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SMNTY Fiction: Terminus Part 2 (Chapter 3) · Stuff Mom Never Told You

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Sanny and Samantha. I'm welcome to stephone
0:07
Speaker 1: never told you, Protection of iHeart you, and welcome to
0:20
Speaker 1: another edition of Sminty Fiction. Just a reminder, this is
0:23
Speaker 1: a once a month thing we do. Has a bit
0:25
Speaker 1: more soundscaping because Christina is amazing and it's on going.
0:29
Speaker 1: It is part of a trilogy, and we are currently
0:32
Speaker 1: in the second one, which is called Big Things Start Small,
0:36
Speaker 1: but we're just going to call it Terminus too for
0:38
Speaker 1: ease of understanding. Quick content warning, brief discussions of disease
0:46
Speaker 1: into the world stuff. It's a dystopian story. If you
0:49
Speaker 1: haven't a pacast it is. It is eerily like the
0:53
Speaker 1: Last of Us, but it can't it care for the
0:56
Speaker 1: last of us. The lots of stuff about coals. It
1:00
Speaker 1: feels timely right now. Hunger kind of a vague description
1:06
Speaker 1: of a panic attack. It's not too intense, but there
1:08
Speaker 1: is a description of a panic attack, internalized ableism and shame.
1:13
Speaker 1: So yes, this is sort of the second part of
1:16
Speaker 1: the last chapter. Here's your recap. So it is extremely
1:22
Speaker 1: cold outside. Our main characters, Tilda and her son Madison,
1:26
Speaker 1: are being pursued after Madison was vaccinated with the last
1:29
Speaker 1: and only known vaccine to HSD five, which is the
1:32
Speaker 1: disease that has pretty much decimated the whole population in
1:36
Speaker 1: Tilda broadcast to the country how the state, which is
1:41
Speaker 1: sort of the rolling ruling government body, and arm the
1:44
Speaker 1: religious organization affiliated them or behind the disease. They were
1:48
Speaker 1: basically trying to punish people with sin. But yes, Armin
1:52
Speaker 1: characters have fled after a battle broke out after that broadcast.
1:57
Speaker 1: They are low on food. They have taken shelter in
2:00
Speaker 1: an abandoned cabin in the woods. That is knowing it
2:02
Speaker 1: is cold. There's a man with a horse that they
2:05
Speaker 1: don't know what's going on with that guy. But the
2:10
Speaker 1: last chapter ended when they discovered a generator, So let
2:16
Speaker 1: us get in to this month's fiction. Not daring to hope,
2:35
Speaker 1: Tilda shut the door and strode past Madison huddling in
2:38
Speaker 1: the bathroom doorway, and extracted her winter jacket from where
2:41
Speaker 1: it had been strewn on the floor, Jamming her arms
2:43
Speaker 1: in the sleeves and yanking up the zipper. Madison patted
2:46
Speaker 1: closer as she shoved her feet into her boots, hopping
2:50
Speaker 1: and nearly losing her balance. What is it, he asked,
2:54
Speaker 1: do I need to get dressed too. She rammed her
2:57
Speaker 1: fingers into her gloves and pulled her hat over her head. No,
3:01
Speaker 1: just wait here, I'm going to check something outside, He nodded,
3:06
Speaker 1: his acquiescence worriedly. Tilda's boots thunking down the hallway and
3:10
Speaker 1: back outside. The cold was on her just as strongly
3:13
Speaker 1: as if she jumped into a freezing pond, her breath
3:16
Speaker 1: flogging in front of her. Tilda examined the generator, trying
3:20
Speaker 1: to prepare herself for it not working. She'd seen her
3:23
Speaker 1: parents deal with generators before, and she'd observed it in
3:26
Speaker 1: her in Madison's brief time. With the resistance. There should
3:30
Speaker 1: be ah there, it was the cord you pulled to
3:34
Speaker 1: get it started. Hands shaking, she wrapped her fingers around
3:38
Speaker 1: the cord, hoping she had the strength that she needed,
3:41
Speaker 1: hoping that it wouldn't be too loud, reminding herself that
3:44
Speaker 1: it might not have any more fuel. She took a
3:47
Speaker 1: deep breath, dug her feet into the now mostly melted snow,
3:51
Speaker 1: and yanked. She almost stumbled the cord, putting up more
3:55
Speaker 1: resistance than she'd expected. Spreading out her weight and getting
3:58
Speaker 1: a better grip, she tried to get. This time, she
4:02
Speaker 1: managed to pull the cord about midway. The generator wheezed again.
4:07
Speaker 1: She anchored herself unpulled, almost losing her grip in surprise.
4:11
Speaker 1: When she reached the end of the cord's length, the
4:14
Speaker 1: generator grumbled, releasing a taut breath. Tilda yanked the cord
4:19
Speaker 1: and could feel it vibrate beneath her fingers. As the
4:22
Speaker 1: generator roared to life, she fell back and shock, the
4:25
Speaker 1: cord whipping back. Tilda looked around frantically, wondering if anyone
4:29
Speaker 1: was nearby, if someone had been drawn by the noise.
