Happy Pills - The Story of Kevin Free

How Sweet

  Kevin smiles as he walks into the familiar radio station. He feels a pleasant warmth inside. Ever since he began interning here, years ago, this place has been like a second home to him. But this time, walking in carries a distinctly different feeling. The feeling of returning home when you're not quite the same as you were when you last left it.
  He looks around at the familiar walls, a smile splitting his lips. It feels odd to be here without his old mentor, but odd in a good way. He's not an intern anymore. He's made it. Something inside him whispers that this was always meant to be.
  His smile does not fade as the woman with the smile as fake as her nails enters behind him, and freezes when she sees how he's changed.
  "Kevin?!" For a moment, she cannot mask the surprise and jealousy in her voice.
  "Hello Lauren!" Unlike her, Kevin's smile in genuine, if a tad smug.
  "I don't believe it."
  "You really should," he says with a grin. "The ritual was last night, I think."
  Lauren scowls, knowing that even if she had been present at the ritual, she wouldn't have remembered it. She feels disgusted at the thought that she might have been present to see her rival receive what she had thought would be hers.
  Kevin watches as Lauren slowly pulls herself back together and paints that fake smile back onto her pale face, her eyes still lifeless and angry.
  "That's wonderful, Kevin." She almost chokes on the words. "I'm happy for you."
  "Thank you!" He's cheerful as ever, though the image of Lauren choking does resonate pleasantly in his mind for a moment. "It was certainly surprising to find out that I was the one that was chosen! I really did think it would be you!"
  For a moment, Lauren considers slapping that stupid grin off of Kevin's face. She deserved it more, and he knew it. She was older than him, and had been here longer, and it had been against the rules to have more than one intern in the first place. But... here they were. It put a sour taste in her mouth.
  "I did too." Her honey-sweet voice does little to mask her bitter mood. "I guess fate had other plans."
  "Definitely!" Kevin grins. As usual, notes on whatever needed to be reported today had been stacked on the desk. There weren't many notes, and he would speak of current events as they happened. He was a little nervous. How was that supposed to work? He hadn't thought to ask.
  Then again, he thought to himself, if this was really meant to be then I'll understand as it happens, right?
  He hopes he's right. He looks at Lauren, his amber eyes shining with delight. "I'd better get started. Why don't you make yourself useful?"
  Lauren glares at him. Of course Kevin would rub salt in the wound. Of course. He was far better at masking his feelings than she was. Or perhaps expressing happiness was simply more important to him that the dismay and sarcasm that was often still visible under Lauren's sugar-coated acting. Either way, he managed to be mean without sounding cruel. A technique that Lauren had yet to figure out.
  Before she could say something witty back, Kevin had entered the recording booth, which was mostly soundproof.

  As Kevin carefully turns on his equipment, his mind races. Sure, he knows what he's doing, both he and Lauren have had to cover for their mentor in the past and so had been taught to use this equipment, but that wasn't the problem.
  The problem was knowing what to say. Being the town's Voice meant needing their approval, and Kevin was terrified that he would screw it up.
  Relax, he tells himself. Everything will be fine. I think.
  That didn't help as much as he'd hoped it would, but he decides it doesn't matter. He takes one last slow, deep breath, then adjusts the microphone to a more appropriate height. It turns on with a soft click, and the red light on the base lights up like a tiny beacon.
  Try not to think about it too much, Kevin thinks. Just let it happen.
  In that moment, Kevin lets go. Whatever is going to happen will happen, and it's best to just let it be that way. The words begin to flow naturally, as if of their own accord.
  "Life is like the sun. Every day, it begins anew. Welcome to Desert Bluffs."

  Everything was going well. Kevin was completely calm as he read the reports left for him, unaware that the words on the page were unintelligible to anyone else. He was completely calm, and everything seemed to flow naturally.
  And then the visions started.
  On instinct, Kevin set the broadcast to a pre-recorded message, and seconds later his vision is consumed. Suddenly, can see all the way out to the far end of town.
  What's happening?
  He tried to focus, and soon realized what he was looking at. A strange, humming object that glowed with a faint light. Clearly something that needed to be talked about and investigated.
  The object was about the size of a person's palm, gold in colour, and in the shape of a pyramid. It radiated a dim white light, and hummed at a pitch that any person experienced in music would recognize as a B flat. However, Kevin did not know that, as he was not experienced in music.
  As his sight transitioned somewhat jarringly back to his current location, he gestured to Lauren to come into the booth for a moment.
  So that's how it works.
  "What's wrong, Kevin?" Her voice is full of mock sympathy.
  "Oh, nothing is wrong," Kevin says cheerfully, "it's just that there's a strange object on the edge of town, and I want you to go investigate it."
  Lauren looks thoroughly unimpressed with this. "Kevin, I'm not going to-"
  "You're still technically an intern, Lauren. So unless you want to resign, I suggest you go check it out."
  Lauren left, grumbling under her breath. She knew where she was going, though she didn't know how she knew. She doesn't care.
  Kevin returns to his broadcast, happily describing what he'd seen and telling his listeners that there would be more information on the object later.
  This, he thinks to himself, feels right. More right that anything I've ever known. This is where I belong.
  He's unsure where the thought came from, but he appreciates it anyway. A shimmering soap bubble of a moment, in which it feels as though nothing can possibly go wrong. He knows this feeling won't last forever, so as he speaks he takes a moment to appreciate it's presence with a slow breath and a smile.

  With mysterious objects having been investigated and the day drawing to a close, Kevin finds that he can barely remember anything he's spoken about today. He decides that's fine, and smiles to himself. He had been so nervous before, but everything seemed to have gone well, and the day had passed fast. He felt happy. He felt good. That reoccurring smile crosses his face as the words continue to fall from him like a cascade.
  "That's all the time we have for today. Thank you for bearing with me, listeners. I know it can be odd hearing someone new speak when you are so used to someone else, but I hope that in time you will get used to me. Perhaps, in time, you may even come to like me. I wish you all well. Until next time, Desert Bluffs. Until next time."