The Physhbowl

MAG 85 - Upon the Stair

5 min read

Pre-Statement

Statement of an unknown figure, regarding an encounter they may or may not have had in their home. Date of original statement unclear, although Jonathan judges by the paper quality that it occurred between 20 and 30 years ago (1987-1997).

Case Number

376-U

Audio By

Jonathan Sims

Author

Unknown

Date of Statement

Unknown

Date of Event

c. 1987-1997

Meta Info

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Last Episode

Possessive

Next Episode

Tucked In

Release Date

2017-12-21

Statement

The author apologises for any problems which may arise as part of the statement, saying he will try to “restrain it”. He begins by talking about the poem Antigonish, written by William Hughes Mearns in 1899:

As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there!
He wasn’t there again today,
Oh how I wish he’d go away!

When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn’t see him there at all!

Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door…

Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn’t there,
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…

It is likely written about the ghost of an old man in Antigonish in Nova Scotia. The author “didn’t” meet a similar figure, who had a round body and “did not” affect anything around him. Even when he laughed there was no noise. Upon the stair, the Man Who Wasn’t There beckoned him closer.

The author believes he had a family, although he lived alone, but cannot remember them. The first time he met The Man Who Wasn’t There, there was still water and he wanted to be in bed, but The Man Who Wasn’t There blocked him going up the stairs.

He seemed wide with long arms and stubby fingers. He offered the author to come up the stairs, which it agreed to, and he walked down the stairs, a corkscrew now unlike his normal staircase, where he walked for around half an hour. There were no walls and the Man Who Wasn’t There kept 3 steps ahead of him without moving.

The author awoke in his bed the next morning. The Man Who Wasn’t There was not there anymore, until one day the author demanded he show himself and demanded that he go away. 

After this, the author became less real and his friends and family did not recognise him. As he started to fade, the Man Who Wasn’t There became more and more real.

The author’s parents came over for dinner shortly after he called for the Man Who Wasn’t There to go away. Conversations with them died and the author’s mother asked where her son was. The author asked what his name was and she could not recall as she dabbed blood away from her mouth. The author had already taken his father down the stairs and he lay dead in the chair. His parents left and he never saw them again.

The Man Who Wasn’t There slowly became more real, until he could laugh at his own existence. He realised that he had died many years before and as he screamed in agony he crumbled into ash.

The author still tries to take people up the staircase and has had mixed success. He can appear on any staircase except the one which lead him to make his statement, which was more difficult.

The author ends his statement with an altered version of the above poem:

As I was going up the stair,
I was a man who wasn’t there,
I wasn’t there again today,
Oh, how I wish I’d go away.

Post-Statement Follow-Up

John has no way to follow up this statement. In the file there are some letters addressed to Gertrude from Eric Delano, confirming that he does not recall typing the statement and asking for time off to deal with persistent migraines.

John is still unsure who is sending him these statements: there is no clear link between the two statements, one suggesting that confrontation is bad and the other suggesting that ignoring is bad. It is possible that the sender is telling John to stay on the periphery of these Entities. It could also be a direct warning about Michael.

Another possibility is that these statements show that many supernatural beings were once people who have taken on a mantle from a predecessor and become less human, like this author from the Man Who Wasn’t There. Possibly like Jonathan has taken over the mantle of The Archivist from Gertrude. 

Georgie walks in as Jonathan is recording. She reveals that she is going on a date with a mountain climber because he eats Hungarian food. She mentions that Melanie is back after being shot in India but now has another job which she is somewhat embarrassed about.

Continuity

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