Episode 94: "Signal Sent to a Distant Strand” – The Sheridan Tapes
ONTENT WARNING: Strong existential dread, unreality, memory loss, character injury, and mentions of a natural disaster and disappearances
02162020: As the outside world wonders at the sudden reappearance of Oslow, Maria Sol conducts a desperate investigation to find out what happened to her friends.
Starring Sequoyah Kennedy and Willow Truman as themselves, Amitola Lomas as Maria Sol, Airen Neeley Chaconas as Anna Sheridan, D Sumner as the Motel Owner, Ian DePriest as the Superfan, and James Cain as Peter Slate, with original music by Jesse Haugen. Written and produced by Virginia Spotts, with dialogue editing and sound design by Van Winkle.
The Nonsense Bazaar was created by Sequoyah Kennedy and Willow Truman, and the theme was created by Willow Truman. Check out The Nonsense Bazaar on your podcasting platform of choice for more explorations of the spooky, the strange, and the nonsensical.
For more information, additional content, and episode transcript, visit thesheridantapes.com
This episode was made possible by our supporters at Patreon.com/homesteadcorner, ko-fi.com/homesteadcorner, and our backers on Seed&Spark.
Script
Transcript
CONTENT WARNING: Strong existential dread, unreality, memory loss, character injury, and mentions of a natural disaster and disappearances
[The opening theme to the podcast “The Nonsense Bazaar”]
[As the theme ends, the hosts begin to speak]
Willow Truman
Hello and welcome to The Nonsense Bazaar. We’re your hosts, I’m Willow Truman.
Sequoyah Kennedy
I’m Sequoyah Kennedy.
Willow Truman
Sequoyah.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yes.
Willow Truman
I have a rhetorical question for you.
Sequoyah Kennedy
You do?
Willow Truman
Do you ever misplace your keys?
Sequoyah Kennedy
Uh, yeah, all the time. I’m constantly losing my keys, looking for my keys, I spend half my life looking for things.
Willow Truman
Yeah, I know you are. I– Oddly I don’t, because they’re always on the lanyard that I wear, and I also don’t have car keys, so I don’t really have to worry about it.
Sequoyah Kennedy
There you go.
Willow Truman
But, I have been thinking a lot, as I’ve been, like delving into Christian mysticism, Christian online conspiracy theories…
Sequoyah Kennedy
Oh it’s that kind of…
Willow Truman
Yes. [Laughs]
Sequoyah Kennedy
We’re doing that… okay.
Willow Truman
That kind of episode, yes. All the mark of the beast conspiracies! Like, people being scared of microchips being uploaded into you… I’m kind of into it, actually.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Oh, I’m so down. Chip me up.
Willow Truman
Chip me up, baby.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Mark me up, dude. I…
Willow Truman
I’m a Chip Head. It is that type of episode today.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Good.
Willow Truman
Apocalyptic… Christian… kind of… maybe?
Sequoyah Kennedy
Good!
Willow Truman
There’s actually a lot going on here.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Okay…
Willow Truman
It sounds like I’m setting this up to be a religious thing, and it kind of is, but it’s also so much more. This comes to us from one of my reddit explorations.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Oh good.
Willow Truman
Yes. Something where it’s like… you read the post, you think “This person’s crazy,” you brush it off, but then you look into it… and it’s like… oh my god, there’s so much more here. But it’s not…
Sequoyah Kennedy
“Oh my God, they’re truly crazy.”
Willow Truman
[Amused] Yes. It doesn’t lead back to the Ascended Masters though, like most things do.
Sequoyah Kennedy
You sure?
Willow Truman
No. [They laugh] I’m never too sure. It’s not about Q. Not about theosophy, nothing like that, and yet… it’s…
Sequoyah Kennedy
You sound scared.
Willow Truman
A little bit.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah?
Willow Truman
Because it’s like a lot of things that we’ve seen before and yet also not like anything we’ve ever seen before.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Hmmm.
Willow Truman
Let’s get into it. This week’s subject is… Oslow, the Disappearing City.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Disa–how?
Willow Truman
Sequoyah, had you ever heard of it, before I mentioned it?
Sequoyah Kennedy
No. Not even a little bit.
