The Station Teaser

Ok folks!  Time for a teaser from my forthcoming 3rd book "The Station".  Let me know what you think!  Enjoy!

“As winter approached, she started talking to herself a lot, and barely acknowledged my existence on my daily visits.  I thought maybe she was just depressed, that dad’s death had finally hit home.  Then, one day, she suddenly became quiet.  I looked at her and said, ‘Mom?’  She looked at me and answered, ‘They keep talking to me.  You have to find them and save them.’”

            “After a few more questions, I figured out she was talking about the radio.  She was sure that voices were coming from the radio, even when it was turned off, and they were telling her things.”

            “What kind of things?” Eric inquired.

            Butch shrugged, “From what I could gather, the ‘voices’ were girls that needed help, needed saving.  I went home that evening with a heavy heart and cried on your mom’s shoulder.  It was so hard to see my own mother-the woman who gave me life, protected me, loved me, whose strength carried me through the tough times, and was a shining example of womanhood-become as vulnerable as a child.  Your mom and I talked for hours that night, and she was a rock to me as I made the tough decision to put your grandmother in a nursing home.  I knew it was only going to go downhill from there, and she would eventually need specialized care.”

            Eric could see the sadness in his dad’s face as he spoke.  “I went over to her house the next day, like usual, and I found her sleeping in her chair on the porch.  Only she wasn’t sleeping…she was dead.  As I checked her pulse, I noticed that the radio was no longer on the end table.”

“Something willed me to turn around, and when I did I saw the radio lying on the floor, face down.  It was as if your grandmother had thrown it, but because she was so weak, it hadn’t done any damage.  I went over to pick it up and, right before I reached it, it turned on all by itself.  It wasn’t tuned to any station because it was pure static, and the volume was all the way up.  The sound was loud and grating and I grabbed it quickly, setting it down on the large table.  I turned the volume button counter-clockwise to turn it off, but it was already turned all the way down.”

“I took a step back, and panicked as I realized it wasn’t plugged in.  My panic turned to fright and I grabbed it, lifting it above my head.  My intention was to fling it to the ground, shattering it and making that god-awful noise stop, but as suddenly as it began, it ended, and the radio was quiet once more.”

(This is a work of fiction written by H.A. Larson, and is the sole property thereof.  Copyright 2015 - H.A. Larson)