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[0:16] Jonathan Cook: Alright, everyone, welcome back to Gather by the Ghost Light: original stories for radio theater.

[0:21] Jonathan Cook: I'm Jonathan Cook, your host, producer, sometimes voice actor on this thing, and today is the first of October.

[0:35] Jonathan Cook: As you know, we produce a variety of genres here at Gather by the Ghost Light, but in October, we like to get scary.

[0:45] Jonathan Cook: Which reminds me, if you dig the horror genre, and that's the kind of stories you like the most, I'd like to invite you to listen to our friends at Fright Man Theater.

[0:59] Jonathan Cook: And they just started their second season, so go check them out when you get a chance.

[1:04] Jonathan Cook: But first, the story I have for you today, it's a spooky little tale called The Shed, written by Joanne Greene.

[1:11] Jonathan Cook: It's about two best friends, Jimmy and Charlie.

[1:14] Jonathan Cook: Jimmy has a secret. You see, he recently found out that his mother keeps a witch locked up in the shed behind their barn.

[1:21] Jonathan Cook: And he has been dying to tell someone this secret. And who better to tell it to than his best friend, Charlie?

[1:28] Jonathan Cook: But telling Charlie about it, well, that's the easy part. Proving it to Charlie, however, that may not be such a good idea.

[1:35] Jonathan Cook: Now, before we begin this story, I do want to give you a trigger warning. Uh, this story does contain moments of domestic violence and some content that may not be suitable for young children.

[1:46] Jonathan Cook: So please keep that in mind if you have kids nearby as you're listening. Also, make sure to stick around after the story for an interview with the writer, Joanne Greene.

[1:54] Jonathan Cook: Now, gather around the ghost light, sit back and enjoy. This is The Shed, written by Joanne Greene.

[2:01] Jonathan Cook: And performed by Luke Romagnoli, Amelia Oswald, Courtney Prouty, Roland Brune, Rosalie Brune, and Joanne Greene.

[2:12] Aunt Charlotte: Come on, Becky Lee, she's waiting on us.

[2:15] Becky Lee: Where are we going?

[2:16] Aunt Charlotte: She said she wants us in the parlor.

[2:18] Aunt Charlotte: In here.

[2:22] Becky Lee: Why is sitting in the dark, Aunt Charlotte?

[2:25] Aunt Charlotte: You got Becky Lee with you?

[2:27] Becky Lee: I'm right here, Aunt Charlotte.

[2:28] Aunt Charlotte: Ronnie Lee said you had something important to tell us.

[2:31] Aunt Charlotte: That's right. I got a story to tell y'all, and I don't know how long I'm going to be around to tell it.

[2:38] Aunt Charlotte: You want me to turn on the light?

[2:40] Aunt Charlotte: No. This story is best told by the fire.

[2:44] Aunt Charlotte: Y'all sit on the sofa.

[2:46] Becky Lee: Yes, ma'am.

[2:50] Aunt Charlotte: You young'uns don't know about spirits and ghosts and witches and the like. Folks don't talk about the old stories, sweep them under the rug.

[3:01] Aunt Charlotte: And the television makes out all those spirits are friendly, not evil, the way they really are. Your parents, no, they don't talk about the old stories.

[3:12] Aunt Charlotte: But I'm going to tell you one of them tonight. And I want you to tell it to your children after I'm gone. And if your parents don't like it, they can take it up with me.

[3:24] Becky Lee: Yes, ma'am.

[3:25] Aunt Charlotte: Now, this story is about two friends. Jimmy, who had a secret he was burning to tell, and his best friend Charlie, who was just the person to tell it to.

[3:38] Aunt Charlotte: One evening, they were sitting on an old rickety wagon back behind Jimmy's house. Now, way back behind the wagon was a barn, and behind that was an old shed.

[3:50] Aunt Charlotte: It was a night. Just like tonight. Hey Charlie, I want to tell you something, but you gotta promise not to tell it to nobody.

[4:02] Charlie: I ain't promising nothing.

[4:04] Jimmy: Come on, just promise.

