SFX: Ignition. A van engine rumbles. The god radio hisses as someone turns the dial to tune into a station. The opening theme plays, at first distorted before clearing up.
THEME: (sings)
If there’s a stranger all alone
Set her back to walk the stone.
TITLE:
Hearthbound
Episode 1
Telemachus
THEME: (sings)
Will she find her way back home?
SFX: A campfire crackles. Insects quietly chirp in the night. A coyote howls in the distance. A lawn chair creaks with shifting weight. Beer bottles clink.
ODESSA: There’s Vega. See her?
SFX: A common whippoorwill calls.
ODESSA: On good nights like this, you can see Altair too if you follow that line of stars over.
It’s a good night.
I found an actuator today that’s only about half-junk. It’ll need to be scrubbed to death before I’ll know if it works. I almost picked up an RF amplifier, but it rusted to pieces in my hand.
Ran into some folks during salvage. They told me they came from the other side of the salt flats. Didn’t say where they were headed. Neither did I. One of them passed me the smallest pouch before they left. It was saffron. Suppose she thought I needed it more than they did.
I gave her my rifle. The hammer is buried a few hundred miles back, but the metal will still be good for trade.
SFX: Odessa picks up her guitar.
ODESSA: I’ve been working on something. It’s late, but I figure you’re probably still awake. Anyways.
(sings)
Remember those early days
Before I knew what to say
You took my hand and pulled me to the ground
There among the seeds we found
I built our bed, and you wove your crown
Remember the ones who came
Ghosts wanting something for the pain
You took my hands, and bound up their hounded souls
Let them in to stay like they’re friends of old
Our roots grew deep and strong and bold
Dream enough for a fool or two
This fool will raise it up for you
And if you ever ask me again
No matter what the gods portend
I’ll follow you until the very end
Remember when we parted ways
There was so much left to say
I took your hand and asked if you’d wait for me
You said, lover
Here I’ll be
And when you’re back, I promise you’ll see
Our forest for the trees
Runaways of ash and dust
In a world that’s gone to rust
Dream enough for a fool or two
Until this fool comes back to you
No matter how, no matter when
No matter what the gods portend
Though the mountains crack
And the rivers run dry
I know I’ll see you once again
I know I’ll see you once again
I know I’ll see you once again
ODESSA: (sigh) Yeah. I, um…
SFX: Wind gently blows. Odessa puts down her guitar. The god radio hisses, then clicks off. The radio clicks back on. A sandstorm rumbles outside.
ODESSA: Morning.
SFX: Odessa plays catch with herself, bouncing a small ball against the inside wall of her van.
ODESSA: There’s an old wreck a couple miles east I saw that didn’t look picked clean yet. I should go back and see what I can scrounge up. Alby’s running on fumes, and I still need to see if she’ll even take to the new actuator.
I’m worried about the old girl. Her engine is running pretty black.
I should pack.
And clean the respirator.
(whispers) Just get up.
SFX: The ball bounces against the wall again and again. Something thumps against the outside of the van. It whines.
ODESSA: Wha–?
SFX: Odessa picks herself off the ground and slides the van door open. The sandstorm roars. Something metal smacks her in the head.
ODESSA: OW. Fuck! What the hell are you doing out here? Just. Come on. I’m not gonna hurt you. Come here. Come here. It’s okay. Good. That’s good. Okay, yep. There we go.
SFX: Odessa picks up a dog and staggers back over to her van. She climbs back in and slides the door shut. The sandstorm continues outside. She lets go, and the dog immediately scrabbles along the floor.
ODESSA: It’s okay! You’re safe. Come here. Look! Look what I got for you.
SFX: The dog barks excitedly. Odessa pours some water out of a jug into a tin bowl, then places it on the ground. The dog eagerly laps up the water. He sneezes, then snuffles around the van, exploring the space. Odessa picks up her guitar and sits back, watching him go.
ODESSA: Oh man. What am I going to do with you? You have a name, buddy? You kinda look like a Mack. How’s that sound? Hey, here boy.
SFX: Odessa throws the ball across the van. Mack fetches. He settles, then lets out a little doggy sigh. Odessa pats him.
ODESSA: Yeah, I feel you. Scrawny little guy, aren’t you? I wonder how long he’s been out there.
