1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:03,240 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,360 Speaker 2: Book Club book Club book Club. Hello and welcome to 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 2: the Cool Zone Media book Club, the only book club 4 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 2: where you don't have to do the reading because I 5 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,639 Speaker 2: do it for you. And this week we have a 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 2: tore the force from an author, artist and musician named 7 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 2: Alex Smith. It's called Girls Who Look Through Glass and 8 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 2: it's from Alex's phenomenal twenty twenty two collection Arc Dust 9 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 2: from Rosarium Publishing. There's so much in this story to 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 2: be excited about. It has incredibly niche, radical cultural references. 11 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 2: It has a main character who brandishes a box cutter 12 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 2: as her blade of choice. It has white people being 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 2: extra white. It has divine metaphors for the experience of 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 2: grief or of being newly called into radical movements. I 15 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 2: don't actually totally know what the metaphor is exactly about. 16 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 2: It's up to you because that's the beauty of reading, 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 2: and it's what makes this story so good. So let's 18 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 2: get into it. Girls Who Look Through Glass by Alex Smith. 19 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 2: Packs of artismal biscuits stacked in several rows, shrink wrapped 20 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 2: and dusty rows of organic pickled sour kraut and reclaimed 21 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 2: mason jars. She wields her box cutter over these items, 22 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 2: like a samurai with her sword, ripping through splintered cardboard 23 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 2: boxes down the aisles decorated with rows of burlap sacks 24 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 2: filled with bacon infused, gluten free Sarascha bars and oatcakes, 25 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 2: and cellophane bags adorned with pictures of old white men 26 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 2: on horses. She slits the top of a package with 27 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 2: one precise, gentle glide, ignoring the picture of a knife 28 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 2: with a ghostbuster slash through it, her blade gently grazing 29 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 2: a packet of caramelized satan chips. She then snaps the 30 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 2: blade back in its metal sheath and glides the thing 31 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 2: into her back pocket. It's a delicate act of violence. 32 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,519 Speaker 2: The aisles are quiet tonight. Minutes ago, they were a 33 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 2: yammering mix of gentrifiers glued to their cell phones on 34 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 2: conference calls and soccer moms shrewish in their investigation of 35 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 2: every ingredient in the packs of incense and the bags 36 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 2: of frozen kale lining their carts. The only time it 37 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 2: seemed to her that any of them cared about whether 38 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 2: something was organic or free range was if enough of 39 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 2: the horde was within earshot. They all seemed to compete 40 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,399 Speaker 2: for airtime, bearded hipsters with their own grocery bags made 41 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 2: of hemp rope, hipping nannies and thrifted sun dresses, still 42 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 2: caked in dirt from repairing bikes all day or planting 43 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 2: back CHOI in the hydroponic garden they started in the 44 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:02,239 Speaker 2: cemetery behind a school. Ma'am, that's it's not free range, 45 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 2: it's lettuce, she'd say, talking a whittled down pencil behind 46 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 2: her ear, straightening her apron, backing away incrementally, trying to 47 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,679 Speaker 2: blend back into the background, as if she never existed. 48 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 2: But I do exist, she says out loud, snapping out 49 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 2: of her reverie. Where am I? A quick look around 50 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 2: at the shelves, some barren and scattered, some so sloppily haphazard, 51 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 2: now melting frozen soy shark fin dangling over a row 52 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 2: of Newminow's cookies and botanical powdered nutrient bath supplements tossed 53 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 2: behind cans of overpriced Amy's three Bean soup that she 54 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 2: might have wandered out loud if any of that postgraduate 55 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 2: school money they were earning could afford her customers some manners, 56 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 2: she let out a snort, Oh yeah, inventory, She lifts 57 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 2: herself off of her knees, dusts herself off habit, checks 58 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 2: for her box cutter. Get hold of yourself, Vanda. Most 59 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 2: nights were spent in the back room, sitting with Chef, 60 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 2: watching her chain smoke as she scrolls through reels of 61 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 2: security tape looking for anything odd she might have missed 62 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 2: on her shift. Hey, baby girl, Chef calls to Vanda, 63 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 2: patting the chair beside her as if to say sit, 64 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 2: letting out sick ropey streams of smoke with every word 65 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 2: she barks. A white girl from the Northeast who battled 66 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 2: through the meth epidemic unscathed. Chef's presence is commanding. Her 67 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 2: belly is a mound of asymmetrical flesh easing around her 68 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 2: overalls in a liquid swim. Chef's fingers are sawn off 69 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 2: sticks racked with jaundice and dirt. Her hair a swathe 70 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 2: of tangled grease. Chef laughs, points a cigaretted hand at 71 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 2: her monitor while