open: anyone connection: the person who has been through it all
her fingers trembled as she uncovered her face, tears streaming down her face and staining her cheeks. her chest felt like it was going to collapse and the world felt so heavy on her shoulders. she didn’t mean to say those things or do what she did. she was just so angry at the world. which was unusual for the young woman. everyday felt like a struggle to get out of bed and now she had pushed away the one person who actually seemed to care.
it was hard, hearing the moans and groans of the afterlife everyday no matter what she did. spirits of all ages would beg her for help and as much as she would say now, the sounds were simply too much. the doctors thought she had schizophrenia, other people thought she was a witch, and everyone else thought she was faking it for attention. but not her dear, sweet friend. jiyoung would get so overwhelmed by the sounds and images that she would simply break and her friend would hold and calm her down until everything was silent.
she had done things she regretted due to this issue. she could clearly recall nearly beating a man to death with her textbooks in college after he tried to flirt with her and her friend helped her hide any evidence that she was at the scene. even now as a kindergarten teacher, the voices and spirits continuously bother her for help or revenge and it takes all her strength to not scream and shout.
however, tonight was different. this whole week, she was haunted by a spirit who told her that it would help him pass over if she would get rid of an evil man. every day, he would chant awful things and tell her to kill someone, anyone he wanted to. she wouldn’t listen to his requests and felt the anger boil up inside of her until it lashed out at the wrong person. she didn’t mean to hit them, she didn’t mean to yell at them but she was so frustrated. she hadn’t slept, hadn’t ate. just heard a spirit moan for her to kill all day but it seemed the spirit was satisfied enough with the hit she gave to her friend. they left in a frenzy and now jiyoung was alone.
her trembling fingers dialed the familiar number. “please. i didn’t mean any of it. i am so sorry.”









