Don't Mind | Sealskin Rock | Ep. 4

Hello listeners, welcome back.

I'm K.A.

Stats, the writer and creator of Don't Mind.

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Previously, on Don't Mind Sealskin Rock.

Awaking for their first morning in the chateau, Melody went downstairs to use the Wi-Fi while Maxine slept in.

Downstairs, while looking for the Wi-Fi password, Melody discovered Julia standing inside a closet.

Julia was not the only one acting strange as Melody soon found Ian working with bloodied hands and her father standing inside the large marble fireplace, writing into the soot.

Later that night, awoken from sleep by a burst of wind, Melody left their room in search of their father but stopped when Maxine let out a terrified scream.

Don't mind sealskin rock

dad,

are you there?

Max!

Max, what's wrong?

What happened?

Someone was in the window, right there, out on the balcony.

Hide, get down!

Max, stay here, okay?

Stay down here.

Don't make a sound.

I'm gonna go look.

No, no, don't go out there.

Get dad.

Don't go.

Dad's not here.

I don't see anyone.

Just stay here.

Maybe it's nothing.

Just women over bats.

You don't know what's out there.

I saw something, no, really.

Don't go.

Which is why I'm gonna check.

Just hold on, okay?

If you're out here, I will push you off this balcony.

Hear me!

Melody!

What's out there?

Nothing.

I don't see anything.

Give me a second.

Hello?

Mel?

There's nothing.

Are you sure you saw someone?

A

Yeah, there's no one out there.

Are you okay?

What did you see?

Let me help you back up.

I swear there was something there Mel.

I was trying to get back to sleep and I rolled over and there was just a face staring in from the balcony door.

I'm not joking.

I saw it.

The eyes were so clear.

The rain is crazy strong.

I wouldn't be surprised if something looked creepy as hell out there.

But are you okay?

Did you hit your head?

It wasn't just the rain!

If there was someone out there, they aren't out there now.

And Max, it's like a four-story drop down to the rock out there.

And then another fall from the rocks down into the water.

Do you want to sleep on this side then?

I can take the side near the window.

You didn't see anything?

Not even footprints?

Not a thing.

Can't see very far though.

The rain's really heavy.

Right.

That's not here?

No.

I think.

Girls, what's wrong?

Who screamed?

Are you okay?

What happened?

There was someone staring in from out on the balcony.

I went out to check, but I didn't find anything.

You didn't see it too, Mel?

I wasn't here.

Why?

Where were you?

Looking for you.

Where were you?

I.

I ran up from the other floor.

I came back to the room around 10 p.m.

Maybe I was sleepwalking?

Wouldn't be the first time.

I'm not sure sleepwalkers take the time to sit down and put their boots on, Dad.

At least you've never done it before.

And it doesn't look like you've changed or showered since yesterday.

You never came back last night.

I was awake at 10.

You didn't come back.

Did you see anything or not?

Yes.

No, but that doesn't mean something wasn't there.

Were you still working?

I don't.

I couldn't sleep.

What did I see out there?

There was something out there.

It wasn't the rain, and it wasn't my imagination.

Give me a second.

I'll be right back.

Did he see something?

I don't know, maybe.

How are you doing?

Fine.

I'm sorry, Mel, but I really did see something.

At least I think I did.

That's okay.

Don't worry about it.

I'm relieved it's nothing.

The best thing it could be is nothing.

Unless dad finds something.

And then I'm just happy you didn't get hurt.

I either need to go back to sleep or I need a snack.

I'm getting hungry.

The room next door, some kind of bedroom, had its window wide open.

The curtains were fluttering outside of the window.

Could you have seen that?

No, I don't think so.

It wasn't like I saw some kind of scooby-doo white-cheek ghost.

I saw eyes.

A face.

Maybe it was just the rain.

But there's nothing out there, Max.

Well, there's nothing out there now.

Let's just try and get back to sleep.

Like you said, if I stay up, I'm gonna need a snack.

Good.

Get back to sleep.

I'll see you girls in the morning.

And, Mel, don't forget to pick up the grocery box from the front room tomorrow.

Ian said Lucas is dropping by early.

I won't forget.

Dad keeps wearing his boots in the rooms.

His footprints get everywhere.

Cut him some slack.

He came rushing in after you yelled, just like I did.

Are you gonna be able to go back to sleep?

Yeah, but do you mind if I watch some of that new amber stream to fall asleep to?

It'll distract my brain.

You said she's playing a horror game.

She is, but she's so chill, and I fall asleep to her videos all the time.