Vonda eases into the doorway. This girl, 72 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 2: she says, still chuckling. This girl on the goddamn trench coat. 73 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 2: What a god damn creeper. Vonda takes a step or 74 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 2: two towards the monitor. She pulls back her long dreads 75 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 2: and squints tightly focusing. There's a woman on the screen 76 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 2: and a long black trench coat, yes, and a black, 77 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 2: wide brimmed hat. Vonda thinks the woman on the monitor 78 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 2: looks ridiculous. Who is that? She asks Chef what, I 79 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 2: don't know? I thought you knew. Chef retorts, more amused 80 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 2: than astonished. She just sort of appears on the screen 81 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:33,119 Speaker 2: over here every time you do, like she scrolls, yeah, 82 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 2: like right here, you're spraying down the apples, and she 83 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 2: just sort of stands there, like hovering or some shit. 84 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 2: I don't know. You're telling me you don't know her. Nah, 85 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 2: Wonda whispers, as the hair on her back gently ripples. Nah, 86 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 2: I don't know that woman. Oh Jesus Christ. The woman 87 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 2: on the screen seems to chruscade as she moves, Her 88 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 2: body smeared with traces of staticky black lines. The mystery woman, 89 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 2: this vague creature. She looks like a smudge of clotted ink, 90 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 2: barely cohesive, her every movement a streak. Did you just 91 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 2: see that? See what? She's just standing there? 92 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 3: What? 93 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 2: Chef looks at Fonda with concern. You are right, baby girl. 94 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 2: Wonda usually balks when Chef calls her baby girl. It 95 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:22,119 Speaker 2: feels unfamiliar and a little forced, ripped from a butch 96 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 2: to English dictionary, But this time, feeling a little woozy, 97 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 2: Wonda lets it slide without any remarks or turn of 98 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:34,159 Speaker 2: the lip. Wonda is transfixed on the security monitor. The 99 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 2: woman of static stops moving suddenly in the middle of 100 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 2: rummaging through apples, straightening up and smoothing out her coat, 101 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 2: turning until she seems to be facing the camera. Peering 102 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 2: through the monitor screen. Her eyes are small beads swimming 103 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 2: around underneath thick horned rims. She looks directly into the camera, 104 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 2: her lips like a total blur, moving rapidly as if 105 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 2: speaking in tongues. WHOA okay, that's different. Chef yells, is 106 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 2: this some kind of prank, Vonda? It's like she knows 107 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 2: we watching her or some shit like now in real time. 108 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 2: Chef's voice quiets, as if she realizes the ridiculousness of 109 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 2: her own statement. Honestly, I swear I've never seen her 110 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 2: in my life, Wonda exclaims, panicking. Vonda can feel her 111 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 2: breath getting shorter, her words, quavering, bouncing and tingling off 112 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 2: the back room walls like metallic feathers. She moves nervously 113 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 2: closer to her Chef's sitting, bending down and nearly shoving 114 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 2: her face into the screen. Wonda gets so close that 115 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 2: a waft of the smoky husk it's cardamom and carcinogen 116 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 2: emanating off of Chef seems to float there in the 117 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 2: space around her, like an aura. The woman in the 118 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 2: trench coat leaps suddenly at them, her mouth wide, gnarled 119 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 2: and grotesque, her fingers long and wiry. They both jump. 120 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 2: Chef loses her cigarette, nearly out of her chair. The 121 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 2: screen turns to fuzz and static, then black, and then 122 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 2: back to the serenity of the co op, where hippies 123 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 2: and stay at home dads with large headed white babies 124 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 2: and cloth sings on their backs, frolic amidst vegan peanut 125 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 2: shoes and kale chips. But you saw that, though, right, 126 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 2: Fonda asks Chef, with a tremor snaking through her voice. 127 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 2: I'm not. I'm not just seeing things, am I? I 128 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 2: don't know? That was fucking surreal? What am I even seeing? 129 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 2: Baby girl? Wonda unfolds a chair leaning on the wall 130 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,079 Speaker 2: and slumps down in it beside her coworker. She cups 131 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 2: her face in her hands and sighs deeply after a 132 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 2: moment with Chef staring at her as if Vonda would 133 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 2: provide an explanation somehow magically, perhaps to the weird shit 134 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 2: they'd both seen. Chef, I don't know, Wonda huffs. She 135 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 2: leans back, reaching for Chef's pack of cigarettes, one left. 136 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 2: She pops the lucy out and gently tosses the pack 137 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 2: at Chef, who startled, catches it in her nicotine stained, 138 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 2: yellowing fingers and stop calling me that, now call everybody that, 139 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 2: Chef responds, turning back to the monitor, her voice a 140 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 2: muted murmur. And do you know who will always call 141 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,199 Speaker 2: you baby girl? In a maternal but still kind of 142 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 