Thank you, old friend, for indulging me. I appreciate that it may have taken longer than you’d planed for. Overly sentimental and loosely accurate at best, but isn’t that the way? Whether accepted or not, we remember things not necessarily as they were, but as they surely must have been.

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Music: Untroubled Mind by Benjamin Bostick

“I smiled as I considered the strange collision of humanity that marked this brief moment in my life. A moment that left me feeling a bit emptier—the kind of empty I doubt will ever really be filled. The kind that isn’t meant to be. But now, I think I’m okay with that.”

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapters 32 and 33 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Background music: Central Valley by Benjamin Bostick
Ambiance: Holding On (cinematic underscore) by Keith Anthony Holden and Reflective Funeral Music by Bobby Cole
Exit Music: Grassy Knolls of Home by LynneMusic

A painful October culminates under a Hunter’s Moon as Billy’s most harrowing parasomnia yet finds him face-to-face with Shellycoat. And again, he will have to face it all alone, or, does he?

“And I knew in that moment—this was a fight for my life.”

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapters 30 and 31 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Background music: Central Valley by Benjamin Bostick
Exit Music: Untroubled Mind by Benjamin Bostick

Aunt Lucille shares some devastating news that makes it all-too-clear: it’s time for Billy to take back the creek. Uncle John’s creek. But to do it, he’ll have to face the difficult truth, alone. It’s Sunday night, he knows exactly where to look.

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapters 28 and 29 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro and exit music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Background music: Grassy Knolls of Home by LynneMusic
Background music: On the Road by Adrian Berenguer
Ambiance: Escaping Forever by Michael Vignola and Reel by Adrian Berenguer
Background and exit music: If I Were A Novel by Benjamin Bostick

Julie finally comes clean about her past, revealing that there is far more to Jessie’s story than even Billy expected. And with all this weighing on his troubled mind, Billy’s parasomnia episodes are becoming more frequent and progressively more disturbing.

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapter 26 and 27 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Ambiance: The Heartbeat of Halloween by Bobby Cole and Escaping Forever by Michael Vignola
Background music: Paper Footballs by Benjamin Bostick
Exit music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick

A day in the dove field with Uncle John and his friends finds Billy too distracted to fully enjoy himself. Plagued by doubt, he is more committed than ever to uncover the truth about Jessie’s death.

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapter 24 and 25 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Background music: If I Were In A Novel and Central Valley (instrumental) by Benjamin Bostick
Background music: Grassy Knolls of Home by LynneMusic
Ambiance: Escaping Forever by Michael Vignola and Reel by Adrian Berenguer

There’s nothing quite like Friday nights in the fall. Billy, attends the high-school football game with Lee and Jay, hopeful that he’ll find Julie there. But when he does, the encounter is far from what he had expected.

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapter 22 and 23 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Background music: Central Valley (instrumental) and Wait For Me by Benjamin Bostick
Transition and exit music: If I Were In A Novel by Benjamin Bostick

Uncle John and Billy find themselves in an awkward situation atop Cedar Mountain, face to face with a legend of the land. And unexpected encounters with Fredrick, the Mayor, and Julie leave Billy questioning everything he thought he knew.

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapter 19, 20, and 21 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Background and transition music: Central Valley (instrumental) by Benjamin Bostick
Ambiance: Escaping Forever by Michael Vignola
Ambiance: Patience (Full Track) by Keith Anthony Holden

An unsuspecting Uncle John leads Pops, Peters, and Billy on a march across Chinquapin Mountain in search of the elusive lake James had learned about from Jessie. What they find, however, is far more dangerous.

“Why are you always lookin’ for things you don’t wanna find?”

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapter 16, 17, and 18 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro and exit music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Background music: Dusk by LynneMusic
Transition music: Grey Shadow by Adrian Berenguer
Background music: Central Valley (instrumental) by Benjamin Bostick

An unsettling encounter with something along the creek bank leaves Lee on edge as a shadowy camp-out invites the hazy figure of Billy’s parasomnia episodes into their lives. Billy and Lee confront the Mayor together but find they are still drifting apart. Aunt Mary finally reveals the story of Shellycoat.

“Listen, Billy, life’s a complicated thing. And Shilo’s Beat is a complicated place. It always has been.”

Written & Narrated by L.R. McDonald
Reading: Chapter 13, 14, and 15 from The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba
Intro music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Background music: Star of County Down by Jonathan Geer
Background and transition music: Independence Day Eve by Benjamin Bostick
Exit music: Grassy Knolls of Home by LynneMusic