Podcast - 1.1

From Mackinac City, this is Great Lakes Public Radio, and I'm Jack Feldman. Stay with us.

Discord Link

Mayfair Watchers Society is based on the works of Trevor Henderson.

Created by Trevor Henderson & Pacific S. Obadiah

Honey & Comb was written by Pacific Obadiah

Jack Feldman - Pacific Obadiah

Alyssa - Elissa Park

Diane - Nichole Goodnight

Harris - Jon Grilz

Jeremy - Nate DuFort

Kira - Tanja Milojevic

Dialogue Editor - Atticus Jackson

Sound Designer - Veronica California

Music - Matt Roi Berger

Production Coordinator - Klaudia Amenábar

Showrunner - Kale Brown

Creative Director - Trevor Henderson

Producer - Pacific S. Obadiah

Executive Producers - Tom Owen & Brad Miska

.CASTING

.JACK FELDMAN - 30'S RADIO JOURNALIST. TRANSPLANTED FROM AMERICAN ABYSS

Alyssa Park - (30s) radio journalist. Professional, charismatic, and very empathetic.

Diane Robinson - (40-50s) local mom. A bit overbearing, and very self confident. Passionate, and protective.

**Harris Wernke **- (50s) local businessman. Curmudgeonly, and abrasive. He inherited his business, and thinks Gen Z is "lazy."

**Jeremy Lachlan ** - (30s) corpo rep. Incredibly charismatic, energetic, and easily excitable. Like a golden retriever, but with a secret agenda.

**Kira Littleton ** (70s) unofficial town historian. Incredibly sweet and kind. Your favorite neighborhood grandma

!

.PRELUDE - WELCOME TO MAYFAIR

Clean studio audio, light music plays beneath.

JACK FELDMAN (V.O.)
Scattered throughout America are almost 20,000 small towns. Just think about that for a moment: twenty-*thousand. *I grew up in a modest-sized city, but when I was younger, my family would take road trips across the continental U.S.

Every day, we'd drive through a handful of small towns, some bigger than others. Some had tourist traps like UFO watch towers, and others were more utilitarian in purpose, obviously made to support some industries, like wood-cutting or mining.

And sure, these towns would blend together. But anytime we stopped for gas, or food, I'd be sure to pick up a sticker, or a postcard, or anything I could find with the town's name on it. See, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with making a travel log, which meant collecting as many mementos as I could.

For my parents, this meant shilling out for dozens of cheap stickers. But, by the end of the summer, I'd filled a binder with all my treasures. And this is the thing that stuck with me- even if I didn't remember the town, each of these mementos was just so *unique. *Just by looking at them, you could guess what state they were in or what the town found important.

Take one city, Nederland, nestled in the foothills of Colorado. They keep a frozen dead guy in a shed, preserved until the time future science can resurrect him. Every March, they celebrate him with a big parade and music festival. Don't believe me? Just look up "Frozen Dead Guy Days," I'm not kidding!

For me, Nederland was just a pit stop in the rocky mountains. For the people that live there, it's a town full of loved ones, neighbor disputes, and oftentimes, some quirky history that the residents celebrate. It's almost like an inside joke.

From Mackinac City, this is Great Lakes Public Radio, and I'm Jack Feldman. Stay with us.

Intro music plays, then fades out.

.ACT I - THE TOWN & THE TOWN

JACK FELDMAN (V.O.)
Today's episode brings us to another small town: Mayfair.

Mayfair was once a booming township known for its textile mill. But that mill closed before I was born - and since then, Mayfair has struggled to stay on the map.

With an aging population and few economic opportunities, the town's population is dwindling. Those who live in Mayfair love their town and its rich history. But without change, that history may vanish.

Enter Pan-Continental, an international fracking company. They bring with them the promise of new jobs, revitalization, and, most controversially: a town's fair.

It seems like this fair is what the citizens have gotten up in arms about. Wanna know why? So do we.

Alyssa Park traveled upstate to get the scoop. When she pulled into town, she arrived just in time to meet with Diane Robinson, one of a small group of women protesting in a church parking lot. Their form of protest? A bake sale. Here she is now.

Pre-recorded interview plays, Alyssa is outside with a small group of protesters on Main St. It's not too busy, occasionally you can hear a car go by, or nearby voices in the background.