2: stilted way. That's right, it's the products and services that 143 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 2: support this show because they love you so very dearly, 144 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 2: But the confines of capitalism must always keep them at 145 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:55,319 Speaker 2: arms distance. Here's ads, and we're back. Vonda Ray leans 146 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 2: against the wall behind the co op. Her backpack is 147 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 2: filled with pre rotting potatoes, some bottles of a discontinued 148 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 2: brand of cumin, coriander, or regano allspice with Gwyneth Paltrow's 149 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 2: face on them and a bundle of scallions that were 150 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 2: She finally admits to herself just cold jacked off the rack. 151 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 2: She smokes a cigarette. Chef leaves the store too, with 152 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 2: two other coworkers. Hey, Vonda pulls a head off the cigarette. Hey, 153 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 2: all done in there? Yeah. Chef bangs the heavy door shut, 154 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 2: then pounds at it with her fist. This bitch is secure. 155 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,679 Speaker 2: She leans into Wonda's ear. No fucking ghost creeps in 156 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 2: this rat trap on my shift, believe that. Chef smiles 157 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,079 Speaker 2: a breathy smile, puts her hand on Vonda's shoulder. You're 158 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 2: gonna be all right, yeah, Vonda manages to smile back. Yeah, 159 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 2: I'm good. She watches Chef and their two co workers 160 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 2: amble down forty ninth Street, recounting their day, ruminating about 161 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 2: shitty customers and the dilapidated point of sale systems, repeat failures, 162 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 2: and as they disappear around the corner of Florence Street, 163 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 2: she turns her attention to the tendrils of smoke. She 164 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 2: blows into the crisp night air. The moon is out 165 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 2: a reflecting pool of milk suspended in black a weird 166 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 2: mirror aimed at our hearts, so we can see in 167 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 2: the darkness, so we can see our own souls. Vonda 168 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 2: gets a text from one of her roommates. Are you coming? 169 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 2: You're supposed to bring cardboard from the co op dumpster. 170 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 2: She texts back, not tonight, You, of all people, should 171 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 2: be there tonight, with a frowny face emoji. She starts 172 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 2: and stops a message several times, struggling to articulate what 173 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 2: she feels. It's the same weight of emotion whenever she 174 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 2: neglects a chore on the chore wheel, or whenever she's 175 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 2: a day late for rent, or when she's playing music 176 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 2: a little too loudly on her laptop tucked in her room, 177 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 2: wishing the day away. When she's sitting in the living 178 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 2: room having cheerios with a friend and watching Akira on 179 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 2: the so called community VCR, she's taking too much advantage 180 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 2: of the space. When she's in her room smoking weed 181 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,559 Speaker 2: with her on again, off again Caroline, she's being antisocial. 182 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 2: Being the black girl in an all white community house 183 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,680 Speaker 2: in West Philadelphia feels like being stuck in the gravitron 184 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 2: at a carnival, dizzying, crushing weight, slamming her against the wall, 185 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 2: a palpable gravity with no tangible manipulator, just constantly being 186 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 2: betrayed by an unseen force. I'm erased here, she told 187 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 2: Caroline over a bowl a few nights ago. Just I 188 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 2: don't know, Like, how did I get here? 189 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: You know? 190 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 2: Caroline followed Vonda's grand gesture of here by looking around 191 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 2: the room, posters of Pat Benattar, a book on the situationists, 192 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 2: a pile of band t shirts with names like filth 193 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 2: and pig Destroyer littering the floor. I don't know, cuz, 194 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 2: Caroline hummed, exhaling her slow Southern draw, untainted by two 195 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 2: years of living in Philly, eking out across lips so 196 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 2: dark they were black. Seems like you'd fit right in here, 197 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 2: Vonda smiled. She liked the way Caroline's voice reminded her 198 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 2: of the women she knew from the South, women who 199 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 2: could weave a mosaic in corn rows, whose sweet tea 200 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 2: poured out of a jug like cotton candy. The question 201 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 2: is miss thing, Caroline said, putting the blunt out on 202 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 2: a makeshift tin can ash tray and removing her oversized 203 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:39,319 Speaker 2: African print top and what seemed like one motion, what 204 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 2: the hell am I doing here? They grinned at each other. 