WEBVTT - You Again

0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.760
<v Speaker 1>M twelve Ghosts is a production of I Heeart three

0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:07.680
<v Speaker 1>D audio and grim and mild from Aaron Banky Headphones recommended.

0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:23.000
<v Speaker 1>Listener discretion advised. How like a winter hath my absence

0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:28.240
<v Speaker 1>been from the the pleasure of the fleeting year? What

0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:33.440
<v Speaker 1>freezings have I felt? What dark days? See? What old

0:00:33.479 --> 0:01:06.520
<v Speaker 1>December's banners everywhere? I like to hang a garland on

0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:10.560
<v Speaker 1>the door as a reminder to my lodgers of the

0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.319
<v Speaker 1>promise of life in the midst of the bleak winter

0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:18.720
<v Speaker 1>they traveled through and more of its inside garland of evergreen,

0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.400
<v Speaker 1>over the mantel, throughout the kitchen, up the stair rail,

0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:30.480
<v Speaker 1>guiding them to their rest. It is a comforts you've

0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:35.240
<v Speaker 1>grown quiet, I'm still in shock. It's easier for some

0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.840
<v Speaker 1>to pass through the veil. Some see their death from

0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:43.640
<v Speaker 1>miles away, and when they appear on the side, are

0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:48.240
<v Speaker 1>well prepared for the journey ahead. Some others are caught

0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:53.080
<v Speaker 1>by surprise, finding themselves in a dark, wintry wood after

0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.440
<v Speaker 1>a stray bullet in wartime or heart attack in the

0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:01.200
<v Speaker 1>grocery store. Can you imagine pau suing the cheeses of

0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.760
<v Speaker 1>the world one moment thrust into a midwinter blizzard the

0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:08.280
<v Speaker 1>next It's a surprise to me that most of you

0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.920
<v Speaker 1>can speak at all. After such an upset, you will

0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:21.440
<v Speaker 1>settle in. The shock wears off. Eventually another is coming,

0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:33.440
<v Speaker 1>so it would seem welcome, welcome, help your friend. You

0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.600
<v Speaker 1>look as if you've come a long way. Is here?

0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.040
<v Speaker 1>You have to be more specific. I'm afraid it's been

0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.840
<v Speaker 1>a busy night. It's I was just there. It was

0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:50.920
<v Speaker 1>a ghost. Everyone's a ghost at some point, isn't advertrue? Here?

0:02:51.040 --> 0:03:01.079
<v Speaker 1>Come in, have some wine. Sit my friend. This is Annabelle.

0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:10.480
<v Speaker 1>She's having similar dissonance confusion, loves company and my experience. Hello, Hello,

0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:15.400
<v Speaker 1>You know musically there's nothing more pleasing to the ear

0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:23.840
<v Speaker 1>than hearing dissonance resolve itself into harmony here Now, tell me, friend,

0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:29.760
<v Speaker 1>what is it that brought you here? I walked into

0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:34.320
<v Speaker 1>the water and it was going to be the end. Well,

0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:38.760
<v Speaker 1>then here we are, Welcome to the end. Ernie Bannaker,

0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:46.640
<v Speaker 1>Who is it you're looking for? Exactly? Listen, here's what

0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:52.000
<v Speaker 1>I remember. It was more of the same, another end

0:03:52.040 --> 0:04:02.360
<v Speaker 1>to another Saturday night, and then there she was you again.

0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:07.320
<v Speaker 1>Some things never changed, right? Let me guess, and the

0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:15.160
<v Speaker 1>damn street Hamster if you please. Yeah, all the way

0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.360
<v Speaker 1>up to the pier, just like last year and the

0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.919
<v Speaker 1>year before that and the year before that. In the

0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:26.000
<v Speaker 1>year before they get you know, I was thinking, mind

0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:34.440
<v Speaker 1>if I play some music. Here we go. This is

0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.159
<v Speaker 1>a little classical radio station. I don't think you heard

0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:40.479
<v Speaker 1>of it. It's the usual stuff for most nights, Mozart

0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:44.680
<v Speaker 1>Takovski for at least those sort of tunes. As we

0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:46.400
<v Speaker 1>get closer to Christmas and the end of the year,

0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:51.320
<v Speaker 1>they get a little classier. I guess you could say, Hey,

0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.520
<v Speaker 1>what do I know. I've been a cabby for almost

0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:58.279
<v Speaker 1>forty years now. Maybe it's just listening to the radio.

