"Mr. Pershing"

**"Mr. Pershing"** is the fifth tale in the second episode of the sixth season of The Nosleep Podcast. Written by T.G. Shippen, it has a runtime of 50:15 and was performed by Nikolle Doolin, Rima Chadda Mycynek, David Cummings, and Mike DelGaudio. It is the 633rd tale overall on the podcast, and is distinctly more dialogue-heavy than most tales.

## Summary

Rachel shares the story of her friend's disappearance and her brother's murder back in 1999. Throughout the tale, Rachel will stop to explain events and facts that would otherwise be unknown to readers.

Lillian, Rachel's friend, was a spacey and strange young woman who could never seem to be satisfied with her life choices. After she had several strange experiences, she called Rachel's brother, Tom, a psychiatrist, to talk about her problems.

Ever since Lillian was a girl, she can remember seeing a strange man in her dreams named Mr. Pershing. While she never feels she is in any danger near him, she is nevertheless scared of him and hides whenever he comes by. He becomes a malevolent figure in her sleep. She always thought he was just a figment of her imagination until she sees him one day at a bus stop. Tom tries to bring up the fact that him and Lillian used to date, but she cuts him off. Tom tells her to see another psychiatrist, Dr. Ross, and hangs up.

At the first meeting with Dr. Ross, him and Lillian talk about various interpretations of who Mr. Pershing is and who he could represent in her life. She reveals that Mr. Pershing never seemed scary to her until she was older.

Lillian and Tom meet again, to talk more. The meeting goes nowhere, and she goes back to see Dr. Ross. At the second session, Lillian reveals she used to have nightmares about Mr. Pershing killing Tom, whom she was dating at the time. The thought becomes too emotional for her and they stop.

Tom and Lillian talk about how she lost her job at a university. The building she taught in caught fire, with the source leading to her office. Though never charged, Lillian's reputation was forever damaged and she was forced to resign. Tom mentions seeing a strange man in the stairwell near Lillian's office that day, but he didn't get a good look at his face.

At the third meeting with Dr. Ross, Lillian reveals that a dream involving Mr. Pershing was the primary reason she broke up with Tom. In the dream she had, Tom appeared looking a lot like Mr. Pershing, which pushed Lillian to break up with him.

Dr. Ross and Tom meet to discuss Lillian and Mr. Pershing. Dr. Ross offers his hypothesis that the man Lillian saw at the bus stop the previous month she thought was Mr. Pershing was actually Tom himself, and that Mr. Pershing always looked like Tom in her dreams throughout her life. He produces a drawing he had done based on descriptions that Lillian provided, and Tom is shocked to see the sketch of Mr. Pershing looked exactly like the man he saw in the stairwell of Lillian's building the day of the fire. Dr. Ross and Tom get into a huge argument before the former storms off.

Tom meets Lillian in her apartment to discuss him and Dr. Ross' findings, but before they can get far, Tom sees Mr. Pershing standing in a park near Lillian's building watching them. Tom grabs a baseball bat and heads down to confront him, but when he arrives no one is there. He looks back up to see that Lillian's building has caught fire, and sees Mr. Pershing standing in Lillian's window.

Tom travels to a nearby payphone to call Rachel, begging her to call the police. Before she can do anything, the phone call becomes distorted, and Tom can be heard screaming in the background. A garbled voice says a strange sentence before hanging up the phone.

Back in the present, Rachel reveals that Lillian was never seen again after the fire, and that Tom was found beaten to death with the baseball bat outside the phone booth. She concludes convinced that the garbled voice did not belong to her brother, but Mr. Pershing.

## Cast

Nikolle Doolinas Lillian

Rima Chadda Mycynekas Rachel

David Cummingsas Tom

Mike DelGaudioas Dr. Ross