[ WP ] The only , and deranged , live man on the planet does n't know that he lives among mannequins . Start with the line , `` They do n't usually answer back to what I say . ''

They do n't usually answer back to what I say. Especially at first, they did n't -- just so you know. But the longer I've been here... I've gotten to where I can hear them, all the time. They whisper at me, though, they never talk out loud. I do n't know why. But they have these little whisper voices, and they do talk to me, just so you know. I mean, I have to be close. But I can hear them. I really can. The other day I sat down on a park bench by one woman and she was whispering about her baby. I could n't tell exactly what she was saying, but she sounded pretty sad. I did my best to comfort her, just so you know. But she was pretty stiff. Pretty hard to talk to. She would n't stop talking about her baby. 
 
 And yesterday, yesterday there was this old man. He was standing on the curb like he was about to cross the street, and if there had been cars coming I would have asked if he needed help. Not that it would do any good now, even if there were any cars -- -none of these people ever drive, for some reason. And I ca n't ever get a straight answer out of them when I ask them questions. It's almost like they ca n't hear me, except I know they can because they're people. They really are people, just so you know. But anyway. This old man. He was standing on the curb and when I walked by him I could hear him talking, too. He was whispering about his mother. I got real close, just to see if I could help him or something, and he just kept talking about how his mother would be worried if he did n't get home soon. Which is weird, because this guy was at least in his 80s; no way he'd have a mother still alive. He would n't respond to me, but I did try to help him, just so you know. 
 
 It's hard, though, living where no one will talk to you. You actually start to feel invisible after a while, like you're a ghost or something. Recently, I've been wondering a lot whether or not I'm actually in some dream. I've gotten hurt several times, which you'd think would wake me up if I was dreaming, but I do n't know what else this could be. The only place no one will talk to you is in your dreams. 
 
 But I'll tell you what, I've gotten some advice from these people. They wo n't answer me or carry on a conversation, but I guess some of them have been able to tell what I've been thinking. I've been thinking that maybe to wake up, I need to actually die in this world. And I guess they heard me talking to myself about it or something, because lately every time I walk past somebody, they're telling me that I should go down to the river and jump in. At first I did n't see what good that would do, but then I realized that I could get one of those huge rocks down there and tie it to myself before I jumped. Tie the knot real tight, so it's hard to get loose. And once rope gets wet, it's about impossible to untie -- -just so you know. 
 
 At first, I did n't take the suggestions seriously, but now it's to where all these people will whisper about is me jumping in. It's starting to drive me kind of crazy, actually. And I need to get them to shut up. I need to be able to wake up, to get back to where people will talk to me and not just whisper instructions about how to kill myself. 
 
 Lately it's gotten to where I can hear them even when I'm not very close. All these different voices, telling me how to end this thing. 
 
 I'm going down to the river tomorrow. Just so you know.