0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:02.680
<v Speaker 1>This long roped off on me. The familiarity, right, an

0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:09.160
<v Speaker 1>accidental expert, and that's me. Huh. This is nocturnes from

0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:13.640
<v Speaker 1>a guy named Chopin. Anyway, like I was saying, towards

0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:15.640
<v Speaker 1>the end of the year, this station starts to play more.

0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:22.640
<v Speaker 1>I guess you could say thoughtful music, lonely music. It's

0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.320
<v Speaker 1>the weather. I think people ponder endings around this time.

0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:31.560
<v Speaker 1>It brings out something deep in folks, you know, wordless

0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:35.880
<v Speaker 1>When when Mandy was alive, Remember I told you by

0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:40.960
<v Speaker 1>Mandy when she was alive. She called it melancholy, A

0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:45.320
<v Speaker 1>beautiful kind of melancholy, she called it. She had a

0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:48.440
<v Speaker 1>way with words, not like you and me. Huh, I

0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:51.760
<v Speaker 1>just ramble on and you you said maybe three things

0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:56.320
<v Speaker 1>to me all these years. Amsterdam, And if you please,

0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.360
<v Speaker 1>just passing through, I'd like to look at the water.

0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.559
<v Speaker 1>You've always been a woman a few words. Some people

0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:09.799
<v Speaker 1>would say that makes you a good conversationalist, a good listener.

0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:15.599
<v Speaker 1>You know, I can name most of the songs these days.

0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:21.200
<v Speaker 1>Who would have thought me? Who Ernie and a Fishonado.

0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:26.040
<v Speaker 1>They call it of classical music. I remember the first

0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:30.479
<v Speaker 1>time I picked you up Christmas Eve. God how many

0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.240
<v Speaker 1>years ago. I was listening to those doo wop stations

0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:38.400
<v Speaker 1>and those songs were old. Even then. We didn't talk much,

0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:43.440
<v Speaker 1>you remember, Maybe you just gave me the address and

0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.960
<v Speaker 1>we drove on all the way out to AMSTERDAMN Street

0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:51.520
<v Speaker 1>in the pier. I gotta admit, lady, I was surprised

0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:53.640
<v Speaker 1>to find you in the same spot the next year.

0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.640
<v Speaker 1>I don't mean to be rude, you know, it's just

0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.919
<v Speaker 1>guys like me. We pick up hundreds and hundreds and

0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.120
<v Speaker 1>thousands of people, and you'd be surprised what you remember

0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.799
<v Speaker 1>and what you forget. Take for example, people in suits

0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:13.200
<v Speaker 1>between me and you. I don't remember any of them, crazy, right,

0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:17.360
<v Speaker 1>but it's true. I know they all have their own

0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:20.280
<v Speaker 1>lives and worries and all that. But the suit, it's

0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:24.200
<v Speaker 1>like a camouflage, you know, like stripes on the tiger,

0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:27.680
<v Speaker 1>or how an octopus can change its colors, like the

0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:31.440
<v Speaker 1>predator in those movies. They always say the same sort

0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:35.240
<v Speaker 1>of stuff to the suits. I tell you, it's like

0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:40.600
<v Speaker 1>it's the same guy every time. And I'll be honest.

0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:44.200
<v Speaker 1>After this long drive, and I'm not sure I remember

0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:48.080
<v Speaker 1>how many pregnant women I drove to the hospital. Just

0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.280
<v Speaker 1>the one who gave birth in the back, Alfonso. I

0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.000
<v Speaker 1>think the guy said they were gonna name the kid

0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:58.080
<v Speaker 1>al finds out. They seem like a nice couple, stressed out,

0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.280
<v Speaker 1>you know, but nice who knows what's going on with him?

