Weeping Painting - Classic

Omar thinks he know his grandma. Until one day, he finds a scary portrait in her bedroom… and it’s looking at him.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Glynn Washington?

  I placed the picture in the book and gave it to the friar. When he took it to the church, I lit the place on fire. The constable who locked me up asked, "Why did I conspire?" Because the picture tells me what to do. That's why I lit the fire.

• 0:26Glynn Washington?

  You're listening to Spooked. Stay tuned.

• 0:38Speaker 01

  Do you like scary stories? Think you've heard it all? Well, you've never heard it like this.

• 0:46Speaker 01

  Radio Rental is a horror podcast featuring true scary stories told by real people.

• 0:51Speaker 02

  He's tapping, tap, tap, tap. He's tapping on the door. He wants us to open the door.

• 0:58Speaker 03

  Then an air light turns on. And then an air light turns on in the shape of a triangle. And I'd say it's probably about the length of a school bus, you know, right above my head.

• 1:06Speaker 04

  She had long, ratted hair. She was wearing a dress. Her ribs were showing, her fingers were long. She looked shriveled, partially decayed. I'm starting to freak out a little bit. I'm pleading with them to just please let me out.

• 1:23Speaker 05

  These eyes started opening. They were pure white. And I lose it.

• 1:30Speaker 01

  Radio Rental returns October 23rd. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

• 2:26Glynn Washington?

  Paintings, expression, art. Let me tell you a story. A story about Omar. Omar, he loves his grandma. Soon as he was 12 years old and summer arrived, he didn't think twice and went to her place. One of those houses with no toilet inside, an outhouse in the yard. Omar didn't mind. He loved to look around at her treasures laying all around the house, playing in the backyard, swinging in her hammock to cool off the hot weather of Mexicali, Baja California. It sounds like, you know, this is some close grandma-grandson quality time, right? Well, as you may imagine,

• 3:10Glynn Washington?

  there was something else visiting grandma's house that summer.

• 3:15Glynn Washington?

  Spooked.

• 3:33Speaker 06

  Fue un día cualquiera. Entré a la habitación de mi abuela buscando algo. Creo que fue, eran corta uñas. One summer day like any other day, I go to my grandma's bedroom to look for a nail clipper. I'm rummaging through all of her stuff. Cremas. Creams. Perfumes. Perfumes. Muñequitos. Rag dolls. De repente, yo sentí la, sentí un... No, no sé cómo describirlo, como un alud. And suddenly I feel some kind of, I don't know how to describe it, some kind of energy?

• 4:11Speaker 06

  As if someone is staring at me. I'm compelled to look up. Cuando levanté la mirada, me pude percatar que había un cuadro. When I do, I see this painting. I don't know if the painting has... It's always been there, but it's the first time I'm seeing it.

• 4:30Speaker 06

  El retrato era de una muchacha, era de una joven. It's an oil canvas portrait of a young woman, who looks a little bit older than me.

• 4:42Speaker 06

  It's painted so well that it looks like a photograph. Tenía una blusa verde, ella salía con el pelo recogido. She's wearing a green blouse, and her hair is tied in a bun. The woman is facing forward, and I feel as if she has her eyes fixed on me.

• 5:05Speaker 06

  It doesn't feel like an optical illusion. The painting is actually staring at me.

• 5:14Speaker 06

  It's not moving, it's more of a feeling.

• 5:20Speaker 06

  El cuadro emanaba, emanaba cierta, cierta tristeza. I sense this sadness. I see it in her eyes. But she's smiling in this way that doesn't feel natural. Like she's faking it. Almost like an upside-down smile.

• 5:47Speaker 06

  From then on, every time I step into grandma's room, I can feel this strange heaviness.

• 5:56Speaker 06

  As if someone doesn't want me inside.

• 6:03Speaker 06

  One day, I finally asked my grandma... ¿Quién es la muchacha de la fotografía? Who is the girl in the portrait? And my grandma tells me it's her when she was fifteen.

• 6:19Speaker 06

  La verdad me tomó por sorpresa escuchar eso porque yo estaba, yo estaba... I'm surprised to hear that. I'm expecting, I wanted to be somebody else.

• 6:32Speaker 06

  had been a gift from her father for her quince años. Looking at the photo again, I guess, yeah. The young woman has my grandma's features, similar head shape and hairstyle. She still uses a hair bun.

• 6:49Speaker 06

  But I still feel weird about it all.

