“The Girl With the Umbrella”

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I finally managed to get an interview with the victim, though the assault itself took place four months ago. On several occasions I tried to convince their family to allow me to speak to the man, but they consistently refused to let me. It was only after his own insistence that I managed to get to talk to him, which occurred several times over the following weeks. The family’s reasons are understandable, as his health has been for quite some time under question, and the swelling from the skin grafts has only recently subsided to a point where he has been able to communicate through spoken testimony.

The man’s voice is at best rendered as slurred and disjointed as he is still under powerful medicines. However, I was still able to gather what I believe to be a reliable and understandable interview. I will offer additional information as needed. I will also warn that there has been some manipulation of his words. This has been done simply to tie the bits of recordings I have together, and all changes were passed by the family first. Most of the issues stem from the brevity of the recordings, since the speakers tongue has yet to firmly reconnect itself to its base, making extended conversation painful and dangerous.

“It was especially cold this year, this March. I tried hard to avoid walking places, but there was a huge snowstorm that had knocked out the buses. My car had broken down some time before, so I was simply making do until I got another one. I would had stayed home, but I was on medicine at the time and was close to running out. I had stalled as long as I could, since the weather was bad and all. But the days of snow continued to drag on, and I eventually had no choice.

There is a local pharmacy. It stays open. I talked to them the night before. One of the people who work there is a personal friend...said I could come in. But that meant I had to walk. I don't like to walk, especially when it is cold...I arrived there after a half an hour. Normally it wouldn't take as long, but the snow was deep, just above my knee.

It was cold. Really cold. There was a woman standing outside of the place. Had an umbrella drawn low, a black one. I couldn't see her face, but I could tell by her jacket her gender. It was the color of bone. She didn't have a bag, but she had a purse, and I assumed she put her purchases in there.”

There is a blank spot in the man’s memory here. He says that he thinks he went inside and got his medicine, but conversations with the pharmacist suggest that he never went inside at all. The pharmacist noticed the woman outside, but stated that she didn't at any time enter the building.

“After leaving I started heading home through the snow. I noticed the woman was walking the same way, carefully placing her boots into the spots I had already stepped... She stumbled quite a few times, but otherwise didn't really seem to be having any trouble. After a couple of blocks, I was surprised to see her still heading in the same direction I was. I was about two blocks from my house when I saw her fall, her foot sinking deep into the snow. Her umbrella fell to the side. Her back was to me.

I quickly moved forward and put my hands under her arms to help her up. I heard her murmur a thank you, and then she thanked me again. She straightened herself up and grabbed her umbrella, turning to face me only when her face was once again under the dark fabric. She just stood there, not saying anything, only moving to position the umbrella against the wind. I didn't know what to say...I don't much like strangers. So I started walking again, heading in the direction of my home.

“Don't you like me?” She asked.

I stopped and turned around, surprised to see she had covered the space between us, her umbrella level with my nose. I took a step back, feeling really uncomfortable.

“I'm...sorry. I need to go home.” I said.

“I am pretty. You think I am pretty?”

Her voice was weird. It was childlike, but seemed to be coming from more than one place. I went to leave, and was surprised when she reached out and grabbed my wrist. It hurt. She was squeezing too hard. I tried to pull away, but then she dropped the umbrella, speaking to me again.

“I am pretty.”

The following description was put together after three different visits. After the first of these visits ended in hysterics, I was ready to let it go. But the visiting physician insisted that getting him to share his experience would help him recover, and help to properly diagnose his mental state. So I continued for another two sessions, only managing to get a little each time.

“Her hair was shoulder length...her eyes the color of her skin. Small pupils like pin pricks...eyes depressed in the sockets. Ruby red lips. Thought she didn't have teeth. She did though. Rows upon rows of them, like a lamprey worm...and the gums and flesh in her mouth was the color of blood...She smiled. I think it was a smile. Said she wanted a kiss...”

What followed is hard to verify, though the attack itself was very violent. He woke up some time later, only to find himself unable to move properly. The snow around him was a deep crimson, and he was unable to call for help. Overcome with pain, he passed out again a short time after. A plow driver noticed him during one of their runs and brought him to the hospital.

His wounds were numerous, but included several broken ribs, a broken jaw, lacerations, and large lumps of missing flesh. His wounds were also heavily infected, though the progression of the bacteria had been slowed by the cold. The most pronounced of these injuries though was the removal of his tongue at the base, which was delivered anonymously to the hospital a short time later in a Styrofoam ice box.

His lapses in memory have not been accounted for, nor has any reasonable timetable been constructed of the attack. Most puzzling of all though may be the events that occurred after his admission to the hospital. Shortly after he was admitted, a woman showed up and dropped off a stuffed animal. No evidence could be collected from it, though the object seemed to have simply purchased at the hospitals gift shop. This is truly puzzling as no family was contacted until one of the orderlies recognized him some thirty minutes later. A note was included with the stuffed animal.

The note said simply “Get well soon xoxo.”

The man does not take on many visitors, and was not known to have many friends even before the attack. To this day the wounds he suffered have not healed correctly, and he remains on low doses of antibiotics to keep down tissue rejection and infections. This process was helped significantly though, when it was discovered that some of the bite wounds were self-inflicted.