Episode 46: All Roads

Early morning broadcast, folks! Looks like the fog is still here, and there are things that lurk within it....

[SPOILERS IN CREDITS]

The voice of Tanner Walling is Chuck Raymond. The voice of Mountie John is now Logan Hockley.

Sound effects this episode from Freesound.org contributors: cognito perceptu, pureaudioninja, auxide audio, wlabarron, skradz, splicesound, iampagan, sheyvan, giddster, egomassive, and nox sound.

CW: Existentialism, paranoia, depictions of a break in and mild physical violence, descriptions of blood.

Nowhere, On Air is created, voiced and produced by Jesse Syratt. Cover art by Moon Hermit Crab on Instagram.

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at nowhere.onair@gmail.com. Or, find us on the app formerly known as twitter, @NowhereOnAir

Transcript

[THEME] 

JESS: Good morning, listeners! Sorry, folks. I- I know we’re coming through your speakers way earlier than usual today. 

If you, in our present circumstances, are allowed to go to work and continue business as usual, I imagine that many of you are then doing so and probably are not even listening– which is more than fine– but good morning, I guess, if you’re tuned in. Here we are, again. 

I would like to begin this early broadcast with an apology. I know I closed us off last night saying I had a good feeling that the fog would disappear, and that does not seem to be the case. 

I really thought it would be gone by now. And to be fair to me, it maybe is  a little?  It’s for sure at least less bad than it was yesterday, or we’re just used to it, but it's still undeniably obscuring the air and space which surrounds us. 

So, feel free to call me a liar liar pants on fire, listeners. Except, on second thought, maybe not. I don’t want to tempt whatever it is out there that makes things happen. And in my defense, I was speaking on gut instinct alone, and thereby, perhaps, with an authority I did not have. 

So, I thought I’d check in earlier today. Keep an eye on things. There are no rules anymore about when we can do the show, and it's been hard to not get kind of… bored out of my mind during the days–

[STATIC FOR A MOMENT]

JESS: Uh- that was weird. Sorry. 

The fog is still here, and that buzzing feeling is still here too. It seems like it's all– static in one way or another. Worse today, to be honest, but it might just be residual fog. Like it seeped into my brain through my nose or something in the night. 

Even that– whispering mark behind my ear. I noticed sometime in the night that it's not– voices back there anymore. It's just- static. Dead air. What the radio sounds like when there’s nothing out there. It's– almost worse than talking. Just like, tinnitus on steroids.  Rumbling static all the time. There are times when it's easier to ignore, but… 

[YAWNS. SIGHS] Gah, being up this early makes me wish I could drink coffee. 

Um. Yeah. Aside from just acknowledging that the fog is still here, I do, also, have an update for you regarding the sinkhole. I- wandered some more last night, but couldn’t seem to find my way there, so thankfully Charles Peterson stopped by earlier this morning, around 4 or 5, to let us know that, according to reports from fellow Mountain Watch members: it- swallowed a mountain. While we weren’t looking, while it was concealed. 

Sometime between yesterday evening, and before sunrise today, a crack split up, tore the earth open, acres upon acres of it, and… you think we would have heard it, at least. But last night, at some hour no one can name, the earth gave way to… nothing. 

I’m sure at least some of you have noticed. It's a pretty jarring absence. A great big gaping hole on the immediate, intimate horizon. There is a shadowed slash of space down the middle of familiar ground, gaping and seemingly, though not actually, endless. Even in the fog, you can see, you can tell that something that was once so… immensely and undeniably there, has vanished. 

A- a whole mountain is gone, I- I’m honestly having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around the idea… the image of it in my mind feels undefined, hazy, and unbelievable, even though it's a memory. I had to look for myself this morning, and– 

I- I thought there’d at least be something behind it we could see. It’s just– I want to say it's just the fog, but… there’s just this gray, emptiness where it used to be, and this hollow feeling burrowed its way into my chest when I looked upon it and it’s been there ever since, like a gopher in a farmer’s field. 

