Happiness is Contagious (Dark Night with Poe and Munro)

[Snowy]

Recently, I've become obsessed with the video game "Dark Nights with Poe and Munro" (and its actresses). I doubt anyone here will have heard of it  but it's basically a game organized into several "episodes" where each episode follows a certain mystery or weird occurrence and features the two titular radio hosts trying to get to the bottom of it. A few nights ago, I woke at 2 am with an idea for my own sneezy episode. I hope you all enjoy.

If you'd like a feel for the characters or tone of the game, there's a playthrough with no commentary here. A couple minutes of the first scene should be enough.

 

Description: A bad flu has arrived in August, and Munro seems to have caught it. But is there also a culprit to catch?

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Part One: The Radio Station

“It is now 5 o’clock, and it’s time for the August update.” Poe nodded in thanks as Munro handed off the bulletin. Work had nearly returned to normal—or, its previous normal—in the month following their supernatural encounter, but Poe couldn’t help feeling something had changed. Something in Munro. She was… colder to him, or perhaps it was his anxious imagination. Perhaps he was the one acting colder out of embarrassment.

Munro pulled him out of his thoughts with a frown and a ‘go ahead’ gesture. He looked down at the news and began reading. “August High is still seeking volunteers for its yearly haunted house. Volunteer shifts last an hour and all volunteers will receive one trip through the haunted house for free.”

“So if you’re particularly scary, listeners, you might want to make some plans next Friday.”

Poe chuckled. “The students are going to be the actors, Munro. These are other volunteers: ticket sellers and such.”

“Oh.” Munro pouted. “What a shame.”

“Hmm, feeling spooky, Munro?”

“No,” she replied in her characteristic purr. “I just thought you could use some practice making girls scream.”

A brief silence.

“In other news, the mayor has announced that Greenlet Pharmacy will be offering free flu vaccinations to all residents,” he continued. “Flu season is upon us, and August has experienced a recent spike in cases. There is no required appointment, simply walk in and get one.”

“I think it’s a great idea, Poe. Have you gotten your flu shot yet?”

“Well of course,” Poe answered. “Have you, Munro?”

She twisted her lips. “Not yet… but I definitely will now. And I think you should too, listeners. It’s up to all of us to keep August healthy!”

“Well said, Munro.” Poe glanced over the news again and put it aside. “And that concludes this August update. Which means, dear listeners, it’s time for us to hear from you.” He drew out the final words with a mysterious air.

Munro smiled and slid their control tablet closer to her. “Yes, we’re waiting to hear your...”

“Dreams and Nightmares, with Poe and Munro,” the prerecording played.

Munro leaned further into her mic. “Call on in, listeners. We’re waiting to analyze your strangest and scariest dreams.”

A moment’s pause passed, then a icon on the tablet’s display lit up. “Ah, it looks like we have our first caller.” Poe reached to press the button, but Munro, still with a hand on the tablet, beat him to it. He cleared his throat. “Line one, you’re live on Radio August.”

“Hello!” A woman’s voice came from the other end. “Oh, I didn’t think I’d be the first one.”

“Well here you are,” Munro said.

An excited noise came through the speaker. “Hi Munro! I don’t really get to listen to you often, but I’m glad I could today!” Poe rolled his eyes. Another fan of Munro. But then, she seemed to be the sweetheart of their whole listener base. And Munro didn’t always love it, but she certainly didn’t hate all the attention.

“And we’re so glad you could join us today,” she cooed.

“What’s your name, listener?” Poe asked, trying to steer back to the usual dialogue.

“It’s, uh, it’s Zoey.”

“So Zoey, what dream did you want to share?”

“Ok, well...” The woman went quiet, then gave a long sigh. Munro felt a sudden twinge in her nose and went to massage it away. “Ok, so in this dream, I realize I’ve gained a superpower.”

“What sort of superpower?” Poe inquired.

“Well, I guess it’s more of a supervillain power than a superhero power...”

The itch didn’t care for Munro’s rubbing. She felt it travel deeper in her sinuses. Damn.

