Note: All text in brackets denotes stage directions.

Ellis East Elementary School Walk Through, May 18th.  

Classroom 1-A 

I am entering classroom 1-A. The room echoes more than the kindergarten classroom due to the  polished wooden floor. There are chalkboards covering the south and north walls and the half of  the west wall on the right side of the door as I enter. Below the chalkboard is wainscotting and above is a smaller bulletin board about a foot in height running across the entire wall. On the left  side of the door, there is a bulletin board that is the same size as the chalkboard. The eastern wall  has a row of windows spanning the entire wall approximately three feet from the floor to about  three feet from the ceiling. The ceilings are high, if I had to guess, I would say about 14 feet.  

Audio Diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, Assistant professor of architectural history,  Hollingsworth University. June 11th, 7:30 am.  

Recorded in the former teacher’s lounge, which is now my breakfast room. [as if in front of mirror]  

Well, this morning I found about a dozen new white hairs when I was brushing my hair,  so that was a fun surprise. I envy people who panic just finding one. Anyway… I just finished  my second night at the school, my first night by myself. No piano, no carousel, no weird dreams.  Of course, the carousel was turned off, unplugged, and the circuit breaker to the gymnasium has been turned off, though I think I’m going to cautiously turn the power back on today because the  electrician is coming by this afternoon around one.  

Which brings me to the day’s agenda: I’m going to first review the papers in the box I found in  the library yesterday. I’m also going to explore the lockers. Look, I know the “cubby holes” clue 

is probably nothing, but I want to follow up on it. Plus they remain uncharted territory, so they  could be empty or they could be full of junk that I’ll need to dispose of. 

Then I’m going to work in the office, take the dogs outside, and then make some lunch, then, as  previously stated, the electrician. After that, I’m taking the afternoon off to just relax for the first  time since I’ve moved in. I’ll finish up the office tomorrow morning, but after the electrician, I  think I will read in the formal living room, and I may watch a movie in the informal living room  before bedtime. A couple more mornings and I should have the office, the library, and the  archive all in order and I should be able to start writing in earnest. 

Audio Diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 11th, 10:00 am, recorded in the library. Inventory of objects found in the lockers: A student journal labelled “Sydney N., grade 3,” three  keys on a key ring, unlabeled, an envelope with three baby teeth in it, [pause] made only slightly  less creepy by the fact that it has “for the Tooth Fairy” in an adult’s handwriting, four pieces of  what I am assuming is costume jewelry--two bracelets, a ring, and an earring--scattered across  four different lockers, two softballs, a baseball, and a tennis racket, all the same locker. There is  a teacher’s lesson plan book dated 2016, no grades but a seating chart. There is another  notebook, which is dated 1950, which appears to be a book of herbal remedies. Assorted craft  supplies, including beads, paintbrushes, and a box of colored pencils. An assortment of papers  with writing on them, which I have not read, but I’m assuming are student notes. A formal black  dress, black velvet pumps, and a lace shaw, dress size medium, shoes size 7 and a half. Seven  candles, 4 burnt, three not.  

I have gathered all of these things into a box on the library table. I’m going to sort them and  decide what to do with them later. 

I am now sitting at Nana’s desk- I mean the front desk of the library- and I am prepared to  explore the box I found here the other day. Opening it now. It appears a collection of library  supplies: sign out cards, card catalogue cards, the pockets to hold the cards in the books, book  repair supplies. There is also a note here on a scrap of paper: Hobbes 1855-1959. Elizabeth  Peabody. Uncoil Egis. Cedar chest in basement. 

That’s weird… I will look up these things and see if there really is a chest in the basement.  

Audio Diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 11th, 12:15 pm, recorded at the kitchen table  while lunch is cooking.  

Well, that was weird. I had put the dogs outside in the side yard for awhile, and when I went out  to get them, I noticed some movement by the front gate. I walked over to the edge of the side  yard to get a better look, and noticed there was a woman standing at the front gate. She did not  seem to be trying to get in, but she was looking at the gate quite intently. I caught my skirt while  letting myself out of the dog yard to go see what she was doing, and then I almost twisted my  ankle on a patch of uneven ground. She didn’t seem to react to this. 