I know, these days, it's been pretty easy to feel like the wider world around us has disappeared, or we have disappeared from it, seeing as it seems like no one is aware, or at least cares, about our situation here, but that sense got so much worse, deepened to a kind of knowing that feels more like dread. 

A whole mountain is gone. The fog has settled in to fill that void for now, some sort of- gauze to pack a gaping wound- but it's impossible not to know the wound is still there. It's been like that for hours and… well, it seems like no one beyond us has noticed so far. 

I’m not sure if– well, as we all know, all the roads in and out of town have been blocked, and we’ve been advised in some official if not suspicious capacity to stay here, but… I’m not sure if anyone’s wandered close to this new absence yet…

I am not– I should say– encouraging anyone to engage in any kind of behaviour. I do not advise that anyone try and see what is on the other side of the mountain. Not that the mountain is part of the equation anymore, but… you know what I mean. I don’t encourage anyone to take it upon themselves to disregard the directions we have been given, and I do surprisingly mean that genuinely. 

Do I sympathize with the instinct to try and leave town? Yes. Do I think it's a wise decision currently? I don’t know much anymore, I never did, but I think my answer’s no. 

I just– I encourage you all to exercise caution, listeners, and of course I’m one to talk, but… just, take care of yourselves? I’m sure you don’t need reminding, and you certainly don’t need me telling you what to do, but… just, be careful. 

For those of you curious as to what mountain it is specifically that has been consumed, I’m not entirely sure. Whether it was the mountain that had been reportedly moving closer for some time, AKA the primary subject of the Mountain Watch’s, well, watch, or the mountain that housed the mine, it's difficult to say. I’m not actually entirely sure those are even different mountains, now that I think about it. But– we’ll let you know if we find out. 

In other “news,” uh… I’m trying to think if there’s anything else from last time that needs addressing. Mostly just the fog. 

Clark, uh, declined to discuss what it was he encountered in it. And, I didn’t want to pry. So, sorry for any curious listeners there.

Umm… Oh! Weather. Weather aside from the fog. 

I had a good conversation with Weatherman Todd Stevenson last night, before he went home. I assume he made it home. I hope he did. 

But, we spoke about, well, mostly the weather. Not in the small talk sort of way, but in the “best guess for what’s going to come next” sort of way. Because, I like to hope, weather will be a constant. It will always happen, to some extent, and he is the authority to which I defer on the matter. 

In fact, he’s been a pretty consistent place to put our trust, hasn’t he, listeners? I, on behalf of you all- and I hope you don’t mind that I’m taking it upon myself to do so– I would like to thank you, Weatherman Todd, for just that. Being a trustworthy source, and a reliable confidant. I know for myself, there have been many times our conversations about the unknown and unknowable have brought me great comfort. 

However, uh, in contrast, speaking of speaking to Weatherman Todd, he said something in our conversation earlier that uh, admittedly rattled me a little. He said he would have brought it up earlier, but it slipped his mind amidst the whole ordeal which he referred to as “Time Fog.” 

Old Man Wilbur apparently found eighteen coffee grounds at the bottom of his coffee cup yesterday morning, which means… a storm is coming. A big one. Which, yes, is what I have been saying for a long time but now there is a secondary source supporting my claims, which is both nice and not nice. 

Where or when, the coffee grounds cannot say, and Todd said he hadn’t yet had a chance to use his equipment to verify, but given Wilbur’s track record, feels inclined to believe him. And while Wilbur’s coffee- based form of weather divination does not give us any sense of timeline, I imagine if such an omen is popping up in physical manifestations, it must be soon— 

[PAUSE] 

JESS: I just– I swear I saw something pass by the window. Like, something almost undeniably there and… seemingly solid… and… sort of like what I was seeing last time but… closer. 

[STATIC.]

I’m just gonna… pop my head outside super quick… 

Listen. I know, I know. Sometimes I’m surprised I’m still alive. 

It's probably just that whatever was lingering in the fog yesterday is still there, but… this seemed more corporeal… 

I’ll be right back. 