205 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 2: Vonda's foot graced Caroline's leg, her toes walking up her 206 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 2: friend's shin come here and find out. And now, while 207 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 2: her roommates gather in the living room, hands sticky with 208 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 2: glue and palms covered in ink, She's in that space again, 209 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,560 Speaker 2: desperately seeking something to give her control over her life, 210 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 2: to give her space to scream. Vonda turns her phone 211 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 2: on again. She's going to put an end to this shit. Yeah, 212 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 2: she'd worked enough hours at the co op, saved a 213 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 2: little cash. She'd stay on Caroline's couch for a week 214 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 2: or two until she could come up with the remainder 215 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 2: for a deposit. The worst she figured was that, yeah, 216 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 2: she had stayed at the shelter before, and yeah, she 217 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 2: could sell her cousin's broken bike for parts. So it 218 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 2: was okay. It was time to go, and she was 219 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 2: going to do it through a text message, sure, a 220 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 2: taste of their own note leaving angry text messaging Facebook 221 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 2: shaming medicine in all caps. Wonda would scream this time 222 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 2: for sure, not just in pursuit of a metaphorical truth 223 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 2: on her phone's screen. The letters swirl around in a 224 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 2: strange soup. They danced like embers, then erupt, leaping from 225 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 2: the phone itself. Pixels form a dust cl like a 226 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:05,239 Speaker 2: swirl of one hundred star particles pulled from everywhere, coalescing 227 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 2: until they are a static body. A girl, A girl 228 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 2: of static meshy dust and cosmic ephemera appears before Vonda, 229 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 2: radiating shattered light. A ghost. 230 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 3: Do not be afraid of me, please, I don't have 231 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 3: much time. 232 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 2: This can't be fucking real. Wonda sinks to her knees. 233 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 2: The ghost being swirls about her, an ionized creature half there, flickering. 234 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 2: Vonda reaches to touch it, but. 235 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 3: No, I don't think you should touch me. Please, we 236 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 3: haven't much time. 237 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 2: What are you? The woman from the store from before? 238 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 3: No, I am not wait, there were. 239 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 2: Others, panic strikes, the ghost woman's already tiny, darkly radioactive voice. 240 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 2: She's phasing in and out. 241 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 3: Please, we are beings of light. We mean you no harm. 242 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 3: But the dark ones are coming. The Ragnar Rocks, the 243 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 3: trimetric Camara, the monastic order of the temporal Nights. Those 244 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 3: who bear no name except the name of the all 245 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 3: acclaimed everything. 246 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 2: The men, the radiant being cast its gaze up and 247 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 2: behind Vonda. It freezes, hovering there. It's lightning pulsing now 248 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 2: in and out, from bright flash to dull glimmer. If 249 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 2: it's possible for a ghost to turn pale, that's what 250 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 2: Vonda would be seen at. Do now. But do you 251 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 2: know what will never jump scare you? It's certainly not 252 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 2: these corniass ad transitions that we write in that disrupt 253 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 2: the flow of the narrative. Couldn't be them. All of 254 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 2: the products and services that sponsor the show are the 255 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 2: perfectly approachable kinds of divine, and not the scary kinds 256 00:16:54,640 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 2: of divine. Here's ads, and we're back. Vonda slowly stands up, 257 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 2: turns around. Two bodies emerge from the black void of 258 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 2: a shadow. They're every step like a scratch on concrete. 259 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 2: Their faces, not quite like those of men, partially obscured 260 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,199 Speaker 2: by scarves hidden under long brimmed hats and high buttoned 261 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:35,880 Speaker 2: trench coats and horned rimmed glasses, are scaly and wet set. 262 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 2: One of them hisses, sirie, it's a child. The other 263 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 2: whispers a husky, dark scratch of a voice where the 264 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 2: men who's an ape? 265 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: Is pitched black? 266 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 2: We're the ones who drink to death the stars. Then 267 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,400 Speaker 2: a third emerges, the woman from the security video. Her 268 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 2: form like a lump and snake, a stepless shuffle of feet, 269 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:03,440 Speaker 2: obscured by her trench dragging the floor. Shay, who we are, 270 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 2: she demands. 271 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 3: No, perhaps you will drink. 272 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 2: But not of this light. The ghost woman bursts into 273 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 2: a searing light, an explosion that shatters the car windows 274 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 2: around them. When the light dims, there's blackness. The ghost 275 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,440 Speaker 2: woman is a crystallized glass shell, her torso large, smoky 276 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,639 Speaker 2: black onyx. She falls to the ground. Vonda lunges to 277 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,000 Speaker 2: grab her, bracing herself for the catch. The ghost woman 278 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 2: looks heavy, but when Vonda embraces her, she realizes that 279 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:42,159 Speaker 2: the ghost Woman is soft as gossamer and nearly as 280 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 2: light as the air around them. Veinlike cracks weave up 281 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 2: the creature's arm and shoulders and back. From only such 282 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 2: a gentle touch of Wonda's well worn box, tearing blunt 283 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:59,359 Speaker 2: rolling fingers, give her to me, child. The men in 284 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:04,639 Speaker 2: black coats are hovering over them, opal shadows warp around them. No, 285 