ALYSSA
Okay, so what do we have here?

DIANE
These are some black and white cookies that Mary made. These are some lemon poppy seed scones made by yours truly.
(Laughs)
And here we have some brownies and assorted sweets made by some of our neighbors.

ALYSSA
This is an impressive spread! What inspired all this?

DIANE
Well, as you may know, Pan-Con recently announced that they're bringing back our town's historic "Honey & Comb" festival.

ALYSSA
And you don't sound too pleased about that.

DIANE
(Exasperated)
Not at all! They have no right to co-op our town's history just to try and get on our good side.
(Beat)
You know what's really aggravating? I doubt they've done any research into the festival's roots. My grandmother used to participate in the original festival, before the mill closed!

ALYSSA
And for those, like myself, who might not know Mayfair's history, why is this festival so special to you?

DIANE
Okay, so it all starts during World War II. All the husbands and sons ship overseas, and that leaves the women. Well, since Mayfair was built around a big mill, unlike other industry towns, we didn't have a bunch of men's jobs to replace. The women of Mayfair were already working at the mill- and during the war, they kept working there. But that left a lot of other parts of the city unattended.

Now, the way my mom tells it is a lady was driving some of the ladies to work at the mill when they hit a huge pothole- and popped a tire. This wasn't the first time- a dozen other cars had also lost a wheel or bent an axel to this particular pothole. Well, the women were so fed up with it that they decided to fill it on the spot. One of them borrowed a phone from a nearby neighbor and called up a gal who knew a thing or two about concrete mixing, and within an hour, the hole was filled!

You might be thinking "well, that sounds like it should've been the job of the municipal people," but see: Mayfair wasn't a very big town back then. There was no money coming in to keep the roads level. And here are these women, working all day, coming home, raising their families, and their town is literally falling apart around them. So what do they do once they realize they can get this stuff done themselves? They start a skill trade!

Some of the ladies knew a thing or two about tradeswork, like electrical and construction and carpentry, so they started fixing little things around town. In return, the other women would step in and mend their clothes, clean their houses, or babysit their kids.

Eventually, the men came back from the war, but these women had built themselves a community, and they didn't want to let that go. So, every couple of months, they'd host this big event where they'd trade skills, teach each other useful things, and even sell home crafts.

ALYSSA
Wow, that's really incredible. And that tradition kept going for a while?

DIANE
Oh yeah! All the way into the 60s or 70s. By then, it'd turned into something a bit more like a farmers' market, but I promise you all the little girls who grew up here remember how much their moms loved the Honey & Comb festival.

ALYSSA
I just gotta ask- the name?

DIANE
(Stops, laughs)
Y'know what? You got me there! I never thought about it! It's just always been the Honey & Comb festival. Musta been an inside joke.

ALYSSA
(A bit pointed)
And your worry is that Pan-Continental doesn't know this history.

DIANE
(Missing Alyssa's dig)
That's right. Why would they? A big multinational corporation that just moved in- they haven't even been here for a full year, have they?

So, that's why me and some of the other moms in the neighborhood want to celebrate the original spirit of the festival. We're out here selling baked goods to raise money to rent out our local event center- host some free workshops, promote local businesses, and connect our community! The way our mothers and grandmothers did.

The clip ends, and we return to Alyssa in the studio

ALYSSA (V.O.)
It's clear to see how passionate Diane was about this festival, but I wondered if that same feeling applied to some of the other residents of Mayfair. I spoke to local business owner Harris Wernke, owner of Wernke's Deli, a local grocery store frequented by many of the townsfolk.

A new clip begins, it's much quieter, Alyssa interviews Harris Wernke in his store, there's some room tone, and light movement in the background.

HARRIS
My family has been in Mayfair for six generations. We nearly shut down when I was a kid and my father was running the store, and then we nearly shut down again during the pandemic. Mayfair is a town that is full of great people, but we're all holding on by a thread.

Over the last couple of decades, I've had countless friends and neighbors move away in search of work, because living in Mayfair just isn't practical anymore!

I run a generational business, but if I didn't have this, what other opportunities would I have? All the city jobs are already held by old geezers like me. If you're young, maybe you can get a job as one of those exterminator types, or serving at a local restaurant, but what kinda life is that? There's no *growth. *

But, ever since Pan-Continental came to town, I've been seeing people moving to Mayfair en masse for the first time in *decades! *

ALYSSA
You don't mind them putting on the festival, then?

