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This story is called, When I Wake Up in the Woods by World Architect, 91.

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When I wake up in the woods, I close the curtains.

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I fumble with the fabric.

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I don't have to look outside to know if the shadows on the wall didn't give it away the smell of mold and rot wood.

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My fingertips have gone cold.

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As usual, I cup my hands to my mouth, blow and try again.

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Doing my best not to look out of the window.

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Today, I get the curtains shut after only a couple of tries, but it doesn't help.

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Shutting out the world never helps.

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I know what's out there.

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I do my best to ignore it as I get dressed for work.

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My hands shake, trying to pull on my jacket.

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On days like this, it feels like the cold comes from my bones.

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All I want is my bed.

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A warm drink with a little kick and a pile of blankets to help me sleep the fright away.

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But I know it wouldn't matter.

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Nothing ever really does.

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On the cold days, I pull my jacket tight around my shoulders, tuck my laptop under my arm and make my way downstairs.

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I hesitate for a moment at the front door before cracking it open, just enough to see the dark outside.

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Most of the houses are dark by now.

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The only sources of light belong to a streetlight at the end of my block, a few houses down, and my porch light.

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I don't see them.

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My feet scuff against the pavement.

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I wipe the rain off my shoes as I enter.

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The work at the hotel is menial and tedious, but it's solitary, which I like.

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The overnight shift is generally quiet, and if I work hard enough to get through my tasks, I usually have a few hours to write.

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I think I like the imagination of it all, to be able to inhabit in some way a grander world.

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Seeing some part of my pain spilled into a character and watching them overcome it.

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Tonight, the load is light.

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Traffic tends to slow down between the end of summer break and the beginning of Thanksgiving.

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It only takes me two hours before I'm propped up at the front desk with my laptop screen staring at me.

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Words come slowly tonight.

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My focus drifts.

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I crinkle my nose.

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I haven't been able to shake the stench from my clothes.

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I've been waking up in the woods more frequently lately.

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Though I'm not sure why, it's the same every time.

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Cold fingertips.

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A dirt road penetrating a dark forest in a man half obscured by shadows.

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I called the cops once.

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After they came out, they told me not to call about it again.

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I'm not sure what else to do, so I ignore it as much as I can.

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It's getting harder.

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I think I might buy a gun.

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The old lobby doors squeak open.

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A man stumbles out towards the elevators and notices me.

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Fainting conversations with drunks in the dead of night was my least favorite part of the job.

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He braces himself on my desk and thinks himself funny to ring the bell.

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Liquor stains his breath.

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Sometimes lonely people look for me to stave off the night.

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I force a smile onto my lips.

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He asks me if I like my job, if the solitude bothers me.

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I ask him where he's from, why he's here, how long he's staying, the usual.

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Oh, I've been here two days, leaving in the morning.

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He says, I think I like it though.

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The weather's nice.

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I chuckle.

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He curses as he remembers the hour and resumes his stumble towards the elevator.

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Have a good night.

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Stay dry, I say.

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He turns around and looks at me for a moment before snorting a brief laugh.

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Silence fills the lobby again, save for the occasional clicking of my keyboard.

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I try to ignore the goosebumps running up my arms.

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I still can't shake the cold.

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I look outside past the doors, thirsty for daylight.

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Still dark.

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I think I'm probably only halfway through my shift.

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I resist a glance at the time on the computer.

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The work goes faster if I don't look.

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A while later, I hear the lobby door squeal again.

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Two people make for a busy night.

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I sigh and begin my rehearsed lines.

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Welcome to the, I trail off, not seeing anyone in the lobby.

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I look around and call out.

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No response.

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The doors are still open.

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The stench of rod and mold gets stronger.

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I walk over and peer at the carpet to look for something the sensor might be picking up.

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Nothing.

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I fiddle with the door for a bit to force it close and turn my back to my desk.

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A few steps later, I hear the door squeak open again.

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I turn around.

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Still nothing.

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Kids, this happens from time to time.

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Restless children and inattentive parents.

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I yell out some vague thread about calling the cops.

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Generally, the idea of police is enough to make rambunctious children move along.

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The doors close.

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I stand and wait for a while.

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Listening for anything that might indicate my trouble is over.

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Footsteps.

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Laughing.

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But I hear nothing.

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I have a thought to turn my back and pretend to walk away.

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Sure enough, I hear the doors open again.

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I wheel around.

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I walk away.

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The doors open again.

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I wheel around.

