Episode 6

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Previously on, it happened here, 2024.

spk_0 The week's family comes together in Canada and establishes a commune.

spk_0 Every family has to work shit out its own way, and we all got through it a lot.

spk_0 She got out of the car and came over to us.

spk_0 All Kate cool and said, hey Mickey, what's happening?

spk_0 He said, going sailing, you want to come?

spk_0 She said, maybe later, dude.

spk_0 Then she choked up and he came over to her.

spk_0 I heard her say, I thought you were dead and he said, you too.

spk_0 She pushed him away and then she hugged him.

spk_0 When Garrett showed up, I lost it.

spk_0 We were all there.

spk_0 I buried my head against Paul making a sniffling, snorting sound.

spk_0 He put his arm around me and whispered, you're an embarrassment, Ruth.

spk_0 If we weren't separated, I would leave you so fast.

spk_0 I couldn't see Ruth's face.

spk_0 I just saw her moving toward Mickey like she was in a trance.

spk_0 She threw her arms around him and they both just held each other.

spk_0 It was way beyond words.

spk_0 Of course, I remember a lot of this, but there was some stuff I didn't know.

spk_0 Like, Grandpa Garrett and Uncle Terrence kidnapping Mickey.

spk_0 But what I don't get is when did everyone decide to stay?

spk_0 I mean, we go to a wedding and we never go home.

spk_0 What's that about, Aunt Ruth?

spk_0 We never did decide to stay.

spk_0 It just happened.

spk_0 I think we were so relieved and happy to be together at the wedding.

spk_0 We needed each other so much, even if there were times we drove each other crazy and things

spk_0 were so horrific back home.

spk_0 We really missed the ones who weren't there, like the general.

spk_0 Since we'd never planned to stay in Canada, we didn't think of bringing him up to join

spk_0 us.

spk_0 I'd call him every Sunday and he was getting worse and worse at hiding how lonely he was.

spk_0 I said to Paul, it's all well and good for us to not make any plans, but we really have

spk_0 to do something for the general.

spk_0 He said he'd talk to Garrett.

spk_0 Everyone was so busy, they never even thought about the general.

spk_0 I finally said to Paul, let's fly him up here.

spk_0 So we did.

spk_0 I decided that the general should be with us and Garrett picked him up at the airport.

spk_0 It seemed like he'd be most comfortable in Hull House, so we switched rooms around and

spk_0 he moved right in.

spk_0 Everyone made a big fuss about him, which is all he ever wanted from the human race.

spk_0 I was struggling with the situation.

spk_0 I couldn't in good conscience be a part of this group.

spk_0 My politics weren't their politics.

spk_0 I didn't want to argue with them and I didn't want to pretend I lined up with them either.

spk_0 I was feeling like a hypocrite.

spk_0 I had to go back home and make the best of it.

spk_0 My plan was to leave Sunday morning when everyone gathered in the barn to sing semi-religious

spk_0 Watnight and I could slip away unnoticed.

spk_0 I finished packing my car when Mickey came out of the cottage and said, no good bye, Uncle Garrett?

spk_0 I told him this was best for everyone.

spk_0 Bottom line, my beliefs are different from everyone else's.

spk_0 And he said, that's exactly why I should stay.

spk_0 One of the problems I have with Mickey is I disagree with everything he says and does.

spk_0 But I can't help liking him.

spk_0 Even when I was about to drive him back to the USA to turn him in.

spk_0 He suggested we get coffee and sit on the porch and I said it had to be quick because I

spk_0 want to be gone before church lets out.

spk_0 I went point by point how I disagreed with him.

spk_0 He said, Uncle Garrett, sitting here on a porch in Canada, we can go head to head on politics.

spk_0 But that's not possible anymore in the USA.

spk_0 If you don't line up with the great leader, you're a traitor.

spk_0 He was right and I wasn't about to agree with him.

spk_0 He said the country was going to change real soon.

spk_0 I asked how and he said, what do you think we're doing here, Uncle Garrett?

spk_0 Like any true conservative Uncle Garrett was appalled by the ruling party.

spk_0 But he sure wasn't on our side either.

spk_0 We talked long enough to realize there were a few things we agreed on,

spk_0 like how the world was becoming unlivable for the human race.

spk_0 Sometimes all it takes is the looming extinction of one's species to open up the conversation.

spk_0 It was the longest one I'd had with him since he convinced me to play football at the U.

spk_0 Mickey heard Daniel in the kitchen and went inside and I realized, damn, I stayed too long.

spk_0 Everyone's coming back from the barn.

spk_0 I was just about to get up when Pam Rainer appeared in the doorway saying,

spk_0 oh, I'm sorry, you probably don't want company.

spk_0 I told her it was fine since I was leaving anyway, so she sat down with her book and said,

spk_0 I never was much of a group person, but I'd spent so much time alone.

spk_0 It's a comfort to be around people.

spk_0 I told her I've been spending a lot of time alone too, but I still wasn't sold on the human race.

spk_0 She laughed and said it was nice to know at her age she's still capable of changing.

spk_0 And I said, the way the world's spinning, we have no choice.

spk_0 What stood out about Pam was that she wasn't afraid of silence.

spk_0 Some people, and I used to term loosely because I'm talking about my family.

spk_0 I like DJs, afraid of dead air.

spk_0 They have to fill it even if they have nothing to say.

spk_0 Pam asked where I was going.

spk_0 I don't ready for God, I told her I was leaving and I said,

spk_0 inside to get lunch, can I bring you something?

spk_0 One of the new units we built in the field was designated as the clinic.

spk_0 Sophie and I set up shop there and people would come in if they got the flu or old

spk_0 an ankle or involved in some fluky nail gun accident.

spk_0 With all the construction projects, there was always action of some kind,

spk_0 but our patient hours were mainly devoted to a single individual.

spk_0 The general was a world-class hypokondriac.

spk_0 One afternoon, Sophie was wheeling him back to Howell House,

spk_0 so he could recover from not having a heart attack,

spk_0 when I saw someone making the long walk down the dusty road to the cottages.

spk_0 He had the unhurried pace of a man traveling the world on foot who wouldn't accept a ride.

spk_0 I went rushing out and yelled,

spk_0 Dr. Morales, he came strolling over and said, David,

spk_0 It was the first I'd seen of him since our long ago Thanksgiving chess match.

spk_0 I've walked him down to the cottages, where he met his son for the first time.

spk_0 I spent my online time telling people to get offline.

spk_0 Stop being data points they can use to manipulate your beliefs.

spk_0 Our only defense against the madness is to live in the world.

spk_0 Dr. Morales joined me in Sophie at the clinic.

spk_0 He fit right in, but was still on the gruff side, just as I remembered.

spk_0 My dad was old school, but he had a totally unconscious gift for marketing.

spk_0 The more he told people to get offline, the more followers he gained.

spk_0 What sold his rap was that he meant it.

spk_0 Then they started to show up in person.

spk_0 Sophie and Dr. Morales and I were in the clinic and heard laughter.

spk_0 We looked out and several 20-ish wanderers were

spk_0 ambling down the drive toward the cottages.

