Ever since I was in middle school, or maybe high school,
the uncle who had always doted on me passed away.
He lived by himself, and when he slipped one day,
he hit his head... and that was it.
I cried so much. I bawled my eyes out without caring what anyone thought.
At the funeral, I looked into the casket and said to him,
"Uncle... why did you leave me behind?
Take me with you..."
He had always treated a screw-up like me so well.
He'd always hang out with me. That's why
I didn't want him to leave me.
I thought the day was over after crying my heart out like that.
It was in the middle of that very night.
Somewhere in my dark bedroom, after I'd turned off the lights to sleep,
I heard knocking.
*Tap, tap, tap...*
"What is it...? Mom?"
*Tap, tap, tap...*
"What? I'm not playing video games! I'm going to sleep!"
*Tap, tap, tap...*
"So annoying! What do you want?!"
Irritated, as I got out of bed,
I heard a voice.
"Yuu-ma..."
Yuuma. That's my name (alias).
The voice sounded just like my uncle.
"Yuuma, you okay?
Sorry about that. You were lonely, weren't you?"
The voice was coming from the other side of the door.
It's him. It's definitely my uncle.
"Uncle! You came for me!"
"Hurry up, let's go. Come on."
He sounded strangely monotone,
but I was so overjoyed that I put my hand on the doorknob.
"Yuuma, this way is faster."
"Huh?"
The voice came from the window.
My room is on the second floor, and the window is tiny—
barely big enough to squeeze your upper body through.
Hearing my uncle's voice from there,
I opened the window on reflex.
Thinking he was outside the house,
I leaned my body out of that window.
"Yuuma, hurry up and get out here.
I'm gonna leave you behind."
"Wait, hold on! Where are you?"
As I was scanning the outside,
*SLAM!!* The door flew open.
"Yuuma! What are you doing?!
You've been screaming your head off!"
"Huh? No, Uncle is—"
"Hah... what are you talking about?
If you keep messing around, your uncle's gonna get mad at you.
Your uncle is dead..."
Oh, that's right... he was dead.
So why was I able to have a conversation with him?
Am I losing my mind or something...?
The moment I thought that, right by my ear, I heard:
"*Tch... too late...*"
"What?"
I could have sworn I heard my uncle's voice again.
My dad chewed me out terribly that night
and told me to stop screaming. Apparently,
the one calling out my name
might have been me all along.
According to my dad, in the pitch-black room,
I was leaning out the window,
shouting, "Yuu-ma!"
Do you think this sounds like BS? It's the honest truth.
Please believe me.
I don't know if it's connected to this experience or not,
but starting the very next day,
I developed a mild case of sleepwalking.
My parents say that about three times a week,
I wander around the house like I'm searching for something.
And even when my parents talk to me, I just say:
"Yuuma, where'd you go?
Where is Yuuma? Hey, where are you...?"
I'm thinking of getting an exorcism,
but I'm scared. I'm terrified of myself...
Believe me, please. Somebody help me.