4:33
Speaker 1: She twisted and turned, sharp eyes, darting between trees, but
4:36
Speaker 1: she found nothing. After the initial ruvving sound emitted by
4:40
Speaker 1: the generator, the noise died down to a quiet hum.
4:43
Speaker 1: Tilda eyed it, wondering whether she should turn it off,
4:46
Speaker 1: but the thought of heat, and of food, and of
4:48
Speaker 1: water and possibly even a hot shower made the decision
4:51
Speaker 1: for her. Warily, she heaved herself back to her feet,
4:55
Speaker 1: ears pricked for the slightest sound out of the ordinary.
4:59
Speaker 1: She could see Matame since wide blue eyes peeking through
5:01
Speaker 1: the window. He stepped back, gazed, never leaving her as
5:05
Speaker 1: she pulled the door open and shut behind her. What
5:09
Speaker 1: was that sound? His question was hushed. Her footprints thudded
5:14
Speaker 1: down the hall. She turned when she entered the kitchen,
5:16
Speaker 1: heading straight for the sink. She stared at the faucet, nervous,
5:21
Speaker 1: until a gloved hand reached out of its own volition
5:24
Speaker 1: and flipped it on. There was a splutter, then water
5:28
Speaker 1: shushed out. Tilda's knees went weak. She leaned heavily on
5:34
Speaker 1: the counter with both hands, her eyes closing as the
5:36
Speaker 1: sound of water flowing almost broad her to tears. She
5:40
Speaker 1: turned the water off. She knew it was well water,
5:43
Speaker 1: it had to be, but she didn't want to waste
5:45
Speaker 1: any unnecessarily. She didn't trust her luck enough for that,
5:49
Speaker 1: and living in a state of constant conservation had ingrained
5:52
Speaker 1: the need for smart consumption within her. The panic Tilda
5:57
Speaker 1: had been tamping down surged rapidly to the surface, revealed
6:01
Speaker 1: in contrast to her relief. Her breath came in gulps,
6:04
Speaker 1: her throat tightened. Something was building inside her. She wanted
6:10
Speaker 1: to scream, but she was very aware of Madison watching
6:14
Speaker 1: her intently, his concern palpable. Tilda gave herself an amount
6:19
Speaker 1: of controlled panic of halting breaths and graying vision, sagging
6:24
Speaker 1: knees and forehead pressed in the cold kitchen counter. Then
6:28
Speaker 1: she slowly worked it back in its dark corner, locked
6:32
Speaker 1: it away for another time with one last deep breast.
6:36
Speaker 1: She straightened. Her face was wet. Madison stared at her,
6:41
Speaker 1: fear stark on his own face, Still weak kneed, She
6:44
Speaker 1: walked past him and tried out the light switch. A
6:48
Speaker 1: warm honey light from the four lamp fixtures of the
6:50
Speaker 1: counter brightened the kitchen. Madison shied back, stunned, throwing his
6:55
Speaker 1: arms up to protect his face. He lowered them, eyeing
6:59
Speaker 1: the light suspiciously, disbeleeding how he stuttered. There was a
7:07
Speaker 1: generator outside, Tilda explained hoarsely. It uses fuel to make electricity.
7:13
Speaker 1: She sat heavily in the wind kitchen chair, working off
7:15
Speaker 1: her gloves, her boots, her hat, her jacket, methodic, her
7:20
Speaker 1: mind buzzing with what they could do now that they
7:22
Speaker 1: had power heat. She stood, sliding her discarded clothes under
7:28
Speaker 1: the kitchen table for now, and flipped off the light
7:30
Speaker 1: switch as she passed it. She crossed at the box
7:33
Speaker 1: on the right side of the front door. She knew
7:35
Speaker 1: despite rarely having the occasion to use controlled the temperature.
7:40
Speaker 1: She stared, uncomprehending at the device. The number seventy two
7:44
Speaker 1: was displayed on the panel and on the side was
7:47
Speaker 1: a switch with three positions heat cool off. Her fingers
7:52
Speaker 1: practically thrumming at the thought of it, she clicked the
7:55
Speaker 1: switch and position over heat. Something hum to life. Tilda
8:00
Speaker 1: glanced at the ceiling as though she'd see heat rays
8:02
Speaker 1: emerging from the vents. The number, she guessed was the
8:06
Speaker 1: temperature setting she wanted the room to reach. Using the
8:09
Speaker 1: plastic up arrow, she notched it up to seventy eight.
8:14
Speaker 1: What does this mean, Mason asked, breathlessly. We have power.
8:19
Speaker 1: Tilda took another deep, shaky breath. Yes, she almost couldn't
8:24
Speaker 1: believe it herself. She went back to the kitchen and
8:27
Speaker 1: fumbled under the sink for a pot, the largest one
8:30
Speaker 1: she could find, clanging it against the side of the sink.
