Loopy

 

In late winter on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Zach Mariweather is ending his sixth month on the job at the local and only radio station in Ironwood. He is anxious knowing that in a few weeks he will be leaving Ironwood in search of a more lucrative job. He’s had some leads and is looking forward to his new beginning. Having just graduated from college he had come to the region for a summer vacation before starting his search for employment. He is a recent graduate of journalism school in Phoenix, Arizona, where he had lived his entire life. He had never ventured out of Maricopa County and knew nothing but the oppressive desert heat in the summer and the temperate desert winters. He chose to spend his first ever vacation in Ironwood. Having never been on a vacation before, he didn’t want to go to the tourist vacation sites. He wanted a little familiarity on his first vacation. So he chose Ironwood because his girlfriend, Brandi, from college lived there. The seriousness of their relationship began the last semester before their graduation. She had told him a lot about Ironwood and it interested him. He was looking forward to spending a summer in a cooler climate. Of the many great things she told him about Ironwood there was one thing she stressed. She told him tales about how people get a little “loopy” during the seemingly never ending winter in this part of the country. The legend is that every four years on February 29^th, Leap Day, the Northern Lights are unusually vivid and strange paranormal occurrences happen in Ironwood. The locals believe that the cosmic magnetic forces that cause the Aurora Borealis drop south and make for strange happenings in the area because of the large concentration of iron ore that the town sits upon. The thought never spends more than a few seconds in his mind and each time he dismisses it as local lore. He will be leaving, hopefully with her, to begin their future together. He knows that she is the right “one” for him. She is a little quirky, but he finds her idiosyncrasies endearing.. He blames her peculiar traits on being around the people from Ironwood all her life and the difference in their cultures. He is a laid back sun worshipper and she is a Midwestern girl with all those core values. Many of which he doesn’t understand or subscribe to. It was her differences that attract him as much as their common interests. Love has blinded him and her too.

Zach had been in Ironwood for just a few days when he met the Mayor at the diner that Brandi’s family owned. After a short conversation, the Mayor offered Zach a job for the summer at his radio station. Until Zach came, the radio station was operated by an engineer and there was no local on air personality and was only on the air from 6 AM until 6 PM. Syndicated shows filled its air time, and most of them were pre-recorded programming and Pod-casts. The mayor‘s son was the starting quarterback on the football team, a player on the basketball, and baseball teams. His son was a good athlete and had received a lot of area recognition. The mayor thought his son was major league talent, but the kid was just a decent athlete in a small town. The deal was that Zach would get to start a radio program from the ground up just as long as the mayor’s son received recognition on air for his athletic accomplishments. Zach saw this as a shining star opportunity for his resume`.

Brandi works in the Copper Rose in the summers and on breaks to help defray the cost of her tuition. She graduated with a degree in Micro physics and is highly sought after by NASA to work for the space agency, but she moved back to Ironwood to run the family restaurant. Brandi’s mother is having a dismal time keeping the Copper Rose going since her father disappeared while on a hunting trip four years earlier. She too is looking forward to beginning her new life with Zach. She convinced her mother to sell the diner. Her father was declared dead a month earlier and the life insurance ensured her mother that she could finally retire comfortably. She is going to join her sister who had already retired to Florida.

The phone rings at the radio station.

“Hello Brock. Brock? Are you there?”

Radio silence.

“It looks like Brock couldn’t hold on any longer.”

“Wait, I’m here. At least I think I’m here.”

“Brock. May I call you Brock?”

“Yes.”

“You wanna talk about last night’s big victory by the Ironwood Eagles last night?”

“No.”

Zach couldn’t hang up on the caller. Very few people called into the show, and there was something oddly compelling about Brock’s voice that made Zach probe for more information and start recording the conversation.

“Then what do you want to talk about, Brock?”

“Your first question is what I want to talk about.”

Zach chuckled a bit and said, “Well obviously your there or we wouldn’t be here talking.”

Brock’s voice was calm yet, chilling when he replied, “It’s not funny. I’m not sure I’m here at all.”

With no one else on hold, Zach decided to let the guy talk but would somehow get the conversation turned to sports.