spk_0 I asked where they were headed and they said they wanted to meet Dr. Paul Weeks.

spk_0 They kept coming. Survivors who'd managed to crawl out of the quicksand of America 2039

spk_0 parched for what they couldn't find in the United States.

spk_0 Comradery and informant, free fun, and a chance to cavort newt in the sunshine

spk_0 without surveillance tapes to be used against them at a later date.

spk_0 They knew us from the whiskey hour and were up for anything,

spk_0 yearning to create wild transgressive tales they could someday recount to their grandchildren or

spk_0 alien captors.

spk_0 I was taking a break with my dad when a few backpackers came up on the porch and said,

spk_0 how does this place work? My dad said feed the community and the community feeds you.

spk_0 They mumbled, heavy shit.

spk_0 My dad had become a master of the oblique non-sequitor that left people in respectful confusion.

spk_0 They camped in the field and most found a way to fit in.

spk_0 Some left pretty quickly when they realized this was a working community, not some

spk_0 hedonistic orgy of drugs, sex, partying, and all around bad behavior.

spk_0 We saved that for the weekend.

spk_0 The community was catching on in a big way.

spk_0 To me and my dad, who didn't buy the politics, that meant trouble.

spk_0 We'd served and sacrificed for our country.

spk_0 And we were uncomfortable being part of a group working against it,

spk_0 even though the United States had turned into something we could hardly recognize.

spk_0 Uncle Paul and Mickey and Daniel were great at stirring things up.

spk_0 But we started to wonder if they had any idea where all this was headed.

spk_0 Pam Rainer helped me translate the family's radical politics into something that almost made

spk_0 sense. It helped that I cared so much for her, which opened up a part of my life I thought I'd

spk_0 died with Hadley. There were times I worried I was compromising my ideals, but I was happier than

spk_0 I'd been in years. So I moved in with Pam and I kept a steady watch on what was happening.

spk_0 I overheard Mickey and Daniel strategizing about all the people showing up from the states.

spk_0 Mickey said, the problem is we're full. We can't take anymore.

spk_0 I said, dude, you sound just like the great leader talking about immigration.

spk_0 He flared up until Daniel started laughing and then Mickey said,

spk_0 fuck you, Terrence. But he might as well have been saying, I love you.

spk_0 Daniel was the best thing that ever happened to Mickey.

spk_0 Terrence and I were the only ones who saw the potential danger of a bunch of doked up,

spk_0 unvetted peace and love migrants moving it. Paul loved being the center of attention,

spk_0 but he was clueless about how the world actually worked.

spk_0 My dad and I handled security and started checking out the folks showing up.

spk_0 Nothing obvious, just casual conversation. You can find out a lot if you know what you're doing.

spk_0 Oddly enough, it was Garrett who found out Mickey's plan. He mentioned it like I already knew.

spk_0 Being senselessly competitive with my brother since the beginning of time, I acted as if I did.

spk_0 But all I knew was what Garrett told me.

spk_0 When Paul said Mickey was planning to reboot America, I didn't understand what it meant.

spk_0 Shut it down and start over. Isn't it too late for that? Paul said it's been too late for a long time,

spk_0 but that's no reason not to do it. I asked Mickey about this reboot business and he just smiled.

spk_0 So I asked Perry and he said it means exactly what it says, which was pretty annoying considering

spk_0 I was sleeping with the guy. I found out that Paul would take long walks alone on the beach in the early

spk_0 morning. I told Terrence and we filed that away. Since Paul was the main reason people were showing up.

spk_0 This new guy Bruce Melvin in early 20s was one of the mystery hangers on.

spk_0 There was something about the guy I didn't like. Maybe that Nandito was super friendly to him.

spk_0 She asked if I was jealous and I said no, but I'm pretty sure I was lying.

spk_0 Terrence said, Dad, if you had to pick one person who's up to no good, who would you pick?

spk_0 I studied the folks hanging out after dinner and said, Bruce Melvin. I don't know why.

spk_0 The first morning, tailing Paul on his early morning beach walk. I'm hiding in the bushes when a

spk_0 branch catches me in the eye and I say, fuck! Paul wheels around and sees me and asks why I'm following him.

spk_0 I tell him I wasn't, but we both know I was, so I apologize. He says he'd ask me to walk with him,

spk_0 but this is the time when he prepares to be awesome. Back at the U, we had taken our lives for granted,

spk_0 as entitled people tend to do. It broke Paul's heart when they didn't give him tenure,

spk_0 and he never found his footing after that. Once he started doing podcasts, people treated him like

spk_0 the brilliant professor he used to be. He got his mojo back, and it was a wonder to see.

spk_0 I didn't tell my dad that Uncle Paul busted me on the beach. I didn't want to see that look on his face,

spk_0 so I just kept a bigger distance from Paul when I tailed him. Nandita told me Bruce's story,

spk_0 disowned by parents, no cash, trouble finding his place in the world. Welcome to the club,

spk_0 but you're so sympathetic and so not interested in him romantically, I eased up on the paranoia.

spk_0 I told my dad Bruce was okay, and his response was silence, which in the funhouse world of my

spk_0 dad means he doesn't agree. There was always something going on at the barn, music or dances or

spk_0 lectures, and people from town would show up. The big fear of the parents was that their teenagers

spk_0 would run off and join our commune, but as it turned out, it was the parents who moved in with us.

spk_0 The cottages were full, so we started building these small energy efficient units all over the field.

spk_0 One night we were walking to the barn, which was already half full for a performance by local

spk_0 bagpipers, which nearly kept Paul in his room, and I asked if we decided to stay here. He said

spk_0 absolutely not, but I sure can't see leaving.

spk_0 Nandita would tease me about tailing Paul. She said I did it because the early morning was my

spk_0 favorite time of day, and I loved being alone. She was right, like usual. I got pretty casual

spk_0 about what I was actually supposed to be doing to protect Paul. When my parents emptied the house

spk_0 at 117 Poplar, I was sure I didn't want anything, but I was glad they'd saved some stuff.

spk_0 Like the football parents gave me after my miracle catch.

spk_0 Thanksgiving Day

spk_0 Louise and I were in the kitchen making pies and listening to Paul's holiday podcast.

spk_0 Good and decent people used to think the great leader would step aside when he lost an election,

spk_0 but dictators never leave of their own accord. His hand picked Supreme Court gift wrapped the 2024

spk_0 election. The great leader used to joke about making himself president for life, and now he'd done it.

spk_0 Change the rules so he'd never have to leave. The lesson? When humorless people make a joke,

spk_0 it pays to listen. And he continues to work his diabolical magic. Life expectancy is dropping

spk_0 here by year because we have declared war on ourselves and we are winning. Our weapons are suicide,

spk_0 homicide, deaths by despair and ungodly stress, which builds and builds until our heart goes boom

spk_0 and we're flat on our back in the driveway, staring up at the clouds where we see faces of everyone

spk_0 we ever loved. Wondering in our final moments, why we never found the courage to stand up to the great

spk_0 leader. Was it the free floating smog of hopelessness hanging over the remnants of our civilization

spk_0 that we breathed into our lungs from the moment we opened our eyes on another unwelcome day?