[CHAIR PUSHES BACK. BREAK MUSIC]

JESS: Nothing there. I could have sworn that I saw something- like a- shade in the corner of my eye. Y’know that feeling, when you think you see something hovering, or coming towards you… 

Like walking into the kitchen at night, in the middle of the night that’s technically morning, to get a glass of water. All the lights are off and someone’s left the curtains open. Through the patio doors you can see the dark of your backyard, and as you’re standing there, staring, the motion sensor light on the back shed blinks on. You tell yourself it's just the wind that set it off, but… it's a quiet, still night. The trees are unmoving. You catch the vague shape of your own reflection in the glass, half-obscuring the space beyond it. The dark is yawning and expansive beyond the fence, and you linger, staring, you can’t help it. You can’t see anything there, but every fibre of your being is telling you something is there, something is lurking, and the door isn’t locked–

[STATIC AGAIN]

Sorry, listeners. Maybe this stuff is finally crapping out. I think this is the backup stuff we kept in storage at the station, so… I’d try and fiddle with it, but I- I shocked myself trying to fix it the other night and I’m not super eager to do

that again. 

While I was out there, looking for what so far is turning out to be nothing more than my imagination, or simply that infrequent but not uncommon inexplicable shadow that sometimes haunts one’s periphery, I noticed something else has changed.  

That faint orange glow, that ever present glimmer on the horizon seems to have deepened in hue, and I’d go so far to claim that it seems to be almost at a crimson sort of red shade now. It makes the fog look even more like smoke, makes it look like the world is burning on all sides, and it feels like we’re so far away from it that we wouldn’t even know if it was. 

And that’s it. I don’t have much to say about it except it makes me think of the colour the sun tends to turn during wildfire season, when the smoke hangs like a veil in the air. Which makes sense. I’m not sure if it's just the fog obscuring the colour, but I’m fairly confident, certain even, that it wasn’t like that before. 

I know it's natural to dislike change. It makes sense. Life is hard enough as it is without having to constantly adjust, but… I don’t know. I don’t like the way it makes me feel, knowing things out there are changing. Like, in the world. I know nature perhaps has its own… nuances in Braedon, but… the question stands: why are they changing? Why now? 

Why are the stars going out? Why do day and night feel more like suggestions than astronomical constants? Why are sinkholes swallowing mountains, why do strange creatures cry out in the distance, why… [SIGHS]

And all the answers I can think of, I don’t like. So let’s stop talking about it. 

Even though I don’t have anything else to talk about… I don’t want to sign off just yet, so let's kill some time. Y’know what, I literally have something prepared for this very thing… 

I was, uh, messing around in a storage closet earlier today. One I don’t remember ever really noticing before, and I found a box of random things, the most interesting to me of which being one of those, magic 8 balls. Speaking of answers, I guess. 

I was just thinking, if this was back when the show was running, I might have done an impromptu segment like, phone in a question to ask the magic 8 ball. Just for fun y’know? Of course, there are no phones here, so… 

Well, at the very least, to offer ourselves a silly little reprieve in these trying times, why don’t we modify the bit? I’ll ask the questions. Not quite as fun or interactive, but we make do with what we can here. 

Hmm. Oh: is it safe to eat the leftover mac and cheese in the fridge?

[THE SOUND OF JESS SHAKING THE MAGIC 8 BALL. BEAT.]

JESS: That’s… [TRYING TO PLAY IT OFF] Ha. Hmmm. I don’t remember that being a– a standard answer on these things. 

Um. I don’t– let's ask something else, I guess, ummm… Oh! While we’re at it, I guess this couldn’t hurt: 

Am I just imagining there’s something outside? 

[AGAIN, SHAKING AND SETTLING OF THE MAGIC 8 BALL. BEAT]

JESS: I- that’s—

[NERVOUS BREATHING, LOOKING AROUND]

JESS: Is this some sick joke or something? 

[BEAT]

JESS: I- I didn’t shake it that time– what–? 

