Welcome to Night Vale (short stories)

Story 1- The Scientist

A man in a crisp white lab coat warily drove into a dark and creepy town. He looked around, taking in the scenery, known as the most scientifically interesting in the United States. Looking back at his directions to reiterate that he was heading to the correct place, he pulled into a lot outside of a building with humming electrical wires coming out of it. This was where he would be spending his next few years researching this strange town.

Once he had parked and gotten out of his small sedan, he stood and looked at the building, hoping to have an intimation on what he would be dealing with in this small desert town. After a few minutes of pondering, the man walked inside the building, humming a familiar tune. He looked around the unkempt building that would be his lab and research base, seeing cobwebs and chairs strewn about. In his mind he could already see scientific partners lined up along polished tables, the opulentspace gleaming and filled with beakers and test tubes, ready to explain the mysteries of this town. After a few minutes of daydreaming about the future, the hiss and crackle of an old radio came to life, startling the man.

"A new man came into town today," the radio announcer told from across town, "Who is he? What does he want from us? What does he want from this town? He claims to be a scientist. Well, we have all been scientists at some point in our lives..."

The man tentatively crept toward the sound of the radio in the back of the space, picking up a small metal pole for protection. He wondered how this radio host knew so much about him already, as he had just driven in. As he crept forward, the host started talking about how perfect the man's hair and lab coats were. The reporter even knew where the scientist had stationed his lab, in the building next to a greasy pizza restaurant. When he finally reached the old radio in the rear of the building, he saw a group of rats huddling around the speakers. They must have turned the radio on by bumping into it, the scientist concluded. The rats jumped up and skittered away when he drew near, but the man noticed something strange about them.

"Did they.... Did those rats have glowing purple eyes?" he asked the empty space, mouth gaping in shock.

The man stood shocked before listening into the radio, hoping to catch a glimpse of a story that would give him a lead on something to start investigating. As the broadcast went on, he was stunned at what he had heard. There were angels and creatures in this town, underground cities beneath their bowling alley, and mysterious glowing lights above their fast food restaurants. The part that shocked the scientist most of all, was the stolid voice of the announcer while reading these reports, as if they had been used to these strange events happening. In his nervousness and shock, he hadn't noticed that the pipe in his hands he brought to protect him had turned pliable in his hands, his strong grip bending the metal easily. He glanced down and dropped the piece of crumpled metal, letting it clatter to the floor. The scientist wondered if the town was just ambidextrous and trying to scare him away by telling nonsense stories, or if it really was this strange all the time. Maybe they were just trying to make sure no one will adulterate their small town, deploying stories to scare away outsiders. The scientist knew that he would not back down, no matter how many dour, stubborn people there were in this town, no matter how bereft he would be from having left his life to study this town. He decided then that this town was going to have to augment for a few more people, a few more scientists, if it was going to have any hope figuring out its mysteries. No matter how insidious the people and creatures of this town would be, the scientist would be brave, holding fortitude against their gibes to his hair and profession. The scientist walked back to the front of the lab, and putting on a brave and official guise, walked into the lot to his car. When he got in the car, he pulled out a small notebook that he kept full of notes from his travels and wrote, in verbatim;

Tomorrow is my first day working in this strange town. I will be holding a press conference to talk to the citizens here and explain that I am just researching their town and I have no intention to disrupt their lives. I think things are going to be great here. This week I will be cleaning up and redecorating my lab before my partners come. I'm super excited. I need to go check into my hotel room now. Hopefully it won't contain one of the strange things I've heard about this town. The moon here is twice as big as from back home. Goodnight.

-C