spk_0 My friends, like opioids and binge drinking and erotic esphyxiation, the great leader is one more

spk_0 manifestation of death by despair. He will keep murdering us one by one. As long as we accept him as

spk_0 a leader, we will never find a purpose or someone to love or a community where we truly belong.

spk_0 Happy Thanksgiving!

spk_0 When Paul finished his heartwarming holiday podcast, Louise looked outside where they were

spk_0 choosing upteams for football and said, we have all that. Family and purpose and community

spk_0 were going to live forever and she went running outside to play. I knew the general wouldn't want to

spk_0 miss the game so I wheeled him onto the porch where we could watch together, like old times.

spk_0 Late in the afternoon, there were snowflaries but nobody wanted to stop playing.

spk_0 I was glad Mickey was on my team. He made some unbelievable catches and they had to be because my

spk_0 passes were all over the field like drone strikes launched by a drunk. The best part of my game

spk_0 was trash talking. I ragged on Terrence's team, dirty demeaning stuff that cut them off guard,

spk_0 me being a sensitive caring doctor, my feeling was, fuck him, I want to win. We'd been out there

spk_0 for hours when the general started bellowing. Next touchdown wins! Which made everyone mad because

spk_0 both teams knew for a fact they were way ahead. In the huddle, Mickey started taking charge and I

spk_0 said, I got this. We lined up with Ella's quarterback. She took the snap, I dropped back and she

spk_0 lateraled to me. I made a hall of fame fake to Mickey on the left and then I turned and Louise was

spk_0 all alone in the end zone. I couldn't lob it because Terrence was racing over for the interception

spk_0 so I fired the ball hard and it slammed into her gut and knocked her down but she held onto the ball.

spk_0 I figured hey if she's hurt she'll get excellent medical care.

spk_0 Louise came up on the porch holding onto the ball which David gave her after the touchdown

spk_0 and described exactly what happened in fantastical detail even though we'd all just seen it.

spk_0 Paul had joined us for the end of the game. It was getting cold and everyone

spk_0 trooped inside to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Mickey, Kate and David were the last ones on

spk_0 the field. There were our children laughing about something and Kate stuck out her tongue to catch

spk_0 the snowflakes. I turned to Paul and he answered the question I didn't ask. Yeah Ruth, we did okay.

spk_0 I feel like I stopped being a little kid at that football game. I'd heard about all the games

spk_0 from years ago at the general's house and it was finally a part of it. Maybe it was a football game

spk_0 but also you stopped being a little kid when all the family started showing up.

spk_0 You were the big kid and you started making money babysitting. Kate said I was a capitalist like

spk_0 everyone else in the family especially the ones who called themselves socialists. It's true.

spk_0 You're the only one who spent money on a Christmas present. We each picked a name from secret Santa

spk_0 and improvised. Kate wrote a song for Terrence. I knitted one sleeve of a sweater for Neil.

spk_0 Uncle Paul's gift to my dad was a podcast that didn't mention the great leader. Remember?

spk_0 With the holiday is approaching and the end of a long year in exile it should be clear that we are on our own.

spk_0 Don't look to God or the government or powerble or the hazy comfort of the afterlife for salvation.

spk_0 All we have is what's around us. This life, this day, this moment in all its region,

spk_0 beauty. There's nothing waiting for us at the end. No participation trophy for soldiering through.

spk_0 No final rebate from the home office for how unfair it all was. No apology from the bullies who

spk_0 ruled first the playground and then the White House. We were sure their cruelty would catch up to

spk_0 them but of course it never did. No passing of the baton to the next one who will run our race. No.

spk_0 There's just the yawning abyss waiting to swallow us up in one final cosmic bite for all eternity.

spk_0 And then nothing. Nothing and more nothing. And you'll even the endless nothingness is nothing which

spk_0 means if nothingness is nothing then there has to be something. And there is but let's not bet on it

spk_0 or pull our punches or back off from the big risk. There's no reason to play it safe when we already

spk_0 know the end of the story. Turn the page whisper the last sentence. The final chapter is done. Close the book.

spk_0 Turn out the life. Say good night forever. But don't forget to hang a stocking for Santa

spk_0 because you just never know. Merry Christmas.

spk_0 My present from my mom and dad was my old Yamaha guitar which Terrence had brought up from Pam

spk_0 Rainer's house. After all these years it was like reconnecting with a dear old friend who'd

spk_0 stayed exactly the same. I started practicing and found an ancient notebook my parents had saved

spk_0 from 117 Poplar which had a bunch of song fragments from when Isaac and I were writing together.

spk_0 There was one called when the world was new that we had worked on for years. Without drugs

spk_0 back in the place I loved most the world was talking to me again.

spk_0 I went back and forth on whether to ask Dr. Morales the big question. Finally I just blurted it out.

spk_0 Do you want to play chess? I'd been putting it off because I hadn't played for years and I really

spk_0 wanted to win. To get ready I started paying Louise a dollar per game to play with me. She barely

spk_0 understood the rules but I knew she'd pick it up fast. She even beat me a few times because it's

spk_0 impossible to predict what a beginner will do and some of her insanely bold attacks actually worked.

spk_0 I gradually got my head back into it so when Dr. Morales agreed to play I was ready. There we were

spk_0 locked in another epic battle. He wasn't as sharp as he used to be and I almost took pity on him

spk_0 but then I remembered how he never once let me win as a child and I went in for the kill.

spk_0 I was two moves from checkmate and my heart was pounding. It was shameful that beating this poor

spk_0 refugee who'd spent much of his adult life incarcerated was so important to me. Just when I could smell

spk_0 victory I glimpsed that tiny smug smile I hadn't seen since I was a kid. The smile that said

spk_0 he was going to win. I'd gotten so used to following Paul on his quiet morning stroll and made no

spk_0 sense when Bruce Melvin slipped out of the bushes. I rushed him from behind when I saw the pistol

spk_0 I dived and knocked him down but he got his shot off. That's what I woke up to. A gunshot

spk_0 and somehow I knew. Terrence and I were outside the clinic waiting to see if Paul was going to pull

spk_0 through. When Terrence said, Dad I blew it just like the bombing I was too late.

spk_0 My dad just looked at me and then looked away. Didn't say a word. It would have been nice to talk

spk_0 about what happened even a few words. Paul had been shot in the back. He survived but when he

spk_0 returned to our room after five days he looked old and weak. All of a sudden he'd stumbled into old

spk_0 age and I felt like I wasn't far behind. Nandita blamed herself for convincing me Bruce wasn't a threat

spk_0 and I blamed myself for not sticking closer to Paul. Everyone felt bad and we didn't know what to

spk_0 do with Bruce. We found out later that the great leader had called Dr. Paul Weeks an enemy of the state.

spk_0 That's all it took. I had a huge argument with my mom about what we should do about Bruce Melvin.

spk_0 It got so heated she told me to go to my room. 38 years old and mommy hits me with a timeout. She

spk_0 later said she was kidding but she wasn't. Ask anyone. We had a meeting in the barn to decide Bruce's

spk_0 fate and we were all over the map. Turn him into the cops, send him back to the USA. He'd have

spk_0 gotten the medal of freedom from the great leader. Mickey said we should handle it ourselves but

spk_0 how build a jailed execute him? Everyone loved Paul and there were some pretty brutal

spk_0 suggestions from a bunch of peacenicks. It was Garrett who said we should put Bruce on the work chart.

