SCENE 1

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                 INT.  DAY.  OFFICE

 

                         SEBASTIAN shuffles in his seat, a metal chair. 

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SEBASTIAN:                   Alright, just going to set my phone down over… here. 

                                (Clears throat)

                                        My name is Sebastian Verwood. I am a zoology sophomore at Talbot                                            University. I have been requested by Dr. Vivien Warren, a history                                                    professor, to… take a look at a journal that has come into her                                                        possession. I would like to state, sorry I don’t need to sound that                                                  formal, I’d like to say that the analysis of historical documents is not an .                                       expertise of mine nor am I remotely qualified to give insight into this                                            document. So… I guess what I'm wondering is... why bring me into                                              this at all? I mean… I know I did really well in your class on European                                            folklore, but that was a class of sixty and I'm not even a history major.                                          Another thing is that you haven’t really told me much about what I'm                                            about to read other than telling me to be “careful” with it and to skip                                          ahead to page 67 whenever I got the chance. So… I guess that being                                          said and all...  I suppose the purpose of this is just to have me… poke                                          around, maybe? But then-- Okay. Whatever. I’m going to start going

                                        through this.

 

                        SEBASTIAN pulls the book towards him across the table.

 

                                        The journal is, I guess, in pretty good condition for a book. There’s                                                some yellowing to the pages, but it looks more like a paperback that                                            you’d find at a yard sale than, I don't know,  something that’d fall                                                  apart the second I touch it the wrong way, so that's really good news.                                          And is, roughly, about the size of a small coffee table book. You know,                                          like those ones on the clearance rack near the register at a Barnes &                                            Noble? Yeah. Those ones. I’m going to begin opening it… now. 

 

                         Sound of a leather strap being opened. Then the sounds of a book cover and                             a page hitting the desk.

 

                                       There’s an entry here in some pretty clear cursive, thank god, saying                                             that this journal belonged to… Eric Nygard between the years 1867                                             and 1869. There’s a roman numeral for two here. So it's definitely not                                           the first and it’s probably not the last, either, so that’s pretty cool. Let’s                                         see what dirty little secrets you had to keep in the 1860's Mr. Nygard…

 

                        Sound of a page turning. 

 

                                       First entry. February 16th, 1867. “Dear reader, this is the second in                                                 what I hope is a continuous project over the course of my lifetime. It is                                         my duty to remind you, in the case that one of my journals is found                                               out of order, that the contents of this journal are, indeed, real. If

                                       you are reading my naturalist research in the correct order,                                                             congratulations, be prepared to discover more about… the fae living                                           all around you.”

 

                                       Wait… What? That… doesn’t… Hold on. Sorry. I’m just... I'm just                                                   gonna flip ahead a bit. 

 

                     SEBASTIAN flips forward.

 

                                       Page 67… Page 67… Page 67… Here… It’s a section on… Rhode                                                 Island. That’s real specific. Cool, I guess.

 

                     SEBASTIAN turns a page.

 

                                       He has numerous sketches of something he has labeled as a Northern                                         Merperson. It's almost porpoise-like. It's not, you know, human half,                                             scaly half. Its skin is leathery and smooth and it's not at all, you know,                                           Ariel in The Little Mermaid. 

 

                     SEBASTIAN turns a page.

 

                                      Then a griffin of some sort, but it doesn’t look like any griffin I’ve seen.                                        It appears that he has, again, taken liberties with the source material                                            that he is getting this from. The wings are in the wrong place. It's                                                  weird. It's almost as if they're gliders.

 

                     SEBASTIAN turns a page.

 

                                      This has… something that he is calling a pixie… A pixie is any fae that                                          takes on the appearance of an insect. Oh. So it's an umbrella term.                                              Okay. 

 

                    SEBASTIAN turns a page, then another, then another, and another.

 

                                       It looks like he also uses the term sprite to describe other types of the                                         creatures that he's drawing and he keep on making individual entries                                           for each of.... them.

 

                    SEBASTIAN turns a page. A silence.

 

                                      The Angelica Sprite. How-- He… He saw that too? How did he see that                                        too?  I thought… I thought I was the only one.

 

           ADVENTUROUS OUTRO MUSIC.

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CREDITS:                      The Viridian Wild is a mythozoology podcast. Follow us on Facebook,                                           Instagram, and Twitter as The Viridian Wild. Learn more at                                                             theviridianwild.com. Our music is composed by Daryl Banner.  You can                                         support Sebastian’s study of the magical world around us on our                                                   patreon at www.patreon.com/theviridianwild. The                                                                           Viridian Wild is a product of Always in My Head Productions.