HARRIS
Mind it? Heck no, I love it! They offered us a free booth so we could get acquainted with all the new folks moving to town. See, that's the kind of forward thinking Mayfair needs. Mixing the old with the new!

Like, for instance, take the big revitalization. When Pan-Continental moved in, they bought up a bunch of old condemned properties- not to knock 'em down, to *restore them! *Now we have a new shopping center, and more public space opening up soon. *

They've paid to restore parts of our historic downtown, their tax money has paved our roads, and with all the new people moving here, new houses are being built for the first time in a decade.

Construction is coming back to Mayfair! How can that be a bad thing?

No, Pan-Continental has put Mayfair back on the map.

ALYSSA
And how has this affected you personally? Are you seeing lots of new customers here? Do you think this influx will bring in competition?

HARRIS
(Pfft)
There's always been competition. I mean Walmart's done more harm to my business than even the pandemic did. But if folks want to drive 15 minutes on the highway to get groceries from there instead of shopping local, they wouldn't have been good customers anyways.

The clip ends and we return to Alyssa in the studio.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
The next logical place to visit, of course, was the famous- or maybe infamous- Pan-Continental Energy: I wanted to hear their side of the story, in their words. Fortunately, I didn't have to travel far. Their Mayfair office was just a couple doors down from Wernke's Deli, in a place I never could have expected: a small, second-story office above a consignment shop.

According to the landlord, this office had been empty for almost three decades before the new tenants moved on, previously used as storage by the store downstairs.

As a company, Pan-Continental Energy is enormous, with billions of dollars in yearly revenue and offices in almost every major city. So, when I entered Mayfair's local branch, I was expecting to see signs of renovation: a sleek, minimalist office full of glass walls, thin screens, and a whole lot of cool blues and greys. But, like the rest of the city, this office was a time capsule.

Plush brown carpet, furniture made out of reclaimed wood and animal skins, and warm lamps in almost every corner.

Genuinely, I thought I had walked into the wrong office. But Jeremy Lachlan, Pan-Continental Energy's local representative, saw me come in and stopped me before I could turn around and leave.

Jeremy also wasn't what I expected. Clad in a flannel, puffy vest, and a pair of jeans, he was a bit of a cliche- but he fit right into the rest of the town.

Jeremy is exactly the kind of person you want to talk to- the kind of person a smart company makes sure you talk to. He's charismatic, he's got a great laugh, and he almost never stops smiling.

He's incredibly disarming- and he knows it.

Cut to an interview in Jeremy's office, there's a bit of room tone here, but it sounds nearly like Alyssa's studio. It's quiet, there's no outside noises.

JEREMY
Me? I grew up in a town just like Mayfair. Honestly, even smaller. Mayfair seems kind of huge by comparison.

It was this little place up in the Rocky Mountains- a one-road town, y'know? But only because there was this one big paved road and then a bunch of dirt roads around it. You know how it is.

Winters were always nice because the snow would pack into all the potholes in the dirt roads, so for a couple months every year you could actually drive around without feeling like you were off-roading- well, as long as the roads didn't ice over.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
After a bit of preamble, Jeremy told me what brought him to Mayfair.

JEREMY
I'll be honest: I'm not much for city life. I went to school in Boulder, Colorado, majored in environmental sciences, and then started looking for a way to get out of the city as quickly as possible.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
An editorial note here: as far as cities go, Boulder is what I'd call a smaller one, and one most notable for its closeness to the mountains. If that was too much city for Jeremy, I could only imagine how he'd feel in a city like Detroit.

JEREMY
I never imagined I'd end up working for a company like Pan-Continental, y'know? I'd heard all the horror stories: flammable water, foul smells, everything. But, when I was job hunting, I actually sat down to do a little bit of research, and I found a company that I believed was doing it right.

A lot of these big businesses, they have one goal: come in, extract resources, and get out. But Pan-Continental is so much more than that. They're invested in the *community. *

But don't take my word for it: just look at what we've done here in Mayfair.

ALYSSA
And what have you done here, exactly?