spk_0 The best thing Mickey and Daniel did was their chart. Everyone had a job and everyone else was

spk_0 depending on it getting done. They'd be the usual complaints and poor me bullshit but having

spk_0 the rest of the tribe count on you for survival gives you a purpose every single day. That's what I

spk_0 missed about the military. My dad drives me nuts 98% of the time but it's worth it for the 2%

spk_0 when he makes me proud like when he spoke up in that meeting. Garrett got us to see Bruce as a

spk_0 lost kid who'd bought the free range hate the great leader was peddling and thought it was his

spk_0 patriotic duty to get a gun and come after Paul. I think what Garrett went through with Isaac

spk_0 enabled him to have compassion for Bruce Melvin. In Garrett's mind, Isaac got led astray by radicals

spk_0 just like Bruce Melvin got led astray by the great leader. Garrett and I were never close

spk_0 but I felt like after all these years we started to understand each other. We had been through so much.

spk_0 One afternoon he asked if I'd take a walk with him. I thought he had something he wanted to discuss

spk_0 but he hardly said a word. He loved walking in the woods and wanted to share that with me.

spk_0 We were wary of Bruce. He kept to himself. The one who reached out to him was Terence's dog Jarvis

spk_0 who had the gift of making everyone better. Since Bruce wanted to be with Jarvis and

spk_0 spent time with Terence so the two dudes became friends in spite of everything. The three of them

spk_0 would go on walks and you could see the change. Day by day Bruce depended on us and we depended on him

spk_0 because that's how the work chart was set up. One morning I looked out at the beach and saw Terence

spk_0 pushing the general in his wheelchair and Jarvis and Bruce leading the way. Terence stopped and

spk_0 the general stood up from his wheelchair and started walking briskly. They kept going like that until

spk_0 I couldn't see them anymore. I asked Terence about it later and he said, oh he does that sometimes.

spk_0 Our lives were getting slower and deeper and things like the general walking the way he did

spk_0 20 years ago would happen with no explanation. It felt like some kind of great mystery was unfolding

spk_0 all around us. Word had spread to the outside world that Dr. Paul Weeks had been shot by a red

spk_0 hat and there was huge anticipation of what he would do in response. Paul spent lots of time on the

spk_0 porch reading and staring into space. For PT he'd walk into the kitchen for another drink. I was shocked

spk_0 that he wanted to do more podcasts. I thought it was a mistake. My dad seemed softer and more sensitive

spk_0 than he'd ever been which was the opposite of his rants. We had no idea what his followers would

spk_0 think of the kinder and gentler whiskey hour. We were all victims of the great leader but we still

spk_0 felt bad for his wife. As a younger woman she had endured the escort's nightmare,

spk_0 hooking up with a John who never left which resulted in her becoming first lady.

spk_0 She often had to excuse herself from state functions because the mere sight of her bovine

spk_0 life partner with his creepy cold eyes cannibalizing her made her throw up in her mouth.

spk_0 She'd known for years he was a closet microfiliac who could only love a woman who was as dead as he was.

spk_0 Now she was chained for eternity to a terminal narcissist who sold was a black hobo that swallowed

spk_0 everything in its path and was too dense to allow any light to escape. One day she wandered away

spk_0 from the White House and wasn't seen for months until Buzzfeed reported deciding at the Iowa

spk_0 State Fair where she was observed eating deep fried cheese curds in the company of John F. Kennedy,

spk_0 Jr. The QAnon crowd went wild but in her rage the great leader whose marital vows as he understood

spk_0 them allowed for the occasional nine second romp with a fading porn star while in another zip code

spk_0 but certainly didn't permit his wife to consort with the dead. That was his department.

spk_0 When it became clear that she had come to her senses and would never return the great leader

spk_0 turned plaintively to his daughter the surgically triumphant princess. A baby was needed so the

spk_0 torch would not be passed to his dim vacant sons who learned their ignorance and cruelty at the

spk_0 feet of their daddy. The princess rose to the occasion and became first lady daughter so committed

spk_0 to her new role she miraculously gave birth to baby Fred. When the subject of paternity arose the great

spk_0 leader leared like an acne ravaged freshman who'd gotten lucky Friday night with a sorority queen

spk_0 slipping his tiny orange claw up the princess's royal skirt as her shiny lacquered face cracked

spk_0 and pained grizzly laughter and she stared at the fake news reporters with the same wolf eyes as

spk_0 her father husband co-parent a regenerating lump of lies hate and toxic speutum. The happy couple

spk_0 displayed baby Fred in public pay per view $750. The heir apparent hairless except for a single

spk_0 telltale sprout of orange rising from his glistening empty dome was wearing a tiny military uniform

spk_0 the vice president who adored fetuses but hated babies smiled obsequiously at the great leader

spk_0 and croaked it has your eye when the princess looked down into the singly roomy eye staring up at her

spk_0 with pure hate from the jiggly scoop of malignant inbred flesh she birthed she tooth grew up in her

spk_0 mouth which was one of the many demands on the first lady clearly the nation was in good hands

spk_0 as it turned out we didn't have worried about my dad's level of bile that's when the whiskey

spk_0 hour really took off the combination of getting shot and coming out swinging fired up as followers

spk_0 holly the tech wizard told him he was a thing and he said it beat the hell out of being a person

spk_0 getting shot made me homesick for the USA as wonderful as Canada was it lacked the beloved traditions

spk_0 of my country like 4th of July fireworks in the world series random gunfire in public places

spk_0 we decided the great national reboot would take place on may day when the great leader was going

spk_0 to announce that Lincoln's face on Mount Rushmore would be rechiseled into the great leaders

spk_0 turgid snout it had to be done because the great leader was the best love person who ever lived and

spk_0 no one talked about Lincoln anymore since i couldn't convince my followers to get off line i tried

spk_0 to get them to take action go to Washington on may day for the great national reboot join the sad

spk_0 losers my understanding was that this reboot thing would be a symbolic event like levitating the

spk_0 pentagon Ella finally said uncle Paul what you need to know is the reboot is real

spk_0 everyone was talking about the great national reboot but nobody seemed to know exactly what it was

spk_0 if they did they weren't telling me which kind of pisses me off

spk_0 David did you know about the great national reboot not really it seemed like it was

spk_0 going to be a big demonstration of some kind Mickey and his people were the only ones who actually

spk_0 knew for sure what it was and they weren't telling in case it didn't work April 30th the eve of the

spk_0 great national reboot the partying in the field went on most of the night i stayed in the clinic

spk_0 just in case but there weren't any injuries other than a guy and his parrot falling out of a tree

spk_0 onto a large bald woman's cello typical party stuff we hadn't had a lazy day in a year

spk_0 Ella and i went skinny dipping then we made blueberry pancakes and sat out in the sunshine with our

spk_0 books it was that kind of day delicious that night after dinner we all gathered around a bonfire on