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My lips loaded with chast.

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Still nothing.

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Driven by impulse, I storm outside yelling more empty threats.

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My feet scuff against dirt.

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I stumble to stop, nearly colliding with a tree.

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The tree is sturdy and tall.

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A green moss creeps its way up the trunk, leading to long outspread branches.

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I recognize it immediately, but I don't want to.

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I gather myself stepping back to gain a wider view.

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More trees.

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As far as I can see from the light, the parking lot is gone, replaced by dirt and wood.

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I spin back around and clamber back into the lobby.

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The door shut, but it does little to ease my mind.

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I stand on the carpet, trying to convince myself it isn't real.

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Everyone tells me it's not real.

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The police, my neighbors, my friends, everyone.

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No forest appears in their backyard at night.

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No man welcomes them with an outstretched arm.

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The man.

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I think for the first time.

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Where is the man?

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He has to be here.

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He's always here.

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Every time the spidery shadows of the tree branches dance on my walls,

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and I muster my courage to look, he's there.

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There.

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Standing at the end of that long dirt road.

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I don't dare look for him, but I can't look away either.

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I've been dealing with the woods showing up outside my house for years,

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but it's never showed up anywhere else, and I've certainly never been this close before.

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I don't know how long I stand there before a voice rings out.

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My boss, Aaron, is standing in front of me.

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I once hit the sunlight that floods in.

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I look past her to the outside.

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The woods are gone.

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Are you okay?

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She asks again.

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What time is it?

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I don't say anything as I try to regain my bearings.

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She walks off.

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I'm able to maintain enough sense to follow her.

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Key cards are piled up onto the desk.

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How did anyone walk past me without realizing?

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A few people are scattered about the room where we serve breakfast.

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Aaron flicks on the lights, apologizes, and assures them breakfast will be out soon.

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We walk back into the room.

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I brace myself as I watch Aaron spin around.

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You could at least turn on the lights, she says.

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Is there a reason you didn't answer your phone?

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Aaron, I'm sorry I didn't.

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I stammer for words.

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I think maybe I was sleepwalking.

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Sleepwalking, she says, nodding.

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She sends me home.

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I think I'm lucky to still have a job.

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Getting home after work is a relief.

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I've never craved a mattress so badly.

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Nevertheless, I take the time to check and make sure the woods are gone from my backyard like I always do.

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They've never survived the night before, but they've never shown up at my work either.

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So I check anyway.

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No woods, no road, no man with an outstretched arm.

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I throw my stuff on the kitchen table and shuffle towards my bedroom.

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As I struggle to drift and to sleep, a single thought follows me.

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Where was the man?

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Six days pass and the woods do not reappear.

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Even so, I haven't been sleeping well.

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I don't go into my bedroom anymore.

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When I do, I fixate on my walls, waiting for the shadows.

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I've been trying to sleep on my couch, but I've found it's the same down there.

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Maybe it's worse.

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Last night I resorted to the bathtub.

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I find myself going to the kitchen to look out the windows.

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I don't trust the absence of my tormentor.

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Sometimes when I gaze hard, my own reflection startles me.

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Work has also been nearly impossible.

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Walking into the lobbies hard enough, yet alone getting anything done.

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I'm dragging the rest of the crew down.

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I've had to leave early twice over the last week, which is quite a hassle considering the time of night.

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Erin demanded I take a leave of absence.

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Mercy on her part, I could use the break.

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I can hear the rain pattern my roof.

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I've lived here for years now, and until now the perpetual rain hasn't bothered me.

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But lately I'm finding myself desperate for some sun.

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Today I find it especially miserable.

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I try not to look out the windows as I pack.

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My parents live in Arizona.

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Plenty of sun there.

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I don't know how long I'll be gone.

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I can't really afford to miss much work.

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I'm not sure Erin will let me come back anyway.

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The drive is long, but I don't mind.

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It only takes a couple hours before I'm out of the rain and the persistent clouds.

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The afternoon heat bakes me.

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Hot air fills my lungs.

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I leave the window down and the breeze flows over me.

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I let a smile into my cheeks.

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The first one in a week.

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The hours meander by and the sun begins to dip.

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And I consider finding a place to stop for the night.

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A while later I pass a sign for Highway 39 that sits adjacent to a narrow green sign

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that tells me I'm about nine miles out from a town named Jordan.

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I never like taking the interstate if I can help it.

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Most of history and charm left in the United States is buried in the old roads and towns that industry forgot.

