Mike Monsoon's Song Journal: Season One

By Mike Monsoon

Season One of this psychedelic, horror-tinged, time-traveling musical puzzle is comprised of fourteen songs and fourteen chapters, woven together, layered with meaning, and littered with clues. The more you listen, the more you read, the more you discover.

Come and explore the joy–and occasional horror–of creativity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9780578695099

Book preview

This is the story of a man, Mike Smith, facing a reality-shattering question: If you could go back and change things, would you…or did you?

Season One of this psychedelic, horror-tinged, time-traveling musical puzzle is comprised of fifteen songs and fifteen chapters, woven together, layered with meaning, and littered with clues. The more you listen, the more you read, the more you discover.

To listen to the accompanying music and to explore the joy–and occasional horror–of creativity, visit

www.mikemonsoon.com.

© 2020, Monsoon Music

ISBN: 978-0-57869-509-9

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

1. The Piano (Intro)

2. Hello, I’m Mike

3. Dream House

4. Are the Animals Real?

5. Something Alive in the Basement

6. The First Trip Backwards

7. Doorbell Next to the Door

8. Freelancer

9. Basement Lullaby

10. When Will We Get There

11. You Don’t Look Like You

12. Beep Bop and Boop Boop

13. The Montage

14. Make Believe

15. The Piano (Outro)

1. The Piano (Intro)

Washington County, New York

September 1977

Mike is sitting at the piano when the long beep comes. He thinks it might be the episode where Gilligan and the rest think that a bunch of gangsters are on the island, but it turns out only to be the parrot. That parrot is so annoying.

But that long beep keeps going. That’s not the parrot—that’s the Emergency System sound! He hops down and hurries to the other room to see what it is. Train derailed? Nuke meltdown? Hijacked plane? Better not just be one of those tests.

Gilligan’s Island is still on, but the sound is off and there are letters scrawling across the bottom of the screen.

… not a test …

YES!

… Alert: Residents of Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington Counties be advised …

Washington! All right!

… A pair of inmates has escaped from Great Meadow Correctional Facility. …

Mike leans in closer. Why does it scroll so slow!

… A manhunt is under way, but residents are encouraged to remain vigilant, secure doors and windows, and report suspicious persons or activities immediately. …

C’mon … say it. …

… Note that the fugitives are likely armed and considered dangerous. …

YES!

… Tune in to ABC-7 Local News at 5:00 for more information. …

The sound comes back on, but Mike is already out the back door, having crammed his camo backpack with emergency rations (seven Oreos and whatever was left in a Ritz box), a canteen of water, his Swiss Army knife, and his trusty Astra .44 Magnum.

The cops may not know where the fugitives are, but Special Agent Mike Monsoon does! They’re in the same place where he busted a ring of satanic cultists, brought down a bunch of bootleggers, and—just last month—tracked down the Son of Sam. They’re in the woods behind his house.

The contents of his backpack rattle importantly as he sprints across the empty lot behind his house and into the woods. It’s a little late in the afternoon for a woods run, but his mom won’t be home from work until seven. Plenty of time to bring in a couple of two-bit fugitives like these. Bet they’re brothers. Bet they’ve got a notorious-sounding name, like … Griffin—the Griffin Brothers! He can see the mug shots now. The older brother: dead eyes, lantern jaw, cauliflower ears, barely any neck at all. The younger one: unshaven, bulging eyes, sideways nose, sideways sneer. Bad news, both of ’em.

Connor is waiting for him in the woods. He gives a salute and falls in behind Mike. They run down the familiar paths, dodging from tree to tree.

They say it was an inside job, Connor says.

Mike leans against a tree, tips back his canteen, and gives a quick nod.

Makes sense, he says. Great Meadow’s a maximum-security facility. You don’t bust outta there without some help. Keep your head on a swivel, pal. These boys won’t go quietly.

Mike checks the sky.

You have to go home already? Connor says.

Soon, Mike says, standing up. Bigger issue is we don’t have night-vision gear. Keep low now.

Mike skulks along the bank of the creek he calls River Kree, .44 held low, peering around each tree before moving to the next. Have to be careful now. There’re things in these woods besides the Griffin Brothers.

Hey, Connor whispers, but his voice is not behind Mike, where it should be. It’s coming from the other side of the creek, like, the not-supposed-to-go side. I know where they are. Over here!

Mike just stands there, eyebrows scrunched up and mouth open.

Connor smiles. C’mon, partner! I think I smell a campfire!

He disappears into the dense thicket without a rustle. Mike chews his lip.

Squish!

Mike’s sneakers