There was something familiar about this woman. She is about six feet tall, with dark hair  immaculately styled in a fashion reminiscent of Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger. She had  sparkling green eyes and she was dressed in matching colors, in a dress that felt at once timeless  and yet old fashioned, but obviously tailored, possibly bespoke. I feel like I have seen her before,  but I cannot place her, outside of the fact that I have seen her here, at the school. I asked her if I  could help her, to which she replied “I’m sorry. I’ve been away for a couple of years and I 

thought I would visit the old school. I did not realize it had been sold.” Her voice had an accent I  couldn’t place. It was the accent of someone whose first language was English. It was not  British, but I would definitely describe it as aristocratic.  

I asked her name. She paused for a moment and replied “I was just wondering if you found my  necklace.” I asked where she would have left it and what it looked like, and if she had contact  information for if I found it. I reached in my pocket for a paper, but there wasn’t any, so I told  her I would be right back, she agreed with me, but then she was gone when I returned.  

Could she have just been trying to get into the school?  

Yet I could have sworn I’ve seen her. Here, at the school. Note to self: Find old yearbooks to see  if I can verify her identity. 

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 11th, 2:00 pm. Recorded in my formal living  room, formerly Classroom 1-C.  

The electrician has come and gone, and apparently nothing is wrong with the electrical system.  In fact, she seemed impressed that it does not require any updating, as she expected the building  to be wired in knob and tube, which would have been a common practice when the building was  built, but apparently the wiring has been modernized. She could not say why the carousel kept  turning on, though she also inspected its wiring and says that it is also in order. So… something  is happening there. She has no real hypothesis as to what? I thought perhaps a draft could have 

knocked the switch loose, but that does not seem very plausible. I need to keep an eye on this  further. 

The realization that I own the school has set in. I mean, I’ve been adjusting to being aware of  this, but new dimensions of realizing it continue to emerge. For example, I don’t need to keep  the walls white. Obviously, I’m not making many structural changes to the school beyond the  improvements to the downstairs restrooms, but it might be worth a coat of paint in a few of the  rooms. I’ve settled on a soft blush colored sofa and loveseat and a white and soft pink striped  wingback chair in this formal living room, so I’m thinking of painting it a rich emerald green on  three of the walls with a peacock wallpaper of a similar color scheme on the last wall would  make a nice contrast. In the dining room, I’m thinking a deep navy on three walls and a  contrasting light blue hydrangea pattern on the final wall. The dining room table, chairs, and  cabinetry are a cherry mahogany, so the light blue will lighten things up. I’m uncertain what to  do with my bedroom currently. I’ve got a couple ideas that I’ll tape up to see which I like best. 

I forgot to update yesterday, but the contractor came by to discuss the bathroom project. They are  able to start tomorrow, and they estimate it will take about a month to put everything together.  The upside is the floors and the lower half of the walls have a tile pattern that is worth keeping,  but the downside is that they’ll need to remove the stalls and all but one of the toilets and build  the shower from scratch and install the clawfoot tub, which is all new plumbing work. The target  completion date is July 12th. 

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 11th, 4:45 pm, recorded in my home office,  formerly classroom 1-A.  

When I was in first grade, my best friend was a boy named George. He wasn’t in my class, but  we met at recess on the first day of school. I was trying to muster up the courage to get back on  the merry-go-round after the previous year’s debacle, when I noticed there was someone in front  of me. A short boy with dark brown hair and dark eyes. He introduced himself as George and  said I looked scared. He wasn’t mean or teasing about it, though. He then encouraged me to  come with him, he had something to show me. 

We walked over to the trees at the eastern edge of the schoolyard, on the opposite end of the  sports field from the school. These were--and still are--giant oak trees with large gnarled roots.  The biggest tree is in the southeastern corner of the lot, and there is a line of five other trees  beside it in a row, all behemoths in their own right, but slightly smaller than the first tree. He  took me to the very last tree and showed me behind it, a hole in the roots, that went deeper than I  had expected. We reached in, the grass soft underneath us, and he showed me the collection of  objects he had hidden there. It was a veritable mosaic of detritus, but for a child, it took on  magical qualities.  

