Solstice Page #3

## [Ends]

- Hi.

- Hi.

- How's solstice treating you?

- Oh, great, thanks.

Uh, don't take this the wrong way..

but what are some up-towners like you guys

doing celebrating St.John's Day?

My mom teaches

cultural anthropology at Loyola...

so we celebrate pretty much

every holiday known to man.

Might be going there myself.

I applied for an academic scholarship so-

- Really? I'm impressed.

- No.

Don't be.

If I don't get accepted then, uh-

Well, hey, I'll be stuck behind this counter

for a little while longer.

- Your name is Megan, right?

- Yeah.

- I'm Nick.

- Nice to meet you, Nick.

[Bell Jingles]

Almost forgot dinner.

Can I ask you something?

- Sure.

- You know what they say about the solstice-

about spirits crossing over,

that kind of thing.

Yeah.

Have you ever seen anything...

you know, strange?

Well, um, I'll tell you what.

Growing up in these parts...

you-you learn to keep an open mind.

My, uh, grandmother

liked to dabble in a little voodoo.

She used to believe

she could talk to the dead...

especially around the solstice.

If she believed it

then, uh, who am I to argue?

Uh, I don't know

what you're doing later...

but we're having

a really big dinner at our place.

- You should come.

- Uh-

- I probably shouldn't.

- It's gonna be fun. Very traditional.

- You know, creole chicken,

sweet rice, sugar-fried bananas.

Okay.

- Okay.

- Good. Uh-

Dinner's at 8:
00, and it's the white house

on the south side of Nowell Lake.

Know where it is.

[Engine Sputtering]

[Engine Dies]

[Engine Cranking]

[Cranking Continues]

[Exhales]

Sophie.

[Keys Jingling]

[Underbrush Snapping]

[Engine Starts]

[Radio:
Flipping Stations]

[Gasps]

It was just sittin' there-

On the side of the road,

completely out of the blue.

And you're sure

you didn't just drop it?

Positive.

There was something on the bridge.

Like somebody watching me.

Somebody?

Who was it, Megan?

I don't know.

I couldn't see.

I saw it in the rear view mirror.

But when I turned around, it was gone.

It felt like Sophie.

[Exhales, Sighs]

We all miss her.

Look. We can call

your mom and dad if you want.

No. No.

God.

I know I must

sound crazy to you guys.

I don't want to freak you guys out.

[Sniffs]

Please just bear with me.

Hey. Okay?

We're all here for you, Megan.

You don't have to worry

about anything.

- What are you doin'?

- Takin' you home.

Christian, I'm fine.

I swear.

You shouldn't have to

stay here if you don't want to.

It's not that. I just-

Whatever it is, you can tell me.

She's here.

I felt it from the moment

that we first got here.

I don't know.

Everybody thinks

I'm some kind of new age freak.

No.

I felt her too.

Really?

I was coming home from work.

It was after we got

all that rain in March.

And I was at this crosswalk

across from St.Jackson's.

There was this group of people

across the street waiting for the light.

They were all dressed in black. They must have

been on their way to a funeral or something.

And all of a sudden,

I look up and...

there's this girl across the street

underneath an umbrella.

She's talking to somebody.

And I just freeze.

I mean, it's Sophie.

It's her hair.

It's her clothes.

And then the light changes,

and I'm just standin' there, you know?

It's like my heart stopped.

Andas this girl gets closer,

she turns to me-

I mean, it was almost Sophie.

Obviously it wasn't-

I'll never forget that feeling.

[Sighs]

Yeah.

Maybe it is just a feeling.

Christian, I'm gonna be okay.

I promise. And- And...

I'm not leaving.

[Sighs]

I guess I should get ready.

For the dinner.

- I just don't think there's

enough food for six people.

## [Pop On Stereo, Faint]

I'll be happy to share mine.

- I'm sure you would.

- Hey! Hey.

- Wait for our guest.

- What?

Why? I didn't invite the guy.

Megan did.

Wow. You look great.

Thanks.

- Hi.

- Hey. Come on in.

Glad you could make it.

- Uh, this is Zoe.

- [Nick] Yeah, we met.

- You remember Alicia.

- [Lish] Hi.

- Hi.

- Mark and Christian.

- Nick, welcome to the party.

- Thanks.

Hey.

All right.

Everybody's here. Let's eat.

- Okay. [Clears Throat]

- Nick, you can sit there.

Thanks.

[Mark]

All right. I'm starvin'.

[Lish]

You've told this story four times.

It was probably, like, 3:00 a.m.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. We'll go skinny dipping."

- We all run out to the docks-

- Why don't we talk about this?

go jumping in, like, bare-ass naked.

We come running back.

We're just, like- eh- close the door on him.

He's banging on the doors.

And it must have been pretty cold in the water.

- I t was cold outside.

- You know, you've done some pretty stupid things.

So, Nick, you lived

around here a while?

- Yeah, all my life.

- Oh. So you must know the old guy across the lake.

Drives a blue pickup.

Doesn't believe in bathing.

- [Chuckles]

- Oh, yeah. You mean, uh, Leonard. Sure.

Old school Louisiana. His family's

been farming out here for generations.

Pretty much just keeps to himself.

Well, I think he's creepy as balls.

What do you think, Meg?

You think he's the bogeyman out in the woods

that's been messing with your head?

- ## [Continues]

- What do you mean?

Oh.

[Clears Throat]

Eh, saw something in the woods.

It was nothing.

Out here, you never know.

Especially this time of year.

Most are the result

of overactive imaginations...

but every now and then you get something

that's kinda hard to explain away.

[Lish]

Huh.

Then I suggest we pay.

the solstice its respects...

and get this party started.

- All right, guys. Cheers.

- [Lish] Uh-huh.

[Nick]

Sorry about your sister.

Mark told me what happened.

You were twins, right?

[Megan]

Yeah.

[Nick]

No wonder you're seeing stuff.

What do you mean?

In Haitian folklore

twins are called the Marasa.

They're believed to be

two halves of the same soul...

connected even in death.

This is gonna sound crazy, but...

since we arrived here...

I can feel her presence.

You've seen her?

I don't have to.

She had this when she died.

It's hard to explain, but...

every time I leave it somewhere...

it comes back to me.

Voduns believe objects

that follow people around...

are usually associated with curses.

[Sighs]

So you're saying I'm cursed?

Really depends whether or not

you believe in that sort of thing.

I don't know what I believe anymore.

[Sighs]

Tell you what.

Now you may think

I'm the one who's crazy...

but we can do this thing

my grandmother used to do.

[Nick] It was her way.

of trying to communicate with the dead.

- It's worth a try.

- [Chattering, Shouting]

- [Mark] Hey! I need a drink.

- [Lish] Hey!

[Mark]

Please! I don't want lake water in my bottle.

[Chattering, Shouting]

[Mark]

I got wine in my face.

You "wined" me.

So this is the part

where we drink the Kool-Aid, right?

Yeah. Can I ask why we have to

do this in the water?

Well, they say water's the best conductor

between our world and the next, so-

Right. Right.

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