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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and Welcome to Steffan

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Speaker 1: Never Told You a production of iHeartRadio and Welcome once

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Speaker 1: Again at two are ongoing Sminty fiction segments. It has

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Speaker 1: sound effects. Christina is amazing. It makes it sound so good.

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Speaker 1: I love listening to them. This is ongoing, as I said,

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Speaker 1: so please see the past episodes in the series we are.

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Speaker 1: We've been meaning to do a playlist of these to

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Speaker 1: make it easier to keep track of them and what

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Speaker 1: We'll do that soon. But this is the second part

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Speaker 1: of a trilogy that I wrote as part of Nano Raimo.

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Speaker 1: So please, if you have interest, maybe you don't care

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Speaker 1: and you're just like, I'll check this one out, that's fine,

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Speaker 1: But if you want to understand what's going on, maybe

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Speaker 1: go back. I've watched randomly and episode of a TV

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Speaker 1: show like five seasons in.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes I mean I made you do that a couple

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Speaker 2: of times. Yeah, you made me do that a couple

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Speaker 2: of times, trying to make sure when you know what

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Speaker 2: the other one was talking about. So yeah, absolutely do what.

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Speaker 1: You want to do. I'm just making a recommendation that.

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Speaker 2: Like a pick of the playlist where you just do

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Speaker 2: six twelve eight one. Yeah, right, numbers a whole new

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Speaker 2: story is being told that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, one of my favorite books is written in

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Speaker 1: that manner. But it is also like, I try to

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Speaker 1: keep the title of these fiction episodes very clean, but

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Speaker 1: this one, I was like, I have so many pun

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Speaker 1: titles I could make, and I can't make them. But

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Speaker 1: just know that I had a lot of title ideas

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Speaker 1: for this one. So we're going to talk about this

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Speaker 1: more at the end, but this was definitely again I'm

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Speaker 1: kind of rereading this for the first time. I'm editing

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Speaker 1: it very very lightly, and I wrote it in like

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Speaker 1: twenty eleven, and I can tell so clearly where I

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Speaker 1: was at this point in life just by rereading it.

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Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, this was your running phase. You

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Speaker 1: were running from trauma. Oh my god.

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Speaker 2: But we'll talk about that more, not the only one.

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Speaker 1: Yeah it is. I was shocked at how much I

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Speaker 1: was like having such like strange nostalgic Oh, I remember

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Speaker 1: exactly where I was from. Oh yeah. I also want

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Speaker 1: to give the disclaimer that I know nothing about riding horses.

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Speaker 1: I've done it a couple times in my life, and

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Speaker 1: that's it, all right, So brief recap Essentially, there is

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Speaker 1: this disease that is killing off humanity. It's making it

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Speaker 1: very difficult to have children, and the population has just dwindled.

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Speaker 1: Now there is a religious organization that kind of run

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Speaker 1: things alongside the government, and they believe that this whole

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Speaker 1: thing is a punishment. But it turns out that they

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Speaker 1: were kind of the reason that it happened, because they

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Speaker 1: were the ones I wanted to punish people. So our

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Speaker 1: main character is Tilda and Madison. Tilda illegally ran away

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Speaker 1: with her child Madison. She's been on the run. She

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Speaker 1: discovers that the people who are in charge of this

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Speaker 1: religious organization are her son's grandparents. She finds out they

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Speaker 1: destroyed the vaccine that was created, but they left one

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Speaker 1: for Madison, her son, so she gave it to him

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Speaker 1: and then she broadcast about what they did and then

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Speaker 1: ran for it. But now all these people are chasing them.

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Speaker 1: It is winter, it is bad. They don't have food,

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Speaker 1: their clothes are like falling apart. But yes, they have

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Speaker 1: found a generator and they have found kind of a

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Speaker 1: cabin and they're having a bit of a brief respite.

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Speaker 1: But that respite is coming to an end, yes, and

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Speaker 1: we will get into that once we get into our fiction.

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Speaker 1: Tilda dreamt she was running. She had been running, and

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Speaker 1: she was running, and she would be running until her

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Speaker 1: legs would no longer carry her. She ran through fields

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Speaker 1: and through forest, vines, tangling at her feet, her toes

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Speaker 1: scraping along the dirt. Her knees throbbed and her feet burned.

