“Despite what my father demands of me, this haunted house finds, and shall find me unafraid.”

I have always found this quote from my big sister to be both quite simple and complex, carrying a foreign courage I couldn’t understand. It has always stuck with me, its nuance dragging me through fields of fear and pain where I would previously dare not venture. Perhaps this quote is what commanded me back to these familiar blistered wallpapers and dull, tired screams… I didn’t want to leave her, but I was scared. I’m not scared anymore. 

That is why I returned home.

At the base of the stairs of that one-story house, I met a man who wasn’t there. He didn't speak, for nothing can have lips or vocal cords. The stairs were empty as he stretched his hand that guided me up to the floor of the house I swore never existed. Then Martha called my name… or at least, I think it was my name. The man who wasn’t there’s claws couldn’t have dug into my shoulder. I tried to cry in pain, but nothing can have a mouth. Maybe my wife won't miss me. How can you miss nobody? 

T’was a dark and stormy night, oooh, aaah. Joblyn walked towards a store late at night to buy himself latex gloves. He walked into a store called “nice store”, and he thought to himself, “I hope this isn't evil store”. As he walked through the doors, the store sign fell down to reveal its true name: evil store.  While walking through the store, he stepped into a deep puddle. As the liquid splashed onto his trousers, he thought to himself: “thank gosh this isn't a scary acid puddle”. To his demise, t’was a scary acid puddle, and Joblyn melted instantly.