Those Snowy Nights You Read to Me, They'll Never Be Forgotten

Whatever You Find Within You is a romantic comedy of both solemn longing and bumbling confusion, and the rather fine line between the two. When an unread love story by the great nineteenth century Icelandic playwright Dari Stanislad is discovered in 2011 by the brain trust of an educational institution of dubious reputation, numerous obsessed parties squabble like overstimulated chickens over its vast financial and intellectual significance. Just one problem: The play is incredibly awful, and promises benign ruin on all who dare turn its lousy pages. In no time, The Cobbleswoddler's Tale becomes a magnet for literary chaos--but on the plus side, it does bring together a pair of lonely and frustrated academics with fading dreams, wildly different opinions of romance, and a strong desire to get as far away as possible from Dick's Notch Community College.

Adapted from the novel by Soren Narnia

Read by Julian McLaren Poulter

Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

It's funny, the little theories you develop over the years, so random and rarely spoken. One of mine is that if any true, irrevocable harm can come to a single innocent creature on this earth, then maybe, just maybe, life itself should never have existed--nothing has ever been worth that pain, none of it, going back to the beginning of time. I suppose that from such thoughts must occasionally come stories like this one.

Over the course of one long day on a seemingly endless country road, a hitchhiker listens to the sad, desperate circumstances that her driver has found himself in--and becomes witness to his determined effort to free himself from a terrible trap of isolation and regret. The only weapon he has is a truly powerful one: his ever-wandering mind and its awesome ability to show him worlds no one else can see.

Narration by Heidi Kole, thesubwaydiaries.com

Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A short and simple fable, written years ago, and one I think about whenever I feel the first chill of the season in the air.

You never know which one of those temporary jobs you take in your twenties on your way to a real career will provide you with the greatest memories. For the narrator of this novella, it was unexpectedly working for the Pittsburgh Design Agreement, a board game company populated by dreamers with endlessly creative designs--all brought to the world through the recklessness of a CEO who understood ambition and adventure far more than dice and cards. Those familiar with the modern board game hobby will likely get the most out of this story, but it's a tale of friendship, laughter, and fond reminiscence for even the most anti-Monopoly of us all.

The zombies rose and walked, the country went mad, and then the zombies laid down again--all without committing a single act of violence. Traveling randomly across the east with a group of close friends, the restless dreamer Lionel Gathers witnesses first-hand the nightmarish confusion that the living dead bring upon the land in this tale that is both satire and elegy. It's a story of one man's despair over his country's inability to unite in crisis, a tale of sudden, random violence and illusions of America's greatness gone askew. When the zombies rise a second time and become anything but docile, the tale becomes darker, as Lionel struggles to understand the design of a universe lost in the realm of B-horror movies--and more vivid real-life tragedies. Re-recorded in 2026.

MUSIC: "When I Held You" by Ben Winwood, "As the Sky Turns Grey" by Beneath the Mountain, and "Songbird" by Doug Kaufman, all rights reserved.

This novella follows young Tobin Millane, lonely outcast and reluctant gunslinger, on his run for survival across the Kansas prairie in 1881. His desperate travels lead him and his silent partner into violent conflict with the bandits he stole from, the law enforcers who see him as nothing more than a lowly thief, and the wrath of a brutal Midwestern winter. Yet in the midst of his hopeless situation, a single ray of beauty unexpectedly touches his life. Created by a genius more famous than he will ever be and pursued by a murderer more infamous than he could ever imagine, a coveted artwork becomes Tobin's final reason to fight on. Sketch of a Bird in Flight is a fable about the nature of courage, an ode to the immortal longing within men to reach for greatness at a cost that often cannot be endured.

read by Ron Herczig

Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

It is 3:13 a.m., and now the human imagination reaches out to places and yearnings that it shies away from during life's daylight hours of quiet desperation. The brief parables, random episodes, and emotional wanderings presented here act as a repository of all that can be felt and dreamed when the night is dark, the soul is alone, and our thoughts become uncaged until the first blue of dawn ends the spell.

Read by Soren Narnia End music: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

For seven years around the turn of the 21st century, America was enthralled by one of the most intense sporting competitions ever invented. The game of Loft demanded extraordinary precision, athleticism, and daring, rewarding only those who made a total physical and intellectual commitment. This is the story of Loft's rise, glory, and controversial disappearance from the sports landscape. Its history was defined by the efforts of two men: its enigmatic creator and its indomitable, single-minded superstar. When their dreams came into conflict, Loft took on greater meaning, reminding the world of both the heartbreak and beauty of being unable to hold onto great things forever.

Read by Olivia Berry

Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist David Montano created the lovely thumbnail image for this episode. http://davidmontano.com/home.html

When data analyst and closet comedian Calvin Tarby enrolled in depression treatment at a facility in the middle of nowhere, he was prepared to slog through six long weeks of isolation. But then he was tipped off to an unexpected perk of the program, and suddenly the barren winter fields all around him no longer held him completely captive. This is a story of unscripted travel via the kindness of strangers, and facing tough odds with a lightness of heart and a fierce spirit of adventure. Based on the book by Soren Narnia.

Read by Heidi Kole, thesubwaydiaries.com

Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Thumbnail sketch by Kimber Petersen