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Speaker 1: With every impact, her lungs seized, and every breath blazed

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Speaker 1: down her throat. She didn't know why she was running

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Speaker 1: or where, only that she had to that she was

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Speaker 1: trapped in this life of running, and that if she stopped,

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Speaker 1: everything stopped, She stopped existing. If she stopped, the world

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Speaker 1: around her would disintegrate into darkness. If she stopped, everything died.

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Speaker 1: The world depended on her to keep running. So she

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Speaker 1: ran in steel twilight that made her blink, made it

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Speaker 1: hard to see where she was going to plant her

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Speaker 1: next foot. The air was cold and unforgiving. Snow collected

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Speaker 1: on her shoes. She ducked under branches and hopped over

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Speaker 1: her roots. Her pace quickened. Something was behind her. She

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Speaker 1: could hear it growling, feel its breath on her neck.

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Speaker 1: And something was in front of her, something she was chasing.

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Speaker 1: Elusive she'd catch slippers of it, slipping between the trees,

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Speaker 1: flashes in the gray. She sped up, even though she

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Speaker 1: was barely standing, even though there was nothing left. Running

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Speaker 1: was her bones, her blood, her existence. The presence behind

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Speaker 1: her reached out. She reached forward, stretching out her fingers.

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Speaker 1: Tilda jilted awake. She blinked, looking around in confusion, her

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Speaker 1: tired brain processing what had broken her up. It couldn't be,

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Speaker 1: but there it was again, neighing, stomping the man with

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Speaker 1: the horse. He was outside. Tilda almost choked on the

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Speaker 1: surge of her fear. She pushed herself down into the couch,

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Speaker 1: her mind flickering over options. Madison slept on unaware. Did

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Speaker 1: he know that they were inside? She thought frantically. How

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Speaker 1: could he not? Though it appeared the generator had cut off,

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Speaker 1: judging by the temperature and lack of noise, Why else

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Speaker 1: would he have back track to be outside of this cabin?

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Speaker 1: And why hadn't he yet entered? Tilda swallowed, contemplating there

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Speaker 1: was nothing she could do. Really, if he was outside,

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Speaker 1: if they snuck out the back, he would undoubtedly hear them,

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Speaker 1: and leaving without their supplies just wasn't an option. It

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Speaker 1: wasn't in her nature, though, to lay down and admit defeat.

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Speaker 1: To wait, She very carefully slipped out from underneath the blankets,

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Speaker 1: not wanting to wake Madison until absolutely necessary. Her toes

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Speaker 1: curled on contact with the cold floor. She must have

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Speaker 1: kicked off her socks in the night. Crouching She crept

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Speaker 1: over to the window, stepping over her clothes and shoes.

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Speaker 1: They should have packed, she knew better. She knew they

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Speaker 1: needed to be ready to leave at any time. Consoled,

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Speaker 1: breaths very steady through her teeth. She was shaking, both

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Speaker 1: with cold and fear. She pressed herself under the window,

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Speaker 1: ducking her head, making sure to stay out of sight. Breathe,

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Speaker 1: she instructed herself, and then slowly, slowly lifted her head

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Speaker 1: to peek out the corner of the window. At first

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Speaker 1: she only saw patches of snow. Wide eyes that fell

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Speaker 1: too open, swept over the landscape unblinking. She jumped, almost

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Speaker 1: losing her balance when the horse snorted, much closer than

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Speaker 1: the last time it entered the frame. Right at the porch,

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Speaker 1: a giant black mare, Tilda watched forgetting her simple instructions

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Speaker 1: to draw breath, she froze and placed The horse palled

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Speaker 1: its way closer to the porch. The man was nowhere

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Speaker 1: in sight. What is that, Madison whispered from the couch.

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Speaker 1: Tilda started again. The man, the man with the horse.

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Speaker 1: Tilda gave a quick nod. What do we do? Madison asked,

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Speaker 1: and for the briefest moment, Tilda resented him, but it

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Speaker 1: just as quickly turned on herself. She didn't know, She

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Speaker 1: didn't have the answers. Get dressed quietly and stayed down

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Speaker 1: out of sight. Madison complied, climbing free of the blankets

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Speaker 1: and collecting his clothes from the pile on the floor.

