Friday’s Broadcast…
Or as I like to call it, the day I cried in front of my boss.
For those that didn’t catch the show, today I was able to read two stories instead of one. I guess the station felt bad for the audio getting messed up with the first. It wouldn’t surprise me if that “mess up” though was done purposely. I never thought sharing people’s stories would make others so angry. I don’t see the harm in it, people want to hear about that time and I think it’s a good way to show that those formerly undead are still the same people.
Also on that note, the station was contacted by a guy who allegedly worked for Sweet Dreams Confections who wants an interview. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gotten a prank call. Why would someone with that information want to be interviewed at a dinky radio station that can only pay them in pastries? I don’t know, I’ll keep all fifteen of you wonderful followers in the loop if we actually talk to him.
I attached some of the broadcast below and hope you’ll enjoy the listen. I’m not sure where else to go with this series, it can be gut wrenching reading some of these firsthand accounts. I won’t lie, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read that story about the amusement park aloud. It reminded me of my own family during that time and how worried I was for their safety. I sounded terrible, listening to it back now, I was all teary eyed and voice cracking. I normally don’t get so emotional on air but it’s hard making light of something that wasn’t meant to be. I figured I’d only ever cry in front of my boss from laughing too hard, or if they fired me without warning. I haven’t been affected by a story like that before, I guess it was just one of those days.
I’ll write out the transcripts below as best as I can. Please let me know what you think in the comments.
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Broadcast Part One:
“Good day faithful listeners! Today we have one of our short stories to share with you but first:
I recently learned the difference between affect and effect. Now, my whole life I have always mixed up the words, and if I’m being honest- I didn’t even know affect (the A one) was a word until I was 12. This may have been an oversight on my part or a glaring oversight. I truly can’t recall a time where a teacher has explained the difference in a way I can understand. The more I thought about my realization, the more excited I was to finally be able to use these two words without fear of misusing them. Of course, if I’m completely wrong in that I understand them now then talking about this will all be for nothing and I’ll look utterly ridiculous. However, I for one think it’s great to hear people excited when they learn something new.
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Now I know what all of you actually came here for and that is a short story. Today’s story is A Trip to the Movies. I read one story from a former zombie and now we suddenly become the zombie radio station where everyone submits their personal account of those days. We’ve seemed to have an audience particularly with those former zombies, or as I’ve heard the formerly living undead. Their first person look into zombism and what it was like for them are truly unique to each individual and interesting- at least to this host. Now I’ll get on with it.
I don’t remember what movie we were going to see, but I know that I was very excited to see it. I think I had on a sweater and a new pair of jeans, I know some of you probably don’t care about what I was wearing but it’s important to us formerly dead. You don’t get to actually choose what outfit you’re going to spend the next few months roaming around in, so it’s very interesting to hear what others get stuck with. The theater we went to was quite large, the carpeted floors had just been vacuumed and felt fluffy to walk on. The smell of buttered popcorn wafted through the air and my stomach instantly growled.
After we received our tickets we went up to the concessions stand and bought the largest size of popcorn for our group. As we were there, we also ordered drinks. I was the only one adventurous enough to order their brand new purple slushy. It tasted like pure sugar and berries, a hint of something else too- maybe cherry? We found great seats and settled into our theater, it wasn’t until a half hour into the movie I started to feel off.
I headed for the bathroom, my stomach is knots. The hallway felt off balance, as if I was going to pass out at any moment. I momentarily thought about calling my mom to come pick me up but opted against it assuming the pain would fade. I was luckily the only one in the bathroom at the time, and leaned on the sink counter for support. I ran some sink water and wet my face only to notice my hands were shaking. I groaned and next thing I knew I was walking back to the theater. At first, I thought I had passed out on the bathroom floor and was dreaming, but this was far more real than any dream…
I couldn’t control my body at all. It was if I was video game character, there was someone playing as me and I had no say in what I was doing. My arms felt as heavy as weights and my feet barely lifted from the floor. After that, my memory fades in and out and I don’t remember much at all other than roaming around the theater. I was one of the lucky ones to get trapped inside of a building and not disturbed. I look the same as I did the day it happened, save for a few of these odd green lines on my skin but nothing my clothes won’t cover.
Well thank you movie goer, we hope your next experience at the theater will be a more pleasant one. You know what really stood out to me with that story? That you actually remember your tainted food. As we all know, Sweet Dreams Confection company’s toxic corn syrup was to blame for zombism, and we’ve heard many former zombies remember having something that that company produced beforehand.
This isn’t the big takeaway though, the big takeaway is that the slushy affected movie goer, that’s the one with the A, and the effect, the one with the e, is that she became a zombie. And now I’m getting the signal from my station manager to wrap it up, alright-
Now if you have any zombie experiences you’d like to share please send them our way and we may just choose yours to read aloud. Check the website for more details. Now switching you over to the weather report.”
Broadcast Part Two:
“Welcome back faithful listeners! I’m getting pretty good at the guitar as you can hear.
I’ve been informed that we had a few tech issues with our broadcast earlier today and I’m so disappointed to hear that. We uploaded a new reading of a Trip to the Movies on our website for anyone whose broadcast was unclear or who’d like to hear again.
Now, we have another short story for you all today called Ferris Wheel, by anonymous.
I think I thought of every possible way I could die while on that Ferris wheel. There was of course the obvious plummeting to my doom. The motor overloading and it turning so fast it falls off the structure and crushes me as it rolls into the distance. Then of course the zombies below, I was sure there had to be at least one mountain climber in the midst ready to show off. No, I never thought the thing that would kill me- was a bag of cotton candy.
I was on the Ferris wheel for hours until I started to feel this intense burning. It was like my stomach was on fire and it was spreading to the rest of my body. The carriage felt like a swinging pendulum only it wasn’t moving at all, it just felt that way. I was so dizzy I thought the ride was moving so fast when it didn’t change pace at all. I’ve never been so grateful for safety belt’s as I was that night. I remember eventually feeling like I was in my body but wasn’t. I don’t know how many days passed on that ride, I don’t want to know. My family knows as they can still remember the day everything happened but I think it’s better if I don’t.
I had so much I was going to do, even if it was just silly stuff for the summer. But losing time like that, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I never felt so powerless, all I really remember from my time as a zombie was just pure motion, the sky bleeding from day to night to day to night. I know I could remember how long if I really tried, but I rather just put it behind me. That’s why I wrote this, my family thought it’d be a good idea to get my feelings off my chest. It’s funny, I was so upset with them for not wanting to get on the Ferris wheel with me, but now I’m so thankful. If they were on with me, they may not be here today.
Thank you to our anonymous writer for sharing their story. And all our writers, we appreciate you sharing your perspective so much. If you have a submission that you don’t mind being read aloud please send it to us, go on our website for more details. Now it is time for a traffic update, please stay tuned for more.”
