that because I know in 3 days I am going into the woods to kill the hissing lady. And if I don’t stop her, she will shatter the glass between the two worlds. It’s all up to me.
afTEr aLL, i AM god.
A chill ran down her back. It felt like someone was watching them. Christopher’s mother would normally shrug off this feeling, but after reading David’s diary out loud to Ambrose, she didn’t think she would shrug off a feeling ever again. She thought that the hissing lady might be standing right there. Hovering over her unconscious son like a cat with a ball of string.
“Are you okay?” Ambrose asked her.
“Yes,” she said. “I just need a minute.”
Christopher’s mother looked down at the sheets of paper where she kept her notes. If the orderlies saw them, they would definitely lock her up for forty-eight hours of psychiatric “evaluation.” Words scribbled in a hurried hand. An imaginary world filled with hissing ladies and mailbox people with mouths sewn shut and eyes closed with zippers. Her son was trapped there right now.
June 22nd
BefoRe we kill the hissing lady, we need tO do Some rEcon…
It took a moment for Christopher’s mother to adjust her eyes to David’s illegible scrawl. She had never seen such disturbing handwriting. Not even from her late husband. It wasn’t the handwriting of a child who was crazy. It was the handwriting of a child who was terrified. She read ahead to decipher the message. Then, she whispered it out loud to Ambrose.
June 22nd
Before we kill the hissing lady, we need to do some recon like they do in those war movies Ambrose loves. The soldier is worried I am pushing myself too hard with my training. He doesn’t want my brain to give out. So, he didn’t want me to come on this mission, but I did anyway. I followed her during the daytime. I could see her reaching into people. I could see people getting sick with her flu and changing. I watched her whispering into people’s ears. Making them afraid of their own shadows. The shadow is just people without light. This place is starting to get scary. Even during the day. The town is about to go insane.
June 23rd
I asked the soldier what would happen to me if we failed. At first, he refused to tell me because he didn’t want me to be afraid. But I am more powerful than he is now and I threw him a thousand yards until he told me. He said I will become the hissing lady’s next pet. The final recon mission is tonight. The soldier says it’s not safe because I won’t be invisible. But I told him that Ambrose was in danger, and I am God, so I was coming. We found her hiding place. I can’t believe where it is. It was so close the whole time.
June 24th
The soldier was captured by the hissing lady. I made a terrible mistake. I thought I was invincible. Now, I am alone. I am so stupid. I went into the imaginary world at night, and the hissing lady used me to set a trap for him. The soldier ran to rescue me, but the mailbox people jumped on him, scratching him with their zipper eyes. I tried everything I could think of to save him. But every time I quieted my mind and got close to an answer, I felt someone hit a deer. Or beat their children. Or try to commit suicide. I should never have gone in at night like he said. Why didn’t I listen? I should have been humble. I’m so ashamed. She is torturing him right now. I can feel him screaming even on the real side. I have to go in there and try to rescue him. It’s all my fault. God, please help me. Please help me defeat her and save my big brother because…
Christopher’s mother turned the page and looked at her son unconscious on the bed. The machines breathing for him. Eating for him. Living for him. The steady hum of the beep beep beep was the only sign of hope. She looked back at the page of David Olson’s diary. The insane drawings. The terrified scrawl. Each word convincing her Christopher’s survival and the world’s survival were one and the same. That the madness then was the madness now. She thought of the seeds being planted by the hissing lady. The words whispered. The promises made. And