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 2: they scream when they sense that Vonda has no intention 286 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 2: of handing over the ghost woman, so freely they lurch 287 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 2: for her. With one swift motion, Vonda snatches her box 288 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 2: cutter from her back pocket with one hand, holding the 289 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 2: ghost woman with her other. And Vonda is on a 290 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 2: patchy grass plane. She is being carried in a cage 291 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 2: like carriage by hulking men, all smoldering, all coal skinned, 292 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 2: and barely clothed. The sun rides high and drifts on 293 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:43,879 Speaker 2: its own vibratory heat stroked mirages. The men stop as 294 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 2: Vonda gasps wildly, as if she has emerged from the 295 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 2: sea itself. Her eyes search the space. In the reflection 296 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:56,360 Speaker 2: of shiny tin bangles that adorn the carrier cage, she 297 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 2: sees herself. She is draped and shimmering, playful accouterments like 298 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 2: a North African queen, perhaps jewelry and colorful clothes wrapped 299 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 2: tightly around her. But is that her? She looks closer, 300 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 2: and the woman reflected back as jet black, shaven, with 301 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 2: eyes so watery they seem about to burst. She's beautiful, 302 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 2: Wonda whispers, raising her hand to the reflection, the reflection 303 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 2: doing the same. We must protect the virgin princess Virgin 304 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 2: Vonda says aloud. She opens the curtain, and through its 305 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 2: veil she sees an army amassing over the horizon, whom 306 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 2: the carrier cage lands with a thought on the ground. 307 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 2: A hatch is opened, and a wrinkled, gnarled hand pokes 308 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 2: its way through to her protect the Virgin Queen. A 309 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 2: cackling voice emits. The hand gently yanks Vonda out into 310 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 2: the sun soaked world. She is the one who should 311 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 2: be protecting us. She is the one who has spent 312 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 2: her life in the King's glass house, fed the knowledge 313 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 2: of the ancestors. She who has fought dragons in pits 314 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 2: of living entrails since the age of two. Let her 315 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 2: pass her sword through the bosom of our enemy with 316 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 2: the might of isis herself. The woman is frail, a 317 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:27,280 Speaker 2: small thing, hunchbacked, her gowns heavier than she is. The 318 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 2: old crone of a woman ambles over towards a small 319 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 2: thatched quiver and pulls from it a small sword. She 320 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 2: hands it to Vonda, staring deep into her eyes, past 321 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 2: the eyes of the Virgin princess that crone perhaps once knew, 322 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 2: and into the eyes of Vonda. The co op girl herself. 323 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 2: It's time now, child, the old woman says, calmer knowingly, 324 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 2: one bony hand atop Wonda's with her other hand holding 325 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,679 Speaker 2: the unsheathed bladed end of a sword. Vonda takes the 326 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,679 Speaker 2: sword reluctantly. She looks from it, and then to the soldiers, 327 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 2: to the woman, then finally to the gathering of large, 328 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 2: grotesque white men carrying horn shaped muskets across the horizon, 329 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 2: edging violently ever closer, the hoofs of horses and giraffes 330 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 2: and elephants sounding through the velt, getting louder until they're 331 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 2: like jackhammers on the West Philly Street at six thirty 332 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 2: in the morning. The white men's muskets crack the still 333 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 2: quiet air, and beside Vonda the men in war paint 334 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:36,159 Speaker 2: and loincloth fall. They are black drops of rain hitting 335 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 2: the earth and death. Vonda faces the old Crone, who 336 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 2: has gone into a smile, even though her soldiers fall 337 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 2: to an unknown magic with a sulfur discharge. Now, the 338 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 2: Crone whispers. Now she steps aside to let Vonda face 339 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 2: the war as it swirls around them. A pale ashen, snarling, 340 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 2: bush faced man on a harnessed lion right in her face, 341 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 2: the beast's tongue licking her eyebrow. Strike. Now, Fonda, the 342 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 2: Virgin Princess, swings her blade at the lion, catching it 343 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 2: in the belly, and with the same twist of the 344 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:20,959 Speaker 2: box cutter. One being in black falls down to the 345 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 2: ground in a heap blackness spewing out of him, once 346 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 2: as thick bloodlike liquid, then as evaporating inky shadow stuff. 347 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 2: A deafening scream emits from it, as if it has 348 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 2: never experienced harm before. Around the corner, a stream of 349 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 2: men on motorbikes blast up the street. A gaggle of 350 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 2: frat boys, drunkenly looking for a pub stumble up the sidewalks. 