From Mermaid Palace and Radiotopia, welcome to the heart.

I'm Caitlin Prest.

Once upon a time, I was hanging out with a boy, a man, a man boy in my studio in Parkdale. It was what you might call a second date. We had met on the

beach. I was watching the sunset. And he came up to me and told me that he really liked my energy.

I seemed so peaceful, so serene. I found myself thinking on the inside, like, just wait. You got to know me a bit. I'd use the word peaceful to describe

me, but... I'll take it. And he asked me if he could walk with me a little. And I said to him, yeah, you can walk with me.

Although, it seems kind of unfair because the only reason why I'm saying yes is because I find you kind of hot.

And if I didn't find you kind of hot, I would have said no. And, you know, it just seems wrong.

He didn't know quite what to say to that.

We ended up on a park bench talking about music.

He was reading me the lyrics of a song he wrote about the genocide in Gaza.

And I decided that I like this guy.

He walked me halfway home, we said goodbye, we had a hug,

and he asked me for my phone number,

and said that he really wanted to see me again.

The night in the studio was seeing me again.

We're talking about art.

We're talking about performing.

And he's telling me a story about how fucked up the scene is

and how careful you have to be.

His friend hooked up with this girl.

It was all on the up and up.

...