36 - Remember This

Never upset a man with a great memory. You’ll never forget what happens next.

This unforgettable episode of the podcast is another tale from the weird section of the archive. And it’s one that raises all sorts of questions about time. Is it all laid out before us? Can we change our fate? Or is what’s happening all some clever trick? If the man at the centre of all this has some supernatural gift, how come he’s in this situation, performing to a hostile audience? Or must he follow his path just like the rest of us, forced to face whatever horrible fate he knows awaits him?

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The story you're about to hear wastold to me in the strictest of confidence.
Certain names, dates, and locationshave been changed to protect that confidence.
Events that feature in this story maybe part of the public record.
If you believe you recognize any ofthe people, places, or events that
appear in this story, ask younot to reveal any information publicly out of
respect for the subject's right to remainanonymous. My name is David Paul Nixon,

(00:44):
and this is the New Ghost Storiespodcast where we delve into the New
Ghost Stories archive to hear new andclassic cases of the supernatural stories that could
be delusions, lies, fantasies,or perhaps even the real thing. Just
don't make your mind up until you'velistened. How much choice do we have

(01:15):
about what happens to us in ourown lives? Is it all about the
choices we make? Do we decideevery turn on the path we take?
Or is it all mapped out already? Do each of us have our own
destiny? Does everything really happen fora reason. I don't think I can
offer anything to a debate about whetherfree will exists or not, but I

(01:38):
know at various times in my life, and more often as I hit middle
age that I find myself haunted,not by the ghosts of the past that
we often deal with on this podcast, but haunted by the things that I
didn't do, haunted by the futuresthat never came to be. I think

(01:59):
we all will sometimes ruminate on thosesliding doors moments where, through some mistake,
some misunderstanding, or through playing itsafe, we missed some great opportunity,
an opportunity that could have put ourlives on an entirely different trajectory and
would have put us in a betterplace than we find ourselves in now.

(02:23):
If something good happens to us,then it was meant to be. If
it doesn't, well, everything happensfor a reason, it must be for
some greater good, right, Orcould it be that we've just missed our
chance, made a bad decision right, royally fucked things up. We had

(02:45):
another opportunity for a better life,and we simply blew it. Destiny is
for the young. As you getolder, there are fewer mistakes you can
afford to make, fewer chances tochange the course of your life. No
one wants to think, as theygrow up and grow old, that their
destiny was to fail although they werealways meant to fail, to end up

(03:10):
wondering where it all went wrong,haunted by all the things that never came
to be. If there is sucha thing as destiny, then it's obvious
that not everyone gets to have agreat destiny. And if everything is meant
to be, how hard must itbe to accept that you are meant to
fail to be someone who loses.If we do have choices, and we

(03:36):
do genuinely have control over the pathwe take, then there must be still
some hope for us, a chancethat we can change course. But then
it's all down to us. Wehave to make sure that we make the
right choices and make our own opportunitiesbefore our time starts to run out.

(03:58):
And if we fail, we fail. There is no way back, no
guiding hand, and no time tolose. This is New Ghost Story's case
number four hundred and seventy five,and it's called Remember This and you can
hear it in full, uninterrupted afterthese messages. Just a note to say

(04:25):
that the narrator of this story isfemale. Working at a small university out
in the home counties means you don'tget access to the best acts. I
was still a wide eyed and ambitiousgirl. When I started, I was
sure I could draw in bands andcomedians on the way to London persuade them

(04:48):
to make a stop at our Students'Union on the way. Three for two
on all shots before nine pm,Lads and Pine to snake Bite and black
for three pounds, come on over. Uh. The prospectors made a big
deal about all the big acts thathad played at the student Union, it
just didn't mention how long ago they'dplayed there, and it was only ever

(05:11):
a list of about three. Anyway, I was trying to get exciting,
up and coming, cool acts toplay there. I was sure at least
newish bands would be interested in performing, but none of the promoters would have
it. The best we could getwere pop idol runners up from two years
back and members of bands who'd brokenup in the nineties. I needed to

(05:33):
change the image of the place topersuade promoters to bring in the talent,
but because I couldn't get any talent, I couldn't change the image of the
place. I'd made some big promisesin my interview about getting bigger and better
acts. I was really worried Iwas going to get in trouble because I
was failing. Over time, however, I came to realize that no one