JEREMY
Well, as I'm sure you know, we recently broke ground on a new energy facility. Wells dry up, they come and go, but a facility like this one is going to stay and keep Mayfair's jobs in Mayfair*. *

But that's not really my purview. I'm here to find ways to enrich the community, and that means revitalizing Mayfair's downtown, supporting small business, and growing the town.

For instance, take the old fabric mill. It's a gorgeous historic building at the edge of downtown, but it's been abandoned for years- It's the kinda place teens dare their friends to go and end up getting hurt.

But, on the other hand, no one wants to tear it down, because it's a part of the town's history. So, what do we do about it?

A pause.

ALYSSA
I don't know. What do we do about it?

JEREMY
We revitalize it! Right now we're working with local contractors to restore the building and renovate it into a modern shopping center. And I'm not talking about some place for big brands- your Macy's and Gaps- mo, this is a marketplace where local businesses can rent small footprint storefronts for an affordable price.

This hope is to bring people back to Main St., which- let's be honest- has been suffering since the pandemic. And with customers returning, that means *new businesses *get the opportunity to grow and thrive here!

But that's just one project. Alyssa, I've been dying to tell you about the festival! Our festival.

ALYSSA
(Laughs)
Yes, I've heard a lot about this festival. I actually have a bunch of questions for you!

JEREMY
Okay, okay, so check this out!

ALYSSA (V.O.)
At this point in the interview, Jeremy stands up and draws my attention to a whiteboard in the corner of the room. Taped to it are several newspaper clippings with arrows darting between them, and short scribbled messages scattered about the board. At the very top, circled three times in blue marker are the words "Mayfair's Honey & Comb Festival."

JEREMY
Ta-da!

ALYSSA
I noticed your logo for the festival is a honey comb, and I just gotta ask - honey and comb, is it like a honey comb?

JEREMY
Yeah! Like bees! Which I'll admit, I thought was kinda strange because as far as I know, Mayfair was never a big bee town.
(beat)
Now, I'm sure you've heard plenty of rumblings, but I have something that's gonna knock your socks off - Ready?

ALYSSA
(Laughs again)
Yes, I'm ready.

JEREMY
Okay, okay, okay!
(Takes a second to yell excitedly)
Ah! I haven't gotten to share this with *anyone *yet!

Okay, so, Mayfair's first Honey & Comb festival was organized by the town's women. It was all about community, and coming together to help each other through hardship, right?

Well, the last couple of years have been pretty hard for everyone. So, I wanted this year's fair to be something really special. So, we have some live music, lots of local businesses, and the piece-de-resistance...

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Jeremy pauses here, he peels away some tape from the orange construction paper in the corner. He's struggling with it.

JEREMY
(Chuckles)
Sorry, I wanted this secret to be a big surprise, and it seems like my scotch-tape locks are even me-proof!

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Jeremy finally succeeds in peeling away the tape. The construction paper lifts to reveal a large colorful brochure, featuring a...

JEREMY
Ferris wheel!!!

ALYSSA
(A bit stilted/forced)
Oh! Whoa, that's really cool!

JEREMY
(Un-phased)
Apparently, Mayfair's first ever Ferris wheel! I did a lot of research trying to see if there'd ever been one travelling through town before, but there hasn't!
Oh my gosh, Alyssa! I didn't think this would happen. There were so many stopping points. I wasn't sure if it was available, or if we'd have budget- but ahhh! It happened!

Just imagine it, this almost 75-year festival returns with Mayfair's first-ever Ferris wheel! I dunno, maybe it's silly, but I'm so excited! I think it's gonna wow everyone!

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Jeremy's eagerness was infectious. By the time I left his office, all I could think about was how many days were between now and the festival. But there was still just one thing that bugged me: Why was it called the Honey & Comb Festival?

First, I visited the local library. There, I was able to find a couple of references to the festival and its origins - but nothing about its name. It felt like I'd spent all this time building a puzzle, just to realize I was missing a piece right in the center of it all.

That is, until I met Kira Littleton.

KIRA
Oh, I remember the Honey & Comb festivals, alright. I remember attending a couple of those festivals as a kid. By then, they'd already lost most of the housewife trappings, and become a farmers' market of sorts.

But I remember the origins. It's just like you heard. There's truth in how those women organized and came together - but you wanna know why they called it the Honey & Comb festival?

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Yes, I did.
(Beat)
But that answer comes to us in a minute or two on Grand Lakes Public Radio, when our program continues.

