WAITING FOR OCTOBER S1 – E1.5 – “Charlene”
by D.J. Sylvis
ANNOUNCER: There is a world – one of many that touches ours – known as October. One of the archetypes; one of the realities that is a source for our stories. It is not difficult to reach, if you know the way – you can experience their wildness for yourself, adventure there, and live, and love. But be wary – perhaps more than any other existence, here there be monsters …
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SCENE ONE
SOUND: Lakeshore background, evening (ongoing)
SOUND: A gentle, but significant, displacement of water, waves increase for a moment then subside
CHARLENE
And here we are, La Baie Missisquoi. Mind your step as you exit the lake.
SOUND: A bit of shallow splashing behind her next line
CHARLENE
You’ve got Canada both to your left and straight ahead; the U.S. is a bit of a stroll down to your right. Remember the rules – stay hidden, stay safe; don’t eat anything not on your approved list – and the locals are not on that list; if you get into trouble, allow yourself to be pulled back. Take only pictures; leave only footprints – or in your case, tailprints.
SOUND: The splashing transitions to slithering on rocky ground
SOUND: A soft hissing sound, fluctuating like speech
CHARLENE
I’ve been there myself! It’s lovely this season. Oh, thank you dear, you didn’t have to do that. It must have come from this side? Never mind, no worries, I don’t want to keep you. Have a wonderful vacation!
SOUND: A bit of a gentle splash as she returns fully into the water
CHARLENE
Do you see what that young couple gave me? It’s a fossil – a belemnite. They’re sort of a … I remember them being quite squiddy, back in the day. Whole shoals of them! I don’t recall anyone by name, but good neighbours, always waved on their way to the feeding grounds.
(brief pause)
That was when I was new to this side; I kept more to myself, watching, learning. I stayed out of the currents, getting used to the taste of the water – don’t you think it’s brinier over here? Not here so much of course, but further to sea. I spent most of my time out at sea in those days; it’s only the last century or two that I’ve lived this far inland. This isn’t my first crossing to watch, believe me.
SOUND: A bit of swimming, the sound of the water parting as she goes
CHARLENE
Back then? It wasn’t the first crossing either, though I’m old enough. Oh, I am! But the first was on land, in the drier regions of Mesopotamia, I’m afraid.
(she sighs theatrically; pronunciation note – “yoo-fray-teez“)
I’ve done several tours of the Euphrates, why not beneath those flowing waves? But it was what it was … someone telling stories of the Scorpion Men, so deep into the tale that they stepped across without knowing.
(she laughs)
What a shock that must have been, considering the denizens of our deeper deserts! My friend Marwa was there at first contact; she might have looked a bit familiar, but at a significantly different scale than that human had ever seen! Screamed themselves right back to where they began.
(brief pause)
Not that Marwa knew what had happened – she was just as startled, seeing one of them face to face! Most monsters were superstitious about humans in those days. But I’m veering off topic! My point is, the first crossings happened quite by accident, first with a storyteller or two from their side, then, once we sorted out how it works, breaching the surface from our direction.
(brief pause)
It was all so chaotic! Who knows who might have been stuck where if it weren’t for the pull. No one knew yet how to manage the pull on either side; they didn’t even know yet what it was, why it was – just that when it grew too strong, one was brought right back to their world of origin. Saved my tail a few times when I was young and foolish!
(brief pause)
I was determined to find a crossing under water. It was an affront! Water is the source of live, the cradle of civilization in any world – there had to be a passage in our domain. A few others were searching, the selkies in particular, but I made it my mission. I was reckless – diving to the deepest trenches, twisting into caves I only fit like a cork, visiting every cove, every wetlands … and then one brightest winter morning, I was checking off estuaries one by one, flipper in paw with the local Dobhar-chú, and I saw a ripple where it shouldn’t be. I dove for it before anyone else saw and, quicker than silver, I found myself elsewhere! I was stunned that first moment, floating in an unfamiliar sea … I forgot I needed to breathe until I gulped instinctively – and I noticed that the water tasted different.
(savouring that memory)
Oh, the thrill! The eltation of my discovery! I raced absolute leagues without stopping, startling humpbacks and octopi and weevers – not that I knew any of their names, not yet, diving and leaping and snapping at seabirds just to hear them squawk, skimming the surface making rainbows with the spray … I was even getting used to the taste when I surfaced one joyous time and then I –
(her tone become more serious mid-sentence)
Found myself smack up against a band of humans in a wooden canoe, further out from shore than they had any right to be. Face to faces, eye to many smaller eyes, with the very founders of the feast!
(she chuckles)
I wasn’t quite as shocked as poor Marwa in the desert, but – unexpected! I gasped, which looking back might have appeared some sort of threat; then I dropped back out of sight immediately. Falling into folklore with such a splash! I’m sure it was good for their stories.
(brief pause)
I thought they’d be more captivating, somehow. More significant. As it is, I’d rather spend time with a porpoise.
(after a moment, cheerful again)
Which I did! I raced back with a pod of them, lost again in the joy, the jubilation – learning their language and their view of this world, sharing stories of my own until I felt the pull … and found myself breathing my home sea, with only a ripple and a confused giant otter to tell the tale!
