Part 2 of 3
Read the full text, as well as the show notes, at http://flashpulp.com
Tonight, Will Coffin, urban shaman, and Bunny, his tipsy companion, exchange tales of, and with, the dead.
The Skinner Co. Network
FP272 - Coffin: Balm, Part 2 of 3
[music] Some days glue me my hours are slumberless Dearest the shadows I live with by nonetheless Little wife flowers will never awaken you Not where the brach ultra soul has taken you [music] Angels have no fire ever returning you Or they may angry if I so don't join in you [music] Welcome to Flashpop, episode 272 This evening we present, coffin, balm, part two of three This week's episodes are brought to you by the Way of the Buffalo podcast 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, will you? [music] [music] Flashpop 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, Will Coffin, urban shaman, and Bunny, his tipsy companion, exchanged tales of, and with, the dead Coffin, balm, part two of three Written by J.R.D. Skinner, art and narration by Opoponax, and audio produced by Jessica May [music] The fantastic cowhand, having been exhausted from the effort required to stand tall, had returned to the awkward sprawl of his death It seemed impolite to Bunny to loiter around a man with his face pinned to the dirt, and so she drifted, with her whiskey bottle, to sit on the hood of the grey rented fort With a shrug, Coffin followed "What's this deal? Why is he here?" asked the drunk, in a tone meant to be covert "Well, that's the question," replied Coffin Ambrose is from a time when men were supposed to be rass on bears and chew and iron Not dealing with their emotions and having any idea why they were constantly looking moodily at the horizon Something's keeping him here, but he's not talking about it I may not even be aware of what it is He's an aberration, no ghost should be able to linger so long His water ran dry over a century ahead of anyone considering running a highway by here, but he hasn't gotten any less stubborn since I researched his genealogy, tracked down the burial site of the man who killed his brother, brought out some cold beer Way back in the day we even tried a horse, had to rent the beast, had a trailer to haul it in The guy only let us go with his stuff because Sandy hinted we were filming a version of Lady Cadaive's naked ride Bunny snorted, and Will allowed himself a grin "We were young, and it was the 70s," he continued "People did that sort of thing" The mention of his dead wife, and his introduction as the ghost, was as close to opening up to Bunny as Will had ever come And this was perhaps why she suddenly found herself speaking of the husband she'd been forced to kill One time Tim brought a camcorder from a pile of his, wanted to make a home movie he was already calling "tail from the dark side" I won't get into the details of his plan, but that shit wasn't happening I may have failed high school biology and physics, but even I know the human body wasn't meant to twist like that Still, I didn't want to get my ass kicked, because I didn't think giving me a wall would do much more than make it worse before it even began So I did the only thing I could think of, I licked his armpit "Coffin's brow peaked" "Yeah sure," said Bunny "You gotta realize three things" One, no one expects an armpit lick Two, it's tough not to laugh at having your armpit lick And three, it's also just as tough to turn around and try to fuck your armpit licker Hell, I'd been drinking wild turkey all day anyway, so my mouth was too numb to notice how shit he tasted Her shaking hand, which had once held a bloody frying pan, now raised the spice liquor The desert had dried Bunny's lips, but it could not keep the moisture from her eyes "Where's this girl I am?" she finally asked, as she ran her denim jacket forearm across her cheeks "Well," said Coffin "You've probably heard the old story about the quiet hitchhiker who gets picked up in the middle of nowhere The next day the driver has to go back to where they dropped off their passenger And they discover a forelorn parent who tells them that it was their kid who died tragically the year previous "Sure," replied Bunny, from around the mouth of her drink "Yeah, that actually happens sometimes" She's out cruising at the moment, had a pressed phantom who gets the energy together to thumb a ride And got to remain intensely focused and hope they managed to make it home It's a painful process for them, and most snap back to their death sites sooner than the ride's done It certainly confuses the good Samaritan The sun had gained height and heat, and the two dozen feet of brush and sand that lay between themselves and the prone apparition had began to shimmer Without further discussion, the trio sank into their own considerations They were still silently staring into the haze when a shadow flickered past Bunny's vision And a