Brock continued, “I look in the mirror and there’s nothing there but the background. I go out on a sunny day, and there’s no shadow. I talk to people and they don’t hear me or see me.......... until now. You’re the first person to hear me in four years.”

As Brock talks, Zach leans backed in his chair and watches as the Northern Lights paint the sky and reflect their hue on the snow covered ground. Another stream of eeriness meanders through his mind as he noticed that the Aurora Borealis was matching the readout on the equalizer that tracked Brock’s voice. His mind succumbs to the idea that strange things really do happen in Ironwood on February 29^th.

Zach mutes his microphone and calls the Copper Rose.

“Hello darling.” Brandi answers. She knows it’s Zach. It’s time for him to call in and make his Tuesday night order for his late supper.

“Turn on the radio.”

“I’ve got the radio on.” she answers. “Nothing but dead air for the last five minutes or so. Looks like the Leap year force of the Northern Lights is messing with the signal.”

Brock interrupts over Zach’s speaker, “Zach. Are you there?” I want to keep talking to you. Like I said, it’s been four years since I had a conversation. Please keep talking to me.”

Zach switches his microphone back to on. “Hold on a sec.” he tells Brandi.

“I’m here, Brock. Go ahead and talk to me.”

Brock begins recounting the events that led up to him becoming unseen and unheard by anyone but Zach.

Zach puts the phone to the speaker so Brandi can hear.

“Do you hear him?” Zach says to Brandi.

“No. All I hear is you.” Brandi giggles. “Maybe this long winter has made you a little loopy too. Still skeptical ? Why don’t you lock up and come on over to the Rose, have couple of beers, grab a bite and talk to a real person? The Northern Lights are probably gonna have you off the air for the rest of the night. Besides, you’re only on for another hour.”
“NO!” Brock bellows over the radio station speaker. “Don’t leave me. Let me talk to you.”

“All right, Brock. “I’ll stay.”

Zach put the phone back to his ear. “Brandi, I’m staying.”

Brandi answered, “I’m coming there. I might as well deliver your dinner. The only reason I stay open this late is for you anyway. You want the usual?”

“Yeah, come up to the station. You’ll hear him then.”

“Don’t count on it.” Brock warns over the speaker.

Thirty minutes later Brandi knocks on the window of the radio booth. She waves the bag of food and a bottle of wine at Zach. Zach motions for her to come in the booth. She sets the food and wine on a table.

Zach tells Brock, “Brandi is coming in. Do you want to talk to her?”

“Sure. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of a woman’s company.”

Brandi comes in the booth. “Say hi to Brock.” Zach instructs.

“Hi Brock.” she bubbles giving Zach a mocking look.

Her welcoming voice is greeted with silence.

The stillness that fills the room puzzles Zach and he reaches to adjust the volume control. “Brock? I thought you wanted to talk to her”

More silence. Then the phone line goes dead. Zach just stares at the phone.

Brandi breaks the silence. “C’mon. Let’s eat. Don’t dwell on it. Chalk it up to Leap Year in Ironwood.”

“Wait.” Zach orders. “I have it all on tape!” He rewinds the tape and starts it from the beginning. The only voice on the tape is Zach’s.

“All right” says Brandi. “You have been here all night talking to yourself. Looks to me like the winter and our sexual tension has gotten the best of you. Let’s take the food and wine to my place and relieve you of the tension.

Zach’s bewilderment about the radio caller subsides as the thought of lovemaking with Brandi floods his thoughts. They walk hand in hand through the snow toward their apartment above the Copper Rose. Zach flirtatiously nibbles her ears and neck and grabs a few quick feels along the way and suggests fooling around in the snow to which Brandi ardently refutes.

“Look, we’ve done it in a lot of places, but not outside in five degree weather. You can put that idea in the cooler for good. Now come on. I'm freezing.”

The make their way home. After the dinner, wine, and love making, they fall asleep.

Zach awakes the next day, looks at the clock on a bedside table and hustles out of bed, showers and dresses. It’s almost ten o’clock. He emerges from the steam filled shower and is looking forward to going down and having a late breakfast and flirting with Brandi. There’s a pep in his step as he readies for the day ahead. After showering he stands in front of the mirror. It’s a blanket of condensation. He chuckles, “Now I can’t see myself. This thought freshens the scene of Brock, who had called his radio show the night before.

