Paralyzed - Chapter 1: Restless Nights - Part 2/3

Episode Date: June 16, 2015

David meets with the rest of the camping trip goers to finalize the plans for the weekend. The atmosphere is very awkward though as this is the first time he has been in the same room with his ex, Jenn, since they split. The group continues to pressure David to finally go see a doctor regarding his night terrors, but as usual, he is reluctant. How many more horrific nights will it take for him to finally give in, or could it possibly take one moment of horrific hallucination to make him succumb? We highly recommend to listen in the dark with headphones.If you like this podcast, please rate and review us on iTunes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Seven Lamb presents Paralyzed Chapter 1, Restless Nights Part 2 Mom, relax. I'm fine. No, I'm... It's fine.

I don't think cutting my hours is going to help. I sat in my parked car outside of Ethan and Brian's apartment. My mom had called right when I pulled up. She wanted to let me know that her family doctor had an opening tomorrow and I should probably go visit him. I made the mistake of telling her two weeks ago about my continuing nightmares. She wanted to find the culprit behind these restless nights. Although, come on, we all knew it with stress. She told me to cut my hours at work.

It's because I had yet to tell her about being let go. There was... There was just no reason to bring it up now. I just knew it would make her worry about me. Mom, I have to go. Because I'm at Ethan's. Yeah, and they're waiting for me. Okay. Oh...

Okay. Yes, I will. I will, right? Yeah, I will. Yep, okay. Talk to you later. Yeah, love you too. There he is. Five minutes late and still looking like a vampire. Come on, there's no way on the last one here.

You're not. David! It's been a while. It's been a while for everyone except Seth. He's the only one who sees David anymore. I sense a hint of jealousy. While he was joking, Brian was probably right on the money. Ethan would never admit to being jealous, but the fact that we have been drifting solely apart probably upsets him.

It wasn't just him, though. I felt like I've been drifting apart from everyone for over the last few months. The only reason I still saw Seth was, because his obnoxious ways had him showing up unannounced at my place quite often. Also, we did used to work together. God, I really hope Seth didn't tell Katie about me being like, oh. Well, if David would just go to the doctor and find out what the hell is wrong with him, maybe we could spend some time together.

That, or he could cut down his hours at work. You know, you sound like my mom. Well, suck it up. Be a man and go see someone. Soon. Yeah, right. He heard that one before. The three of us headed into the dining room where Brian's girlfriend, Ashley, was on the phone, and Cooper was digging in the freezer for an ice tray.

Cooper was an old friend from high school. Tall, thin, shaggy hair down to the shoulders. Brian, Cooper, and I shared an American history class in ninth grade. Man, we had the easiest teacher, too. We would always finish our work half an hour early. allowing the final 30 minutes of class to be used for discussion of movies, music, girls, life. Cooper was a cool guy, too. He knew a lot of people.

The days of him being in a band saw him touring all over Florida. That is, until they broke up. Ashley, on the other hand, was a shy, introverted person. I think I've met her once before. Brian and Ashley only started dating four or five months ago Brian was head over heels for her too had been ever since he met her

She was nice But for some reason me and her Could never hold a conversation together She's one of those people You always needed someone else in the room to have any sort of normal interaction Hi David Hey, Ashley.

There he is! Back from the dead. Hey, how are you, Coop? Better than you look. Hey, thanks for that. Hope that new promotion isn't killing you. It is. It's also killing his social life.

The five of us sat around the dining table chatting about work and school before Seth and Katie arrived. When Seth knocked on the door, I could feel the tension in the room. Everyone thought that it was Jen, but it wasn't. Not yet anyway. I was informed through a quick whisper from Ethan that Jen would be coming out tonight. Why wouldn't she? We were all meeting up to discuss the trip. And we were leaving in two days.

Friday. But the camping talk was held to a minimum until Jen arrived. Eventually she did. Not long after Seth and Katie. I got it. Seth went and answered the door. Thirty seconds later, Jen entered the room. Hey, everyone.

She took a seat across from me. Our eyes met, and she gave me a slight smile. How are you, David? I'm good. And you? I'm good. While everyone continued to talk, I could feel their eyes all over us.

Jen, you want something to drink? Eat? We have chips. Thanks. No, I'm fine. I just got back from dinner. All right. Well, since everyone's here, I think we should get down to business. Hell, we only have two more days. I blame Seth for the delay.

Me? Blame David. Me! Blame David! At least David has an excuse. He's been working a lot recently. Seth's eyes widened, and I could tell that he just wanted to blurt it out. Explain to everyone how I was fired. But he held back, surprisingly. Although Katie gave me a quick, suspicious glance.

Jesus fucking Seth. You told her, didn't you? Regardless of whose fault it is that this meeting has been delayed, we are all here now. So let's figure this out. Who's driving? What's everyone bringing? Who's getting to food? And most importantly, how much alcohol are we getting?

The answer to that last question was easy. A lot. This was the last time all seven of us would ever be together. I was excluding Brian's girlfriend since she wasn't part of our group. So we needed to make sure that the party didn't end until we were driving back home. The meeting lasted two hours. but we got diverted several times by Seth's antics and general conversations. Hey, and what do you know?

My nightmares are even brought up. Jen, like everyone else, said I looked horrible. Great, because that's always something you want to hear from your ex the first time you meet in person after the breakup. All right, guys. Thanks for coming. Friday. See ya.

Bye guys. After the meeting, Seth and Katie hurried off and Cooper was shortly behind them. Cooper, uh, let me know when you want to go shopping tomorrow. I'll go with you if you go after six. I'll text here. See you guys. After Cooper left, Brian and Ashley headed upstairs. That left Jen, Ethan and myself at the dining table.