[READING. JESS’ BREATH CATCHES AND SHE THROWS THE BALL. IT BREAKS] 

JESS: That was a mistake. Sorry, listeners, I thought we could have a … stupid, pointless little… but I guess not. That- that was not stupid in the way that I wanted and I have the sinking feeling it was not pointless. 

[BEAT]

I- I should probably clean that up, huh? 

[BREAK]

JESS: Alright. Sorry about that. Gave me a second to think about what I could talk about next, though. 

After we signed off last night, I went for a walk, I’m sure there’s no surprises there. I- I don’t know why I’m so restless, I– I wish I could settle. I wish it was easy to be here, and to be still. But at least I am here.  

And I walked for a while. Hours, according to my dad’s watch, if it is to be believed. 

I wandered until I became aware there were trees on either side of me, these vague, shadowed spires in the fog reaching up into a height obscured by the cloud. Black spikes piercing the nebulous gray. 

And I heard that– thing, calling again in the mist. The one that Braedon and I heard when we spoke briefly. I’m– I’m still not sure what it sounded like. I couldn’t decide between a- an animal or a person. Like, a dog or a man. 

I know there are things that call, that sound like one and are the other, I know there are things that call that sound like one and are not either, but… I still can’t quite decide what I think–

[BREATH CATCHES] There it is again, outside, a shadow, like–

[INAHLE. BEAT. SIGHS, LAUGHS]

It's just Tanner. Gosh-

[DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES. FOOTSTEPS]

JESS: Where were you? 

TANNER: Just outside. I was talking to Farmer Daniels.

JESS: Everything okay? 

TANNER: I don’t know. 

JESS: Oh?

TANNER: He and Herman stopped by, said that something was wrong with one of his fields. 

JESS: Which one? 

TANNER: Northernmost, I think. 

JESS: Did they say what was up? 

TANNER: He said it's not a field anymore.

JESS: What does that mean? 

TANNER: How should I know? 

JESS: And they wanted your help or-?

TANNER: No, they- well, they wanted to talk to you about it, to show you, but I told them you were busy.

JESS: You could have asked me. 

TANNER: You feeling up to going? 

JESS: [BEAT. SIGHS] No. 

TANNER: Doing any better? How are they looking? 

JESS: Um… 

[THE SOUND OF SOME BANDAGES PEELING BACK.]

TANNER: They look so much worse.

JESS: It's not that bad. 

TANNER: It’s peeling so much– has Clark looked at them today? 

JESS: I’ll show him later. 

TANNER: Jess-

JESS: I will. I promise. I– it doesn’t hurt that bad. It's not as bad as it looks. 

TANNER: Why don’t I believe you?

JESS: I said I’m fine. Everything’s fine. [REWRAPPING BANDAGES, CLEARING THROAT] Well, you gonna go check it out? 

TANNER: [SIGHS] Yeah. I told them I’d take a look. Cause, why not?

JESS: Yeah. Why did he want to talk to me? 

TANNER: I don’t know. Maybe it was for the show.

JESS: Maybe. Well. Good luck. Be safe out there. 

TANNER: Always am. 

[TANNER LEAVES AGAIN] 

Oh. 

Tanner opened the door and let some of the fog in. It's… it's not dissipating, it seems to just sort of be… hovering there, almost pulsating… writhing in the air… I- I mean, I’m obviously no expert on these sorts of things, but, I didn’t think it really did that typically. Just- linger in fullness like that. 

But, my mistake for trying to apply typicality to anything in this town.

Maybe if I stop looking at it, it’ll disappear. 

[LAUGHS LIGHTLY, LOW] Maybe if I ignore my problems, they’ll go away. 

Anyways. Where was I?

[THE SOUNDS OF NATURE- RIVER, WATER, TREES, AND INTERSPERSED IS UNTITLED TRACK 5 SLOWED DOWN.] 

