Sister

I was worried after she told me. Small town in the south. I’d by lying if I said I wasn’t worried.

Truth be told, it took me a while to get used to using those pronouns too. I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth.

“Just be careful,” I told her. And I hate myself for saying that and for feeling the need to say that.

I hate it for turning out to be true.

Most of the family were less than receptive. And I had to fight like hell. And they won’t talk to me anymore, a lot of them.

But the tombstone reads “Jackie” instead of “Jack.”

Because it should.

Mention

Kevin Murphy: It wasn’t supposed to be true. We didn’t think anything would happen.

Matt Murphy: Nobody believes us. Nobody. But it happened like we said it did. Just like we said. But nobody believes us.

District Attorney Powell: Are you kidding? That’s such a stupid question. Of course it didn’t happen that way.

Professor Clement: It’s an urban legend, of course. A folk tale. It’s pretty old and common in a lot of cultures, actually. And sure, a lot of these urban legends are rooted in fact. And then they grow from there to become supernatural, frightening, and deadly. They’re meant to warn us or explain something or teach a moral lesson. But they’re just stories. Metaphors. Allegories. Fables. In short, they’re pure fiction.

Matt Murphy: We heard about it from some kids in school. It was supposed to be a gag, for a laugh, a stupid little prank, you know.

Kevin Murphy: Scott was such a little runt. Afraid of everything. Everybody made fun of him. This was just one more thing. It was supposed to be just one more thing.

Matt Murphy: We didn’t want to hurt him. Nobody was supposed to get hurt. It was just a joke.

District Attorney Powell: I honestly don’t care what those two say. Somebody did get hurt. Scott Everette got hurt. Scott Everette is dead.

Kevin Murphy: It wasn’t us.

Matt Murphy: I swear we didn’t do it. We didn’t touch him. It was her.

Professor Clement: The urban myth in this instance is one I’m sure you’re all familiar with. It’s pretty common and has been for centuries, though it’s evolved over time, like most myths.

In the modern version, a group of people stand in front of a mirror in a dark room and invoke her through an act of captromancy. This means saying her name a specified number of times. It’s commonly 13 times, as you could imagine.

District Attorney Powell: Look, there were three people in that house in that bathroom on that night. Three. And two of them walked away still alive. Those are the facts.

Matt Murphy: The flashlight on our phones just went out. Scott screamed.

Kevin Murphy: There was so much blood. When our phones came back on. Scott was on the floor. So much blood. And his eyes. We never found them.

Matt Murphy: People say we ate them.

District Attorney Powell: I can’t answer that.

Kevin Murphy: On the floor. On the walls. So much blood.

Matt Murphy: The mirror, though, the mirror was spotless.

Kevin Murphy: I can’t explain what happened.

Matt Murphy: All we did was say a name.

Reliant

Some things start

Simply and

With good intentions,

Like with a computational machine

The size of an entire room.

Once let loose

,however,

They increase

Exponentially

And beyond

Our control.

And we never seem to ask

Ourselves one simple question:

Just because we can do this,

Does it mean that we should?

Diagram

—ing to be the day that it finally happens, that i finally open, my hands are shaking already, sweaty, forehead too, not sure if i can do this today, but i said that yesterday, but i didn’t think about it approaching the problem this way yesterday, or any other day for that matter, how long has it been even, i’m not sure, i supposed i could rummage through the newspaper room and look for the oldest issue, but that could take a while and i might not even be able to find it, it could be damaged by this point, depending on how long it’s been there, how long it’s been, plus the searching, taking all of that time to search, would just be an excuse to not go through with it today, or at least attempt to go through with it today, ok, so the system, first let’s go through the system, we’ll call this “1,” so first: is today the day we try the system, if “yes,” then we proceed to “2”, if “no,” then we go to “1a,” ok so “2,” is the date an odd or even number, if “odd”, then we go to “1a,” if “even”, then we proceed to “3,” but first let’s establish what “1a” is and what it means because that’s important on the days that we have to go to “1a” and can’t proceed to “3,” it will happen so we have to know what that means for us and our day inside the house, ok, ok, so “1a,” is the date a prime number, if “yes” then we go to “1a.1” and if “no” then we go to “1b,” ok, ok, that will work I think, no we’re creating this flow, ok so, “1a.1” means that we stay inside and watch pornography and “1b” means we stay inside and read the bible, ok so if “1a.1” there are things we have to decide here as well, so we need to iron out those decisions and possibilities, ok, ok, so “1a.1_1” is the digital or print question, so “1a.1_1” will be what kind of shirt are we wearing, if “buttoned” then go to “1a.1_1_1” which is digital pornography and if “not buttoned” then go to “1a.1_1_2” which is print pornography, and then there are questions and permutations and decisions we have to consider within each of those brackets, but hold on, hold, we need to consider “3,” right, right, we need to at least consider what “3” could look like before we go too far down the branches that only deal with staying inside, because that’s just too tempting and won’t help solve the main issue and that’s what we want to do, that’s why we’re creating this whole thing in the first place, is to solve the problem and open the door and step outside and man are my hands shaking and sweating and my forehead is too and now my armpits and is this becoming too much, no, this is important, ok so “3” is are the neighbor’s sprinklers on, if “yes,” then we’ll go to “4,” if “no,” then we’ll go to “1a” and follow that funnel, which we’ll get back to later, we have to get back to that later because it’s incomplete and leaves too many loose ends, but for now let’s focus on “4,” and if we’re at “4” that means that we’ve decided to try the system and the date is an even number and that the neighbor’s sprinkler system is on, that’s how we got to “4,” and what will “4” be, ok, ok “4” will be has the mail come already and if “yes” then we go to “5” and if “no” then we go to “1a,” which is still incomplete, but we’ll get back to that, ok, ok, we’re making progress, this is good, i feel good, i feel shaky and sweaty and now a little queasy but overall good, once this system is complete, once we have it all figured out, we can pick the day and that day will be the day th—