Episode 17 - Bogs

## Bogs

A white drawing on a black background of book with mushrooms growing from it, the book has a red title written on the front "Never Stop Dreaming". The image has a white border of sparse grass and mushrooms.

### Author

William A. Wellman

Little Mikey learns how to swim, Riot and Walt confront the dead, and Hector escapes from a dark place. The theme of tonight’s episode is Bogs."

***Content Warnings:** static, suicide, child death, bullying, death + injury, body horror, abuse, homophobia, violence, and drowning*

## Intro - Home for Mushrooms

Nikignik tells a story about waking up to a dreaded morning. The sun seems angry, and you are anxious about the day to come. You feel like you are falling behind, and realize you are surrounded by dark water, lilies, and peat. Your eye sockets are empty. You have no obligations, no need to get up. You fall back asleep to the songs of birds and frogs.

Nikignik is speaking from a destroyed tree fort. The wood is rotten and the books inside are growing mushrooms. One of the covers says "Never Stop Dreaming." Below is an overgrown pool of black water.

## Story One - Little Mikey

Mikey is being bullied by a group of older boys, including Rick and Buck. They are destroying his fort, and accuse him of having a boyfriend and of being unable to read. Mikey bites Rick's hand and tries to run, but there are other boys waiting to catch him. Rick asks if they can teach Mikey how to swim, and kicks him down into the lake. The water is green and cold and thick. It burns his eyes. Mikey sinks down, unable to move, and realizes he isn't breathing. He can hear the boys on the shore cheering, then calling out in concern, and finally leaving. No one comes to save him, and he doubts that his parents will miss him.

Mikey finally hears a voice calling to him later, and recognizes his best friend. He is unable to answer or move, and he listens to the voice fade. More than two weeks pass before he hears someone crying on the shore. It motivates him to wake up and pull himself out of the water. His friend is curled up on the shore, smaller and older than Mikey remembers. He screams, but calms down when he hears this is Little Mikey, though he says he's no longer little. Mikey realizes that he's grown to a massive size and his hands look rotten. He says he can be Big Mikey now, and his friend suggests they go visit Rick.

### Interlude One - Natural Wetlands

Nikignik explains that the Hallowoods was once a massive wetland, full of bogs and pools. The native snow geese and polar bears still roam the area, though they are unrecognizable. The black rains changed the whole environment, and even the trees are not like those that stood before. Now they are dangerous, and there are many natural traps to fall into in the forest.

## Story Two - Sewn-Up Things

Riot draws Mr Kita in Walt's almanac as they drive back to the Scoutpost. Walt apologizes that she had to see something so horrible. She flips through the almanac and mentions that he's seen a lot of horrible things. He tells her he's gotten used to it, unfortunately, and she begins to understand how hard his job is. Riot notices his groundskeeper hat and asks what Walt did before he came to the Hallowoods. Walt explains that he used to do landscaping services and that he wishes he could go back to that but feels an obligation to protect his clients. He is making the almanac to help others understand the threats of the Hallowoods. Riot says that she's thinking of asking Diggory to help them fight the Instrumentalist. Walt says that Diggory looks like the work of Irene Mend. He doesn't know what became of her, but now that the Instrumentalist is living in the Mend Mansion and her other servants now serve him, it may not be safe for Diggory to get close.

Riot falls asleep in the car and has a dream that Mr Kita's death happened to Clara instead. She wakes when get back to the Scoutpost, and Walt explains to Violet what happened to Mr. Kita. He says they've seen no sign of Jonah either, but tells Violet not to worry because he's Zelda's son. He says he wants to talk to Diggory with Riot.

### Marketing - Never Stop Dreaming

Lady Ethel Mallory advertises her first book, Never Stop Dreaming: The Mallory Story. It details the hardships she's overcome. Life is difficult, with very few rewards, and she understands how tempting it can be to give up or to ignore the problems around you. However, she offers another option: to escape the waking world to an individually designed world of dreams. There is nothing to worry about, and life is peaceful and fun. She has spent her life trying to save people from their terrible existence.

### Story Two, Continued - Sewn-Up Things

Nikignik says that many people have encouraged sickness in the world, but few have done it as cheerfully as marketers.

Riot finds Diggory surrounded by children in the gardens. One child tells Riot that Diggory has forty-two tattoos, while another combs their hair into various styles. The tattoos look familiar to Riot. She asks the children to leave them alone for a while, and they do. Riot begins by thanking Diggory for saving her from Olivier, and introduces them to Walt. She asks why they were headed to the Scoutpost when they met her. Diggory says that they don't know why, but they needed to walk to the Scoutpost. They explain that they are made of many people, and they are guiding Diggory to do something. They are not sure what at the moment, but they expect that once they find out they will find a new direction to follow. Walt explains that he is concerned because two powerful people have tried to kill Riot recently. Diggory does not deny that it is possible for them to hurt Riot, but finds it unlikely, as they are not a violent person. Riot suddenly asks if Diggory knows her mom, because she recognizes the tattoos on Diggory's arm from her mother's photos of her friend Evie. Diggory says they have waited a long time to meet Riot.

### Interlude Two - Stardust Sediment

Nikignik says that the cosmos is not blank and empty, but full of life, death, decay, and rebirth. Entire civilizations and ancient burial grounds are preserved out in space. There are unspeakable things sleeping in the vast expanse. Do not wake them or try to retrieve them. Do not poke around in space at all, it is too big for you.

## Story Three - Southward

Hector is not a trusting person, and that has kept him alive. He is in the habit of helping people, though, and has not been rewarded for it. His distrust of technology kept him out of the Dreaming Boxes, and he does not think highly of the library card he holds either, but he sees no other way out of the forest. Heidi and Jackie follow him, and their differences are even plainer now. Would it be worse if Jonah woke up alone in the woods, having been abandoned, or if he didn't wake up at all this time?

When Hector finally gets out from under the trees to where he can see the sky above, he falls to his knees and weeps. The dogs comfort him, and he reassures them in turn. The library card is still giving him directions, however. It instructs him to return it to Downing Hill Public Library, and addresses him by name, which he doesn't like.

Now that he knows where he is, Hector finds his compass is working again as well. He puts the library card away and navigates his own way back to Zelda's cabin. He regrets not being able to bring Jonah back to her, and decides not to tell her of her son's violent death, how he returned from the dead twice, or their brief moments of passion in the midst of fleeing from a myriad of dangers.

## Outro - Bogs

Nikignik closes the broadcast with a speech about why they like bogs. They are peaceful, and hide many secrets, including sleepers from long before the black rains. The more recent sleepers are dreaming, and their eyes burn with green fire. Nikignik's words and nightmares will be preserved similarly. Perhaps someone in the distant future will find and examine them to learn about the past.