One-Sided Stories: Secrets Unfold on the Other End of the Line

Okay. You're in. Good. Just… breathe. I know. I can hear it in your… well, in your silence. No, don't apologize. It's okay. We knew this would be weird. Just… what do you see? Right. Exactly like he left it. Down to the dust. Is the… is the big map still on the wall? The one with all the red pins? All of them? They're all… gone? Huh. Okay. That’s new. He loved those pins. Said each one was a story he couldn't tell. Look, I know last week you said silence can say it all, but right now I REALLY need words, okay?

Just talk to me. What does it smell like? Yeah. Old books and damp earth. That’s Grandpa. Okay, focus. We’re looking for the land deeds. They should be in his desk. The big oak one against the far wall. Can you see it? Great. Walk me over. Tell me what’s on it. Any weird bird statues? Stacks of National Geographics? Anything… ticking? Good. Not funny, I know. Just… with him, you never knew. So, the desk is clear? Nothing on it at all?

A box? What kind of box? Wooden… carved… no, I don't… I don't think I've ever seen it. How big is it? Shoebox? Breadbox? Okay. Okay. Can you… can you open it? Maybe the deeds are in there. He was always one for dramatic flair. It’s locked. Of course it is. Is there a keyhole? Anything? No keyhole. What do you mean no keyhole? A box has to… wait. You said it was carved? What are the carvings of? Birds. Okay. Figures. He was obsessed.

Can you describe them? Are they like... like the ones in his drawings? The ones with the... the extra joints in their wings? Every single one. Oh god. Okay. Um. Don't... don't touch the box again. Just... for a second. Step away from the desk. Why? Because I just remembered something. A story he told me when I was a kid. I thought it was just... a story. To scare me away from his workshop. He told me about a bird he heard, once.

In Ecuador. A call nobody had ever heard before. He said he followed it for days. Deep into the jungle. He said he found it. But it wasn't a bird. Not really. What do you mean, you hear it? Hear what? No. No no no. It’s an old house. It’s just the pipes. Or the wind. There's no… tapping. From where? WHERE is the tapping coming from? Don't. You listen to me. DO NOT pick up the box. I am serious. Get away from the desk and walk out of that room.

RIGHT now. Because he said he brought it back. He said it was the only one of its kind. He said the beautiful thing about its song… was that you only heard it once. Before it got out. What… what did you just do? He never found a cage that could hold it.