Call In the Submarine

Leo slid his hands through is prematurely gray hair, as he sat hunched over the radio switchboard, eyes closed, he sighed. Even in the soundproof booth, three floors high, he could feel the city waking up. He felt the multitude of snooze buttons being mashed, the clank of coffeepots, and the building pressure of the water pipes in the bowels of Castle Apartments. Without even turning around to glance at the clock on the wall behind him, he knew it was 7:00AM, the end of his set. Leo, as usual, was exhausted. Nevertheless he always picked his last song with the utmost care, this was the song that was playing at 7:00 when all the alarms went off. He wanted to start the day off on a positive note, despite his eternal lack of energy. For this particular day he picked "Melancholy Hill" it had hopeful aura to it, Leo felt, however it still denoted a rather sad general circumstance. "Perfect" he said as he glanced at the weather chart, reading cool and foggy. "Just perfect." The song buzzed to an end, and without needing to think about it, Leo brought up the volume on his microphone, leaned forward and, using his best 'Good Morning' voice he said, "Good Morning everyone, it's a cool 55 degrees out today, and a bit foggy, so be careful out there. Also we have an announcement from Casa De Waffles," Leo read off a card Mr. Tresp had given him the night before. "Come in for the next fifteen minutes and get a free waffle with a purchase of a small coffee! Damn, sounds like a deal to me, everyone. Well, that's all for me, we have Devon Tresp on next for your morning news at 8:00. I'm Leon Van Damme, and as always keep it tuned into 100.4."

The Days And Nights Are Long

The dust caught the light as it hung in the musty air, Leo watched as it spun ethereally about the glowing dials of the recording booth. He lost himself in the spinning tapes, the hum of the panels, and the lingering echoes of "Everybody Hurts" as the last chords reverberated through his mind. Leo was having a cathartic moment, and he wanted it to last. He pictured this song soaring through the pre-dawn night, describing the town underneath, and giving hope to anyone who bothered to listen. He had a headache as it were, and he would've given his eyes for the chance to doze off until the next shift started. He thought better of it, though thinking of the trailer-trash Mr. Tresp, his boss. Leo shivered at the thought of dealing with that man; his boss had nothing except rage for Leo. He figured Mr. Tresp himself had nothing, so he took it out on his late-night radio DJ.

Earlier that morning, Leo was walking out of his apartment and noticed that that the zero in "room 1011" had fallen off and disappeared. He took a moment to search for it. A moment that he couldn't spare. He missed his usual bus and ended up running the next stop, but not before he was momentarily distracted by the haunting meanderings of Michael Stipe pouring out of a battered boom box, sitting in the lap of a homeless blind man. Leo only stood long enough to hear the song, and examine the poor man's situation. Bolting at the sound of the bus stopping a block ahead.

The song had latched itself to some dark center of his brain, he mused on the idea of a blind man telling the world of more fortunate people to "hold on" and smiled to himself. Leo respected the blind man's valiant motives, and thought he'd do him a favor and launch his song to a bigger audience, via the trusted bandwidth of 100.4 WTF.FM.

- - -

The song faded out and Leo brought up the microphone, then leaned in, saying "Okay everyone, that was R.E.M's 'Everybody Hurts' that goes out to a..." he paused, thinking of a way to describe the blind man. "A man who really knows whats goin' on. Up next we got some Pearl Jam. I'm Leon Van Damme, and as always... keep it tuned into 100.4."