8:34
Speaker 1: Get some glasses, she instructed Madison, gesturing with her head
8:37
Speaker 1: to the cabinet. As she filled the pot with water
8:39
Speaker 1: and set it on the largest eye, she twisted the
8:42
Speaker 1: knob to hide. Madison filled two glasses with water and
8:47
Speaker 1: til to achieved the packages of pasta and mac and cheese,
8:50
Speaker 1: tearing open the packaging. They didn't have the necessary added
8:54
Speaker 1: ingredients for the mac and cheese, but the packet would
8:56
Speaker 1: have to do. She planned to cook it all, not
8:58
Speaker 1: knowing how long the generator was would last. She found
9:01
Speaker 1: them salts and pepper on one of the cabinets as
9:03
Speaker 1: she waited for water to boil. She hoped the water
9:07
Speaker 1: was safe to drink. She took a big swig out
9:10
Speaker 1: of the glass Madison and placed next to her. It
9:13
Speaker 1: tasted fine, though it wasn't like she had much experience.
9:16
Speaker 1: Tilda asked Madison to get their empty bottles and refill them.
9:20
Speaker 1: Once the water started boiling, she dumped in the dry pasta,
9:23
Speaker 1: reading the directions on the back eight minutes or until soft.
9:28
Speaker 1: She'd just have to gauge. Finished with the bottles, Madison
9:32
Speaker 1: repacked them in Tilda's bag as she got out plates
9:34
Speaker 1: and utensils, her stomach growling at the thought of a
9:37
Speaker 1: warm food. Once the house was a bit warmer, she
9:40
Speaker 1: turned off the heat to conserve energy. She tested the pasta, steam,
9:45
Speaker 1: nearly burning her hand. It was soft under her fork. Carefully,
9:49
Speaker 1: she gripped the handles and drained the remaining water out,
9:52
Speaker 1: losing a few noodles along the way. She ripped open
9:56
Speaker 1: the packet, revealing a bright orange powder. She dumped it
9:59
Speaker 1: over the new hoping that it would taste okay after
10:02
Speaker 1: all these years. She sprinkled on some salt and pepper
10:05
Speaker 1: and gave it a couple of big stirves with the
10:07
Speaker 1: serving spoon that she'd found. Madison watched following her every move,
10:12
Speaker 1: mouth slack, almost salivating. He practically ran to get a
10:15
Speaker 1: plate when Tilda asked at her side, vanished and back
10:19
Speaker 1: within seconds. He held it up to her as she
10:21
Speaker 1: scooped light orange noodles onto the bright yellow plate, taking
10:25
Speaker 1: up about half of the space. She didn't want either
10:27
Speaker 1: of them to get sick from overeating. He took a
10:31
Speaker 1: seat at the table as she helped up herself, hands
10:33
Speaker 1: cupping either side of the plate. As he stared down
10:35
Speaker 1: at the steaming plate of food, she took a seat
10:38
Speaker 1: across from him, picking up a fork, a foreign utensil
10:42
Speaker 1: that felt unwieldy in her hand. They were both almost
10:45
Speaker 1: vibrating with anticipation. Be careful, it's hot, and I don't
10:50
Speaker 1: know how it will taste. Madison nodded, scooping up a
10:54
Speaker 1: heaping fork full. Tilda followed his lead, taking a tiny bite.
10:59
Speaker 1: It was hot, but not overly so, and after weeks
11:02
Speaker 1: of hard, stale food, it tasted amazing, salty and even cheesy.
11:08
Speaker 1: Madison did as told, but she could tell it took
11:10
Speaker 1: a lot of restraint for him not to shovel bite
11:12
Speaker 1: after bite. They had to overhlf the pot left too
11:17
Speaker 1: dinner tonight, she supposed. She doubted they'd be able to
11:20
Speaker 1: make the muffins. They ate in silence, The only sounds
11:26
Speaker 1: the scraping and clinking of fork against plate, the sipping
11:29
Speaker 1: of water and chewing of pasta. Both of their lips
11:32
Speaker 1: were covered in orange sauce. Soon they slowed down, their
11:36
Speaker 1: stomachs unused to this amount of food. Madison swung his
11:40
Speaker 1: feet lazily under the table, finishing before Tilda. She chuckled
11:44
Speaker 1: at the orange around his mouth, knowing she couldn't look
11:46
Speaker 1: any better. Once she was finished, she wiped down both
11:50
Speaker 1: their plates with paper towels, put the lid on the
11:52
Speaker 1: pot of the remaining pasta, and finished the rest of
11:55
Speaker 1: her water. Her belly now uncomfortably full, she tore off
11:59
Speaker 1: two more paper towels, one for each of them, and
12:01
Speaker 1: they wiped their faces. What was that, Madison asked, Macaroni
12:08
Speaker 1: and cheese. Cheese, he repeated, and all cheese flavoring, she corrected.
12:15
Speaker 1: But it still tastes pretty good, right, Madison nodded enthusiastically.