(she laughs)
The selkies were absolutely green with envy! And seaweed. They wanted to see everything for themselves, and I felt a bit protective, like I should … guide them through the experience, head of the expedition and all that! Sharing my knowledge, making introductions, curating the adventure and steering ourselves clear of any humans until we’d had time to consider the consequences.
(after a moment)
I don’t suppose I was quite fair to them, poor things. Only a few million years from the sea themselves and still … expanding, still discovering. And without humans – that’s a bit of a chicken and the egg situation, but certainly we wouldn’t have the crossings without the human need to believe. And the crossings changed our lives in ways deep as the sea itself.
SOUND: For a few moments, we only hear the slight noises of her swimming
CHARLENE
But it did complicate things! By the time I reported to the Lindworm on my discovery, still breathless and full of bubbles, I found out that in the time I’d been searching, up above there had been … incidents. Accidents. Some of the younger weres were a bit too excited to visit and run with their respective therian types – there were sightings, legends were being rewritten. And elsewhere, a Moonkin literally stumbled through a crossing that led into an active volcano! Some monsters couldn’t be happier, of course, and in fact it’s quite the tourist attraction these days – but that one was not so heat-resistant and barely made it out alive. And in my domain, among the gill folks – I couldn’t have stopped the selkies with a whip and a chair, then Hikaru was an early adopter – ze’s Ningen, and an explorer if I’ve ever seen one …
(brief pause)
And the humans! It escalated quickly from a lone fabulist here and there to families on parade to full hunting parties – and while the pull saved us many times and we’re generally in more control on our side, it was obvious that something needed to be done before there were bigger problems. We created a system of guarding the crossings, and of course, having had a taste of things … I suppose you couldn’t have stopped me either. First to guard, first to explore, first to adapt to the currents and the waves of this world.
(she laughs)
It began as a thrill, deepened into an obsession, and in time became my raison d’être. Mapping out a whole new hydrosphere, fathoming its mysteries … and, when we learned to live with the pull in the long-term, I helped many of our people find a place here! The Namitaro in Takanami Pond and the giant squids – the really giant squids – off the Cape of Good Hope;
Gunakadeit in the Gulf of Alaska; Nessie and Issie and Memphre and Ogopogo; I knew Scylla and Charybdis by their real names and I escorted Gaki to the center of the world; I explored Poll na bPéist – and I know the pest who lives there all too well!
(brief pause)
The selkies settled close to that first crossing – they took over the watch of it as I found another, and another, delving deep, learning each watery path between the worlds.. And, each time, how to keep it safe – the humans had gone deeper as well with their air tanks, their submersibles … we had to make some rules, define our boundaries to keep October well protected, but none of us wanted to give up what we’d discovered.
SOUND: A larger splash as she dives for a moment, then the sound of her surfacing again
CHARLENE
We got used to the water here, we learned to savour the brine … we’ve lived here now for millenia, expanding, exploring – we might have changed the composition ourselves by this point! The seas might taste different thanks to our seasoning.
(brief pause)
The story spread in different ways here. Land and sea – or land and lake – are uniquely separated. They can travel from their sphere up above, while most of us can’t leave ours at all.
They can wade, or swim, visit for a time – but they can’t dive as deeply, they can’t breathe the blue, they can’t learn the secrets of our depths. Not even the Endling really knows our life beneath the waves. The places we’ve found here, the places we’ve made – they’ve become our other home. We filled the empty spaces on their maps; we became the mythos behind unexplained shipwrecks, shadows in the mist, or on their radar screens. The tales we’ve uplifted extend from shore to shore.
SOUND: A few moments of strong, rhythmic swimming
CHARLENE
Now come on, you. That’s enough distraction; back to training. You’ll have a crossing of your own before long, and if you let through one gremlin or one lost child – that’ll be on me.
SOUND: Lakeshore background fades
(The scene ends.)
PRODUCERS: Thank you so much for listening!
Waiting for October is written by D.J Sylvis, with sound design by Caroline Mincks and music by Trace Callahan.
This episode featured Whitney Frisk as Charlene.
Our co-producers are D.J. Sylvis, Tina Case, and Sarah Müller. Our associate producers are Fool & Scholar Productions, Kathleen Lucas, Marcus Briggs, Martin Chodorek, Rebekah B.
A special thanks to our Patreon supporters who have helped make all of our stories happen! If you’d like to support our work or celebrate the folks who make it happen visit our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/monkeymanproductions.
This time around I’m recommending The Way We Haunt Now, a lightly horror audio drama about friends, found family, and changing the narratives that try to define us – all subjects our show is into as well! And of course, there are ghosts. Give it a listen, and if you like it, remember to rate and review!
Around here, we’re gearing up for the next full-length episode, where we’ll meet two new characters with familiar voices if you know our other shows. Get ready for the Lindworm and the Hodag – or is it just Hodag? We’ll sort that out next time; for now, well-wishes as you ride the waves!
Note – there may be advertisements inserted at this point in the episode.