Willow Truman
I actually have. But… only very recently, and weirdly kind of synchronistically lining up with this script. I watched a documentary called “The Institute” about this ARG in San Francisco called The Jejune Institute.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Okay.
Willow Truman
And it said that “Oslo was one of the locations for the Jejune Institute,” and I thought “Hm, that’s interesting!”
Sequoyah Kennedy
But like… Oslo, Norway?
Willow Truman
Yeah, I looked it up on the website, and it didn’t have a “w” at the end, but that’s the only time that I’d heard of Oslow. Good documentary though, definitely suggest you look it up.
This Oslow–Oslow, Nevada? Weird shit going on there, potentially some CIA connections.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Oooh, there’s always potentially CIA connections.
Willow Truman
You know, either they’re looking into it, or they’re involved with it, it’s not really entirely clear.
Sequoyah Kennedy
They’re involved with everything.
Willow Truman
[Laughs] Yes. In any case, we got a juicy one.
Sequoyah Kennedy
A juicy one.
Willow Truman
[Laughs] Yes.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Alright. Let’s give the people the juice.
Willow Truman
Let’s give the good folks at home some juice.
I was uh, poking around my usual subreddits, as I’m one to do, looking at some abductee stories, and I saw somebody cross-reference another subreddit, r/oslow. Their comment said “If you wanna see the biggest abductee story to ever be documented, check this out.”
Sequoyah Kennedy
That… that’s a big claim.
Willow Truman
It is a big claim, and it’s not one that I’m going to ignore, because I’m bored, and I’m stoned, and I have nothing better to do. So I start reading.
Sequoyah Kennedy
And?
Willow Truman
Oslow, Nevada… it’s a small city somewhere in Western Nevada. It’s actually the seat of its own county. And it has a population of around 12,000 people, so it’s not super large, it’s in a pretty remote area but it is large by our standards.
Sequoyah Kennedy
It’s a couple horse town.
Willow Truman
Couple horse. Three horses. Two and a half.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Two and a half.
Willow Truman
We can agree on that.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah.
Willow Truman
It’s not exactly the type of place that you’d expect to just disappear into thin air, and everybody just forgets about it all of a sudden?
Sequoyah Kennedy
No, no, that’s 12,000 people, that’s…
Willow Truman
It’s kind of a weird thing to say, too, like what does that even mean? People forgot about it, then re-remembered it disappeared?
Sequoyah Kennedy
I still don’t know what the fuck that means.
Willow Truman
Okay, it didn’t fully disappear. It actually reappeared.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Is this the–is this the Christian thing? Did Jesus take them? Did Jesus take them, put ‘em back?
Willow Truman
No, this is the fifth Teletubby thing, how everybody forgot that a fifth Teletubby exists, but there’s rumors that there was one. It’s kinda like that.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Okay.
Willow Truman
People are starting to remember. The intriguing thing is that people didn’t seem to notice that Oslow disappeared until after it came back.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Did Jesus put them back?
Willow Truman
Or did it ever even exist before? I don’t know. There’s a… hm.
Sequoyah Kennedy
This sounds ridiculous.
Willow Truman
[Laughs] Okay. I think we should just read the first post on r/oslow, and just get right into it. This comes to us from the user, and also the creator of the subreddit, “gofastboatsmojito.”
Sequoyah Kennedy
This… this is John McAfee.
Willow Truman
Fuck yeah. Can you imagine? He’s actually not dead, he’s just posting on…
Sequoyah Kennedy
He’s just shit-posting, dude. That’s what I’m gonna do.
Willow Truman
Here we go. Just imagine that this is McAfee’s voice, or something.
“I need to write this somewhere in case I lose my memory again, somehow. It already happened once, without me realizing it, and I don’t know what’s happening yet. Here’s the deal.
My (34M)–”
Sequoyah Kennedy
This is me from the future.
Willow Truman
Oh my god. [they laugh] Now the gears are really turning.
“–My (34M) sister (28F)…”
Oh my god, it could be.
Sequoyah Kennedy
No, she’d be 30.
Willow Truman
Yeah.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah.
Willow Truman
“…lives in Oslow, Nevada. It’s kinda close to the Sierra Nevada mountains, a little remote, but close-ish to Reno. She moved there five years ago, and I’ve been there to visit her twice. There’s nothing particularly unusual about Oslow, from what I remember.
