S6 Ep 1 - Boys Get Straight: Spooky Halloween Tales And Discussions Inspired By Johnny Marr's "Boys Get Straight"

Note: This episode contains stories that deal with death, frightening imagery, mild sexual themes and violence. Listener discretion is advised.

Adrienne

Hey there listeners!

Katarina

It's been a hot minute.

Adrienne

We know you've been away for a while. Obviously life has been crazy, but in our absence, we've been planning out the new season. We wanted to sit down real quick to give you the scoop on what's coming down the pipe. We're really excited because we are shaking things up from head to toe on the show. Surprise. We have a new format. We are bringing our love of music together with our love of creative writing.

Katarina

It is an exercise in the marriage of two art forms that we hold dear.

Adrienne

That's so sweet.

Katarina

I try

Adrienne

Every episode, we're going to pick one song to inspire a short story written by yours..s..truly

Katarina

Spoken like a true writer.

Adrienne

We'll still open our show like before, talking about music we love, just nowhere near as many songs each episode.

Katarina

Just--just the one, in fact.

Adrienne

Then we dive into our stories. We'll share the stories with you and each other.

Katarina

That's right. We won't know what the other has written until we record our episode. So you as the audience get to experience it when we do.

Adrienne

And then we have an on-air therapy discussion where we ask each other, are you OK?

Katarina

And the answer's always no. But our love of music and of storytelling can finally come together in a fun new way that we get to share with all of you.

Adrienne

You may be asking yourself, why did we choose to change our show in its entirety? The short answer is because it's our show and we wanted to.

Katarina

The long answer is that we aren't completely changing the format. We still talk about some of our favorite songs like we always do. We still share memories like we always do, and I crack jokes while Adrienne wonders why she got into the podcast game in the first place.

Adrienne

I still don't have an answer.

Katarina

We're going to have a lot of fun.

Adrienne

So strap in Rhapsody Fam, because we are diving into this new season headfirst.

Katarina

Right into the deep end. No kiddie pools for you.

-Theme Music Plays-

Adrienne

Hey there, listeners!

Katarina

We're alive!!! I had to do one, I had to do one, it's October I'm within my rights.

Adrienne

 I...I applaud you.

Katarina

Thank you. Thank you.

Adrienne

Welcome to Rhapsody in Reverie. It's a brand new season and a brand new format. And we missed you.

Katarina

It's a brand new day. It's a...brand new episode, brand new season, brand new outlook on life.

Adrienne

(laughing) Hell, yeah.

Katarina

Yeah

Adrienne

All right, well, y'all already heard the intro intro, so, you know, we're about to do--

Katarina

The intro to the intro? The pre-intro?

Adrienne

The intro to the intro.

Katarina

The pre-- hmm...Oh, can't--can't make that joke. This is a PG-13 show.

Adrienne

I know exactly what you were going to say. This is not that type of show. 

Katarina

It's a PG-13 show. Anyway, yes. I'm so happy to be back. I know you're happy to be back and...Let's just--let's just pump into it.

Adrienne

(laughing) So you tried to change it?

Katarina

Yeah. And I made it worse.

Adrienne

Yeah. But I appreciate that you tried.

Katarina

Thank you.

Adrienne

I really do.

Katarina

Thank you. That makes me feel a little better, actually. But, um, yes. So you heard the pre intro, you know the drill. You know what you've gotten yourself into. If you don't like it, now's the time to...hit exit.

Adrienne

But...But we hope you don't.

Katarina

But we hope you don't. Please don't, actually, because I think you really are going to like the new show. I think you guys are going to like the new vibe. And I think that you'll have fun while we have fun. It'll--it'll be very obvious how much fun we're having. And we want you to have fun.

Adrienne

Yeah.

Katarina

Yeah, all right.

Adrienne

All right.

Katarina

Without further ado...What song are we using for our inaugural...episode? Why did I become. William Shatner?

Adrienne

I don't know.

Katarina

It wasn't even a good William Shatner. I'm so upset with myself. Anyway, for real, what song are we doing?

Adrienne

So for our very first episode in our brand new format, we are talking about all things "Boys Get Straight" by Johnny Marr.

Katarina

What a very interesting choice, I have to say.

Adrienne

It is.

Katarina

You know, in a way, when I first heard the song, I would not have expected you to suggest it.

Adrienne

Interesting...

Katarina

Yeah

Adrienne

I'm curious as to why, but before I ask you that, I'll just give a brief...Like, for those of you who don't know, "Boys Get Straight" is off of Johnny Marr's second solo album, Playland, which was released on October 6th, 2014. And if the name Johnny Marr sounds familiar, you probably know him as the guitarist of The Smiths. Kind of a big deal.

Katarina

See, what's funny is I didn't know that. And I, I listen to the Smiths on occasion, but the only name I know of--

Adrienne

(laughing) Don't say it

Katarina

is…Morrisey.