SFX: Odessa absentmindedly picks at her guitar.
ODESSA: I think he’s supposed to be some kind of cattle dog? A blue heeler, maybe, under all that muck. (whistles) Hey.
SFX: Mack comes up to her, eager. She stops strumming to give him some solid scritches. His tail thumps happily.
ODESSA: Yeah, you like that, don’t ya? Don’t you? (chuckles)
(sings)
Hey, friend of mine
Everything’s gonna be alright
Hey, friend of mine
I’m just glad to have you by my side
Your heart is heavy
Your feet are wearing you down
SFX: Mack howls happily.
ODESSA: (sings)
You were alone, but look how that’s come around
Guess that means we’ve fight left to be found
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Hey, friend of mine
I know you’re gonna be just fine
Hey, friend of mine
We’re looking pretty good for the end of times
You and I
We’ve made it this far
Skin and teeth
And whistles in the dark
All this way just to get back to the start
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
SFX: The sandstorm has passed. Odessa puts down her guitar.
ODESSA: Alright. Back to work.
SFX: Mack whines. The god radio hisses, then clicks off. The radio clicks back on. The storm rages again outside the van. A dust-worn Odessa climbs back in, pulls off her respirator mask, and unequips the rest of her gear.
ODESSA: Well, the wreck was a huge bust. There was a man.
SFX: She kicks back up in the van passenger seat to cool down. A strange figure echoes in her memory.
ODESSA: I could hear him dragging something around, so I followed his trail through the depot. He had a sled piled high with crap. Cracked flat screens, rusted instant pots, one of those flamingo inner tubes. He was already looking at me when I turned the corner. I couldn’t tell if he was sizing me up or if he thought I was a hallucination, but he walked right up to me. Right up to my face. It took him a minute with his sled and a leg that looked like it was scraped together from bike parts.
SFX: The memory pulsates. The strange figure creaks and clicks like the turning of bicycle spokes.
ODESSA: He looked me hard in the eye and then he… reached for me. I froze. His nails were chipped and dirty, and it looked like at one point he had painted them. He smelled like mesquite and mulch. He didn’t touch me or anything. Just backed up slowly after a moment and made his way back out.
SFX: The memory thrums away into nothingness.
ODESSA: I stayed and dug around for a while. It was all the same kind of leftovers that you get used to seeing again and again. Mildewed shoe soles, the thick, heavy round glass from the bottom of bottles– parts that never imagined they’d outlive their use.
SFX: Mack pads over to Odessa. His makeshift collar jingles. Odessa gives him a good neck scratch.
ODESSA: Hey, baby boy. I’m talking to your momma. She’s gonna be so excited to meet you. You come to say hi? She probably can’t hear us right now 'cus we’re so far away, but, hey, ya never know.
SFX: Mack barks in agreement.
You know what, maybe tomorrow we can go looking for another amplifier. And if we can get Alby up and running, maybe the receiver will power up, and she’ll be on the other end, trying to reach us this whole time. How’s that sound, huh? Sounds good?
SFX: Mack sneezes. He bounces eagerly.
ODESSA: Yeah, I thought so. Alright, come on, I got you.
SFX: Odessa plays catch with Mack.
ODESSA: Hey, looks like it cleared up again. Let’s go outside, huh? Come on.
SFX: The van door slides open. The god radio hisses, then clicks off. The radio clicks on. Odessa weeps, though she attempts to stifle it. Mack snuffles around her, then goes to worry the van dashboard until his nose nuzzles the van transceiver. Good dog. Odessa does not seem to notice.
ODESSA: What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you like this? God, I miss you. I miss you so much. I can’t do this. I can’t. I’m so tired. I’m just so tired.
SFX: Mack pushes off the dashboard and trots over to Odessa. He drops the ball in front of her, then licks her face, whining.
ODESSA: Hey, buddy, hey. I’m okay. It’s all good, bud. Everything’s fine, see.
SFX: Odessa pushes herself out of bed and traipses to the van dashboard. She turns off the transceiver. The god radio hisses, then clicks off. The radio clicks on. A night wind gently blows. Odessa picks up her guitar.