• 6:53Speaker 06

  I mean, my grandma looks great in the portrait, but she also looks kinda spooky. But since we gotta respect our elders, I don't tell grandma that the portrait scares me.

• 7:09Speaker 06

  Recuerdo que cierto día estaba yo en la cocina.

• 7:14Speaker 06

  So I'm in the kitchen one evening. It's around 7:00 PM.

• 7:19Speaker 06

  I'm pouring myself a glass of water when I start to hear a woman sob.

• 7:28Speaker 06

  Un sollozo muy muy leve, pero audible. A soft but audible sob.

• 7:39Speaker 06

  So first I'm like, it's grandma, it's coming from her room. So I walk down to the hall to her door.

• 7:48Speaker 06

  As I'm turning the handle, I can still hear the sobbing.

• 7:54Speaker 06

  But as I step inside, it stops.

• 7:59Speaker 06

  ¿Qué está pasando? What's going on? My grandma's not here. This makes no sense.

• 8:10Speaker 06

  That's when I noticed the portrait.

• 8:14Speaker 06

  The woman is in the same position.

• 8:18Speaker 06

  Lo único que brillaban eran los ojos. But her eyes have this watery glow.

• 8:26Speaker 06

  Even though I'm standing a few I can see it clearly. The woman's eyes are shining as if she has been crying.

• 8:38Speaker 06

  Eran lágrimas. They're tears. O sea, eran lágrimas, totalmente. They are definitely tears.

• 8:47Speaker 06

  Me recorre... me recorre un escalofrío. A shiver runs down my spine.

• 8:56Speaker 06

  Fue como que no. This is like... no. This is definitely not normal. I'm just way too overwhelmed, so I take two steps back and close the door.

• 9:13Speaker 06

  I quickly look for my grandma. She's out in the backyard watering her plants.

• 9:20Speaker 06

  I run up to her and tell her... Abuela, tu retrato está llorando. Grandma, your portrait is crying! And she just gives me this stare. She looks concerned, but also somehow relieved?

• 9:39Speaker 06

  I don't know how to really explain it. She tells me... ¿Cómo va a estar llorando el retrato, mijo? What do you mean "the portrait is crying, mijo"? Yes, Grandma, I'm telling you the portrait is crying!

• 9:55Speaker 06

  She grabs me by the arm and says... Ven, acompáñame. Come with me.

• 10:01Speaker 06

  We step into the house and go to her room. She looks at the portrait. She doesn't say a word. Y agarra el cuadro? Ella toma el cuadro, lo descuelga... She just grabs it from the wall and takes it down. Y lo puso contra su cuerpo como si lo estuviese abrazando? Then she presses it against her chest as if she's hugging it. It almost seems as if she's trying to prevent the portrait from looking around.

• 10:34Speaker 06

  Then Grandma steps out of the house with the portrait and goes to the backyard patio where she has her washing machine and dryer. Underneath the patio roof, there's a shelf and that's where she puts the painting. She then tells me, "Don't worry, mijo. I don't like the painting that much anyway." Then she just grabs a garden hose and keeps watering the plants as if nothing happened. I'm like, if Grandma knows what to do, I guess everything's fine. So, I don't ask any questions. I don't feel like talking and I don't want to be called irrational or silly.

• 11:17Speaker 06

  After that, everything seems to quiet down and honestly, I just kind of forget about it. I keep going out to the backyard during the day to play and nothing happens. Until three nights later.

• 11:42Glynn Washington?

  This episode is sponsored by Vinted. Imagine, opening my closet, looking for a shirt, and I see that jacket. That jacket, that jacket I got for that party I never went to three years ago. That jacket, it's still there, it's still mocking me. Well, it was still there. Because then I stopped and I reached for my phone, because Vinted is a secondhand marketplace app where you can sell clothes that you no longer wear. Listing on Vinted is quick and simple. Once an item sells, Vinted creates the prepaid shipping label for you. And Vinted has no seller fees, meaning you keep every dollar you earn.

• 12:25Glynn Washington?

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• 12:54Speaker 06

  Le estábamos cenando, toca la puerta, mi abuela le abre... We're having dinner, when we hear a knock at the front door.

• 13:08Speaker 06

  My grandma opens the door and it's Doña Carmen, my grandma's neighbor.

