Latest / October Country Presents / S1 E2: The Thing in the Grass

Transcript

S1 E2: The Thing in the Grass · October Country Presents

0:05
SPEAKER_01: October Country presents The Diner.
0:10
SPEAKER_01: Episode Two, The Thing in the Grass.
0:24
SPEAKER_02: Hello?
0:25
SPEAKER_02: This thing on.
0:26
SPEAKER_02: Testing, testing.
0:27
SPEAKER_02: One, two, three.
0:30
SPEAKER_02: I've never used one of these before.
0:32
SPEAKER_02: Uh, should I introduce myself?
0:35
SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
0:36
SPEAKER_02: Here goes.
0:38
SPEAKER_02: Hello, this is Linda coming to you from Smithville.
0:42
SPEAKER_02: Uh, now this little thing in my jig belongs to my new friend Emily.
0:46
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to town, Emily.
0:48
SPEAKER_02: She's from England, which is very exciting.
0:51
SPEAKER_02: I don't think I've ever met someone from England before.
0:54
SPEAKER_02: It's always nice to have a new friend.
0:57
SPEAKER_02: I don't need to tell you she's from England, though.
1:00
SPEAKER_02: I suppose you're probably from England too.
1:03
SPEAKER_02: She told me that she's supposed to be recording all the interesting things she sees and fun stories she hears and all that, so uh do I have that right?
1:12
SPEAKER_02: Right, so I told her if she wants a good story, she's come to the right place.
1:18
SPEAKER_02: Boy, does this town have stories.
1:20
SPEAKER_02: And I happen to be intimately familiar with a lot of them.
1:25
SPEAKER_02: Well, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but I do know about them, and I can certainly tell a few of them.
1:32
SPEAKER_02: Now I've poured Emily a nice strong cup of coffee and put in her order for pancakes.
1:38
SPEAKER_02: And since there are no other customers needing my immediate attention, I'll just have a little sit-down.
1:46
SPEAKER_02: Thank goodness for slow mornings.
1:49
SPEAKER_02: Emily said that you uh what's her name again?
1:53
SPEAKER_02: Jan, that's right.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: And that you, Jan, might like to hear them too.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: Where do I start?
2:01
SPEAKER_02: I suppose I should tell you that there have always been strange stories around these parts.
2:09
SPEAKER_02: But I guess that's pretty common in small towns, out-of-the-way places where people tend to keep to themselves, and everyone has at least a few secrets.
2:20
SPEAKER_02: You could say this little town isn't unlike every other of its kind.
2:26
SPEAKER_02: Quiet, peaceful, and quaint most of the time.
2:32
SPEAKER_02: A long time ago, though, folks say something strange happened.
2:38
SPEAKER_02: Who knows if it's true, but I'll tell you in any case.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: The story went that her folks ended up on the wrong side of the law, so the grandparents stepped in to raise the little girl.
3:05
SPEAKER_02: For the most part, she was a fairly ordinary child.
3:09
SPEAKER_02: When you hear people tell the story now, some say she had blonde hair, and others say brown.
3:16
SPEAKER_02: The recollection's not always great, and stories change over time, you know.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: But they always agree that she had a sweet way about her.
3:27
SPEAKER_02: She wasn't the most outgoing child.
3:30
SPEAKER_02: She mostly kept to herself.
3:33
SPEAKER_02: It can be hard to make friends when you're young.
3:36
SPEAKER_02: Everyone knows that.
3:38
SPEAKER_02: And it's particularly hard when you're the new kid on the block.
3:44
SPEAKER_02: By the time she moved to town, all the other kids had their little groups, their sleepover gangs, their neighborhood friends they'd hang out with after school.
3:54
SPEAKER_02: So for the first few months, this little girl walked to school alone, mostly ate her lunch alone, nibbling on cheese sandwiches and apples that were a day or two past their prime.
4:08
SPEAKER_02: And then when the bell rang, letting everyone know school was out for the day, she'd walk home by herself.
