In today’s episode we continue our adventure with Chapter 19 – A Starling in the Flowerbed - Where Lucas finds himself in a vulnerable position and asks Magpie for help, and Magpie comes to a chilling realization about the silence at Meadow Lane.

Music: Nightbridge by Cannelle (www.cannellemusic.com)

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TRANSCRIPT:

Things with Wings Productions, with the support of Whimsical Productions and Collected Sounds presents: Episode 19 of The Skylark Bell.  I am your host Melissa Oliveri.  

In our last episode, Magpie discovered a sketch in her notebook that she did not recall drawing. The sketch protrayed Faralla by the side of the road with Lucas after his parents’ accident.

In today’s episode we continue our adventure with Chapter 19 – A Starling in the Flowerbed - Where Lucas finds himself in a vulnerable position and asks Magpie for help.

So get cozy… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started!

Magpie wakes up to the smell of her mom cooking breakfast. “Good morning, sunshine!” says her mom, cheerfully setting the table, “I’ve got all your favourites today!”

“Wow, what inspired all this?!” asks Magpie, surprised.  

“The Gallery in Europe, the one where I sent that canvas a few weeks ago, they just got back to me and are thrilled to feature the entire collection!”  Magpie’s mom rushes on, telling her about the details of the upcoming art exhibit.

“Mom, that’s great news!” Magpie says excitedly, digging into her breakfast.

“I thought we could have a celebratory dinner tonight, maybe invite Lucas and his Grandmother?  He seems like a very nice young man” says her mother, a twinkle in her eye 

“I would love that!” says Magpie, blushing lightly.  “Hey mom, I’m sorry to skip out on you so fast, especially after this amazing breakfast and your exciting news, but I have to head into town this morning.  Do you need me to buy anything for tonight’s dinner while I’m there?” she asks, heading to the front closet to grab a jacket.

“No need, I’ve got everything planned out,” answers Mrs. Phaeton.  “See you later!”

Outside, the cool breeze scatters a few leaves at Magpie’s feet.  She breathes in the crisp air as she walks toward Lucas’ driveway. In the distance, she sees him leaning against a fencepost near the dirt road.

“Hi Lucas!” she calls, waving at her friend.

“Hey” he answers softly, kicking at the dirt with his sneaker.

Magpie immediately senses that something is wrong.  “What’s going on?” she asks, concerned.

“It’s my grandma.”  He pauses for a moment, staring hard at Magpie like he is trying to decide whether or not to continue.  His lips tighten and he takes a deep breath.  “She does strange things sometimes… Sometimes she... She goes outside, in the middle of the night…”  Magpie can tell what he is about to confess is difficult for him.  He stops to clear his throat before pressing on, “She goes out in the middle of the night to pick flowers out of peoples gardens.  When I catch her and ask her what she’s doing, she says that she’s getting ready for the wedding. Then when I ask her what wedding, she just laughs and tells me to stop being so silly…” Magpie can hear the exasperation in Lucas’ voice.  He pauses a moment to see how Magpie will react, and she stays perfectly still, meeting his gaze. “My Grandmother’s not crazy, Magpie, really!  It’s just that… She just… I don’t know.  These last few months she just hasn’t been herself…” his voice trails off.

So this is why Lucas gets so uncomfortable when Magpie asks about his grandmother; he’s protecting her, and himself.  If she’s deemed unfit to care for him, who knows what would happen!  Where would Lucas go? Who would take care of him?  Magpie puts a comforting hand on Lucas’ shoulder.  “Lucas, where is she now?” she asks, with all the calm she can muster.

“Well, she went out again last night, but this time she didn’t come home.  She’s never been gone this long and I’m really worried about her!  I don’t want to leave the house in case she comes back…”  he says softly.

Magpie forces herself to appear confident, though Lucas is visibly shaken.  “I was just heading into town, I’ll look around for your grandma while you stay here in case she comes back, ok?  Tell me what she looks like.”

“Thanks, Magpie, you’re a good friend,” he says, forcing a smile before launching into a brief description.

Magpie gives him a hug before turning and walking toward Pocket. 

As she nears Main Street, Magpie senses something in the air, a nervous energy, like there is something very, very wrong.  Perplexed, she looks around and realises there are no people in the street.  Where is everyone?  She walks by the park and sees the swings blowing in the breeze – suddenly it hits her, they aren’t making any sound!  Magpie thinks back to her walk into town and realises she hadn’t heard a bird chirping or leaves rustling.  She hastens her step and is about a block away from the diner when she sees a woman sitting in the flowerbed of a nearby house, her head bowed down toward the ground.  Magpie immediately recognizes the description Lucas gave of his grandmother and takes a few tentative steps toward her.

“Hello, ma’am?  Excuse me?” says Magpie, a little unnerved.  The woman remains immobile and, for a moment, Magpie wonders if she is sleeping.

Suddenly, the woman whips her head up, her face twisted with rage. “It’s coming!  The silence!  It has been growing since the day you arrived and it will silence all of us.  It’s all YOUR FAULT!  YOU brought this upon us!” she shouts, pointing a pale, withered, shaky finger at Magpie.  Magpie, terrified, takes a step backward and trips on a tree root that sends her crashing to the ground.

The woman stares back down at the ground for a moment.  When she looks up again her face has changed completely. In a soft, sweet voice she says, “Hello, dear!  Are you looking to buy some flowers today?  I have daisies, pansies, brown eyed susans… I’m afraid I can’t share these though, I need them for the wedding. At long last, the wedding…”

Magpie, completely overwhelmed, is unsure what to do.  But, recalling the worried look in Lucas’ eyes, her heart softens.  They’ve grown very close over the summer, and his trust compels her to try and help his grandmother.

“I… umm… I am a friend of Lucas, and he’s very worried about you.  He’d like for you to come home right away,” she manages to spit out as she scrambles to her feet.

“Oh Marius, always looking out for his grandmother,” says the woman, smiling.  She pulls herself out of the flower bed, bits of grass and dirt falling from the skirt of her dress, and starts walking down the road, mumbling about lilies and frangipani.

Marius??  Clearly the woman isn’t in her right mind, but why would she confuse Lucas and Marius?!  Magpie follows the old woman from a distance, tracing back the steps she took to get here and walking back toward home.  At last she sees Lucas, who walks to his grandmother, and takes her by the hand as they make their way back up the long tree-lined driveway to their house.  Once they are out of sight, Magpie thinks back and realises the old woman’s footsteps didn’t make any noise as she shuffled down the gravel road…

Perplexed, and more than a little concerned, Magpie squares her shoulders and turns on her heel, heading right back into town with determination.  It is time to get some answers.

Thank you so much for listening.  Join me next week as we pursue our adventure and read Chapter 20 of Meadow Lane and the Skylark Bell, where the residents of Pocket are in a panic as the silence starts spreading from Meadow Lane, and Magpie learns something that will alter everything she knows about Pocket, Meadow Lane, and herself!

Before I go, I’d like to thank Phaeton Starling Publishing for this fantastically eerie story, and Cannelle Elanion for composing equally fantastic and eerie music for this podcast.

 

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