Tashmo Episode 3 — Play
This close up she could see that the void wasn’t entirely black.
A puddle erupted violently as Tashmo stormed down the hill toward the void. Her fists were clenched in a ball and her eyes felt hot. Reaching the edge her anger was suddenly overtaken as her stomach dropped. This was the closest she had gotten to the void. Her nerves flared and she felt a lump in her throat as she swallowed.
This close up she could see that the void wasn’t entirely black. A deep purple smoke floated inside of the fuzzy blackness. Little bits of purple arced off the surface like a solar flare, nearly touching Tashmo’s face before breaking apart and falling back to the void. The wall radiated cold, almost as if it were breathing.
“What are you?” Tashmo spoke, the words were unsteady. She swallowed again and took a deep breath, exhaling forcefully. As the breath left her lungs she noticed the void quiver. Just for a second, almost imperceptibly. She blinked rapidly and squinted to get a better look, realizing it was hard to peer into the black for a long period of time. It messed with her eyes like the deep dark of a country night.
She reached up with her left hand, the small silver engagement ring on her finger seemed to reflect less light as it approached the void.
“You really are a void. I’ve just been calling you that.” Her hand hovered just inches away from the endless darkness. As she slowly moved it back and forth she felt a buzzing static, tingling her fingers. Then a crack of thunder rang out above her. Tashmo ducked in fear, recoiling her hand and falling back into a large puddle.
Tashmo picked herself up off the ground and tried, hopelessly, to wipe the mud off her pants. She watched the purple smoke dance freely against the relenting black static for a moment more before turning and heading inside.
The shower stopped with an abrupt slapping of the knob. The pipes responded with displeased thumping deep in the wall. Tashmo rifled through the small office at the back of the station looking for clothes. Dad turned it into a bunk room for the overnight shift after Marigold Media let two guys go and they all had to divide up the timeslots. She opened the heavy wooden wardrobe and found an extra large pair of sweatpants, and a bright red Chicago Bulls crewneck sweatshirt.
She shuffled her way to the kitchen, dragged a chair over to the fridge and popped open the small cabinets above it. Inside were two tumblers and an unopened bottle of Glenlivet 18 year single malt scotch whiskey.
“Look. Honestly it’s been a day.” Tashmo said as she dragged herself out into the console room, tearing off the plastic with her teeth. “And. And I found you literally the first day I got here and didn’t drink you. So I consider that a win.” She said to the whisky bottle, pouring two fingers into a tumbler and collapsing into the green tweed chair.
She sat the bottle on the console and watched the pensive dancing lights as she swirled her consolation prize around in her left hand. Her mind drifted to the void, she could see the purple wisps in her mind gesturing to her, calling for her to step into the blackness and fall away into cold silence.
She snapped out of her daydream with a shake and set the tumbler down on the console. She sat up in the chair and ran her hands along the wood finish of the console of buttons.
“Screw it.” She laughed. “I’m not going to let you have me that easily.” Tashmo reached across the board and flipped the large switch in the corner. The entire sound board sprung to action. A series of sliders and knobs moved to their pre-programmed positions, a dozen dials lit with faded yellow lights hummed to life, and the previously pensive lights, now joined by hundreds of their friends, flittered erratically. Without looking she reached up above her head and grabbed the microphone to pull it into place in front of her. She quickly scrolled through a series of songs on the board’s interface until she landed on Arnold, Eddy.
Grabbing the microphone she leaned back in her chair and spoke. “Good evening to the fine folks of the void. You’re listening to Tashmo’s Tower. I’m out here all alone about to run out of gas, so I thought I’d play us out. Here’s a classic from the Nashville sound, Eddy Arnold’s Make the World Go Away. Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy and goodnight.”
The tower lit up as Tashmo pressed play, and the sounds of Eddy Arnold filled the air.
