Escape Odd, episode 651. Flashback Friday. Impossible Dreams.

By Tim Pratt. I'm goingistair, your host and this month we are revisiting Episode 105, Impossible Dreams.

Written by Tim Pratten, narrated by Matthew Wayne Selznick with Sarah Eelie on hosting duties. This was originally

published here on 10th May 2007. It was a 2007 Hugo nominee too and you'll see why shortly.

By the way Tim and Matthew both do excellent work and we'll link to where you can find them in the show notes.

So make sure you've got your multi multi region DVD player and make sure you're okay with maybe letting it go because it's story time.

Impossible Dreams by Tim Pratt

Pete was walking home from the Revival movie house where he'd caught an evening showing of

to have and have not when he first saw the video store.

He stopped on the sidewalk, head cocked, frowning at the narrow store, squeezed between a kitchy gift shop and a bakery.

He stepped toward the door, peered inside, and saw old movie posters, racks of DVDs and VHS tapes, and a big screen TV against one wall.

The lettering on the door read Impossible Dreams Video, and the smudges on the glass suggested

it had been in business for a while.

Except it hadn't been.

Pete knew every video store in the county, from the big chains to the tiny place staffed by

film students up by the university, to the little

porno shop downtown that sometimes sold classic Italian horror flicks and

bootleg Asian movies. He'd never even heard of this place and he walked this way at least twice a week.

Pete believed in movies like other people believed in God and he couldn't understand

how he'd overlooked a store just three blocks from his own apartment.

He pushed open the door and a bell rang.

The shop was small, just three aisles of DVDs and a wall of VHS tapes, fluorescent lights, and ancient blue industrial carpet, and there were no customers.

...