Adrienne

That's fair. That's fair. 

Katarina

In my defense he makes such a big deal out of himself--

Adrienne

It's fair, it's fair, but whatever. This isn't about the Smiths, this is about Johnny Marr.

Katarina

Yes.

Adrienne

So, you know, that's basically...what you need to know to set it off, but I'm curious now to know why you think this is such an interesting choice for me.

Katarina

I don't know! It didn't--it didn't feel like a song...that you would have--I don't know! It almost feels like it's a song that could have very easily come from like a Bourne Identity movie. (laughs)

Adrienne

(laughing)

Katarina

Or like, I don't know, because when I when I heard the song, I feel like it's a very, like, physical action-y, angry song, but I could be wrong about that. I don't, I don't know. I tried looking into the history of the song and like what the song specifically meant. I couldn't find anything about it, really. But it's a really great song, actually, and I'm happy that you shared it with me, because now I get to enjoy this song and Johnny Marr, who I had not previously known about.

Katarina

So that's cool.

Adrienne

Yeah, no, I mean, Johnny Marr, first of all, is great. I mean, the funny thing is, you know, like, I-I can kind of dig at you for not knowing Johnny Marr was in The Smiths, but I actually didn't even know that when I first heard about Johnny Marr. My first exposure to him was because he, for a brief time was in Modest Mouse.

Katarina

Oh!

Adrienne

And he worked with them on their album, "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank", which is my favorite Modest Mouse record.

Katarina

That's cool.

Adrienne

So that's how I first knew of Johnny Marr as like an... As an artist and a person. And it was my brother who told me about him being in the Smiths and stuff, but I didn't actually end up listening to The Smiths until college. So, like. I...It was interesting to kind of get that sort of exposure to him, and I'm sure plenty of other people have had similar kind of relationships to him as a result, because he has been in like a lot of other bands and worked with a lot of other artists. Obviously, he's a very iconic figure in rock music and his guitar playing is like arguably a defining of a generation.

Katarina

Oh, yeah, it's insane. It is insane.

Adrienne

Yeah. So, yeah. So I can,  I can't knock it too much for not knowing like that Johnny Marr was in The Smiths, because technically I didn't know that when I first found out about him. But yeah, I love his guitar playing. That's honestly like 90 percent of why I like "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank" as much as I do, because the guitar on that record is insane. And a lot of what I love about Johnny Marr and his solo albums is like, just how crazy good the guitar is. And "Boys Get Straight" is like the perfect example of that.

Katarina

Oh yeah, for sure.

Adrienne

It's just in your face. Like, you're right that there is this, like, kind of angry, driving kind of 'sounds-like-it-could-be-an-action-movie' vibe to it, and that's why I love it. It's one of those songs that, like, if I want to get really, really hyped up, like that's what I go to. And like, yeah, it's just the vibe, it's it's a very, very, very urgent vibe.

Katarina

Yes, I would agree with that,

Adrienne

Yeah, and I'm, I'm very interested, we'll talk about this later when we read stories, but I'm very interested one to see how you interpreted it with your story and then also how you respond to the direction that I went with it.

Katarina

Yeah.

Adrienne

That'll be interesting.

Katarina

Yeah. I have to say, I did struggle with this one a little bit in the beginning because I had only, I had one image in my head and it was very difficult to turn one image into an entire story, and I will tell you what that one image is after I read it, because I don't want to-- I don't want to spoil it for you.

Adrienne

That's fair. That's fair. And I can relate because I kind of had a similar like thing when I sat down to actually think about what type of story I would write with this. I had an image in my head and I was like, well, "that image can't just be the story." So it's interesting that we had a similar struggle.

Katarina

Interesting. Well, I'm glad we both got to try that kind of level of writing exercise out, in a way, if you think about it.

Adrienne

Oh. Yeah, yeah, definitely, yeah.

Katarina

So, uh...Shall we begin?

Adrienne

Are you ready? Because you're up first.

Katarina

Oh, I'm up first...(groaning). Yeah. Yes, I'm ready to begin whenever you are.

Adrienne

(laughing) You sure? You don't seem ready, fam.

Katarina

I'm sure! I'm... I'm 100 hundred percent sure. I'm ready. Waaah.  OK. Here we go.

Adrienne

(laughing)

Katarina

So my story is called "Splinter, a story inspired by Johnny Marr's "Boys Get Straight".

Adrienne

Pause, you're already doing better than me because I don't even have a title.

Katarina

AAAAH!

