CrispyPastas

This story probably didn’t happen the way I'm telling it.  It was the end of a long day, I hadn’t been sleeping great, and I was over-caffeinated.  I easily could’ve misinterpreted the situation.  My mind was probably playing tricks on me as a result of stress.  I refused to think about it for a couple days after it happened, so by the time I did, I probably got the memory mixed up with something I’d dreamed or seen in a movie.  There’re a ton of good reasons not to trust my own story.   I was driving to the other side of the state to visit my family.  I should’ve just waited until the next morning, but I didn’t want to take an extra day off work for the trip.  I refuse to waste more PTO on my dad’s hick relatives than I absolutely have to.  I left right after work on Friday. The first leg of the trip was over the mountains, but it was still light out, so it was no big deal.  I listened to my Pantera mix and nursed an Arizona tea un...

  Nick grabbed my shoulders before we got in the car, turning me to face him. Snow drifted and settled on his eyelashes; his nose was running and his cheeks were pink.  “Look, I’m telling you now so you can’t say it’s a deal-breaker later. My family gets really intense around Christmas. I have to be there, but you don’t,” he said. “We can make up a family emergency if you’re having second thoughts. Or say you got in a car wreck.” “My stuff is loaded up, the dog is at the boarder’s, and I have the time off work. Christmas in a log cabin with you and hot cider?  I’m not missing this. Besides, your mom loves me.” I paused, suddenly anxious. “Your mom does love me, right?” “She loves you. But she gets… things are different at Christmas. On a normal day she loves you. On Christmas, I don’t think she even loves me.” “We’ve spent the last three years apart,” I said, trying not to whine. “It’s Christmas Eve. We’re engaged. I’m not staying behind alone. Whatever she does, I can ha...

 Title Card: MISSING PERSON [Soul-piercing Synthesizer Music] Host: In March of 2010. Clyde Pillows, a 27-year-old diving instructor living in Defuniak Springs, Florida, was nursing a broken heart after his girlfriend of three years ended things. [Plaintive Piano Music] Paula Pillows-Nelson, Clyde’s Sister:  Well, Clyde was such a great guy.  He was ready to settle down and start a family. We all thought Susan was going to be the one, and I know he’d been looking at rings, but it just didn’t work out.  He took it hard. [Re-enactment: actor playing Clyde tells actor playing Paula he’s sad about break-up over the phone] Praline Pillows, Clyde’s Mother: [crying] Clyde was just an angel.  I always told everyone I’d given birth to a little angel from heaven.  He had so much love inside, and he just wanted a family of his own to give all that love to. Host: Clyde had recently decided to try online dating.  He made an account on a popular website called L...