[4:07] Charlie: Alright, fine.

[4:09] Jimmy: There's a witch in the shed behind the barn.

[4:11] Charlie: No, there ain't.

[4:12] Jimmy: There is.

[4:13] Charlie: No, there ain't. You're just trying to scare me.

[4:16] Jimmy: There is. She's locked up in chains, and mama brings her food. Pa don't know about her.

[4:22] Charlie: If there is a witch, you show me.

[4:24] Jimmy: Can't come on.

[4:26] Charlie: I can't.

[4:27] Jimmy: Oh, you're just fooling. You seen this witch?

[4:30] Charlie: Hmm.

[4:31] Jimmy: No, you ain't, because there ain't one. My mama will let me see her. I ain't even supposed to tell anybody about her.

[4:38] Jimmy: She'd tan my hat if she know I told you about the witch.

[4:41] Charlie: I'm going home if you don't show me.

[4:43] Jimmy: I can't. Best just forget I told you about her. Come on, let's go down to the creek and catch some frogs.

[4:49] Charlie: I don't like catching frogs. And I especially don't like pulling their legs off.

[4:54] Jimmy: You did last Friday, and you ate the frog legs, Mama fried up. Come on.

[4:59] Charlie: You show me the witch first.

[5:00] Jimmy: I told you I can't.

[5:02] Charlie: You show me, or I'm not your best friend anymore.

[5:05] Jimmy: Jimmy, come on in. Supper's ready.

[5:08] Aunt Charlotte: Best you get on home now, Charlie. I guess I'll see you tomorrow.

[5:13] Jimmy: Remember, you promise not to tell anybody about the witch, okay?

[5:17] Charlie: Alright, I won't. Bye.

[5:29] Jimmy: Gone. Sit down and eat before it gets cold.

[5:32] Jimmy: It smells real good.

[5:34] Mama: Well, it's your favorite. Eat up, Jimmy. I'll join you in a bit. I got to fill up the pail.

[5:42] Jimmy: Mama, when I finish eating, can I take the pail to the witch?

[5:48] Mama: Hush! You want her to curse you? She sees you, and that'll be the end of you. Now you stay here. I'll take her the pail.

[5:57] Jimmy: Why don't the witch ever curse you?

[5:59] Mama: Me and the witch, we gotta understand it. Now finish your supper. I'll be right back.

[6:10] Aunt Charlotte: Now Jimmy didn't like to be told no any more than Charlie did. He figured if he could tell Charlie, he had at least heard the witch. He could persuade Charlie that the witch was real.

[6:25] Aunt Charlotte: He waited till he figured his mama was on the other side of the barn and wouldn't see him. And out the door he went.

[6:42] Jimmy: Here's your food, witch.

[6:45] Witch: Took you long enough. Come on. Let me out. Let me out, and I'll be good.

[6:56] Jimmy: I don't trust you as far as I can throw this pail. Itch yucky mocky.

[7:05] Witch: Oh no, you don't. Don't you put no hex on me, you old witch. I'll just leave you here to starve.

[7:15] Aunt Charlotte: Oh no. Jimmy couldn't see what was going on, but the sound the witch made scared him so much that he turned and ran as fast as he could back to the house.

[7:27] Aunt Charlotte: He sat back down at the table and tried his best to act normal when his mama returned.

[7:35] Mama: She sure ain't that fast. A witch threw it on the ground. She'll be sweet as pie next time, though. She don't like to have an empty belly.

[7:48] Becky Lee: Aunt Charlotte, did Jimmy tell his father about the witch?

[7:52] Aunt Charlotte: No, child. Jimmy's pa wouldn't have listened. Jimmy's pa wasn't a nice man.

[7:59] Aunt Charlotte: That was another secret that Jimmy had. Whenever his pa would come home, he'd drink and play loud music. Jimmy knew that he'd try to make his mama dance with him.

[8:11] Aunt Charlotte: And he knew what would happen when she got sick of it.

[8:17] Mama: Could you stop it? I'm sick to death of you pawing at me.