Adrienne

(laughing)

Katarina

(laughing)Yay, OK. (pause) "Splinter," a story inspired by Johnny Marr's "Boys Get Straight". I was a destructive little shit back in my day, in the halcyon days of my youth or whatever people say, but I don't tell you that as an excuse. I knew I was a shit then and I know I'm a shit now. I only clarify so you'll understand just where I'm coming from when I say that I desired nothing more than complete annihilation. You see, my mom had died and I was full of fury. I had no real outlet. My dad expected me to rise to the occasion and help take care of my baby sister. But I couldn't bear to be in that house, that house that smelled of sick and of death and of cancerous lungs. I suffocated every night inside those four walls for a while until I started sneaking out with Tommy. Tommy understood the rage, the pain of it all, even if both of his folks were alive and he was middle class while I was poor and he could afford to get away to school and I was going to be stuck, doomed to this small town hell, this fucking small town. He understood. It wasn't exact, it could never be. But he did more to understand than my dad. And I didn't need a mirror. I needed a friend, an outlet, a conductor to direct my rage. "Say," he said to me one night, while we were stargazing and doing things that were too calm to feed the beast of rage inside of me. "Have you ever tried mailbox baseball?" Of course I hadn't. I had never heard of such a thing in my whole life. And when he told me about it, how it had basically died out in our parents time in their youth, I looked him right in the eye and asked him if he was fucking stupid. He denied it, as boys do, but kept at it, trying to get me to try it. He said he had a baseball bat in his car. He said we could try right now. And that's how it went for a while, Tommy would drive and I would swing, sometimes so hard to break it off the bat and the splinters would decorate the sky like stars. No, not like stars they became them. It made me feel better for a while. It made me feel as if the things I did caused a direct action, a ripple in the pond of the world that I could see. I did not care if it hurt other people. I hoped it did. And when Tommy had to take splinters from the bat out of my palm and paw, at my insistence, rubbing alcohol directly into my open wounds and blisters, well, that was the only time I felt truly at one with the universe. My dad suspected nothing about what I was doing because we never bashed mailboxes in our neighborhood. He'd know if we did. He seem to know that I was committing acts of wanton destruction in some form or another. He just thought I was getting banged by Tommy in the back of his truck. He was so sure, in fact, that he warned me one night that if I came home with a baby, he was throwing me out. This house had a way of poisoning mothers. I figured a quick send off into the night, a baseball bat into the brain, sending your soul splintering into a million pieces across the universe...Now that was a way to go. But the night Tommy tried to fondle my breast and in doing so threw everything we stood for out the window, the night Tommy tried to make me feel something other than hate and rage, something good that my soul had no room for, the night he thought that enough time had passed for me to let something other than the pain into my heart...I kicked him in the balls. I thought for a split second about stealing his truck, about driving into the lake, but the doors of his truck are so old that you have to ram them shut, and I feared I would drown. The only thing I feared more than living was dying. So I walked off. Mind you, I was blinded by rage as well as the night. The moon was just a sliver in the sky and the stars were hiding behind clouds. The amber street lights that lined the sidewalk sporadically did not soothe me, but felt to me like a flaming, slow burning rage within me, stoking fire that had been burning in my chest for months. Burning, burning, burning. And maybe it's because I was so busy burning that I did not see the thing in front of me, standing just outside the lamplight. Not at first. Women can't afford to be inside their own head for too long when they walk home alone at night, especially if home is a half hour away and they were stupid and forgot the knife that they were always carrying in the side of their boot at home on the dresser. As I stared into the darkness, finally registering the figure of a person standing in the dim light ahead of me, while I remained in the dark, I realized then just what a hot-headed fool I had been. I didn't call out. I was too scared to, didn't want to draw attention. I hope that by staying silent that I could sneak off into the shadows and slip home in the back way through the woods. My dad had always told me that was dangerous, but he didn't know how lethal suburbia could be to a 17 year old girl without a car with only half a brain. I backed away slowly without taking my eyes off of the figure, intending to cut through the trees that peered just behind the two houses I had passed at the last light. The figure stepped forward. My breath caught in my throat then, but I thought about it; perhaps this person lived here or was making their way home and was just as scared of me as I was of them. We seemed about the same size. Maybe they were a woman too scared of the dark, or rather, what lurked in it. I closed my eyes, took a breath, and backed up once more. The person just ahead of me step forward again, I wasn't sure what to make of that, except maybe that I wasn't worrying nearly enough. I had never really been in a situation like this, only heard about it. Do I stand my ground? Do I fight? And if I fought with what I had left my bat behind. "Don't...Don't come any closer," I said, my voice shaking. "Or I... I'll call the police, I have a friend who lives just in here who will let me use their phone and I...oh, just leave me alone! Alright?!" The figure tilted its head to the side and stood motionless for a short while, that felt like an eternity. I caught myself mirroring its movements and righted my head, my heart beating a mile a minute. The thing's head snapped up at the same time, then it took its first step into the light. It wasn't a person at all, but a thing, a sharp and evil thing made of shards of wood that shifted as it moved. It was grinding, moving, a wooden thing composed of angry shards that stuck out at awkward angles, held together by some dark force I didn't dare to think about. As it angled into view, violently jerking in motion, I saw that the faceless wooden thing was the exact rough shape as mine. It had no mouth, but I heard every rattling breath it took, each pained heave of a breath in its breast. The claws flexed easily and the body almost glowed in the orange streetlight. I ran. I bolted straight for the trees, knowing I could not go home any other way. I ran until my sides ached and my face bled, though whether it was the outstretched claws of the creature or the branches of the trees that flew by me, I couldn't tell. I could hear the heavy, ragged breaths behind me as they mingled with my own, which only made me run faster. Home, I thought. If only I could make it home I'll be safe, if only I could close the door behind me... I burst through the trees, my home only 10 feet ahead of me. The lights were on in my room, a beacon of safety guiding my way. I could make it. I knew I could. All I had to do was keep going, a little further. The door was within my reach, now, when I stretched out my hand-- The thing caught hold of my jacket. But though it held fast, I pulled harder. I heard the jacket tear and for a split second, I thought I could feel the flesh being torn from my back, but I ripped free. I stumbled, but only for a moment. I threw open the door, slammed it shut behind me. I bolted the door and stood there for a moment, recalling how to breathe my eyes adjusting to the darkness. I wept then,silently, as the tension left my body. I could hear the creaking of the thing just beyond the door, and I could feel the malevolent presence, yearning to come in. But just as the childish part of my brain had assumed, it could not come in. I took a long time to move away. I washed every dish in the kitchen sink, caked with food, dishes that had been piling up since the day of the funeral. I tiptoed up the stairs and walked to my room as quietly as a cat and pulled the blinds aside to look out over the street. The thing made of shards stood staring at me with its eyeless, lifeless face. It's pantomimed breathing, for I couldn't see how it had any lungs, was hard and ragged like mine still was, despite everything I was doing to force a calmness on my soul. i came away from the window and went to the bed, but I don't think I slept. I never saw Tommy again, not after school anyway. I knew he wouldn't understand and that the temptation to lose myself in the violence would be too great to overcome. And something told me that if I should let it out of me, that thing from the woods would be able to cross the threshold into my home. I never took aim at a mailbox and sent it blasting into the sky again. I was too afraid to stay out after dark, sure I could hear the sounds of thousands of shards of wood and angry splinters shuffling against each other, the haggard breathing that came from somewhere else and also deep inside of me. Each night I could see the beast from outside my bedroom window, pacing like a hungry lion, like all the entropy I had released in me was coming back to claim my dues. My father remarked to me the other afternoon when I was visiting that I have tamed myself, that I have calmed down from my wild and angry youth. But that isn't true. I'm still angry, I'm still wild. I still hate. But I can no longer afford to feed it. The end!