0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:04.680
<v Speaker 1>Now me and he was happy for him. And he

0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:08.400
<v Speaker 1>had a word for that too. She called it signed there,

0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:14.120
<v Speaker 1>the feeling that everybody, absolutely everybody, has their own inner life,

0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:18.040
<v Speaker 1>deep and full of meaning, and no one else would

0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:21.800
<v Speaker 1>never know much about it. I thought that was depressing,

0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:28.720
<v Speaker 1>you can say it made me melancholy. Still, I never

0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:32.439
<v Speaker 1>heard from that couple again. And this must have been

0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:39.120
<v Speaker 1>twelve years ago. Now, A November was little Alphie might

0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.920
<v Speaker 1>be old enough to drive. I think I told you

0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:46.360
<v Speaker 1>about him that year because it had just happened. And heck,

0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:49.360
<v Speaker 1>you know, you might remember more about them than I do.

0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.559
<v Speaker 1>I've been losing details, you know, more and more these days,

0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:59.120
<v Speaker 1>just little things like who won the World Series win

0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.560
<v Speaker 1>or how old my niece is out in Atlanta. But

0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:07.240
<v Speaker 1>I don't forget it route not ever. It's burned into

0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:10.480
<v Speaker 1>my brain. No GPS for us old heads. You know,

0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:13.400
<v Speaker 1>just last week I told the doc, Look, if you

0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.880
<v Speaker 1>cut open my skull right here, you dig into my

0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:19.120
<v Speaker 1>brain and you'll see a tattoo of the whole city,

0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.600
<v Speaker 1>but my thoughts racing all around it, like cars and

0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:27.640
<v Speaker 1>rush hour. I guess the thing is, as you get older,

0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.640
<v Speaker 1>the road up there gets rougher, your cars go slower.

0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:38.920
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes you get traffic jams. Anyway, Yeah, I go rambling.

0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:43.480
<v Speaker 1>I can't remember what I wanted to tell you, but hey,

0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:45.600
<v Speaker 1>let me know. If you want us to just try,

0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.040
<v Speaker 1>say the word lady, and I'll be as silent as

0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:56.680
<v Speaker 1>a grave. M H. Bad joke. Bad joke. I know,

0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:59.680
<v Speaker 1>I'm just a little nervous as all lie. Like I said,

0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.840
<v Speaker 1>that's okay. Bees don't remember too many people after a

0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:09.480
<v Speaker 1>few years. They they're like blurd all together, like cream

0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:14.520
<v Speaker 1>and coffee. It goes brown gray whatever. We all get

0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.080
<v Speaker 1>some regulars. Maybe someone works laid across town and the

0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.760
<v Speaker 1>train is closed when they get off, or something like that.

0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:24.240
<v Speaker 1>It's rare. We usually just pick up people near wherever

0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:27.920
<v Speaker 1>we dropped the last person off. And believe me, most

0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:31.920
<v Speaker 1>fairs don't remember their cab drivers either. People treat us

0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:36.360
<v Speaker 1>like like another part of the car. Most days I'm

0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:42.000
<v Speaker 1>fine with it. Some days are different. I wanted to

0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:44.000
<v Speaker 1>see if I could ask your opinion about some things.

0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:53.800
<v Speaker 1>Is that okay? If not? Just saying okay? So, first,

0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:58.600
<v Speaker 1>you remember how we met. I picked up the fan

0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:01.360
<v Speaker 1>right there off for pe mind on a slow night.

0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.120
<v Speaker 1>You're addressed, just like you are now when you held

0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:08.960
<v Speaker 1>your hand up so the waving, but not really I

0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:12.240
<v Speaker 1>can well, I'd like to think I can read people.

0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.160
<v Speaker 1>Even back then, I had a sort of sense about folks,

0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:19.160
<v Speaker 1>and I knew you didn't really want to talk, so

0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:22.880
<v Speaker 1>I left you alone. And that first year we drove

0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:25.360
<v Speaker 1>in silence all the way across the city to the water.

0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.640
<v Speaker 1>I should have said something to you, then, do you

0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:39.079
<v Speaker 1>think no, dice? Okay, remember how maybe it was God

0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.040
<v Speaker 1>thirty thirty one years ago and I picked you up

0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:48.280
<v Speaker 1>from the usual route. I was still young then, well younger,

0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:52.040
<v Speaker 1>I guess, but you know what I mean. I just

0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.439
<v Speaker 1>got back from that honeymoon. Mandy and I went all

0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.000
<v Speaker 1>the way to Mexico, and boy did our savings go

0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.680
<v Speaker 1>with it. I told her, I love you, sweetheart, but

0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:03.920
<v Speaker 1>we might have to settle on Florida for at least

0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:08.200
<v Speaker 1>the first anniversary. A cabby in the school teacher don't

0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:13.760
<v Speaker 1>exactly make world traveler salary, you know. Anyhow, while we

0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.240
<v Speaker 1>were there and Mandy wanted to do some weird things.