[8:21] Pa: Oh, come on, honey. Don't you come over here and give me a sweet little kiss?

[8:26] Mama: No, you drunk. Get up, you old hag. I will pull you up by your hair if you don't. Get up.

[8:39] Jimmy: Mama!

[8:40] Pa: Boy! You come out that room and I'll slap you in the next week.

[8:46] Aunt Charlotte: Now Jimmy hadn't come into his full height yet. Jimmy's pa was a great hulk and beast of a man. So Jimmy stayed where he was.

[8:56] Aunt Charlotte: The next morning, Jimmy's mama was up cooking breakfast. Jimmy looked for any mark on his mama's face, but as usual, his pa had hit her where nobody would see.

[9:10] Mama: Eat it all up. Might be the last decent meal you get. Ain't you going to eat?

[9:15] Jimmy: I ate with your pa.

[9:17] Mama: Then how come there's only one dirty plate?

[9:19] Jimmy: You getting too smart for your britches, Jimmy boy.

[9:23] Jimmy: Why does Pa hit you?

[9:25] Mama: Ain't no concern of yours.

[9:27] Jimmy: Yes, it is. You, Mama. I'm ten years old and almost a man. I ain't going to let him keep hurting you.

[9:34] Mama: Child, I'll tell you a secret. That old witch out there done cursed your pa good. You wait and see.

[9:41] Mama: When she threw that slop bucket through the air and spilled her dinner on the ground, you know what she said?

[9:49] Jimmy: What, Mama?

[9:51] Mama: Jimmy. Jimmy! Charlie! Just go sit on the wagon and I'll be right out.

[9:56] Charlie: Nah, it's important.

[9:58] Mama: Your mama there?

[9:59] Charlie: Just hold on, will ya? I'm coming.

[10:03] Mr. Taylor: Miss Taylor! Mr. Taylor, he done caught his arm in the threshing machine? Near tore it off. One of the field hands took him to the hospital.

[10:11] Aunt Charlotte: That's so. Jimmy, finish your breakfast.

[10:14] Aunt Charlotte: I reckon I best get over to the hospital. My mama said she'd take you in her car if you like.

[10:20] Mr. Taylor: Oh, that's kind of her. But that old car of mine will get me there just fine.

[10:30] Charlie: Jimmy, you ain't going with her?

[10:33] Jimmy: No. He got what he deserved.

[10:35] Charlie: How you mean?

[10:37] Jimmy: The witch cursed him, and that's why he got his arm cut in the thresher.

[10:41] Charlie: What'd he do?

[10:43] Jimmy: He hit my mama and drug her across the floor. I reckon that old witch heard it and cursed him right then and there.

[10:51] Charlie: The witch was in the house?

[10:53] Jimmy: Nah, she don't have to be in the house to hex somebody. Sides, she's chained up. But last night I heard her talking to my mama.

[11:02] Charlie: My mama said there's no such thing as witches.

[11:05] Jimmy: You told?

[11:06] Charlie: No. I asked her about witches in general. I didn't tell her about your witch.

[11:10] Jimmy: You better not tell. If she's a witch, why don't she put a spell on the chains and break free?

[11:16] Charlie: Don't know. Maybe she can only curse people and not things.

[11:21] Jimmy: You hungry? There's some more eggs on the stove.

[11:24] Charlie: Yeah, that sounds good.

[11:28] Aunt Charlotte: Jimmy's pa died that night. The next morning people brought food and stayed around and talked.

[11:35] Charlie: Charlie and Charlie's mama came over.

[11:38] Jimmy: Jimmy and Charlie, they spent most of the time out on the wagon with plates full of food.

[11:44] Jimmy: Best friends again.

[11:48] Jimmy: Best eating I had in a long time.

[11:51] Charlie: Sure is good.

[11:53] Jimmy: Hey, maybe we should take some of this out to the witch.

[11:57] Mama: You may not.

[11:58] Jimmy: Maybe.

[12:00] Mama: Charlie, your mama, she getting ready to go home.

[12:04] Charlie: Can't Charlie spend the night with us, Mama?

