Charley Baluja, Period 1, 4/7/2022

Charley Baluja, Period 1, 4/7/2022


Messages to Marigold Transcript: Episode 34

[INTRO:]

M: Hello sweet listeners, and welcome to a land just beyond the edge of what most would call “real”. I’m your guide for the night, your lamp in the fog, your dear Marigold. As always, I encourage you to send in your messages - on carrier pigeons, leaves in the wind, or through the US Postal Service. Whatever the method, I shall receive.

[BEEP]

Tonight, we have a very special message from a listener worlds away. Settle in starlings, and let me take you away…

[M READS THE FOLLOWING LETTER]

Dear Marigold,


Did you know that marigolds are sometimes called “flowers of the dead”? They are often used in Dia de Muertos celebrations: it is said that their fragrance attracts souls to the altar. Is that why you picked that name? Marigold? Or is it your real name?

There’s so much I just don’t know about you, even though I tune into this station every night. Even though I listen to you read other people’s messages - their thoughts, desires, hopes - it feels like it’s just you and me in the empty night air. Like you’re somehow right next to me and worlds away at the same time. I guess that’s how late night radio works, when everything else has gone to sleep. When it’s just me, and you, and the distantly blinking radio tower that connects us.

I don’t want to come off as weird, I promise I’m not a creep. I’m just…vaguely lonely. I know my draw towards you is what you’d call a “parasocial relationship”, but I genuinely think we could be friends. You feel like the kid down the block from me that I didn’t get a chance to know before they moved away. This is that chance, or at least it feels like it.

So often people write to you about that, about missed opportunities. The loss of potential. What does it mean to lose potential? When we think we have a chance, in any scenario, for something wonderful, and then we lose that chance…it’s heartbreaking. You feel the Better You, the Better Life, disappearing. But it was never real to begin with. Maybe it is real in some alternate universe where you made the choice to follow that path. Maybe it is real somewhere where you were quick enough.

Is it real, here, that you’d get to know me? That we’d get coffee in the morning, go for a walk in the afternoon, stargaze at night? That’s presumptuous, I know, and I’m sorry if it crosses a line. I just couldn’t bear to miss my chance.


Thank you for listening,

    Poppy M.  

[END OF LETTER]

M: Oh, dear, I’m sorry listeners. I didn’t vet that letter before reading it live. I should have told my staff but - no matter. Poppy’s been sick for a while, her memory…well it isn’t what it used to be.


Poppy, dearest, if you’re still awake, please sleep soundly tonight. I’ll be by your side in no time. And of course, dream of me bringing you coffee and flowers as I always do. I love you.


Thank you listeners. Thank you. Until next time, I’m your Marigold, and this was Messages to Marigold. Sweet dreams.

[TRANSCRIPT ENDS]