0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:22.000
<v Speaker 1>The weirdest one it was a ghost tour. I know,

0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.720
<v Speaker 1>I know who thinks of ghosts when they think of honeymoons,

0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:32.920
<v Speaker 1>But that was Mandy. We went on the tour. It

0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.640
<v Speaker 1>was like any other, more a history told than anything else.

0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.400
<v Speaker 1>But as we walked through towards the end, there was

0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:45.960
<v Speaker 1>something that struck me. A story. Once upon a time,

0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:49.600
<v Speaker 1>the tour guy said, back in the turn of the century,

0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:51.720
<v Speaker 1>there was this this little boy who lived on a

0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:55.800
<v Speaker 1>farm by a lake. This was a big operation and

0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:59.240
<v Speaker 1>what you're calling an a state, and the boy's family

0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.000
<v Speaker 1>had lots of servants, and his family was very rich.

0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.480
<v Speaker 1>Being rich don't make it happy. You know. His kid

0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:09.840
<v Speaker 1>is miserable. His mother died when he was young. Because

0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.680
<v Speaker 1>the boy was the son of the patron, the wealthy owner,

0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.320
<v Speaker 1>and because all the other boys his age were sons

0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:19.280
<v Speaker 1>of the servants, this little boy had no real friends.

0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:22.920
<v Speaker 1>His father, who was a very nasty guy, wouldn't let

0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.840
<v Speaker 1>him talk to the other kids. So this boy, he

0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:30.040
<v Speaker 1>just wanders around the estate when he isn't with his tutor.

0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:35.640
<v Speaker 1>His friends become the birds, the trees, the little frogs

0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:40.160
<v Speaker 1>hopping along the shore. While he's distant from most things,

0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:44.680
<v Speaker 1>he's a smart kid. He's heard the rumors, the things

0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:48.000
<v Speaker 1>a dolt say when they think children aren't listening. And

0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:56.640
<v Speaker 1>you know, it's surprising what children can understand. He hears

0:13:56.679 --> 0:14:01.040
<v Speaker 1>these whispers about his old man doing things to women

0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:06.360
<v Speaker 1>on the phone. It's all hushed up and he owns

0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:11.920
<v Speaker 1>the police, and sometimes the women disappear. The kid don't

0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.240
<v Speaker 1>think much of it, but he does like the mystery.

0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.839
<v Speaker 1>Kids love mysteries, right, So, the tour guy says, one night,

0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:23.040
<v Speaker 1>the little boy wanders out along the lake and he

0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:29.360
<v Speaker 1>sees this lady along the shore. At first, he thinks

0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:34.080
<v Speaker 1>she's kind of walking on maybe dancing kinda. He sneaks

0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.960
<v Speaker 1>up as close as he dares, hiding in the bushes,

0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:42.320
<v Speaker 1>until he sees her feet aren't touching the ground. He

0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.760
<v Speaker 1>can even, he thinks, sort of see through her if

0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:51.120
<v Speaker 1>he squints hard enough, and as he watches, she opens

0:14:51.120 --> 0:15:07.000
<v Speaker 1>her mouth. Here she screams, m hm. Anyway, the legend goes.

0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.560
<v Speaker 1>The boy learned this was a ghost La La Rona,

0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.480
<v Speaker 1>the tour guy called it, and the story it was

0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.880
<v Speaker 1>the boy's mother. She killed herself when she learned her

0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:20.360
<v Speaker 1>husband was cheating, and drowned one of the other kids

0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.720
<v Speaker 1>at the same time, and she just kept walking along

0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:27.960
<v Speaker 1>where she died, horrified about what she'd done, but doomed

0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:31.680
<v Speaker 1>to repeat it. The little boy, if I remember, grew

0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.720
<v Speaker 1>up and went crazy. The guy said this was just

0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:39.400
<v Speaker 1>one version. She said, they are different versions. Sometimes the

0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:45.680
<v Speaker 1>lady lost a lover or her kid, or you know. Still,

0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.760
<v Speaker 1>it's a weird way to end the tour, right, I mean,

0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:58.960
<v Speaker 1>I mean, are you like that are you one of

0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:06.400
<v Speaker 1>them just passing through. It's like I'm talking to a record.

