PseudoPod 351: The Blues
Show Notes
“The Blues” was my attempt at confronting and ruminating on the limits of our adaptability, something not often addressed in apocalyptic literature.
Slusher music is “Green Olives” by Barbacoa from Music Alley
The Blues
by Cameron Suey
The brick edifices lean over me, red canyons of abandoned history. Despite the lingering warmth of the late valley summer, dried leaves are already piling in the gutters. Without a human hand to clean them I imagine them heaping up, year after year, burying the small town in an endless leaf pile, patiently waiting in vain for a child to leap into them.
Spun off on this chain of images and ideas, I drift away from Alex and lean against the boarded windows of a storefront. The leaves are swirling now with the blues in my mind, the cool colors crackling through the warm autumn refuse. Somewhere in the middle of the conceptual whirlwind, I get sick, the bile rising from the back of my throat bringing an unpleasant fungal taste. I spit as my mouth floods with thin and bitter saliva.
‘Tell me if I can help, man.’
Alex is across the street, leaning against a bike rack, watching me. I try to shake my head, to raise an arm, but I am trapped inside the whirlwind, not sure of its boundaries and borders, not sure if I am enjoying this anymore. Leif and King’s distant, muffled voices blend into the spinning vortex.
‘Nope,’ I manage with great effort. Alex nods and looks away.
About the Author
Cameron Suey
Award-winning writer, designer, narrative paramedic, and editor with experience in established franchises spanning multiple genres and mediums.
With an education in screenwriting and narrative theory and a passion for strong characters and innovative, interactive methods of storytelling, Cameron has been collaborating with incredible teams in the games industry for more than a decade. Beginning with the award-winning and critically acclaimed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Cameron has contributed to the story and written for multiple high-profile AAA games in established franchises. He has also created narrative worlds for the mobile gaming space. Most recently, he was the recipient of a Writers Guild of America Award of Excellence in Videogame Writing, as one of the principal writers on the Rise of the Tomb Raider narrative team — this was his second win, and third nomination. His work has previously appeared on Pseudopod, anthologies including Shadows over Main Street, and was featured in the first issues of Jamais Vu and Flapperhouse.
About the Narrator
Gabriel Diani
Gabriel Diani wrote and starred in the award-winning supernatural comedy feature film THE SELLING and created THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN [Robotic Edition]. He is currently prepping a Kickstarter campaign for his second feature film called DIANI & DEVINE MEET THE APOCALYPSE.