(05:58):
was really that bothered. None ofthe students seemed to object to the repeated
school discos and eighties nights. Theplace was always packed out, but they
didn't really have anywhere else to goin that small town, so what choice
did they have. I remember itwas a wet Sunday evening in November when
this whole bizarre thing went down.Things are a mess. A weekend long

(06:25):
art fair had been going on.Art and designed students got to put on
a show every term to show offwhat they were working on. Hypothetically they
could sell their works too, butI don't remember that ever happening. Normally
this was done during the week butsome genius had had the idea to hold
it over the weekend. Someone inevents should have flagged it as an issue,

(06:47):
but I suppose none of us thoughtto can't have pieces of art hanging
around when you've got pissed up studentsabout on a Saturday night, no one
had thought about what was supposed todo with the artworks. Between Saturday and
Sunday morning. Most of the officeswere locked, so we were keeping things
in corridors and up against the fireexits, breaking all sorts of health and

(07:11):
safety rules. We really had noidea what we were doing. Come Sunday
evening, most of the pieces weregone, but a couple of them were
hung high from the ceiling and wehad to leave them there. The caretaker
who had the ladder had it lockedaway and no one had the key.
As the students ambled in, theywere greeted by this huge papier mache angel

(07:38):
hanging over the steps down from theentrance door. It was made out of
monopoly money. Not the most subtlemetaphor, but pretty impressive due to the
scale of it. Its wingspan washuge. It was a weird evening.
Those who turned out had come tosee a variety act called The Mad of

(08:00):
the Music Hall. This was notmy idea. We were sometimes obliged with
certain agencies to take several of theiracts as a package. I can only
imagine this is how we'd ended upwith this creaky variety showcase. I suppose
Britain's Got Talent was on TV bythen, but I just didn't see the
students going for it. I wassure we'd been fobbed off with a cruise

(08:26):
ship act. Generally we did somethinga bit less boozy for Sundays, so
the students were more fresh for Mondaymorning. But this was a weird pitch.
It wasn't like those ironic nostalgia acts, all kids' presenters going blue and
sending themselves up. The students hadno kind of connection to this very very

(08:48):
old school stuff. It wasn't edgyor ironic. But my predecessor had in't
the deal, so I was stuckwith it. It was half full that
night. It could have been worse, and to be fair to the show,
it was not as bad as Iwas expecting it to be. The
performers could actually perform. They weretalented and knew how to interact with the

(09:11):
crowd. The compare came on firstand he did the usual and where have
you come from tonight, sir?Material. It was self consciously old fashioned
in a way that sort of worked. The guy knew how to work the
audience and think on his feet.He chucked in some innuendos and did some
stuff about what students are like,which went down fine. I'd seen the

(09:37):
line up and there were two acts. I was particularly nervous about the first,
came right at the start, adog trainer. I had no idea
how this was going to go down. Students, they can go either way.
Cheesy can be good, or cheesycan just be cheesy and god awful
and embarrassing. I thought it wasgoing to be the latter. The trainer

(10:03):
came on, did a bit firstabout how her partner was a diva and
made a big show of ordering heron stage, before finally revealing her partner
to be a trained poodle. Thedog came on, walking on her hind
legs and with a huge beehive wig. The laughter was awkward. They were
all asking themselves whether this was actuallyhappening. But you can do a lot

(10:28):
with cute dogs. Fifi had apartner, Fi Doo, and together they
performed action sequences Fifi jumping from aburning building, Fido driving along in a
little pedal powered fire truck, andthen using the hose a water pistol to
put out the fire which was asmoke machine. She did it. She

(10:50):
won them over with the sheer sillinessof it. It went from bad cheesy
to good cheesy, and she gota big round of applause afterwards. It
is hard not to like dogs.On next was the hypnotist. This was
safer ground. Students are well upfrom mutual ridicule. They were laughing in

(11:11):
the aisles as the hypnotist had menbarking like dogs, friends believing the planet
was about to be invaded by aliens, and one girl kicking off because she
thought her boyfriend was sleeping with hergrandmother. People were having fun. I
was relieved the bar take would beenough to make the whole thing worthwhile.