But a few weeks ago, right before I fell asleep, I had an extremely scary feeling that I can only call mental vertigo. It felt like I was suddenly aware that I was standing on the edge of a cliff, when I didn’t realize there was a canyon beneath me. The thing I’d forgotten? The existence of Oslow, Nevada. And more than that… my sister. I was suddenly aware that there were two weeks where all of my memories of her were missing from my brain.”
Hm.
Sequoyah Kennedy
That’s… that’s odd.
Willow Truman
Yes.
“I’m afraid that when you read that, you’ll think I mean I just didn’t think about my sister or Oslow for two weeks, and that I’m having some kind of misplaced guilt about it.”
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah, you’re just drunk.
Willow Truman
“What I mean is that I was suddenly aware of a blind spot in my brain that had just been refilled. And believe me, I tried to comfort myself into the belief that I was just forgetful and a stupid brother and I should really check in with my siblings more.”
Sequoyah, could you forget about your sister for just two weeks, entirely?
Sequoyah Kennedy
No, I get drunk and I start telling her about my problems.
Willow Truman
Yeah, so this is not normal. So he tries to convince himself that this is normal. But that didn’t last long.
Sequoyah Kennedy
It’s not normal.
Willow Truman
“When I got up the next morning, I figured I’d call my sister. The line didn’t connect. I reached out to my other brother to see if he’d heard from her, and he went through the same odd realization that I had the night before. He also couldn’t reach her. With dread, I reached out to my parents. I’ll never forget the sound of their shock, and then terror as they also unsuccessfully tried to reach her.
We don’t know what’s going on, and we’re terrified. If anyone else has friends or family in the Oslow area, please reach out to me. I’m planning a trip there soon, to go find her myself, but any info in the meantime would be hugely helpful. Thanks for reading.”
Sequoyah Kennedy
Alright, so when was that posted?
Willow Truman
February 16th.
Sequoyah Kennedy
So… about a week ago? Uh… any followup?
Willow Truman
No. There has been no followup. And I gotta be honest, when I first read this I kinda just brushed it off, especially that part like “with dread I reached out to my parents in shock and terror.”
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah.
Willow Truman
It’s like… okay. Okay buddy.
Sequoyah Kennedy
I mean, this is… I’m coming down on creative writing, right now, but, you know.
Willow Truman
Yes. But. Just follow along with me here, because like I said, this is a big rabbit hole.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Alright.
Willow Truman
There’s a follow-up post from another user who claims that they knew the OP of the first post, and they went with him on his little excursion to Oslow. This one’s pretty creepy, do you wanna read it, Sequoyah?
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah. Let’s do it.
“I wanted to give an update here about my friend, since a lot of you have responded to it. I don’t know where he is, or if or when he’ll be back. I don’t know if he’s alive. I have submitted a police report, but there’s been little activity on it. His family is panicking, but they were ok with me sharing some details.
I went with him to Oslow. I believed his panic, because I’ve never seen him both that clear-headed and that terrified. We arrived near Oslow on February 20th (four days ago), although we had a really difficult time navigating to where the city was supposed to be. To our eyes, we couldn’t see it at all. We got a bit closer by car, retracing where we knew the highways should run into it, and we stopped when we saw something like a massive, slightly-shimmering film that stretched across the whole sky.
My friend, this whole time, seemed to be feeling an unreal amount of dread the closer we got to the thing. I told him we shouldn’t go any closer, but it’s like he couldn’t help it. He kept talking about needing to save his sister. He wouldn’t listen to me. I watched him walk right into that weird barrier and disappear behind it.
Whatever you do, do not approach Oslow. I know this is reddit and people get all excited about doing the kind of spooky exploration shit that can get you killed or fucked up, but I’m dead serious about this. If you don’t listen to my warning, I at least know I tried.”
So, how much of this is um… you know… verifiable.
Willow Truman
Oh, do you mean the part about the giant shimmering, like, thing of energy stretching across the sky?
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah, did you check the Weather Channel? Did you see what NOAA has to say about it?
Willow Truman
Okay. So even though it sounds completely unbelievable…
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah. It sounds like creative writing.
Willow Truman
It does.