I was walking, and I didn’t realize I was at the river until I was ankle deep in it, staring down, the frigid water was murkier than I remember it being, cloudy, and I was face to face with what I thought was my own reflection, until I realized it was a memory… 

A memory of myself. She flickered in and out of being with the gentle ebb and flow of the water, the river seemingly having trouble deciding which way it was going to be flowing. 

She looked young. And happy. I didn’t- I didn’t realize how much I’d changed, even since coming here, until suddenly, she was washed away and my own face, this face I have now, was staring back at me, which should have been the same face but… it wasn’t. There was a distinct moment within me where I felt the jarring certainty that I didn’t know this new person I was looking at. 

She was too- tired. Too weary. Pale and… rough around the edges. The scars on her face… I would have said they weren’t mine, if I didn’t remember what it was that created them… It was a better reflection than any mirror seems to show. My hair’s already too long again. 

Then I too was washed away and— suddenly, this jarring amount of memories began to rush and swell around my ankles. Memories from… I don’t know. They weren’t mine. I saw- birthdays and funerals and learning how to ride a bike and first days of school and Mountainview diner’s grand opening and winter days in the snow and summer evenings with open windows and the passage of time in these glorious moments of mundane happenings that were both wholly significant and also wholly not. The sound of the cascading water began to echo in my ears and the murmuring of many distant voices, laughter, singing, the calling of names, crying all blended like music. A river of sound.

I saw so many faces I knew, and so many faces I didn’t. Faces I had never seen, faces I will never see again. Smiling, frowning, weeping– a kaleidoscope of souls and time danced out before my eyes in the water and I– I couldn’t look away. Not that I wanted to. I watched as the river showed me a glimpse of what this town was, and had been, before me. 

And then, at last, as these memories began to layer and swell and churn together, this- this immense light, this radiating, glowing shape took form on the surface of the water before me. It had the outline of a body, the form and structure, similar posture and everything as me… and even though it had no face, no features, and even though it was only a reflection of a memory, intangible imprint of an intangible thing, I knew we were looking at each other… 

And I at last found my words, realizing I had been rendered speechless for some time, which you must be thinking, and I agree, is a feat unto itself. I bid the memory, and all that had appeared before me, a peaceful farewell, expecting it to fade… 

For a moment, the glowing figure before me disappeared, dissolved into the water, but I could still see light, the same kind of light, the edge of it, like someone was shining a flashlight on me from somewhere behind. I turned around, and standing a couple meters back was that same memory, now embodied before me, featureless and radiant, though once again, I am sure, staring at me. 

It was so bright, it almost hurt to look at, my eyes burned with tears I didn't realize were already there, and the glow it cast caught on the fog that hung in the air between and around us like a halo. I… felt the light settle on me, too, like it was some… tangible thing, almost akin to the wind, if the wind knew how to be still. It buzzed against me like… warm static, while the cool stream still pooled and rushed past my ankles, the mountain water so cold my feet were numb at this point, but– I felt transfixed. 

Todd briefly described for me the odd sense that settled into his soul upon running into his future self in the fog earlier, and… I remember thinking at this moment that, somehow, strangely, I might have been feeling the same way…

This- being did not stay for long, which dare I say was a good things, as I could not pull my gaze away. If it had not made the first move, part of me thinks I’d still be there, standing in the river, staring at this body of light that seemed both familiar and so utterly… something else. Something new, even, and old in the way of inevitability.

And I watched as this glowing figure ventured deeper into the wood until it was out of sight, and the light they carried with them faded entirely from view, even in the fog, like a flare against the dark sky, shooting forth and burning out. 

I’m not sure who’s memory of it I was seeing before. Not mine, clearly, as I’d never seen this phantasm before that moment. I’ve never even heard any reports or rumours of such a thing before, either… so if this sounds familiar to anyone, I’d love to talk—

[NOISE OUTSIDE]  

JESS: [CALLING] Hello? Is someone there? [STATIC] Clark? 

Shit, he totally said he was gonna try and sleep some more, so probably not. 

