Imagine

We lived in a small town.

The kind of town, people either rushed to get out of or were unlucky and had stayed there forever. My friends and I were the latter. Amanda, Selma, and Winona (me). We formed a close-knit group of best-friends and basically knew everything about each other Our parents were also really close. What can I say, it was a small town. 

It was summertime and the town was pretty empty, everyone who could, left for the city. I was lucky enough that Amanda and Selma were not one of those people. We did a lot of interesting stuff that summer. I remember we decided to go into the forest by Selma’s house and camp there with little to no resources. We called our summer, “the summer experience”. Amanda and Selma and I planned to leave this town together. We were juniors in high school. We promised each other that once we were old enough, we would leave to get an apartment in the city together and our lives could finally start. Amanda and I were keen on getting a city boyfriend. Every time we mentioned it to Selma she would tell us in her strong accent, “Y’all ain’t gonna find a city boy. Better stick to our boys here for now. At least that’s what I am doing” Amanda and I would just brush her off and we still held on to our hopes on finding our city boys. 

Our summer was going pretty great, and we were bound to be friends for life. On a Friday, like any other, we went to sleep over at Amanda’s house. It was her turn and we were rotating around. Our parents had a fancy gala event they needed to attend so they were getting ready to leave all together from Amanda’s house. We were upstairs in Amanda’s bedroom, bored out of our minds. It felt as if we had done everything activity possible. All the gossiping possible, after all, how much gossiping can you even do in a small town. Because of our boredom, Amanda said we should go to the movies. Both Selma and I were excited about the idea. The movie does all the entertaining for us so, it was a perfect option. I told my friends we’d better rush before our parents leave so they can drop us off because they wouldn’t let us walk out alone in the dark. There was a psycho on the loose that summer. Everyone was searching for him. Not us though, we lived in our little bubble and it was great. 

My friends and I ran downstairs to hitch a ride from our parents. At first, they told us to just stay home because who would bring us back. But we told them that since Amanda’s brother is the assistant manager at the movies so he could take us back once his shift was over. Our parents finally agreed and we were on our way to the movies. The town was pretty dark and scary. I could imagine a psycho walking around looking for poor children to lure in. But that thought quickly flew out after we arrived. Amanda, Selma, and I got down from the car, and Selma’s parents insisted on giving us money to pay for our tickets. Our parents also told us we wouldn't be able to reach them once they got there, so anything we want to ask them, we should do it now. We said there was nothing and they finally drove off.

Selma walked up to the movie listing and she starting naming all of the movies. Amanda did the same a while later. “These movies, kind of suck,” Amanda said to Selma. Selma nodded. I walked up to them and also looked. “Yeah, they do kind of suck guys.” I scratched my hair and started looking around. I asked Selma and Amanda if we were going to watch a movie or not and they said really weren't into any of the options. They proposed for us to walk over to the video store and rent something to watch instead. It was much better because that would leave us with enough money to buy pizza and other snacks. So we made way to the video store. I kept trying to get the thought of a psycho walking around out of my head, but it was not working. The street lamps were not working and it was dark. The only thing that was making me feel better was seeing the bright lights at the video store and almost getting there. Amanda and Selma were chuckling in the back and the fear I felt was enough for me not to turn around and ask them why they were laughing. 

We finally got to the video store. It was light, but there seemed to be no one, not even the salesman. Selma, walked over to the romance section, Amanda went over to the Mystery section. I walked over to the horror section and saw another man. He was creepy enough to be a kidnapper. I tried to not look at the man but then I caught him looking at me. He was wearing glasses, but not the kind of glasses that make you want to ask him a hard math question to test him, but the kind of glasses that makes you want to want to call the police on him. I tried to move away, but I could catch him from the corner of my eye staring at me. I couldn’t do it anymore so I decided to walk over to the romance section with Selma. And I told her all about him. Selma really wanted to see him. She thought maybe he could be the psychopath walking around the town. We walked over to where he was and he was gone. All of a sudden a cold wind passed me by. It seemed as if he had gone out of the store. We quickly ran and check for Amanda. We were scared he had done something to her and we would never forgive ourselves if he did. So we went and check for her and there she was scrolling through the mystery movies. Selma and I took a breath of relief. Amanda was safe. We told her to quickly just pick a movie so we could get home. So she just picked one up and we ran to the counter. There was still no one. Selma yelled to see if there was anyone in the store. A young woman came out and slowly walked over. We all looked at each and quickly just took the movie and bolted out. Finally, we were making our way back home. 

Amanda’s house was pretty far away from where we were so it was a long walk back home. We walked right by the forest so it was getting pretty scary. It was a silent walk back until Amanda finally asked, “Do you guys smell that?” And we did. It was a rotten smell coming from the forest. Selma and I brushed it off, saying it was probably just, animal waste, or a dead deer. But as we kept walking the smell was getting stronger. “Okay, guys, I don’t care I’m going to see what this is," Amanda said while walking off into the forest. Selma ran after Amanda and I followed soon after. We had not reached Amanda yet when she yelled and we quickly went to see what it was about. 

It was a dead body. We found a dead body and the body kept getting more and more familiar. It was the guy whom I had seen at the video store. His body was just lying there on the ground. My friends and I wondered why the smell was so strong, but we quickly ran out of there and made our way home. After finding that body the entire way home was a blur because all we thought about was that body. Eventually, though, we finally got to Amanda’s and sat, on her couch. We sat there for the longest time. And we were breathing heavily. If it was another situation you would assume that it might be a contest to figure out who breathes the loudest, but no it wasn’t. We were three teenagers who had found a dead body and no one said it, but we all hoped it wasn’t someone significant in the town because his death would scar the town for days. Finally, Selma was the one to break the silence and she asked us if we should turn the tv on to forger about what we just saw. Amanda and I both agreed and Selma turned the tv on. 