4:17
SPEAKER_02: Now her grandparents lived on the edge of town, or right up against those big woods at the end of the road up there.
4:24
SPEAKER_02: If you haven't been out to the woods yet, they're worth a trip.
4:28
SPEAKER_02: Though at this time of year, it's all bare branches and crunching leaves.
4:33
SPEAKER_02: Normally it would take her quite a while to get home.
4:36
SPEAKER_02: On hot, humid days in late summer, when the air was so thick you could practically chew it, and your clothes stuck to your body like you'd just stepped out of the shower, the long way home seemed extra long.
4:51
SPEAKER_02: One day, just at the cusp of fall, when the air was starting to grow a little cooler, but the trees still buzzed with insects, the little girl discovered something.
5:04
SPEAKER_02: A shortcut.
5:07
SPEAKER_02: She knew the woods lay between her grandparents' house and the school, so that afternoon, instead of leaving through the front of the building with all the other students, she snuck through the halls and out the back door, slipping through the crack in the gate.
5:24
SPEAKER_02: She ducked under the low-hanging branches of a red maple and soon found herself on a little game trail winding through the woods.
5:35
SPEAKER_02: The trees were shrouded in the thick green blanket of summer.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: Even on the trail, she found herself pushing back ferns and tipping under branches that reached out over the middle of the path, pulling and snagging her dress at every turn.
5:54
SPEAKER_02: The air was vibrating with the hum of cicadas, so loud they almost totally muffled the sound of the girl's footsteps crunching over the uneven ground.
6:06
SPEAKER_02: They were so loud the little girl almost didn't hear the voice calling out to her faintly from behind a nearby tree.
6:17
SPEAKER_02: She stopped.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: She craned her head in the direction of the voice.
6:22
SPEAKER_02: Even the cicadas suspended their song.
6:26
SPEAKER_02: Hello?
6:27
SPEAKER_02: The little girl called out.
6:29
SPEAKER_02: Is anyone there?
6:32
SPEAKER_02: A flicker of movement caught her eye, a swatch of blue amongst the green.
6:37
SPEAKER_02: Her voice caught in her throat.
6:40
SPEAKER_02: Who's there?
6:41
SPEAKER_02: She said, barely a whisper now.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: Remember, she was just a child, and most children, finding themselves alone in the woods, would feel their hearts beating a little faster, their mouths being a bit more dry, upon realizing they were no longer alone.
7:01
SPEAKER_02: Another flicker, the snap of a twig, and two eyes peering out from behind the tree.
7:09
SPEAKER_02: The little girl gasped.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: The two eyes moved, followed by a neck, shoulders, and the body of a little boy about her age.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: The little girl scowled.
7:21
SPEAKER_02: It's not nice to play tricks on people, she called out to the boy.
7:25
SPEAKER_02: The boy looked down at his shoes.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry, he said.
7:30
SPEAKER_02: I didn't mean to scare you.
7:32
SPEAKER_02: He sounded genuinely remorseful, and all the fear in the little girl's heart evaporated.
7:38
SPEAKER_02: How could she be frustrated with this boy?
7:41
SPEAKER_02: Maybe he was just shy, like her.
7:45
SPEAKER_02: What are you doing hiding behind that tree anyway?
7:48
SPEAKER_02: She asked him.
7:49
SPEAKER_02: But instead of answering her straight away, he motioned for her to come over.
7:55
SPEAKER_02: And so she lifted her skirt and began to pick her way through the carpet of vegetation.
8:01
SPEAKER_02: She pushed past stubborn branches and stepped over a large mossy log.
8:08
SPEAKER_02: She stumbled a bit but caught herself, smoothing her skirt as she approached the boy.
8:15
SPEAKER_02: As she got closer, she realized the blue she'd seen was a pair of well-worn denim overalls that were smudged with dirt, as was the boy's cheek.
8:27
SPEAKER_02: He'd been playing in the woods for quite some time by the looks of it, she thought.
8:33
SPEAKER_02: She rounded the tree where he'd been hiding and saw he was pointing to something on the ground.
