Residue
I kept seeing jump scares
and making bad decisions
like today was a shitty horror movie
this morning some random drowning boy
stumped me with a riddle
he refused to reveal the solution
so I won’t repeat the question here
truth be told
I spent the rest of my work day
trying to forget all about those clues
whenever thoughts of him
floated to the front of my mind
I erased them
I didn’t want to dwell on the fact
that I’ll never know the answer
when I finally clocked out
things started to seem normal
until I got back to my apartment
my tv always stays on
I like to watch the 24/7 coverage
of those milk cartons in that desert
but tonight
for the first time in months
the screen showed something different
it was him
my first instinct
was to press the power button
why the fuck
didn’t I listen to my gut
I succumbed to my second guess
logically there’s no reason for me
to turn this guy off
I thought
there are nine more channels
for me to choose from
I’ll click the up or down arrow
whichever
then the boy from this morning
will be out of my face
I closed my eyes for one second
and I swear a small piece of his riddle
whispered in my ear
my eyes shot open
I pressed channel up
hard
how
how is he on this channel too
next
him
next
still him
deciding my stomach must have been right
I tried the power button
nothing happened
I told myself
that there isn’t anything too unusual
about a missing kid being on the news
as soon as I started to think
I was only being paranoid
he must have lost his patience
he was done whispering
I heard his whole riddle
spoken loud and clear
not from the tv speakers
his voice was here
I responded
enough
get back into the tv
where you belong and-
I was interrupted
by the smashing of the television
it fell backwards off my coffee table
for no rational reason
stunned
I waited
I’m not sure what I expected
all I could do was hope this was over
I took the tv set out with the trash
foggy and on autopilot
stepping back through my door
I immediately felt his presence
now I’m trying to convince myself
that I imagined it all
I just want my experience
with whatever this thing is
to end