Fine.

But if you start seeing messed up faces and scary eyes staring at you every night, I'll know why.

Then watch with me.

You'll see, it's not so bad.

I'm

we saw that the other, uh, that the other room had the glass vials with the different colors, but one saw it was empty.

And so it may be that we're looking for another one of those vials.

Just like a different color.

Maybe it's nothing, and I'm just overthinking.

Didn't I just bow

and then

morning

X, you're up and about today?

Just for a bit.

I'm already feeling shaky on my feet, but after the whole evil eyes thing last night, I think I need to move around a bit.

I want to go out on the balcony, but it's still a bit too cold.

Do you remember what it looked like?

Can you describe it?

It was really fast, and I couldn't see it after I fell out of bed.

But when I first saw it, I just turned over and

these two eyes.

I could see the white parts.

They were staring in.

There was a scrunched-up center where the nose was pressed against the

and I could see teeth.

Like

big teeth?

No, but like a big creepy smile.

Oh.

What time is it?

About 9.45.

Oh,

I was supposed to meet Mr.

Lucas down at the docks this morning.

Calm down.

I already saw his boat leave.

You missed him.

Oatmeal?

Dad made it this morning before you went down.

It's not hot anymore, but it's warm-ish.

Well, mostly-ish.

You left already?

Yeah, sure.

Thanks.

Hey, so

do you know what happened to my violin?

It was put away wrong and there's a string missing.

Yes, I'm so sorry, Max.

I'm trying to get it fixed.

I will.

I will get it fixed.

I was walking through the room and it was really dark.

I stepped on it and one of the strings snapped.

I'm really sorry.

I was able to take the string off, and I brought it down to Lucas.

I asked him to look for a replacement when he went shopping for us, so maybe, if we're lucky, it could already be downstairs.

I'm sorry.

Really, it was an accident.

I never meant to hurt it.

I love your violin.

You're so good at it.

And as soon as I get dressed, I'll go down and check the box.

If he can't find one in the town nearby, could we order one to his address?

I think I can restring it, but I've never done it before.

I don't think it requires any tools or anything.

I can bring the phone down, tell him some videos on how to do it, and then we can work on it together.

Again, I am so sorry.

It's not like I can do anything else about it.

It's already gone.

So, I need to find a new one.

And I don't think we'll be going anywhere with a violin shop or something for, like, a while.

That's that, then.

We'll just have to wait and see.

I know.

It just happened at the worst time.

I'll go down in a couple of minutes.

You know, I usually take such good care of it.

Just fix it, please.

I will.

Please don't be mad at me.

You're all I've got.

I know.

Same.

Why can't we go live somewhere normal?

Like Carrie and Alex in an apartment in town, not in some sus motel or a weird old chateau like this.

I thought you liked the chateau.

You said it was like a castle.

I do.

It's cool and creepy and really pretty, but it's just us.

Dad stays downstairs all day and you're the only person that I see.

At least at the motels I could sit outside and see people.

Say hi to our neighbors.

Wave to the old ladies who are always outside chopping vegetables.

Those ladies were nice.

Now, I've got nothing but you.

I know, but even when I go downstairs, it's not like everyone wants to talk to me.

They're all working and we're just...

taking up space, wasting their time.

No, Maxine, no.

Is that what you feel like?

Absolutely not.

You're not a waste of time, and you're not just taking up space, you're my best friend.

I'm your sister.

That's just an added perk.

I was talking to dad, and he said that he should be moving on to the next job by Christmas.

We could get a real apartment by then.

He even said we could get you into school next semester.

Don't lie.

We're never anywhere long enough for that to happen.

I know, it's hard to believe it will happen, but it might.

This job is different.

I mean, we're in a chateau.

The payout must be good.

You've seen this place.

There's so much work to be done.

I haven't seen all of it.

Me either, but apparently some of it's unsafe, and Dad's afraid that because of some water damage, I could just fall through the floor.

And when I get a job, we can get a real apartment.

It'll be about the size of a shoebox, but a real apartment.

Dad can come visit us between his jobs, and then it won't matter where his jobs take him.

Oh, and then we can use that marshmallow-scented soap he hates, and we'll play our music as loud as we want.

We'll still have neighbors.

Okay,

we'll play loud music, and when people come to complain, we'll give them your gingerbread cookies until they don't care anymore.

And they'll love you.

All our neighbors always love you.

Maybe not when you were seven and your violin was trash, but now, with how well you play and how nice you are, our neighbors always love you.