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The sun is nearly set by time and I have the thought that I should have arrived in Jordan by now.

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I haven't been paying much attention to the clock.

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I like to savor the moments where my life doesn't twist around those wretched digital numbers.

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Still, it was only nine miles away when I saw the sign.

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Thirty minutes at most if I drove it a crawl.

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I don't think I could have missed it.

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There hasn't been much to see in the barren desert land.

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I think for a moment to turn my car around when a familiar smell greets me.

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Rot.

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Instinct takes me as I slam the brakes.

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The car screeches to a stop.

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My white knuckles clamp the wheel.

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The road bends out of sight behind a small hill, but I already know what's behind it.

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Wiry shadows poke the road as I roll the car forward.

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I know what I'm about to see, but I have to see it anyway.

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Trees.

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More than I can count.

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Tall, lush trees with thick trees.

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Tall, lush trees with thick foliage that shades the highway.

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Green moss climbs their trunks.

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They are the kind of trees that don't belong in the desert.

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The kind of trees that I left behind in my backyard with the rain.

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I don't care if everyone tells me they aren't real.

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The police, my neighbors, my friends, they aren't here.

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I am.

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And they can't see what I see now.

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They can't see the moss and the shadows and the wood.

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They can't feel the cold.

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They can't smell the rot.

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They're not real.

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I slow the car to a stop and turn around.

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The ground crunches beneath me.

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I don't know the roads well.

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I don't know any detours or routes to reconnect with the highway or where else I might go.

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But none of that matters.

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I'll go somewhere else.

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Anywhere else.

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I wheel the car around and freeze.

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More trees sprawl out before me.

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Not just beside the road, but on it.

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I look in my mirrors and out the windows and it's the same in every direction.

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They're not real.

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I flick on my head like a flash.

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I flick on my headlights and decide to try and make my way back.

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The road gets louder and uneven beneath my tires, obscured by the shadows.

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Small divots and rocks start to appear on the road and beside it.

249
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I drive slowly, winding my car between the trees that have enroached upon the road.

250
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Not real.

251
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I'm saying it out loud now.

252
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The crunching beneath my tires gets louder.

253
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,000
Dust and dirt spit into the air behind me.

254
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:43,000
I turn my brights on, I think for a second I see something move out of the light.

255
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,000
But it's gone before I can turn my head.

256
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,000
The trees press in closer against the road.

257
00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:00,000
I can hear the branches and bushes scrape my car.

258
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Not real.

259
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:05,000
Not real.

260
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,000
The condition of the road deteriorates beneath me.

261
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,000
My headlights bounce around the area.

262
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,000
Trees come in and out of view.

263
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:27,000
It's only because I'm forced to drive slowly to weave around the obstacles that I don't crash into the fallen tree blocking the road.

264
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,000
I hit the brakes hard.

265
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:38,000
My tires struggle to grip the road, but stops a few inches in front of the log.

266
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,000
I step out onto the road.

267
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:47,000
When I open my door, the smell of rot assaults my senses.

268
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,000
Strong enough now to nearly make me gag.

269
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:55,000
Dirt scuffs beneath my feet.

270
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,000
Not real.

271
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:05,000
I try to study my hands as I approach the log.

272
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,000
One methodical step at a time.

273
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,000
My breath is shallow and rapid.

274
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,000
I can feel my pulse throb in my throat.

275
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:26,000
I stop in front of the log and try to appear at my surroundings, but it's too dark to see.

276
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:29,000
The woods are silent.

277
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:34,000
Except for the gentle hum of my engine idling behind me.

278
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:41,000
I wipe my hands on my jeans a few times and muster my courage.

279
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:48,000
I bend down and place a single hand on the log.

280
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:54,000
Wet moss glides between my fingers.

281
00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:02,000
Beneath it, the distinct firm and sharp texture of bark pushes into my palm.

282
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:08,000
Real.

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00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:37,000
I'm going to end this episode with a short story.

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00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:43,000
World Architect 91 is an amazing writer and I had a blast narrating this story.

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00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:52,000
If you have a story that you've written that you would like me to narrate, you can send it to me at scrypool@outlook.com.

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00:23:53,000 --> 00:24:00,000
You can also follow me on YouTube at youtube.com/@thescrying pool.

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00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,000
and on your favorite podcasting platforms like Apple Podcast and Spotify.

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00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,000
Thank you for listening.

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00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:31,000
Sweet dreams.