Sequoyah Kennedy
I don’t know, this kind of, it’s… there’s a weird feeling to this.
Willow Truman
No I totally agree, and I’m like laughing it off because I actually don’t know what to make of this.
Sequoyah Kennedy
There’s something about like Oslow with a “w” just like… I feel like I’m getting weird deja vu or something. Um.
Willow Truman
No, I know. Ooh. I’m getting goosebumps right now too, like literally. Like actually.
Okay… so… I don’t know what the fuck is going on with this–how much is real, how much isn’t real–but we’re gonna try to figure it out as we go through the episode.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Alright, well how much more did you, uh… did you find?
Willow Truman
This rabbit hole goes so deep that I don’t know if there is an end to it. It’s a story of a bunch of intertwining supernatural disturbances, corrupt police department, religious weirdo Chief of police (because of course), underground CIA tunnels… and…
Sequoyah Kennedy
Oh yeah?
Willow Truman
Get ready for this.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah?
Willow Truman
Ehh? I’m teasing… a shapeshifter.
Sequoyah Kennedy
A shapeshifter?
Willow Truman
Because of course.
Sequoyah Kennedy
A shapeshifter. Yeah. Let’s get into it.
Willow Truman
Let’s fucking get into it!
[Cassette noises]
[Click]
[Main Theme]
Recording Begins
[Cassette noises]
[Click]
[Static fades]
[In Maria’s quiet bedroom]
[A clock ticks]
[Traffic passes by her house]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, February 16th, 2020. I’m recording this to safeguard my own memories. Something has happened to my friends. Oslow was already gone, but now…
[She types “Oslow” into a search bar one-handed]
Now, when I search for Oslow, there’s stuff that comes up. A reddit post. People who had friends and family in Oslow are realizing that it disappeared, and they have questions. I don’t know what’s happening anymore, and I can’t reach any of them no matter what I try. I can’t reach Kate, Ren, Sam, Jerry… I don’t know if I’m in danger of forgetting them at this point, or what’s happening anymore. Oslow is back? Sort of? That’s all I really know. Are my friends okay? Is all of this useless? Will I be able to reach them again?
[She takes a deep breath]
I have to keep going. The only thing that I know how to do is to keep going.
[She flips some loose pages]
Only a handful of pages survived my last attempt at mediumship. I’m about to attempt another one, but I don’t know if it will do anything. All I know is that, at some point, Sam succeeds in pulling Anna out of her timeline and into the Source. Therefore, I have to believe that Sam and the rest of them are still alive in Oslow. Or where Oslow used to be, and maybe is again?
Ugh, I hate this. I don’t know if they’re trapped in some otherworldly dimension, or if they’re just… in some kind of dead zone.
I can’t accept that this has all been useless, though. My gut is telling me to keep trying, even with the silence. I’ll figure this one out as I go. For now, I have to believe that they’re still there, but unreachable. [She gathers the pages] I can’t do much about that right now, besides spend some time with Anna’s remaining pages and see if there’s anything else there.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Her clock ticks]
[She lights a match, then a candle]
[She walks back and sits in a chair]
Maria Sol
I’ve blocked all the light from the doors and windows again… set up my chair… laid out the pages… and got my one remaining candle ready to go. Looks like we’re ready.
It’ll be fine. It’ll be okay. I can do this. Think how proud abuela would be.
[She sets the recorder down]
[She tightens a belt around her]
[She blows the candle out]
[She breathes deeply, and exhales]
Pages… if there is more I need to know… please tell me.
[Distortion, echoes from beyond rise]
[A crackle builds]
[Maria speaks in a distorted, deepened, doubled voice]
Maria Sol (but distorted)
Signal. Lake. Time. Grows.
[Maria speaks back to the voice coming from her]
Maria Sol
Am I looking for a signal? Am I giving a signal?
Maria Sol (but distorted)
Giving.
Maria Sol
Time grows… is that what’s happening to them in Oslow? Are they caught in a kind of…
[The pages blow around in a breeze]
Maria Sol (but distorted)
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. Fire… burn…
[Maria begins to shake]
[The sound of fire has grown]
[She breaks contact with a gasp, coughing]
[She undoes the belt, breathes hard, and stands up]
[She slides down her wall, sitting for a moment]
Maria Sol
I had to… I had to break contact. Something was following, coming for me. [Heavy exhale] At least this time I broke out of the trance before the fire came all the way through.