12:20
Speaker 1: She laughed, good. I'm going to go see if the
12:24
Speaker 1: shower works. She returned to the bathroom, moved aside the
12:28
Speaker 1: shower curtain of blue, green and yellow squares, and propped
12:31
Speaker 1: herself on the side of the tub. The knobs were
12:34
Speaker 1: hot and cold resisted at first, but with a creaking,
12:36
Speaker 1: whining sound, she was able to turn them, and water
12:40
Speaker 1: poured from the faucet. Rolling up her sleeve, she tested
12:43
Speaker 1: the temperature. It warmed. After a few seconds, She pulled
12:47
Speaker 1: the knob over the faucet and water showered from the
12:49
Speaker 1: stigot come on. She gestured to Madison, who had been
12:53
Speaker 1: hovering behind her. She helped him out of his sweater
12:56
Speaker 1: and the jacket and long sleeve underneath. He shivered in
12:59
Speaker 1: the cold air. You want to shower by yourself, she asked,
13:03
Speaker 1: wanting him to have a shot at the hot water
13:05
Speaker 1: first in case it gave out. He eyed the water,
13:08
Speaker 1: evaluating and then gave a short nod, All right, don't
13:12
Speaker 1: take too long. She closed the door behind her, still
13:15
Speaker 1: reeling a bit from their luck. After so much struggle,
13:19
Speaker 1: it felt bizarre, like a dream. Tilda leaned against the
13:22
Speaker 1: wall outside the bathroom, knowing they had at best eight
13:25
Speaker 1: hours before the generator ran out of fuel. But that
13:28
Speaker 1: was enough. They'd be leaving tomorrow. She was anxious enough
13:32
Speaker 1: the man on his horse would show up. Drawn by
13:34
Speaker 1: the sound, she let her mind wander until the door
13:38
Speaker 1: reopened and steam billowed out. Madison had redressed, his wet hair,
13:42
Speaker 1: sticking up from where he'd tried to dry it. Go
13:46
Speaker 1: lay down a minute, she told him, entering the steamy
13:48
Speaker 1: bathroom and shutting the door behind her. Wasting no time,
13:52
Speaker 1: she shut herself of her clothes and climbed over the
13:54
Speaker 1: high edge of the tub. Her form curled against the cold,
13:58
Speaker 1: relaxing almost immediately when warm water hit her skin, she
14:01
Speaker 1: breathed a sigh of relief, her muscles losing some of
14:04
Speaker 1: the attension that plagued them. She ran her fingers through
14:07
Speaker 1: her recently shorter hair, catching sight of a white bottle
14:09
Speaker 1: of generic two in one shampoo Bluss conditioner. She squeezed
14:13
Speaker 1: some out onto her hands. It smelt clean. There wasn't
14:18
Speaker 1: a better word Tilda could think to describe it pleasant.
14:21
Speaker 1: She worked it through her hair and massaged her scalp,
14:24
Speaker 1: staring at her feet as dirty water swrolled around them,
14:27
Speaker 1: leaving behind bruises that could have been mistaken for dirt splotches.
14:31
Speaker 1: Washing away crusted blood and bits of leaf, her muscle
14:34
Speaker 1: throbbed like one big bruise under her skin. She washed
14:38
Speaker 1: the SuDS from her hair, a sheet of it fanning
14:41
Speaker 1: in front of her face. She found a bar of
14:43
Speaker 1: soap and started scrubbing, wishing she'd thought to look for
14:46
Speaker 1: a washwag before she'd hopped in the shower. Some of
14:49
Speaker 1: the dirt had hardened, almost absorbed into her skin. She
14:52
Speaker 1: washed at her face and scrubbed at her feet, almost
14:55
Speaker 1: losing her balance several times, wondering what it would be
14:58
Speaker 1: to die here by following in the shower instead of
15:01
Speaker 1: all of those years bent out in the wilderness. She
15:05
Speaker 1: covered her eyes, taking several breasthts. She made sure her
15:08
Speaker 1: hair was free of all shampoo and conditioner, pushing it
15:11
Speaker 1: out of her face before switching off the water, almost
15:14
Speaker 1: immediately feeling cold in the absence of its warmth. Her
15:18
Speaker 1: body shook like a leaf, and she climbed out gangly
15:21
Speaker 1: in all limbs. She shuddered when the soles of her
15:24
Speaker 1: feet touched the cool tile of the floor. Tilda grabbed
15:28
Speaker 1: a towel from a rack attached to the wall and
15:30
Speaker 1: scrubbed herself, eager to dry off the cool droplets clinging
15:33
Speaker 1: to her skin. She caught sight of her body in
15:35
Speaker 1: the mirror and froze bones showing through a myriad of
15:39
Speaker 1: scars and bruises and perfections. She wrapped the towel around her, subconsciously,
15:44
Speaker 1: averting her eyes. Shame welled up within her. Quickly, she
15:49
Speaker 1: ran the towel over the rest of her body, running
15:51
Speaker 1: it roughly through her hair, wringing the ends. She remembered
15:55
Speaker 1: something her mother had done, twisting her hair and the
15:57
Speaker 1: towel and sitting it atop her head like some odd
16:00
Speaker 1: head peace. Tilda tried it a couple of times, but
16:03
Speaker 1: it kept sagging and falling. She ran the towel over
16:06
Speaker 1: her skin once more for the remaining dampness, and dressed
16:09
Speaker 1: with alacrity, practically jumping into her pants and throwing on
16:13
Speaker 1: her sweater, Wanting to stop the steady spread of cold
16:15
Speaker 1: to her limbs and bones, her nose cold, in her
16:19
Speaker 1: hair like a helmet of ice. She rubbed her arms
16:22
Speaker 1: to generate some warmth, but it did little to nothing. Sighing,
16:27
Speaker 1: she gave her sad appearance one last glance, turning away heavily.