351 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 2: An army of gay boys laughing at women loaded down 352 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 2: with grocery bags, and a few children shoulder past them. 353 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 2: The perfect cover to get away, Vonda, on instinct, grabs 354 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:02,440 Speaker 2: the now of fine glass ghost woman eschewing the streets, 355 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 2: cutting through backyards and over fences, Vonda races forward, eyes ahead, 356 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,680 Speaker 2: her one free hand on her box cutter, now searching 357 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 2: for her keys. We're going out the vigils tonight, but 358 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 2: it's almost midnight. Oh my god, it's an all night 359 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 2: vigil robot squad is going They're doing a puppet show. 360 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 2: Isn't wait? Isn't this a peaceful vigil put on by 361 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:34,760 Speaker 2: Black Lives for Justice? What is that? An art project? 362 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 2: Vonda forgot that she's holding a glass woman in her hands. Yeah, 363 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 2: she says, looking past her nosy roommates to the stairs, 364 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,120 Speaker 2: an art project. Sure. She beats a path up the stairs, 365 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 2: leaving unspoken chides lodged in the agape mouths of her 366 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 2: judgmental roommates, and into the hallway, nearly knocking her room 367 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 2: door off the hinges. She closes it behind her, tosses 368 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 2: her bag on the floor, and lays the ghost woman 369 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,119 Speaker 2: on her mattress. Vonda can see her now. The ghost 370 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:09,119 Speaker 2: Woman's hips are wide, her chest ample, her lips lush. 371 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 2: She seems quite large, almost seven feet tall. The cracks 372 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 2: in her shell slowly closed, sealed with dim thinning radiance. 373 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,679 Speaker 2: Vonda sits in the corner, murmuring to herself her roommates, 374 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 2: They of the chore wheel, of the dumpstered vegan shrimp, 375 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 2: of the combination organic cotton knitting circle slash China Mieville 376 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 2: book Club will never understand any of this hell, she thinks, 377 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,719 Speaker 2: to herself. I don't even understand this. Yea, what the 378 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 2: fuck is any of this? She edges closer to the 379 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 2: still frozen woman of ghost and glass. What are you, 380 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,199 Speaker 2: Vonda whispers to her. She gets a buzz on her 381 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 2: cell phone. It snaps her out of her trance. Vonda 382 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,199 Speaker 2: scrambles for her phone, Digging through her bag, she finds it, 383 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:00,760 Speaker 2: and on the screen is a glowing face. It's her. 384 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 3: I am a ghoster. 385 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:06,879 Speaker 2: The phone speaks with pixelated digital lips, the crackle and 386 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 2: buzz from before gone and replaced with a voice, warm 387 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 2: and weighty. I know, I'm sorry, this is very startling. 388 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 3: I had to warn you. They are here to erase you, 389 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 3: to take your stories, to fold them into the secret 390 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,679 Speaker 3: tombs of the past, and then toss them into the 391 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:30,160 Speaker 3: abyss of forgotten knowledge, deep within the wells of nothingness 392 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 3: of the no universe. 393 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 2: Crap, Vonda snaps. She's suddenly angry at herself for not 394 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 2: paying attention to her little sister's relentless, meandering soliloquies about 395 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 2: star wars and hobbits and warp drives and other nonsense. 396 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 2: It would help, she opines, if I had some kind 397 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 2: of frame of reference, for this shit. I what do 398 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 2: you want from me? I'm just a girl who works 399 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 2: at a co op. 400 00:26:55,400 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 3: You are no mere girl, Vonda Alicia Ray of Eastern Philadelphia. 401 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 3: You are the steam child, the slave liberator, the two 402 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 3: spirit warrior woman, the planes walker, the death dealer, the comedic, 403 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 3: mimetic virgin princess who rides the dragon beasts from the east. 404 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,640 Speaker 2: Right, the Virgin Princess right back there behind the co op. 405 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 2: It was like I was transported to another place, like 406 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:23,439 Speaker 2: I traded bodies with someone. 407 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 3: And yes, you are all of those things, my child, 408 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 3: and I am a ghoster, the physical manifestation of the 409 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 3: ephemera of the souls of lost guardians of ancestors, said 410 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 3: here to protect you by a powerful sorcerer, to guide. 411 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,920 Speaker 2: You on a new journey, my new journey. 412 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:47,360 Speaker 3: Yes, you will save memory, you will save all of us. 413 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 3: You will save the Universe's. 414 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:55,399 Speaker 2: A knock at the door. Hey, you in there, it's chef. 415 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 2: What's she doing here? One minute? Are you naked? Chef sings? 416 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 2: Come on, I'm just playing. I came back here to 417 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 2: check on you. You all right, I'm fine, Vonda says, 418 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,080 Speaker 2: scrambling for a blanket or something to throw on the 419 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 2: fragile lump of the ghoster. I'm fine, just give me 420 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 2: a minute. Her phone turns brighter and brighter until a 421 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 2: burst of light plunges from it. Sparks fly out of it, 422 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,240 Speaker 2: and light loops towards the ghoster, coating it with living energy. 