Part 1 of 1
Read the full text, as well as the show notes, at http://flashpulp.com
Tonight we join Grady Pitts inside a downtown hospital.
The Skinner Co. Network
FP322 - Emergency, Part 1 of 1
Some days, gloomy, my hours are slumberless Dearest, the shadows I live with I'm underless Little white flowers will never awaken you Not where the bright culture's all I'm taking you Angels have no fire of ever returning you Or they'll be angry if I so don't join in you Welcome to FlashPulp, episode 322 This evening we present, Emergency, Part 1 of 1 This week's episodes are brought to you by the Way of the Buffalo Hi, this is Hugh, the host and editor of the Way of the Buffalo podcast Twice a month, we present the best short fiction of all genres, thought-provoking interviews, and other diverse entertainments You can find us online at wayofthebuffalopodcast.blogspot.com or search for us on iTunes Some people say that short fiction is going the way of the buffalo Come join us, won't you? [music] [music] [music] [music] 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 join Grady Pits inside a downtown hospital Emergency, written by J.R.D. Skinner, Art and Narration Biopoponax, and audio produced by Jessica May [music] As the storm drifted by outside, Grady Pits shifted in a futile effort to restore feeling in the lower half of his body He'd held his position for three hours, and his legs had long moved past pins and needles and into general numbness To the left of the bench row of plastic chairs, he was watching a couple of twenty-somethings, fretting their way through paperwork while their infant daughter wailed from inside her bright pink car seat Her mother was rifling a thick purse as the father used his non-writing hand to ineffectually rock the bassinet by his carrying arm Grady wondered if maybe the girl had a pee up her nose Decades earlier, when he was five and his brother was three, he'd shoved a frozen pee in his nostril and, to Pits' ear, the girl's shrill complaint sounded almost identical to his sibling's terrified cry There was a terse exchanged between the parents, concluded by a "You said you were going to bring it!" From mom, that was too loud to be concealed beneath CNN's constant muttering and the woman turned a furious gaze on the room, seeming to dare others to note the disturbance Pit wheeled away and attempted to look as if he hadn't been staring by generally facing the television mounted on the wall There was a big man in dirty mechanics overall, sitting beneath the screen, and Pits' focus soon drifted to the frayed edge blue towel wrapped around his right wrist Blood had soaked through the cloth and a spatter of drops had mixed with the oil stains on his pant legs Despite the apparent severity of the injury, the fella's face was calm, almost bored and Grady began to scrutinize his distant state of mind Had narcotics caused the man's accident? The flow increased from a drip to a steady stream of pooling red, at which point Grady could no longer watch Where were the nurses? Why wasn't the line moving? There was nothing for it, but to keep waiting Now trapped between the squabbling parents and the leaking mechanic, Pits took to counting the ceiling tiles, shuffling in nearby stack of magazines and finally simply staring at the back of the head of the blonde woman, one row over from his own At first Grady believed she was napping, and that the gentle bob and roll of her shoulders was simply the result of snoring But he was soon convinced she was actually weeping silently He considered moving to her side and asking if he might be of assistance At the worst, perhaps talking would ease her weight But he forgot the idea, when she was approached by a man he assumed to be her husband He wore a grey polo shirt, and the majority of his face had been removed by some unknown violence Though a sliver of the detached bone remained protruding from the gore of his exposed brain He appeared impatient for a man on the cusp of death, but Pits found his own attention drawn to a pulsing within the naked grey matter After a few moments, a tutting aimed in his direction pulled him away from his morbid fascination, and he turned to see that an orderly and white was beckoning Finally said Grady, about time I got serviced Before he could rise however, the hospital worker frowned and said, "You can't be in here Mr. Pits, this is an emergency room, not a bus stop, and your muttering is scaring the patients If you're in need of help speak with the shrink of the shelter, because there's nothing we can do for you here" Thus dismissed, Grady collected his tattered ball cap and grocery bags The rain had briefly broken, and he was eager to be free of the sickness surrounding him 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 episode's notes at flashpulp.com And thanks to you for listening. 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