16:31
Speaker 1: When she swung the bathroom door open, steam swirled and billowed.
16:36
Speaker 1: She'd never imagined they'd luck out and get showers and
16:40
Speaker 1: warm food. Heat. They hadn't found this, they probably would
16:45
Speaker 1: have frozen to death in the woods, undiscovered for years,
16:49
Speaker 1: no one the wiser, no one to warm them all.
16:53
Speaker 1: Under her sloppy guidance, Tilda took a seat next to
16:57
Speaker 1: Madison on the couch. He was slipping through the magazine
17:00
Speaker 1: Tilda had previously perused. He looked at her, his face
17:03
Speaker 1: twisted in confusion. What's a beach body? Tilda chortled, I
17:10
Speaker 1: don't know. People used to want to be thin. Yeah,
17:16
Speaker 1: I guess so. The look of shock on Madison's face
17:20
Speaker 1: was almost comical. Why it was considered beautiful, and that's
17:26
Speaker 1: how clothes were designed to fit. I think beautiful Madison
17:32
Speaker 1: her rump thunder his breath, clearly thinking that was one
17:35
Speaker 1: of the silliest things he'd heard. I know, it's weird,
17:38
Speaker 1: Tilda agreed. So they starved themselves to look good, Madison demanded, incredulous,
17:47
Speaker 1: Tilda shook her head. I don't know. Maybe it didn't
17:53
Speaker 1: make much sense to her either, But then she thought
17:56
Speaker 1: of how insecure she felt at the sight of her
17:58
Speaker 1: own body, and she couldn't say you wouldn't do anything
18:01
Speaker 1: to alleviate that. She could relate to the need to
18:03
Speaker 1: not feel your skin crawling with disgust when you caught
18:07
Speaker 1: sight of yourself in the mirror. Apparently that was something
18:10
Speaker 1: that transcended time, apocalypse or not. Madison flipped the page
18:16
Speaker 1: in gast aloud, pointing his finger at a picture of
18:19
Speaker 1: a man and nothing but a pair of shorts. Look
18:22
Speaker 1: at all those muscles, he exclaimed, aghast, Tilda croked her head,
18:26
Speaker 1: never having seen that amount of musculature. Was she supposed
18:30
Speaker 1: to be attracted to that? She looked at the wide
18:33
Speaker 1: grin What in the world was he smiling at the
18:36
Speaker 1: perfect white teeth, smooth skin free of sores and pores
18:41
Speaker 1: as well? He seemed to her different species people were
18:46
Speaker 1: attracted to the oddest things, Tilda thought, part amused and
18:49
Speaker 1: part inadequate. That how I'm supposed to look when I
18:53
Speaker 1: get older. Tilda gafaud at the image he's question produced. No,
18:59
Speaker 1: she chuckled, Her stomach spasming tickled. Almost immediately, she felt
19:03
Speaker 1: a sweeping sensation thinking of Madison grown up. She'd never
19:07
Speaker 1: given it too much serious thought before, always more concerned
19:10
Speaker 1: for surviving the present to give the future much thought,
19:12
Speaker 1: outside of where they would stay, what they would eat,
19:15
Speaker 1: which direction would they go? She gave him an easy smile,
19:19
Speaker 1: stroking his hair. No, you're not supposed to look like that,
19:25
Speaker 1: Madison twisted his lips. But that's what people liked, thought
19:30
Speaker 1: they should look like, not anymore. Tilda glanced at their
19:35
Speaker 1: reflections on the television screen. Madison relented, resuming his perusal
19:40
Speaker 1: of the magazine. Tilda pulled the blanket and comforter around them,
19:44
Speaker 1: Tired with a full belly and cleaner than she'd felt
19:46
Speaker 1: in weeks. Madison immediately snuggled up against her, resting his
19:50
Speaker 1: head on her shoulder. It's weird what people did before,
19:56
Speaker 1: Madison said sleepily. Tilda himmed her agreement, turning to check
20:00
Speaker 1: out the window. Patches of snow had melted, but it
20:03
Speaker 1: still took up most of the square field of vision.
20:06
Speaker 1: The window offered her rays of sun, filtered unevenly to
20:10
Speaker 1: the forest floor as clouds passed over them. While brighter
20:13
Speaker 1: than the previous days, it was still largely gray outside.
20:19
Speaker 1: They waded through time the rest of the day, cuddled
20:22
Speaker 1: under blankets, reading small conversations, the light leaching gradually out
20:26
Speaker 1: of the room like a curtain, very slowly being closed.
20:30
Speaker 1: Pink and orange hues painted the floor, jagged shadows of
20:33
Speaker 1: tree limbs and branches, like thin arms, closing it on them,
20:37
Speaker 1: trapping them in a cold embrace, until there were only
20:40
Speaker 1: fingers clutching at the edges of the room, and then
20:44
Speaker 1: darkness fell quickly and totally. Tilda clicked on the lamp
20:49
Speaker 1: standing on the side table, an iron wrought thing with
20:51
Speaker 1: a family of bears at the base, following each other
20:54
Speaker 1: in a never ending circle. The lamp shade was faded yellow.