ODESSA: (sings)
It comes so easy, the pride before the drop
You make your way to the precipice
With every intention to stop
Best laid plans of mice and men
Troy is burning once again
Troy is burning once again
There’s no honest wage in war
When we tally up the cost in bones
I’ll count them til my hands are sore
And maybe then I can finally find the way back home
I thought I could be a dam before the tide
But for the ones who are still to drown
It doesn’t matter that you tried
The kids are asleep on fields of trampled wheat
Will these hands never be clean 'cus
There’s no honest wage in war
When we tally up the cost in bones
I’ll count them 'til my hands are torn
And maybe then I can finally find the way back home
Mmm
Mmm
No more flags to unfurl
No more crusades to be won
I don’t need a brave new world
Just a kinder one
I don’t ask for grace
I don’t ask for an alibi
When the righteous can never see beyond
Any end they can justify
So if the fates have come to collect
They can have their pound of flesh 'cus
There’s no honest wage in war
When we tally up the cost in bones
I’ll count them til they set me free
And maybe then I can finally be with
Penelope…
SFX: The god radio hisses, then clicks off. The radio clicks on. Mack bounds around the too-small space of the van, clattering and knocking things over. Odessa struggles around him.
ODESSA: Mack. MACK. Take it easy, bud. I need… to… keys. Ah, shit. Hey, Mack, chill. Alright, alright, coming through again, you doofus.
SFX: Odessa picks up her van keys. They jingle as she settles in the driver's seat. Mack barks, then plops himself down in the passenger seat.
ODESSA: Shotgun, huh? Fair enough. You ready?
SFX: He whines excitedly.
ODESSA: Me neither. This is it, Alby. Don’t fuck me.
SFX: Odessa cranks her engine. It cranks and it cranks.
ODESSA: Come on, come on, come on, come on…
SFX: The engine ignites. The van transceiver crackles to life. A voice garbles on the other side.
ODESSA: Hello? Hello? Is someone there?
SFX: The voice responds, unintelligible.
ODESSA: I’m sorry, can you repeat that? I’m having trouble picking up your frequency. Hi, are you there? Shit, come, on old girl, gimme something.
PAULIE: Are you still there?
ODESSA: Yes! I’m here! I’m right here!
PAULIE: Who are you?
ODESSA: I’m—
I’m nobody.
THEME: (sings)
If there’s a stranger all alone
CREDITS:
Hearthbound
Episode 1
Telemachus
Features the voices of
Jo Chiang as Odessa
Amy R. Surratt as Paulie
Odessa’s guitar by Pete Lanctot
Hearthbound is created, written, and produced by Jo Chiang
Directed by Jack Towhey Calk
Music directed by Ginger Dolden
Sound design and editing by Levi Sharpe
Additional dialogue editing by Anna Kelly Rodriguez and Amador L. Rodriguez
Music production, additional engineering, and mixing by Pete Lanctot
Production managed by Charlotte Muth and Neaco Fox
Special thanks to Multitude Studio and our illustrator, Anya Boz
Stay in touch with us on hearthboundpod.com
You get home safe now, you hear?
THEME: (sings)
Set her back to walk the stone
You may wonder, but never know
Will she find her way back home?
JO: Hi! Jo here! So, so much of Episode 1 comes from riding through and camping in the deserts of Utah, which we know today to be the traditional land of the Goshute People. To learn more about the Goshute, you can visit their website at ctgr.us.
Now, through the course of this show, Odessa travels across lands that I loved as a child. Land with a complex history of stewardship, theft, resistance, and renewal. Its borders were porous, as people and communities roamed with the seasons and made contact with each other. So, an acknowledgment of that history can never replace learning or engaging with the work tribes do today to rematriate and revitalize the land. My only hope is to offer a place to start.
And this show could not be what it is today without Marc Sollinger, who has been a wonderful source of insight, support, and Dread RPG sessions. He and Dan Powell last year released Generation Crossing, a concept album about an 800-year journey to a distant planet, and the society that forms during that voyage. You can catch me on the track Spacewalk, though, definitely start from the beginning. Learn more at generationcrossing.com.
Last but not least, I wrote this show with Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey by my side. If you haven’t experienced this Homeric epic in its written form before, I highly recommend Wilson’s translation.
That’s all for now! Thank you for listening to Hearthbound.