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Speaker 1: Tilda did the same, eyes latched to the horse as

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Speaker 1: she pulled on her sweater and winter jacket, her winter

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Speaker 1: pants clothes whispering into place. She slid her hands into

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Speaker 1: black gloves and pulled on her hat a soldier preparing

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Speaker 1: for battle. The horse turned its head to the window,

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Speaker 1: as if it could see them through the pane. Tilda

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Speaker 1: glanced at the back door, terrified she see the man

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Speaker 1: waiting just outside. She slipped her arms into her pack,

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Speaker 1: readjusting the straps. She felt more whole with it on complete.

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Speaker 1: The horse whinnied again. Tilda zipped her backpack and slid

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Speaker 1: it on her shoulders. A very daring, very stupid plan

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Speaker 1: forming in her head. Stay down, she intoned, and follow me.

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Speaker 1: They crept along the wall, gloved hand ghosting along the

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Speaker 1: wood paneling with trembling encumbered fingers. She turned full lock

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Speaker 1: with an ominous click. Her breath was coming in pants

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Speaker 1: now shallow short. She could feel Madison at her side,

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Speaker 1: watching her. Scared and confused, she fortified her resolve and

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Speaker 1: twisted the knob, slow, methodical. She winced at the creek.

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Speaker 1: Tilda craned her neck out the door, breath flogging, skin

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Speaker 1: almost recoiling at the cold. She glanced around, looking for

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Speaker 1: the horse's owner. She didn't see him, but she could

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Speaker 1: picture him walking around the cabin, assessing ready to strike.

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Speaker 1: They'd have to move quickly, but very carefully. Reaching behind her,

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Speaker 1: she grabbed Madison's hand, silently communicating for him to keep

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Speaker 1: up with her. The pair of them took quick steps out,

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Speaker 1: staying hunched over and moving as quietly as possible down

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Speaker 1: the stairs. They crept, each one creaking under their weight.

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Speaker 1: Tilda twisted her neck back and forth, looking for the man.

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Speaker 1: Then she turned her eyes to the horse. She slowed down.

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Speaker 1: Not wanting to startle it, she held up her free

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Speaker 1: hand in the universal gesture for I mean no harm.

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Speaker 1: Good girl, Tilda whispered, taking tiny steps closer, approaching very carefully.

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Speaker 1: It's okay. Madison's hand clutched hers more tightly. It had

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Speaker 1: been a long times since she'd ridden a horse. She

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Speaker 1: hoped it was like riding a bike. The horse appeared

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Speaker 1: to be docile. It observed them unworriedly with a twitch

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Speaker 1: of an ear. The horse went back to grazing on

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Speaker 1: what little grass it could find. With care, she drew

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Speaker 1: Madison in front of her and hoisted him up by

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Speaker 1: the armpits, swinging him up into the saddle. Surprised, Madison

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Speaker 1: was resistance at first, unpliable, but he reacted instinctively, putting

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Speaker 1: a foot in the stirrup to help himself over. The

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Speaker 1: horse snorted, and it flicked its tail, but did not protest,

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Speaker 1: otherwise barely giving Tilda a glance. Anticipation made Tilda almost

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Speaker 1: forget the cold. She looked around as she slid one

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Speaker 1: booted foot into the stirrup and heaved herself up and over,

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Speaker 1: putting the other foot in the opposite stirrup. Still nothing,

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Speaker 1: no sign of the horse's owner. She gripped the leather

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Speaker 1: straps around Madison, whispering in his ear. Hold on Madison

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Speaker 1: wound his fingers delicately in the horse's blad. She dug

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Speaker 1: the heels of her boots into the horse's sides, guiding

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Speaker 1: her forward. At first the horse ignored her, but Tilda

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Speaker 1: dug her heels in even more insistently, giving the reins

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Speaker 1: a light flick. The horse acquiesced with the soft whinny okay.