Chen talked about school. In January, she'd be gone for good, though, all the way out to the West Coast. And even though I haven't seen her since the breakup, I knew I was going to miss her. Hey, good luck out there, Jen. Thanks. I'm nervous, but it's a good nervous? Yeah, but what does that mean for you and Derek? Yeah, there you go, Ethan. Why don't you just bring up her new boyfriend? That's great. He instantly realized his mistake and gave me a quick, sincere glance.

He knew what he was getting into when we started dating. I always wanted to move to Cali. Plus, how do you pass up Stanford? You don't. He's upset, but he knew what was coming. I think he was hoping I'd stay. Since he doesn't want to move out there with me, that doesn't leave much chance for us. Well, you have to follow your goals in life.

Really? Follow your goals? I followed my goal and got kicked to the curb. I remember Jen talking about moving to California. Well, we thought about it. We thought about it a lot. The only reason is I didn't want to leave my job, and I didn't want her to leave me. Well, it's late. I better take off. I have an early day tomorrow.

When Jen stood, I instinctively did, too. Wow, I was really brought back to the days of us leaving. Leaving together. You taking off, too, David? Yeah, well, I might as well. I have an early day tomorrow, too. That was a lie. I meant to ask you, how is the new position?

It's fine. And that's what I left it out. Ethan walked us to the door. Jen and I said her goodbyes and headed toward the parking lot. We walked in silence a few moments before I began to part, heading for my car. David. Oh, shit. Yeah.

We didn't get to talk much in there, but I'm happy you're going. Why wouldn't I go? I just thought that maybe you wouldn't want to go because of me. Plus, Ethan said you've been under the weather. I'm just glad you're going. You know, Jen, I'm not going to lie to you, but it helps knowing that Derek won't be there. I figured it would. That's why I told him not to come.

I don't... I thought he had to work. He does. But he could have requested off. I told him not to come, because I didn't want our last group camping trip to be awkward. We thought about that for a long time. Jen, really? You didn't have to make any special accommodations for me.

Would you really have come if Derek was there? I... I... I don't know. Exactly. Even though you and I were together for a long time, we've been friends even longer than that. I want this trip to be fun. I want it to be like the times before we started dating.

As hard as that might be to recreate. Wow, thanks. I'll see you Friday. She turned towards her car. I was just about to start walking to mine when she turned back around. And David, I agree with Ethan. You should see a doctor. You don't want to feel like shit on this camping trip.

Jen, I don't really feel like shit. Well, you look like shit. Thanks. Bye. I don't know. I just couldn't help but smile as she got into her car and drove off. I don't know. I don't know.

I'm sorry. I'm not. I grabbed a coke and relaxed on the couch and relaxed on the couch. I turned the TV on, which was already stationed on TCM. I watched an old Jack Lemon film. I wasn't sure which one it was. I was too lazy to reach for that remote again. I chugged the coke and leaned back, sinking into the cushions.

Time does not exist in usual. Well, it's well in the office tomorrow. I commend thee to the deep. Damn. Missed. Hours passed, and so did the classic films. Round three, my eyelids began to fall. Fluttering gently.

Accident insurance? Sure, Mrs. Deerickson. What should tell me was engraved on that Anglic? Is my name? As, for instance? Dillis? I think I like that. But you're not sure?

I have to drive it around the block a couple times. Exactly. I wanted to drop line in a row of you will have a day clear to give you. I woke in the woods. I woke in the woods. Where was the cabin? In the distance, the sun was going down fast and drawing the forest in a dreary gloom. I walked through the woods, searching.

I spun around. Who's there? Someone was following me. Where was everyone? Well, wasn't Jen just here? Ethan, Cooper, Brian? Hello? I needed to find the cabin before it got dark.

I began to jog through the woods. Hello? Is anyone there? Seth! Ethan! Oh shit! Oh shit! and I ran as fast as I could. In the distance, a square yellow light, I ran towards like a moth to a flame. I ran my way through an open field.

Suddenly, I found myself in front of the cabin. That square light that I saw in the distance, the one located down the second floor, it went out The second floor The second floor light And dark figure stood in the window The lights went out and instantly came back on

The figure gone who wait who was that Brian Ethan Ethan no answer

the light went out again I stood in the field waiting for the light to come back on who would reappear then I heard the crunch of leaves behind me. Someone or something approached.

I wanted to turn around, but I feared what I would see. Could it be Brian? Jen, maybe Seth. Somehow I knew it wasn't any of them. The footsteps were louder, heavier. Someone, no, something tall approached. I slowly turned around to see the dark, shadowy figure standing behind me with hollow eyes.

Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Fuck it Enough was enough It was enough It was time to call the doctor Paralyzed Written by Robert M. Lamb

Edited by Jonathan Moss Starring Jonathan Moss as David Julia W.D. Harrison as Jen Jose Carabayo as Ethan, Kyle Appleyard as Seth, Hope Ennis as Katie, Mike Lennhart as Brian, John Lassabeth as Cooper, and Jennifer Loudermilk as Ashley, co-starring, Ricky Lainer, Matt Deacon, Robert M. Lamb, Christopher Postle, Jack Austin, Nick Englehart, Ariel Zadok, and. Ashley Cardassano.

Music and composition by Jonathan Moss. Additional music provided by BenSound.com, Incompetec.com, and demixmusic.com. Don't forget to rate and review Paralyzed on iTunes. This has been a seven-lamb production.