I- I haven’t actually seen anyone but Tanner this morning, and he’s not here right now…  

Now that I think of it, I don’t remember the last time I saw River… I think Jordan’s in her room, but… 

[SILENCE. STATIC]

JESS: Hm. Weird. 

[MUSIC] 

All this recent talk of memory and the past has had me reflecting. Seeing all those— those moments that are obviously precious to so many people, all these little snippets of their lives and perhaps things that feel everyday that we take advantage of…  

The longer I’m here, the more this place becomes part of me, my own history feels more and more– muddied. Not like, tainted, but something about being here has made my past, the life I lived before falling through that damn shimmering void all those years ago, blurry. Memories recalled shimmer and waiver like I’m looking at them from underwater, and there are parts of me that I feel like I’ve lost somewhere along the way. Little things, mostly, I think, inconsequential things… for now, but… 

I’ve never really thought about it too much before. But I feel like, as long as I’ve been here, and the longer that I’m here, there are things about myself I’ve… let slip. Or details I’ve gotten wrong. My middle name. How long I was in school. My favourite colour. My parents names. 

The sound of my mom laughing, or humming in the kitchen when she thought no one was around… even things I’ve been so desperate to hold on to… it's like the water’s getting murkier as time goes on, and these memories… Moments. Moments I have- 

I’m young and I’m riding in a car with my dad. There’s light coming from— somewhere. The radio is playing a song— is it a song we know? I- can’t remember. And he smiles, and sighs, and he says… he says… 

I don’t remember. Why don’t I remember? 

That was something I used to know, I remembered that, why–

[THE DOOR SHUDDERS]

JESS: [GASPS] Holy shi– 

[THE DOOR SHUDDERS AGAIN] 

JESS: Uhhh– I– I don’t know where anyone else is. I don’t think I have time to wake Clark, I– 

[THE DOOR SHUDDERS, MORE FORCEFULLY.]

JESS: Shit, I–  what do I do? What do I do? 

[THE DOOR BREAKS OPEN. JESS GASPS, THEN:]

JESS: John? John, what are you–? Oh my god– what happened to you? 

John? Can you hear me? Do you– understand? It's me, its- its Jess. Do you remember me? 

[HEAVY BREATHING. TENTATIVELY:]

JESS: …I– I used to live with you. I used to watch your kids, I– 

JOHN: [PANTING, STRUGGLING TO SPEAK, ALMOST CREATURELY, LIKE A MAN WHO HAS BEEN SO COSMICALLY CHANGED BEYOND WHAT HE IS THAT HE IS NO LONGER THAT] You… have to… stop…  I’ve seen it– I hear, I keep- hearing it! You have to stop! It knows, it knows it knows– it hears you! 

JESS: [SOFT] What did they do to you? What happened to you–? 

JOHN: I watch– I am one that watches and lurks in the dark and— I want to go home but I can’t— I can’t– it's taken me so long to have my voice again, and it's not even mine, I… 

JESS: Why are you here? 

JOHN: It has been whispering to me, the static, the– the dead air, it- it talks- it's talking about you– 

JESS: What are you talking about-?

JOHN: It's- looking for you! [GETTING EVEN MORE WORKED UP] It's going to find you– it’s caught your scent, there is no corner of this universe you can hide… it is pressing against the walls, seeping in through all the cracks– you have to stop–! We warned you-!

JESS: Hey, its okay– 

JOHN: We let it get its foot in the door, when we weren’t looking. You weren’t the first thing to slip through, you weren’t the only one… we opened it, we paved the way, but you… you’re calling to it– 

JESS: I don’t understand what you’re saying, I don’t… 

JOHN: [GRABBING HER] You— you are the voice calling out—!

JESS: Ow, John– you’re hurting me, you’re–!

JOHN: They made me listen, and the sound– the sound— I was changed, I am changed, I… my ears have been opened and there is no more silence… I hear it… it hears you… 

JESS: John, please—

JOHN: Why did you come back? We might have had a chance— we might have had a chance- you have to stop!

JESS: Please, let go– John–!

TANNER: Hey-! 