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Speaker 1: Tilda muttered under her breath, tense, trying to get a

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Speaker 1: feel for the riding. She kept the pace slow, following

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Speaker 1: south along the stream. At any moment, she thought she

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Speaker 1: was going to hear a man shout, hear the pounding

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Speaker 1: of boots as he chased after them, realizing she'd stolen

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Speaker 1: his horse. But all she heard was the sound of

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Speaker 1: their breathing and the muffled cloth clopping of the horse's

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Speaker 1: hoofs on the snow and leaves, almost lost to the

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Speaker 1: cracking and shushing of ice and snow thawing and falling

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Speaker 1: from limbs. Relaxing a bit more into it, Tilda pushed

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Speaker 1: the horse to move a bit more quickly, she hesitated

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Speaker 1: to do anything above a trot, afraid they'd fall off,

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Speaker 1: or the horse would trip up over an unseen obstacle,

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Speaker 1: or one they may be going too hastily to avoid.

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Speaker 1: Madison looked from side to side, apparently relishing their vantage

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Speaker 1: point from atop the mare. I can't believe it, he whispered,

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Speaker 1: nearly giddy or riding a horse. I never thought i'd

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Speaker 1: buy a horse. Tilda made a nonca mental sound of agreement,

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Speaker 1: not yet convinced that they were out of danger. Her

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Speaker 1: neck hurt from craning it around to look for threats

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Speaker 1: and keeping it bent downward in an attempt to see

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Speaker 1: the path in front of them. What should we call her?

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Speaker 1: You name her mouse? He went quiet for a long moment,

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Speaker 1: thinking I guess Lynn wouldn't want a horse named after her.

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Speaker 1: What about no? Hmm, scout, scout it is, Tilda said distractedly.

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Speaker 1: You don't think I'm hurting her? Do you? He asked pruptfully,

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Speaker 1: referring to his hands twisted in her knee. Nah, Tilda dismissed,

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Speaker 1: navigating them around a fallen tree. Are we heavy? Too heavy? Now?

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Speaker 1: I think we're pretty light, Madison, she assured him. I

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Speaker 1: can't believe I stole a horse. Madison sounded both odd

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Speaker 1: and frightened. Do you think that man will come after us?

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Speaker 1: I don't know, Tilda murmured, her standard response these days.

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Speaker 1: But keep an eye out, okay, let me know if

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Speaker 1: you see anything. Yeah, Madison nodded, immediately swiveling his head

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Speaker 1: to take in their surroundings. Everything fell away from Tilda

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Speaker 1: except guiding the horse. Guiding scouted onward. She was too

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Speaker 1: cold to be comfortable, but she was very glad to

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Speaker 1: have this horse. Instead of venturing onward on foot. She

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Speaker 1: only hoped the man they'd stolen it from didn't have friends.

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Speaker 1: Madison seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly, which did make

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Speaker 1: Tilda feel better about the whole situation. The initial novelty

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Speaker 1: had worn off, but only just. He looked around attentatively,

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Speaker 1: clouds of breath escaping his lips, cataloging, categorizing, studying. The

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Speaker 1: wood was thickened, then thinned. At its deepest. The trees

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Speaker 1: were so close that Tilda was constantly pulling the reins

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Speaker 1: to avoid the barren trunks of them. Now that a

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Speaker 1: good bit of the ice had thought, the creek gurgled

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Speaker 1: beside them, the path grew rocky around midday. Scout hesitated,

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Speaker 1: questioning Tilda's guidance, Rocks clacking as they were dispodged from

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Speaker 1: their place and sent rolling down the mountain. Tilda became

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Speaker 1: consumed with the next step, afraid Scout would get one

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Speaker 1: of her host stuck and fall, snapping a leg. Tilda's

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Speaker 1: heart raced at the thought of it. Even Madison sat

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Speaker 1: straighter as the pass deepened, both in reaction to the

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Speaker 1: gravity and the tension he no doubt could sense. Rolling

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Speaker 1: off Tilda in waves, they came to a stone bridge,

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Speaker 1: naturally made from what Tilda could tell, spanning a gaping

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Speaker 1: stone gulch carved into the rock. Crossing the archway on

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Speaker 1: icy stone made Tilda nervous, but a quick sweep of

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Speaker 1: the landscape informed her that this was the only way,

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Speaker 1: at least with going far far out of the way

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Speaker 1: to cross. Acid burning in her stomach, she coked Scout

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Speaker 1: forward over the impressive rock structure. The horse faltered a

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Speaker 1: bit at the change of surface, tilled, the stomach swooped,

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Speaker 1: and Madison gasped. The drop was sheer, a river flowing

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Speaker 1: just beneath the ice and breaking the frozen surface in