[12:06] Mama: Best not.

[12:09] Jimmy: Hey, sneak over here tonight when you've seen all the people gone.

[12:13] Jimmy: I'll be waiting for you on the wagon.

[12:15] Jimmy: I'll fill the bucket up with food, and I'll take you out to the shed to see the witch.

[12:19] Jimmy: Mama ain't fed her tonight, and she won't curse us if we bring her food.

[12:24] Charlie: I can't.

[12:25] Jimmy: I knew you'd chicken out.

[12:26] Charlie: I'll get caught.

[12:28] Jimmy: I thought you wanted to see the witch.

[12:30] Charlie: What if your mama hears us?

[12:32] Jimmy: I seen the doctor give her some pills, and Mama took them.

[12:36] Jimmy: She'll sleep sound all night.

[12:38] Charlie: So you come in.

[12:40] Jimmy: All right.

[12:43] Jimmy: It was a cloudy night, and the moon just peeked out a little.

[12:47] Jimmy: Jimmy was sitting on the wagon waiting for his friend.

[12:51] Jimmy: He had a small flashlight he'd taken from the kitchen.

[12:55] Jimmy: He turned it on so Charlie could see it from across the field.

[12:59] Jimmy: But probably because of all that food he ate, Jimmy couldn't keep his eyes open.

[13:10] Charlie: Jimmy.

[13:12] Charlie: Jimmy, wake up.

[13:14] Jimmy: What?

[13:15] Charlie: You fell asleep.

[13:17] Jimmy: Nah, I was just resting my eyes.

[13:19] Charlie: You still going to show me the witch?

[13:21] Jimmy: I got the pail, and I done filled it with food.

[13:24] Jimmy: Here, you take the flashlight.

[13:27] Jimmy: Shine it on the ground so we don't trip on any roots.

[13:30] Charlie: I don't know.

[13:31] Jimmy: You can't chicken out on me now.

[13:33] Jimmy: Now come on, don't make any noise.

[13:38] Charlie: Jimmy?

[13:39] Jimmy: What?

[13:41] Charlie: I'm scared.

[13:42] Jimmy: Stay close behind me till we get to the corner of the barn.

[13:46] Jimmy: Look.

[13:47] Jimmy: There's a light on.

[13:48] Jimmy: You can see it through the cracks.

[13:50] Jimmy: Come on.

[13:51] Jimmy: Let's peek around the corner.

[13:54] Charlie: The witch ain't in there.

[13:58] Mama: Mama, what you doing out here?

[14:00] Jimmy: You looking for the witch.

[14:02] Mama: She ain't in there.

[14:05] Charlie: Oh, where is she then?

[14:07] Mama: You're looking at her.

[14:10] Jimmy: Come on, Jimmy, run!

[14:20] Jimmy: Jimmy and Charlie ran up the stairs to the house.

[14:23] Charlie: Charlie shut and bolted the door.

[14:26] Jimmy: They thought they would be safe inside.

[14:29] Charlie: Charlie turned the light on, and there was Jimmy's mama standing at the stove, grinning.

[14:34] Mama: She opened her mouth and out came that awful screech.

[14:41] Jimmy: The two children turned and Charlie unlocked the door and they ran out of the house and into the field till they reached the big oak just inside Charlie's family's property.

[14:52] Jimmy: Trying to catch their breath, they leaned against the tree.

[14:57] Jimmy: They heard the leaves rustle and then watched, frozen, as a dark figure seemed to float out down from the tree and stood in front of them.

[15:10] Witch: Boy, you know your mama told you you ain't never supposed to go to that shed.

[15:15] Witch: She told you it won't safe.

[15:17] Charlie: Don't hurt her, Miss Taylor.

[15:19] Witch: I told you, Miss Taylor ain't here.

[15:23] Witch: Miss Taylor wouldn't want you to hurt him.

[15:26] Witch: The witch grabbed a hold of Charlie by the wrist and her nails dug into Charlie's skin.

[15:33] Charlie: Charlie tried to pull away, but those nails dug in deep, causing Charlie's arm to bleed.