(11:31):
I slipped out before the first halffinished to go there ahead of the queue
and treated myself to a Bacardi breezer. I thought I could relax that it
was all going to be fine.I enjoyed about two swigs before everything went
to shit. The Rugby club arrived, the loudest, heaviest drinking bunch of

(11:54):
bastards at the university. They wereall built like tanks, so they think
they can row their weight around andthey were right. Security was mostly afraid
of them, so they knew theycould get away with being a bunch of
noisy, abusive, intimidating assholes.Most of them were posh too. The

(12:15):
entitlement was strong with these fuckers.There were six of them with their girlfriends
along for the ride, and theywere already drunk. Of all the events
they decided to turn up to.They were still selling tickets on the door.
Of course they'd come just because wewere open. I looked at the

(12:35):
two guys on the door. Maybeif the Chess Club had turned up hammered,
they could handle it. What werethey going to do if these guys
got too rowdy? They sat themselvesaround a table at the back. During
the interval, the compaire came backon to do his ten minutes and they
gave him a few heckles. Heshot back well, and they took it

(12:58):
in the right spirit. Things werestill okay. But then the next act
came on. That was the onethat I was really worried about, the
Memory act. I'd seen the guybackstage beforehand. Out of all of them,
he looked the most like he mighthave actually been alive when the musical

(13:20):
was in its prime. Unlike thekind of exaggerated, cheap, glitzy outfits
the other acts were wearing. Histucks and bow tie and white gloves all
looked completely authentic. He was gettingon in years. He was completely bald,
necklace and very white. He lookedlike a boiled egg on legs.

(13:43):
He came on stage and immediately therugby team started to give what the fuck
is this looks? To each other, ladies and gentlemen. He had quite
the voice. It traveled well.I am the man memorizer, a walking
human encyclopedia, a titan of trivia, a fountain of facts, a never

(14:07):
ending repository of knowledge. You,sir, he pointed to a man sitting
near to the front with his whitegloved finger. Enjoy your football, young,
sir. Fabulous and tell me,sir, who is your favorite team?
He said, Manchester United, toa chorus of booze. I won't
hold that against you, sir.I promise ask me a question about Manchester

(14:31):
United, any question you like,sir. What the guy could come up
with was when did Alex Ferguson becomemanager? Become manager? Oh, try
a hard one, sir. Thatwould have been back in nineteen eighty six,
that would to today. It wasthe sixth of November nineteen eighty six.
Am I right? Sir? Thekid nodded, assuming he even knew

(14:56):
the answer. Lost his first gameto nil. Do you know that,
sir? The kid shook his head. Who wants to ask me a hard
one, you, madam, whodo you support? She supported Chelsea and
asked how long Chelsea's unbeaten record was. Ah, the Chelsea record, He
made a show of trying hard torecall it by looking up to the ceiling,

(15:18):
increasing his forehead. That I believe, madam, would be eighty six
league matches. Am? I right? She nodded, and he clapped his
gloved hands together loud enough for everyoneto hear. One of the rugby guys
said, is this it? Anotherstudent ventured a question, how many times

(15:41):
was Zinnodin Sadan caught offside? Theman memorizer clicked his fingers. Sir,
you know that is a trick question. Zinnadeine Sadan was never caught offside?
Came a shout from the rugby table. The man memorizer twisted around on his
heels, manufacts yourself, sir,naw mate, use Google. He held

(16:07):
up his phone and his table startedlaughing. That's a shame, sir,
said the man memorizer, sounding alittle stung. Better to keep in the
spirit of things, he turned hisback to the rugby team. Now geography,
that's a good one. Who hereis good on their international knowledge.
You, sir, you look game. Ask me a question about the nations

(16:30):
of the world. Anything you like, sir. The man took a moment
and then mumbled something a bit louderfor the audience. Sir. Nervously,
he asked, what's the only countryin the world that begins with an O?
The only country in the world tobegin with an oh? That was
the question. There were mutterings fromamongst the rugby crew. That's would be

(16:55):
Oman, they shouted, would bethe one, said the man, memorizer
Peeve. But keeping it together,let's have another one. A girl sitting
nearby shouted to him. Right aquestion from the young lady, which country
has the most capital cities? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there are indeed

(17:15):
countries with more than one capital citySouth Africa. The answer is South Africa,
he said, with three capital cities, Cape Town, Pretoria, Pretoria,
and bloom Fontaine bloom Fontaine, hefinished. The rugby players were laughing.