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Speaker 1: some places like scrapes, with white waters surging up and

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Speaker 1: onto the ice like puffs. Trees and ferns were growing

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Speaker 1: out of the rock face. Until I could see a

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Speaker 1: waterfall to her right, a quiet roar. She kept her

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Speaker 1: eyes trained on the other side, her nostrils flaring, her

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Speaker 1: mouth like cotton. After the arch reached its peak and

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Speaker 1: started to crest downward, Scouts slid and had to trot

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Speaker 1: the rest of the way down so as to keep

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Speaker 1: her balance, til to let out an explosive breath. Grateful

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Speaker 1: to be on solid ground, she looked back at the bridge,

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Speaker 1: out of place in the perfection of the arch, This

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Speaker 1: one slab of rock, impervious to erosion and symmetrically carved

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Speaker 1: a bridge in the middle of nowhere, as if nature

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Speaker 1: knew people would need a way to pass. The rocky

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Speaker 1: slopes pled into gentle waves of hills, the trees vastly

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Speaker 1: spread out, giving them a better view of the sky

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Speaker 1: than they'd had in days. Free of the treacherous sloping descent,

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Speaker 1: Tilda found a stopping place under a hulking tree trunk

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Speaker 1: warped in gray. She slid off Scout with wobbly legs

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Speaker 1: and helped Madison hop down. She led Scout by the

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Speaker 1: reins to the tree, detaching one end and reattaching it

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Speaker 1: to a low hanging tree branch. Madison ran his hand

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Speaker 1: along Scout's hide quickly back and forth, and Scout nudged

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Speaker 1: his cheek with her snout, and what Tilda interpreted as

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Speaker 1: a sign of affection, Madison giggled he petted her nose.

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Speaker 1: Tilda shrugged off her pack, wondering how they'd feed Scout.

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Speaker 1: The horse seemed content with muching on grass, but Tilda

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Speaker 1: knew that wouldn't couldn't last, and water. She'd need water

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Speaker 1: as well. Scout was already lapping spring water from the creek.

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Speaker 1: That would do for now, Tilda thought, heavily, digging out

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Speaker 1: small bottle of water for her and Madison each. She

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Speaker 1: handed one to Madison. He struggled with a cap, twisting

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Speaker 1: it this way and that with tiny gruntz of frustration.

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Speaker 1: Tilda snatched it back, tucking her own in the crook

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Speaker 1: of her elbow and twisting the cap off, Popping it

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Speaker 1: back into his hands. He slipped greedily. Tilda opened her

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Speaker 1: own and swallowed, slowly, relishing the cool water against her

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Speaker 1: burning dry throat. Tilda and Madison settled against the tree

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Speaker 1: trunk as they drank, while Scout alternately dipped her nose

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Speaker 1: in the stream or nibbled at tufts of grass. They

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Speaker 1: each got a protein bar stale like dust but chewy.

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Speaker 1: Somehow they tasted like jam and saw dust. Tilda's stomach curdled.

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Speaker 1: She sipped more water, taking control breaths. She untied Scout

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Speaker 1: and they set out again. Tilda estimated they had about

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Speaker 1: five hours of sunlight left. She had to guess, and

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Speaker 1: there was little to do outside of speculate and an

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Speaker 1: attempt to ignore the numbing of her body at the

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Speaker 1: cold and at the long stints of being seated on

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Speaker 1: Scout's back. She'd guess they'd be out of the forest tomorrow,

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Speaker 1: especially now that they were on horseback, but she had

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Speaker 1: no way of knowing. Really. There was still the question

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Speaker 1: of what to do then. Where to go South was

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Speaker 1: still a good bet, but visiting her parents no longer

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Speaker 1: seemed like a viable option. She hadn't taken it off

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Speaker 1: the table yet, but it would be very risky. She

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Speaker 1: didn't know what else to do. Their close call on

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Speaker 1: the cold woods, almost freezing to death with no one

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Speaker 1: to know their fate, had made it abundantly clear that

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Speaker 1: life on the road could not go on indefinitely. They

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Speaker 1: needed to find some security. It was a basic need

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Speaker 1: that had gone unmet for too long. Most of Madison's life,

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Speaker 1: she'd been unable to offer him that. That brings us

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Speaker 1: to the end of this chapter of Terminus Part two,

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Speaker 1: which again is officially called big Things Start Small. But

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Speaker 1: I figured i'd keep it clear with Dermanist part two.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I definitely, as I said, when I was

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Speaker 1: reading this, I was shocked at how clear some of

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Speaker 1: these memories came back to me. For instance, enter the

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Speaker 1: man with the horse. This whole chapter is sort of like,

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Speaker 1: who is this guy on the horse? What is he doing?