AD BREAK

.ACT II - SMALL VICTORIES

ALYSSA
It's Grand Lakes Public Radio. I'm Alyssa Park, and today, we're in Mayfair, a small, sleepy town that's currently undergoing a fight for its history and its identity.

Before the break, I met Kira Littleton. The more we talked, the more I realized that she had a wealth of knowledge about the town. As it turns out, Kira's home is something of a family museum. You see, Kira is a lifelong resident of Mayfair. Her parents were born and raised in the town, and so were their parents before them.

Kira, the second eldest of three children, is 67, and the humble Littleton home is located in the Mayfair suburbs, just off the highway and a short drive from "downtown." Her house is warm and inviting. It even smelled like cookies when I entered - apparently, Kira is also the family baker.

Each wall is adorned with countless portraits of family members, heirlooms, and shelves are full of photo albums. Kira invites me to sit on a well-worn couch in her living room. This room has yellow-printed wallpaper with purple flowers, well-loved bulky wood furniture, and dozens more photo albums on the side tables.

Apparently, these are her favorite albums, as they're full of photos of her and her sisters.

Kira's two sisters have both left Mayfair, which meant she inherited their familial home when her mother passed in 2008. In addition to keeping track of her family's history, Kira has also taken on the unofficial role of town historian.

KIRA
...And as you can see here, this was Main St. back in 1923. Just a post office and a couple of houses. These got torn down in the 50's and replaced with the brick buildings that are there now.

ALYSSA
And what about this house we're sitting in? Has it been in your family for a while?

KIRA
(Chuckles)
Hah! No, my parents bought it in the 80's after we outgrew our first home. I think I even got a photo of him and ma in front of the house after they bought it.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Kira flips through a couple of pages, showing me more photos of her family's history. After awhile, she seems to notice me growing a little... impatient.

KIRA
Alright, alright, you've indulged me long enough. You wanted to know about the Honey & Comb festival, right? Alright, let me just...

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Kira walks across the room and picks up another photo album. This one is a bit thinner than the others, but looks just as old.

KIRA
There's some bad memories mixed up in this album, so mama thought we should separate them out. Not forgotten, but in their own space.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Kira flips through a couple pages, showing me the occasional photo but skimming through most of them. Then, she comes across a photo of her sisters, and stops.

KIRA
Alright, Ms. Alyssa. Now, the story I'm about to tell you is going to sound spooky, but I promise you it isn't.

ALYSSA
(Nervous chuckles)
Alright...

At this point, KIRA is kinda blase. She tells the story seriously but without care - because she knows the ending. ALYSSA does not, and reacts in horror.

KIRA
When I was 12, my sisters were 9, and 16. I was just at the age where Penny, my younger sister, was too childish for me to want to spend time with, and Aurora, my older sister, was too hip to hang out with the likes of me.

So, I spent a lot of my time out on my own, exploring. At the time, our house was at the edge of everything, and there was a big grassy field behind our house, bordered by trees.

I wouldn't really call it a forest by any means, but it was a big enough patch of trees. Just thick enough that you couldn't see the other side. A little creek ran through it. Most days I'd walk up and down the creek, trying to catch crawdads or spot tiny fish in the water. And one day, I found a clearing in those woods, with an idyllic little rock perched just above the creek.

From then on, it was my favorite place in the whole wide world. I'd go there after school and do schoolwork, or draw, or just sit in the sunbeams and get freckle-faced.

ALYSSA
(chuckles)
Sounds like every kid's dream.

KIRA
Oh, it was perfect, and it was all mine - until one day Penny decided to follow me there. Looking back, I know she just wanted to spend time with her big sister, but in the moment, I didn't want anything to do with her. So, when she saw my secret hideaway, I made her swear up and down she'd never tell anyone about it. If she did that, I'd let her hang out with me- sometimes.

ALYSSA
(smiling)
Of course.

KIRA
We had a small house back then. My sisters and I were living on top of one another in a single room. Sometimes I just needed a bit of a break from all that.

ALYSSA(V.O.)
Kira pauses here. She looks out the window, maybe reminiscing, maybe just for dramatic effect. It's a nice day out, the sun is shining - a rare instance in an otherwise cloudy Mayfair, and we can hear kids playing out outside on the street. Then Kira continues.

KIRA
In the fall of 1969, I went missing.