spk_0 beach i saw Kate coming down the path with that old Yamaha that used to be attached to her

spk_0 she didn't make a big thing of it just started strumming and the buzz of conversation around the

spk_0 bonfire faded away then she sang her voice was thin and frayed and it took me a while to get that

spk_0 this was the song she used to play every night after dinner the one that had only the beginning

spk_0 which she'd play over and over used to drive us star craving mad

spk_0 the song was so familiar i could see Paul tensing up i could see the recognition from my mom and

spk_0 dad here it is the song that never got finished i thought just wait i'm gonna blow your fucking

spk_0 minds but somehow i couldn't get past the beginning of the song how could i stage fright in front of

spk_0 my own family it was like PTSD the beginning of that song flashed me back to a time in my life i

spk_0 wanted to forget i was watching Kate and she had this look kind of panicked like she couldn't stop

spk_0 and she couldn't go forward my drink was empty i thought i can't take one more second of this without

spk_0 a drink i went inside and managed to knock my glass off the counter i had to clean up the broken glass

spk_0 so i was inside longer than i intended what freed me up was my dad going inside i guess getting a

spk_0 drink was more important than hearing the song i'd been working on for 20 years as soon as he was

spk_0 gone i heard another voice singing with me that's when i knew i hadn't finished writing tiny little

spk_0 island everyone was knocked out by Kate but i felt blessed but i was the only one who was able to

spk_0 hear him i couldn't stop smiling when i heard him harmonizing with Kate those two voices singing

spk_0 together had been stuck in my brain all these years since Garrett's birthday party now i was hearing

spk_0 them again and it was a moment i will never forget

spk_0 time

spk_0 by the time i'd cleaned up the glass on the kitchen floor and refilled my drink and come back to the group

spk_0 Kate had finished the song everyone was totally silent a pause would have cheapened the holiness of

spk_0 the moment finally Kate said what you didn't like it and we all started laughing and cheering

spk_0 i felt like in that moment Paul and i got our daughter back the only possible encore was some

spk_0 wars for the kids so i went back up the little path to the house that's when i saw him in the shadows

spk_0 he had that mystical smile from childhood like he knew things he couldn't tell you

spk_0 by the time i came back from the house he was gone i told the wheeze and she asked if i was afraid

spk_0 i said why would i be afraid of Isaac

spk_0 for years i dreamed about finishing that song and singing it for dad

spk_0 and when i finally had the chance he decided not to be there

spk_0 i knew i'd heard him in all kinds of ways and i wanted to tell him the best thing in my life was

spk_0 having another chance with him and that i loved him after all the hell i put us through i'd finally

spk_0 reached a point where i could say those words which do not come easily to me but the moment was gone

spk_0 everything was happening at once Kate was headed my way and i was about to hug her and tell her

spk_0 how much that song meant but david was suddenly in my face showing me on his phone what was happening in

spk_0 dc people were joining the sad losers not a lot but more were showing up every minute the movement

spk_0 had been so tiny for so long this meant something was happening david said this is you dad you did it

spk_0 then mickey grabbed me and said it was time for the great national reboot the folks up in the field

spk_0 would come all this way deserved to be a part of it and i should be the one to tell them i said

spk_0 mickey i don't know what the hell this reboot thing is he explained the stuff that made no sense

spk_0 but i figured i was as ready as i'd ever be which wasn't ready at all and i looked for Kate but

spk_0 she was gone i had to get out of there before i started crying we went up to the field and i

spk_0 climbed on the back of mickey's truck so they could see me i didn't realize how many people were

spk_0 there until they gathered around it was just like huge crowd for the great leaders first inauguration

spk_0 in 2016 except mine was bigger check the photos i said brothers and sisters the new day is here

spk_0 he was up there riffing so i called him dad 10 seconds he got everyone to count down with him

spk_0 five four three two one and silence nobody knew what was supposed to happen

spk_0 i got up there on my truck next to my dad and said listen people un-fucking america will take

spk_0 everything we've gotten at starting right now people are marching in the streets of

spk_0 washington and we've hacked into the power grid and seized all the data so their fascist empire is

spk_0 shut down and the city is dark we're rebooting america

spk_0 mickey called the computer hackers up on the back of the truck to take a bow after all those endless

spk_0 days hacking by then folks were on their screens yelling that it was happening dc had gone dark

spk_0 and more and more of the sad losers were surging through the city thousands and thousands of them

spk_0 there was already talk of the ransom the ruling party would pay to get their data back

spk_0 not bad for a call dropout huh i came back to cheer for niel when he got up on the truck

spk_0 it was tough feeling so alone the midst of all that joy so i went to my room i didn't want to bring

spk_0 anyone down people would always remember they were a part of this whatever it turned out to be

spk_0 it felt like we'd been thrashing around in deep water for so long

spk_0 and now we could touch bottom and maybe make it back to shore maybe

spk_0 for hours i couldn't sleep the wind was battering the cottage and the rain came sideways and wild

spk_0 sheets that shook the windows it was the end of everything the storm finally ended the jubilation

spk_0 and we all went off to bed daniel and i fell asleep happy

spk_0 i think we all did a gunshot woke me up i looked outside the big maple had been snapped by the wind

spk_0 or hit by lightning whatever was out there was coming closer and would get us in the end

spk_0 niel slept through it which made me happy for him sorry for myself how did he get healthy

spk_0 enough to sleep through the night while the most i ever got was a couple hours of restless churn

spk_0 i slipped on a robe and went down to the kitchen and the cottage was creaking and moaning in the wind

spk_0 ever since we'd moved to the howel house i'd been checking everyone's drugs to know what to watch out for

spk_0 so i could steer clear that night i found the truth they were for me all of them from the beginning

spk_0 of time i've had this monster living inside me my parents thought i was spirited or anxious

spk_0 or hyperactive or chemically imbalanced or whatever label would make my condition noble

spk_0 but i was so smart and pretty and popular there couldn't be anything wrong with me so

spk_0 they never saw the monster nobody except in crack houses or back alley dope deals or turning tricks

spk_0 in the backseat of a regional sales managers grand chariky during my great decline

spk_0 with music and rehab and niel i got the monster to calm down he trudged off the field and let me

spk_0 play my game but he was always on the sidelines watching every move i made with his shiny yellow eyes

spk_0 lately he'd started pacing clenching his fists he wanted me to get back in the game and he was

spk_0 there with his offering my dad's pills for post surgery pain my mom's pills for sciatica

spk_0 eliz pills for her migraines terrances antidepressants plus a cornucopia of narcotics to treat the

spk_0 increasingly untenable condition of being human we were americans we lived from one blessed pharmaceutical

spk_0 fix to the next except for me i'd been a good girl for so long and now in the wee hours my skin

spk_0 was slowly sliding off my body and there was the monster scaly and smiling one yellow i winked

spk_0 the weekends here baby since when did fun become a crime i grabbed my dad's pint of heaven hell and

spk_0 slugged it down then i took the pills one from this bottle one from that the family that gets

spk_0 high together stays together the storm was over it was dark and silent and god was in hiding i

spk_0 headed up to the field still wet with rain barefoot and wandered through the world we'd built

spk_0 tentfuls of pilgrim sleeping and snoring and dreaming a couple was outside their tents

spk_0 smoking a joint one of them i'd known when i was someone else it was the bald headed cellist from

spk_0 dean's apartment she winked and offered me a hit and it would have been rude to say no the world turned

spk_0 and came back around and what i felt was warmth the tender warmth that fills you up with nothing else will

spk_0 i walked through the field and into the woods and washed down more pills with the libats i'd

spk_0 thoughtfully jammed in the pocket of my robe what a good camper i was always prepared

spk_0 and how foolish to think i was past this that i could rehab this darkness away the monster had always

spk_0 been waiting this was his moment he had won i had done everything i was put on this good earth to do

spk_0 i had loved and been loved i had caused such pain and felt such pain i had said yes to everything and

spk_0 missed nothing i had never spent time in the sidelines i'd always been in the game the dope was new

spk_0 and exciting and the pills were an old friend i'd loved too much and the beer was a sweet kiss from

spk_0 adolescence i could see a clearing off the path a mysterious break in the trees a massive oak tree

spk_0 was watching me a forgiving haunt where a tired girl could lay her head i emptied the pill bottles

spk_0 straight into my mouth and took a delirious slug of beer that zapped me straight into the college

spk_0 parties i went to with Glenn when i was still in high school at one party an annoyingly woke girl

spk_0 an earth-friendly close asked how old i was when i said 16 she said i shouldn't be with the sick

spk_0 exploitive college man who had one thing in mind i was still a child and should be with people my own age

spk_0 i listened patiently as she squinted at me through granny glasses clutching her organic wine

spk_0 and then i suggested she go fuck herself since no one else ever would which speed bumped the party

spk_0 but nothing could stop me on nights like that everybody wanted me i dressed for sex and talked about

spk_0 Nietzsche and drank like a frat boy and who doesn't want that i get hit on by girls and guys

spk_0 wonky freshman and mordant phd's and shy hopeful t-a's with pale lipstick and Glenn would watch with

spk_0 the kind of amusement that's only possible if you know you're going home with the girl

spk_0 16 and i knew everything somehow as the years passed i knew less and less and then nothing at all

spk_0 except how to score smack when everyone else had given up the chase

spk_0 now i was alone in this divine particle of time

spk_0 lest with the perfect knowledge i used to have my heart swelled

spk_0 i whipped off my robe and stood gloriously nude in the middle of the woods

spk_0 saluting myself with lebats for fulfilling my final mission

spk_0 i had found the perfect place to die

spk_0 i was dimly aware of paul getting up in the night

spk_0 he'd always been held hostage by his mind

spk_0 if he hit on something he'd have to write it down

spk_0 with the whiskey hour and his near death by shooting and his slowly fading memory

spk_0 it was happening more and more i was half asleep and thought nothing of it when he wandered

spk_0 from our bedroom as my eyes drifted shut i had a simple thought

spk_0 this is the last time i will ever close my eyes

spk_0 my head resting on the trunk of the wise old oak

spk_0 i would forever be a part of this magical world and even though rain had fallen most of the

spk_0 night and i was lying naked under a tree i was warm after a long life of needing something

spk_0 money or a job or a lever or a car or lyrics or respect or acceptance or dope

spk_0 or hope or rent he was exhilarating to need nothing i was free

spk_0 before i shut my eyes forever i saw a ghost moving toward me his face so vacant he couldn't be alive

spk_0 he was the one who would spirit me off to the next world

spk_0 he leaned over and shook me and then i saw who it was

spk_0 my father had sleepwalked from his bed to the middle of the woods to save me

spk_0 he didn't wake up until i burst out of my stupor we both screamed

spk_0 and

spk_0 i was alone in the clinic that night when i saw my dad half dragging Kate out of the woods

spk_0 i thought she was dead i rushed out to help

spk_0 given the population on the beach we were well prepared for od's

spk_0 after david worked his doctor magic he and my dad and i sat in the clinic looking out of the water

spk_0 hours later there was a hint of a reddish glow and we watched the sun slowly rising on another day

spk_0 the greatest show on earth backed by popular demand

spk_0 like all the important moments in my life there was no explanation

spk_0 how did my dad know i had left the house how did he know i was dying

spk_0 how did he find me when he was asleep

spk_0 i think he was asleep

spk_0 logic is overrated

spk_0 i choose to embrace the mystery

spk_0 i'd love to take credit for saving Kate but it wasn't me

spk_0 it was a greater force in the universe the one people worship in all kinds of ways and i never have

spk_0 but i know it's there

spk_0 we sat together in the clinic until morning and never said a word

spk_0 it was the kind of silence that words would only diminish

spk_0 still it was pretty hard for us to be quiet

spk_0 it's not our thing

spk_0 when paul asked what i wanted from my birthday i told him another year with you

spk_0 he said just one i told him if he acted right it might go longer but i wasn't promising anything

spk_0 i wanted to have dinner with just my family partners would have to fend for themselves

spk_0 it was warm enough so he set the table on the porch of howl house

spk_0 and paul and i were enjoying a blissfully quiet evening except for the shriek of the

spk_0 smokal arm and the arguing bickering and laughing from the kitchen as our three children cooked dinner

spk_0 they were far too proud of their creation which frankly wasn't that special

spk_0 we were just about to eat when i said what are we grateful for

spk_0 naturally they started making fun of me for suggesting our pre-dinner ritual from a previous

spk_0 lifetime but Kate said hey it's mom's birthday she took paul's hand and micky's hand

spk_0 and we all held hands as if we were back at 117 popular 15 years ago

spk_0 and Kate started to say something but couldn't finish

spk_0 none of us had seen her cry since she was a baby she wasn't about to start now

spk_0 when she finally spoke she sounded like she was five years old

spk_0 i'm glad my daddy found me she was squeezing so hard micky said Kate that's really starting to

spk_0 fucking hurt she let go of his hand but kept holding her father's hand it was the best birthday of

spk_0 my life easy there was a lot i didn't tell my dad i never talked about the other guys who bombed

spk_0 the psych center with me and how it all went down Daniel's the only one who ever got the full story

spk_0 but i made sure my dad had his moment of glory after the big power shut down i didn't tell him we

spk_0 weren't the only ones responsible for the march of the sad losers in the great national reboot

spk_0 we were working with other resistant cells around the world to attack the power grid in

spk_0 Washington and seize the data we were one of many i didn't want him to know that it mattered to

spk_0 micky that he be the mastermind behind the country starting to come to its collective senses

spk_0 the more time i spent with him the more i realized he had dedicated his life to attaining for cow's death

spk_0 but honestly i'm not sure how important we actually were i think the movement was starting to happen

spk_0 anyway of course i didn't tell micky that we got pummeled by one storm after another and the water

spk_0 kept rising right up to the porch of howl house my dad had my old robo from childhood tied to the

spk_0 railing micky had finally fixed the leak kind of survival is what turned the tide when it became

spk_0 clear that the only hope was working together the ruling party had no cards to play dividing us

spk_0 was all they had micky and paul have such grand notions about all we accomplished

spk_0 but even if we do take back the country and i have serious doubts there are wounds that will never

spk_0 heal there is no normal to go back to i try not to talk this way around the rest of the family

spk_0 behind the bluster they're a delicate bunch late one afternoon i couldn't find Louise

spk_0 or uncle paul i was almost worried enough to get help when i happened to look out at the water

spk_0 and there they were in david's little roboat the sun was setting and uncle paul was rowing

spk_0 at least he was supposed to be but the ores were still and the boat wasn't moving and he was talking

spk_0 and talking and Louise was listening so intently and that's how i'll always think of them

spk_0 i'd always planned to give my great uncle paul the last word that afternoon the whole time he was

spk_0 talking i noticed the roboat was slowly leaking but i didn't want to interrupt him because he was so

spk_0 fascinated by what he was saying i figured one way or the other we'd probably make it back to sure

spk_0 uncle paul you're kind of the reason i did this project and i think i've covered everything that

spk_0 happened right up until yesterday so is there anything else you want to say

spk_0 was everyone else in the family as honest as i've been Louise i bet they were or at least tried to be

spk_0 you bring that out and people i remember your dad as a kid younger than you after his father

spk_0 wrote off on his motorcycle had Lee took bobby into our family and he and Terrence were like

spk_0 brothers it was one summer back when we all used to be up here together he came with Terrence's family

spk_0 he'd look at me with those big brown eyes just like yours and ask me questions and no matter how busy

spk_0 i was i'd find myself telling him whatever he wanted to know one afternoon he asked me what caused

spk_0 the civil war and i said bobby there's no short answer he said so tell me the long answer

spk_0 sounds like you doesn't it ever since you were little you've always listened louder than other people talk

spk_0 most of us don't feel heard don't feel understood so when someone comes along like you or your dad

spk_0 who actually listens we finally get to tell our side of the story remember when you told me the idea

spk_0 for this project i asked you why you wanted to do it and you said i want them to know what we did

spk_0 when we were here i asked who you meant and you said the ones who will come after we're gone

spk_0 i want them to know that we did our best i just don't think it's all going to end with us

spk_0 do you? back then i dodged your question which means now i have to tell you the truth

spk_0 for the last 15 years it felt like the end greedy mean deceitful bottom feeding slugs who don't

spk_0 believe in science or truth or democracy took over the country at the exact moment the earth

spk_0 reached the point of no return we made it through the winter but the water is rising and where will we

spk_0 go there's no escape from the future kid so yes it's the end it's where we've been headed for

spk_0 decades since we denied the hard truth of what was happening all around us

spk_0 back then what we did would have made a difference but now we're living in a global hospice

spk_0 subsisting on kale and whiskey in nostalgia as we await the end you've lived your entire life in

spk_0 the afterglow of a great civilization we'll tutter through the last lonely sapien years

spk_0 outrunning floods and fires until the last of us finally seizes up and collapses to the ground

spk_0 spirit broken and succumbs to the blight we birthed and fed and nurtured until it was strong

spk_0 enough to kill us whoever comes after us will be from another planet or another species

spk_0 or created by us in silicon valley with our astonishing brilliance which wasn't quite brilliant

spk_0 enough to save us that's what I thought but lately with buds blooming and birds chirping and

spk_0 bears and alcoholics emerging from hibernation and blinking in the sunshine and you working so hard

spk_0 trying to make sense of it all I don't know that's for sure you wanted to know if I was happy

spk_0 I stopped worrying about happiness a long time ago but now I wake up every morning next to the

spk_0 woman I love surrounded by my children and my extended family who perplexed me and enraged me

spk_0 and made me laugh and shed a tear every single day of my life and I'm glad we're all still here

spk_0 or most of us even the ones who aren't here really are am I happy I don't know

spk_0 but telling my story has made me fear I'm afflicted with a terminal case of hope for which there is no cure

spk_0 and it's all your fault Louise you listened to me staring with those big brown eyes that

spk_0 won't accept the end how can I not believe we'll find the strength to keep crawling forward

spk_0 and mutate into some kind of creature that can survive the storm but enough about me which is a

spk_0 sentence I'm saying for the very first time did you get everything you need to tell our story

spk_0 because there's work to be done we need to cultivate our garden maybe someday if we just

spk_0 keep doing what we do day after day we'll be able to go back home that's what I dream about every night

spk_0 that's it I did it I wanted to start with Paul and end with Paul because he was kind of my inspiration

spk_0 after he got the last word he hugged me and got all choked up and that was about the best way my

spk_0 project could have ended except after that someone cornered me someone who insisted that he had to have

spk_0 the last last word sorry Louise I know you're all done nice going but there's something I

spk_0 need to tell you so you understand what happened between Paul and me do you have time for this

spk_0 anything for you grandpa Garrett

spk_0 all right back when me and Paul were kids our mother would go off the rails sometimes the general

spk_0 couldn't handle he'd just go into his office and close the door so it would be just me and Paul

spk_0 and our mother times like that she scared the hell out of us because we didn't know what she do

spk_0 from one minute to the next she'd be screaming about how we wrecked her life and then she'd be

spk_0 baking a birthday cake even though it was nobody's birthday hold on that's not accurate she never said

spk_0 we wrecked her life I wrecked her life she always favored Paul this one day in the summer she flipped

spk_0 out bad she was screaming out the general he got this tight look on his face and went off to his club

spk_0 she was crying about how her life had turned out we were little I was maybe fine which means Paul

spk_0 was three well what the hell do you do when you're that age and your mother is crying she suddenly

spk_0 asks Paul if he wants to go to Pinecroft Dairy and get ice cream that was the big treat for us

spk_0 Paul was this open-hearted little kid bad eyesight goofy trusted everyone loved his mommy

spk_0 of course she'd ask him to go I asked if I could go too and she said no Garrett this trip is just

spk_0 for me and Paul if I had been the kind of kid who cried that's what I would have done but I never

spk_0 gave it up for her or anyone else it was sort of a family joke how I never cried some joke huh

spk_0 off they go an amulet alone I mean myself a big bowl of cereal to make up for the ice cream

spk_0 Paul was getting and then I don't know how I knew I just knew I went out to the garage and they

spk_0 hadn't left the car was running and the garage door was closed I went over to Paul's side of the

spk_0 car and opened the door and he was in moving I pulled him out and opened the garage door and dragged

spk_0 him outside then I got her mother out which was a big job I called the general at his club and

spk_0 then I called 911 the ambulance came a mother had had enough of this life she was going to leave

spk_0 and take her favorite son with her she never had much use for me I guess I wasn't cuddly like Paul

spk_0 wasn't the kind of kid you wanted to pick up I was always more like my father nobody ever talked about

spk_0 it ever except that day after our mother was in the hospital my father said good job Garrett you knew

spk_0 just what to do like rescuing a suicidal parent and saving your little brother's life as something

spk_0 every five-year-old should know Paul doesn't even remember my job was protecting him his job was

spk_0 getting protected that's the way it's always been with us seems like me and Paul never got past

spk_0 what happened to us when we were little kids truth is everybody always loved Paul he was the life

spk_0 of the party I was the one outside standing guard trying to keep everyone safe and let's face it

spk_0 nobody gets it damn about that guy until the bad thing happens I never had what Paul has

spk_0 this was the best I could do it's 2055 and I'm feeling like I should tell you what happened to my family

spk_0 a series of health problems made it seem like Paul's last days would be at Howell House

spk_0 besides his gunshot wound he suffered from diabetes a lower respiratory infection

spk_0 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease lung cancer tuberculosis cirrhosis a major stroke a heart

spk_0 attack and a paper cut that became infected Paul's health challenges exceeded even the hypochondriacal

spk_0 complaints of the general who at a sprightly 106 years old bemoans the fact that he doesn't have the

spk_0 energy he had at 103 what kept Paul alive was a primal need to outlive the great leader who finally

spk_0 took decisive action to make America great and died quietly at home with a sex worker and a

spk_0 cheeseburger by his side our entire family gathered to watch his funeral which was a tribute to all

spk_0 he stood for with random violence mass arrests gunfire and a ten thousand dollar admission fee

spk_0 ensuring that the common folks he exploited for so long would be turned away but the funeral

spk_0 courtesh was for everyone the streets of Washington were lined with wary citizens confirming

spk_0 that the sociopathic strongman who ended democracy in America was truly dead

spk_0 they had to see him in the flesh to make sure that this wasn't his 10 million fly they watched

spk_0 the presidential float roll by fastuned with flags and guns and golf clubs and porn stars and the

spk_0 great leader himself propped up on his gold toilet in all his sad glory wearing only an adult

spk_0 diaper and a lurid grin his tiny hands rigidly fixed in the thumbs up pose he favored for all

spk_0 photo ops whether election victories or national tragedies or Tuesdays everything was a win for the

spk_0 great leader even his long awaited passing that night Paul and Ruth announced that with the great

spk_0 leader safely dead they would return to the United States we had a going away party featuring

spk_0 what the family did so well cocktails and music and sentimental toasts and stories we'd heard

spk_0 hundreds of times that had to be told again back in town they discovered that 117 popular had

spk_0 been broken up into apartments for student housing Ruth enrolled in classes so she and Paul could

spk_0 move into their old house as students they've tried to get the rest of the family to come back but

spk_0 after all those years it doesn't seem like home to most of us it's been a slow painful transition

spk_0 from the harsh years of the great leader as much as Mickey tried to reboot the country were still

spk_0 stuck in the tragic mess he left behind and of course the red hats never went away I asked Paul

spk_0 how they can cling to their hateful ideology when it's been so discredited Paul said they don't

spk_0 care how history judges them because they think it all ends with them and if there is history no one

spk_0 will read it they never did when the time came for me to go to college I upheld family tradition

spk_0 and went to the U and my mom wasn't far behind ever since I can remember she's talked about how

spk_0 much she regretted missing college I finally told her nicely to shut up and go I even arranged my

spk_0 schedule so we'd have a class together I was assigned the dorm where Kate once lived and my mom

spk_0 thought it would be fun to be roommates I didn't Mickey is a fugitive and can't return he and Daniel

spk_0 are married and proudly leading the community that prides itself on having no leaders they're so

spk_0 happy it gets annoying sometimes Kate and Neil broke the law by leaving their government mandated

spk_0 rehab program and don't trust what would happen to them if they went back Kate recorded songs for

spk_0 Isaac which got her airplay and a tour but she battled stage fright and knows where the stress

spk_0 could take her so she's strictly a songwriter who can occasionally be persuaded to play for the

spk_0 family and Anita still isn't able to legally return and Terrence isn't about to go anywhere

spk_0 without her they started a catering company tapping into a circle of high-end folks in town with

spk_0 an extreme party life Garrett and Pam Rainer eventually married for all the difficulties they've

spk_0 had Garrett wouldn't consider leaving Terrence and even started working for him he has a bit of an

spk_0 edge as a bartender making you feel special because he sure as hell isn't making drinks for just

spk_0 anyone David and Sophie have spent years talking about relocating but they are indispensable to

spk_0 the community and they're living their dream it just doesn't happen to be in New York City since

spk_0 it doesn't quite exist anymore there two children mark the beginning of the next generation on the beach

spk_0 after years of separation caused by the draconian immigration policies of the United States

spk_0 dr. Morales and Angelica have no intention of going back

spk_0 David finally beat dr. Morales in chess after 932 consecutive losses over 14 years then he couldn't

spk_0 stop winning they claimed to be playing just for fun but they both keep secret records of total

spk_0 wins and losses going back to their earliest games at 117 popular at age 30 the hardest part of my life

spk_0 other than the ongoing struggle to repurpose the country for the people is that the family is

spk_0 a part it blew up along with the country in 2024 but we found each other in Ontario and then split

spk_0 up again I love being in a university town near my mom and Paul and Ruth but the beach community is

spk_0 where I came of age and where we worked so hard to keep hope alive our political efforts have

spk_0 become family lore more dramatic and historically significant with each passing year that's what they

spk_0 tell each other I don't buy it Paul and Mickey and all of us may have had an influence but I think

spk_0 what started to change was the dawning realization that the only way to heal ourselves and our country

spk_0 is to take care of each other the family thought we were living at the edge of history when human

spk_0 life itself was in the balance and they weren't wrong but from where I'm sitting in my room at 117

spk_0 popular on a clammy winter afternoon looking out through the smog at gray empty streets there's

spk_0 was an innocent time it could still go outside whenever they wanted and breathe the air

spk_0 and drink the water and live in the real world instead of the virtual world back then they could

spk_0 still deny that the worst would come to pass wherever you are maybe you can change where things

spk_0 are headed maybe what happened to us doesn't have to happen to you I sure hope so what you've got

spk_0 is worth fighting for and once it's gone you won't get it back trust me

spk_0 it happened here 2024 was written by Richard Dresser and directed by Joe Kacachi the cast

spk_0 includes Molly Babos Molly Carden Edie Falco Santino Fontana Luke Kirby Tom Pesinka Marianne

spk_0 Rendon Tony Shaloub and John Torturo our senior producer is Jess Hackel our composer Jared Paul

spk_0 original songs by Willie and Rob Reale guitar and vocals by Mary Ann Rendon and Peter Langto

spk_0 engineering and mixing by Justin Kaupp and Bob Poeman digital strategy by Michael Zhao casting

spk_0 by Jack Dulan show art by Eleni Sonaros our script supervisor is Graham Ferguson the executive

spk_0 producers Joe Kacachi Richard Dresser Jack Dulan Elliott Forest Evangelite Morphose and John

spk_0 Wayland it happened here 2024 received financial support from Gail Shields Miller Lin Slesinger

spk_0 Frank Harren and Sandy Yuri Karen Kelly Vicki Bonnington and David Shecker Rachel and Jay Tarsis

spk_0 Richard Dresser Emily Recknitz and Neil Prince Jay Lewis Janet Rich Ellsbach Bill Sussman Leslie

spk_0 Dennis Jenny Altschuller John Wayland and Thomas Shea this episode was recorded at Poeman Sound in New

spk_0 York City

spk_0 yeah

Episode 6

Interactive Transcript

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