"My Best Friend Ryan" by Awkward_Army8870 | CLANCYPASTA

[00:00:00] I don't know who to trust in my life anymore, so I'm coming to the one place I still have hope for to help me in my situation. My name is Joshua, I've had a best friend since kindergarten. His name is Riot.

[00:00:55] He and I would frequent this community because of our shared interest in creepy internet stories, the occult, and such things alike, but also because of our shared struggles with insomnia. As children we were always doing things together.

[00:01:12] We would make paper airplanes during recess, geek out over dinosaurs and other science related content from Childcraft books I brought from my home. Childcraft was a series of books for children covering a multitude of topics and hobbies such as art, english, science, and math.

[00:01:35] Even as young adults in high school we would be inseparable. His eccentric personality was the perfect match for my introverted one, helping me to blossom as a more talkative person. As college came and went, so did our regular gatherings. But discord was the perfect solution.

[00:01:56] With this we had more sleepless nights, but this subreddit kept us company until we would just pass out. This was our weekly routine for 10 years. Now it's been one month and I can't reach him, not with phone calls or text.

[00:02:17] His phone number is out of service and his apartment has no one in the room he was staying at. I told my mom about this, and she just told me. Who? No, it had been a while since she'd seen him, and after pressing her about it she just

[00:02:40] nodded in agreement and told me to call his parents then. So I did. Hi Mrs. S, I said. This is Joshua R. I've had a stutter all my life, so to people who knew me it wasn't a surprise.

[00:03:02] I heard sounds like shuffling and then a man's voice came on the phone. It was tenor with a creole accent. Ryan's father. Hello? He said. Who is this? I took a deep breath and reiterated more clearly, but hurriedly. It's your son's best friend Joshua.

[00:03:27] I know you haven't seen me in some time, but I've been having some issues getting in contact with your son. Would you happen to know where he is? I know he- His father cut me off right there. Boy, I'm sorry. You must have got the wrong house.

[00:03:46] We don't have a son or any children of our own. He said in a stoic tone, but not with force. I turned my head in confusion. I looked down and it was the number I had written down and saved in my phone as his parents number. I'm sorry.

[00:04:10] Are you sure? Because I have his parents number written down and it's this number. Has it been changed? I said, scratching my head and shaking my legs at my computer desk. Look here, boy. This isn't funny. Where is your manners?

[00:04:29] We told you we ain't had no child and we haven't changed numbers either. Not that a stranger should know that anyway. Now get on before I report you to the police for harassment. I ended the call.

[00:04:45] I ran downstairs and felt tears coming out of my eyes, but I held them back. I told my mom that wasn't the right number and she told me with a somber tone. Well, I told you I don't remember who that is, son.

[00:05:02] You've never really had a friend like that. And the closest thing to it was some neighborhood kids, but no one like you described to me with a shaky voice. I said, how can you say that when we have VCRs of some of our childhood hangouts together?

[00:05:22] I'll go get them now and watch them and show you. Running out of her room, I went into the upstairs closet and pulled out an old cardboard box. It smelled famously of mildew and was flaky to the touch, almost breaking at the bottom.

[00:05:41] I carefully sat on our media room table next to me and pulled out the old TV with a VCR player in it we still have. I remember fixing it by disassembling it to pull out a broken red AV cable that got

[00:05:55] stuck in the port when I was just seven years old. I sat it down on the table and plugged it in. I looked in the box moving past my birthing videotape, my first trip to NASA tape, and

[00:06:10] found one with barely any Crayola marker visible anymore on the label. But I could make out the words crudely written by three year old me, my first best friend Ryan. It made me smile slightly. I took it out and put it in the player.

[00:06:35] The seconds before the tape started felt like agony, but then an image appeared. It was me making one of those thick, wide-nosed paper airplanes. I cringed slightly at my craftsmanship as I could make one way better today, but it was a great feeling seeing this.

[00:06:58] Then I waited to see when Ryan would come into the video. I stood up and walked around the white leather couch, those kinds that have a bunch of connecting pieces. I walked to the bathroom, the lights were on from underneath the door. I called out, Ryan! I'm done!

