319 about what I was about to do. You think I'll 342 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:16,400 just let you do this? You think I'll let you 343 00:26:16,519 --> 00:26:21,960 keep making these monuments the suffering. At this point, it 344 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,359 wasn't even looking at me. He turned back to his 345 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:31,559 work and kept painting. I grabbed the nearest painting off 346 00:26:31,599 --> 00:26:35,759 the wall, a tsunami ravaging homes and families, and held 347 00:26:35,799 --> 00:26:40,240 it over the flame. The canvas caught quickly, The edges 348 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,000 curled as the fire spread, licking at the vivid colors. 349 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,119 The smell of burning paint filled the air around us, 350 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,640 sharp and acred. But I was not going to stop. 351 00:26:53,079 --> 00:26:55,920 I tossed the painting on to the floor. The fire 352 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,319 spread as I tore more canvases from the walls. One 353 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:04,240 by one, I fed them to the flames, floods, fires, 354 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:09,480 and earthquakes, all of them consumed as e V kept painting. 355 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:16,000 You really think the stranger's anything, he asked quietly, his 356 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,640 voice now barely audible over the crackle of the fire. 357 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,960 I don't care, I spat, tearing another painting from the wall. 358 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,640 I'm done watching undone, letting you use me as an audience. 359 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,680 E V tilted his head but still didn't look at me. 360 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,559 You can burn the paintings, but it's all still there. 361 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,880 I ignored him. The heat of the fire scorched my 362 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:50,759 skin as I grabbed another canvas. It wasn't until I 363 00:27:50,799 --> 00:27:54,319 turned back toward e V that I saw he had 364 00:27:54,319 --> 00:27:59,039 completed it. The painting on the easel he was working 365 00:27:59,079 --> 00:28:05,319 on it showed what I thought, No, what I knew, 366 00:28:05,759 --> 00:28:09,640 was the end of the world. Not a single disaster, 367 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:15,799 not one moment of tragedy frozen in time, but everything. 368 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,640 The sky was fractured, great jagged tears ripping through the heavens, 369 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:27,279 the endless skies folding into each other, exposing a blackness 370 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,720 so deep It felt like staring into an open grave. 371 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:36,359 The earth was in chaos, split into monstrous, gaping chasms 372 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:41,440 that bled molten fire and bellowed smoke. Entire cities tipped 373 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:45,359 and crumbled into the abyss, their skeletons of steel and 374 00:28:45,519 --> 00:28:51,039 iron twisting as they fell. The oceans boiled, great clouds 375 00:28:51,079 --> 00:28:54,880 of steam rising into the air as colossal waves slammed 376 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,759 against crumbling coastlines. Ships torn in half were capsized in 377 00:28:59,799 --> 00:29:05,720 their entirety, dotted the horizon like discarded toys. In the foreground, 378 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,519 or was supposed to represent a vast forest was reduced 379 00:29:09,519 --> 00:29:15,319 to an expanse of blackened stumps, each one smoldering between them. 380 00:29:15,839 --> 00:29:21,640 The skeletal remains of animals lay scattered among the wreckage, 381 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,200 pressed against the shattered windows of the crumbling cities, floating 382 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:31,759 lifelessly in the boiling oceans, with thousands of faces frozen 383 00:29:31,839 --> 00:29:38,200 in terror, their mouths open in silent screams. And in 384 00:29:38,279 --> 00:29:46,839 the center of it the audience was me. I stood 385 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,920 on a jagged outcrop of rock, my silhouette illuminated by 386 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:55,200 the fiery abyss below. My pasture was slack, and my 387 00:29:55,279 --> 00:29:58,920 hands lay limply at my sides, but it wasn't just me. 388 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,559 Around my feet were smaller figures clutching at my legs. 389 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:09,079 A child reached upward, had tiny fingers brushing against my hand, 390 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:14,839 and I knew who that was meant to represent. You 391 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:21,920 see now, IV, he said, you are the audience. Everyone is. 392 00:30:25,039 --> 00:30:28,559 I turned away from him. The fire was everywhere now, 393 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:35,319 climbing the walls, defiring everything. The heat was unbearable, despite 394 00:30:35,359 --> 00:30:37,880 how fast the old wood of the house carried the flames. 395 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,799 There was always time to get out. Nothing physically locked 396 00:30:42,839 --> 00:30:47,839 him to his chair, Yet he remained there, carrying on 397 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:54,200 with his magnum opus without a care. You're still a witness. 398 00:30:55,759 --> 00:31:02,799 You failed, Eve, he said with finality. He was wrong. 399 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,759 As the flames roared, he would fail to predict anything 400 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,200 ever again. So I turned and ran, the heat, chasing 401 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,680 me out of the house into the cool night air. 402 00:31:17,079 --> 00:31:20,079 I didn't look back as the flames consumed the building, 403 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,960 the firelight flickering against the darkened sky. I reached my car, 404 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,000 slumping into the driver's seat and gripping the steering wheel 405 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,160 like it was tethering me to reality. I stared through 406 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:38,759 the windshield, the house on Ashwood Lane burning behind me. 407 00:31:41,759 --> 00:31:47,759 It didn't feel like a victory. I drove home in silence, 408 00:31:48,279 --> 00:31:52,799 the weight of exhaustion pressing down on me. My apartment 409 00:31:53,039 --> 00:31:58,160 was still how. I left it, empty and silent. I 410 00:31:58,319 --> 00:32:01,440 entered my bedroom and picked up the house painting once more. 411 00:32:02,519 --> 00:32:05,680 I inspected it one last time, the way to my 412 00:32:05,759 --> 00:32:10,400 actions sinking in. But before I had time to think 413 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:15,920 about anything, When I flipped the painting over, I saw 414 00:32:16,119 --> 00:32:25,240 another one, a silhouette running from a burning house. The 415 00:32:25,359 --> 00:32:31,480 perspective was distant but unmistakable. My figure was small, silhouetted 416 00:32:31,599 --> 00:32:36,279 against the inferno. The flames roared behind me, consuming the 417 00:32:36,319 --> 00:32:42,920 house and everything inside. It was proof that once again 418 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:49,240 I had failed to change anything. The house was burned 419 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:53,920 because it was always meant to burn. I ran because 420 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:58,880 I was always meant to run. Everything played out exactly 421 00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:05,839 how it was suppose the play out, and I was 422 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:06,519 the witness