0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:11.760
<v Speaker 1>Look I'm not a superstitious guy. I'm not even religious.

0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:16.160
<v Speaker 1>I'm just old lady. I've been taking you along the

0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.960
<v Speaker 1>same route for decades. Every Christmas. Eve gave up asking

0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:23.000
<v Speaker 1>you the going rate. After the first few years, three

0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.040
<v Speaker 1>bucks didn't much with the inflation east days. You know,

0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:30.120
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry, that's just a little joke. I make jokes

0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:40.200
<v Speaker 1>when I'm nervous. You know that, don't you. I just okay,

0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:47.200
<v Speaker 1>I'll be honest. You know, Mandy died years back. I

0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:54.480
<v Speaker 1>wish I could remember when cancer it was all riddled

0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:58.720
<v Speaker 1>through it like holes and Swiss cheese. I was wrecked,

0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.200
<v Speaker 1>but I still made it here. I still drove you

0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.920
<v Speaker 1>to your spot. I never asked you much, not much

0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.159
<v Speaker 1>at all. But I never let you down, and I

0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:14.280
<v Speaker 1>never sent anyone else to pick you up or started

0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:20.719
<v Speaker 1>asking questions. I've never even told anyone about you except

0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:32.280
<v Speaker 1>for Mandy, and she's she's gone. She's gone now. But

0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:37.760
<v Speaker 1>I did some digging after Mandy. You know, I had

0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:41.679
<v Speaker 1>nothing but time. Even when I was sure, I never

0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:49.240
<v Speaker 1>said anything. This is gonna be my last ride with you. Sarah.

0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:57.240
<v Speaker 1>That's you, isn't it. Sarah bowling Age went missing some

0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:02.680
<v Speaker 1>forty years ago. Now you'd be older and me these days.

0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.840
<v Speaker 1>I had no idea who you were for a long time,

0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:15.600
<v Speaker 1>a long time. But it is you, isn't it. Your

0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:20.280
<v Speaker 1>clothes haven't changed, you haven't aged to day. You show

0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.600
<v Speaker 1>up every year and we take the exact same route

0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:29.400
<v Speaker 1>to the exact same spot. You know, the police never

0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:36.960
<v Speaker 1>contacted me. Was it was that the last person to

0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:42.600
<v Speaker 1>see you alive? Was that something I could have done?

0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:54.240
<v Speaker 1>Haunts me? Lady for your words. I guess I look,

0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:59.680
<v Speaker 1>there was something I could do, something I could have done.

0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:06.840
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry, truly, I didn't know. I suppose we passed

0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:10.200
<v Speaker 1>all that now. You know. The doctor, when I talked

0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:12.639
<v Speaker 1>to her earliest, she said that I got something called

0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:17.639
<v Speaker 1>Louis body dementia. She put it to me in Cabby terms.

0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:21.160
<v Speaker 1>She said, Ernie, if your brand was a city map,

0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:23.360
<v Speaker 1>the road signs are sort of in the wrong places.

0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:29.280
<v Speaker 1>Now my sleeps all weird. But this time next year,

0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:33.680
<v Speaker 1>I'd probably be in a home on the ground, depending

0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:39.560
<v Speaker 1>on how things play out. I hated you, you know

0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:44.560
<v Speaker 1>that for a long time. It don't make sense saying

0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:48.080
<v Speaker 1>it now, but I did. I hated you. Every year

0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.520
<v Speaker 1>the world took a little more from me, and every

0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:58.920
<v Speaker 1>year there you were, same age, same clothes, same conversation.