[Her stomach lurches, she groans]
[She shuffles, hitting stop on the recorder]
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Shuffling as she leans out of bed to hit record]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, February 18th, 2020. I’ll admit it… jumping straight into hardcore mediumship has not been easy on my body. I tried to look up some tips for how to do this on the internet, but it’s clear that this kind of practice is meant to be built up. Like… over a long period of time. I suppose I’m lucky that I’ve only been in bed for two days.
I’m still unable to reach anyone in Oslow. I’m starting to feel better, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to drive to Nevada and see what’s going on.
I haven’t even been home for three whole weeks, and now I’m getting ready to leave again. I miss my family already.
I need a pick-me-up.
[She adjusts herself]
[She fiddles on her phone and plays an old video]
[Beep]
Anna Sheridan (recorded)
Are you recording?
Maria Sol (recorded)
I am.
Anna Sheridan (recorded)
Ahem. I, Anna Sheridan, do of sound mind and body, bequeath my collection of Junji Ito to one Maria Sol in its entirety. It has served me well and terrifyingly, and therefore it is passing into Maria’s hands, to be treasured for the rest of her days.
Was that good? Do you want it again?
Maria Sol (recorded)
That was perfect. Thank you. I shall treasure it well.
[Beep, video stops]
[Maria sighs]
Maria Sol
We are so close, Anna. We are so close to finding you. I’m not giving up. I promise.
Be there soon, mi vida.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[In the lobby of a small, run-down motel]
[The door bell jingles as Maria enters]
[A familiar movie plays on the lobby TV]
[A rattling heating system blows in the background]
“Hans Goober” (distorted, from TV)
Due to the Namura Organization’s legacy of greed around the world, they are about to learn what real power–
Motel Front Desk (speaking over TV)
Oh, hello again. [The TV is turned off] You need something else?
Maria Sol
No, everything’s fine with my room, I just… I wanted to ask about how things have been around here. I, uh… I have some friends around here.
Motel Front Desk
Well then, I’m sorry for your misfortune.
Maria Sol
What do you mean?
Motel Front Desk
That town that used to be up the road? Ain’t there anymore. And the people that have been coming by to see it… well, some of them didn’t come back. Wouldn’t recommend going out at night, if I were you. I’ve tried telling everyone, but they don’t listen.
Maria Sol
Everyone?
Motel Front Desk
All these… mystery hunters. They think they’re following some kinda fun internet story, but it’s… it’s worse than that. Much worse.
Maria Sol
So, there’s been a lot of people coming through here?
Motel Front Desk
[Small laugh] More business these past few days than I’ve seen in the last year. And it’s getting busier every day. Won’t keep me in business, though.
Maria Sol
You mean you’re going to have to shut down?
Motel Front Desk
I’m choosing to. My family has owned this place for close to fifty years. I’m not giving it up easy, you have to understand. I stayed after what happened in Agate Shore. Most people didn’t. But seeing a whole town disappear… one you’ve lived in, went to school in… one that you know for sure exists… well, that’s too much for me.
I know they say the devil lives in Nevada, and now I believe it.
Maria Sol
Well… thank you for everything.
Motel Front Desk
Sure thing. I hope you find your friends.
Maria Sol
Thanks.
[Maria exits the door again, bell jangling as the door opens]
[She walks outside onto the pavement]
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Muffled sounds of teeming wildlife]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, February 21st, 2020. I’m staying at the closest operational motel I could find, which is fifteen minutes outside of Agate Shore… which is where I am now. Figured this was as good a place to start as any.
I’m still in my car. Haven’t wanted to get out yet. I feel just as creeped out now as I did the last time I was here. The vegetation is still unnaturally large even in winter, but the air is full of birds and insects now. Here…
[She opens her van door]
[The wildlife is loud, like a rainforest]
[She shuts her door again, the sound is muffled]
I cannot stress enough how much this kind of life shouldn’t be here in the high desert in February.