“Basically, I have the power to make people sick at will. And I basically spend the whole dream finding people I know and doing that.”

“Interesting. What do you think, Munro?”

Poe deferring to her distracted Munro, and in that moment the itch took root. “Um, I-ah…” Hell, she was going to sneeze on air. “Illness in a-hh, in a dream, ih, heh-” Munro whirled around on her stool and clamped a hand over her face. “Huh-tchiishHH!” Her head snapped forward and displaced her neat bob. Munro sniffed and brushed her hair from her face.

“Bless you, Munro.”

“Thanks,” she said as she turned back. “As I was saying, illness in a dream can be a manifestation of emotional stress you have.” Dream interpretations were always fun to make up. “Now, that’s usually about seeing yourself sick, but the fact that you’re making other people sick might… show a desire to transfer your stress onto those people.”

Poe nodded slowly, thoughtfully, leaning further into the nonsense. “Insightful, Munro. When we’re feeling frustrated, when we’re out of sorts, we may wish to… infect others with the same misfortune.”

“Exactly.”

“So then, Munro,” Poe continued. “What advice would you have for our listener?”

“Well...” Munro felt the tickle slowly returning to her nose. Had she inhaled something? “You said that you knew the people in the dream, so mah… maybe these people are cauh-causing the...” She pinched her nose, vigorously rubbing at the bridge. It offered a slight relief. “Causing the stress you’re feeling. I think you should try talking to them and see-heh, hUH!” She barely had time to avoid sneezing into the mic. “HhGNNXhh! Hhgnk’tchEEW!” Munro flinched as she felt the spray hit her bare knees. Gross.

“Bless you again.” Poe’s tone was even, but he looked at her with concern.

She tried to ignore his nonverbal questions of whether she was ok. “Thank you. But yes, try talking to them and see if you can work things out.”

“I think that’s excellent advice. Is that helpful to you Zoey?”

The line was quiet for a bit, as if Zoey was thinking. Munro felt her breath start to hitch again. “… Mm, yes, yes it was. Thank you.”

“Wonderful. Well thank you for calling in, Zoey, and I ho-”

“T’sshUUUHH!” Munro cut him off with another harsh sneeze, now into her hand. To her horror, she felt wetness in her palm. She slowly rose from her stool and crept to the sound booth’s tissue box as silently as possible.

Poe realized the “emergency” situation and stuttered into the mic, “I-I hope it helps.” He reached for the tablet, only to find it was too far. He rose awkwardly from his seat, pawing at it until he’d finally grabbed it.

“Thank you Munro,” was the last sentence the caller got out before Poe hurried cut the line.

“Listeners,” he said. “We’re just going to take a quick break here, and then we’ll be right back with more...”

“Dreams and Nightmares, with Poe and Munro.” The recording played as Poe took them off air. Relieved of the constraint to be quiet, Munro finally tried to blow the irritant from her nose.

Poe walked over to Munro, considering putting a hand on her back but deciding against it. Still, he felt a ping in his chest as he watched her wipe her nose. “Are you feeling alright Munro? Are you ill?”

Munro tossed away the tissue and swallowed. “Honestly, my throat’s starting to hurt. I might be.”

“I hope it’s not the flu.”

She snorted. “I hope not. Never had it before.”

Poe watched her sigh and start walking towards the door. “Don’t you find it a bit strange,” he stopped her. “That we had a caller who dreamed of making people fall ill, and then you start to fall ill yourself?”

Munro rolled her eyes. “We’ve been over this, Poe. Coincidences happen. Not everything is connected.” She reached the booth door and pulled it open. “I’m going to go make some tea. Do you want some?”

“No, um… Are you sure you want to continue? You could just go home.”

“I’ll be fine,” Munro answered, turning to face him. “I’ll just drink some tea and it’ll make me feel o… huh-GHNNK! Okay.”

Poe wanted to protest, but Munro was already closing the door.

[NickG1998]

Please continue this awesome story and keep up the amazing work