INTRO 00:04
Welcome to The Cassette Diaries, a fiction podcast about endings, the whimsy of girlhood, and lost arcane things that hide in your attic — yearning to be discovered. Tape one, August twenty-seven, nineteen ninety three.
SARAH 00:30
...hungry! Is anyone else hungry? I think we should stop at—
MARY 00:34
...what about our original plan of staying in the backyard?! You know how I feel about the full m—
JANE 00:39
Ok, ok... settle down! Ahem. We are gathered here today, underneath the light of the full moon, to fully enjoy the last summer night of mayhem and freedom before our souls are inevitably crushed bit by bit, on Monday, by the catholic school system. Now... we’ve had a good run this year - art nights in the caves, drunk roller skating—
SARAH 01:02
There’s still a scab on my knee from that…
JANE 01:03
[…] creek ceremonies… Shh! Amongst many others! So, I propose we spend the night visiting those spots, for one final time. As I, of course, record it for posterity.
ADA 01:17
Community theater is the worst thing that could’ve ever happened to you.
JANE 01:22
I will gracefully accept that. As a compliment.
ADA 01:28
Ugh, Mary, do you have a cig?
MARY 01:29
Yeah, yeah... but they’re menthols—
SARAH 01:31
I still want my cherry slushy! C’mon, you guys!
JANE 01:36
Fine... Let’s go ladies, let’s go! I’m calling shotgun!—
MARY 01:40
You always do, when it’s Sa—
JANE 01:42
… And I'm still recording!
SARAH 01:46
... and then, and then! Guess who’s been behind us at the movies, all along? Sister. Agatha.
MARY 01:53
Wait. By herself?
ADA 01:55
By herself, watching Alien 3…?
JANE 01:58
What in the world... Did y’all just see that? All those police cars?
ADA 02:03
What the… Slow down, Sarah, we’re going too far! I think... they’re talking to Father Michael?
SARAH 02:08
Shit... shit! It’s just us on the road, you guys. I can’t turn around, it’ll look too obvious.
MARY 02:15
We also definitely don’t need another reason for that creep to single us out in mass next week. Just keep driving!
JANE 02:21
We’ll come back later. Like, before we go back to my house. And ask Susie from the 7-Eleven what she saw.
ADA 02:28
I’m down. We’re gonna need snacks later anyway, for the bonfire.
JANE 02:32
But first the cave!
MARY 02:34
But first the cave.
ADA, SARAH 02:35
But first the cave.
JANE 02:41
Here we are - in the meeting place of meeting places! Where most are dared to go, and we go willing. Did the stories Mr.Mailer tell us about fire and brimstone and hearing the devil cursing and groaning down here scare us?
MARY 02:54
… Yeah, they did.
JANE 02:56
Yes, but! We didn’t let that stop us! And we turned it into... Well, not a home, per se, but... sort of a leveled up version of a blanket fort. And, on this evening, as we collect our Cave Fort’s-
ADA 03:10
We really need a better name for it...
JANE 03:12
I know. I can’t believe we still haven’t come up with anything good in 2 and a half months, but—
MARY 03:17
Oh! Can I keep the radio?! How are we dividing up what goes to who?!
SARAH 03:21
Easy - split custody rights. Like my parents!
ADA 03:25
I’m not sure we’ll be exactly fighting for a couple of chairs and pillows like divorced parents for a child’s time, Sarah...
MARY 03:32
And a radio.
SARAH, ADA 03:33
And a radio.
JANE 03:35
Let’s just say our final words and we can figure this out when we’re back home you guys...
MARY 03:39
I can work with that. Ok, I’ll start! I wrote a poem. Drum roll, please...
‘The nighttime omens
The pear shaped tree
Somewhere, in some time
A farm girl does her duty, and wipes
at her cheeks
Carves her initials in silence,
on that pear shaped tree.’
MARY 04:09
Thank you, thank you…
ADA 04:12
I almost wished you saved that for the bonfire. It does have a spooky feel to it...
JANE 04:17
But then we wouldn’t have the brilliant idea of carving our initials in the cave…
SARAH 04:21
And you know what this means… Ritual! Ritual! Ritual!
ADA 04:31
Um... Ok... So... We drive by the parish, a couple of police cars are there, etc - but someone could have just tried to break in and steal the indulgences, or something, and so father Michael called the police?
JANE 04:45
Ok. Yeah…? In my overexcitement I did fail to come up with something reasonable. But, if it indeed was something so small, why would they stay there for over an hour? Susie also said that soon after they got there the light bars were off, like it wasn’t urgent...
MARY 05:06
Like they just hang out like best buds after hours…
SARAH 05:09
What, Mar?
MARY 05:10
Never mind. Hey, your marshmallow is getting burned to a crisp. You better watch out.
SARAH 05:16
It’s how I like it! It’s about the contrast!