8:40
SPEAKER_02: The thing was small and dirty brown, mostly hidden from view by the tall grass growing through and around it.
8:51
SPEAKER_02: What is it?
8:52
SPEAKER_02: She asked the boy.
8:57
SPEAKER_02: He replied.
8:59
SPEAKER_02: She began to kneel, reaching out to brush the grass lightly with her fingertips.
9:05
SPEAKER_02: And as she did, the boy leaned down and whispered in her ear.
9:11
SPEAKER_02: Confused, the little girl straightened.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: I don't understand, she said, turning.
9:18
SPEAKER_02: But the boy had gone.
9:21
SPEAKER_02: By this time, the burnt orange rays of sunset were pressing down on the trees, and the little girl knew she needed to be getting on home.
9:31
SPEAKER_02: She glanced down once more at the thing in the grass, and it looked back, watching the girl walk a little bit faster now, down the path through the woods.
9:45
SPEAKER_02: The very next day the girl went to school the same as always.
9:49
SPEAKER_02: She sat through her lessons and listened as the teacher spoke.
9:53
SPEAKER_02: She ate her lunch and tried to enjoy it, but her mind kept drifting out the open window, pulled back to the woods, and what the boy had whispered in her ear.
10:08
SPEAKER_02: When it was time to leave for the day, the little girl took the road instead of the woods.
10:14
SPEAKER_02: And when she got home, she went right up to her grandmother.
10:18
SPEAKER_02: Her grandmother was old and her face was crinkly.
10:22
SPEAKER_02: She lived in this town her whole life, and a long life it had been.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: She seemed to know everyone and everything.
10:31
SPEAKER_02: And if anyone would understand what the boy had been talking about, it would be her.
10:38
SPEAKER_02: Grandma, the little girl said.
10:41
SPEAKER_02: Yes, dear, the grandma replied.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: I met someone in the woods yesterday, she said a little shyly, for she wasn't supposed to walk alone in the woods, and she was afraid she'd get in trouble.
10:57
SPEAKER_02: At this, her grandmother's ears pricked up.
11:00
SPEAKER_02: Who did you meet in the woods?
11:02
SPEAKER_02: She asked.
11:04
SPEAKER_02: I met a new friend, the little girl said.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: The only trouble was he disappeared before I could ask him where he lived.
11:14
SPEAKER_02: He did tell me one thing, though, and I don't know what to make of it.
11:19
SPEAKER_02: He said, Bud did it.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: At this, her grandmother's face paled.
11:25
SPEAKER_02: She gripped a chair, steadying herself.
11:28
SPEAKER_02: Before the little girl knew what was happening, the town was all abuzz.
11:33
SPEAKER_02: Someone called the chief of police, even the newspaper man came along, and they asked the little girl to take them all out into the woods over the mossy log and behind the tree.
11:47
SPEAKER_02: And there they found what was left of little Clem Jenkins missing since 1935.
11:57
SPEAKER_02: When asked how she happened upon this grim discovery, the little girl just said she was looking for a shortcut home, for she knew better than to mention the boy and his overalls and his pointing to the little brown and dirty thing in the grass ever again.
12:16
SPEAKER_02: Though she could feel it watching her all her life.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: How's that for a tall tale then, Emily?
12:27
SPEAKER_02: There's more where that came from.
12:30
SPEAKER_02: I'll leave you to your coffee, but see you tomorrow.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: It sends chills down the spine.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: Perfectly eerie, especially at this time of year.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know what to make of it other than that.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: These Americans do seem to enjoy their tall tales, as Linda said.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Jan, I'm going to get on the road.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: Linda will have to find someone else to tell her stories to, I suppose.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to finish up my coffee.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: And I'll check back in later from wherever I end up tonight.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Hi, Jan.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: I know I said I was leaving, but my car had other plans.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you the whole crazy story in a minute, but the short version is as I was leaving the diner car park, the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree and it didn't turn off this time.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: I rolled a little, then stopped the car.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: Then I started it again, and that time just the engine light came on.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: Part of me said, just drive, I'll be fine.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: But what if the car died in between towns and I was stranded miles from even the nearest service station?
