Escape Pod 768: Balancing the Equation

Escape Pod

Escape Artists Foundation

Fiction, Science Fiction, Drama

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Balancing the Equation by Justin C. Key June 18, 2031 Lauren led her two-year-old son, Sean, slowly to their car while carrying three full bags of groceries. "Up," Sean said, showing her his palms. "Up, Mama, up!" "Ask one more time and you're getting a time out when we get home." She should have used a cart to carry the groceries. She should have walked with Sean on the inside. She should have ignored the aching pain in her back and picked him up. The rest of her life would be haunted by 'should’ves’. "A dog!" Sean pointed at passing poodle as big as him. Of his budding vocabulary, identifying dogs was a family favorite. "Yes," Lauren said. "A black dog." She silently cursed at her failing grip on the bags. She twisted the strap around her wrist. Sean yanked her other arm, hard. "Okay, time out as soon as--" Lauren said, but choked when she saw that Sean hadn’t tugged at all. It was a black Prius, worn and dented and scratched and horrible, rolling silently over her son to replace him, as if by magic. Lauren screamed.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	EA is on Twitch.
0:03.2	Join us Wednesday nights when Alistair, that's me, reads a bedtime story and Sunday mornings
0:07.8	for a few hours of chill gaming, plus interviews, special guests, pickup-up streams, and more.
0:13.7	Visit twitch. TV slash EA Podcasts and follow us to be notified when we go live.
0:18.9	Plus access VODs of past broadcasts. Escape, episode 768, balancing the equation by just in seakee. Oh, Hello and welcome to Escape Pot, your weekly science fiction podcast. I'm Jay, your host for this episode and an associate
1:16.2	editor at Escape Pot. Our story this week is balancing the equation by Justin C. He and this is an escape part original.
1:27.0	Justin C. He is a speculative fiction writer and psychiatrist.
1:32.0	His short stories have appeared in the magazine
1:35.4	of fantasy and science fiction, strange horizons and cross genres. His
1:40.4	novelette The Perfection of Tharissa Watkins, will be published by Tor.com this fall,
1:46.2	and he's currently working on a near future novel inspired by his medical training.
1:52.2	When Justin isn't writing, working in the hospital or exploring Los Angeles, California
1:57.2	with his wife, he's chasing after his two young and energetic sons.
2:02.0	You can follow his journey at Justin C.K.com and at the rate Justin
2:07.3	key underscore MD on Twitter. Your narrator this week is Lorese White, who is an actress, poet and mom currently residing in Michigan.
2:18.0	Your audio producer this week is Summer Brooks.
2:22.0	Now, get ready to step into the future because it's story time. Balance in the equation by Justin C. Key, narrated by Loree Maurice White.
2:46.4	June 18, 2031.
2:51.2	Lauren led her two-year-old son, Sean, slowly to their car while carrying three full bags of
2:57.3	groceries.
2:58.3	Up, Sean said, showing her his palms.
3:02.3	Up, Mama, up, mama up.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Escape Artists Foundation, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Escape Artists Foundation and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.