Super Mario Bros. music playing in the background (melody rises, falls, then stays level with lively tempo)

Male Voice (conversational and happy tone)
...party members that would help him along in battle and outside of battle to help him traverse the land, run…

Eoghan and Danah’s Voices (Male and Female) (singing along in silly, enthusiastic tones)
“Home! Let me go ho—o-o-ome. Home is wherever I’m with you!”

Eoghan and Danah’s voices (male and female) sing along with the instrumental section, mimicking trumpets and bass drums, laughing as they sing.

“Lull” by Blue Dot Sessions plays in the background: a very slow, sorrowful song played on a Rhodes keyboard and occasional banjo

Male Voice (conversational in tone)
For all she knew I was dead (small pause), and she drove off. (longer pause) And she’s a lawyer! She was studying law.

“Lull” fades out

So she came up with this bullshit report, where she was like, “I didn’t know I hit somebody. I thought something fell out of the car in front of me.”

“FasterFasterBrighter” by Blue Dot Sessions begins: a nostalgic song at a quickened pace played with an upright bass and a Rhodes keyboard.

And then this whole long process with her insurance company, where they kept putting off paying for my medical bills when obviously she was at fault, it dragged out for months and months and months.

Acoustic guitar music in the background, playing single notes, vibrato)

Female Voice (steady, non-emotive) (Clips of Russian voice in the background)
“We didn’t learn enough from the mission” (small pause) “to justify the death of the dog”
Music gets louder when voice stops

Pencil writing sound in the background

Young Narrator (Slightly higher-pitched than 24 year old, tense, urgent, breathy, desperate sounding, 18 year old* female voice)
Either I don’t live with her anymore, (2 second pause of silence) or I don’t live.

(Pencil writing sound ends and SILENCE for 3 seconds)

Present-Day Narrator (Higher in pitch, urgent, tense, 24 year old female voice)
I got out of there.

*This voice is digitally created by making the pitch higher during the editing process

Eoghan (Male Voice, casual, conversational tone)
Today at the jobsite, we are adding an in-law apartment to a house.

(3 second pause of silence with background noise of a conversation between Eoghan and a contractor.)

Most of the framers only speak Portugese,

Background: Contractor’s voice: “the bedroom.” Eoghan: “Yeah, it’s good! The only change-”

Female Voice (grainy sounding, coming through an older telephone)
It was different then, it’s not the same—

(4 second pause of silence)

[softer] No, I don’t remember—

(5.5 second pause of silence)

(tired sigh) I just (.5 second pause of silence) I know it doesn’t have to be like this.

Music in the background: “Lull” by Blue Dot Sessions plays in the background: a very slow, sorrowful song played on a Rhodes keyboard and occasional banjo

Male Voice (deep, American accent, conversational)
“do you know a (.5 second pause of silence) Sofia *bleep*?”

(3.5 second pause of silence with music still playing in the background)

And sure enough, she was the one who hit me with the car.

(4 second pause of silence with music still playing in the background)

For all she knew I was dead, (1.25 second pause of silence with music still playing in the background) and she drove off. (2 second pause of silence with music still playing in the background)

Composition notebook page turns. Writing with a dull pencil on paper begins.

Young Narrator (High-pitched, crying, tense, 8 year old* female voice)
March 8th 1999.

*This voice is digitally created by making the pitch higher during the editing process

[School bell sounds. Sounds of students entering the hallway and talking, eventually fading out.]

Dan (Male Voice): The school bell.  One of the most delightful sounds in all the world.

Danah: “Alright, love you!” Eoghan groggily: “I love you.” Kiss sound. Eoghan: “Have a good day.” Danah: “Have a good day.”

[A short burst of radio static that ceases when the announcer begins to speak.  His voice is somewhat distorted, as if we’re listening to an old radio broadcast.  His speech is fast and clipped and his tone is somewhat excited, but otherwise unemotional.]

Announcer: Lynn Man Saves Wife From Death.  Telegram-News, January 26, 1959.

Telephone dial tone, followed by numbers dialing rapidly, as on speed dial. After a few rings, the clatter of a telephone receiver being picked up.

