In the Pines

 I never thought it had to come to this. I never knew it would be this way. If you  are reading this, then please continue on for my message to you.

             When I was 12, I saw Nirvana play Unplugged in New York City in 1993. It was a   long drive for my dad and I, since we lived upstate. The drive was worth it. The performance   was great, but for me, one song stood out among the rest. They did a cover of an old folk song. It went by a lot of names, like Black Girl, Where did you sleep last night, but I just called it “In the Pines.”

             Eventually, Nirvana’s front man, Kurt Cobain, shot himself on April 5th, 1994. A     lot of confusion was going on about Kurt’s death. Many think the fame got to him, but who the hell would himself after making millions of dollars? Though the disturbing part of that was… April 5th is my birthday.

             When I was 23, I moved from New York to San Antonio, Texas. After 4 years of     college in NYU, I had to get away from the city life. I moved into a heavily forested area. I eventually met my friend Lewis. We liked to hike a lot. It just felt so soothing being around nature. Though, one time we went hiking, I heard what sounded like crying near the area near my house.

             Lewis also introduced me to Chat rooms. I started entering into different types of            chat rooms. I even gave 4chan a try, but that didn’t go as well as planned. On a grunge rock chat room, I talked to Lewis, that’s when things got strange.

  *VinVin has entered the chat

 LeWLo: Is that who I think it is?

 VinVin: If you’re thinking of a guy named Vinnie, well good job.

 LeWLo: Hey Vinnie

 VinVin: Hey Lew

 LeWLo: You thinking about hiking this Saturday? We’ll also stop by that wing place at Crowley Avenue.

 VinVin: I’m down for it.

 *KurtCob234 has entered the chat

 VinVin: Who’s this guy?

 KurtCob234: My girl, my girl, don’t lie to me. Tell me where did you sleep last night.

 LeWLo: Don’t mind him. It’s just one of those fags that fills up a chat room with lyrics.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> KurtCob234: In the Pines, In the Pines. Where the suns don’t ever shine, I’d shiver the whole night through.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> VinVin: This may be my favorite song, but it’s a little bit annoying. Can you boot him Lew?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> LeWLo: Just did

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> *KurtCob234 has been kicked from the chat room

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> VinVin: Thank god.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> KurtCob234: Her husband was a hardworking man, just about a mile from here.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> LeWLo: ?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> VinVin: I thought you kicked him out?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> LeWLo: Might be a spam-bot, in that case, it’s out of my hands.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> KurtCob234: His head was found in a driving wheel, but his body was never found.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> VinVin: I’m out of here. KurtCob is getting annoying.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> LeWLo: K. See ‘ya Saturday.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> VinVin: Alright.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> *VinVin has left the chat

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> It was a bit weird, but that’s the internet for ‘ya.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I decided to just take a breather, and turned on the news. That’s when I realized something. The day was April 5th, 2013. ''Well happy damn birthday. You spent your first few minutes of your morning to see some guy spamming In the Pines on a chat room.''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I decided to take a walk into the forest. It’s nothing I haven’t done before, though it was different to what I was used to. Instead of the bright and warm morning of West Texas, it was cold and a bit dark for 7 a.m. I ignored it, and got my jacket, and walked. This feeling of unease came upon me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I felt like I was being followed. I couldn’t walk for 10 seconds without looking behind me. I just kept walking. I didn’t want to know if something was behind me and I didn’t care. I just kept walking. I heard whispers and footsteps all throughout the walk. The whispers turned into crying, and the walking turned into running. I just ran as fast as I could.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I eventually entered into what looked like a doom of trees. The branches blocked any sight of the sky what so ever. Darkness took over and the only light I had was my phone. My phone vibrated. I checked my phone to see that an unknown number had texted me. I checked the message. “In the Pines, In the Pines, where the sun don’t ever shine. I’d shiver the whole night through.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             My eyes widened with disbelief. I was confused and angry. Dammit, don’t tell me that KurtCob guy managed to get my number! I started to hear someone cry, it sounded like someone was calling out for help. I tried to find where the call was coming from.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I eventually found who it was. It was a man on the dirt, in the fetal position and crying uncontrollably. What confused me about that was…his eyes….his eyelids were stitched shut. “Oh my god. Sir, what happened to you?” I asked the man. He replied, “The visions! The visions! They still there! Oh god, I tried to not look at them, but I still see them, even now!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             My sympathy for him made me unable to see the hunting rifle between his legs. He tried to find the trigger and the forehand. “Now sir,” I said, “You don’t really want to do that, now do you?” the man said to me, “Get out of the Pines!” before putting the barrel into his mouth, and committed suicide.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             At this point I just ran as fast as I could for an exit. I then heard something following me. I looked back, I tried to find an exit, but everywhere I went, there was darkness. I pulled out my phone to light my way, but the battery was dead. Damn you, Steve Jobs. Though luckily, I found a light at the end of the massive branch-dome. I managed to get to freeway near my house.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I found a payphone and called Lewis to pick me up. “How in God’s name did you get lost in the forest after 10 minutes?!” Lewis asked me. “You weren’t there man, you weren’t there.” I replied. “I saw a guy SHOOT himself in the forest!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> Lewis looked back at me. “Are you being serious?” I replied with a head-shake. “Man, I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.” I didn’t speak for the rest of the ride.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             By the time I got there, it was 8:00 a.m. I had a long day, and I wanted to take a nap. I usually sleep fine, but…I…just keep reading…

