Run: 2026-07-25-01KYCSTRDVP6868R3F44BP45FB

The late-morning light filtered through the front window of the *Main Street Perk* in Alborn, MN, catching the dust motes above the checkerboard linoleum. Marie sat at the corner table, her landscape camera cradled in both hands like a prayer book. She turned it over slowly, reviewing shots of the flat Minnesota sky and the gnarled apple orchards on the town’s edge—images that now seemed to hide something she couldn’t name. Her face was pale, troubled, the shutter-button finger trembling slightly. Detective Hunter approached with the directness of a former marine. He pulled out the chair across from her; it scraped loudly against the floor. **Hunter:** “Excuse me. I’m Detective Hunter. I need to ask you about the disappearances—the ones near the orchard road. Have you seen anything strange around here?” Marie looked up, shaken. She clutched the camera to her chest. **Marie:** “Je… je ne comprends pas. Vous parlez trop vite. Il se passe quelque chose d’horrible… les gens disparaissent… j’ai vu des lumières étranges près du verger hier soir.” *(I… I don’t understand. You speak too fast. Something horrible is happening… people are disappearing… I saw strange lights near the orchard last night.)* Hunter blinked, recognizing nothing but fear. He looked thoroughly confused. **Hunter:** “Slow down. Do you speak English? English?” Marie shook her head violently, answering in rapid, frightened French, gesturing desperately toward her camera screen. **Marie:** “Non, non, pas anglais. Seulement le français. Mes photos… regardez… il y a quelque chose dans le brouillard!” *(No, no, not English. Only French. My photos… look… there is something in the fog!)* Hunter leaned in, trying to bridge the impossible gap. He pointed at the camera. **Hunter:** “Camera? You took pictures? Show me.” She flipped through the digital display—fog rolling between apple trees, a blurred shape, darkness. **Marie:** “Oui, oui! Regardez! C’est là que j’ai entendu des cris… je suis si effrayée…” *(Yes, yes! Look! That’s where I heard screams… I am so frightened…)* Hunter frowned, reading her body language if not her words. He spoke slowly, loudly—instinctive, useless, but earnest. **Hunter:** “You’re scared. Okay. I get that. The disappearances… three people now. You see anything? Anyone?” Marie gripped the camera tighter, tears glistening. She answered in a soft, broken whisper. **Marie:** “C’est un cauchemar… je veux juste rentrer chez moi…” *(It is a nightmare… I just want to go home…)* For a long moment they talked past each other—Hunter miming questions with his hands, Marie responding with emotional French phrases he couldn’t decode. The language wall was absolute, yet somehow they sat in a shared silence of worry, two strangers in a small town of three thousand, suspended in the uneasy calm before the apple festival. Then Hunter’s phone shrieked. He glanced at the screen—Alborn PD. **Hunter:** “Hunter here. …Yeah, I’m at the café on Main. …What? Another one? Where? …I’m coming.” He stood, his no-nonsense composure cracking into urgency. He nodded at Marie with a grim, apologetic expression she couldn’t interpret. **Hunter:** “I have to go. Stay here. Don’t—don’t leave town.” Marie looked up, frightened and bewildered. **Marie:** “Quoi? Vous partez? Mais… mais qu’est-ce qui se passe?” *(What? You’re leaving? But… but what is happening?)* But Hunter was already moving, the bell over the café door jingling behind him, leaving Marie alone with her camera, her unanswered French, and the growing sense that Alborn’s orchards held secrets far darker than autumn fog. *** **Voice Sheet** Marie: "Je… je ne comprends pas. Vous parlez trop vite. Il se passe quelque chose d'horrible… les gens disparaissent… j'ai vu des lumières étranges près du verger hier soir." Hunter: "Slow down. Do you speak English? English?" Marie: "Non, non, pas anglais. Seulement le français. Mes photos… regardez… il y a quelque chose dans le brouillard!" Hunter: "Camera? You took pictures? Show me." Marie: "Oui, oui! Regardez! C'est là que j'ai entendu des cris… je suis si effrayée…" Hunter: "You're scared. Okay. I get that. The disappearances… three people. You see anything?" Marie: "C'est un cauchemar… je veux juste rentrer chez moi…" Hunter: "Hunter here. …Yeah, I'm at the cafe. …What? Another one? I'm coming." Hunter: "I have to go. Stay here. Don't—don't leave town." Marie: "Quoi? Vous partez? Mais… mais qu'est-ce qui se passe?"