This was before the satanic panic, before parents started getting strict. Me and my sisters would be out on our own after school, as long as we came back by dinner time- which was 6:30 in our house.

I know what that might sound like now, but back then that's just what parents did. We all knew the risk. I'd heard enough about "Stranger Danger"- missing kids on the radio. And our parents, they really loved us, y'know?
Now, the way I hear it is like this - and take it with a grain of salt. After all, I was missing for this part.
It was a Thursday night. Mama was making spaghetti and meatballs, my favorite. Penny came home right after school, but Aurora was out until 6:45. Mama was already mad that she was late, but she was extra mad when she asked Aurora where I was, and Aurora said something mouthy like "I dunno, playing by the woods." Mama almost beat her with the stirring spoon. She told Aurora and Penny to go out together and bring me home, else they'd go to bed without dinner. And while they're out looking for me, Mom calls the neighbors and asks if I'm over there playing with their kids. I'm not.

Penny and Aurora are walking up and down the field, calling my name. Thirty minutes go by, they don't find me. My Dad comes out, and he's hollering for me too.

Now, I loved Penny. She was an annoying little sister, but she was a *good *sister. She's thinking if I'm not home, I must be at my hideout, but I made her swear not to tell anyone. But with everyone getting worried, Penny starts crying. My Dad tries to calm her, and between sobs, she says she knows where I am. She leads my whole family to the little creek- and I'm nowhere to be found.
(Conspiratorial)
But ma and pa find my backpack and jacket, so they assume the worst. It's getting dark, it's cold out, and I seem to have just left all my stuff behind. Ma takes Penny and Aurora back home and calls the police while my pa stays back and searches the woods.

By 8pm, the police and the whole neighborhood are out combing the woods for me, but they can't find a dang thing.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Kira flips the page and shows me a newspaper clipping pasted into the photo album. It has a grainy black-and-white photo of Kira as a kid. It's hard to make out the details, but if you knew Kira, you'd recognize her.

KIRA
They didn't find me that first night. Or the second, even after the sheriff had arranged for a proper search party to scour the area.
By the third day, I'm still not home, and now everyone is getting really worried.

Kids overhear everything, you know? Even when parents don't want them to. And Penny told me she remembers hearing one of the deputies talking to my pa and telling him that the first 48 hours are the most important. After that... Well, things went from bad to worse.

There's more searches on days four and five, but by then they've already scoured the small strip of trees behind our house. Prevailing theory is that I was kidnapped, but some folks spot a couple coyotes and think maybe an animal got to me.

And then we get to day six. Everyone's exhausted. They've cried all their tears by then. Aurora said it was a kinda numbness, like they knew what happened but no one wanted to say it out loud. That afternoon is supposed to be the last search party. They're all getting ready in silence when someone rings the doorbell. It's Mrs. Dell from down the street - Now, I always thought she was a little batty, but my mama liked her. The way Penny tells it, Mrs. Dell had a big ol' picnic basket. Inside was a bunch of jars of honey, some chocolate bars, and a couple apples wrapped up in muslin. At first, Penny thinks it's for them, something to eat to drown her feelings.

But Mrs. Dell asks Mama to go on a walk with her. Ma starts explaining that they're just about to leave for the search party, but Mrs. Dell insists. Says it'll just take a minute- but first, she asks for my hair comb.
My mama is scared, she's hurting, and she's ready to try anything- but this makes her stop. She askes, "What do you need Kira's brush for?"

Mrs. Dell doesn't say. She just stands there. A moment later, Mama gives in.
Then, Penny asks if she can come along, and Mrs. Dell says she should. The three of them walk out into the field and head towards the woods. Penny walks a little behind them, but she hears Mrs. Dell talking about the forest. Talking about all the little creatures that live here- the fish, the squirrels, and some creatures you can't see.

Penny's starting to get a little worried that Mrs. Dell is gonna say something inappropriate- maybe something about those coyotes everyone was talking about- but instead, Mrs. Dell tells mama that there's magical beings hiding in the forest here.

Faeries, except not the kind like your Tinkerbells, small pretty women with wings. No, ma'am, these faeries were more like forest animals. Not the cuddly kind either.

