WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.720 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:07.335 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] not so much now, the younger generation, but ghosts 00:00:07.335 --> 00:00:10.335 align:middle line:84% were a big deal, houses that are haunted, ghosts. 00:00:10.335 --> 00:00:13.170 align:middle line:90% 00:00:13.170 --> 00:00:14.355 align:middle line:90% I never believed in ghosts. 00:00:14.355 --> 00:00:17.220 align:middle line:90% 00:00:17.220 --> 00:00:20.730 align:middle line:84% Russell Banks used to live close by, the novelist Russell Banks. 00:00:20.730 --> 00:00:25.295 align:middle line:90% And he lived in an old house. 00:00:25.295 --> 00:00:28.690 align:middle line:84% And somebody-- a whole bunch of friends 00:00:28.690 --> 00:00:30.790 align:middle line:84% were sitting in the living room downstairs. 00:00:30.790 --> 00:00:33.340 align:middle line:84% Somebody went upstairs to the bathroom, 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:37.330 align:middle line:84% and they came back and said, the ghost is back there. 00:00:37.330 --> 00:00:39.280 align:middle line:84% Apparently, supposedly, there was an old man 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:43.690 align:middle line:84% who was peeking out a window at the graveyard that was outside. 00:00:43.690 --> 00:00:51.410 align:middle line:84% So other people eventually had to also go pee, you know? 00:00:51.410 --> 00:00:52.480 align:middle line:90% And they went up there. 00:00:52.480 --> 00:00:55.230 align:middle line:90% And they came back, nodding. 00:00:55.230 --> 00:00:59.100 align:middle line:84% So I said, let me go up there and take a look. 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:00.030 align:middle line:90% And I looked. 00:01:00.030 --> 00:01:02.640 align:middle line:90% Nothing, you know? 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:08.040 align:middle line:84% But anyway, there was one time when something happened to me, 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:11.250 align:middle line:84% but actually, it wasn't in New Hampshire. 00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:15.000 align:middle line:90% It was in South Carolina. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.720 align:middle line:90% 00:01:18.720 --> 00:01:20.990 align:middle line:90% "Ghosts." 00:01:20.990 --> 00:01:22.850 align:middle line:84% "Is Mr. Brown looking much better 00:01:22.850 --> 00:01:26.090 align:middle line:90% than he did in the morgue? 00:01:26.090 --> 00:01:29.900 align:middle line:84% He's brought me a huge carp in a bloodstained newspaper. 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:31.670 align:middle line:90% What an odd visit. 00:01:31.670 --> 00:01:34.430 align:middle line:84% I haven't thought of him in years. 00:01:34.430 --> 00:01:37.310 align:middle line:84% Linda is with him, and so is Sue, 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:40.760 align:middle line:84% two pale and elegant fading memories holding 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:43.370 align:middle line:90% each other by their hand. 00:01:43.370 --> 00:01:46.490 align:middle line:84% Even their lipstick is fresh, despite all 00:01:46.490 --> 00:01:48.365 align:middle line:84% the scientific proofs to the contrary. 00:01:48.365 --> 00:01:51.790 align:middle line:90% 00:01:51.790 --> 00:01:54.520 align:middle line:90% Is Linda going to cook the fish? 00:01:54.520 --> 00:01:56.680 align:middle line:84% She turns and gazes in the direction 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:58.660 align:middle line:84% of the kitchen, while Sue continues 00:01:58.660 --> 00:02:02.020 align:middle line:90% to watch me mournfully. 00:02:02.020 --> 00:02:07.150 align:middle line:84% I don't believe any of it, and still, I'm scared stiff. 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:12.220 align:middle line:84% I know of no way to respond, so I say nothing. 00:02:12.220 --> 00:02:14.710 align:middle line:90% The windows are open. 00:02:14.710 --> 00:02:18.430 align:middle line:84% The air is thick with this scent of magnolias. 00:02:18.430 --> 00:02:20.560 align:middle line:84% Drops of evening rain are dripping 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:24.220 align:middle line:90% from the dark and heavy leaves. 00:02:24.220 --> 00:02:26.020 align:middle line:90% I take a deep breath. 00:02:26.020 --> 00:02:29.120 align:middle line:90% I close my eyes. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.640 align:middle line:84% Dear specters, I don't even believe you are here, 00:02:32.640 --> 00:02:36.560 align:middle line:84% so how is it you're making me comprehend things I 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:40.760 align:middle line:90% would rather not know just yet? 00:02:40.760 --> 00:02:45.680 align:middle line:84% It's the way you stare past me at what must already 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:50.540 align:middle line:84% be my own ghost before taking your leave as 00:02:50.540 --> 00:02:54.020 align:middle line:84% unexpectedly as you came in, without one 00:02:54.020 --> 00:02:56.800 align:middle line:90% of us breaking the silence." 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:58.000 align:middle line:90%