[15:40] Jimmy: Jimmy tried to help Charlie, but the more he tried, the more the witch tightened her grip on Charlie's arm.

[15:48] Jimmy: They were terrified.

[15:50] Witch: But then came a brief moment when the clouds cleared and the moon shone out.

[15:56] Jimmy: The woman standing in front of them still had the look of Jimmy's mama.

[16:00] Jimmy: The same hair, the same mouth, but not the same eyes at all.

[16:05] Witch: And then all of a sudden, those fierce eyes softened.

[16:12] Witch: And she let go of Charlie's bleeding arm.

[16:17] Witch: Now, both of you listen and listen good.

[16:21] Witch: I don't have much time.

[16:23] Jimmy: Mama.

[16:24] Witch: It's me, honey.

[16:25] Witch: It's me.

[16:26] Witch: Now, listen.

[16:28] Witch: Go to Charlie's house, and don't need her if you tell a soul what you've seen.

[16:34] Jimmy: Where are you going, Mama?

[16:35] Witch: Come on, Jimmy.

[16:37] Witch: Come on.

[16:38] Jimmy: Mama, she ain't your mama no more, Jimmy.

[16:41] Witch: Keem's help.

[16:42] Witch: Go on!

[16:43] Witch: Get out of here.

[16:45] Witch: You know witches eat little boys for breakfast.

[16:47] Jimmy: Come on, Jimmy!

[16:48] Jimmy: Run!

[16:49] Witch: That's right.

[16:51] Witch: Run!

[16:52] Witch: Run!

[16:57] Jimmy: Mama!

[17:03] Jimmy: That was the last time Jimmy seen his mama.

[17:06] Jimmy: He stayed at Charlie's house for a while, but there were too many mouths to feed, so the police came and got him and put him in a foster home in Atlanta.

[17:16] Jimmy: Police had looked for Jimmy's mama, but not for very long and not very hard.

[17:21] Jimmy: They figured she had run off with one of the field hands.

[17:25] Jimmy: Maybe the same one that had been with Jimmy's paw when he got his hand caught in the thresher.

[17:30] Aunt Charlotte: Aunt Charlotte, you just made that up.

[17:33] Jimmy: It's the truth, Ronnie Lee.

[17:35] Aunt Charlotte: So is you born.

[17:37] Jimmy: How do you know it's the truth?

[17:38] Aunt Charlotte: I was there.

[17:40] Aunt Charlotte: I seen it all with my own two eyes.

[17:43] Jimmy: But you weren't in the story.

[17:45] Aunt Charlotte: Sure enough was.

[17:46] Aunt Charlotte: Jimmy was my best friend growing up.

[17:49] Jimmy: I thought Charlie was his best friend.

[17:51] Aunt Charlotte: Honey, I am Charlie.

[17:53] Aunt Charlotte: I dressed like a boy and played like a boy, but everyone knew I was a girl.

[17:58] Aunt Charlotte: Look at my arm, see?

[18:00] Jimmy: They are the marks where the witch scratched me.

[18:03] Charlie: Whoa.

[18:05] Jimmy: Did Jimmy ever see his mama again?

[18:08] Aunt Charlotte: No, child.

[18:09] Jimmy: She was long gone.

[18:11] Jimmy: Did you ever see Jimmy again?

[18:13] Aunt Charlotte: Well, now, that's a story for another time.

[18:17] Aunt Charlotte: Y'all's parents will be here any minute now.

[18:20] Aunt Charlotte: Y'all best get ready for bed.

[18:22] Jimmy: Good night, Aunt Charlotte.

[18:24] Aunt Charlotte: Good night.

[18:30] Jonathan Cook: It's that was The Shed, an original production written by Joanne Greene and performed by Luke Romagnoli, Amelia Oswald, Courtney Prouty, Roland Brune, Rosalie Brune, and Joanne Greene.

[19:04] Jonathan Cook: Intro and outro music, as always, is provided by artist JK47.

[19:09] Jonathan Cook: Sitting here with me now is the writer of this story, Joanne Greene. How are you?