(17:36):
This was getting out of hand.The man was rattled. He swiveled
around and walked over to the hecklers. Perhaps, sirs, you would like
to ask a question, don't needto make can google it, I can
ask siri. They all laughed.The guy didn't know what to do.
I slipped behind the curtain that encircledthe auditorium and to get security. I

(18:02):
could only find one solitary man stoodat the entrance, and he said he
couldn't leave the door. I toldhim to send his partner as soon as
he got back from wherever he'd gone. When I returned, the man memorizer
was on stage with a blackboard,striking chalk against it and drawing a grid
mathematics. Ladies and gentlemen numbers,they can unlock the secrets of the universe.

(18:27):
Is he doing sums? Now?Shouted one of the rugby players.
The strikes on the chalkboard got louder. I got a calculator to mate,
you want to borrow it? Morelaughter. I couldn't wait for security.
I went over to them and hissed, stop it, leave him alone.
They made the uh sound and alllaughed. God, it was so awkward.

(18:52):
Besides the rugby players, the roomwas dead, silent, awkwardly quiet.
There was such a ten t atmosphere. Now then the poor guy he
dropped his chalk. He bent downto get it and suddenly cried out that
cry that painful cry reverberated around thesilent room. He grabbed onto the chalkboard.

(19:21):
Poor bastard, he'd put his backout. There was some sniggering from
the rugby team. The man triedto stand up straight, but he couldn't.
He looked at the audience where hiseyes watering. O were those tears
in his eyes. Wincing with hisright hand on his hip, he walked

(19:44):
slowly, slightly bent off stage.The silence was so uncomfortable. Fuck the
rugby guys. Everyone else just feltbad for the guy. At this point,
I thought about going back so stageto find out what was going on,
But then the compare came back outand said to the audience, ladies

(20:07):
and gentlemen, I'm afraid Brian hashad a little accident. I think he's
going to be fine. These thingshappen. I think we should give a
round of applause to him. Theman memorizer, What a brain, What
an incredible memory. The audience sympatheticallymanaged to whip up a bit of noise
for the guy, in defiance ofthe rugby guys who just stayed quiet.

(20:32):
But by then someone from security hadfinally dragged themselves over there and told them
to keep it down better late thannever. The compare does his spiel a
bit more. It's too late,though. The damage is done and the
mood can't be recovered. The finalact is the Magician classic stuff, mostly

(20:55):
card tricks, rings passed through otherrings, swords plunged into a barrel,
assistant magically unharmed. It's fine,The applause is polite, but the night
is done. I think we wereall glad when it was over. I
went backstage afterwards. I felt Ishould at least apologize for how those dicks

(21:17):
had behaved. See if the guywas okay as well, but I couldn't
see him. I asked a fewpeople. They said he'd taken his painkillers
and had gone to lie down.When I asked where, no one seemed
to know. I was worried aboutthe feedback. The last thing I needed
was the place getting a bad repfor the audience. I was feeling dejected,

(21:42):
miserable. The show was done byten pm, but the bar was
open till eleven. I went toget myself a drink, but was repulsed
to find the Rugby Club still there. They'd be here for as long as
they could still get served. Idecided I go back to the kitchen and
dull my senses in private. Butas I was leaving the bar area,

(22:07):
I saw him, the man Memorizer, appearing as if from nowhere. He
must have had great painkillers, hispostures perfect now, who was immaculately turned
out once again in his tucks andbow tie and gloves. I was about
to ask him how he was doing, but he strode ahead of me and
approached the table of rugby players,looking like the self assured matred d of

(22:33):
an expensive restaurant. He stood behindthe chunkiest of the players and waited for
the drunks to notice he was standingthere. When the chunky guy, who
looked like he could fell trees withhis biceps, turned to him. The
man Memorizer pointed with his finely glovedhand and said, aged forty two from

(22:55):
stomach cancer. No diagnosis until it'stoo late. Tragic, so truly tragic,
what said the guy, looking tohis friends and then back again,
Your death, sir, at ageforty two, No age at all,
sir, truly truly terrible. Heturned to the guy's girlfriend, a brunette