13:42
SPEAKER_00: I knew I couldn't risk that.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: As much as I wanted to go, I had to find out what was wrong with my car.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: So I headed across the street toward the only petrol station I had seen the night before.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: And that's where I am now, waiting in a little room inside while a man takes a look at it.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: This is not how I wanted today to go, but hopefully it will be a quick fix, and I could still get back on the road soon.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: However, that means I have a bit of time to finish telling you about last night at the cottage.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Where was I?
14:20
SPEAKER_00: Right.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: I hardly even remember arriving.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: It was such a relief to step inside and lock the door behind me that I didn't care about anything else.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: You'd think I'd been nervous about what was waiting inside for me.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: But I actually felt this odd sense of welcome when I stepped in.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: Like the house was embracing me.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: I know that probably sounds crazy, but I was just at ease, which is what I'm trying to say.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't figure out how to turn the light on, so I left it until the morning.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: But I managed to stumble my way through what appeared to be a living area and find the doors to the bedroom and the bathroom.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: I ended up in the bed by some miracle, but I just slept on top of it because I don't know.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: The owner didn't seem like the type who was fastidious about his linens.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: By the time I woke up, the sun was streaming through a crack in the drapes.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: I knew it must be mid morning already.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: That was when I recorded that first message for you.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: After I finished, I admit I didn't leave right away.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: I stood up and pulled the curtains and found myself looking out on what must have once been a really beautiful garden.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: It was the one I mentioned to you before.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: There was a stone patio and a metal table with a couple of chairs, but the chairs had fallen over and vines were growing through them, and the patio had moss in all its cracks.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: And everywhere beyond the patio it was overgrown, like the forest had just been reaching toward the house and couldn't quite get there.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: The whole scene had an odd feeling about it.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: On one hand, the presence of a forest, all around like that, was a bit eerie.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: But also there was this fairy tale mood to the cottage, as if it had been nestled into a hiding spot and protected from the world, forgotten by time.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: I'll admit it gave me chills a little bit.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: Looking at the bed, I saw that there actually hadn't been any sheets on it at all.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: The mattress was just covered up with a quilt and a couple of pillows.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: That made me laugh a little to myself because I had unwittingly made the right choice in just flopping down on top of it.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: This man was not a consummate host.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: That was for sure.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Leaving the bedroom, I found myself in the main area of the cottage.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: There was a small kitchenette near the front door, a little stove, a sink, and a couple of cupboards.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: That was all there was.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: But it seemed serviceable.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: Against the other wall, there was an old-fashioned Queen Anne style sofa covered in faded green velvet.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: It seemed so at odds with the man I'd seen the night before.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: I instantly had the feeling that the cottage had been decorated by a woman.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: And not recently.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: There was a rocking chair adjacent to the sofa, then serving as a coffee table, there was a cedar chest.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: No television.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: No stereo.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: That was it.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: The whole house.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: But it was strange.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: There was just a feeling I had there that my host wasn't really the man I'd spoken to last night.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: This space belonged to someone I could relate to.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't his, really.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: I'd come all the way across the ocean to find a place that didn't have the shadow of a man over it.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: A place where a man's moods and his demands and his idiosyncrasies didn't determine my every move.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: A place where I could make mistakes without fear of retribution.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: Where I could succeed at things without paying a penalty.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: I needed to be free of everything that had tied me to one crushingly oppressive spot for so very long.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: You know that better than anyone, Jan, right?
18:15
SPEAKER_00: As I stood in that room, I felt like I was being sheltered by a friend, if I'm going to be totally honest.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: In this weird little town in the middle of absolutely nowhere, I had ended up in this tiny bubble that felt somehow safe.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: Where all the trouble I'd left behind could never possibly follow, and I had the quiet certainty that I was protected from new trouble in this little place.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: I almost wanted the garden to grow over me so that I could stay forever.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: But then I shook myself out of my reverie and said to myself, What's wrong with you?