0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.760
<v Speaker 1>I don't even know if you remember me. There were

0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:09.200
<v Speaker 1>some Christmas Eves, especially right after Mandy died, where I

0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:13.879
<v Speaker 1>would think, what's the fucking point, you know, with the

0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:17.280
<v Speaker 1>point of it all? They got these ghost shows on

0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:20.719
<v Speaker 1>TV now where people make tons of money pretending to

0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:25.360
<v Speaker 1>talk to ghosts, And here I am. I meet you

0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:29.240
<v Speaker 1>once a year, and I could have made enough for

0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:39.199
<v Speaker 1>the hospital bills. Mandy could have been here now. So

0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:44.879
<v Speaker 1>I wanted to ask you, just this time, just this

0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:50.320
<v Speaker 1>last ride together. I wanted to ask you so many things.

0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:58.760
<v Speaker 1>Is she there, wherever it is you go when you

0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:03.479
<v Speaker 1>know you aren't here. I wanted to ask you if

0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:08.640
<v Speaker 1>you and I square, if you blame me for whatever happened.

0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:17.480
<v Speaker 1>More important, I wanted to tell you you're my best

0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:23.440
<v Speaker 1>friend nowadays, you and me, Well, you're the most meaningful

0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:28.560
<v Speaker 1>person in my life. And you know, I hope you

0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:34.959
<v Speaker 1>can appreciate the humor in it. All my other friends

0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:39.440
<v Speaker 1>that did long gone one way or another. I spend

0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:43.240
<v Speaker 1>these Christmas Is with you I worked the day like

0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:46.880
<v Speaker 1>any other. I wait until about eleven PM. I pick

0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:51.440
<v Speaker 1>you up at Piedmont, drive across town, and then I

0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:55.440
<v Speaker 1>turned around and drive back through the city. That late

0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:59.600
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if you noticed, but that late said

0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:08.959
<v Speaker 1>it's abandoned. There's something I don't know holy about abandoned places,

0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:14.679
<v Speaker 1>especially when they're built to have big groups of folks,

0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:18.960
<v Speaker 1>like an empty grocery store late at night with low

0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:25.960
<v Speaker 1>music playing one endless song droning into the night. The

0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:31.080
<v Speaker 1>city's like that. On Christmas Eve, you drive through downtown

0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:35.959
<v Speaker 1>and there's this this hush all across the streets and

0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:41.560
<v Speaker 1>boulevards and avenues, and it it hits you. This is

0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:45.919
<v Speaker 1>what people meant when they built cathedrals. The space of it,

0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:51.320
<v Speaker 1>the silence it holds you, wraps you up like a

0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:55.960
<v Speaker 1>soft blanket and you're safe. Like there's something good on

0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:01.080
<v Speaker 1>the way. Water at night, big water along the shore

0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:06.800
<v Speaker 1>with a big moon, like a silver coin. It makes

0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:16.280
<v Speaker 1>you think the morning worth waiting for. I wish you

0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:20.040
<v Speaker 1>could have seen it. We could have turned around and

0:23:20.640 --> 0:23:23.440
<v Speaker 1>just driven through it once, and then if you wanted,

0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:25.440
<v Speaker 1>I would have turned right back and drove you right

0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:29.080
<v Speaker 1>back here. We could have maybe going to a diner

0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:32.720
<v Speaker 1>and you could have talked with someone. Hell, I would

0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:35.280
<v Speaker 1>have woken Mandy up. Back then, the three of us

0:23:35.280 --> 0:23:37.879
<v Speaker 1>could have, I don't know, walked through the streets of

0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:41.400
<v Speaker 1>Uptown with all the Christmas lights. He would have liked

0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:45.080
<v Speaker 1>those that we could have said at the dinner, watching

0:23:45.119 --> 0:23:49.080
<v Speaker 1>the night run off in the dawn, I read somewhere.

0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:52.720
<v Speaker 1>That's all it takes. Sometimes, the right person walking by

0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:57.640
<v Speaker 1>the bridge, someone leaning out the window and asking what's

0:23:57.680 --> 0:24:02.159
<v Speaker 1>going on. There's this guy somewhere in China. He lost

0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:05.119
<v Speaker 1>someone and moved his whole restaurant to the bridge with

0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:10.760
<v Speaker 1>when she died, and he has a little I don't remember,

0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:12.959
<v Speaker 1>a little noodle shop at the bottom of the bridge,

0:24:14.000 --> 0:24:16.800
<v Speaker 1>so he can see if someone's about to jump, and

0:24:16.840 --> 0:24:19.240
<v Speaker 1>when he sees them, he runs straight up the bridge,

0:24:19.320 --> 0:24:25.080
<v Speaker 1>drops whatever he's doing, and he just talks to him.