423 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 2: Goddamn it, this thing is not subtle at all, Wonda yells, 424 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,679 Speaker 2: as the ghoster rises towards the ceiling. It is a 425 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 2: swirl of cosmic brightness, of neon on fire. Wonda, what 426 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 2: the fuck I'm coming in, Chef barges in. Just as 427 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 2: the ghoster explodes. It's eruption is high, piercing the ceiling, 428 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 2: blasting through the roof and into the night sky. Whoa, 429 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 2: that's that thing from before. Not exactly, Vonda retorts, bracing 430 00:28:55,000 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 2: against the shaking walls. It just fucking blew up, yeah, 431 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 2: Wonda affirms over the din. She she does that. A 432 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 2: swirl of energy beings pulse from the ghoster's rising body. 433 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 2: As the roof shards crumble and burn in the afterglow, 434 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,320 Speaker 2: the ghoster is sucked up into the vortex, along with 435 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 2: shoes and coats and pencils and records. Chef and Vonda 436 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 2: cling to each other, tears streaming from their faces, and 437 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 2: then vump. The light disappears, the debris falls to the ground, 438 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,240 Speaker 2: and they are surrounded by darkness. They sit on the bed, 439 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 2: huddled together, whimpering, quivering. Chef pulls away and looks at 440 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 2: Vonda a loving, calming look, the kind of look that 441 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 2: acknowledges that the life of the person in front of 442 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 2: her will never be the same. Wonda looks at her 443 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 2: coworker for a second, and in Chef's deep, cigarette soaked visage, 444 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 2: she sees beauty. She sees the commonality between them, dissipating 445 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 2: by the second, and then, after a brief pang of dread, 446 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 2: remembering she left a few containers of oat milk in 447 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 2: an unopened box, but by the dairy fridge in act, 448 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 2: Vonda is sure she'd be written up for her eyes 449 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 2: narrow in focus as to all of this, she sees 450 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 2: an ending, and that's the ending of the story. The 451 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 2: story has ended. Welcome back, gentle listener. This is a 452 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 2: rich story. It is bursting at the seams with characterization 453 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 2: and scenery and metaphor. Hazel, who helps behind the scenes, 454 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:34,160 Speaker 2: says about this quote, I also have worked at multiple 455 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 2: bougie food co ops. So Vonda struggles with the hypocrisy 456 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 2: and just plain silliness of the food she's selling and 457 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 2: has implicitly packaged politics really grabbed me. This was a 458 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,200 Speaker 2: time in my life that I was also being radicalized 459 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,200 Speaker 2: by grief, and I remember so firmly feeling that everyone 460 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 2: who went out of their way to buy cage free 461 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 2: eggs needed to also be a prison abolitionist. Still do. 462 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 2: The Alice in Wonderland Stranger in a Strange Place format 463 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 2: is a staple of short fiction. But the way that 464 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,560 Speaker 2: Alex uses this structure to describe, at least as I'm 465 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 2: interpreting it, the feeling of being pulled into the movement, 466 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 2: of being called into a struggle between the forces of 467 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 2: justice and injustice, one so bigger than yourself and so 468 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 2: far beyond your own control. Yeah, it's just fucking compelling. 469 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:20,800 Speaker 2: And Vonda's frustrations with the roommates because they don't and 470 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 2: on some levels can't understand that even if they do 471 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 2: have books about the situations or whatever, because they're in 472 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 2: it for the clout or the social aspect or for whatever. Yeah, 473 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 2: Alex really just sticks the landing on that one. That's 474 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 2: what Hazel has to say? What do I have to 475 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 2: say about it? I liked the story even more on 476 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 2: further readings. Right Like I liked it on the first reading, 477 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 2: but on the first reading it kind of let it 478 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 2: wash over me. And on the second reading I could 479 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 2: kind of feel more what was happening, and yeah, it's 480 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 2: just like it's really well done. I really like this story. 481 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 2: I like this idea of you know, being called into 482 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 2: this larger than life thing, being called into you know, Oh, 483 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 2: I suddenly am responsible for memory, against forgetting, despite the 484 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 2: fact that like, oh, I'm just you know, some girl 485 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 2: from Philadelphia. But I like stories that infuse our normal, 486 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 2: everyday world with the weight that they actually carry, the 487 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,400 Speaker 2: weight that we are all part of history, that we 488 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 2: are like part of this grand story that continues, and 489 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 2: we're all on different sides of these struggles and we're 490 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 2: all just like doing this thing. This idea of being 491 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 2: like you of West Philadelphia, as if that's as like 492 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,360 Speaker 2: amazing of a place to be from, as like some 493 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:54,959 Speaker 2: you know place in North Africa or some you know, 494 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 2: far off and distant place, because it is right, like 495 