>>5524641You start skimming more due to the massive increase in how much he writes, putting your focus on Augusts. He gets more paranoid. Says that the police might be watching him. That they have been. He installs locks everywhere, and replaces everything to be burglar-proof. Starts looking into things like working from home and passive income, so that he can leave the house less. Mentions that he stopped using the phone because it's tapped. His grasp on reality seems to be slipping.
In 1992 he seems to recover slightly. Maybe not because he's more sane, but because he found a focus. For the first time in years, there's an entry for August 15th. "I want Cheryl back. Jeopardy, 28/61."
More mystic ramblings. Rituals that can be said to find what was lost. Spells to bring the dead back to life. Fortune-telling and astrology, to attempt to peer into future, fate, and the fabric of reality. He carries them out one after another. Sometimes he claims he performed them wrong and tries them again. In the end he usually decides that they were fake, that he lacks the needed power, or that some mystic entity has decided to ignore his pleas.
This continues for the rest of his life. More rituals, spells, and pleas to things beyond. Almost all he claims fail, although you presume a few worked, and drew the attention of something, or some things, out there. More paranoia. Talk of his burgeoning VHS collection. Complaints of age catching up to him, and a lack of time.
August 15th, 2006. "Maybe everything I've tried worked and she just doesn't want to come back. It's all my fault. I should've held in my anger. I don't know if it was ultimately Pierce or I who did it, but it doesn't matter. It's all my fault. Jeopardy, 48/61."
He continues with his mystical ramblings, but in a bit of a downcast tone. After yet another year of endless rituals, in mid 2007 the content changes drastically.
"July 18th, 2007. It worked. It worked. I wish it did not work. She is knocking at my bedroom door. I do not know how she got in."
"It is now sunrise. I am a sobbing mess, but she has left."
"July 19th, 2007. She is back. Jeopardy, 25/61."
"July 25th, 2007. I thought to finally give in and open the door. To accept my fate. Nothing was there, but I still heard the knocking. I felt something there, but it refused to come in. Perhaps because this is where it happened. Jeopardy, 39/61."
"August 8th, 2007. At least it's her and not that adulterer Pierce that came back. Jeopardy, 46/61."
"August 14th, 2007. I bought myself noise-cancelling headphones, meant for construction. Jeopardy, 45/61."