(23:15):
in a low cut top. Nowyou Madam, you fare a little better,
but i'd be careful of the drinkingYou're due. An accident, my
dear, might not be inevitable ifyou're careful. What the fuck are you
saying to her? Said Chunky,standing up and knocking his stool over.
It's a funny thing, memory,sir, the man memorizer said, standing

(23:38):
his ground. I have an immaculatememory, water tight. I can look
back across my life the way you'dflick through a book, Sir. I
can go through it, take itday by day, and recall everything that
happened on every given date, Sir, all the facts and all the figures,
all the things I did and didn'tdo. I can open not my

(24:00):
mind and it's all right there forme to see. And I flick through
those pages many times over and over, so many times that, in fact,
sir. One day he put hishand on Chunky's shoulder, leaning in
as if to pass on a secret. I asked myself, I said,
Brian, what if you could flickforward as well as back. What if

(24:25):
this incredible memorizing brain of mine couldlook at the pages ahead to see what's
going to happen in the future aswell as in the past, and I
saw that I could remember. Hepatted the man on his shoulder, leant
back out, and swiveled to theleft. He pointed to another rugby player,

(24:47):
a tall skinhead, and said,now you, sir, I'm happy
to report you will die at agrand old age. Though it is a
shame. What happens to your childrentragic, and to both of them too,
Now you, madam, He pointedto a blonde she'd picked up on
what was going on, and shemade a shriek. Shut your fucking mouth,

(25:08):
thundered Chunky, moving to grab him. Never stay together with a violent
man, Miss Chunky grabbed the manMemorizer by the collar. You'll only come
to harm. Don't you talk toher, you weird fuck. And then
finally security intervened bravely. Both guardstook an arm each and ordered Chunky to

(25:30):
let the man Memorizer go. Theman Memorizer took a moment to straighten his
collar and bow tie. Then heclapped his hands together. Now two of
you will die by your own hand. Who'd like to have a go a
guessing who the suicides are? Therest of the players jumped to their feet.
The security guards barely able to handle. Chunky looks panicked. The man

(25:55):
memorizer raised his hands. All right, all right, a showman. No
went to listen to his audience.He knows when it's time to leave the
stage. He started off towards theentrance to the union, and the security
guards moved to block anyone who hadcome after him. He walked to the
top of the steps and turned oncemore to the hostile crowd. Now,

(26:18):
I know what you're thinking, ladiesand gentlemen. You think this is some
kind of trick that I have comehere to deceive and unnerve and spread terrifying
untruths as a petty, vindictive formof entertainment. Arms now outstretched, he
bellowed, well, I can assureyou every word I've said tonight is the

(26:38):
God's honest truth. And if Ihave led you astray or been dishonest with
you in any way, may theLord himself strike me down. He stood,
arms still out to his sides fora silent moment. Then we all

(26:59):
heard the sound a loud snap andthe crack of a whip. The papier
mache angel swooped down from the ceiling. The wires holding it at the top
had broken, but its feet werestill tethered. It flipped upside down,
its wings, sending a rush ofair across the room. There were screams
from the girls. The other cablessnapped, the angel crashed to the floor.

(27:25):
It landed on its head, whichwas crushed under its weight. Then
the body tipped over into the bar, its legs and wings knocking over bar
tables and chairs as it hit thefloor. Even the bulkiest of the rugby
team jumped a full step back,and slowly together we all looked back up

(27:48):
at the stairs, where the manmemorizer stood, pieces of broken cables dangling
in front of him. He wasin exactly the same spot, cool and
arm still in the same pose.Well, he said, dropping his arms
to his sides. It appears tohave missed. Who could have predicted that?

(28:15):
Good night? He gave his audiencea sweeping bow before turning on his
heels and exiting the union. Thankyou for listening to the New Ghost Stories

(28:37):
podcast. If you've enjoyed the podcastand want to support what I do,
please like, comment, or leavea review on any platform and subscribe to
hear future releases. You can alsosupport the show by becoming a Patron and
visiting patreon dot com slash New GhostStories. The show is written and produced
by me, David Paul Nixon.Would you like to read or from me,

(29:00):
visit my substack Nugo Stories dot substackdot com and you can also find
me on Instagram, threads mastered onFacebook, and the website formerly known as
Twitter at Newgo Stories Next Time onthe Newgo Stories podcast. It's so stressful
trying to get to the airport ontime.