PARANORMAL | ❝Nothing is stranger than believing.❞
Cath knows a thing or two about Will Byers. Daphne, on the other hand, knows virtually nothing about Tonya McCarthy. Still, none of that changes the fact that both of them have up and vanished with...
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(song above: 'river' by joni mitchell )
SATURDAY 24th DECEMBER, 1983
DECEMBER; the entrance of winter, adorned with candles and ivy to hide the grim cold. In the soft glow of Christmas lights, Hawkins can try and forget the pain they have felt — at least the ones who know what happened in November 1983, anyway.
Daphne dreads when it is all over. There is an obligation to feel joyous right now, a reason to forget about everything, and she has relished it. With some of the family getting together over the holidays, she tries to absorb every minute. The snippets of nostalgia, the cocooned safety, the familiar warmth of tradition.
But like every New Year's, January will be stripped of the light and joy. Back to the daily grind. That's when you are suddenly aware of the cold, the grey skies, the bare trees and dead branches. January and February feel like a sleep-walk through a lifeless hibernation.
And she can't help but wonder; what will 1984 bring...
For now, that seems far enough away to ignore. It is the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and a soothing calm mixed with eager anticipation for tomorrow fills Daphne. Cath, possibly the most Christmas-obsessed person she has ever known, has coaxed her into helping make baked goods — or more specifically, Daphne writes the labels in copperplate handwriting (she learned to do it for a school poster once), while her sister neatly organises small batches of cookies she baked into bags.
'River' by Joni Mitchell crackles on the record player, while they sit cross-legged at the coffee table and busy preparing:
"It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees..."
"You know, I never realised this was a Christmas song until you played it this year," Cath says suddenly.
"They're putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace..."
"I don't know if you can call it a Christmas song," Daphne says, flicking her pen to finish writing the label for Felix and Colette Rancourt's batch. In response, Cath ticks another line off her list of names, which is larger than usual. "It's about a romantic relationship that's broken up, and she's singing about how she needs to get out of her surroundings, because it brings up too many painful memories."