0:24:25.080 --> 0:24:28.160
<v Speaker 1>A person's whole life can hinge on such tiny things.

0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:34.639
<v Speaker 1>I think most people, people your age, they end up

0:24:34.680 --> 0:24:39.280
<v Speaker 1>regretting those kinds of decisions. You have to be old,

0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:43.199
<v Speaker 1>you have to be tired, you have to get to

0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:48.480
<v Speaker 1>a point where you're not running away. It's just sort

0:24:48.520 --> 0:24:52.959
<v Speaker 1>of letting go Maybe that's where this whole thing is

0:24:53.880 --> 0:24:58.760
<v Speaker 1>in the end, Maybe this whole stupid life this it's

0:24:58.800 --> 0:25:02.879
<v Speaker 1>just holding something, loving it long enough, and handing it

0:25:02.960 --> 0:25:05.639
<v Speaker 1>to someone else when the time is done. It's like

0:25:06.200 --> 0:25:09.760
<v Speaker 1>a museum. Maybe you're stopping. You look at something and

0:25:09.800 --> 0:25:12.040
<v Speaker 1>you only see it because the people in front of

0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:18.280
<v Speaker 1>you moved on. If you love it, you move so

0:25:18.440 --> 0:25:24.399
<v Speaker 1>the people behind you can see it too. We have

0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:28.480
<v Speaker 1>to be sneaky around this part. You might not know it,

0:25:29.000 --> 0:25:32.159
<v Speaker 1>but the city has grown bigger and bigger over the years,

0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:37.600
<v Speaker 1>and this isn't exactly a public road anymore. Still, I

0:25:37.640 --> 0:25:43.960
<v Speaker 1>think security takes Christmas off. Look at this place, these

0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:51.159
<v Speaker 1>huge ships. Jesus, they're probably older than me. I'm tired.

0:25:52.240 --> 0:25:56.120
<v Speaker 1>I bet they are too. Do you ever get tired?

0:25:57.680 --> 0:25:59.560
<v Speaker 1>Do you know where you are and where you're going?

0:26:00.040 --> 0:26:04.320
<v Speaker 1>M Are you? I don't mean to be rude, but

0:26:05.640 --> 0:26:09.800
<v Speaker 1>are you still? Are you? Or are you? More like

0:26:09.840 --> 0:26:13.280
<v Speaker 1>a recording? Like a song played every year on some

0:26:13.800 --> 0:26:18.040
<v Speaker 1>sort of ghostly radio. That be a kicker, wouldn't it

0:26:18.600 --> 0:26:21.879
<v Speaker 1>a seventy year old man chatting away with the radio.

0:26:24.520 --> 0:26:31.760
<v Speaker 1>Do do you remember me? Come on? Like I said?

0:26:31.920 --> 0:26:36.919
<v Speaker 1>Three bucks in much these days? I can't remember if

0:26:36.960 --> 0:26:39.960
<v Speaker 1>I told you, but for years now I've just been

0:26:39.960 --> 0:26:43.639
<v Speaker 1>putting those half dollars in the glove box. Consider this

0:26:43.680 --> 0:26:49.080
<v Speaker 1>one on the house. I just I'm not sure how

0:26:49.119 --> 0:26:57.520
<v Speaker 1>to ask this. I got nothing now nothing, and maybe

0:26:57.600 --> 0:27:01.800
<v Speaker 1>I'm already crazy, like the dog says. But I wanted

0:27:01.840 --> 0:27:07.480
<v Speaker 1>to thank you, thank you for your company. You're the

0:27:07.480 --> 0:27:11.160
<v Speaker 1>only ghost I've ever met. You know that. I got

0:27:11.160 --> 0:27:17.480
<v Speaker 1>to say, You're not scary at all. How does the

0:27:17.480 --> 0:27:23.359
<v Speaker 1>story end for you? Where do you go? You know? After?

