Episode 12 - The Salesman

"The Salesman" by NK Owens
A down-and-out salesman tried to sell to a new market.

Author
NK Owens - Reddit Profile | Twitter

Cast
D.E. Medus - david.medusmedia.com

Music
Into the Unknown by Oddsprite

Episode Transcript

(00:13):
Hello and welcome to me this podepisode 12. I'm your host de
metus. Our story for thisepisode The salesman comes to us
from MK Owens in K is 25, anengineer by trade and from
Texas. Hey, I'm from Texas. Heloves reading and is currently
working on a cyberpunk novel. Healso spends his time writing

(00:34):
short stories with the salesmanbeing his first. The best way to
read his works would be onReddit under the handle in K
underscore Owens or on Twitterat in K underscore Owens. Links
will be in the show notes.Without further ado, the
salesman by N K O ns.

(01:08):
Park the cruiser at the top ofthe valley and took in the view
the tiny wooden village andalone at the bottom. It was
nearly deserted, each building5060 yards away from the other.
No network connection. Notransit lines, no climbs and no
lights. The soil arranged andhopeless plots around the

(01:30):
village dry gray fishers cutthrough the plots. They weren't
gonna grow shit here. No wonderNexus and color them keep it I
plucked a cigarette from mypocket and lit it. Who would
want to live in the stomp? Checkmy ptr is the smoke drifted
overhead. The number offlickered before my eyes too

(01:51):
fast to read and transformedinto a READ ERROR that consume
the Golden Valley and its woodenvillage. I slapped the metal in
my neck once twice and the errordisappeared. Piece of shit
software check the PTR again1108 was will drive down there a

(02:14):
glare from the valley a dinkyantique truck towards way up
clouded dust behind it. Bouttime I flattened the front of my
blazer rolled my shoulders backand went over my lines howdy
excellent plot of land y'allfolks have here now now to

(02:35):
hockey talk that are simple notcowboys. How are you doing?
Beautiful place for I can't helpbut notice it's a bit dry. Seems
like it might be difficult togrow crops out here now to
patronizing. Howdy, it looksgreat out here do it and damn it

(02:57):
Honky Tonk again. I chose mycollar and it barely moved. How
these fuckers wear these things.I use my cruiser as a mirror and
loosen my tie a bit. Now toomuch. It lost its shape and lay
flat. a noose like around myneck. What a waste of money. I

(03:20):
grumbled at the back of my truckcan't have these clients seeing
a salesperson disheveled. With atap on the back of my cruiser
the trunk unfolded inwardthrough the tie inside. I
pressed the button again andcame around to the front of
trucks rested maroon body alldents and scratches road to stop
just past the gate. It was awonder it could still drive. I

(03:45):
gave it a wide smile on a waveand took a step forward. No
response. The windows weresmooth and with a permanent
black tent and with the sunbouncing off of them secretive.
What was going on in there? Ishifted my way to the other
foot. HQ said it would be a hardsell out here. But rent wasn't

(04:08):
going to pay itself. I tookanother step toward the truck
and hornblende I froze. A driverdoor flew open and a man stepped
out clad in a white shirt andblack coat and off yellow bowl
shaped hat was affixed to hishead. He spit a gob under the

(04:29):
dry earth and stared at me. Igave him a smile. Howdy.
Beautiful place y'all have here?A man frowned. His contempt was
palpable. Was it my neck mod ormaybe the car should have
brought a beater instead? Ican't help but notice it's a bit

(04:50):
dry out here in both water andelectricity. I was hoping to
discuss how we could help youall. The man snorted. Who sent
you Damn offensive already. I'mwith pill sack corpse. I said,
Well, it's a more of aindependent contractor. Like I

(05:12):
said, I'm here to find peoplewho can benefit from our
products. We don't want it sirleave a said. I let the word
simmer. Nothing moved. Sir, I'mafraid I have to invoke mi 193.
I paused, which guarantees theright to enter for purposes of

(05:35):
either marketing or the manjumped in his truck and slammed
the door. And another second hewas tearing down the dirt road.
I side as he went, legally, Ihad the right to follow but
practically I did not, Igroaned. The threat had been to
force a bargain. Not make medrive down there.

(05:57):
If you actually had to invoke mi193 than the deal was already
drowning. I glanced to the citybehind me. Pilar didn't care if
I couldn't make the sale. Hewanted his rent money. My shoes
were shreds a plastic cleaninginto my feet. My software barely
functional. I could still makeit back to the city and peddle

(06:18):
around the southern district forbet might find someone in dire
need like last month. I ran myfingers through my hair that was
barely a commission. Selling tothese people was much more
lucrative. There was no choice.I tap the cruiser and slid into
the driver's seat. Manual mode.He said in manual mode. My hands

(06:44):
felt good on the wheel. It hadbeen a while. Soon I was rolling
down the hill to the trucksdusty wake. How can I make this
sale? What can I offer thesepeople my top my fingers against
the wheel. The crop angle hadbeen the best pad and that idea

(07:05):
had been shot down kicked andPulverize. Against all odds they
still refused internet andnearly anything electronic which
cut down the list of pesticideproducts by 90%. Close tools
food all created and boughtelsewhere. Aside guess it would
be another attempt of the cropgenetics. I turned the tent down

(07:28):
the sunlight flooded thecruiser, white fluffy clouds
drifted across the cool bluesky. The land might have been
shit but the sky was appealing.It was a far cry from the solid
sheet of grey that passed forthe sky in the city. And that
was if you could glimpses thisguy walks in the low clouds.