Do you think if we have an apartment and we're there for a long time?

No, I don't think so.

And I think it's better not to ever think that or think about that.

But she's still out there, right?

So it's always possible.

We don't know that.

But I don't think it's possible.

I don't think we should hope for something like that.

But there are some things we can hope for.

So I'll get you that violin string and those blueberries.

Or at least I'll try.

Yeah,

fine.

Yeah.

Are you heading down now?

That's the plan.

Just need my hoodie.

I'm not mad at you.

I'm glad to hear it, but I'm still sorry.

I'm gonna go get food and check for the string.

Do you want me to bring down the phone to download more videos?

Maybe a few about replacing violin strings?

Not yet.

Not until we know, because the phone's running out of space.

Alright, I'll be back soon.

Later, could we explore the chateau a bit more with the radios?

Maybe, but I have to admit I'm a bit scared to walk into a room and just poof fall through the floor.

I have some choice to do today's and uh schoolwork you've put off.

I know.

Oh, take the trash down with you.

It's filled with paper towels after I cleaned up all that water and dirty boot prints you and dad tracked in everywhere.

Got it.

Never ending descending steps

Miss Julia

for the chateau

stone and a rock

Miss Julia are you on the phone?

I have a lot of work today, Miss Melody.

Right.

I

brought down our trash.

Did Mr.

Lucas drop off a box for us this morning?

This is your delivery here, dear.

Thanks.

Are you alright, Miss Julia?

You look tired.

I am.

Can you see it in my eyes?

The lines?

The sag?

No,

I mean,

you look stressed.

Like, you need a break.

I'm going to get one rather soon.

Give me the trash, dear.

I'll add it to mine and take it out later.

Yeah, okay.

Thanks.

I'm sorry I wasn't down here earlier.

I had planned on it, but I just ended up sleeping in.

Did Mr.

Lucas have anything to say to me when he dropped off the box?

Just that he added a few extra things for you and Maxine.

Books, mostly.

Oh, okay.

Nothing else?

Not that I know of.

But young Mr.

Paulson left with Mr.

Broadrock to pick up further supplies for the basement demolition.

He was here working even before your father came down.

Hmm?

Excuse me.

So weird.

Mandarins, blueberries, flower.

Sure.

Miss Julia,

your hands.

Did you eat some of the blueberries?

You can, of course, please.

Yes, I'm sorry.

When I saw them, I just couldn't resist.

There's still so many left.

I stopped myself, you know.

Controlled myself.

Okay, that's fine.

And yeah, lots of books.

He didn't ask for books.

Miss Julia, is everything alright?

Mr.

Julia?

No need to worry.

Just an old plate.

plate.

Plates.

Now,

it looks like Mr.

Broadrock gave you a few fun things.

I used to love all science fiction books.

But some of these are a bit less fun.

Local history

and a GED prep book.

Just...

How old are you, Melody?

I'm sixteen.

And Maxine is twelve.

Her birthday is later this month, though.

Oh,

you and young young Maxine really should be in school, not out here.

Yeah, well, we're here.

And we do online courses on our phone.

We don't need books like this.

Probably outdated, anyways.

What about this one?

Is there stuff about this place in here?

If you want to know more.

If you want to learn more about the rock and the chateau, I have a few newspaper clippings about it.

Here you are.

Wow, these are old.

Well, Silskin Rock has been here forever, and the chateau for a long time.

I'm sure there's more information on the internet too, though I'm more of a book-in-the-hand kind of girl.

But these are newspaper clippings, a few local magazine articles, and anything we could find, really.

This one's from 1924.

And this one's from World War II.

How did you get these?

The caretaker always collects them.

I do it now, too.

See?

This article was from a nearby local paper when the shuttle sold to Anne Rock.

Rock swept up by Anne Rock.

Can I bring these upstairs for Maxine to see?

She'll love this.

She's into all those investigator podcast and history deep dives.

And I'll bring them back down afterward.

Maybe tomorrow, if that's okay.

Of course.

Enjoy.

Just be sure to bring them back.

Don't forget.

There are a lot of interesting pieces in there.

Oh, and when you read about Henry, please know it was not in your room.

What does that mean?

Henry Don Lacrote.

He died in the chateau, and his body was not found for some time.

But please know he didn't die in your rooms.

He kept his apartment on the second floor.

Oh,

okay.

That's good to know.

Like I said, I'll bring them back tomorrow or the day after at the latest.

Only if you're sure I can take them.

You look unsure.

No, no.