Adrienne

Yaaay!

Katarina

Woohoo.

Adrienne

Well, first of all, you're an incredible writer.

Katarina

Oh Thank--Thank you.

Adrienne

This was not news to me at all. It's just funny to me because, like, it's--it's funny to me because like your prior to recording this?

Katarina

Yeah.

Adrienne

You were just like, 'oh, yeah, I don't...I'm struggling, I just have bullet points,' and then you come and you just like, knock it out the park. So just like--

Katarina

 With a bat?

Adrienne

Yes. With a bat. But yeah, no, it was good. Interesting! Interesting take on the song.

Katarina

Thank you.

Adrienne

Yeah, but it's-- I mean, I think this is the cool part about doing this, is that like, it's the way that two people can interpret a song can be so different.

Katarina

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Adrienne

Yeah. So... Yours also has a kind of happy ending, which is nice.

Katarina

Does it? Does it have a happy ending.

Adrienne

I mean it's--it's an ambiguously happy ending in the sense of like, happy in, well, first of all the thing didn't kill her.

Katarina

That's true. That's true.

Adrienne

That's great. And I guess she...she kind of straightened out her life, but also is not, but it's this weird, kind of like "I'm doing better, but I'm not OK."

Katarina

Yeah, no, like that's--that's what I definitely wanted it to be because, like, I--I wanted it to almost be like a representation of what her anger was in, in coping, but it's like--it's like so much, it's like, "OK, you want annihilation, I eat you now," but I can't.

Adrienne

I, I'm cur-- so... Was it something in the song that made you sort of take it that way?

Katarina

The on-- OK, so this is the part where I'm like, this is the only thing I got from the song was the image of fucking mailbox baseball.

Adrienne

(laughing)

Katarina

That is the only thing. That is the only part of this story that I kept seeing. I had, I rewrote this story multiple times and like, taking it in different directions. But the only one that's, the only part that stayed the same was somebody is angry enough to take a baseball bat to a mailbox. (laughing)I just like, That's what I saw, like somebody really, really pissed off doing that. Yeah, everything else was well, I mean, it's Halloween, and I was like, "it's going to be kind of silly, a monster made of splinters," and then! OK, you're going to find this funny. The way my bedroom is situated, there's an alcove right out of my window where pigeons sometimes roost. And it was like 4:00 in the morning. And they were like 'wooloolooloo' and I was like, no.

