Vivi looked across to him from her seat next to him in the tiny recording booth. She was counting the seconds with her hand. He nodded to her and flipped a couple of switches, put his headphones and adjusted the mic. Last three seconds. The clock hit midnight. Cal smiled and played the show's intro.
"Got the schedule?" Vivi hissed. He rolled his eyes and pointed. You forget about a guest one time...
CAL: Welcome to Saltwick's premier late night radio talk show, Saltwick Tonight. I'm your host Cal McAndrews here, as always, with my wonderful little sister Vivi McAndrews, say hi, Vivi.
VIVI: He's not the boss of me. Evening, listeners!
CAL: We've got a great show planned for you tonight. We've got our regular Listener Favourites segment coming up in a minute. You want something played on the radio? A favourite from your childhood? A song you heard in the mall last week? If you can name it, we'll play it. Meaning, we're taking requests, if you're giving 'em. And yes, for the eagle-eared among you that was a reference to K.K. Slider. You want to tell them what that's about Vi?
VIVI: Well, it's been six months since my brother came back home here to Saintwick and started his job here on Saltwick Tonight. And you bet we're celebrating! For a bit of fun my brother and I are trying to see how many video game references we can make tonight. Feel free to play along at home, you can reach us at on the phone or over on Twitter, in other words, its Mortal Kombat!
CAL: In slightly better words, we gotta catch 'em all!
VIVI: I'm going to end you.
CAL: You mean lead me to my Doom? That's three to one measly pun already, Vivi.
VIVI: Why don't we get on with the show?
CAL: Yep. We'll whisk you away down the Spirit Tracks of what we've got planned for you this evening. But fear not, the Phantom Hourglass has just been turned.
VIVI: I hate you. Those were awful.
CAL: So in just a moment, after I win this game, we'll have our Listener Favourites followed by a call-in. We want to know what you want to tell us! Got something you're just itching to say to the world? This is the place? Then we got some news features, traffic and weather.
VIVI: And by news, listeners, the non-essential kind that runs at 12AM on a week day. So, essentially interesting facts, but stay tuned.
CAL: [laughs] Right. Lines are quiet for now, so I'm going to follow my own advice and put on a song I heard in
the mall last week. This is Crying at the Wawa by Sam Gethard and Mal Blum.
Cal couldn't help but grin. "You doing okay there, Miss Loosing-Five-to-One?"
Vivi folded her arms. Somehow, since he'd seen her this morning, she'd had time to change her colour contacts to match her outfit. Honestly, Cal didn't know why she bothered. It was radio, after all. Then again, he was the kinda guy with a face perfect for this kind of work and Vivi... Well, Vivi had enough admirers to troll them on Twitter. "Shut up. I'm not letting you win this that easily."
"You seem to be doing a pretty swell job so far." The past six months had been fairly good, all things considered. His bachelors in broadcasting was actually coming in handy (not something he could say for all his classmates) and moving back had meant Vivi could finally move out from their parent's place. Even if living and working with his sister meant that they were never out of each other's hair, and business, and life.
Vivi flipped him the bird, rolling her eyes as Cal stuck his tongue out. "Man. I hope we get some callers tonight. I know its a small town, but its not that small, you know?"
"Well, business isn't exactly booming in the world of late night small town radio, Vi."
"You're telling me. Numbers are up, at least." Turns out that McAndrews infamy was good for something, at least. That, and Vi arguing for them getting anything other than the three AM graveyard shift.
CAL: ...And we're back! And looks like we've got a caller waiting. Line One, you're on with Cal and Vivi on Saltwick Tonight! How're you doing?