[CUTTING IN AND OUT OF STATIC. SOME SOUNDS OF EFFORT, LIKE FIGHTING, THEN BOTH BREATHING HEAVY]

JESS: Let me go, let me go, let me go—-

TANNER: Hey, hey, you’re good– it's me! He’s gone! 

JESS: Shit- did I hit you? 

TANNER: [SHE DID. SORE:] It's fine. 

JESS: Oh my god- Tanner, I’m so sorry– 

TANNER: Its okay, I’m good–

JESS: I’m sorry… 

TANNER: I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. You’re good. You good? 

JESS: I don’t know…. 

TANNER: What the hell was that about? 

JESS: [SHAKILY] I don’t know– 

TANNER: Do you think they sent him here?

JESS: I don’t know–!

[BREAK MUSIC] 

JESS: Sorry about that. Lots of apologies today. Not that we really have anything to be sorry for. 

I have a bit more to say so… I’m gonna keep going. Just for a few more minutes. Yeah. Show must go on, right? I’m a professional. There’s things to report. We’ve had some pretty rough interruptions before in the history of this show… that’s… that’s not even the first time John’s interrupted…  

[SIGHS] 

Do I feel like perhaps I am ignoring a very clear and vital warning by carrying on? Yes. Do I think I could stop doing this even if I wanted to? …No. 

What a way to start the day, huh? Good morning. Who needs coffee with wake up calls like these…? 

Sorry if any of that was distressing to listen to. 

Um. Apparently it was a bit more of an eventful night than I realized, listeners, and for that, though I am again not at fault, I am sorry. I already regret wanting something interesting to happen. 

[PAPER SOUND] 

This next bit of alarming news came to us through the note Tanner handed me earlier that I just… forgot to read. I’m just trying to judge based on the handwriting who I think it belongs to, it looks like Herman Blanchard’s writing. 

And it says that a street has disappeared. Um, 4th street, to be specific. It took some time for people to realize, in the fog, that the whole street isn’t just hard to find, but is actually gone. Just– vanished into thin air– well, foggy air– and, as far as I’m aware, so has everyone who lived there. The process of collecting a list of names of those who are gone is still ongoing, but… 

Um. For those of you who lived there and were not home when this disappearing took place and now need somewhere to stay, the note says to reach out to St. Barbara’s, who will help coordinate places to stay and any resources you might need. The community funds raised are still there, and this is exactly the kind of thing they’re intended for. 

And, on the topic of local news, I have a report from Tanner as well about the uh, issue with Farmer Daniels’ field he was asked to check out. 

It seems the fog has brought with it, or at the very least served to conceal, some new strangeness. 

Apparently, and to reiterate what Tanner relayed before, Farmer Daniels’ northernmost field is no longer a field.   

Instead, Tanner described that in its place is a large, black pool. So massive, you can hardly see the other side. Like a great, mountain lake. He said he’s unsure whether it's even water, describing the liquid as just- dark. Liquid shadow. 

Clarence himself, reportedly, went down to the edge, and, with little hesitation, put his hand in. It was warm and slick, the man said, and thicker than he expected, seemingly leaving a film on his hand. According to Tanner, it was difficult to make out any more details about the liquid or the scope of this new lake because of how dark it was outside. Which, I said, is odd because it's not dark out, it’s morning and the sun has risen, to which Tanner replied, “not at Farmer Daniels’ place”. 

Of course, Farmer Daniels’ property is technically, still fenced and cordoned off, so all of this was done very carefully and I’m not sure why I feel the need necessarily to say this, but I caution everyone to steer clear of the area, and to not, repeat NOT, go swimming. Let's just… see what happens first. 

Though, ultimately, the current consensus among those who went to observe it firsthand is that this new body of water doesn’t seem like its doing anything. 

Clarence, if you’re listening, I’m sure Tanner already said it, but do your best to keep an eye on it, and let us know if anything changes. Also if, uh, anything changes with your hand. 