It’s been a week since my friends disappeared, and there’s still no sign of them. I called Peter soon after it happened, and we’ve been staying in contact ever since. He’s beside himself, unsurprisingly, but right now he’s trying to focus on caring for Andrew. I’ve managed to convince him to stay in Canada so far, but I suspect he’ll lose his patience sooner or later… despite how dangerous the situation is… and despite how much I keep stressing that fact.
But anyway… yeah, I’m at Agate Shore now. I don’t know what I’m looking for exactly, but I figured I’d look for clues around the lake first. Anna’s projection said that the well should be manifesting somewhere around here. That’s the key to all of this, apparently.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[On the shore of the lake, waves gently rolling in near her]
[Happy birds and insects in the background]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, February 24th, 2020. I’ve been over every inch of this lake, twice. I’ve managed to avoid the talons of some rather large ravens, and… some other birds I don’t recognize. I’ve shaken off beetles and crawling things I definitely didn’t recognize, and I’m no longer convinced any of them have a natural origin.
Oh, also! Hah. My motel let me know this afternoon that they’re shutting down for good tomorrow morning. Apparently the manager keeps having these… horrible nightmares about falling into a void every night. Lovely. They did tell me that I could stay in the room free of charge if I had nowhere else to stay. Well… after I pressed them. They also warned me that the water and power would be turned off at the end of the month and they couldn’t guarantee my safety. Which… I mean… that’s fine with me, I can’t even give myself that guarantee.
[Tiny exhale] Honestly? I need to see how close I can get to Oslow. I’ve been afraid to go any further than this until now. But I have to.
I just can’t stop thinking… if people could approach black holes on their own… would they know when they’re in too deep? When there’s no escape?
Just the kind of question that I wish I could ask Ren.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[In Maria’s idling van, heater blowing]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, February 25th, 2020. I tried to approach Oslow near Jerry’s house to see if I could recognize any of the landmarks around there and then… I had to stop. I was just filled with this… enormous sense of dread.
I mean, I must still be at least two miles from Jerry’s. But once I stopped I noticed… well, I’m just sitting in my car now, staring at it. How do I describe this?
[Pause]
I saw this artist on the Santa Monica pier one time, on a date with Anna. He had a small easel set up with a canvas, looking out at the shoreline. I watched as he began to paint the scene that existed behind the canvas: color matching the sand, the waves, the sky, even bits of the umbrellas or people that stayed still long enough to be counted. By the time he was done, you could barely tell where the sky above ended and his canvas began.
But even so… the world that he painted was too static. Too neat. The illusion was broken the moment someone crossed behind the canvas… like it was showing a portal into a quieter, deader shoreline.
That’s what I feel like I’m looking at now, ahead of me. What I see is clean, empty desert… but I know… I know that at this point, the road should continue in a downward curve off to the left. I should be able to see a swath of rural homes, some distant farmland, the dotting of trees on the horizon near Santa Lucia…
[She considers a moment, then opens her van door and steps out]
[Footsteps on gravel and pavement]
[The sound of wind howling]
Wait… I can see the edges of it.
It’s like… well whatever it is, it’s huge. It looks kind of… round. It’s arching over… god, that must be over a huge portion of the Oslow area. Because… right! Because at this point, the city starts to come into view. It’s… Oh my God. [single, nervous laugh] Yeah… now I can see just enough light refracting off of this… bubble? And now I can see the difference. Just like with that artist.
I’m going to see if I can get closer with my van.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Later, standing outside the bubble]
[A low pulse emanates from the apparition]
[Wind howls]
Maria Sol
I’m going to attempt to throw a rock at this… barrier thing.
[She throws a rock, it disappears]
[The barrier shudders with an electric noise, almost like fire]
It just… it’s gone?
[Maria is spooked, and bolts back to her van]
[She breathes in fear, fumbles her keys, and gets back in]
[In her frenzy, she knocks a paper cup into the road]
[She shuts the door, tosses the recorder down, reverses, and drives away]
What the… who the hell is that?
Superfan (muffled, outside)
Hey! What did you find?! Is this the spot?
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Maria, standing outside the barrier again]
[Wind and low pulsing]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, February 26th, 2020. I really didn’t want to come back here today. I didn’t want to look at it again. It’s the hugest anomaly I’ve ever seen. I feel like a… like an ant standing in front of an eldritch god. This huge, evil… bubble? Ugh. Well, I still can’t think of a better word.