(07:48):
When I reached down, I set thedrive to auto and watch the
buildings pass by the wood wascharming antique feel to it. It
was almost comfortable. Nowsafe. Like you could Nestle
inside it and be protected fromthe world. That that was true

(08:09):
though. And the bomb on thestreet would have enough
firepower to knock one of thosethings down. For all its
prettiness it wasn't worth it tolive off the grid like this.
These poor slobs didn't know anybetter. I rolled to a stop
behind the truck was parked atthe far end of the town, close
enough to be seen in theshuttered windows of the houses

(08:29):
but far enough to be quiet. Theman was already in an animated
conversation with a plaindressed woman. She stomped away
as I got out. I flattened myblazer and cracked my neck. No
pitch this time. No more hokeydokie talk just one man sell
into another man. It's evennicer once you get down here. I

(08:51):
said. Look, let me say that Ihate to invoke mi 193 a man
slammed his door and grumbledyou got five minutes and get
out. A woman whistled andapproval or disapproval from an
heiress houses porch. She couldhear good. She could help drive

(09:14):
the sale. Happy wife happy lifewas one of my grandpa's favorite
sayings. I know you might not beable to tell. I tapped into
metal that ran up my neck. ButI've been in your shoes before.
I grew up with dusters. Now wedidn't have any hope of growing

(09:34):
crops and motion to the emptyfields. But I remember when the
freaks from the city would comedown and tell us what we needed
and why and that's what theywere freaks metalled and
tattooed freaks paused for afact. He was still listening, a
good sign. So I get it. I saidnow my job is to find people who

(09:59):
would benefit from it. Willsacking products. Poolside
primarily sells medicalequipment modifications,
augmentations, whatever you wantto call it. You don't want that.
You don't need that and that'sfine. But what about fertilizer?
Or crops genetically altered tothrive in the soil that you have
here? Imagine how things wouldbe with something like that. I

(10:20):
pushed my hair to the side andshrug. Who knows you might not
need to buy any more food fromthe city. Man thought it over.
Weigh the scales. Perfect.
I wasn't so hard. was an obviousthough when you think about it.
You can't sell a fish shoes.What city you grew up in? I
froze the city. No, I couldn'tsay that. Mercedes I've learned

(10:47):
that was a name from somewherefrom some time and it was too
late and the word itself jumpedout of my mouth too fast and too
unnaturally. A man scowled.Mercedes got swallowed 30 years
ago, just another liar, aren'tyou? He spit on the ground. We
don't need your help with thecrops. When he returns he will

(11:08):
bring us a plentiful harvest.The man looked at his mechanical
watch. Three minutes. I rolledmy eyes and turned and I was the
freak because I had a few chipslodged in my head. The cell was
more dead than this place. Isighed and ran my fingers over

(11:28):
my jaw and the savings toothinside. My last, unfortunately,
least valuable. And I saw it amural splay across a lone stone
wall. In the painting, a ganglywhite man with brown locks in a
brown beard looks skyward. Hiseyes blue, and full of hope.

(11:53):
Jesus Christ. I spun to the man.So when does he return? The man
narrowed his eyes and took astep forward. August 3 is the
divine day a man said, and we'llsee to that. My wife is carrying
him. He just had his chest out.August 3, that's very specific.

(12:18):
His wife leaned forward. The manspoke again loudly, confidently,
his eyes full of hope, like themural on the wall. That was the
day to Cree by the Lord Himself,August 3, and we will rise again
and he will wash away all ofthis. And in those rains, a
fruitful harvest will grow. Idon't expect you to understand

(12:43):
that. And you're sure she'scarrying him? The man scout? Of
course she is. Well, then that'sa great honor. And I'm sure your
neighbors will look up to youfolks. I continued. Last year my
sister was pregnant with mynephew. The due date was
February 15, which wasunfortunate because Len was set

(13:05):
to demo some technology andAntarctica, from the third to
the 22nd. As you can imagine,that isn't the best time nor
place to have a baby. I laughedand lit a cigarette. The man and
his wife We're all ears. So sheordered one of our new products,
Leo. It's called and used it tomove the delivery. She picked

(13:28):
the 25th I believe. And then shehad plenty of time after the
trip to rest and hydrate beforethe big day. Took a drag. Of
course, we could have set itbefore the trip. Or any day
really. I showed you folks mustbe grateful not to need
something like that. The man waswide eyes. His lips parted,

(13:51):
hungry. His wife waddled to himand whispered in his ear. She
was hungry to maybe evenhungrier. I check the time via
PTR 1123. My five minutes wasup. Well, I said looks like my
time is up. Sorry, I couldn't beof any help to you folks. But

(14:14):
you do have phones, don't you? Ipulled a paper business card
from my jacket and extended it.Give me a call if I can ever
help you with something. The manlicked his lips and grabbed the
card. I nodded at both of themand turn towards the cruiser.
The door slid open and I hoppedin, wheeled it around and was

(14:35):
throwing up dust on my way tothe top. I could feel myself
grinning and it turned into agood pitch after all. I flicked
the into my cigarette out andglanced in the mirror and hoped
they didn't see that. I watchedthe town grow smaller in the
rear view. It was tiny, dustyand isolated. But the sobs

(14:57):
didn't mind as much as a personmight expect In fact, I hadn't
seen someone with that kind ofhope in their eyes since well,
never. I looked in the mirrorand studied my own eyes. I had
never looked like that andmolded that over. Maybe these
people are onto something

(15:24):
or maybe not
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(15:48):
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a good one, folks. We'll see younext time.