Adrienne

(laughing)

Katarina

I was like, 'God damn it, I played myself.'

Adrienne

Oh God. So you spooked yourself.

Katarina

I spooked myself.

Adrienne

We love to see it. Hey, it is the season.

Katarina

Yay!

Adrienne

Yeah. No, I liked it. I enjoyed it. It was interesting at the start. Because there... There are some similarities with yours and the imagery that I kind of conjured up, but then as it went on it completely, like, kind of went a different direction. But not--Yeah, we'll get to that point, but I liked your story a lot because it was, well, first of all, it like it's just really well-written, which, I mean, dear listeners like--

Katarina

Aww

Adrienne

Katarina is like, well, first of all, she was an English major, so--

Katarina

That doesn't... I need you to know that doesn't mean anything. I need you to know you.

Adrienne

Well no, but like, you write and you can tell that you are a person that's very well read. I think that's what I like about your reading, is that you can tell, like, just how passionate you are about literature in your writing. So I liked it.

Katarina

Well thank you. Thank you.

Adrienne

You're welcome, fam. But yes. Bravo.

Katarina

Thank you, I thank you.

Adrienne

Did your character have a name or did I miss it?

Katarina

No, she didn't have a name. I didn't think of one, honestly.

Adrienne

That's fair.

Katarina

Yeah.

Adrienne

Names are hard.

Katarina

They--they really are. They really are hard. Well, I believe then if--if--if we have finished discussing my story, then it is time...for...

Both

Up and Comers!

Katarina

This week, our up and comer is Laura Murray, a Scottish born singer songwriter who has a pop soul twist. She is a vocal powerhouse. I need you to know that when we first looked into her, I was not expecting the voice that she has to come out of her.

Adrienne

Right?

Katarina

When I when I saw her picture, I was not expecting that. She, she's reminiscent of Adele, but she has her own unique power and twist to her voice where it's not like, 'oh, I'm just listening to an Adele copycat,' like, that's not what this is, she, she's just really, really talented. Definitely check out her EP "Memories," it came out already August 1st, 2020, it's on Spotify. I think my favorite song off of it is "Proud," but I mean, every song on that EP is a banger. It's really, really good stuff. If you want to follow her, you can follow her on Twitter,  @lauramurrayUK and on Instagram and Facebook @LauraMurrayMusic. So. Without further ado, go follow her. Go listen to her music and...now...Time for story number two. Woohoo!

Adrienne

Yaaaay.

Katarina

Ye-ah!

Adrienne

This is exciting.

Katarina

Ye-ah, it's exciting for me, I get to hear your story now.

Adrienne

Yeah, well, you know, calm, your expectations.

Katarina

Don't be like that. I'm excited.

Adrienne

All right. I guess I shall begin with my story. It doesn't really have a title, so the title is just "Boys Get Straight."

Katarina

That's fair.

Adrienne

Inspired by "Boys Get Straight."

Katarina

(laughing)

Adrienne

OK. (pause) Here's the thing to understand about Jack Morello. He was always trying to get on the straight and narrow, and he meant it, too, just one more score and he'd be set up real good. No need for thievin', runnin' duckin', hidin'. He'd get a real job, maybe a mechanic or a construction worker or something with his hands, and keep his feet heavy on the ground. This hard way of living was a means to an end that nobody worth a damn ever thought a boy like Jack could get. A way to a respectable life. He swore it to himself in the mirror before every run, including tonight. At least he thought he did. He was pretty sure, at least. But the promise of a good life and the siren call of a thief's glory tasted equally as sweet to Jack. He'd try to reason it out every time, but what made him such a good thief is what made him pretty shit at much else. His feet moved faster than his brain. "Better keep up, Jackie Boy." A breeze and a maniacal laugh slipped past Jack as he grabbed at the collar of a boy scampering up off the ground. "Can it, Sammy, I'd beat you any day," Jack hollered at the back of the blond, blurry figure leaping off a park bench, before turning briefly to the boy at his side.