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I was back in the woods. Nothing but a lantern to illuminate the darkness. The trees were surreally bent to form a tunnel of some sorts. As I walked down the path, it was there again…that SAME. SONG. OVER AND OVER! I wanted to find whoever was playing that song and shove his guitar down his throat! As I kept walking down, it got louder and louder and LOUDER!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I eventually found out what led out of that tunnel. It led to a log fire in the woods. I found a letter near the fire. “To Boddah.” Then, I felt someone breathing heavily on my shoulder. I looked behind me and….it was… Kurt Cobain. Eyelids stitched shut, a shotgun in his hands. He looked at me, even though it was impossible for him to see me. “…My girl, my girl, don’t lie to me. Tell me where did you sleep last night.” I stepped back and escape the forest, but Doberman dogs with blood on their teeth surrounded us. “In the Pines, In the Pines. Where the sun don’t ever shine. I’d shiver the whole night through.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             There was no way out. No way to escape. I was trapped… “Her husband was a hardworking man, just about a mile from here.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             Kurt eventually grabbed me by the shoulder. He said “You don’t know what I’ve seen…” His stitches eventually came off and revealed glowing eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             What I saw… was horrendous. The pain…oh god the pain! I just can’t describe it…

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             After the horrible visions, Kurt put the shotgun in his mouth, and fired.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> I immediately woke up. I stared at my clock. ''9:00 a.m., it was only an hour? It seemed like eternity.'' I then smelled a foul odor that seemed to have been coming from the kitchen. I calmly walked downstairs. Calm down Vinnie, it was just a bad dream, none of that happened.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">             I was finally calm after all that happened. Until I got downstairs.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> I…I found the head of a deer on the kitchen floor, and the writing on the wall.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “His head was found in a driving wheel, but his body was never found.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> I was shaking with anger. “DAMMIT!!!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> I threw the deer head out the window! I wanted to destroy everything in my site. Fine china? Broken! PC Monitor? BROKEN! Dinner table? BROKEN! My home phone ringing interrupted my destructive rampage.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “WHO IS THIS?!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “Whoa, calm down man, it’s Lew.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “Lew?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “Yea, listen, my dad died.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “Oh my god. What happened?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “He was supposedly in a car crash. They found his head stuck in the steering wheel.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “No…”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “I know, surprised as you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “Did they find the body?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “No, and the weird thing is, his eyelids were sewn shut.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “Lew, I’m buying some plane tickets. You and I are going to New York.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “Wait, what? You being serious? What for?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> “For closure.”

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Lewis finally agreed to go after 2 hours of arguing on the phone. I eventually told him about everything. Kurt. The Vision. The forest. We leave in about a week. I’ll update when I can. For now, I can only leave you this message. Don’t go in the pines.

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">                                                                                           This is Vinnie Longstead, signing off