1st Stanza Audio UN:Marsh

[gristle]

[The voice you hear is a teenage girl, and she sounds a little disgusted. Whether or not this post was an accident is up for debate. But she'll respond either way.]

What the fuck kind of place is this? I thought the adults were supposed to care. Sure doesn't look like it.

I need a cigarette.

Comments

[bardish]

And then the first thing you saw was a grown man terrorizing a kid. And bragging about it.

[ What a nightmare. ]

So that's about the worst first impression you could get of a place.

I know I'm just a stranger-- and a teacher, which is like, double points against me!-- [ HE'S BASICALLY 'THE MAN' HERE, WHY WOULD ANY RANDO KID WANT TO LISTEN TO HIM. ] It's not easy, being taken from everything and everyone you know and getting dropped on a weird moon. But I want you to know that there's a lot here that's wonderful. The people, the different cultures-- opportunities to see and experience things you never could back home.

So just... Take your time. You don't have to embrace life here on anyone's schedule but your own. But try not to let this experience blind you to the things here that are beautiful.

[ That's Jeff for you: SAPPY HIPPIE ALWAYS. ]

[gristle]

[Honestly, that's pretty much exactly what Beverly needs to hear, and it's weird to her to come from an adult. There's something likable about him, and likable is almost dangerous. After all, if you like someone it hurts all the more when they turn out to be not worth that like or that trust.

So, she's just going to frown at all of this, as he's given her a lot to think about.

But also she's a teenage girl with a giant chip on her shoulder, so she just sends back a single word. Sorry Jeff.]

Okay.

[bardish]

[ Luckily, he's the father of a teenage girl with a chip on her shoulder-- plus he interacts with them every day at work-- so Jeff's kind of used to this. He doesn't take adolescent brush-offs personally; he just hopes some of it helps, if not now, then in time. ]

For the record, I hear good things about the arcade. I don't know if kids are still into those anymore, uh... [ Who knows where or when Bev's from, if arcades were ever cool there or not. ] But if you are, my students really like it!

[gristle]

They are. Or were back home.

[A beat.]

People are different here. Like stuff doesn't make sense.

[Because it's not the 1980s.]

[bardish]

They were pretty big when I was growing up. Frogger, Pac-Man... Personally, I blew so many quarters on Rampage! [ Pause. ] I might've had some anger issues at the time...

[ He's joking. Kinda. MOVING ON: ]

It's kind of crazy, isn't it? People come here from different worlds, or time periods, or... places that seem like home, but are just a little bit different.

I know a guy from the 1800s! And another from a place where, like, spaceships are normal.

[gristle]

[That... sort sounds like what's popular in Derry as a matter of fact. So, Bev can't help herself from asking:]

What year were you born?

[She's ignoring that whole 1800s thing for now because he just sounds a little nuts.]

[bardish]

[ Jeff blinks, though he supposes it's not a totally unusual question to ask. She probably thinks he's talking about ancient history here with those particular arcade games. ]

Oh! '74. Er-- 1974, I mean. [ It helps to be as specific as possible here. ] Which might as well be prehistoric to some people here.

[gristle]

[And there might as well be an audible record scratch.]

You can't be. I'm supposed to be two years older than you!

[bardish]

Uh.

[ Ohhhh. Shit. She was born around the same time as him? But she's still a kid?? Like she's a peer but definitely not a peer, at the same time? THIS IS FUCKING WEIRD TO THINK ABOUT. ]

What year is it, where you're from?

[gristle]

1985. What year is when you're from?!

[bardish]

Iiiit's... uh...

Two thousand... [ Please don't freak out, please don't freak out, please don't freak out... ] ...eighteen. For me.

[gristle]

It can't be. You can't be. That's when IT comes back.

[She can't believe she just said it, but she also can't believe they've lost their twenty-eight year window, her and Stan.]

[bardish]

It? [ What.

You know what, though, whether or not he knows what she's talking about, what matters is: ]

Hey. Don't worry, you didn't lose any years. It's 2018 for me, and 1985 for you, and this place kinda... exists outside of that, you know?

You're not gonna go home and find yourself in the future.

