Radio Silence

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Daniel: (muffled voices and loud dubstep)

F: Hello? Daniel?

D: Hello? (laughter) shut up shut up— hello?

F: Daniel? Why are you calling me?

D: (laughter) (more dubstep)

F: Daniel?

D: (hangs up)

I looked at my phone.

“Okay,” I said, out loud, but nobody heard me.

A group of lads barged past me, and my foot slid off the kerb and I was walking in the road. I didn’t want to be here. I needed to be doing work, revising essay questions, writing up some maths notes, rereading my message from Radio, drawing some sketch ideas for the videos – I had a mountain of stuff to do and being here was, to be honest, a complete waste of my time.

My phone rang again.

F: Daniel, I swear to god––

Aled: Frances? Is this Frances?

F: Aled?

A: Franceeeeees! (dubstep)

I barely knew Aled. I’d barely spoken to him before this week.

Why …

What?

F: Er, why are you calling me?

A: Oh … Dan— Dan tried to prank call you, I think … I don’t think it worked …

F: … Okay.

A: …

F: Where are you? Is Daniel with you?

A: Oh, we’re at Johnny’s … that’s so weird I don’t even know who Johnny is … Dan’s … (laughter, muffled voices)

F: … Are you okay?

A: I’m fine … sorry … Daniel called you again and then he gave me the phone … I don’t really know what happened. I don’t know why I’m talking to you! Haha …

I walked a bit faster so I didn’t lose my friends completely.

F: Aled, if Daniel’s with you then I’m just gonna go …

A: Yeah, sorry … erm … yeah.

I felt pretty bad for him. I didn’t get why he was friends with Daniel – I wondered whether Daniel bossed him around at all. Daniel bossed a lot of people around.

F: It’s okay.

A: I don’t really like it here.

I frowned.

A: Frances?

F: Yeah?

A: I don’t really like it here.

F: … Where?

A: Do you like it here?

F: Where?

There was silence for a moment – well, silence except for the tinny dance music and the voices and laughter.

F: Aled, please just tell me whether Daniel is there so I can continue with my evening and not worry about you.

A: I don’t know where Daniel is …

F: D’you want me to come and take you home or something?

A: Hey … you know … it sounds like you’re on the radio …

My mind went instantly to Universe City and Radio Silence.

F: God, you’re so drunk.

A: (laughs) Hello. I hope somebody is listening …

He hung up. I felt my stomach drop at his final words.

“Hello. I hope somebody is listening,” I said, under my breath.

Words I’d spent the last two years listening to over and over, words I’d sketched again and again inside speech bubbles and on my bedroom wall. Words I’d heard in a male voice and a female voice, changing every few weeks, always in that classic World-War-II old-time radio accent.

The opening line of every Universe City episode:

“Hello. I hope somebody is listening.”