“S**t!” he grumbles as he remembers what is on his agenda for the day. I promised Jay I would relieve him at the radio station at 10:30 so he could go to his ice fishing tournament, He called the station. No answer. He turns on the radio. It is playing a syndicated show.

“Jay must’ve left already.” he thought. “I still have a couple of hours. After breakfast, I’ll go in and try to find any trace of Brock’s voice on the audio I recorded last night”

He dances down the stairs singing the chorus to The Looking Glass song,  “Brandi, you’re a fine girl. What a good wife you would be………”

When he enters the Copper Rose, there is one person sitting at his usual spot at the counter. He takes a stool nearest the kitchen and waits for her to come his way. When she does he whispers to her. “Last night was more special than just sex. I know the difference between love and lust. Last night was both. No pressure though, but I’m thinking you feel the same as me.”

Brandi walks by him into the kitchen as if he isn’t there.

“Okay.” he muses. “She’s giving me a taste of my own medicine about not hearing Brock last night.”

Brandi comes out of the kitchen and goes back to the man sitting on “his” chair and they resume their conversation. Their chat is light and filled with laughter.

“Yep.” Zach thinks. “She’s a keeper. She’s even got this guy in on the prank.”

When Brandi goes to the kitchen again, Zach slides down the counter next to the other man at the counter.

“How ya doin buddy? I’ve never seen you around town. My girlfriend and you got me good.”

The man looks at Zach and says, “It’s not a practical joke.” Zach is momentarily dumbfounded. He recognizes the voice. It is Brock’s.

Brandi returns from the kitchen never giving a hint that she notices Zach and returns to her conversation with the other man.

Zach tries to interrupt her and out of nowhere says, “Okay. I get it. Brandi, you are the master of the practical joke. You win.”

Brandi keeps talking to the man at the counter, never once acknowledging Zach. “I can’t Brock.” She says to Brock as Zach watches in disbelief. “The last guy I tried to have a relationship with disappeared in the middle of the night. I t was on the four year anniversary of my father disappearing and this is another Leap Year and this is the day. Every Leap Year someone seems to disappear from my life. How do I know you won’t do the same?”

“Look.” says Brock. I met you shortly after he disappeared and I remember how devastated you were. But we’ve been dating for two years now. It’s time for us to start a new life. Staying in Ironwood will only keep those bad memories in your mind. Let’s get out of here tonight.”

Zach vehemently protests. His words and animated gestures are unheard and unseen by Brandi. When Brandi makes another trip to the kitchen Brock says to Zach, “It’s no use. She can’t hear you or see you. The only thing about you that hasn’t been erased is her memory of you. But its faded over the last four years. Part of her thinks your disappearance is from the paranormal of the Aurora and part of her thinks you just up and left her. Either way, you’ve been out of the picture for a long time and will remain that way to her. Tomorrow will be your day, only if you get to Desolate Falls, Minnesota before the radio station goes off the air at 10:00 o’clock tonight. Once you get there, give the station a call and see what happens.”

Brandi emerges from the kitchen and Brock says , “Hey, I knew a guy like that. I’m not him. At least give me a chance.”

“Okay. I will. But not until tomorrow. If you’re still here tomorrow, I’ll close this place and we’ll leave? And once we leave I never want to come back.”

Brock answers while looking at Zach, “Don’t worry babe. I won’t be leaving you. That part of me is gone. Once you leave, there’s only one way to come back. And starting today and tomorrow, I’m in your life forever.”

Zach bolts from his seat, rushes to the restroom and splashes water on his face. He reluctantly looks up at the mirror. No reflection. Zach scuttles from the restroom and out of the Copper Rose.

 

The next night a young intern working alone on the late night call in show in the tiny town of Desolate Falls, Michigan answers a call. “Zach are you there? What’s on your mind?”

 

Reviews

[Christopher J. Dawson]

Very twilight zone, Alfred Hitchcock-ish. It was awesome!

[Lena M. P.]

Good storyline and cryptic. I feel that you should have used more of the last part of the story at the beginning. You could work the details in without stopping the story to spell it out. That last part grabs me; the first part reads too much like a combination text book and resume. I think the story has potential.