• 13:14Speaker 06

  Doña Carmen says: Elena, ¿estás bien? Elena, ¿are you okay? My grandma is surprised and says: Sí, ¿por qué debería no estarlo? Yes, why shouldn't I be? Doña Carmen tells her: Lo que pasa es que al fondo, dice, se escucha una... se escucha a alguien que está llorando. The thing is, I just heard someone crying in your backyard and I thought it was you. I thought something had happened to you or your children.

• 13:50Speaker 06

  So my grandma gets my uncle, who was living with her at the time, to go out into the yard and investigate. The rest of us stay inside.

• 14:00Speaker 06

  At this point, I'm thinking, "Yeah, there probably is a real person who is crying for whatever reason. That seems logical."

• 14:11Speaker 06

  But then my uncle comes back and says: Pues no, dice no, no es nada, dice, a lo mejor viene de otro lugar, dice, a lo mejor. I didn't see or hear anything. Maybe it's coming from somewhere else. Maybe it was some music or something, but it's definitely not from here. But Doña Carmen replies: "Someone was crying. I heard it."

• 14:36Speaker 06

  Fue ahí donde, donde ya dije yo, "Oh, no puede ser." That's when I think, "No way." "This is happening again?"

• 14:48Speaker 06

  Es, se escucha un llanto, pero no hay nada. There's crying, but then there's nothing. But this time it's not me who's hearing it.

• 14:59Speaker 06

  It's the neighbors.

• 15:02Speaker 03

  I feel goosebumps running down my spine, but I don't say anything to anyone.

• 15:13Speaker 06

  A la noche siguiente, yo ya estaba acostado, ya estaba, pues básicamente ya listo para dormir.

• 15:22Speaker 03

  The following night it's late. I'm in bed and just about to fall asleep, but I really, really need to go to the bathroom. But at the same time, I'm scared to go outside.

• 15:35Speaker 03

  I have to walk across the whole backyard, past all these trees and plants, then finally get to the outhouse, right next to the fence that divides the yard from the neighbors.

• 15:47Speaker 03

  My uncle is still awake, so I ask him if he can go with me. He says, "Okay."

• 15:58Speaker 06

  La noche estaba muy obscura, no había luna.

• 16:04Speaker 03

  The night is very dark. No moon, no animals or nature sounds, no dogs.

• 16:13Speaker 03

  We walk across the backyard and get to the outhouse. I open the door, go in and close the door. I start doing my business.

• 16:27Speaker 03

  I can hear my uncle right outside, lighting up a cigarette and smoking.

• 16:35Speaker 03

  Then suddenly, he tells me.

• 16:38Speaker 06

  ¿Te acuerdas aquella vez que fue Doña Carmen y que le preguntaba?

• 16:42Speaker 03

  You know what? Do you remember when Doña Carmen showed up and asked my mom if everything was okay? And then I had to go outside and check?

• 16:52Speaker 06

  Le digo, sí, sí, pero no viste nada.

• 16:55Speaker 03

  I say, "Yes, but you didn't see anything."

• 17:00Speaker 03

  He says, "No." Actually, the thing is that I did see something or someone under the lemon trees. I saw two holes in the dirt, as if...

• 17:11Speaker 06

  Someone was kneeling down.

• 17:15Speaker 06

  I don't know if he's telling this to scare me or if he's telling the truth, but my first thought is, well, then this has got to be an actual person who was in our backyard last night.

• 17:27Speaker 06

  Entonces no sabía si una persona viva me daba más miedo que una persona muerta, o un espíritu. And then I think, I don't actually know if a living person is scarier than a spirit.

• 17:41Speaker 06

  My uncle tells me, "I'm going inside real quick. I'm just gonna get another cigarette." I say, "Okay, but do it quickly. I don't want to be here alone."

• 17:54Speaker 06

  I hear his steps on the dirt and dry leaves. I can hear the house door open and close.

• 18:02Speaker 06

  Not even thirty seconds pass when I start to hear like, muffled steps.

• 18:12Speaker 06

  Someone's dragging their feet outside the outhouse.

• 18:17Speaker 06

  It's definitely not my uncle.

• 18:24Speaker 06

  Suddenly, I hear the crying again.

• 18:29Speaker 06

  Era una mujer llorando? It's a woman. It's coming from the backyard.

• 18:37Speaker 06

  Unlike the sobs I heard in grandma's room, now, it's a loud weeping.

• 18:45Speaker 06

  It's very heartbreaking.

• 18:48Speaker 06

  My hands start sweating.

• 18:51Speaker 06

  I stop what I'm doing. Somehow, I wipe myself, pull up my underwear, and come out of the outhouse with my pants still around my ankles, dragging on the ground.