second form came to be abruptly lying between the focus and the cattlemen The 20-something was wearing an unzipped black sweater, a blue tank top, and black stretch pants Everything below her neck was slick with blood Will was quick to unfurl the silver chain from his pocket and let the intricate hook at its end dangle But before he might use the talisman to lift the newcomer from her resting place The stolid old timer rose Approaching the woman, he bowed low and offered his hand She took it in her translucent own, and the two stood together briefly as she whispered something in his ear Which neither will nor bunny could make out Ambrose's reply was clear enough, however Oh, no, I listen, she's this blasted warmth is all I have a safe journey home, hmm, think of me when you met The strain of remaining upright so soon after her attempted escape was obvious on the girl's face As she turned away from her companion, so coffin definitely brushed the arcane charm against her wrist They exchanged introductions as he led her to the car Twenty minutes later, Allison was cheerily taking questions from Bunny Who had taken a seat in the bag so that coffin could maintain a grip on his occult tool while driving How the fuck do you manage to hitchhike while looking like you caught a Heinz factory explosion to the chest? Ask the lush "I learned to only try it at night," replied the specter "I can sip my sweater and cover most of the mess" "The guys, it's always guys, need to keep their eyes on the road mostly anyhow" There was an evening when a geyser tried to get fresh with me But I gave him a gory peek and let myself fall away I thought it might stop some poor woman from being stuck in a jam in the future As she spoke, the pattern of slashes across the meat of her neck seeped and shifted Bunny prodded further "Why are you trying so hard to find a ride?" "I just want to go home, see my parents?" "I left on bad terms" "Well, I was never on good terms with them, I suppose" "But I still miss them" "Never make it?" "Nope" "The further I went, the harder it got" "I never made it much beyond halfway to Elko" "I can't even tell you how much I appreciate you guys giving me a lift" Bunny finished her whiskey and asked "What were you doing out in the middle of nowhere?" Allison's grin deflated "I was with my man, Shane" "I thought he was magic, but really, I wasn't idiot" "We weren't living together, but I was considering it" He drove a limo for the shaved kitty cabaret, a strip club in the south end of Vegas To keep things fresh, a lot of peeler establishment shuffled their dancers around And Shane spent most of his working hours driving between there and LA or San Fran He wasn't supposed to have anyone with him while he was chauffeuring But the talent were generally too busy enjoying the complimentary champagne to complain about us being upfront listening to old Tupac-led courtings Shane had convinced me he was a man on his way He'd gotten a year of some big money in Los Angeles, and was running trailer crystallins in the city I know how bad that sounds, but, well, death gives you a perspective you maybe didn't have when you were alive Truly, I didn't fully understand how deeply he was in it All I could see was a guy with hot abs and a wall full of cash Well, usually full of cash I only realized how huge his own meth habit had become when we were fighting during the drive back Because he couldn't afford to stop for a Big Mac on the way Tired out and refusing to talk to him further I fell asleep with my head against the window And then we were stopped And Shane was laughing and laughing Half unconscious, I stumbled from the car And he was calling me over to a big pile of nothing I wanted to leave, but part of me was just glad he wasn't still mad Because he'd been so quick to get angry I should have put two and two together there as well, I guess Anyhow, when I realized there was nothing to see in the dark, I tried to leave, but he... he didn't let me After I was dead, I couldn't stop crying Ambrose had to walk over and hold me And I was too much of a mess to help him lift me, so... it couldn't have been easy He waited there till dawn And even when he went back to his spot, he kept talking to me He explained my situation and tried to guess at what might free me He was so formal, but so sweet He wasn't the last time I blubbered Sometimes we'd crawl across the ten or so feet of sand and grab at each other like we were drowning It was easier to keep from falling back when we were wrapped together The shade was so lost in her retelling that she failed to notice his coffin Adjusted his course away from her original destination and towards Las Vegas Nor did she note that the knuckles he'd wrapped around his mystic trinket were white, with strain 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. 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