Please do.

The chateau is such an interesting place.

Look, one moment.

Here.

Back in 1941, the chateau was manned by a small group of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service who used Silskin Rock as a U-boat watch station for the Gulf of St.

Lawrence.

There were no defensive ammunitions on the island, but the watch station was important for alerting nearby armed stations and protecting the main railways running through New Brunswick.

This was when power was run out to the rock.

And those women were the ones who planted all the berries in the courtyard, along with beets, cabbages, all kinds of things.

Only the berry bushes have survived.

The thorny little things have really taken over.

Oh my god.

Violin string?

He found one.

Thank you, Mr.

Lucas.

Thank you, thank you.

Is it Maxine that plays?

I forget.

Yep, she's been teaching herself for years, and I think she's really good.

We've been super lucky.

You've always been able to find her the next size up at pawn shops, but this one didn't come with any extra strings.

She's very talented.

I've enjoyed hearing her practice.

There's a piano in the music room on the second floor, next to what was once Henry's apartment.

It's out of tune.

Just left alone for years and years.

So it's nice to hear music coming down the stairs.

She didn't play this morning, though, yes?

Yeah, because I broke the string.

But it'll be fine soon.

We'll fix it.

I'm gonna go say hi to my dad and then go back up to give Maxine the string.

Is it okay if I leave the box here for another minute?

And she'll love these articles on the chateau, too.

I'll be sure to return them.

Hmm?

Yes, of course.

Melody,

don't

don't stay down there too long.

It's not safe.

Construction and all.

I know.

Thanks.

Dad?

You down here?

Dad?

Dad!

Hey, Mel.

Need something?

Just letting you know we got the box of food for Mr.

Lucas.

I know.

I saw him drop it off when we went upstairs for the extra hauling bags.

How's Maxine after last night?

You okay?

She's fine.

I told her...

that you said we may be somewhere else for Christmas.

Well, we'll see how the work goes.

Right.

You shouldn't be down here.

That's what Julia said, too.

Seems like this whole place is just gonna fall down on me.

What's on your boots?

Looks like glitter.

No.

Shit.

Hey!

Get upstairs.

Go.

Go!

Sorry, Mel.

No, it's not glitter.

It's glass.

Tiny shards of glass.

Look, we even have masks for for when we're working.

I just took it off for a bit of coffee, but it's dangerous to breathe it in.

That and a lot of other things in this old place.

You need to avoid going in the basement.

Hear me?

Glass?

Among other things.

Fine.

It looks like you've gotten most of the basement floor and subfloor demolished, but please just be careful.

Or you may end up hurting your back even worse.

If you can't do this job, I don't know what'll happen.

My back feels fine.

Better than it has in a while.

I'm going back down, unless you need something from me.

Maxine's birthday.

Do we have any money for that new game?

You know, as a gift?

If she needs it, take some of the money from the grocery envelope.

That's money for food.

It's budgeted.

Everything's budgeted.

A new video game wasn't part of the budget.

A birthday gift for Maxine?

Didn't make it into the budget?

Look, figure something out.

I need to get back to work.

I have things to get done before Ian gets back.

And there's no budget for games or food at all if I don't work.

Are you fucking kidding me?

I can't.

I can't even get her a cake.

What am I supposed to get her?

Ramen packets?

Pickles?

Damn it.

The violin string.

Isn't a gift, it's a replacement.

The books.

I can hide a few.

She likes likes books.

This is so stupid.

Maybe Julia can help.

She said she liked Maxine's playing.

But

Maxine only plays in the evenings.

Well,

usually.

And Julia said she's not here after sunset.

Hey, Miss Julia, when did you come?

Ready?

Daddy!

Yay!

Don't Mind Sealskin Rock.

Written and created by K.A.

Stats.

Produced, directed, with additional sound design by Travis Vengroff.

Co-edited and directed with dialogue editing, editing, sound design, mixing, and mastering by Finner Nielsen.

Writing assistance by W.K.

Stats.

Music by Brandon Boone.

And executive producers Dennis Greenhill, A.J.

Punkin, Carol Vengroff, and Michael Viegas.

Starring Marcy Edwards, Lily Pichu, Ewan Sheng, Stefan Konekart, Russ Moore, Mark Muir, and Caroline St.

Pei.

For bonus content, early releases, and ad-free episodes, please support the creators at patreon.com/slash foolandscholar.

You can also get a limited edition sealskin rock coin made of metal if you sign up today.

This is a Fool and Scholar production.

Thank you for listening.

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