20:59
Speaker 1: Sickly light flooded the room, a small spotlight of it
21:02
Speaker 1: in the darkness. It must be a new moon outside.
21:06
Speaker 1: Maison and Tilda curled up more closely. How long would
21:10
Speaker 1: the power last? The cold morph Madison's voice making it
21:13
Speaker 1: sound thin and tempered. Tilda took a deep breath. A
21:18
Speaker 1: couple of hours, not much longer. I think we have
21:23
Speaker 1: to leave tomorrow, don't we, Maison asked in the quiet Yes,
21:28
Speaker 1: Tilda responded. Madison didn't answer, just pressed tighter to her side.
21:34
Speaker 1: The sounds of their stomach scrumbling filled the room. Disgruntled
21:38
Speaker 1: and greedy, it took a lot of coaxing, but eventually
21:41
Speaker 1: Tilda's hunger went out, and she unhappily extricated herself from
21:44
Speaker 1: the blankets, chucking them around Madison, who almost immediately removed
21:47
Speaker 1: them and followed her to the kitchen, draping the thinner
21:50
Speaker 1: blanket around him like a cape. Tilda turned down the oven,
21:53
Speaker 1: light blue and fluorescent. She opened the pot, wondering if
21:57
Speaker 1: she could give it the pasta without burning it. She
22:00
Speaker 1: twisted the knob to low masson rummaged behind her. She
22:04
Speaker 1: watched the pasta, stirring it to keep it from burning.
22:07
Speaker 1: She was struck by the thought that their world was
22:10
Speaker 1: very small, that they were contained in this moment. A
22:14
Speaker 1: tug at her side pulled her away from her reverie.
22:17
Speaker 1: Madison was at her side, two white packets in his hands.
22:21
Speaker 1: I found these. It says it's called hot chocolate. She
22:25
Speaker 1: could tell by the hopeful expression on his face that
22:28
Speaker 1: he was very much intrigued by this idea and that
22:30
Speaker 1: he very much wanted to experience it. It says, just
22:34
Speaker 1: add hot water, he added, helpfully. Get a pot, she
22:39
Speaker 1: told them, and he eagerly jumped to a bay. Clanging
22:41
Speaker 1: through the cabinets, he held out what must have been
22:44
Speaker 1: the largest one he could find until the left smaller one. Please,
22:49
Speaker 1: he disappeared and returned at her side within moments, a
22:51
Speaker 1: much smaller pot in his hands. Much better, She chuckled,
22:56
Speaker 1: see if you can find some bugs, and dutifully began
23:00
Speaker 1: searching while Tilda filled the pot with hot water and
23:03
Speaker 1: placed it on a smaller eye, turning it on high.
23:06
Speaker 1: Her son, even after eight years, the words sounded foreign,
23:10
Speaker 1: reappeared at her side, a brightly colored mug in each fist.
23:14
Speaker 1: You can leave him on the counter. Madison did so
23:17
Speaker 1: with two clinks, and she gave the pasta another stir,
23:20
Speaker 1: testing the temperature with her finger. Satisfied, she requested the plates.
23:25
Speaker 1: Madison returned almost before the words had left her mouth.
23:29
Speaker 1: Tilda removed the pot of now boiling water and carefully
23:32
Speaker 1: divided it among the two mugs and put the pot
23:34
Speaker 1: in the sink. She ripped open the packets of chocolate
23:37
Speaker 1: powder and tiny dehydrated marshmallows, funneling each into the mugs,
23:41
Speaker 1: opening the drawer with utensils and picking out two spoons.
23:45
Speaker 1: She shut the drawer with her hip and stirred the liquid,
23:48
Speaker 1: tiny rollbols of chocolate and booies of white sugar getting
23:51
Speaker 1: sucked down in the vortex. Careful, it's hot, she murmured,
23:56
Speaker 1: passing one of the mugs to Madison, who carefully walked
23:58
Speaker 1: it over to the table. Determined not to spell any
24:01
Speaker 1: of the steaming chocolate. Til To followed suit, setting her
24:05
Speaker 1: mug on the table and then returning to the stove
24:07
Speaker 1: to shovel the remaining pasta on their two plates. Tilda
24:10
Speaker 1: turned off the stove to conserve power. She placed one
24:13
Speaker 1: plate across from Medicine and one in front of herself,
24:16
Speaker 1: handing him a fork. Together, they started eating noodles and
24:20
Speaker 1: sipping at chocolate, going about it much more slowly than
24:23
Speaker 1: they had earlier on the day, saving what would probably
24:25
Speaker 1: be their last warm meal and the relative safety of
24:29
Speaker 1: these walls provided to them for a long time. You
24:33
Speaker 1: like the hot chocolate, mats, and Bob has said, eagerly,
24:36
Speaker 1: slurping some from his mug. What are these white things marshmallows,
24:42
Speaker 1: Pilda responded, tiny ones. At the look on his face,
24:46
Speaker 1: she realized the word, of course, meant nothing to him.