"Come on, Alex, we gotta step on it." "Not if they catch you first," Sammy turned back to flash a smile as trembling beams of flashlights illuminated the ground at Jack's heels, before continuing to run alongside another tall and lean blurry frame, crashing through a group of trash cans and hollering down the street with the brown backpack on his shoulder. "Ty, quit it before, you have the whole neighborhood on our tail!" "Let them try Jack. Let 'em try." Ty laughed before knocking down another metal can. "You worry too much, Jackie! We just hit it big. Live a little." "Whatever." Jack wagered the others were still young enough not to care about straight and narrow, save for Alex, maybe, a baby on the way and a girl who cursed Jack every night he came around will do that to you. "Nothing but trouble and a waste of a name," she'd say, as the three of them pulled Alex out, promising it was the last time. Jack wasn't lying when he said it, he meant it. Sammy and Ty, though, well they wouldn't stop until their hearts did. Sammy loved to fly and Ty was a ship ready to run aground just to feel the heat of the explosion. A siren blared loud in the distance, quickening the pace of Jack's heart and feet. "Uh-Oh, rolls have changed, boys," Sammy barked. "Ty to the right." Ty made a quick turn down an alley as the others followed, pulling up a manhole cover, the four boys dropped down into the sewers, replacing it behind them. "Well, that was a close one, eh?" Ty laughed, nudging Jack's shoulder. "One of these days, Ty, you're going to get us all boxed, I swear to God." "Well, it's a good thing there ain't going to be another one of these days then, huh?" Sammy smirked, grabbing the bag from Ty. "Everything changes after tonight." He opened the bag to feel their spoils. Jewels, cash, heaped in the bottom from the house on the hill. That house was the crown jewel in the heist game, fabled and infamous among thieves. No one who stepped in ever came out to tell the tale. Until tonight. "We really did it," Alex marveled, eyes glinting with the diamonds reflecting back at him. "You get to take that girl of yours out proper now, Al," Sammy grinned. "She'd like that." "Kid, you got  half a shot at making it with that girl," Jack would always tell Alex, as they'd sit on the railroad tracks behind his building. Jack would have never even attempted a score this big, if not for Alex. After tonight, they might actually have a chance to get out of this town, be something. Jack had tried settling down with a love of his own once before, that turned out about as well as anything else in his life. Maybe that's why he liked having Alex around. If Jack couldn't make it anywhere, Alex sure deserved a chance to. "Come on. We'd better keep moving. We aren't home yet." Jack zipped up the bag and began walking along the wall of the sewer tunnel. "Always the buzzkill, Jackie." The sewer was dark, echoes of their hollers mixed in with steady drips and trickles of wastewater flowing beside them. The stench, foul and foreign, turned Jack's stomach, but even the unfriendly scene couldn't dampen their excitement or stop the swelling of their chests. Jack too, letting a smile slip on and off his signature stern face, as Ty and Sammy bounded ahead, shoving at each other playfully. He didn't think they could really pull it off, what so many had failed at. But they managed it, in and out like clockwork. "Fuck you, Sammy," an echoing splash snapped Jack's eyes forward to see Ty, waist deep in sewer water, as Sammy braced himself against the wall, laughter coloring his face. "You asked for it, Ty...Ty?"  Ty's face was frozen, fixed down on the water below him. Frozen and silent, no characteristic quip from him fired back at Sammy. "Ty, what are you doing?" Alex asked cautiously, as the three boys stared at the pale faced Ty wading in the water. Every drip sounding in the sewers seem to still quiet like a kettle just before the whistle. Silence like that don't happen every day in Jack's life. Certainly not with Ty around, but he remained quiet, eyes still ensnared by the murky waters below. Jack followed Ty's gaze, crouching down to look closely at the greyish glossy surface. A hazy spot of white caught Jack's eye, and he squinted until the shape of a fragmented skull settled into view. Eyes adjusting to dark waters, another submerged bone came into view. And another. And another. An underwater graveyard. "All right, Ty, quit mopin' and let's get a move on. We ain't got all night," Sammy chided nervously. "Shh! Shut up, Sammy. You hear that?" Jack barked, standing abruptly at a faint stirring of sound, beginning to ripple through the sewer. Water sloshing, a chittering  snarl rolled up from the depths of the water and throughout the concrete tunnels. Jack had never heard something so ferocious, like a jungle cat that shimmered like waking cicadas in the summer. "Jackie, what the fuck is that?!" Sammy pointed just behind Ty. Something large, black and serpent-like slipped out of the water's surface. Crawling up out of the murky waters, even more serpents rose into the air, inching closer towards Ty's frozen frame. "Jack?" Sammy whispered. The snakelike figures braced themselves against the walls of the sewer, and the boys looked on in horror as they realized those serpents connected to a large, slimy trunk lifting out of the water, and a head, with sharp and spindly, teeth protruding out of it. One of the creatures arms snaked around Ty's leg and Jack watched the ripples of water around Ty radiate out as he trembled. "Run," Jack barked. The boy shook off the shock and turned to run as fast as they could, away from the demonic creature. Slipping his leg away to chased after the others as the creature began to pursue them, only for the serpent arms to grip around his torso, pulling him back. Jack could hear the sounds of bones crushing and cracking behind him as he pounded his feet against the concrete. Jack had never in his fast life thought to imagine the scent of blood mixing in with rotting flesh, sewage and hints of rat piss. But the ungodly concoction splashed up around his feet as he fought against the slick coating it formed on his sneakers and its stench poured into his flaring nostrils, choking Jack at the throat and lurching his stomach. For those uninitiated to such an assault on the senses, its foul presence would worm its way into the memory so deep it turned every sweet rose and summer rain rotten thereafter. Jack certainly would never escape it for the rest of his life, however short that may turn out to be. "Don't look back," he barked to Alex, who was trailing behind him. The sewers were a labyrinth and the boys tore down every tunnel, twist and turn, trying to lose the creature. It looked straight out of a nightmare and moved just as fast. Jack pushed on with Sammy and Alex at his side. But the dread of no escape haunted behind them. Alex tripped, falling to the ground as a monster turned the corner. Jack swiftly began tugging at Alex's arm. But a serpent arm twisted around Alex's foot, pulling him away. Not him, not him, Jack thought. Tugging desperately, Jack tried to free Alex, but the monster's strength overwhelmed him, and Alex's arm slipped out of Jack's grasp. "Jackie, come on," Sammy urged frantically, as Jack stood frozen for a moment, watching the frightening beast crush the poor boy's body like a cobra its prey. Sammy grasped at Jack's collar, launching them both back into the sewer tunnel. They turned down every available path, looking for the ladder they came down to no avail. Turning down one more tunnel, the two boys careened into a metal gate, trapping them there between a dead end and the monster not far behind. Jack's feet had never failed him before, but he knew it was only a matter of time until even they couldn't save him. Jack and Sammy stared at the metal barred gate ahead of them, standing motionless with hands clasped together as the monster began to crawl up to them, slow, as if savoring the quivering fear in the air. Its foul breath began to take over the back of Jack's neck as it reached them. And Jack looked over to Sammy, who turned back. "End of the line, Jackie boy," Sammy whispered. Jack nodded one last time. End of the line. (pause) Scene

