These aren't the stories your mother told you.

No, these are the other stories.

Mr. Skin, written by Luke Condor, narrated by Ian McEwan.

Once upon a time.

That was about as far into the story I got.

I thought about the time the kitchen sink was all clogged up.

I felt like I needed someone to open me up, reach a hand in,

yank away the leftover food and dank clotted hair that had gathered there.

I tried again.

Once upon a time. I tried again. Once upon a time. It was late at night when I decided to sit down to write my story for the podcast. I couldn't tell you what time it was, but I knew it was in the

AM because even my dog was passed out on the floor by my feet. I usually

found the sound of her gentle breathing somewhat comforting, but here it grated on me as

I struggled to come up with a single idea for my story. Any luck with that story, Brosif?

A message from my editor, Daniel. He needed the story. Any luck with that story, Brosif?

A message from my editor, Daniel.

He needed the story earlier that day, needed to get it proofed and trimmed and sent off to the narrator, Ian, who would then work their magic.

From the narrator, it would be passed along the production line to Carl the audio editor,

who would add the sounds, the effects, polish it up all right and nice,

and line it up on the podcast feed,

ready and waiting to auto-publish for the thousands of listeners all over the world to download, listen, and enjoy on their way to their work.

Or maybe as they did their chores, walked their

dogs, exercises, whatever it was. Once upon a time. I typed it out a third time, but again,

...