Note: All text in brackets denotes stage directions.

Ellis East Elementary Walkthrough May 18th 

Classroom 1-B 

This classroom is a structural mirror image of classroom 1-A, with the south wall being the axis  of symmetry. Unlike classroom 1-A, classroom 1-B has a low bookshelf under the chalkboard on  the south wall and a higher bookshelf in the back northeastern corner of the room. The bulletin  board on the western wall to the left of the door as I enter is lined with purple paper that has  faded, but is still crisp and untorn. The bottom right corner has come unstapled. 

Audio Diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, Assistant Professor of Architectural History,  Hollingsworth University, June 13th 7:00 am, recorded in the reading chair at the end of the  upstairs hallway by my bedroom. 

I’ve got a cup of Earl Grey tea. I’m in a comfortable robe in a comfortable chair. I need to put  together a comprehensive to do list before Billy’s arrival at 2 pm today.  

1. Wash the linens from the guest bedroom across the hall from my bedroom and make up  the bed for Billy 

2. Leave clean towels for Billy in his guest room as well. 

3. Clean the bathroom in the teacher’s lounge 

4. Set some amusing reading material on his bedside table. 

5. Pickup pastries from the coffee shop. Check their tea selection and purchase a few fun  blends for breakfast.  

6. Get groceries. In addition to the usual items, stop at the floral department and get fresh  flowers for the dresser in the guest room, on top of the piano, the formal living room,  and the dining room.  

7. Vacuum the guest bedroom, dust the furniture 

8. Check on the dining room to see if it needs to be dusted, since I haven’t eaten there yet.  9. Look for a list of fun things to do in the area, since his stay is extended and we will likely  need some entertainment 

I gave the dogs a bath last night and vacuumed the rug in this upstairs hall. The school is largely  clean, as it is too big for me to clutter it up. Stray thought: Is the school too big for a Roomba?  Maybe just in the upstairs living area? 

Anyway, I’ve got a big day, so I’m going to get to it!

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 13th, 10:15 am 

I just returned from picking up pastries from the coffee shop. The barista from the previous  encounter was there. She had a name tag this time and it read “Samantha,” so that’s another clue,  I guess. She seemed a little shocked to see me initially but my order was already boxed up on the  counter… She paused for a moment and went to the pastry case and put a lemon bar in a small  box, and put it on top of my pastry box.  

She kind of nervously stuttered “lemon bars are your favorite, right?”  

They are, but how did she know? I nodded unconsciously, but was largely shocked the whole  time and clearly unsure how to respond. After handing me the bag with the boxes, Samantha  seemed a lot less fearful, but I was at a loss of words. I silently paid, left a generous tip--the  expected 20 percent, plus enough to cover the cost of the lemon bar and then some on top of that,  and headed home. 

Clearly Samantha knows me from somewhere, but I genuinely have no idea where that would be.  If she knew that detail about the lemon bars, it’s not simply a matter of recognizing me from my  picture, but I have no idea how this person knows me. 

On an unrelated note: The coffee shop showcases local artists, and there is a series of floral  watercolor paintings that I think would look nice in the upstairs hallway, near the bedrooms.  They are listed for sale at a reasonable price. Call the coffee shop this afternoon and ask about  making an offer.  

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 13th, 12:00 pm. Recorded at the kitchen table.  

I am waiting for the laundry to finish, I am reheating leftovers from last night’s dinner for lunch in the  oven. And I am reviewing wallpaper patterns and paint samples for my bedroom. As I noted a couple  days ago, I’ve figured out the dining room and formal living room. My bedroom remains to be seen. I  

have a decent amount of light from the west windows, which means I tend to get the most light later in the  day, but overall, the windows do span the wall, so it’s always pretty light in there during daylight hours.  

I’ve pulled a number of paint colors. [rustling] Let’s see… Beige? Greige? [sighs]. Mom went to the store  with me and she must have slipped these in here. Like I’m just going to see them and be persuaded to  forgo color. It also looks like she managed to sneak in about 15 different variations of off-white… [sighs,  sounds of paper shuffling] 

Here we are. A rich mustard. Bright amethyst. Ooooh. Here is a darker slate grey that I think would pair  well with a wallpaper I found earlier.  

[more papers rustling]

Yes. It’s the same color in the background with a large peony pattern. The flowers are white, soft pink,  and burgundy. This is a very promising option, but I think the mustard might go well with a black and  white houndstooth pattern as an accent wall.  

I will tape both up in the room and see which one I like the best. 