0:27:25.680 --> 0:27:33.400
<v Speaker 1>I'd like to look at the water? Is it okay

0:27:34.720 --> 0:27:44.360
<v Speaker 1>this time? If I go with you? If it is okay,

0:27:45.680 --> 0:27:49.160
<v Speaker 1>I think i'd like to look at the water too.

0:27:51.560 --> 0:27:55.840
<v Speaker 1>Where do you walk when you get out? I'd like

0:27:55.920 --> 0:28:01.600
<v Speaker 1>to see the other side. M h Maybe it is

0:28:01.640 --> 0:28:07.320
<v Speaker 1>everyone we met. Maybe they'll be saying, hey you again.

0:28:27.240 --> 0:28:33.720
<v Speaker 1>Ah ah, yes I've seen them. You have. Where is

0:28:33.760 --> 0:28:38.200
<v Speaker 1>she again? You need to be a little more specific.

0:28:38.440 --> 0:28:42.480
<v Speaker 1>Are you looking for Mandy or for Sarah? Mandy's here.

0:28:43.920 --> 0:28:47.320
<v Speaker 1>It's been a busy night. Are you gonna go upstairs?

0:28:47.840 --> 0:28:52.200
<v Speaker 1>Ernie Bannaker and all your questions will be answered? What's

0:28:53.520 --> 0:28:57.600
<v Speaker 1>where are we? What's up stairs? Many rooms? Ernie Bannaker.

0:28:58.160 --> 0:29:02.600
<v Speaker 1>There are many rooms. This key should fit into the

0:29:02.640 --> 0:29:13.400
<v Speaker 1>one you're looking for. Well, he seems ready to get

0:29:13.400 --> 0:29:16.520
<v Speaker 1>on with it. I hope he finds what he's looking for.

0:29:17.440 --> 0:29:25.320
<v Speaker 1>He will I do love when dissonance resolves itself. Speaking

0:29:25.360 --> 0:30:22.680
<v Speaker 1>of the devil, this should be interesting. Twelve Ghosts starring

0:30:22.720 --> 0:30:27.040
<v Speaker 1>Malcolm McDowell as the Innkeeper and Gina Rikiki as Annabelle.

0:30:27.560 --> 0:30:32.080
<v Speaker 1>Episode five You Again, written by Ben Boland with additional

0:30:32.160 --> 0:30:36.680
<v Speaker 1>writing by Nicholas Takowski. Editing by Chris Childs and Stephen Perez,

0:30:37.040 --> 0:30:42.080
<v Speaker 1>featuring Jay Jones as Ernie. Directed by Nicholas Takowski. Original

0:30:42.160 --> 0:30:47.040
<v Speaker 1>score and sound design by Chris Childs. Executive producers Aaron Mankey,

0:30:47.360 --> 0:30:53.280
<v Speaker 1>Matt Frederick, Alexander Williams and Nicholas Takowski. Supervising producer Josh Staine.

0:30:53.760 --> 0:30:58.600
<v Speaker 1>Producers Chris Childs and Stephen Perez. Casting by Sunday Bowling

0:30:58.720 --> 0:31:01.800
<v Speaker 1>C s A and Meg Wrman c s A. Production

0:31:01.880 --> 0:31:06.400
<v Speaker 1>coordinator Wayna Calderon. Recorded at Lantern Audio in Atlanta, Georgia,

0:31:06.800 --> 0:31:11.920
<v Speaker 1>engineered by Chris Gardner, Aeros Sound and Recording in Ojai, California.

0:31:12.360 --> 0:31:16.480
<v Speaker 1>Engineered by Ken Arrows. Twelve Ghosts was created by Nicholas

0:31:16.520 --> 0:31:19.240
<v Speaker 1>Takowski and is a production of I Heeart, three D

0:31:19.320 --> 0:31:22.440
<v Speaker 1>Audio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Learn more

0:31:22.440 --> 0:31:25.160
<v Speaker 1>about the show at Grim and Mild dot com and

0:31:25.200 --> 0:31:27.640
<v Speaker 1>find more podcasts from my Heart Radio by visiting the

0:31:27.680 --> 0:31:30.960
<v Speaker 1>i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

0:31:31.040 --> 0:31:32.000
<v Speaker 1>to your favorite shows.