Katarina

It just--eh--bu-- the demon teenage meenage neetle teetles got him?!

Adrienne

(Laughing) What?

Katarina

No!

Adrienne

(laughs)

Katarina

OK, first of all, that was excellent. I'm going to be thinking about the line of 'shimmering cicadas in summer' for a while, that was a really good line. The story's very good. I'm sad. I'm very happy that you wrote like a creature monster story. I love that. Especially since we've had a conversation before about how like when it comes to stuff like horror movies and stuff like that, you're more familiar with the slasher stuff than you are like the creature feature. But you wrote a really cool creature. And--and now I'm sad, but also impressed, and I want to see it like I want to see the creepy seamonster with his arms going (slurp noise). I love it. I loved this story. I thought for a minute he was going to get out. I thought he was going to have to like either A, bear the guilt of--of tiny Alex dying, or, or maybe he would save someone and he would die. But I didn't expect all of them to die. That was cool. That was very cool.

Adrienne

Yeah, they all die. I gotta be honest. I never really expected any of them to live. Like that, like it was always going to end, well, the end of the line, Jackie Boy, line just stuck out of my head so much. Like as I was writing that I was like, yeah, they all gotta die.

Katarina

Also, I love that this is what you got from "Boys Get Straight."  I love that. Because like, theoretically would I, would I--would I hear this as he's running down the tunnel? No, but it'd be fucking cool if I did. (laughs)

Adrienne

Yeah, well, you know, like you, the image that came into my head, like before everything, was just the image of them, like running away from the cops.

Katarina

Got it. That's what I figured it was, but I wasn't sure, I wasn't sure.

Adrienne

Yeah.

Katarina

It was good.

Adrienne

Yeah, like that was the first thing, but I was like, 'but that's not a story,' like--

Katarina

But that's so cool that you took like, OK, guys running from the cops into a sewer into... Snake monster! Sewer of creatures that eat people! That's so cool.

Adrienne

It was mostly just me knowing my audience and I was like--

Katarina

HA!

Adrienne

 Katia'll like this.

Katarina

And you're not wrong. And you're not wrong. That was, it was really good. It was really cool.

Adrienne

Thank you. Yeah. And mostly, like, I wanted to challenge myself because, you know the point you brought up, me not really, like, knowing a lot of, like, creature movies like that. That's true. I generally like, when I watch stuff I watched, like horror, like scary things, I mostly do like Slasher's or like kind of like murder thrillers like that. And I've certainly never really written a story like this before. So I--

Katarina

But it feels like you have in a way, like I would believe that you've written creature features before, like, that's so cool. This was your first time, you just knock it out of the park! OK! I loved it, though, because, like, you don't get a lot of cool snakey reptilian sea serpent stories, like you just don't, which is a shame because we should. And I think you just proved that, like, there's definitely a market for it.

Adrienne

With all the conversations we've had about the Loch Ness Monster--

Katarina

(laughs)

Adrienne

--in our friendship, I was like...

Katarina

Right, you're right.

Adrienne

I was like this'll this will be fun. This will be fun. And it was fun. I enjoyed writing it. It was definitely a test of my own abilities, but I enjoyed it.

Katarina

I'm glad you did, because I enjoyed listening to it, so thank you. You are such a good writer and like for this to be your first ever, I'm just so impressed. I'm, I'm so happy.