It went on for a couple of minutes when finally the news came on and we couldn't believe our eyes. They were finally able to find a picture of the psychopath who was roaming around town. The psychopath was the same guy at the video store and the same dead guy from the forest. I quickly had a flashback to the video store. That man was staring at me, I thought about him wanting to do something to me. Suddenly I broke out crying. Selma and Amanda held me and told me it was going to be okay. They made me feel better and safe. At least we felt safer at the idea that this man was dead. Selma, Amanda, and I decided that our day had come to an end and we should go to bed. So we went upstairs and Amanda took the portable mattresses out for us. While she was laying them down on the floor well all stared at each and Amanda understand that we did not feel safe sleeping apart. So we all decided to sleep on Amanda’s bed for that night. 

Selma, Amanda, and I all ended up sleeping after a long moment of silence. But I jumped after I heard a loud bang outside. I woke Amanda and Selma up and asked them if they heard the sound. They were seemingly both annoyed because they had not heard anything and said they were going back to bed. Right when they were about to go to bed, the lights shut off. It was dark, completely dark. We all held each other and could not move. “So, what do we do guys?” Amanda asked with a trembling voice. I proposed to call our parents but was reminded that they had no access to their phones. 

“Amanda, Selma” I paused, “Let’s go downstairs — together. We can get the electricity back up again. It probably just jumped.” None of them answered me so I added, “Come on guys, we need to turn in back on. It’s clearly just in your house Amanda. All of the other ones have electricity.” I got up and showed the lights outside. They eventually agreed to go down altogether and restore the electricity. We had a flashlight with us so it was easier. It was a little creepy because it seemed like someone intentionally turned off our power We got the electricity back though and were headed back to Amanda’s room when someone rang outside. We thought that Amanda’s parents were back and they rang because we locked the door. So Amanda went up to open the door while Selma and I stayed back. We did not think anything of it until Amanda yelled. Selma and I came running up. When we got there, Selma covered our hands with our mouth. It was the man from the video store and the dead man in the woods. 

“Isn’t he… dead?” Amanda asked. She turned around and looked at us. Then turned back and looked at the man and slammed the door in his face. We ran to the living room and discussed what our next move should be. We wondered how a man whose body was decomposing was here at Amanda’s house. And why he was even at her house. Selma convinced us that the only next logical decision would be to go to the cops. We were slowly walking to the door and when we got there we raced to get out the house and run away from the walking dead man who might still be in our vicinity. 

Amanda, Selma, and I finally got to the station asked to file a report. We were not too sure about how the procedure worked. But surprisingly there was a man there who guided us and was pretty kind. He told us to tell him where the body was and that was exactly what we did. When it was finally time to leave he told us it wasn’t safe to walk out in the night and he could drop us off. Selma told the cop to take us to her house. After all, it was the best decision. Her house was at the very end of our town near the forest, but her siblings were there and she had guards there. So we were on our way. We felt pretty safe in the car and the ride was pretty fun. My friends and I got to talk a lot about what had happened and we even made some jokes about it. 

We were finally almost at Selma’s house. The cop started asking us a few questions, “So girls, don’t you think it would have been safer if you stayed at home tonight?” Before we even got the chance to answer he asked another question. “I think it would have been safer, but you know what. Thank you for this opportunity… girls.”. 

We all looked at each other and Amanda asked, “Pardon sir, but we don’t understand what you’re saying?” 

He started laughing erratically. But we didn’t pay attention to that because we were almost at Selma’s house. “Sir, my house is right ahead, you can drop us off here.” He did not answer us and kept going. “Sir. Will you please just drop us off here.” We were all wondering what he was doing then all of a sudden the cops turns right on the forest road. The girls and I start looking around frantically. What was happening? Did we trust the wrong man? Was this why he was so kind and open at the station? At that point, the girls and I just closed our eyes and held hands. We only opened them again when the cop stopped the car and got out. We looked around but could not see him anywhere. So I told the Selma and Amanda that this was our chance to run. We could hopefully make it out of the forest. We all got out of the car and ran for our lives. My heart was racing. All I did was look ahead, looking back was not an option until he stood in front of us and we all stopped aggressively. It was the man who had been stalking us and was "dead". The psychopath. My friends and I turned around to run the other way, but the cop was in our way. After that, it was all black. I can’t remember anything more professor.

—

“Okay that’s all for today, Winona, you did well. I can call your husband now. Winona wipes a tear from her face and sits up. Winona’s husband walks into the room and holds Winona’s hand. 

“Is she doing better now doctor?”

The doctor took a look at Winona and she understood, so she grabbed her bag and left his office. “Okay, so I’m getting more insight on how she has processed all of this information. She seems to have designed this story for herself. Take a seat please.” Winona’s husband sits down. “The story she is telling seems to be a way for her to cope with the kidnapping she had at a young age. For example her friends, Amanda and Selma were dolls her kidnappers gave and named for her. They were the only “friends” or consolation she had for 15 years. Since she was kidnaped at 7 years old her imagination was still big enough for her to create imaginary friends. Now, these are the friends her brain seems to have clumped together into a story which makes her life seem more interesting. 

Winona’s husband scratches his head, “So she really believes this story. She’s not messing with people?”

“Of course she isn’t, as her husband you should be here for here. She has been through so many traumatic experiences, her brain didn’t get to develop like a normal child’s. She will have moments of dementia. But remember one thing, every story she tells has some connection to what happened to her. Be there for her. Ask her questions about her only when she brings it up. Comfort her, that’s the only way she will get past this permanently.”

“Okay, doctor. Thank you.”

“Any other questions?”

“No.”

“All right then. Tell Winona I’ll see her next week.”