• 19:02Speaker 06

  I start running across the yard to my grandma's house.

• 19:07Speaker 06

  That's when I see something moving among the lemon trees.

• 19:13Speaker 06

  Y escucho el grito, o sea, escucho ya el llanto como tal. The weeping now turns into wailing. I turn my head to the place where the sound is coming from.

• 19:26Speaker 06

  Y ahí es donde la veo por primera vez. That's when I see her, for the first time.

• 19:39Speaker 06

  No sé si describirlo como una señora, una mujer, una presencia.

• 19:45Speaker 01

  I don't know whether to describe her as a lady, a woman, or a presence.

• 19:53Speaker 01

  She's about fifteen meters away and she's wearing a long, old-fashioned dress.

• 20:00Speaker 06

  Tenía la piel muy, muy blanca.

• 20:02Speaker 01

  Her skin is very pale and she has long strands of messy hair.

• 20:11Speaker 01

  She's kneeling on the ground, her hands are covering her face.

• 20:19Speaker 01

  She's hunched over as if she has been in the same position for a long time.

• 20:26Speaker 06

  Eh, recuerdo que sus manos eran largas, los dedos.

• 20:30Speaker 01

  Her hands, her fingers are so long and thin.

• 20:39Speaker 01

  I'm petrified. I literally can't move.

• 20:49Speaker 06

  Volteó su cara hacia mí.

• 20:51Speaker 01

  Then she turns her face towards me.

• 20:55Speaker 01

  In between the strands of her hair,

• 21:00Speaker 01

  I can see her eyes.

• 21:03Speaker 01

  That's when I realize that those eyes are the very same eyes in the portrait. There's no doubt about it. I just know.

• 21:16Speaker 06

  Era una mirada fuerte, penetrante.

• 21:19Speaker 01

  It's the same gaze, that strong, penetrating stare. But this time it's no longer full of sadness.

• 21:29Speaker 01

  It's brimming with hate.

• 21:33Speaker 01

  Somehow I break through this trance.

• 21:37Speaker 01

  I run towards the house, and when I open the door, my uncle is in the hallway. He was just about to come out.

• 21:46Speaker 06

  At that moment, I feel that if I tell my uncle what I just saw, he won't believe me.

• 21:52Speaker 06

  In the back of my mind, I'm thinking Grandma would better understand what's going on.

• 22:02Speaker 06

  So I run to my grandma's room. I'm almost in tears. I say, "Grandma, I just saw a lady crying."

• 22:11Speaker 06

  She tells me... "Posible, a la mejor es Doña Carmen." "Maybe it's Doña Carmen." "Que le haya pasado algo, le... No es Doña Carmen." "Something must have happened to her." "It's not Doña Carmen. I know who Doña Carmen is." "And that person wasn't Doña Carmen." So my grandma calls Doña Carmen on the phone.

• 22:32Speaker 06

  "Oye Carmen, este... mi nieto dijo que te vio llorando." "Hey Carmen, my grandson says he saw you crying. Are you okay?"

• 22:44Speaker 06

  Doña Carmen says, "No Elena, I haven't left the house at all." "I've been asleep for hours." My grandma tells me, "Oh mijo." "Ay mijo, pues a la mejor lo soñaste." "Well, maybe you dreamed it." "No Grandma, I didn't dream about it. You can't dream this up. I'm terrified."

• 23:11Speaker 06

  I tell my grandma to let me sleep with her that night. I don't want to sleep alone, so she lays a folding bed next to her own bed for me.

• 23:23Speaker 06

  I'm trying to shut my eyes and fall asleep, but I still feel like I'm in danger.

• 23:30Speaker 06

  I don't know how, but I finally managed to fall asleep.

• 23:38Speaker 06

  But then I wake up.

• 24:02Speaker 06

  Es probablemente alrededor de las 3:30 o las 4:00 de la mañana. Todos están dormidos. Pero noté que la lámpara de detecion de movimiento en el pasillo... Está encendida. Algo o alguien está ahí.

• 24:19Speaker 06

  Empecé a escuchar como cuando los perritos rascan la puerta que quieren salir. Luego empiezo a escuchar un sonido como cuando los perros tocan la puerta cuando quieren salir.

• 24:34Speaker 06

  Se escucha como agarrar las manchas en la puerta de la habitación.

