[distant siren bending through darkness] [radio chatter] [a man breathing wrong] [faint water underneath everything] Stay with me. [ambulance cabinet rattles] You hear water? No. Then why's it getting louder? [black water slaps concrete] [fishing reel clicks] Bottle. Pole. Cigarette. Car. Water. [one enormous drum hit] FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? [group whisper] LIKE A BODY. FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? [group] WHO FOUND WHO? Don't know. That's the fun part. [heavy live drums stagger in] Face swollen like I borrowed it Blood dried up by one eye Wake up strapped inside a moving box Ask the ceiling if I died Am I dead? No. You sure? Fairly. Fairly's a shitty kind of sure. [needle package tears] Needle in. Pull. Needle in. Pull. Hold still. I am. My soul moved. [hospital television laughs] White light. Crooked curtain. Dirty shirt. No clean story. Somebody found you. Found me like keys or found me like a body? [TV laughter stops] Nobody answers. [hook] FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? [group] BLACK WATER KNOWS. FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? [group] ROOM THIRTY-ONE KNOWS. Everybody missing paperwork tonight FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? [group] STAY WITH ME FIRST. [beat collapses into floor tom] Do you know where you are? In trouble with furniture. [fluorescent buzz] [door latch] Thirty-one. White socks. Plastic bracelet. Too many bodies for one room. You need to cooperate. Thought I was. This is not cooperation. Then y'all should label the rooms better. [door slams] [water surges] Because I said. Because I said. Because I said sit down. That sentence ever work on anybody who ain't already beat? [full band crashes back] Now we're by the ditch. Loose dirt. Car stuck crooked. Fishing pole in weeds. Black water moving like it got someplace better to be. Push on three. Nobody ever means on three. One. See? Two. [huge push] Three. Car said no. [short laugh] You fish here? Sometimes. That legal? You police? Do I look employed? [baritone sax snorts] Name's Ray. Course it is. What's that mean? You look like a Ray. What do you look like? A court date. [laughter cuts] Then the air changes. [low bass pulse] You need to leave. This your ditch? Tonight it is. Congratulations. [shoe slides in gravel] Don't look at him. Why? Because I said. [heartbeat and water] No. [drums erupt] Shoulder. Gravel. Fishing pole snaps. Shirt in a fist. Bottle breaks. Water flashing black. A fist. Maybe. Eye. Breath. Somebody says my name. Maybe. Dirt in my hand. Shoes slipping. Sky without stars. Forward. Falling. Pushed. [all sound cuts] [a single breath] [ambulance siren returns] Daniel. Can you hear me? I win? What? Nothing. [hook returns slower] FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? [group] LIKE A BODY. FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? I woke up. That's the only part with witnesses. [deep knock] Stay awake. Your son. What? Don't let your son mess up like I did. [second voice, close] Stay with me first. [long silence] What? Stay with me first. [low organ enters] Not tomorrow. Not forever. Not forgiveness. Not a cure. Stay with me first. Not the ditch. Not the water. Not the missing half of the night. Stay with me first. [wicked laugh, then quiet] Damn. Even I ain't got a joke for that one. [notebook pages flip] WATER. RAY. LUIS? CAR. FISHING POLES. PUSH ON THREE. DID I SAY IT? GLASS. LEAVE HIM. WINDOWS. WHERE ARE YOU AFTER? [pen scratches] STAY WITH ME FIRST. [pen scratches] STRANGER CALLED. [pen scratches] I MOVED. [drums rebuild from heartbeat] Somebody found me. Nobody gave me a business card. Some stranger saw a body and decided it still belonged to tomorrow. That's rude. [group] RUDE ENOUGH. I don't forgive the water. I don't forgive the night. I don't forgive a missing minute just because I survived. But I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was. [group] THEN HE WAS. [final hook, huge] FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? [group] LIKE A BODY! FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? [group] STAY WITH ME FIRST! Black water. White ceiling. Room thirty-one behind my eyes. FOUND ME LIKE KEYS OR FOUND ME LIKE A BODY? I don't know. But I'm here. [all instruments stop] [refrigerator hum] You awake? Yeah. You okay? [long silence] No. But I'm here. [faint water returns] [a car passes outside] Life keeps going. Rude enough. [end]
