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Tonight we present a short urban myth common throughout Capital City; a tale of aggravations, occupations, and palpitations starring two men and a dog.
The Skinner Co. Network
FPSE17 - The Surly Stranger
Some days, gloomy, my hours are slumberless Dearest, the shadows I live with find nonetheless Little white flowers will never awaken you Not where the bright coach of sorrow has taken you Angels have no fire ever returning you Or they'll be angry if I sort of join you Welcome to Flashpulp, special episode 17 This evening we present the surly stranger, part one of one This week's episodes are brought to you by the Flashmobs' new home It's a bit like the old clubhouse, with chat, forums and general nonsense But with none of that rotting corpses beneath the floorboards smell Interested? Try the fresh air at skinner.fm/mom Flashpulp is an experiment in broadcasting fresh pulp stories in the modern age Three to ten minutes of fiction brought to you Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings Tonight, we present a short urban myth common throughout capital city A tale of aggravations, occupations and palpitations Starring two men and a dog The surly stranger Written by Jaredie Skinner Art and narration by OpenX and audio produced by Jessica May The surly stranger is a legend that permeates most North American urban areas that have a focus on green space and walking paths and often comes back into circulation when similar planned endeavors make the news The story opens on a cold April morning as the narrators Cousin or friend is on his or her way to work The person in question is running late as they pass a familiar river or lakeside bench along the paved trail they use to commute Staring out at the chilled expanse of water is an equally commonplace old man and his irate rottweiler The beast is struggling at the end of his leash to reach the newcomer But despite its bad behavior, the owner does nothing more than hold it back At this point, the apparent retiree is usually said to have shaken his crumbed cane at the traveler's previous suggestions sometimes heated that the brute should be kept under better control As such, the humans ignore each other, the canine barks and the breadwinner moves on Now, unless it was a warm weekend afternoon beautiful enough to drive the city's inhabitants from their homes, the path we're told is used only by a dozen or so pedestrians close enough to their place of employment and hardy enough to risk the spring weather to walk to work The second day following, though the cold remains and the daily crossing continues, the dog is considerably more sedate It simply sits at its master's side, panting and joining the age and codger and gazing across the lake or river that they're seated beside The office drone notes the change in disposition but continues their march as their mind is on visualizing a powerpoint deck or preparing for an upcoming project meeting On the third day, the rottweiler lies whining On the fourth, it doesn't move at all Despite his or her generally distracted state, this is enough to draw the attention of the hurrying suit jacket wearer Stepping from their normal route, they nudge closer to the motionless mutt and risk another unpredictable reaction with its owner Neither pet nor master provides response to the hello From this new angle, however, the pensioner's forward-leaning posture seems awkward and uncomfortable and it is revealed that only its firmly planted cane acting as a prop beneath his chin has kept him upright Though it is usually made clear that the man perished of natural causes it is only then that the stunned stranger realizes that they spent the majority of the previous week watching the dog whose leash was entangled about the bench's arm starved to death in the slow increments In some tellings, the ensuing 911 call and bureaucratic delays are enough when combined with their chronically late status to get the worker be fired Flashpulp is presented by flashpulp.com and is released under the Creative Commons attribution non-commercial 3.0 unported license Text and audio commentaries can be sent to comments@flashpulp.com but be aware that they may appear in a future flashcast We'd also like to thank the Freesound project found at freesound.org for a full listing of effects used during the show as well as credits for the users who provided them check this episodes notes at flashpulp.com and thanks to you for listening. If you enjoyed the show please tell your friends. Sunday is gloomy, my hours are stumblerless give it the shadows I live with are number less.