Page 42 of Control

“Yeah.” He said it with such ease, like he hadn’t done something so wonderful for me.

“Thank you, Ty. Thank you for thinking about me and bringing some things over for us to pass the time.”

He sent a proud smile my way. “You’re welcome. Now, what are you going to report on?”

“Pardon?”

Ty shot me a look of incredulity. “Well, you need to practice. So, what are you going to report on?”

“You want me to come up with something to report on just like that,” I said with a snap of my fingers.

“It doesn’t have to be actual news. It could be anything you feel confident talking about. Maybe a subject you know a lot about or a topic that gets you really fired up. This is just for practice, so have fun with it.”

At the mention of having fun, an idea popped into my head. “Okay, I know what I’m going to talk about.”

Ty seemed surprised I came up with something so quickly. “Great. Now, do you want to just start rolling, or do you want to come up with a name for your podcast?”

My eyes narrowed as I considered all the possibilities for a podcast name. The Alana Wolf Show seemed the most practical, but I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to go with the obvious. That I was even here doing this was all because of Ty, and I wondered if there was a way to pay homage to him.

“I think I’ll just wing it,” I said, hoping I could come up with something on the fly.

He shrugged. “Perfect. If you’re ready, I’ll get the camera going.”

I was surprised by how excited I was about this. I couldn’t wait to see Ty’s reaction to my first news topic. “Great. Where do you want me to go?”

As Ty set the camera up on the tripod a few feet in front of where I was sitting on the couch, he said, “Stay where you are. We’re just practicing, and you need to rest your foot. You’d be sitting while recording a podcast anyway, so you should just get used to that.”

That made sense. “Sounds good to me.”

“Alright, the camera is all set, and we’re recording. Start whenever you’re ready.”

I parted my lips, inhaled, and completely froze.

Ty noticed, pressed the button on the camera, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know how to do this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m a reporter. I research and investigate and report. I’m not a news anchor. I don’t speak in front of the camera. How do I even talk to nobody?”

Ty put his hands on his hips. “Am I nobody?”

“I didn’t mean you. I mean, in general. Yes, you’re here now, but if I’m going to seriously consider going down this road, I have to figure out how to talk to people that aren’t in front of me.”

He nodded. “Yeah, sometimes you are probably going to have to do that. It’ll get easier the more you do it. That’s why we’re practicing. Now, take a deep breath, think about your topic, and tell me when you’re ready.”

I inhaled deeply and released that breath. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Ty pressed the button and pointed at me to let me know I could start.

“Good morning, this is…. Wait, wait, wait. Is it good morning? Should I say that? What if it’s afternoon? How do people start podcasts? I can’t even remember now.”

Laughter spilled out of Ty as he stopped the camera recording, reset it, and said, “Most people probably start it with whatever time of day they upload their podcasts. Or, they go with something that’s universal and could work at any time of the day.”

“Welcome. I could use that.”

He sent me a nod of approval. “Exactly. That’s perfect. Alright, are you ready now?”

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