Here is a light blue that I think might go well in one of the guest rooms. Those rooms have eastern  windows, so they get a lot of morning light. I want to keep the rooms bright and airy. Maybe this pale  purple color. What is that called….lilac mist. That would pair well with this wisteria wallpaper pattern. I  think I’ll pair the two in Classroom 2-A and maybe Morning Jade and this fern leaf pattern in Classroom  2-B. 2-B is the room where Billy is staying. 

What’s next? Lavinia did email me the article she had published recently… or I could update my online  paperwork with new address and sort the kitchen...[trails off] 

[Ends with a loud crash of something falling over] 

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 13th, 12:30 pm, recorded in the basement. 

The crash was down in the basement. A box appears to have fallen out of an old cabinet in the  back corner that is falling apart.  

[As if stepping over things] 

It really is a mess down here. While there were an assortment of items left throughout the school,  there appears to be everything imaginable. We’ve got the tables and the toy kitchen from the  kindergarten room, about 15 desks. There appear to be some old set pieces from student plays,  and a spinet piano in the other back corner. There are also a few file cabinets, which I should  check out later. If there are any records from the school, they should probably be returned. There  is, in fact, a cedar chest, like the note said, so I should probably look into that later.  

I can see the box that fell out of the cabinet, but I need to get across the basement to get there.  [Sounds of walking across the room] 

[thud] 

Ow! That was my shin. I’m going to stop recording and retrieve the box. I will report back on its  contents later. Probably not today since I still have a lot to do before Billy gets here.

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume, June 13th, 6:30pm 

[Crash of thunder in the background, ongoing thunderstorm, heavy rain. This is not the gentle  storm of Anna-Georgina’s memory from episode 2, but the summer midwestern wrath of God  storm that threatens to become a tornado] 

I’m in the dining room, setting candles out on the table in case we lose power. I’ll set the lighter  next to them in case we need it.  

The storm started suddenly. Billy has gone to check the windows upstairs, as I tend to open them  during the day and forget about them. Tonight, I’ve made linguine with a rossa sauce, spinach  and mushroom salad with a mango reduction, garlic bread--store bought--, and I’ve made mince  pie using Nana’s recipe, minus the beef tallow. Now that dinner is on the table, I need to bring  the dogs downstairs. 

[storm continues, wind howls] 

This building is solid, but it must be scary for them upstairs.  

[Footsteps, Elevator dings] 

Not my smartest move, getting in the elevator in the storm, I guess. Still it would do no one any  good trying to wrangle the dogs on the stairs.  

[Elevator dings, more footsteps] 

[Louder] Billy if you’re up here, I’m taking the dogs downstairs. 

[Footsteps, clicking of dog nails, elevator dings, dog noises] 

Let’s all go downstairs. You’ve got your beds in the living room. You’ll be cozy there. It will be  okay. 

[Elevator dings, footsteps] 

There you go, my good boys.  

[Door shutting, footsteps]

Back in the dining room now. It is candlelit. The lights are off. Did I turn them off when leaving?  My lamp in the hallways is on though, we still have power.  

A text message from my mother has just flashed across my phone screen. What does it say? Apparently they have lost power. 

[Footsteps] 

I am pleased to report that Billy has safely returned. We’re sitting down to dinner and I’m going  to end record [phone chimes, A-G trails off] 

Wait, here’s a message from emergency services. Apparently the entire town is without  electricity. The lamp is still on though... 

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume. June 13th, 9:07 pm. Recorded in my home office, formerly  classroom 1-A.  

[Low thunder rumble in the background, piano trills] 

The storm has calmed down. My mother has texted me to alert me that their power has returned, but it is  still very weird that the school never lost power. Note to self: look into reasons why this may be. Contact  the electric company if necessary… Again. Billy decided to play the piano for a bit, and I’m in my office  because I realized I never opened the mail today. 

A letter arrived for me earlier from, judging by the return address, Melinda Basil. It is in a larger than  average manila envelope. Ms. Basil’s handwriting on the label is, in a word, spidery.  

I’m opening the letter now.  

“Dear Dr. Plume, 

I was filing some papers earlier this week, and I came across some floorplans from the Ellis East  Building. They are dated 1985, and appear to be drawn up in the midst of some big renovation project. I  figured they would be of interest to you, so I have enclosed copies with this letter for your perusal.” 

Sincerely, 

Melinda Basil, 

Local History Archivist 

Hayden’s Landing County Library 

And, as Ms. Basil promised, there are copies of the architectural plans, which appear to have been drawn  up as part of an effort to bring the building up to modern codes. It’s a fairly standard plan [papers rustle,  trail off] wait a second… 

Note to self: Measure both the inner and outer dimensions of the library and Classroom 3-B. Something  about this plan isn’t entirely adding up.  

