DKD02 (Dec 13, 1995)
Summary of Receipt
35 complains about the recent attack on her psyche by Umbra, and theorizes that the new wave of attacks on teenagers may not entirely be Mrs. Umbra - rather, she's only responsible for some of it, and the rest is just mass hysteria or genuine hallucinations.
Transcript
RECEIPT #002
FILED UNDER: DINER-DKD
DATE: 12/13/95
EMPLOYEE #35
I am so sick and tired of Mrs. Umbra. She is by far my least favorite customer. I was hoping we'd have at least a few weeks before dealing with her again because I've barely recovered from her last service. I don't think Mrs. Umbra has been into the Cafe when I'm on night shift, but I still have nightmares about the ordeal. Even when she's not in the Cafe, it feels like she is. Or, at least, I hope she isn't still lurking around. Hopefully, #71 can work out why #1313 is immune to her charms.
Which… actually makes me wonder if Mrs. Umbra is reaching out to these kids in person. I mean, obviously, Mrs. Umbra is a big dreamer. But if Mrs. Umbra is still giving me nightmares even though I haven't seen her in a while—what if she's doing the same to the kids of Long Beach? If it would be impossible for her to reach out to so many kids in person, maybe it's more of a mass hysteria? I mean, that's what Padre and the Satan S.U.C.K.S.S. moms are all about, right? Mass hysteria.
All it would take is Mrs. Umbra visiting one or two kids, whispering some demonic thoughts into their ears, and then, boom, mass hysteria. Everyone is being "visited" by Mrs. Umbra now. Either out of genuine anxiety that they might or because teens are dumb, and it's trendy to pretend you've been indoctrinated into some sort of nightmare demon cult. I'm going to do some research and see if I can figure out if Mrs. Umbra has actually been visiting Long Beach's youths or if it's more of an urban legend turned mass hysteria fueled by soccer moms type thing. I think there's a "support group" run by one of the sucky moms for kids who have been having demonic nightmares. It's as good a place to start as any.