I fully understand the instinct to reach out and touch the strange and unknown thing before you, but… 

[BEAT]

That little patch of fog that Tanner let in is still here. It hasn’t really moved, it's not really spreading, and… I wouldn’t know the first thing about getting it out of here, so… I’m sure it's fine. It's just- hanging out. I guess I can respect that. 

Speaking of fog, and my earlier instinct about it disappearing soon, why don’t we check with Tanner? [CALLING] Hey Tanner, still foggy out there? 

TANNER: I think it's clearing up a little, but hard to say. Almost got lost on my way back. 

JESS: Still not too late to go home, y’know. 

TANNER: I’m good right here. 

JESS: Alright. 

[BACK TO THE MIC] Um… that’s- all the updates we have for you right now. I’m gonna– I’m gonna try and step away for a bit, change, maybe– just take a breather after everything…  I’m getting a very pointed look right now, so… 

Tanner did threaten to just unplug this shit if I didn’t take a break, too, and Martha was the only one who knew how to set it up, so… I’d hate to do some irreversible sort of damage, or make some error we’re not equipped to fix. I’m not even sure if we could… ask for her to come back and help if we needed it because I don’t even know if she’s still here… 

Anyways. I’ll be back. Hard to say when. 

I- I don’t like signing off that way but it's the truth. I’m sure sooner rather than later. Tonight, if- if all goes well. Not sure what could go wrong but, well… I regret saying that. 

As always, thanks for tuning in.

[MUSIC, STATIC, INTO:] 

I- I can’t sleep. I keep— [SIGHS] 

You think closing your eyes would be a reprieve from the world. A moment of voluntary darkness. But— the mind does its best to fill any space you give it. I’ve never been able to settle mine. I’m either thinking or… dreaming, I was a fucking philosophy major. I don’t remember the last time I had a dreamless night. 

And I’m thinking of you because I dreamt of the station. Not this station I’m in now, but- our station. 

I– I guess you could accuse me of being homesick… well, if they had been nice dreams, maybe. 

I was standing in the foyer. The “on air” light was on, but the studio door was open and- all the other lights were off. It was empty, but something called me in, through some soundless, mouthless voice, and I followed. 

The desk, the mic, the walls we covered in pictures and notes and string… it was all there. That weird stain on the carpet. James’ bed, the broken window that we boarded up, I– I don’t think we ever got it fixed. I watched as fog poured in through the boards, like smoke, like there was a fire outside… but it smelled like the stormy summers we’d get back in Braedon, when rain would wash the mountains and the fields and hang thick in the air… these shapes were so familiar, I knew them even in the faint light, even in the ever growing haze in the room. 

And I’m not sure why, but I- I sat down. The light was on, we were live, I… I was going to fill the silence. The dead air. 

And I sat at the desk, in that, scratchy, terribly upholstered but perfectly good wheely chair you told me you found in an alley a couple years before I came along, but before I could open my mouth to speak, as I reached up to adjust the mic… my hand came back wet. 

Everything at the desk, the desktop itself, it was all… slick. The chair clung to me with this damp stickiness as I sunk into it. I turned to face the halo’s edge of the on air sign, fog creeping in from all corners. The smell of rot and copper, a faint whiff that became stronger and stronger the longer I sat there, frozen, feeling it almost burn the inside of my nose… I couldn’t move… there was blood everywhere and I couldn’t move, I couldn’t— I tried to breathe and the fog just pulled into my mouth like cotton… 

And I sat there and all I could think, over and over like a drone note against the ringing in my ears was…

Was “What have I done?” What have I done…? 

[SNIFFLES, TEARFULLY] 

Not everything is a warning, or a message, or a sign, but… 

And when I think about the station, and I think about you, and I think about my time there, I don’t know, I feel like I’ve made some terrible mistake I can’t take back. You all let me into your lives, you welcomed me in,  you… Martha, you gave me purpose… 

And I’m sitting here and I can’t sleep and I want to come home but I can’t stop thinking “what have I done?” 

[STATIC, MUSIC]