24:49
Speaker 1: They're like sugar and flour and cream of charter. They're
24:54
Speaker 1: sticky and chewy. People used to put them on sticks
24:57
Speaker 1: and roast them in fires. It'd make them melty and smashy.
25:01
Speaker 1: Then you make a sandwich. We had sweet crackers as
25:04
Speaker 1: the bread, and chocolate and the marshmallow which would melt
25:09
Speaker 1: the chocolate. They called it a s'more. Madison listened, entranced.
25:15
Speaker 1: A some more, Yeah, because people wanted some more of them,
25:23
Speaker 1: Tilda explain, smiling. Madison's mouth fell open in a wide
25:27
Speaker 1: Oh what a strange ritual, it sounded, now, even to
25:31
Speaker 1: Tilda's own ears. Her parents had taught her this odd
25:34
Speaker 1: bright in the fireplace in their living room on cold nights.
25:38
Speaker 1: The ingredients weren't necessarily hard to come by, but they
25:40
Speaker 1: weren't the easiest either, Tilda reckoned. She'd only made some
25:43
Speaker 1: more as a handful of times more than Madison probably
25:46
Speaker 1: ever would. She'd kept an eye out for the ingredients.
25:51
Speaker 1: She wanted Madison to try it. As ridiculous as it was,
25:55
Speaker 1: there were so many things she wanted to show him,
25:58
Speaker 1: so many things of the old world that would soon
26:01
Speaker 1: be forgotten, traditions and rituals and ways of life dying out.
26:05
Speaker 1: She wanted to share those that had been passed to
26:07
Speaker 1: her before they went extinct, lost to the darkness. Tilda
26:13
Speaker 1: took a gulp of her own hot chocolate, Swishing the
26:15
Speaker 1: chocolate around her tongue. She felt a comfortable buzzing underneath
26:19
Speaker 1: her skin, like her powdered chocolate and cheese and carbs
26:22
Speaker 1: had awakened her blood from a long slumber. She felt
26:25
Speaker 1: heavy and heavy. Her stomach was uneasy, unused to the
26:29
Speaker 1: rich food, but she plowed through, determined, unwilling not to
26:33
Speaker 1: experience this very rare thing. Soon their plates were clean,
26:38
Speaker 1: their mugs empty. They both stared forlornly, not wanting their
26:42
Speaker 1: meal to be over. Squashing the desire to remain sitting statuesque,
26:48
Speaker 1: Tilda cleared the table, piling their dishes in the sink.
26:51
Speaker 1: She heard the swish of Madison's makeshift cape as he
26:54
Speaker 1: exited the kitchen. Afraid the generator could cut off at
26:57
Speaker 1: any minute. Tilda filled four glass with water, leaving two
27:01
Speaker 1: on the counter for later and taking the other two
27:03
Speaker 1: to drink for now. She switched off the light so
27:06
Speaker 1: that the doorway to the entry was illuminated. She followed
27:10
Speaker 1: Madison into the living area, flipping on the heat with
27:12
Speaker 1: one finger as she passed. If they were leaving tomorrow,
27:15
Speaker 1: may as well use up the last of the generator.
27:18
Speaker 1: The heat hummed to life. Tilda placed a glass of
27:21
Speaker 1: water on the side table for Madison and clutched the
27:24
Speaker 1: other in her hands. She crawled under the comforter and
27:27
Speaker 1: began slipping slowly, molling over the options available to them,
27:30
Speaker 1: not wanting to dwell and venturing back out into that cold,
27:34
Speaker 1: but knowing that they would have to. Madison interrupted her
27:38
Speaker 1: grim thoughts, What would have happened to you? Confused, Tilda
27:43
Speaker 1: turned to look down at the top of his head.
27:46
Speaker 1: What do you mean if you hadn't, you know, laughed
27:50
Speaker 1: with me at the hospital, what would have happened to you?
27:56
Speaker 1: Tilda had never given it much thought, outside of perhaps
27:59
Speaker 1: I shouldn't have done this. At least Madison would be
28:02
Speaker 1: safe even if he wasn't with me, She pondered, for
28:05
Speaker 1: a second. Knowing what she knew now that the father
28:09
Speaker 1: was the son of Aaron and Darla Delane, arguably two
28:12
Speaker 1: of the most powerful people alive, she imagined they would
28:16
Speaker 1: have wanted her as far away as possible, tucked away
28:18
Speaker 1: out of sight. She didn't know if they'd told the
28:21
Speaker 1: nurses what their son had done, or if the staff
28:23
Speaker 1: had even known Madison's true identity, how they planned on
28:26
Speaker 1: claiming him. Yes, they would have shipped her to the
28:29
Speaker 1: middle of nowhere, where no one would know her and
28:32
Speaker 1: no one would ask, and she'd die in obscurity, a
28:35
Speaker 1: working prisoner. I don't know, she said, which was the truth.
28:42
Speaker 1: She could only speculate. I think they would have put
28:45
Speaker 1: me to work somewhere far away. They wouldn't have killed you,
28:51
Speaker 1: he questioned, quiet, No, there aren't enough of us to kill,
28:57
Speaker 1: not when it takes work to keep things running. As
29:01
Speaker 1: soon as she said it, she wondered if she should have.