18:50
SPEAKER_00: This is not a place to stop.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: You need to find a new life and new people, and a completely fresh start.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: There was nothing fresh or new in this town.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: That was for sure.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: It was all about endings rather than beginnings.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: I needed to pay this man and get on my way.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: Pushing back all these thoughts of inertia, I gathered up the bag I'd dropped on the floor last night.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: It didn't take long.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: I hadn't unpacked a thing.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Then, taking the key from the counter where I'd left it the night before, I tugged my heavy bag out the door and decisively locked it behind me.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: I won't lie, I almost felt a tug at my heart as I tore my eyes from that blue door.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'm just loath to get back on the road, I told myself, because it made no sense at all that I would be unwilling to leave a place I'd only occupied for a few hours.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: I dragged my bag across the same uneven walkway, bumpty bump.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: And as I closed in on the main house again I could see the neglect all over it, dirty siding, a roof badly in need of replacement, overgrown weeds at every corner, and on the sad, lopsided old patio out back, the man just had a single lawn chair sitting there, with a beat up old table next to it.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: Did he actually spend time there?
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Horrible.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: This man didn't just need my money.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: He needed some motivation as well, I thought.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: But luckily he wasn't going to be my problem much longer.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: I loaded my bag into the car and then returned to the front door.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: But just as I was about to ring the bell, my hand stopped.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: It hovered over the button.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: I felt heat rise in my cheeks as I realized that I couldn't bring myself to speak to him again.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: I had this impulse to flee, beyond my way.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: So I took the cash out of my pocket, where I had stashed it, and shoved the bills into his rectangular mailbox, which hung near the door.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: Then I dropped the key in after the money.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: Having done it, I rushed back to the car and practically jumped into the front seat.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: With a rush of relief mixed with urgency, I turned the key in the ignition.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: Well, obviously, I retraced my steps from the night before.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: The road looked really different in the daylight, though, and I made a wrong turn at one point that took me to a dead end with a building there.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: A run down pile of debris.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: Finding myself stopped there, a little shiver ran up my spine.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: It was so deserted and lonely.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: I have no idea what it was doing by itself down this road.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, I turned around and this time I found my way back to town.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: Along the way I could see a lot more than the night before, naturally.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: There were a fair number of small houses with really big gardens, or as the Americans would say, yards.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: Most of them truly couldn't be categorized as a garden, as they were overrun with brush and trees and weeds.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: It seems like people in this town have no use for aesthetic landscaping.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: When I got to the centre of town, I turned into the diner, of course, and well, you know the rest.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: So that's how I ended up here at the petrol slash service station.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: What a couple of days it's been.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Hold on a moment, it looks like he's got some news about my car.
22:43
SPEAKER_02: Well, hey, honey.
22:44
SPEAKER_02: Fancy seeing you back here so soon.
22:47
SPEAKER_02: I had an inkling you might come back.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: Next time on the diner.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: The story begins one night in early autumn, many moons ago.
22:59
SPEAKER_02: Now, this was a foggy evening, the kind where your headlights bounce off the little puffs of cloud hanging over the highway.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: And the trees seemed taller, the trunks stretching up into the gloom and disappearing like apparitions in the night.
23:17
SPEAKER_02: And on this particular night, a young couple was driving down a long, lonesome country road.
23:25
SPEAKER_02: Would you believe they'd just gotten married and were heading out on their honeymoon?
23:30
SPEAKER_02: They were, for all intents and purposes, a nice young couple.
23:35
SPEAKER_02: At least on the outside.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to The Diner, a production of October Country Presents.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: It was entirely made by humans without the use of AI.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: It was written by Shady Grove Oliver and Alicia Stefan and narrated by Chloe De Berg and Heather Foster with help from Thomas Jones.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: Audio production was by Martizak.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: If you are enjoying the diner, please rate us and give us a like and a comment wherever you get your podcasts.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: It helps us bring more original stories to listeners like you.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: Be sure to follow us on social media at October Country Presents.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to buy us a coffee and support our creative work, visit our website, OctobercountryPresents.com.