• 24:40Speaker 06

  Yo me siento en la cama. Ahora me siento en mi cama. Luego miro mi cabeza hacia la derecha hacia la puerta.

• 24:49Speaker 06

  Está el ente.

• 24:52Speaker 06

  Esa cosa, la mujer... Está ahora dentro de la casa.

• 25:01Speaker 06

  La puerta de la habitación está abierta y está agarrándola con una de sus dedos. Tocaba la puerta, rascaba, rascaba, rascaba. Agarrando, agarrando, agarrando, agarrando. Está a cinco metros de distancia. Y era mi abuela. Esta cosa parece a mi abuela. Era mi abuela pero era mi abuela de joven. O al menos cuando era más joven.

• 25:25Speaker 06

  Su rostro está molesto y enojado. Me está dando este mirada fría. Recuerdo que quise, quise hablarle a mi abuela. Quiero despertar a mi abuela pero no puedo respirar.

• 25:40Speaker 06

  No puedo gritar. Nunca he sido tan temido.

• 25:48Speaker 06

  Da un paso hacia dentro de la habitación. And then this woman or thing takes a step into the room.

• 26:02Speaker 06

  I try waking grandma up. I use my arm and tap on her chest.

• 26:08Speaker 06

  She finally wakes up. Y lo primero que hace es tomar su biblia y empezar a orar. Then she grabs her bible and starts praying.

• 26:20Speaker 06

  She doesn't scream. She doesn't seem scared. She just reads and prays. This thing covers its ears with both hands, then it makes a shhhhh sign over its mouth with its long skinny finger.

• 26:39Speaker 06

  Then it starts like sliding through the hallway, back towards the door, towards the exit.

• 26:50Speaker 06

  It disappears into the distance while my grandma keeps reading.

• 26:57Speaker 06

  I'm still frozen. I can't move.

• 27:06Speaker 06

  Mi abuela se levanta y corre atrás de ella. Then my grandma gets out of the bed and runs after her. I don't know if it's out of fear or courage, but I also get up and go out. I don't want to be alone in that room.

• 27:23Speaker 06

  We go to where the lemon trees are, and this woman is now lying on the ground.

• 27:31Speaker 06

  Her hands are covering her face. She's crying again.

• 27:38Speaker 06

  No podía creer. ¿Qué es lo que estaba viendo? O sea, ¿qué es esto? ¿Qué está pasando? I can't believe what I'm seeing.

• 27:47Speaker 06

  Then the crying gradually turns into this laugh.

• 27:53Speaker 06

  A very, very sinister laugh, as if my grandma's prayers and efforts aren't working.

• 28:03Speaker 06

  Then, all of a sudden, the woman lifts her arms up and stretches them backwards as if she's bending and throwing her head back, and just like that... ¡Uf!

• 28:16Speaker 06

  Se deja de ver. She disappears.

• 28:20Speaker 06

  We don't see anything.

• 28:26Speaker 06

  It's all quiet now.

• 28:29Speaker 06

  We can hear the dogs in the distance barking at nothing.

• 28:35Speaker 06

  I hug my grandma and she says... Me dijo: "No te preocupes, hijo", dice. "Don't worry, son." "Lo que no nos puede tocar, no nos puede dañar."

• 28:47Speaker 06

  "What can't touch us, can't harm us."

• 28:51Speaker 06

  And then she's like... "Me voy a tomar una taza de café, hijo. ¿No quieres una?" "I'm gonna have a cup of coffee, mijo. Don't you want one? Come on. Let's go inside."

• 29:04Speaker 06

  We go straight to the kitchen.

• 29:07Speaker 06

  The sun's now coming up. We sit in silence at the dining table. I'm unable to talk.

• 29:17Speaker 06

  I'm stirring my coffee, trying to eat some cookies. Como... No, no podía comprender yo cómo podía estar ella tan tranquila, ¿no? I don't understand how my grandma is so calm. But if she's so calm, I feel like I need to be calm too.

• 29:41Speaker 06

  El día siguiente, agarro y empile algunas cosas que tengo conmigo. Quiero volver a casa, a mis padres. Le digo a mi mamá que mejor iría a casa. Todo lo que dice es... Está bien, me dijo. Está bien. Está bien. Está bien.

• 29:57Speaker 06

  Ella no dice nada más. Ella solo dice: "Está bien, hijo. Puedes volver a casa de cualquier momento, ¿sabes?"