29:03
Speaker 1: It was a dark thing to say to a child,
29:06
Speaker 1: even if it was honest. And what would have happened
29:09
Speaker 1: to me? He whispered. They would have raised you, Tilda said,
29:15
Speaker 1: with hollow certainty. Perhaps that would have been better, even
29:18
Speaker 1: if the thought of Madison growing up with the people
29:21
Speaker 1: who believed HSV five as punishment for humanity's sins, who
29:25
Speaker 1: were complicit in its initial spreading, made her breath catch
29:28
Speaker 1: in her stomach. Queasy. Madison seemed to ponder that for
29:33
Speaker 1: a moment, and Tilda couldn't help but wonder if he
29:35
Speaker 1: was thinking the same thing. His next question surprised her.
29:41
Speaker 1: Do you think my grandmother is dead? The image of
29:44
Speaker 1: Darla bleeding on the floor immediately rose to Tilda's mind
29:47
Speaker 1: with unwonted clarity. Again, she replied, I don't know. Since
29:55
Speaker 1: they'd escaped d C, there had been no broadcast, although
29:58
Speaker 1: Tilda didn't suspect arm would be doing any broadcast anytime soon.
30:03
Speaker 1: She changed the world order without meaning to. She had
30:07
Speaker 1: just wanted to do what was best for Madison, and
30:11
Speaker 1: what did the world think of that? She felt a
30:14
Speaker 1: surge of homesickness. Tilda imagined her mother sitting in her
30:18
Speaker 1: favorite em old green chair, reading a heavy tone. Tilda
30:23
Speaker 1: turned off the light, but they both sat awake thinking. Eventually,
30:27
Speaker 1: Madison and Tilda wandered into sleep as the darkness closed
30:31
Speaker 1: in around them. And that brings us to the end
30:53
Speaker 1: of this month's fiction. It was kind of funny to
30:57
Speaker 1: read over the show. I was just kind of laughing
30:58
Speaker 1: with Samantha. I don't remember a lot of this, And
31:01
Speaker 1: again just a reminder, I wrote this for Nano Raimo
31:03
Speaker 1: National Novel Writing Month, and I have not really edited
31:07
Speaker 1: it because I kind of both didn't want to add
31:11
Speaker 1: that extra work to me, but also I think it's
31:13
Speaker 1: interesting to look back at what was going on in
31:15
Speaker 1: my head when I first started this job. But stuff
31:17
Speaker 1: one ever told you, and so it's been fun going
31:21
Speaker 1: back over it. This chapter was funny because I know
31:26
Speaker 1: exactly what I was thinking. I've never had a generator.
31:32
Speaker 1: I don't know how they work. If you are listening
31:35
Speaker 1: to this and are like no, but I did grow
31:40
Speaker 1: up near a survivalist neighbor who had one, and he
31:44
Speaker 1: was very always telling me like how I'm going to
31:47
Speaker 1: survive and the wilderness when things go wrong, So I
31:51
Speaker 1: could see that shining through. It is also funny how
31:54
Speaker 1: often the generator is a thing in horror games like
31:59
Speaker 1: The Last of Us. That interesting they hear the generator
32:02
Speaker 1: and then the zombies all comers. Also, it cracked me
32:07
Speaker 1: up because I was like, wow, my comfort foods are
32:08
Speaker 1: the same because there's that whole bit about when they
32:12
Speaker 1: finally get hot water, what do they make? Mac and
32:14
Speaker 1: cheese and hot chocolate. So it is kind of like
32:17
Speaker 1: a snapshot into what was going on at the time,
32:21
Speaker 1: but it's also fun and sometimes kind of like huh okay,
32:25
Speaker 1: yeah that's still true. I'm still the mac and cheese, yes,
32:29
Speaker 1: hot chocolate yes. But anyway, I'm very excited to share
32:33
Speaker 1: where this goes. As much as I don't remember, I
32:35
Speaker 1: do remember the end, and I'm excited. But I hope
32:39
Speaker 1: that you're all enjoying it. And as always, Christina is amazing.
32:43
Speaker 1: We love hearing from you about it. We love that
32:45
Speaker 1: we get to do things like this every now and
32:49
Speaker 1: again because they do take more work. But yeah, if
32:52
Speaker 1: you have any any theories what's gonna happen, or if
32:56
Speaker 1: you have any things from the public domain that we
32:59
Speaker 1: could give a similar treatment to, we would love to
33:01
Speaker 1: do that. You can email us a step ad mom
33:04
Speaker 1: Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can find us on
33:06
Speaker 1: Twitter at mom Stuff podcast, or on Instagram and TikTok
33:08
Speaker 1: at stuff. I'll never told you. We have a tea
33:10
Speaker 1: public store and we have a book that you can
33:13
Speaker 1: get wherever you get your books. Thanks as always too, Yes,
33:16
Speaker 1: our super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and our
33:19
Speaker 1: contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
33:21
Speaker 1: Stuff I'll Never Told You is production of by Heart Radio.
33:23
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can check
33:25
Speaker 1: out the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts wherever you listen
33:27
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows,