Episode 4: A DAY OF SUNSHINE AND RAIN

Episode 4 - "A Day Of Sunshine And Rain" - Credits

Written by Gabriel Urbina.

Directed by Sarah Shachat.

Script Editing by David K. Barnes.
Performance by Felix Trench as Edmond LaValle.
Original Music by Alan Rodi.

Sound Design by Zach Valenti.

Produced by Sarah Shachat, Zach Valenti, and Gabriel Urbina,

along with Angel Acevedo, Jenn Schneider, and Amy Tanguay.

Episode 4 - "A Day Of Sunshine And Rain" - Transcript

Announcer: The following episode contains discussions of murder and physical violence, as well as depictions of a house burning to the ground and death due to fire. It also contains passing mention, though no depiction, of suicide. Listener discretion advised.

[Unseen opening credits music plays.]

Announcer: Long Story Short Productions presents... Unseen.

[Unseen Theme continues playing.]

Announcer: Episode Four. A Day of Sunshine And Rain by Gabriel Urbina.

[Music fades.]

[Outdoor nighttime atmosphere of just outside a roadside motel. We hear the sound of cicadas chirping. In the distance a coyote howls.]

[A figure walks, their footsteps on a gravel surface, dragging slightly as though it hurts to put too much weight on one of their legs.]

[A person, a man, groans and winces as he walks. He takes a series of deep breaths, and laughs, just a little.]

MAN: Okay... okay... okay...

[He takes another deep breath.]

MAN: It’s okay. I’m okay... just need to... get my...

[He grunts, and we hear fabric rustle as he fumbles in his pockets for a lighter. With a CLICK! He lights it, and then lights a cigarette.]

[The man takes a long, slow drag.]

MAN: Well... that’s better.

[For a moment, he just stands there, under the stars]

MAN: Nothing like a smoke under the stars to dull the pain.

[The man laughs, then it turns into a cough. He pants, then catches his breath.]

MAN: The stars are beautiful, though, aren’t they? And now... the fun bit.

[We hear fabric rustle again as he fishes his phone out of his pocket. A long series of numbers are dialed - enough for an international call.

The phone rings twice.]

AUTOMATED VOICEMAIL BOX: Thank you for calling the office of Dr. Cassandra Étoile, Vision Specialist. If you are calling about an existing appointment, please press one. If you are calling to schedule an appointment, please press -

[LaValle presses two buttons. There's a slight static noise and then a high-pitched beep as the call is redirected.]

AUTOMATED VOICEMAIL BOX: Please state your name and Blackstar assignment.

MAN: Agent LaValle, comma, Edmond. Assignment Silver Spin.

AUTOMATED VOICEMAIL BOX: Affirmative, Agent LaValle. You may leave your report with your designated supervisor after the beep.

[Beep!]

LAVALLE: Hey. It’s me. Wanted to check in, let you know... how I’ve been getting on. The flight was all right. Didn’t have a movie, which was a little disappointing. The place itself is quite nice. I tell you, I’ve been all over the world, but nothing could have really prepared me for West Virginia. It’s very... hilly. But not in a...

LAVALLE (imitating documentary narrator): “imposing majesty of nature” -

LAVALLE (normal voice): - sort of a way. Just... lots of hills. And mist. And... deep, deep green. It’s nice. And the people are nice, too. Well, I - I have a brilliant recipe for cornbread now, so... look forward to that! Plus, only three people have so far made fun of the way I talk.

[Lavalle sighs]

LAVALLE: So, that’s been grand. How are you doing? Are you eating enough, sleeping enough? Do you miss me? Bet you miss me. Tell you what: if you miss me, say absolutely nothing.

[The silence hangs in the air for a moment]

LAVALLE: Good, I miss you, too.

[LaValle laughs]

LAVALLE: God, I can practically hear your teeth grit.

LAVALLE (imitating the voice of his supervisor): When is he going to get on with it? “Enough already, Edmond. You know what I want to hear. You know why I sent you out there. This isn’t why we went through a great deal of trouble and expense to set up these call lines!”

LAVALLE (normal voice): And... all right. I will get on with it. Right after you solve a riddle for me. No, no, come on, this will fun. A chance to exercise that brilliant mind of yours and shut me up by proving you’re smarter than I am. It’s your the two great pleasures of your life, together at last. So: are you watching closely?

[LaValle takes a long drag from his cigarette]

LAVALLE: Picture, if you will, an apartment building.

[A transportive WHOOSH and we begin to hear the blowing of icy,snow wind]

LAVALLE: One of those big, monstrous estates in the dodgy end of cities like Krakow, or Warsaw. Sixty-five floors of dirt-cheap flats. And on the day we’re visiting this dilapidated skyscraper... it’s cold.

[We can hear ice cracking]

LAVALLE: It’s ten below, fifteen below, maybe even twenty below, depending on how the wind blows. It’s one of those Polish winters that doesn’t just chill, it bites.

[The sound of wind blowing gets louder.]

LAVALLE: And that morning, as we picture ourselves arriving at this building, there’s an object laid out right at the front door. Half buried in snow. A human body. The police are called -

[Two quick blasts from a police siren.]

LAVALLE: - and they quickly examine the body, talk to the people that found it, blah, blah, blah. And on the body itself? All the tell-tale signs that give away that a human being has been suddenly introduced to the ground... while traveling at a very high speed.

[There's a whooshing noise and a crunching sound.]

LAVALLE: Detective number one thinks to himself,

LAVALLE (imitating first detective, forelorn): “Right. Poor man must have fallen out of a window by accident or decided that it was all too much and he wanted to end it all.”

LAVALLE (normal voice): But the second detective’s not so sure. He looks up at the building, at all its windows and balconies, and he decides he wants to run an experiment.

[We hear footsteps on concrete and the click of a door opening. The footsteps continue over:]

LAVALLE: He goes up to the second floor, into the apartment right over the front door of the building.

[We hear footsteps on carpet]

LAVALLE: Walks across the living room, and opens up the window.

[With a creak, the window opens. We hear the wind blowing through it.]

LAVALLE: He sticks his head out the window, and looks around. He sees his partner down on the ground, looking up at him and wondering what in all the hells he’s doing. And then, he takes a coin from his wallet and -

[A ring as the coin is flipped.]

LAVALLE: - he flips it. Right out the window. Watches it sail down to the ground.

[A coin clatters on the ground]

LAVALLE: So then, the detective walks back down...

[Footsteps echoing down concrete stairs]

LAVALLE: ... leaves the building...

[A door opens and shuts. We hear footsteps in the snow over the following:.]

LAVALLE: ... and spends a few minutes looking around. Until finally, he sees the coin, checks what side it landed on, and picks it up. Now, his partner turns to him, completely perplexed. He goes -

LAVALLE (imitating the first detective): “Well. Are you done?”

LAVALLE (normal voice): And the detective just shakes his head, and goes,

LAVALLE (imitating second detective, tough-guy voice): “No. Now I need to do it again. Now I need to do it sixty-four more times.”

[Sound of wind blowing fades into footsteps on concrete. Over the following, we'll hear the sounds of walking up stairs, windows opening and letting in the blowing wind, coins being flipped, walking down stairs, and the crunch of footsteps in snow line up with the narration from LaValle:]

LAVALLE: So our man goes back into the building, and goes up to the third floor. Walks over, opens the window, flips the coin down to the ground. Rushes out, finds it, picks it up. And then, again. Fourth floor. Up the stairs, window, coin, down the stairs. Has another look, turns around and does it again. Fifth floor. Much the same. Climb, climb, climb, open the window, flip the coin, down, down, down, see where it lands... And on and on and ooon it goes. For hours.

[One final, ringing jingle of the coin as it hits the ground. The wind continues over the following:]

LAVALLE: Until finally, at quarter to midnight, just when his partner’s about to fall asleep... our man’s done. He’s run his little test on every single floor of the building, all of the flats that are even remotely in line with the front door. And as he turns towards his partner, the detective points to the body and goes,

LAVALLE (imitating the second cop): “That man didn’t have an accident, and he certainly didn’t commit suicide. He was murdered.”

LAVALLE (normal voice): And his partner, his poor, sleepy, exasperated partner just blinks at him, and goes -

LAVALLE (imitating first detective): How? How could you possibly know that?

LAVALLE (normal voice): And you know what the detective says?

[The wind fades. With a quick WHOOSH, we're back in the nighttime atmosphere, bugs chirping.]

LAVALLE: No, that’s actually what I’m asking you. How could the detective have known that? That’s my riddle. So? Any guesses? Tell you what, um, if you want more time to think it over, say absolutely nothing.

[A slight pause]

LAVALLE: Okay, then. We’ll let you have a little bit of a think. I can hear you right now, you know. Uh, in my head. I know exactly what you’re saying:

LAVALLE (imitating his supervisor): Come on then, Edmond. I don’t have all day, Edmond. This isn’t why we sent you to America... You’re only supposed to call on official Blackstar business... not to tell me fascinating riddles.

LAVALLE (normal voice): Well, I am glad you liked the riddle. But I take your point. Well... here’s a story then. One I think you’re more eager to hear.

[He takes a deep breath, and clicks his lighter.]

LAVALLE: So there’s this man. An... insurance man. Works for a big company. One that’s very invested in the world continuing to spin the way it has for a good long while.

[Click. He flicks his lighter again.]

LAVALLE: And this man’s particular speciality... is fire. He’s good with fire. He knows fire. How it starts. How it goes out.

[He flicks the lighter again]

LAVALLE: How it burns. The company this bloke works for sends him to all kinds of places. He goes all over the world - zip, zip, zip - to wherever there’s a particularly interesting fire. Sometimes he puts fires out. Sometimes he figures out how a fire started. Sometimes... Sometimes he figures out who started the fire. So one day... as our man is recovering from a very exciting trip to Kuala Lumpur, and one to Bucharest just the week prior, the company gives him a ring. They need him to go on the road again. They need him to look into a rather curious event that’s happened out in a magical little place called... Looneyville, West Virginia. See, the company’s heard that there was a fire in Looneyville, and they’re wondering if it was the interesting sort of fire. The kind that might require some specialized attention. So, the man grabs the bags he’d just unpacked, and off he goes. To the wondrous land of the Thirty-Fifth State. Now, interesting place, Looneyville. The sort of town where everything has a sense of... well, of going on and on to it. Where you can barely even see your next-door neighbor’s house, off in the distance, and you have to drive twenty minutes when you need to ask them for a cup of sugar. And almost immediately after he’s made it off of his pleasant - if woefully lacking in cinematic entertainment - flight... and off his train... and then out of his rather uncomfortable rented Corolla, the insurance man starts to hear the stories around Looneyville. About how one of the houses there had disappeared. Or, well, actually, how it had burnt down. Although -

[Lavalle exhales]

LAVALLE: - for such a gossiped about event, it was curious: no one could quite agree on how it had happened...

[The sound of a car motor fades in.]

LAVALLE: So our man decided he ought to go have a look at this place.

[The motor shuts off. A car door opens and shuts.]

LAVALLE: But he wasn’t ready for what he found there.

[We hear LaValle's footsteps on gravel over the following]

LAVALLE: Because when he got to the Old Winstead place...

[LaValle's footsteps stop. We hear only snatches of wind over the following:]

LAVALLE: ... there was nothing left of it. The entire house had been obliterated. All that was there -

[A shifting sound as LaValle picks up a pile of ash]

LAVALLE: to mark where it had once stood, was a pile of grey ash. And this sat very, very poorly with the man.

[With a plop, LaValle drops the ash]

LAVALLE: See, what you need to understand is that fire isn’t... precise? It isn’t exact, or orderly, or meticulous. It’s just... free. It doesn’t care. It just takes whatever’s in front of it. Until it can’t anymore. Until something stops it. Or unit it burns out. But it’s rare for something to burn down and for there to be nothing left of it. There’s always something. Sooted, sure. Blackened. Changed forever. But still standing. A doorframe that was just far enough away to avoid the worst of it. A bit of floor that was too low. A wall that was too stubborn to fall down. Something. But not at the old Winstead Place. That house hadn’t burnt down. It had been annihilated.

[The wind fades back into the sound of the nighttime atmosphere.]

LAVALLE: Which meant one of two things. Either a rather powerful bomb had gone off in that house... or what had broken out there had been a very interesting sort of fire. I suppose, in a way... it was a bit of both. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to our story. Now, once he’s seen the place, our man thinks something odd’s happened at that farm, but he doesn’t know if it’s the sort of thing that falls under his... jurisdiction. He isn’t sure yet. And he has to be sure. Bad things happen when he doesn’t make sure before he starts to... process things. So, he thinks to himself, “Well, someone must have seen what happened.” And he drives out to the house nearest to the old Winstead place, and asks the owners if they saw anything. And they say sure - they saw it all. It was a warm summer’s day, right around sunset. And suddenly, there was a big, bright flash

[An echoing boom!]

LAVALLE: - the kind that happens when a propane tank blows. And then... when the smoke cleared, the house was gone. Which... is all well and good, but something about it doesn’t sit well with the insurance man. Something bothers him. So he thinks to himself, better see what the other next-door-neighbor has to say. So he gets back in the rental car, and drives forty minutes over to the next nearest house... and once he gets to the other neighbors, he asks them if they had seen what happened at the old Winstead place. The nice old man who answered the door told him:

LAVALLE (imitating the neighbor): Oh sure! Saw it all. Two days back, there was this terrible storm.

[A rumble of thunder]

LAVALLE (imitating the neighbor): We could see the Winstead house outlined in the distance every time the lightning hit. Yeah, must’ve been a lightning strike.

[Another rumble, much closer]

LAVALLE (imitating the neighbor): Because there was this big flash -

[A huge roar of thunder!]

LAVALLE (imitating the neighbor): ... and the house was gone.

[LaValle takes another drag from his cigarette.]

LAVALLE: And now... now the insurance man’s really interested. Because see, he’s pretty good at knowing when someone’s lying to him. So he gets back in his car, and drives forty minutes back to the first neighbor, and makes that guy tell him the story all over again. And the upstanding local citizen tells him the story again. And all the details are just the same as the first time. The sunset. The propane tank. The explosion. And all the signs that someone’s lying - carotid pumping, instinctively covering vulnerable body parts, shuffling feet - this man’s got none of it. Then the insurance man gets in his car again, and - zip! - goes back to the second neighbor. And that man also tells the exact same story he did the first time - rain, thunder, and then... silence. And he doesn’t seem to be lying, either. So now the insurance man knows that something fun is happening here. Because both of these men believe what they saw. But one man says it happened on a clear summer’s day, and the other says it happened during a terrible storm. How can it be both? How can it be a day of sunshine and rain? Unless, of course, there was something else at work here. Something that would makes these men see something different than what was really happening in front of their eyes. So at that point, the insurance man decided that -

[LaValle huffs]

LAVALLE: Damn. Uh, my smoke’s gone out. Give me a moment, will you?

[LaValle takes a breath.]

LAVALLE (voice magically amplified): Farsilno.

[There's a whirr and a sound of burning flame. Then LaValle takes a drag from his newly-relit cigarette.]

LAVALLE: That’s better. Sorry about that. Crisis averted: my cigarette is lit again. And yes, yes, I know. But I would appreciate it if you didn’t say anything disparaging or reproachful or, you know, correct about my occasional indulgences, all right?

[A silent beat.]

LAVALLE: Thank you. Your sympathetic understanding is noted. Anyhow... where were we? Ah yes... The police in Looneyville were very accommodating. All it took was a little Persuasion, and the insurance man was able to look over their files from the accident.

[Sound of a car motor idling fades in over the following:]

LAVALLE: By the time he finally made it back to the remains of the old Winstead place, it was after dark and he knew the file by heart.

[The car motor shuts off, and there's a click of the car door opening and closing. We hear LaValle's footsteps on gravel over the following:]

LAVALLE: In total, four bodies were removed from the wreckage, all of them burnt beyond recognition.

[A crow caws once.]

LAVALLE: Through those four bodies, the police accounted for William Arthur Winstead, forty-eight, his wife Gloria Winstead, forty-three, his seventeen-year old son Steven Winstead, and his seventeen-year old daughter Rose Winstead. Twins. A boy and a girl. What are the odds, right?

[The crow caws again.]

LAVALLE: It’s a funny thing, what a mind does when confronted with something that grim. The strangest thoughts pop into your head. In the case of the insurance man, he thought of an old joke he’d heard a long time ago. About two twins. Have you heard it? You must have. But well... just in case...

[LaValle stops walking.]

LAVALLE: Once upon a time, there was a little boy and a little girl. Brother and sister. Twins. And a very interesting thing had happened to them: they’d developed extreme personalities. One of them was a total optimist, and the other one was a total pessimist. Understandably concerned, the children’s parents took them to a psychiatrist. The doctor proposed running a few tests and gauge how the siblings would respond. He started with the little girl, who was the pessimist. The doctor wanted to brighten her outlook, so he took her to a great big room, filled with toys. But instead of leaping in to play, the little girl burst into tears. “What’s wrong?” the psychiatrist asked. “Don’t you want to play with your new toys?”

LAVALLE (imitating the tearful girl): “Yes, of course I do,” -

LAVALLE (normal voice): - the little girl said, between sobs -

LAVALLE (imitating the girl): “but if I did... I’d only break them.”

[The crow caws again]

LAVALLE: After that, the psychiatrist turned to the little boy, who was the optimist. He thought he’d see if he could bring down the young lad’s enthusiasm, so he took him to a room where the only thing in it was... a massive pile of horse manure. But instead of covering his nose or being disgusted, the little boy climbed to the very top of the pile, and began gleefully digging out manure with his bare hands. “What,” the psychiatrist stammered, baffled, “in Heaven’s name are you doing?” And the little boy turned back to stare at him, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

LAVALLE (imitating the boy): “What, can’t you see?” -

LAVALLE: - the little boy said -

LAVALLE (imitating the boy): “With all this manure, there has to be a pony in here somewhere!”

[There's a pause. Then LaValle chortles.]

LAVALLE (normal voice): It’s a good joke. Funny, right? If you think it was funny, say absolutely nothing.

[A small silent beat.]

LAVALLE: I’m glad you agree. Well, uh, that joke was what the insurance man was thinking about as he stood in the ashes of this family’s home. He was wondering about the little girl in it. How she was so afraid - well, not even afraid, so certain - that she would break everything. The moral of the story seems pretty clear-cut: don’t be like the girl. Always look for the pony. But maybe the girl had a reason to be so sad. After all... there are creatures in this world who break everything they touch.

[We hear the sound of a twig snapping]

LAVALLE: And that’s when the insurance man realized he wasn’t alone.

[We hear more footsteps on gravel]

LAVALLE: He wasn’t alone, and the police had made a terrible mistake. See, they hadn’t known that Steven Winstead’s friend Earnest Filmore had been visiting the house that day. Earnest, who was a few years older, and lived by himself on the other side of town, and wouldn’t be missed for a few more days. Earnest, who had a similar build to young Steven Winstead, and could easily be mistaken for him... if their bodies were burnt badly enough. Which is how the insurance man suddenly came face-to-face with the soot-covered, wide-eyed figure of Steven Winstead, age seventeen.

[A few more footsteps over gravel over the following:]

LAVALLE: Now, fortunately, the insurance man had seen a lot of strange things in his work for the company, and he wasn’t easily intimidated. But just from the vacant look in the young man’s eyes, it was clear he wasn’t well. The insurance man asked him if he’d started the fire. And poor Steven stared at the insurance man, with this strange desperate look in his eyes. And his voice low and hoarse, he asked: “You can see me?” And the insurance man nodded, and repeated his question: did you start the fire? Slowly, the young man... nodded. The insurance man asked him how he started the fire. The boy shrugged. He waved his hands -

[There's a whoosh of flame, which continues over the following:]

LAVALLE: - and they left a trail of fire in the air as they went. “I just see it,” Steven said. “I see it in my mind, and it...

[The fire fades away]

LAVALLE: ...it happens out here.” The insurance man asked the boy how old he was when he realized he could do that. The answer was low and shaky, and a single word. “Twelve.” The insurance man nodded, and asked Stephen if anyone else had ever been able to see what he did. His family? His friends? The young man shook his head. No. He just wanted them to see it. He had tried so, so hard to show them. But every time, their eyes would gloss over, or they’d remember something else they had to do, or they’d instantly forget it. He could do magic, and no one could see it. Why couldn’t they see it? What was wrong with them? What was wrong with him?

[LaValle sighs]

LAVALLE: He didn’t have any answers, he didn’t even know if he was losing his mind. So he had decided, come hell or high water, he’d make them see the fire.

[A slight pause. Faint rumbling of flames under the following:]

LAVALLE: The police hadn’t seen it either. After the house burnt down. They hadn’t even seen him. He’d yelled at them, asked for help, asked for forgiveness, for anything. They’d walked past him. Seen through him. No matter what he did. He’d even gone into town. Spent the past three days wandering through the streets, trying to find someone - anyone - that could see him. He’d finally given up and gone back to where the house had been because... well, where else did he have to go? And even though poor Stephen hadn’t realized what had happened, the insurance mad did. It’s a terrible thing, to find yourself a gifted creature in a place that can’t recognize you for what you are. To know you changed the world and then have the world carry on as though you weren’t even there. Especially for someone as gifted as Stephen. For someone who’d been able to do so much without any training, or guidance, at such a young age. The police couldn’t see him afterwards. Of course they couldn’t. To create a fire big enough to cause that destruction... forget doing magic, he practically was an act of magic at that point. The Caul wouldn’t let anyone else see him, at least not for a few days. But the insurance man could see him. Ah, he’d learned how to get past the Caul a long time ago. He’d gotten the help he needed. And now... now he wanted to help Stephen.

[Footsteps on gravel as LaValle approaches Steven.]

LAVALLE: But when the insurance told him that, this poor, guilt-ridden boy wasn’t in the mood to be helped. He didn’t want to go anywhere with anyone. But the insurance man didn’t listen. He came closer -

[LaValle takes three steps.]

LAVALLE: - and Stephen just -

[A loud hiss of flame]

LAVALLE: - gestured at him. Just simple instinct. Get back. Stay away. But like I said... the mind is a curious thing. The strangest things pop into it at times of stress. Stephen’s mind could only see one thing. And he saw it with so much clarity that he made it true.

[A roar of flame bursts and hisses over the following]

LAVALLE (singsong): Fire, fire, everywhere.

[Fire crackles at a louder volume over the following:]

LAVALLE: Which was... less than ideal. But fortunately, as I said before, this particular insurance man has a way with fire. He knows how it starts. He knows how it works. He knows how it burns. And... when you know how something works...

[There's a whirring of magic, almost a rewinding sound, as LaValle tamps down the flames.]

LAVALLE: ... chances are, you know how to make it work for you.

[Big bursts of flames, magical ringing, and sound of explosions ring out over the following:]

LAVALLE: I think you can guess what happened after that. What always happens. There was a fight. Even though no one wanted to hurt anyone. Why is it that, so often, when no one wants to hurt anyone, that is when the most people get hurt? Anyway, it was the usual. The untrained prodigy versus the steady hand of the old master, lots of spells, lots of fire, lots of explosions, running, jumping, lots of creative uses of the terrain -

[A big metallic crunch as the rental car gets totaled, a hubcap ringing as its flung away by the force of the blast.]

LAVALLE (quickly, under his breath): - one absolutely totaled rental car, sorry about that, blah, blah, blah.

[LaValle clears his throat, the exchange of fire continues over the following:]

LAVALLE: But you know how that goes. The same way it always goes. But the real question... is have you figured out what you were missing earlier? The real question is:

[There's a burst of magical energy, a whoosh, and suddenly we're back in the still nighttime atmosphere of the roadside motel.]

LAVALLE: Have you figured out my riddle? I gave you that extra time you wanted. Surely you’ve solved it? Dead man, in front of the snowy apartment building. Sixty-five floors, and sixty-five times a coin is flipped. And at the other side, the detective is sure this is a murder. How?

[LaValle takes another drag of his cigarette]

LAVALLE: Oh, of course you know. I know you do. You were always the clever one. But I have always liked helping you feel like the clever one. You could use a reminder every now and then, you know.

[LaValle Sighs]

LAVALLE: Shall we say it together, then? Very good. Three... two... one... the windows. Yes. I thought you’d gotten it. If the dead man had fallen out or jumped out, then why in every floor did the detective have to open the window? It’s funny, isn’t it? The smallest things can make the biggest differences. Even when most people just see right through them.

[LaValle cracks his back, groans, and then sighs contentedly.]

LAVALLE: Anyway, Addison, this is all just to say that...

[LaValle exhales]

LAVALLE: Well, that West Virginia has been lovely. Wish you were here to see it for yourself. But then again... I know you’re busy. So I’m doing the next best thing. I’m bringing you a souvenir. The only thing about it is... it’s been through a lot. Might need to be by itself for a little while? And then it is going to need quite a lot of care and attention and, well, training. So, best keep it somewhere warm, hmm? Somewhere pleasant? A place with rain and sunshine, if we can manage it.

[LaValle takes one last drag on his cigarette and then stomps it out.]

LAVALLE: In any case... I’d better run. We have an early flight back tomorrow. So I suppose let’s do the formal bit.

[LaValle clears his throat.]

LAVALLE (pompous voice): For Blackstar case Silver Spin, this is agent LaValle reporting that all active magic users are accounted for, and all dangerous elements are contained. The case can be considered effectively closed.

LAVALLE (normal voice): And as for the unofficial bit... well, just know that I miss you terribly, and I can’t wait to see you again once I’m back. Lots and lots of love from your big brother - yes, even if it’s just by twenty-six minutes, it still counts - Edmond.

[There's a click as he hangs up the phone and stomps out the cigarette. The musical score transitions to Unseen theme music.]

Announcer: This has been UNSEEN, by Long Story Short Productions, based on an original idea by Gabriel Urbina, with additional conceptual design work by Sarah Shachat. Today’s episode was written by Gabriel Urbina and directed by Sarah Shachat, with script editing by David K. Barnes. It starred Felix Trench in the role of Edmond LaValle. Original Music by Alan Rodi, and sound design by Zach Valenti. UNSEEN is produced by Sarah Shachat, Zach Valenti, and Gabriel Urbina, along with Angel Acevedo, Jenn Schneider, and Amy Tanguay. For more information on the Unseen World, please visit Unseen.Show. Thank you for listening.

[Music fades out.]

End of Episode.