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:04,480 Speaker 2: wherever we are from is something and we can have 496 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 2: this weight in our lives if we acknowledge it. I 497 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 2: don't know. That's what it made me think about. It 498 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 2: actually made me think about a bunch of other stuff too, 499 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 2: But that's what I'm gonna go with. Alex, the story's author, 500 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 2: has this to say. The story Girls Who Look Through 501 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 2: Glass first appeared in a long out of print split 502 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:28,240 Speaker 2: scene I made with Kamei Ioea, also known as More 503 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 2: Mother from Black Quantum Futurism slash Irreversible Entanglements. We had 504 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:37,240 Speaker 2: been in a collective together called Metropolarity Metropolarity dot net. 505 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 2: They use sci fi and afrofuturism as a form of activism, 506 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 2: knowledge seeking slash distributing and art practice, and we passed 507 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,240 Speaker 2: these out at events like More Mothers, Rockers and the 508 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 2: readings I put together like Laser Life and chromeb City. 509 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 2: When it came time to do arc Dust, which it 510 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,520 Speaker 2: self started as a zine, I knew this story would 511 00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,520 Speaker 2: be one I wanted to refine a bit and include 512 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:02,400 Speaker 2: in the collect It's definitely one of the weirder stories 513 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 2: amongst a whole lot of weird lol. I had been 514 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 2: doing a lot of spoken word when I wrote these 515 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,440 Speaker 2: stories ten fifteen years ago, and I made a hard 516 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 2: pivot to not only writing sci fi and fantasy but 517 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:17,040 Speaker 2: reading it in public. It's been an interesting journey. This 518 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 2: particular story is mostly me wanting to write about a 519 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 2: woman who experiences strange future past, ancestral shifts, some time displacement, 520 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,799 Speaker 2: and just general atmospheric stuff like I wanted it to 521 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,239 Speaker 2: be about the fun SFF stuff, but I couldn't help 522 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 2: but also talk about microaggressions and colonialism. It's difficult for 523 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 2: me to shed politics whatever that is post Obama and 524 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,319 Speaker 2: just write pewpew, zapp zapp, especially because I write about 525 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 2: marginalized people, because politics are our lived experiences, the way 526 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:50,320 Speaker 2: we move through the world, the way we exist. Apparently 527 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:54,239 Speaker 2: all that is political. Also, this story was written in 528 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 2: like twenty twelve, but it shares some similarities to an 529 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,319 Speaker 2: episode of Lovecraft Country. I've never read the book, where 530 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,239 Speaker 2: there are similar elements. A black woman visited by a 531 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,440 Speaker 2: metallic ethereal woman who enables her to shift into ancestral 532 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 2: time in Africa. I love that episode, but the more 533 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,399 Speaker 2: I thought about it, I was like, wow, that really 534 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,839 Speaker 2: reminds me of my story girls. Maybe I'm doing something right. 535 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:16,239 Speaker 3: Ha. 536 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:23,239 Speaker 2: And then Alex Smith's bio Alex Smith aka Alexoteric is 537 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:27,400 Speaker 2: a writer, artist, curator, and quote unquote musician slash noise 538 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 2: maker living in the cosmically kinetic city of Philadelphia. His 539 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 2: work reflects that dichotomy stark beautiful, wrought with afrotopian tension, 540 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:41,799 Speaker 2: avant garde fashion and assemblage, and dynamic visual presentation. He 541 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:44,359 Speaker 2: is a founding member of the Philadelphia based sci fi 542 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:50,360 Speaker 2: arts collective Metropolarity, essential personnel in Philadelphia's early afrofuturist community. 543 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 2: Smith won the twenty twenty p Fellowship of the Arts, 544 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,160 Speaker 2: presenting work such as his short story collection Arc Dust, 545 00:35:57,239 --> 00:36:02,719 Speaker 2: Orserian Publishing, his experimental art punk bands Rainbow Crime, Solarized, 546 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:07,600 Speaker 2: Spectral Forces, Glitch Proverbs, the cyberpunk superhero indie comics series 547 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:11,960 Speaker 2: Black Vans, among others. His work appears in anthology such 548 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,400 Speaker 2: as Stories for Chip, a tribute to Samuel R. Delaney 549 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 2: from Rosarium, Black Quantum Futurism Volume two, Black Punk Now 550 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:24,759 Speaker 2: from Soft Skull, and The Black Fantastic Library of America. 551 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,800 Speaker 2: He invites you to join him in the next chromatic 552 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,200 Speaker 2: exploration of the unknown, his art of visual portal to 553 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 2: that liminal Space. Find Alex at Patreon dot com, slash 554 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 2: they are birds, or they are birds on Instagram. All 555 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:42,479 Speaker 2: right to see you next week. 556 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 1: It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 557 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:50,760 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 558 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 559 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,640 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 560 00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: You can find sources where it could Happen here, Updated 561 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:03,320 Speaker 1: monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.