Chapter Four: Josie:

Miss Josie often came by our house. I never understood why she looked sad all of the time. She never talked to anybody at the house and she stayed mostly in her room. Daddy sent me to give her her food. I would knock on the door.

“Miss Josie!” I called. “Food!” One day, I heard her crying in her room.

“Miss Josie?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Go away!” she wailed.

“But why?” I asked.

“Go away!” she cried. I left the tray at her door and walked off. Later, I asked Daddy why Miss Josie was sad all the time. He patted me on the head.

“Some people are just stuck like that,” he said.

“Why?” I asked. His fingers tangled up in my dark blue hair.

“They just are,” he said. “But, it’s not good.” I looked up at him with big eyes.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Daddy pulled me in closer.

“When some people get sad,” he began. “They don’t eat, sleep, or do anything.” Daddy rested his chin on my head. “Miss Josie’s one of those people.”

“But why?” I asked.

“I don’t know, sweetie,” he said. “I don’t know.” Somehow, I didn’t feel it right for Miss Josie to be sad like that. Every day, I tried to be nice to her. I would knock on her door with a tray of food in my hand.

“Miss Josie!” I shouted. “I brought your food!”

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?!” she wailed. I did just the opposite of that. Part of me wanted to what was wrong with Miss Josie. I waited by her room every day to see if she would come out. The people that stayed with us wondered why I was doing such a thing.

“She won’t come out,” they told me. “Just leave her alone.” I won’t do as they asked me to do. I think that was the only time I disobeyed anyone. It’s just that I couldn’t leave Josie alone. I wanted to know what she was so sad for.

One day, I fell asleep by her door. When I woke up, I found it wide open and she was gone. Without a thought, I wandered inside. I smelled baby powder when I took the first step. It tickled my nose as I remembered. Her room looked so dark and could barely see anything around me. I walked to my left, feeling around for the curtains. When I drew them back, the light hit my eyes.

“Ah!” I said. “Too bright!” I accidentally backed into Miss Josie’s bed and fell with a plop.

“Oof!” I said. When I opened my eyes, I noticed something funny about the ceiling. Many pictures covered it. They were all of the same man. Miss Josie stood with in some of the pictures. They looked so happy together. I had never seen her with a grin that big before in my life. I wondered who the man in the picture was with her.

“You!” I heard someone scream. “What the hell are you doing in my room?!” I looked up to see Miss Josie standing in the doorway, glaring at me. I sat up, blinking at her.

“Who’s the man in the pictures with you?” I asked. Josie clenched her fists at her sides.

“Get out!” she cried. “Get out! Get out of my room!” Miss Josie pushed me off the bed and chased me out of her room.

“Ow,” I whimpered when I hit my head on the floor.

“Get out!” Miss Josie screamed. “Get out!” She pushed me out of the room and slammed the door behind me.

Later, I found out that the man in the picture was Josie’s boy. He died three years earlier in a car accident when they first moved to my hometown. Ever since then, Josie had been sad. She didn’t even stay with us long. Weeks later, she came down to the table and joined us for a meal. Everyone was surprised to see her.

“Josie?” Daddy asked. “You’re coming to join us.” She actually smiled at him.

“Why yes,” she said. Miss Josie took a seat between Monkey and Andy. That day we felt like a family. Miss Josie talked and laughed with all of us. I was happy to see her smiling like that. I thought that she was no longer sad.

The next morning, she was gone. Her room was completely empty with a note on her pillow. “I’m sorry I hit you, Sappoto. You’re just a kid. I will get help. Goodbye,” it said. I would see her again until years later on this day.

REM Everybody Hurts...