Strange Things Are Afoot At the Circle K
Herculaneum, Missouri on Saturday, April 16th, 1992 at 11:37 pm. A Dispatcher sits at his desk. The entire story will be from the Dispatcher’s perspective and all other voices will be either on the radio or phone.
Note: Herculaneum is a real town, I lived here for three years when I was growing up. But the names and locations are entirely fictional.
Characters
Dispatcher – A man in his mid-late twenties, fairly new to the job.Lucille – Caller, gas station worker, older woman.
Officers Davis & Bilson – Middle aged. Both have been police officers for many years. Know their town well.
Dispatcher: “This is 911. What is your emergency?”
Lucille: (frantic) “Uh yes, hi. My name is Lucille and I work down at the C-C-Circle K down on Farm Road K-Double Five. This….this is going to sound crazy…but I think I just witnessed an alien abduction.”
Dispatcher: “Well, okay. Try to stay calm. What makes you think it was an alien abduction? What did you see?”
Lucille takes a deep, ragged breath.
Lucille: (sounding scared) “So I was working and Dale comes in with his 18-wheeler truck. He comes in all the time and always buys a pack of smokes. Tonight he was telling me that he suspected a storm was acomin’ because he had passed by a f-field of cows coming into town and he’d seen ’em all huddled together. Then he went back t-to his truck, that was parked on the side of the building where I couldn’t see, and I saw this blinding flash of light. S-so I…I went out there to ask him what the light was about and there was nothin’!”
Dispatcher: “What do you mean by nothin’, Lucille?”
Lucille: “I mean, there was nothin’. N-n-no truck, no Dale. No sign of Dale driving away. Even the light was out on the side of the building where Dale had parked his truck. And I-I-I know there was nothing wrong with the circuitry because I had that fixed s-s-six weeks ago and the lightbulb was b-brand-new, bought that not even two days ago.”
Dispatcher: “Okay, it’s okay. Can you see anything outside now?”
Lucille: “No. Everything is dark. Even the lights on the gas pumps are out… (gasps) The-the lights just went out inside!” (whimpers)
Dispatcher: “Stay on the line! We’re sending officers to your location.”
(into their radio) “I need officers at the Circle K on Farm Road K55 immediately!”
Lucille: (whispering) “It feels warm in here…”
Dispatcher: “Hang in there, Lucille. Stay with me. Stay out of sight.”
Lucille: (sounding strangely thoughtful) “No, I mean that it feels warm in here, like I feel suddenly sitting by a fireplace all cozy. It feels like someone is in here. B-but…I didn’t hear the door open.”
(becomes very relaxed and slurs words a little) “But I can feel the energy. It’s as if they’re right next to…”
The line goes dead.
Dispatcher: “Lucille? Lucille!”
(on radio) “Officers Bilson and Davis, I have lost contact with the employee at the Circle K. Please tell me your location.”
Officer Bilson: “We’re on Farm Road K55. We should be approaching (radio garbles) minutes.”
Dispatcher: “Officer Bilson, I’m experiencing some issues with your radio. Could you repeat what you just said?”
Officer Davis: (sounds annoyed) “He said that we were on Farm Road K55. We should be (radio garbles).”
Dispatcher: “Officer Davis, I’m experiencing issues with your radio too.”
(radio garbles, nothing is coherent. Dispatcher’s concern grows)
“Bilson, Davis, do either of you copy?”
Officer Davis: “There’s nothing going on here.”
Dispatcher: “What do you mean by nothing?”
Officer Bilson: “This Circle K is closed. No one to be found.”
Dispatcher: “And you’re at the right location?”
Officer Bilson: “I’m positive we’re at the right place. I passed by here the other day to go to my brother’s house.”
Dispatcher: “That doesn’t make any sense. Weird question: How does the air feel? Can you feel any…uh…energy?”
Officer Davis: (chuckles) “Can’t say that I do. But the wind just kicked up. Looks like it’s gonna storm.”
Dispatcher: “Is there anything you fellas can see? Any sign of Lucille or Dale’s truck?”
Officer Bilson: (confused) “Who’s Lucille?”
Dispatcher: “That’s the worker who called in. She claimed to have witnessed an alien abduction of one of her regular customers. The line went dead right when she was telling me how warm the air was.”
Officer Davis: (laughs) “Dispatcher, you misunderstand what I’m saying: this Circle K has been closed for about two months. The windows are all boarded up.
Dispatcher: “What? But what about Lucille?”
Officer Davis: “I’m sorry, but there isn’t anyone by that name who worked here. Starting to sound like a prank to me.”
Officer Bilson: “Probably by some teenagers bored on a Saturday night.”
Dispatcher: (angry) “She sounded pretty sincere to me. You can’t fake fear like that.”
Officer Bilson: “Sorry Dispatcher, we didn’t catch that. Come again?”
Dispatcher: “I said you can’t fake fear like…”
(A short piercing sound goes through his headset. It leaves him a little dazed and slow to react.)
Officer Bilson: “Hello? You there? Can you hear us, Dispatcher?”
Dispatcher: (dazed) “Yeah, sorry.”
Officer Bilson: “You okay?”
Dispatcher: “Yeah, I’m alright. It’s just been a long night.”
Officer Davis: “You sure? Soundin’ a little off.”
Dispatcher: (still dazed) “I’m okay. I just feel a little spacey right now.”
Officer Bilson: “Hey, we’ll find them if they call again. Hey, you’re not the first dispatcher to believe a prank call. It happens to all of us. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
Dispatcher: (eerily calm) “Don’t worry. It’s already been forgotten.”
END.
What About The Alchemy? 