Apparently, back when Mrs. Dell was a little girl, her Mama used to leave a jar of honey by the woods as an offering to the faeries. Now, Mrs. Dell always thought it was for the less than fortunate - but apparently, on one of these honey runs, she'd seen a faerie.

Mrs. Dell says that the comb is so they know which child to return. Mama starts to say something, but by then they're already at the edge of the woods.
Mrs. Dell set down the picnic basket and laid out a blanket. She set up a perfect picnic: fruit, some sliced meat, honey, even a couple of pieces of candy. She takes my brush from Mama, and sets it in the middle of the blanket. Penny said Mrs. Dell stared at the blanket for a long time, like she was remembering something.
Then, without a word she led Mama and Penny back home. She said the faeries would find it, and if I was anywhere in those woods, they'd bring me back home.

ALYSSA
Wow...

KIRA
(Kira chuckles to herself)
Sounds crazy, right? But, the next day was Wednesday, which meant spaghetti night. And wouldn't you know, that was the same night I came home. Though, there was no spaghetti to be found! Everyone was too broken up to do anything. I walked in and found my whole family sulking in the living room. There was a big hubbub when they saw me- everyone rushing over, hugging me, smacking me, asking me where I'd wandered off to. A sheriff came by and asked me a bunch of questions, but I don't think my answers helped him any.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Kira shows me the next page in her photo album. It's another news clipping. This one details how a local girl - Kira herself - miraculously returned home after a full week missing. It doesn't really go into details beyond her reappearance, but it does commend the townsfolk for their efforts helping search for the missing girl. When I look up, Kira has a smile plastered ear to ear.

KIRA
So, you probably wanna know what happened right? What happened out in those woods?

ALYSSA
Do you still remember what happened? Your mind didn't block it out? That can happen sometimes, with traumatic experiences in children.

KIRA
Maybe I did! Who can say. But here's how I remember it. It was Wednesday afternoon. School had just let up. Penny walked home, and Aurora was hanging around with her friends, so I decided I'd go to my hideout. It was getting chilly, so I decided I'd just go out for about an hour or so, then I'd head home when it got too cold.

ALYSSA
And this was something you did pretty often?

KIRA
Couple times a week. Sometimes I'd hang around with friends from school, or go straight home if it was real chilly. But when I could, I'd escape away and play in the creek, or read a book.

ALYSSA
So this was a totally normal day for you?

KIRA
It was. I walked my usual route. I'd picked up some stick on the way and was playing with it. I got to the hideout right as the sun was starting to set. I remember thinking that the aspen leaves looked so pretty in the sunset.

I got to my rock, shrugged off my backpack, and because I'd gotten a little sweaty on the walk over, I took off my coat. I was getting settled when I noticed movement. Suddenly, and without sound, something had climbed up onto my little stoop- this strange creature. It looked kinda like a skinny dog, from a certain angle, but without any fur. Just pale skin stretched over its ribs.

But its head was all weird, like a big crab claw, mottled and red.
It musta seen me staring at it because it slowly started standing up on its hind legs.

And then I noticed its hands - they weren't quite hands like ours. They had these long spindly fingers. And the more I looked at its big pincer mouth, the more nervous I got.

I almost let out a scream, but something inside me told me not to. So instead I just stood there, watching this strange creature. After a second, it dropped back down onto all fours. It stared at me staring at it. And then it slowly started walking towards me.
The way it moved, it really did remind me of a big ol' dog. There used to be this beautiful golden retriever a couple doors down from us - and this creature was like that.
Uglier, sure, but had all the same mannerisms you'd expect of a domesticated creature.

Well, it didn't take long for me to start a game of catch with the big lug. I chased it up and down the creek, throwing a stick, occasionally playing tug of war, and before I knew it, I even dared to pet it.

ALYSSA
I'm sorry, you *pet *it?

KIRA
Hah, I won't forget that anytime soon. I didn't dare touch its, uh, beak. It was red, and it looked *wet. *I couldn't tell if it was exposed gums, or something else. But it's skin was... Oh man, something between a bark and some sort of chitin.
It didn't seem to mind me petting it. Shortly afterwards, it started walking down the creek. At first, I thought maybe our playtime was over, but every couple of steps it'd stop, and wait for me to follow.

Now, at this point, the sun was getting low, but I still had an hour or two before I had to be back home. And no one ever came down to this creek- so I figured, why the hell not? I left behind my coat and backpack. I was pretty sure I'd be back for them shortly.

