Before They Were Night Vale: Some things just aren't meant to be known (Patreon)

by Jeffrey Cranor

From early on in my writing, I was interested in the things you can't see, can't know, can't understand. I like the suggestion that there are secrets. I like eavesdropping on other people's conversations, not for the lurid details, but for the mundane chitchat that suggests that there MIGHT BE lurid details. 

I'm not sure what the term for this is. Subtext? Sort of, but that's literary sounding. Subtext is what's being talked about when it's not actually what's being said. Like, we're talking about what to have for dinner, but really we're debating whether or not we still love each other enough to make this marriage work. 

And that can be interesting, but I think I'm referring more to getting a peek at something, but not a long enough glance to fully understand what I've seen. We do this in horror movies a lot. There's a shadow that moves past a doorway. Is it an intruder? A ghost? Or just a trick of the light? That's the kind of shit I like. 

During my time in the Neo-Futurists, I wrote a series of short plays over the course of 10 years called "Some things just aren't meant to be known." They varied from quick 10 second flashes to 2-3 minute long obtuse dialogues that suggested there was something else to say, but that you, the audience, were never going to get to know.

I don't know that they worked, but I think my favorite secret joke in all of it was that I wrote 12 of these plays and I numbered them from 1 through 13, skipping 9. So if you were to line them all up, you wouldn't have the 9th part. Some things just aren't meant to be known. 

You're welcome to roll your eyes at that. As I typed it out, I realize it's all very silly, but that's fine. I loved the freedom in the Neo-Futurists to explore tiny little ideas like that. Failure was always an option and often the goal. 

So here's part 2 of "Some things just aren't meant to be known" from August of 2008. You don't get to know what happened in part 1. 

Some things just aren't meant to be known II

© Jeffrey Cranor, 2008

[ 1 & 2 sit on blocks CS ]

1: And that's how it happened.

2: Astonishing.

1: Yep.

2: It's just like…

1: [ interrupts ] What?

2: Well, I suppose just in the story structure.

1: Oh yes. I can see that.

2: And in the way people reacted so viciously.

1: You should have heard what was said.

2: You lose some; you lose some.

BOTH: HAHAHA

[ abrupt stop; beat ]

2: So, did you ever resolve the issue of…

1: [ interrupts ] No! Still dealing with that. I could go on and on.

2: Well, let me know if you need any help.

1: I think I'll just have to work it out on my own.

2: I understand.

[ pause ]

1: Well, there is one pretty major piece of good news!

2: Oh. That's good.

CURTAIN