[gristle]

Are you sure? How do you know?

[Yes, they told her this before but her brain isn't exactly firing correctly at the moment.]

[bardish]

[ The truth is, the only reason he really believes the party line-- that those who end up going back home don't lose any time-- is because he kind of has to, by necessity. It's about the only thing keeping him from falling into some kind of helpless, hopeless pit of despair over being separated from his kid. She isn't even moving out age, yet! At least the portal could have let him experience his empty nest training wheels first, before forcibly separating him from his daughter through time and space!

...

But generational contemporary or not, Bev's still a kid, so he's not going to dump that on her. Instead: ]

You meet enough people who've been here longer, and they'll tell you about their own experiences, or their friends', of going back home and coming back here. No time lost.

Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and trust others, especially when something is completely out of your hands.

[ Otherwise, you're just screaming at a void, making no difference anyway. ]

[gristle]

Okay. But that sucks, Jeff.

[bardish]

[ A SIGH IN COMMISERATION. ]

Tell me about it. If there was a way to confirm all that for sure? I'd be the first to tell you. Because I totally want it confirmed for myself, too!

[ Which is to say: HE'S GOT NOTHING TO GAIN BY BULLSHITTING YOU ON THIS. ]

[gristle]

[Damn it, Jeff. Why do you need to be so freaking likable?! This was easier when she doesn't like anyone.]

How do you just deal with not knowing?

[bardish]

[ IT'S HOW HE'S SUCH A MENACE. Just ask Cam. ]

It's not easy, but... having friends, people you can trust? You can make your own family here. It helps.

[ Doesn't get rid of the fear or uncertainty, exactly, but it makes it hurt less. ]

[gristle]

What if you don't want a family?

[Grace spits it like it's a dirty word, because to her it is. She doesn't want another family. Families were never good in Derry. She just wants her friends.]

[bardish]

[ Okay, Jeff might not know the details, but he can AT LEAST GUESS there's a troubled home life there, at the very least. So he tries to tread lightly here. ]

I don't mean like... a mom and dad, that kind of family. The family you choose is what you want to make it.

That's the nice thing about second chances. You've got some control to fix the things that weren't so good the first time around.

[gristle]

Oh. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say anything like that in Derry. Families were always who you were born into.

[But he was definitely giving her something to think about here. A lot honestly, and she wasn't sure if she wanted it or not.]

Did you do that when you got here?

[bardish]

That's such a low bar, isn't it? I've met a lot of people whose families were in name only.

[ Jeff's own family was-- is-- pretty amazing, and he's lucky for it, he knows. But he's met so many who weren't so lucky. Friends of his, students... Athena, with her astonishingly awful parents.

It always breaks his heart a little to hear about families that barely qualify as family. Makes him want to call his own parents more often just to say thanks for always being so supportive in his every endeavor.

And talking to Bev makes him miss Mel all the more. She's close to this girl's age, probably just a couple years older, by the sound of it...

He pauses, before admitting: ] My kid doesn't owe me anything just because I'm her dad. When you're a parent, family is something you have to put work into, not just something you have.

[ But anyway, MEL IS A SORE SUBJECT SINCE SHE'S NOT HERE, so he's moving on: ]

But yeah. That's what I did when I got here. I was lucky not to be the only person from my world, so... [ He smiles, sounding more content now. ] We've made a little family for ourselves.

[gristle]

[For a long minute, Bev doesn't know what to say to this. She's pretty sure that no adult has ever actually talked to her like this before. It was weird and just new but she thought that she liked it. Maybe? It was definitely better than home, but then again most everything was.]

My friend Stan is here, [She admits at last.] He's staying with someone named Strand, I guess. [And Bev is wondering if he's done that whole found family thing that Jeff was talking about.]

How old's your daughter?

[bardish]

Oh! I don't know your friend, but I know his guardian. He's a good guy!

[ A FRIEND. EVEN IF RICHARD REFUSES TO ADMIT IT!! ]

It really is a lifesaver, having those friends from home.

[ Jeff hesitates, just briefly, before answering: ]

She's fifteen. Melody, that's her name. Mel.