We would spend every recess together, telling stories, making up adventures, gathering the  courage to do the things that scared me--namely the giant curly slide-brutalist monstrosity that it  is- and the merry-go-round. Then, one Monday morning, George was gone. I had made a few  other friends at that point, and chicken pox was going around, so it took me a few days to suspect  that something was really wrong, though we had spent recess together the last time I saw him  and he had not mentioned anything. I checked the tree and there was a piece of paper with my  name on it and a silver charm shaped like a horse. Within a few weeks, no one seemed to 

remember George. I checked the tree from time to time, and someone else must have made it  their hiding spot, because there were more objects there. They were similar to George’s  collections, but that is typical kid stuff. 

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 11th, 9:30 PM 

I decided I would take a walk during the golden and blue hours. I’ve got the dogs with me and I  figured we could explore the perimeter. 

I’m crossing the playground right now. To my left we have the merry go round… and now the  seesaw… and the swings.  

I’m turning the corner, walking between the maintenance shed and the curly slide. Now I’m  between the last row of playground equipment and George’s tree. I’m kneeling down to check  the hole. 

There is a folded paper here 

No, it’s a vellum envelope... and with something hard inside it… it’s a silver charm in the shape  of a lion.  

Continuing up the tree line. 

I’m now at the furthest, biggest tree. The holes and knots in the roots used to lend themselves to  all kinds of games of pretend potions. We would also walk around the tree, hopping from root to  root, trying not to touch the ground. For about a year, there was a kite stuck in one of the top  branches until it was loosened. 

I have reentered the school through the back gymnasium door and decided to turn on the  carousel. [Sound of switch] It’s dusky and the lights of the carousel give the whole evening an  ethereal feel. I’m going to turn the music on low, and just watch it and think [sound of carousel  music]. I’m having a seat in the first row of auditorium seating... 

It’s reassuring that for all the things in the world that change, things like kids leaving little  treasures in the holes in the roots of a tree stay the same. I’m looking at the lion right now… it’s  about the same size as the horse George once left me. That’s certainly an interesting coincidence. [carousel music gets louder] 

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 11th, 11:30 pm.  

I stayed at the carousel for awhile. I turned it on and watched it spin for a bit. I think if I wanted  to, I could easily jump on and off to ride it myself. I might try that tomorrow. What’s the point of  having a carousel in the gymnasium of the school that is now your house if you don’t try to ride  it every now and then? 

Then Billy called. He timed his trip to visit family in Toledo so that he could help me move in,  but he’s also got the summer off and asked if he could stay with me for a while after he wraps up  the family visit, so he’ll be back on the 13th and stay at least until the 4th of July. He said he  enjoyed helping me move in and thought it would be fun to spend a few weeks together, since  we each have the summer off. Plus he was really intrigued by the building itself. It will be nice to  have someone else here. Heaven knows the place is big enough. 

Hopefully this visit recapture the feeling of when we were in our master’s program and would go  to the diner late at night while we were writing our respective thesis. Except in this instance,  instead of a diner, it’s a large school kitchen with industrial equipment. Maybe I should bake  something? A cake? Cookies? Note to self: Text Billy tomorrow about food preferences. Use  that to plan a menu. 

Anyway, after Billy’s call, I watched a documentary on Victorian-era gardens and I’m thinking I  might plant something like that beside the dog yard as there is plenty of extra space. I’m headed  to bed now, but I wanted to make a note of this before I fell asleep. 

Ellis East Elementary School Walk-Through, May 18th 

Under the wall of windows is a low bookshelf. There are a few stray textbooks on the shelf,  including an open box full of textbooks that appear to be published between the 70s and 90s.  When I was a student in this room, there were about 4 or 5 islands of desks, a teacher's desk, and  the reading table. The entire room is empty now, making it seem much larger than it did when I  was a student here, an impressive feat considering my former perspective was one of a child. On the chalkboard, there is a stick drawing of a cat. I exit the classroom and move next door to  classroom 1-B. 

End Credits

Lavender Evening Fog is a fiction podcast written by Victoria Dickman-Burnett, directed  by Ben Baird, and produced, mixed, and edited by Nick Federinko. Executive Producers are Ben  Baird and Victoria Dickman-Burnett and the voice of Anna-Georgina Plume is Victoria  Dickman-Burnett. Prince and Bear are the voice of the dogs, and are also good boys. The  Lavender Evening Fog logo was designed by Alicyn Dickman. Special thanks to Amy Yap for  her advice on the found objects in the lockers. This episode is brought to you by the realization  that someone is not quite what they seem. This episode pairs well with an earthy rooibos spiced  with cinnamon.