Adrienne

Hey, like, it goes both ways, like for you, feeling like you were so stuck on this song to write  what you wrote, that was crazy, crazy good and like, you're always a really great writer and you just, like, proved it to me even more with this story.

Katarina

I bow to you.  We bow to each other. (laughs) You know, we did it, fam. We did the damn thing!

Adrienne

We did it!

Katarina

And, and I think it went well. I think like for our first one, we weren't sure what it was going to be like. We weren't sure how it was going to go or what we would write. I think this was...spectacular, we did it.

Adrienne

 Yeah, it was fun. It was fun, but again, it was fun to see the two ways that we took it, the same song. And they're both crazy different, but similar in some ways. And I like that.

Katarina

I love that, like, we both ended up doing like a horror story, ultimately. Tis the season!

Adrienne

It's on the brain.

Katarina

Yeah, that's--that's very true. But I hope everyone at home enjoyed this journey. I hope everyone at home enjoyed our stories. And really, really gets to like... That, you're motivated to go listen to "Boys Get Straight" now, because I want, I want everyone to listen and then go, "what the hell? How do they get this from--?"

Adrienne

Right? Yeah,

Katarina

That's all I want, really. But I think, I think if that's all we have left to say, then...

Adrienne

Yeah, I guess it's time to say goodbye and a giant thank you for listening!

Katarina

Thank you.

Adrienne

To this week's episode of Rhapsody in Reverie. We know it's been a while and we're happy to be back. And we want to give you a really big thank you for checking out this new format. Yeah, we do really hope you like it. We're really excited about it, as we've said multiple times. And we're excited to know your thoughts. Hey, I mean, we just wrote these stories. So if you get thoughts, share them with us. We have tiny, fragile artist egos, but like...

Katarina

Listen, if you hated it, keep it to yourself, if you loved it, tell us!

Adrienne

Yeah, you know, that's the way. And hey, if you're inspired to write a story based on "Boys Get Straight", we hope that you do and let us know how it went for you because it was fun for us. So maybe it'll be fun for you.

Katarina

Yeah. So without further ado, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We are...

Both

@rhapsodypodcast.

Katarina

We haven't done this in a while!

Adrienne

We are @rhapsodypodcast on Twitter and Instagram and we're @rhapsodyinreveriepodcast on Facebook.

Katarina

Thank you. I, I...it's been too long. You should also possibly become a Patreon member, become a patron, because if you do, if you do, we have cool stuff for you, including but not limited to the unedited versions of us reading our stories to each other. You get some video because we're--we're doing this over a zoom call. So you get to see us live reacting to each other's stories. And some other cool stuff, but I mean, that's that's perks enough in my opinion.(laughs)

Adrienne

Obviously

Katarina

Obviously. And yeah, so become a patreon member, get cool stuff! Subscribe to us, please, please, please, please, on iTunes, Stitcher, PodBean, Spotify, whatever Google's podcast app of the month is since they keep changing it.

Adrienne

Accurate.

Katarina

Just-- just go listen to us, please. We want you to be the first to know when we've got more episodes out. Please check the website for announcements rhapsodyinrevery.com, simple enough, and we got lots of cool stuff cooking up in the... In the kitchen for you, I'm losing my analogy.

Adrienne

In the kitchen, wrist twistin' like a Stir-Fry.

Katarina

That's it.

Adrienne

Copyright... Anyway. Yes, check out the Web site and...without...without further ado we done.

Katarina

We done? Do, do I tell them what next week's song is?

Adrienne

Hmm...Do we tell them or surprise them?

Katarina

Oh not next week, not next week. We are now biweekly because this is a lot more work, y'all.

Adrienne

So please value our sanity.

Katarina

Please. So not next week, but the week after next. Sure, what the hell? Next week's song is, "I Don't Belong Here", by Cat Clyde, so if you're familiar with the song, great! I guarantee you won't know what we're going to create, because I don't know. If you don't know the song, now's your chance. Go listen. Maybe you can pick up some vibes or ideas on what you think we're going to write about! Until next week, I guess. Who knows?

Adrienne

Who knows?

Katarina

Shall we bid adieu?

Adrienne

Shall we bid adieu?

Katarina

Adieu?

Adrienne

Yeah, I think so. We, we did it.

Katarina

We did.

Adrienne

So. (singing) Goodbye!

Katarina

(singing)Goodbye! I really, really want to do-- I want to buy the copyright to that song specifically. So we could just sing it!

Adrienne

Right? Because otherwise, we gotta come up with another intro, er, outro.

Katarina

(sighs) Another outro, God.

Adrienne

I don't even know.

Katarina

I don't have the brain power for that my brain hurty, I spent all my energy on writing.

Adrienne

Whatever, y'all know what it is. Goodbye.

Katarina

Happy Halloween!

Adrienne

Yeah, enjoy your Halloween, guys!

Katarina

Peace out.

Adrienne

Hope we gave you some spookiness...and peace out.

Katarina

Yeah.

-Outro Music-