• 30:07Speaker 06

  Pero yo no. Conseguí pasar el resto del verano con mis padres. Incluso entonces, había tantas noches en las que no podía dormir. Sentía yo que si cerraba los ojos y los volví a abrir, iba a volver a ver a esta persona. Sentía que si cerraba mis ojos y los abría de nuevo, la vería.

• 30:36Speaker 06

  Ahora, siendo adulto, todavía pienso en la historia mucho. Mi mamá claramente sabía cómo lidiar con la situación completa, y es por eso que estaba tan tranquila con todo. Tal vez había más de la portra, más de la historia.

• 30:55Speaker 06

  Pero ella no me la decía.

• 30:58Speaker 06

  Incluso 20 años después, ella no me dice nada. Estoy bebiendo café con ella en el mismo salón de vivienda. Le preguntaré sobre esa noche y la portra, y ella solo dice... No te preocupes, hijo. Ya todo está bien, el cuadro ya está guardado y... ¡No te preocupes, hijo! Está bien ahora. Solo olvídate de ello.

• 31:22Speaker 06

  Tal vez ella quiera olvidar esos recuerdos, o tal vez todavía está tratando de protegerme.

• 31:29Speaker 06

  Yo reconozco muy poco de mi abuela cuando ella era joven. No realmente sé nada de ella cuando era joven. ¿Qué pasaría si era una diosa? Tal vez el artista imprimió algo malo en ella.

• 31:45Speaker 06

  Incluso entonces, sé que mi mamá nunca la deshacerá porque significa mucho para ella.

• 31:52Speaker 06

  Tal vez las cosas se dejen así como están.

• 32:03Speaker 06

  Not too long ago, I was talking to my uncle and he told me that Grandma still has the painting.

• 32:15Speaker 06

  Lo que hace mi abuela es envolverla en plástico. Apparently, she wrapped it in black plastic and relocated it to the very back of the backyard, inside the storage warehouse.

• 32:29Speaker 06

  Y hasta la fecha, yo sé que ese cuadro sigue ahí. That's where the painting lives, even until this day. And it will probably never come out again.

• 32:44Speaker 06

  The image of that woman covering its ears and telling us to stop praying still haunts me to this day.

• 32:52Speaker 06

  Para mí eso no es algo que necesita ayuda. That thing doesn't need our help.

• 33:12Glynn Washington?

  Thank you Omar for sharing your story with Spook, all the way from Mexico. Lionel Garza gave Omar his voice in English. The original score for the story is from Nicholas Marks. The story was produced by story scout and story producer, Eric Yanias.

• 33:43Glynn Washington?

  Now, I have a question for you. Do you have a connection with another person that cannot be explained? Do you see through someone else's eyes? Can you feel the burden someone else carries? Maybe your twin, your cousin, your friend, maybe even your enemy. Do you share a bond that defies the laws of what it's supposed to be? Maybe you don't feel you can tell anyone because no one will understand well. Tell me. I want to know because there's nothing better than a Spook story for a Spooked listener. [email protected].

• 34:21Glynn Washington?

  And the best way to signal not just the dark side, but the spook community in the know. The best way to signal them is by sporting the spook t-shirt of your very own. Nothing sexier in all the land. Available right now at snapjudgment.org. And if you like your storytelling under the bright light of day, get the amazing Stupendous Sister Podcast. It's called Snap Judgment and it is storytelling with a beat.

• 35:01Glynn Washington?

  Spook was created by the team that knows exactly where they are when they wake up in the morning. Except of course Mark Ristich, you might have to give him a few guesses. There's Davy Kim, Chris Hambrick, Leon Morimoto, Taylor DeCott, Marissa Dodge, Zoe Fergno, Anne Ford, Eric Yanis, Cody Harjo, Lola Abraha, Doug Stewart, Miles Lassie, Yari Bundy. The spook theme song is by Pat McSibby Miller. My name's Glynn Washington. And just like we love to make pretend that life is fair, we also love to imagine that the same rules apply no matter where you are, no matter who you are, no matter who

• 35:45Glynn Washington?

  is there, no matter the hour of the day or the time of the year. But such nonsense is for the simple minded. And it's not how the shadow operates, because sometimes the supposedly impenetrable barrier between here and there, between what is lost and what is soon to be lost, that barrier diminishes to smoke, granting one side more power. And you can't predict the when, the where, the why, the how. All you can do is look it in the face when it comes. And that is why I advise everyone I care about to never, ever, ever, never, never, ever,

• 36:30Glynn Washington?

  ever turn out the lights.