Setting: A cozy living room in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Snow is gently falling outside. Tyler and Asha, longtime friends in their late 20s, are sipping hot chocolate.
Tyler: (looking serious) Okay, Asha, I need to tell you something. But promise me you won’t laugh.
Asha: (raising an eyebrow) That depends. If it involves your haunted toaster again, I can’t promise anything.
Tyler: No, no. This is… bigger. You know St. Andrews-on-the-Red?
Asha: The church? Yeah. Lovely old stone building. Creepy vibes after dark though.
Tyler: Exactly! So… I’m doing it. Tonight. Midnight. I’m running around it three times.
Asha: (puts down her mug) Wait. You mean the thing? The “you disappear forever” urban legend?
Tyler: It’s not an urban legend. It’s a real thing. People have done it and just—vanished. Gone. Poof.
Asha: Tyler. Come on. You think running in circles around a church will erase you from existence? That’s not magic, that’s cardio.
Tyler: You laugh, but I read a Reddit thread. This guy’s cousin’s best friend tried it in 2002. Never seen again. Left behind a running shoe and half a Butterfinger.
Asha: A Reddit thread? Was it posted by user ‘GhostHunter69’?
Tyler: No, it was… uhh…‘MidnightTruthSeeker’. That’s irrelevant! The point is, it’s too specific to be fake.
Asha: Ty, think about it. We live in Canada. If people actually disappeared from running around a church, wouldn’t it be, like, on CBC News? “Man vanishes in rural Manitoba after midnight jog.” That’d make The National for sure.
Tyler: What if the government knows and they’re covering it up? Maybe it’s a portal. Aliens. Or a dimensional rift.
Asha: So the government is capable of covering up supernatural vortexes but can’t fill potholes on Pembina?
Tyler: You’re mocking me. But explain this: I went to St. Andrews last week, and my phone glitched right as I walked past it. Screen went green for a second.
Asha: Tyler. That phone is older than TikTok. It glitches when the temperature drops below 10°C.
Tyler: Fine, Ms. Science, why do so many of these stories exist then? They had to come from somewhere.
Asha: They come from people needing to make sense of the unknown. Or wanting a good story. Remember when I thought I saw a ghost at your cabin? Turned out it was your cousin in a Snuggie looking for chips.
Tyler: That Snuggie was terrifying.
Asha: I’m just saying—believing in these things is fine, until you use them to explain away real stuff or avoid asking harder questions. Like maybe that guy who disappeared… didn’t want to be found. Or just moved to Moose Jaw.
Tyler: Or… maybe he’s between dimensions and screaming for help while stuck in the church walls!
Asha: So your explanation is a screaming ghost in church walls. Mine is a guy who wanted a fresh start. Hmm. Who’s more plausible?
Tyler: Touché. But still—I’m doing it. Midnight. Just in case. I want to know.
Asha: Fine. But I’m coming with you. If you start to disappear, I’ll grab your arm and say, “Not today, paranormal nonsense!”
Tyler: Brave… or foolish?
Asha: Rational. And also, you owe me poutine after.
Tyler: Deal. But if I vanish mid-lap, tell my mom I loved her. And delete my browser history.
Asha: Done. But only if you admit ghosts wouldn’t be caught dead in a Snuggie.
Tyler: Depends. Was it fleece?
Science Vs Superstition 
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