And yet… and yet… When I returned today, I noticed some differences from yesterday. For one thing — that feeling of dread? It hit me earlier. I had to pull over much further away than I did before. I also remember knocking some trash out of my car in my hurry to leave yesterday, which… yeah my bad… but now? It’s nowhere to be seen. And sure, it could have just blown away… but it got me thinking.
“Time. Grows.” That’s one of the messages that came through my medium session. I’m not sure what this all means yet, but maybe I can test it.
[She walks a few steps, gathers a handful of rocks, and arranges them on the road]
There. A rocky heart for Oslow. Now, that shouldn’t blow away.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Wind and low pulsing]
[Rain falls]
Maria Sol
Oh my God… oh my God! Oh wait, uh… Maria Sol, February 27th, 2020.
IT WORKED! I was right. Those rocks that I laid down yesterday aren’t here anymore. They’re behind where the edge of this bubble is now — I can’t even get close to where they were when I placed them. I estimate I’m maybe… a half mile further down the road this time.
Time. Grows.
Can Kate and Sam and all of them see those rocks now? I guess they’d have to venture all the way out here for no reason to see it, but…
I want them to see. I want them to know that I’m out here, looking for them.
[She gets back inside her van]
[She looks at the map on her phone]
[Rain on her windshield]
Okay so… looking at this map… I’m guessing that the bubble has expanded by close to a mile since I first came out here. Agate Shore is… 16-17 miles away from my current location, so… [Digital clicking] If this trend holds, the bubble will touch the lake in about a month.
Signal. Lake. What kind of signal am I supposed to create with the lake? And what kind of signal would possibly help, I mean… do they just need to know I’m still out here? [she groans] Anna would have the perfect answer.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Low pulsing]
[The sound of desert life at night]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, March 5th, 2020.
Well wouldn’t you know it… the eastern edge of the bubble is several miles closer to the lake than it was last time. And I know what I want to leave for Sam, now. The tape with Anna’s projection. The one that explains how he’s supposed to find Anna, and the nature of the well, and how he’ll have to enter the well to find her. If the well will be at the lake… then, I can only assume that means the lake needs to be claimed by this bubble before Sam can do anything. So now I’m just… waiting out the days.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Inside Maria’s quiet hotel room]
[The empty, silent hotel creaks and groans]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, March 15th, 2020.
Hi, Anna. Just wanted to talk to you out loud.
I hope we’ll see each other again soon.
I’ve been really afraid to say that. Out loud, especially. But… things being as they are… I might as well say it.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Same quiet hotel room, daytime]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol, March 20th, 2020.
Sure enough, Peter couldn’t stand the distance anymore. He’s getting on a flight to Reno a few days from now… He should be
getting here soon after that.
You know, I’m honestly surprised that he lasted over a month. I’ve filled him in as much as I can, and… he wants to be here. He said he wants to be here “when they all make it.”
[Uneasy exhale]
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Near shoreline of Agate Shore]
[Waves, low pulsing, wind]
[Footsteps on dirt]
[The sound of wildlife]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol…
Peter Slate
…and Peter Slate…
Maria Sol
March 29th, 2020. [To Peter] See? You got it.
Peter Slate
Thanks, Maria. You were right about the barrier shifting. It’s a lot further out now.
Maria Sol
It is. See how it’s arching around the lake? It’s still maybe a mile out from the water, but… it must just be waiting for the perfect time to absorb it. I’m guessing it’ll happen by the 31st.
Peter Slate
You’ve been keeping great records.
Maria Sol
Thank you. I mean, I’ve had to. [She pulls out a paper map] I found this old paper map in the motel lobby. No one was using it, so… anyway, I’ve just been making these markings on here, see?
Peter Slate
Oh, clever…
Maria Sol
Yeah, my maps app stopped working correctly a while ago. [brief pause; she opens her backpack] Well, shall we?
Peter Slate
Let’s do it.
[She pulls some random objects from her bag]
Maria Sol
Throw these ones closer, if you can.
Peter Slate
You’ve got it.
[Peter throws the first item far, with a grunt]
[It breaks the barrier, rippling with that sharp electric noise]
Maria Sol
Damn!
Peter Slate
Sorry, it’s the adrenaline. I played, uh… football in high school…
Maria Sol
Okay, okay, don’t get ahead of yourself. Here.