[00:07:20] Let's go outside and test them! Then I walked away to the back door across the room. The video continued with me just playing outside by myself. The video finished. The screen turned to blue, then black. The video ejected. I was perplexed. Why did the video end so abruptly?

[00:07:53] I sat the cassette on the side, sat there for a minute thinking about what I just saw. I searched through the box for more cassettes and pulled out one that said, 12th Birthday. I put it in the TV and watched as the video came on the screen.

[00:08:15] It's recording! I heard my father say as the camera focused on Great Wolf Lodge. I remembered going to this indoor water park popular for its cabin wood aesthetic. A couple of my other friends from school came into frame as we approached the entrance.

[00:08:34] Brimming with excitement, we were gestured to move to the side with the other parents while we checked in. You have the joint family rooms with the children's section? The attendant said as he began typing on the computer. Yes, ours will have the S family and the R family.

[00:08:54] We have two sons and they have one, my mom told the attendant pulling out her wallet. And who is the birthday boy? The attendant said with a face where you can't really tell if he truly likes the job or not, but nonetheless it betrays any doubt.

[00:09:15] So I can hand out the birthday welcome gifts. Me and Ryan! I yelled while walking next to my mother. Come on Ryan! The video cut to black right after I nearly fell out of my seat with both anticipation and confusion.

[00:09:40] It suddenly returned and everyone was outside at the pool playing around. I came running to the camera and asked for a piece of pizza and sat down next to my mom while my dad was out watching the other kids. How are you and Ryan enjoying your birthdays?

[00:09:59] My mom asked with a warming smile in what I now know is a frozen margarita. We're having a great time, thanks mom! I love you! I said as I quickly finished the pizza and threw the crust in the trash. I love you too! She said.

[00:10:22] I briskly walked towards the diving board and jumped in the pool. The video cut off there and the cassette shortly ejected afterwards. I sat there scratching my head. At least I know that even my parents recognized Ryan in the past, but why did it seem the

[00:10:49] videos were tampered with or just missing whole parts to them? I rubbed my eyes with a sigh mixed with stress and tiredness. I took the cassette and placed it next to the last one. I looked through the box and moved past some birth tapes and family gatherings.

[00:11:13] Then I saw something, another tape, but this one had no title on it. To be honest, I was a little scared but just as curious to see what was on it. I placed the tape in the TV and waited with bated breath.

[00:11:35] The sounds of the tape turning made it feel like an eternity. And then the video starts. It's dark, not impossible to see, I mean it's night time and the house lights are off. The only thing illuminating the scene is the moonlight coming through the window.

[00:11:59] I could tell the camera was set up down the hall way upstairs across from my room door. Were my parents filming me at night? I thought to myself, but before I could ponder on this, I saw something come out of my room. It was me.

[00:12:23] I walked towards the stairs and stood there for like a whole three minutes. Then I walked back to my room. Then I heard something from my room. Yeah, I'm up, I said. I went to the restroom. What do you want to do later when the sun comes up?

[00:12:47] That sounds cool. See you in the morning, Ryan. If my skin could, it would have literally crawled off my body and walked. Knew I was an avid sleepwalker and sleeptalker from my younger brother, but talking to Ryan in my sleep? What the fuck? Why would I do that?

[00:13:19] That does not make any sense at all. I could not believe what I heard. I did not want to. I ran into my room and grabbed my phone, shaking. I pulled up his number, still favorited in my phone. I looked at it for what felt like an hour.

[00:13:41] Then I called it. It rang. And rang. And rang. The phone number you have dialed is unavailable. I could not think. I did not want to think. I pulled out my bottle of absinthe and took a shot.

[00:14:13] I'm a very emotional guy, and when things that I can't understand happen, especially this important to me, I just can't help but cry. I sat there and took another shot. Then I took two huge swings of the bottle and soon went to sleep.

[00:14:39] When I woke up, the room was dark. I felt stiff. I could not move, but that was the least of my worries. My mind filled with dread as I realized I was looking at myself from the corner of my room.

[00:15:03] My body got up and looked towards my direction and spoke at me. Hey Joshua, it's been a while, right?