JANE 05:20
That’s a solid culinary choice.
SARAH 05:22
Do you want this one? I could make ano—
ADA 05:24
Oh, Mar! You have a leaf on your hair, hold on—
MARY 05:26
Oh, Jesus! That’s not a leaf!
ADA 05:28
Fuck. I think you just had a... praying mantis on your head? I can’t really see, but—
JANE 05:33
You know what they say about praying mantises...
SARAH 05:37
That they’re cute and one of the insects most often kept as pets?
JANE 05:41
No! They’re bad luck!
MARY 05:44
Yeah, Sarah. Up here the stories usually say it’s really not good to mess with them.
SARAH 05:49
What?! They’re not even poisonous!
JANE 05:51
Well, now we know... but, I guess... back in the day, the mountain people didn’t, and called them ‘The Devil’s Horse’, and stuff.
ADA 06:01
Way, way back in the day… Someone probably saw one of them eating a hummingbird and thought this was not a bug to be messed with.
JANE 06:09
See?! Evil.
SARAH 06:12
So maybe we should, like, cleanse Mar of her bad luck...
MARY 06:17
… How?
SARAH 06:18
We dunk you under the water with... umm... intent, and stuff.
JANE 06:23
I can say something like, ‘We cleanse you of evil’ blah blah blah
MARY 06:28
...So you wanna baptize me?
JANE 06:30
Well, yeah? But cooler!
SARAH 06:33
Way cooler.
JANE 06:34
Without the oppressive organized religion nature.
ADA 06:37
It seems way more meaningful to be baptized by your friends anyway
MARY 06:41
Fine, alright, y’all can play pretend John the Baptist with me
ADA 06:45
The role of a lifetime…
JANE 06:47
Then, you can play Ophelia. We’ll grab some flowers. It’s a crossover.
SARAH 06:52
Everyone, say ‘thank you, Sarah’.
MARY, ADA 06:55
Thank you, Sarah.
JANE 06:57
Thank you, Sarah. Can I, please, have a burnt marshmallow now?
ADA 07:02
Oh! It’s cold! It’s cold!
SARAH 07:05
Don’t be a wuss! C’mon!
MARY 07:07
At least you won’t be fully submerged, Addy! Count your blessings!
ADA 07:10
I think keeping the t-shirt on is making it worse...
JANE 07:13
Told ‘ya - just chuck it into the grass and— Gosh! It’s cold!
SARAH 07:18
I’m really enjoying this! We should’ve been doing this all summer long... Skinny dipping beneath the light of the full moon, and stuff.
MARY 07:26
I kinda like it too... C’mon! Come cleanse me, or whatever! I’m feeling very connected to nature right now!
JANE 07:32
… Light as a feather, stiff as a board—
ADA 07:37
Oh my God! Shut up!
JANE 07:40
Ok, ok. Serious. It’s serious time. Um... We cleanse you, Mary Brennan, of evil and harm - in the name of the water rushing by Mulberry Creek, the Moon overhead, and the hands holding you afloat.
MARY 08:00
Thank you, ladies.
SARAH 08:01
Aw... you’re welco—
MARY 08:03
Race you to Janey’s!
JANE 08:05
Wait, hey! Not the clothes! Not the clothes!
ADA 08:09
At least leave the shoes, Mary!
SARAH 08:11
Oh, she plays dirty...
JANE 08:14
Tell me… something… new…
JANE 08:25
No one’s seen Mary in hours. I… I woke up this morning and my room… felt colder. Colder than it’d been for months. So I just... lay in bed. I could hear Sarah snoring beside me, in that soft way she does... almost like she’s shy when she’s dreaming, you know? And I could see Ada’s hand poking out on the ground in front of my bed. I guess I thought Mary was still there, sleeping, all curled up like a cat, or— or maybe something wilder. Something who’d wanna protect their face and soft belly when asleep.
JANE 09:32
Eventually I got up, though, so I could see what I had in the fridge for breakfast, and I still didn’t really look - didn’t even realize that she wasn’t there anymore. It wasn’t until much later, when both Sarah and Ada had been sitting on the counter for a while that we even realized Mary wasn’t in the house anymore. Her bright red dirty Converse being the only pair of shoes not on the porch.
LYDIA 10:39
What the…
LYDIA’S DAD 10:40
Lydia! Come help your dads! We haven’t finished moving yet, you know!
LYDIA 10:45
I know! Sorry! Coming! Ow! Shit! I got distracted...
(Outro) 10:57
Thank you for listening. If you liked this episode, please leave a short review. The Cassette Diaries is written, produced, and scored by Isabella Pantoja, and directed by Nickolas Menescal. The voice of Jane is Raquel Romero. Find out who plays Ada, Sarah, Mary, and Lydia over on our Instagram: At The Cassette Diaries. See you next time.