[She hands him a couple more items]
[He throws the ball with ease, the rubber chicken squeaks slightly as it’s thrown]
Peter Slate
You figure this’ll get their attention?
Maria Sol
Well if the colors don’t catch their eye, I’m hoping the rubber chicken will.
Peter Slate
Fair enough.
[She takes a final item from her jacket]
Peter Slate
What’s that — another tape?
Maria Sol
Yeah. This is the most important one. It’s the one that I really, really need them to hear.
Please, universe… please, Mother Mary… Hell… Please, Saint Anthony… let Sam find this.
[She gently places the tape on the ground, and they step back]
[She sighs]
[Someone begins speaking behind them, they jump]
Superfan
Hey, you guys here for the Oslow stuff? Have you seen anyone go in?
Maria Sol
What, a human person? Go in there? No. No, I wouldn’t recommend that.
Superfan
Come on, get a video of me! I’ll cut you a deal. If this goes viral, I’ll give you 10% of any advertising or merchandising that comes of it. No development deals though.
Peter Slate
What… is happening?
Superfan
Sorry, I mean… [They laugh] I’m kind of a writer? I have my own YouTube channel… Mmhmm! Doesn’t matter. Anyway, here’s my phone.
[They attempt to hand their phone over]
Maria Sol
Sorry, we can’t help you.
[Maria and Peter begin to walk away]
Superfan
Ugh! Come on! Sir, can you help me?
Peter Slate
Hey, she’s the videographer, not me. Sorry buddy.
Superfan (growing faint)
Oh my goddd I have the worst luck! Am I going to have to take a selfie video?!? [Fake retching noises]
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[Low pulsing, wind, waves]
[A quiet sunset on the lake]
Maria Sol
Maria Sol… March 30th, 2020. Sunset at Agate Shore. I don’t know whether it’s the last one it’ll ever see, or just… the last normal one for a bit.
The bubble has sort of bent around the whole lake, but there’s still this narrow opening at the end, where I came through. I probably shouldn’t be in here. It’s like wandering into a tiger’s jaws. Still…
The sunset is being refracted across the water, glittering all over the surface of this bubble. Sure, it’s evil, but… it’s got shimmer.
[She opens her backpack and pulls out something heavy and metallic]
Signal. Lake.
[She steps closer to the waves]
Farewell, hammer. Fly high.
[With a grunt, she tosses it high into the lake]
[It falls with a noisy splash]
[Distortion and static rises on the tape as the lake reacts]
[Click]
[Silence]
[The end of the Oslow episode of The Nonsense Bazaar fades in]
Sequoyah Kennedy
Okay, so let’s talk about that tarot card… the Six of Cups.
Willow Truman
Yes, let’s, because I’ve really been looking forward to it. This card perfectly represents everything going on here. Because… it relates to the home. Nostalgia… memories…
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah.
Willow Truman
And it’s reversed.
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah, exactly, like… Six of Cups is nostalgia, simplicity, longing for something in the past, it’s the thing that is your emotional core, your home… you know, but reversed, it can be the dark side of all that. The memories that keep you trapped. The home you can’t escape, um…
Willow Truman
The home that when you go back to it, you realize why you left, and why you don’t really visit or call that much?
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah, or the home that you dream about getting out of, you know?
Willow Truman
Right. And it makes me think about also all those people, first of all, like trapped in Oslow, Oslow itself as a place, and all the people impacted by it that either like, aren’t believed by other people or don’t even believe themselves because it’s all just so crazy and they don’t know what’s real or fake, which is something that I can relate to.
[Static builds]
Sequoyah Kennedy
Yeah I mean like, the Six of Cups reversed speaks of not necessarily, like, needing to move on, but it’s sort of like the thing that’s keeping you from moving on and going into the future.
Willow Truman
So then, what do we think is going to happen for the future of Oslow?
[Static becomes oddly affected, melodic, louder]
Sequoyah Kennedy
I mean, what kinda… what future is there? You know? It’s like, kinda dire. Sometimes, that just becomes… the story.
Willow Truman
I guess that’s up to the people of Oslow to figure out. Here’s hoping they can.
[Static cuts out]
Homestead on the Corner 