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Speaker 1: So I used to back on my college campus. They

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Speaker 1: fixed this, to my knowledge, but I used to I

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Speaker 1: didn't get along with my roommates, so I would hang

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Speaker 1: out with my friend on the opposite side of campus,

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Speaker 1: and that was like a mile and a half away,

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Speaker 1: And so I would walk back late at night from

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Speaker 1: her dorm to my dorm, and there was twenty four

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Speaker 1: seconds I would count where there were no lights, and

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Speaker 1: so I called it my twenty four seconds and so

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Speaker 1: that there's a scene in here. I was like, oh

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Speaker 1: my god, I'm right twenty four cent. I even wrote

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Speaker 1: a short story about it. But one night, some of

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Speaker 1: you may remember, there was a tornado that touched down

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Speaker 1: in Atlanta and I got this frightening text message that

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Speaker 1: turned out to just be from the campus, but it

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Speaker 1: said like get up, get in now, or you won't survive.

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Speaker 1: I was freaking out, and I'm walking back and it's

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Speaker 1: at the twenty four seconds its stormedy, It's horrible, and

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Speaker 1: there was a black horse, I swear to God, just

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Speaker 1: walking by, and I was terrified.

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Speaker 2: Was it a ghost? Was a headless man on their table?

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Speaker 1: Well, so the next day after that there was no

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Speaker 1: headless man Samantha. After you know, kind of we were

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Speaker 1: taking stocks and the damage that had been done that

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Speaker 1: there was at that a lot of animals got loose

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Speaker 1: during this tornado. But I listen to me, I saw

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Speaker 1: the black horse was so scared. So this is this

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Speaker 1: chapter is largely inspired.

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Speaker 2: Oh my goodness. Yeah, yeah, I was working at this point,

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Speaker 2: like I was in career.

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Speaker 1: Mode, right, yeah, I don't that was a very I

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Speaker 1: was a bizarre when that tornado touched it at yeah,

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Speaker 1: but yeah, just definitely. It is interesting to look back

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Speaker 1: on the old things you wrote and be like, oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: I remember right, No, well, well that yes, the horse

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Speaker 1: might have been but this the inspiration of that because

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Speaker 1: I still walked that length every night because I didn't

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Speaker 1: like my roommates. Yes, yes, and then I had to.

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Speaker 1: I wrote it in French because I was in Advanced

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Speaker 1: French at the time, and I wrote the story of

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Speaker 1: the twenty It was called the twenty four Seconds about this,

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Speaker 1: so it was a big fit. It stuck with me.

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Speaker 2: Obviously, and the horse.

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Speaker 1: I mean, if you if you had seen what I seen,

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Speaker 1: absolutely I hope you enjoyed it. Listeners, because we do

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Speaker 1: love doing these and Christina does such an amazing job

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Speaker 1: as always. If you have any suggestions for something we

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Speaker 1: could read from the public domain, that would be great.

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Speaker 1: That'd be really fun. We could even try some voice

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Speaker 1: acting that'd be great. But in the meantime, if you

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Speaker 1: have thoughts about this, we have theories about this. Who

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Speaker 1: is the man on the horse, so I don't know?

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Speaker 1: You can email us at FDA mom Stuff at iHeartMedia

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Speaker 1: dot com. You can find us on Twitter at mom

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Speaker 1: Stuff podcast or on Instagram. And TikTok at stuff I

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Speaker 1: Never told You. We have a tea Belk store, and

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00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:01,920
Speaker 1: we have a book you can get wherever you get

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Speaker 1: your books. Thanks as always to our super producer Christina,

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Speaker 1: executive producer Maya, and your contributor Joey. Thank you and

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00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 1: thanks to you for listening. Stefan Never Told You is

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Speaker 1: production of by Heart Radio. For more podcast from my

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Speaker 1: heart Radio, you can check out the heart Radio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,