[19:12] Joanne Greene: I'm fine, thank you.

[19:15] Jonathan Cook: I'm doing good. Now, since you're with us, uh, could you give us a little background on what inspired you? Because I know you've been you've been writing for many years. So, what inspired you to write a creepy little tale like this?

[19:28] Joanne Greene: Well, first of all, telling ghost stories and such were very normal for my family.

[19:34] Joanne Greene: We would sit on the side porch and tell ghost stories.

[19:38] Joanne Greene: And sometimes some of those stories were pretty much based on the truth.

[19:43] Joanne Greene: Uh I live in the same house that my grandparents did, and it's been the family since uh it was built.

[19:50] Joanne Greene: And it's a haunted house.

[19:53] Joanne Greene: And when I first moved there, uh I did have some visitations from Aunt Annie, who was the resident ghost.

[20:01] Joanne Greene: But eventually she she left.

[20:04] Joanne Greene: Uh, but it's still kind of a haunted house, and it's just sort of normal in our family to tell ghost stories.

[20:11] Jonathan Cook: You know, in our early conversations, you mentioned that I believe this was based on a short story, or was this always intended to be an audio play?

[20:19] Joanne Greene: Uh it was based on a short story that I wrote.

[20:22] Joanne Greene: Yeah, I did write the write it that way, but I decided to turn it into a script.

[20:27] Jonathan Cook: And you're local, you're based in Augusta, Georgia, just like I am, uh, which really made it easier for us to meet up and and talk like this. But you're also an actress, and uh with you being local, that allowed you to be part of the recording process, and you actually voice act one of the characters in your script.

[20:46] Jonathan Cook: Now, I've seen you on stage before, and I do believe this is your first time voice acting.

[20:51] Joanne Greene: I believe it is, yes.

[20:52] Jonathan Cook: Okay, well, how how was that? How was that for you going from stage to voice acting?

[20:57] Joanne Greene: Oh, I loved it.

[20:57] Joanne Greene: I thought it was great.

[20:58] Joanne Greene: It it uh you don't have quite the nerves that you have when you're actually on stage in front of a human beings.

[21:04] Joanne Greene: So it was okay to do, and and you knew you could fix it if you messed it up, which you can't do when you're in actual live uh, you know, stage work.

[21:13] Joanne Greene: But yeah, I've uh I've had a very long career.

[21:17] Joanne Greene: I'm 72 years old, and uh so I started out as a singer.

[21:22] Joanne Greene: I had a degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts, but a little plug in for them.

[21:26] Joanne Greene: And uh I did teach music.

[21:29] Joanne Greene: I actually sang in the New Orleans Opera Company, and then I came home after I had my son and uh ended up teaching school and then started taking teaching not only uh singing but also acting, and then pretty soon I became basically the drama teacher at Lakesign High School for many years.

[21:46] Joanne Greene: And I worked summers with the children's theater and worked with Augusta players and uh you know just did all of the kind of stuff that we do here in Augusta and got involved with the Chat Noir, which was wonderful, uh really fun to do, especially when they did some of my little plays.

[22:03] Jonathan Cook: So all right. Well, thank you so much for joining us, and uh hopefully we'll get to collaborate again in the future.

[22:10] Joanne Greene: Okay, thank you.

[22:10] Joanne Greene: But I do have to say something else.

[22:12] Joanne Greene: Okay, I have a master's in screenwriting from the University of Georgia in Athens, and I was able to do that when I was in my 70s.

[22:21] Jonathan Cook: Oh man, that's awesome.

[22:23] Joanne Greene: It was fun.

[22:24] Jonathan Cook: Thank you all so much for listening. And if you would like to further support this podcast, please visit the Patreon link in the show notes.

[22:32] Jonathan Cook: And also look for Gather by the Ghost Light on social media. Give us a follow, and that way you'll be up to date on when new episodes will be released.

[22:39] Jonathan Cook: I'm Jonathan Cook, as always, stay safe, and I'll see you next time.

[22:43] Jonathan Cook: We gather by the ghost light.