Characters:

• Leann, a late-night radio DJ, voice steady but frayed.
• Voice, a caller, quiet and patient, but not quite normal.

Setting:

A small radio booth on the edge of town. The ON AIR light burns red through the dark.

A low electrical buzz fills the silence between raindrops.

[Lights up.]

LEANN sits alone, rubbing her throat before pressing the mic button. The storm outside has grown heavy.

LEANN: You’re tuned to Station 9. Might be our last night on the air, the generator’s coughing again. So, while it lasts, call in. Let’s keep each other company.

[Static builds, then clears to silence.]

VOICE (softly): You shouldn’t be alone there.

LEANN (startled): That you, Tom? Or one of the regulars? Lines are acting up.

VOICE: I’ve been listening. All night. For a long time. You keep the lights on for the rest of us.

LEANN (forces a laugh): That’s the job. Got to cut through the dark somehow.

VOICE: There’s something behind you.

[A long pause. The rain grows louder. Leann glances over her shoulder.]

LEANN: Funny. Bad timing for jokes. What’s your request, caller?

VOICE: A memory, not a song. Tell me what you saw when the lights went out last week.

LEANN (uneasy): How... how do you know about that?

VOICE: You described it off-air. The shadows you said moved on their own. You were right. They do.

[She stands, scanning the corners of the booth. The red light flickers.]

LEANN: Who is this?

VOICE: You don’t remember my name. But you talked to me before the storm hit. I told you it would come.

[The static grows in rhythmic pulses, almost breathing.]

LEANN (whispering): This line isn’t connected to the network anymore.

VOICE: I know.

[The light snaps bright red. The static ceases. A faint echo of her own voice repeats through the speakers.]

LEANN (voice on speaker): If there’s power, there’s broadcast. If there’s breath, there’s voice.

[Her live mic wavers on a single breath. She stares at it.]

LEANN (trembling): Who’s on the board?

VOICE (now close, behind her): Stay awake, Leann. The others didn’t.

[The red light burns steadily. Then it clicks off.]

[Blackout.]