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Tonight, due to the spotty electricity and general hubbub that was a byproduct of the recent superstorm, we preempt our scheduled FlashCast to instead present an unfortunate tale of familial unity.
Some days, gloomy, my hours are slumberless Dear is the shadows I live with I'm underless Little white flowers will never awaken you Not where the bright culture saw us taking you Angels have no fire ever turning you Or they'll be angry if I so don't join in you Welcome to Flashpulp, Episode 292 This evening we present The Heaven Makers This week's episodes are brought to you by Skinner Co's All Hallows Eve Department Occasionally, the job really is murder Have a horrific head in Night and night have decided to end it all Blue Sunday Flashpulp is an experiment in broadcasting Freshpulp stories in the modern age Three to ten minutes of fiction Brought to you Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings Tonight, due to the spotty electricity in general hubbub That was the byproduct of the recent superstorm We preempt our scheduled flashcast to instead present An unfortunate tale of familial unity The Heaven Makers Written by Jaredie Skinner Art and narration by Poponix An audio produced by Jessica Mink The Crawford family were eating corn pops As was the norm for 7.20am in their ranch style suburban home Lee Crawford, 9, had a pair of large fizzy headphones on And was bobbing along to a theme song that went unheard by his parents Despite the wailing rock guitar that introduced some of its segments Lee found The Heaven Makers always soothed him Outside his bubble, his father, already wearing his tie, was saying Did you find it weird that they haven't released any details about the triple murder, about the banderies? The fact that the gory scene had included the death of a ten-year-old had meant that even the captain, the radio host who welcomed Arthur Crawford to every workday, had made mention of the tragedy. From behind the shelter of a paperback whose cover was filled with a sword-wielding Scotsman of unlikely proportions, Gina Crawford eyed her husband. "Save it for after breakfast," she replied. "He's listening to his show anyway." He was close enough to Little Agintuk to make it not worth discussing in front of him. Agintuk, who the boy had met at a shared after-school babysitter, had been the one to introduce Lee to his favorite podcast. Though his friend always referred to it only as "HM." As in, "Hey man, did you hear the latest angel battle story in HM?" Holy Shazmara's. In truth, the music and follow-up copyright information had ended just as the topic was mentioned, but Lee didn't mind. Though he missed trading cards and arguing about who would win different angel battle showdowns, he knew he'd see Agintuk again. That's what Heaven Makers was all about, really. "Dad," he said, "I have to tell you something." "Yeah?" replied Arthur, as his gaze guiltily panned over a tablet full of news. "You know a week ago you were looking for your wallet?" "Yeah." I was the one who took it. "What? Why?" "It's how you get a Heaven Maker kit." I found the instructions in the address in the comments on a YouTube video. "I told you letting him use YouTube was a bad idea," said Gina. "You mailed my wallet to the address you found on a YouTube comment?" asked Arthur. "Yep," replied Lee. "It's a good thing I wrote it down too. Everything was gone the next day." Gina stood, her face pale. "It'll be okay mom," the child told his mother. The Heaven Maker said it would be all right. The woman fell to the ground and began thrashing on the carpet, her arms impacting on the table leg, her eyes bulged, and a blood-street trail of foaming mucus swarmed on her lips. "Whoa, right?" asked Arthur. His hands that worked at his tie felt gummy, and his jaw felt weak. Dragged glass seemed to blossom in his stomach, and the room seemed to be running short of light and air. "Yeah, the package finally came," said Lee with a smile. He sniffled for a moment, and without thought wiped his nose on his pajama sleeve. As he pulled it away, he left a line of crimson across a grinning herd of dinosaurs. "We're all going to heaven!" Flashpulp is presented by flashpulp.com, and is released under the Canadian Creative Commons attribution non-commercial 2.5 license. Text and audio commentaries can be sent to skinner@skinner.fm, or the voicemail line at 206-338-2792, but be aware that they may appear in a future flashcast. We'd also like to thank the free sound 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, please check this episode's notes at flashpulp.com. And thanks to you for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please tell your friends. [Music]