And I followed the big critter deeper into the woods. It's so funny- we walked for awhile. I'm not sure how long. I was nervous about the time, so I kept looking up, but the sun seemed to lock in the sky. Always just cresting over the horizon.

Eventually, the creature and I came to a small grove of aspen trees. Now, I'd wandered through these woods a couple times before, but I'd never seen this place. It surprised me that I'd missed it in such a small patch of forest.

The clearing was breathtaking. Tall aspen trees, covered in those eyes they have, and the perfect gold leaves. In the setting sun, each leaf seemed to glow. The glade seemed so *bright. *I felt so giddy, I remember frollicking around, picking up leaves and throwing them in the air just to watch them fall.

For awhile, my creature sat in the center of the clearing, and it seemed to just watch me. Which was strange, because now that I'd gotten a better look at it, I noticed it didn't really have eyes. Its skin was patchy and textured, like a twisting branch. There were slits where eyes ought to be, but it looked like the rest of it's body.

Anyways, I frolicked for a bit, long enough that I forgot about the time. All the while, the sun stayed in its place. When I finally remembered that I had to be home by six, the sun seemed to set suddenly. My creature stood up suddenly, fast enough to spook me. I thought maybe I'd done something wrong.

But it just walked back towards the entrance of the glade, and sat, waiting for me to follow it. And I did- but not before grabbing a leaf.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
Kira flips the page. This page, unlike the rest of the photo album, isn't a scrapbook of polaroids and clippings. It's all blank, except for a golden aspen leaf pressed to the center of the page.

KIRA
Now it might be my old eyes, but in all this time, it's never lost its luster.

I followed the creek back to my hideout. The creature galloped along next to me. The path back seemed much longer than I remembered, but I knew I was walking the right way. By the time we returned, it was dark and chilly. My bag and jacket were gone, but that didn't bother me any. No, I was just worried about being late. I waved goodbye, and rushed out of the woods. I turned back once just before I broke out of the tree line, and I saw my creature, my fairie, sitting on the rock, watching me go.
I got home maybe fifteen minutes later, expecting spaghetti.

ALYSSA
And you found out you'd been gone a whole week?

KIRA
(Giggles to herself)
That's right! Everyone was so worried, I didn't get a chance to tell them about my adventure. Then the sheriff started talking about lost time, and trauma, and I thought maybe something bad *had *happened to me- but I still had that leaf in my pocket. Days went by and it didn't lose its luster, so I never stopped believing.

ALYSSA
How has this impacted you? Do you do anything differently now?

KIRA
Not really, but every couple of weeks I pack up a picnic and leave it out by the woods. Of course, the woods look a lot different now! It's all houses, and streets, but my fairie is still out there somewhere.

!

Music starts to rise, playing out the segment.

KIRA
Everyone once in awhile I'll hear a whisper on the wind. But I'm old and my hearing is bad. Maybe it's just the wind. Someday I'll be gone, and when I am, I hope there's some old lady to put out the honey for the faeries.

ALYSSA (V.O.)
That was Kira Littleton, sharing a daunting experience from her childhood - and just maybe the true origins of the Honey & Comb name. If you believe her.

Music plays out, and slowly fades. It lowers as Alyssa returns to close out the episode.

JACK FELDMAN
I haven't made it up to Mayfair - yet. But someday, I hope I get the chance to do so. I bet they have an incredible sticker I can add to my collection.

Until then, this is Great Lakes Public Radio from WKER Mackinac City.

Our program is produced by Kale Brown. The people who put together today's episode include Elissa Park, Nichole Goodnight, Jon Grilz, Nate DuFort, and Tanja Milojevic

Our line editor is Atticus Jackson. Our managing editor is Veronica California, and the illustrious Matt Roi Berger made our music. Our production coordinator is Klaudia Amenabar, and our program directors are Tom Owen and Brad Miska. Thank you guys.

Our executive producer is Trevor Henderson. Our programs co-founder is Pacific S. Obadiah, when asked about his life he said:

This line should be cut from earlier in the episode, where Alyssa interviews Jeremy

JEREMY
...I never imagined that I'd end up working for a company...

JACK FELDMAN
And I'm Jack Feldman, your host. We'll be back next week with another story.
Stay tuned.

Outro music plays us out.