[PA Crackle] 

[Sharp knocking on door] 

[A-G Sleepily] What? Billy is that you? What time is it? 

3 am? 

[light click] I’ll be out in a minute.  

[More alert] 

Why is this recording? 

Audio diary of Dr. Anna-Georgina Plume. June 14th, 4:17 am. 

About an hour ago, Billy woke me up. He had a very vivid dream and he wanted to tell me about  it. I guess he sometimes has lucid dreams. He said that at first, he thought he couldn’t sleep, so he decided to walk over to the music room and play the piano until he felt tired. He played for a  while, and then the light in the room shifted very suddenly, in ways it wouldn’t change that late  at night. This sort of thing is a cue he recognizes as a sign he is dreaming, and from this point, he  is able to choose what to do, consciously aware that he is dreaming. He decided to explore the  school in the dream, mostly interested to see if it would be the same as it is in real life. He does  this with his dream because he wants to see if he is able to accurately recreate the details of real  places in his dreams to enhance his observational skills for his architectural practice.  

The first thing he did was try to open the door between the music room in the library, but it was  locked, so he left via the hallway and went to the library through its front door. In the dream  library, the books had fallen off the shelves into large piles on the floor. He noticed that the  windows were open and there was wind blowing into the room, and the sky looked like it was  about to storm. The books were blowing around in all directions, and he was almost hit in the  face by one that blew at him, so he decided to go elsewhere in the school, heading toward the  front of the building, back to the bedrooms. 

When he got there, he noticed that the front stairs had another staircase leading up to a third  floor, which does not exist in the waking world, giving him an exploration opportunity he could  not pass up. He climbed the stairs and found the third floor of the building exactly like the one 

from my dream, even though I never told him about the dream. Heavy maroon wallpaper. Ferns.  He entered the room that would be directly above my bedroom and saw two women sitting  together at a desk. One appeared to be in her 30s and had bright red hair and green eyes, and the  other looked to be in her forties, and had black hair and blue eyes. They were dressed in old  clothing—he could not say when exactly, though based on his descriptions, I suspect late 19th or  early 20th century. The redheaded woman was dressed all in black, and her companion was  dressed in a shimmery blue with a matching sapphire necklace and jewels in her hair. He said  that both women seemed academic in nature, though he could not articulate further details about  what that meant. 

The desk had piles of books, most notably, at the top of a prominent pile, an emerald green,  leather-bound book that he had also seen in the library. Based on his description, I would say the  book was folio sized. The windows of the room were lined with even more plants--an assortment  of ferns and other plants he did not recognize on sight. Each plant appeared to be flourishing in  the light that hit the room from the wall of windows on the western side of the building. He noted  that at this point, it was neither night nor stormy. 

The room had a fireplace, but outside, trees were flowering as if it were spring, and there was no  fire. Along the mantle, there were several paintings--a landscape—based on his description, I  would say impressionistic, a still life of flowers, which he said looked like a student painting,  and a very realistic portrait of a man and a woman, the latter looking similar to the dark-haired  woman, though older.  

Billy was about to speak to them when static crackled over the building’s PA system… in his  room, in real life, waking him up. When he awoke, he felt strangely compelled to tell me about  what happened. I had not told him about the third floor or my dreams on the matter before this— I did not think it was significant beyond my own interests. It’s very late, and I’m starting to fall  back to sleep, but I need to prioritize any documentation on the third floor of the building. This  cannot be a pure coincidence. Something is happening here and I need to get to the bottom of it. 

Ellis East Elementary school walk through, May 18th 

I peel back the unstapled corner to examine the cork bulletin board. From what I can see, a few  children have written their names over the years. “Danny…. Jim…. Maria… Algernon…” The  first one looks like old copperplate handwriting, the second is written in neat, precise printing,  

the third with floral, curly cursive, written in a sparkly purple gel pen, with hearts and butterflies  drawn around it. The last name is written in red pen, and is more heavy than the others, as if  carved into the corkboard, scrawled across much larger territory than the other names. On the  north wall, the world map has been pulled down with a star sticker marking our approximate  location in Ohio and another on Aberdeen, Scotland. There is a small table under the wall of  windows with a stack of math books on it. They appear to range from 1st grade math to Algebra II. On the backboard, there is a circle with an arrow bisecting it pointing downward. I leave the  room and cross the hall to classroom 1-C.  

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. Lavender Evening Fog would  like to thank Kay, who has been a loyal listener from the very beginning. This episode is  brought to you by patterns you see on the wall when you are half asleep. This episode pairs well  with an infusion of violet and rose petals.