Female Voice: [in a distracted, listless tone] Hi mom—

Male Voice: [Silverware clatters and cupboards open and close in the background as WOMAN moves about in the kitchen.] I don’t think he ever gets to wake up and go home… No. That reminds me, I think I was having that dream again?

Female Voice: [Absently] Which one?

Male Voice: Uh, you know, th-the one where I lose all my fingers. You know [scoffs], I’m in the car driving home, from where I’m not sure. [In the background, sound of a car engine, gradually increasing in volume as it picks up speed.] I pull into the driveway, and suddenly I lose control of the car, I crash into the garage door. [Screeching tires — car swerves and crashes, with the crunching of metal.]

Female voice: (Echoing, stern) Are you even using your brain during these games?

The Super Mario Bros. theme plays in the background — fast, upbeat..

Male voice: You’re controlling the destiny of your games.

Pencil writing sound in the background

Young Narrator (High-pitched, crying, tense, 8 year old* female voice)
things would be so much better if I didn’t tell.

Pencil writing sound ends.

Present-Day Narrator (Vibrato-less, calm, lower in pitch, 24 year old female voice)
They only would have been better for your family

*This voice is digitally created by making the pitch higher during the editing process

Danah
We actually woke up before the dogs [Eoghan mutters “Morning.” Good morning kiss sound. Dog shuffling sounds], which does not happen often. It was definitely a tea morning [Danah coos: “Good morning, girl!” Tea kettle whistle.]

Female voice
(In a bitter, defensive tone) [Sigh.] That’s not the same, I never— [A silence as the caller is interrupted by her mother.]

I always called to— [A pause.]

Okay, well I do not expect to be a perfect role model, believe me, but I— [A pause.]

Maybe, but I do expect to die with some dignity.

WOMAN [reading from MAN’s dream journal]: Dreamt I was like three or four months pregnant…? Spent the whole dream protectively cupping my belly with my hands. Think I may have actually been doing this while asleep too. [A baby cries and gets progressively louder.] [Laughingly] Uh-oh. Is there something you need to tell me? How can you find this shit meaningful? [Crying ceases.]

MAN: [Disoriented] Wh-what?

WOMAN: I said, how can you find this shit meaningful?

A guitar plays, and an echoing male voice speaks in Russian in the background.

M.P. [in a mild, reflective tone]: As Gazenko remembers it, he and his engineers worked against time and risk to the mission installing a window for Laika.

Pencil writing sound in background

Young Narrator (High-pitched, tense, crying, breathy, nasally, 11 year old* female voice)
Mom hates me. She lets Michael pick on me all the time. All she does is yell at me, and make me feel really [clip cuts out].

*This voice is digitally created by making the pitch higher during the editing process

Dan: We had a slew of different [heavily sarcastic] “professionals” come in and discuss the teaching gig with us.

Male newscaster: [in a fast, unemotional tone] A West Lynn Woman became a flaming torch at 4:30 p.m. yesterday when her bathrobe became ignited as she was removing a chicken from the oven.  Mrs. Ronald L. Goudreau, 35 New Park Street, suffered first, second and third degree burns and is on the danger list at Lynn Hospital.

*This voice has been distorted to sound as if it is coming from an old radio

Female caller to mother on phone: [gently insistent] I always needed to know you were there, though. That was the only way I could— [a silence as the caller is interrupted by her mother]

Yeah— [pause]

Uh huh— [pause]

I… I suppose so. Yeah.—

MAN: [Sigh] Here we are.

[a short pause]

WOMAN: [in shock and disbelief] Oh my God. I’m so… [voice breaks, WOMAN chokes back a sob. Then, tearfully]: I’m so sorry. [A short pause followed by a sob from WOMAN.]

Chris Rand: [In a casual, conversational tone] But uh… I think we were still connected on, like, Facebook. Look, this is the age of Facebook, where somebody can nearly kill you, and you can, like, see their wedding photos. You know? And that’s what happened. I’d see her, like, wedding photos and I’d just look at this guy she was marrying and I was, like, “You poor bastard.” [A brief pause.] I haven’t really looked back. [Another brief pause.] I don’t think about it.