Hovering was created and recorded on the unceded
lands of the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri peoples
of the Kulin Nation. People who have a proud
and incredible history of storytelling stretching
back thousands of years. This always was and
always will be Aboriginal land. Hovering is intended
for a mature audience. It contains strong language
and adult themes including references to sex
and drug use. Listener discretion is advised.
That's all they had. That's okay. Oats slice
or something. Looks healthy. I'll save it for
later. Anyone turn up while I was gone? Nobody
that fits the description. And this is... Definitely
where she wanted to meet. This is the place.
Should we just find out where she lives or something?
We have to let her come to us. It's been half
an hour already. We might be waiting all night.
Feels like that might be a waste of time. Well,
we need to wait until she's ready. Just trust
me on this. So how long have you been in the
Sears for? Six years now. Matt? Okay, it takes
that long to work your way up? There's no work
your way up. If you don't want to, you don't
come to meetings. If you find it useful, it's
there. I've found it more useful than others.
So now I'm more experienced and I take the lead
in situations like these. I mean, I've been to
a few meetings now. It's cool. Do you think that's
her? Could be. Just stay put. I was just gonna
say hi. Wait for her to say it first. Maybe she
needs a little encouragement. She'd be happy
to stay here all night for nothing. We're showing
to Neil that we're here for her when she's ready.
Alright. You've been to a few meetings, right?
Yeah. Would you have come to a meeting if someone
had made you talk the first time? I guess I can
see what you're getting at. We don't exist to
put pressure on anyone, okay? We exist so that
people have someone to talk to when they want
to. Whenever they feel like they want to. I was
17. I was about that age too. Yeah? Hmm, thereabouts.
Does it ever get easier? Gets easier to hear
when you've said it a bunch of times out loud.
A bunch of us went fishing over Easter. Right.
We drove down to South Australia. To the Kurong,
do you know? Yeah. This big woodland before you
reach Adelaide, it's like a flat, long bog for
ages. So we were driving back at night through
this national park, it's kind of long, straight
road. Nobody around, there's a servo and then...
nothing for kilometers. We were driving through
that. I was in the front passenger seat. My mate
was driving and then there were a couple of guys
in the back. They were asleep. And I was just,
you know, kind of watching the road just roll
out in front of us. Just the endless monotony
of it. And then total darkness. Pass the headlines
And then the van Started shaking Ryan And you
know, you know, I wasn't the best condition van
so I'm thinking Okay, we need to pull over but
then Then it just stops engine just just cuts
and I'm thinking well this is this is fucked
you know we're in the middle nowhere middle of
the night and you know my mates got his phone
out he's trying to call someone but then there's
this then there's this light not from the sky
you know like from from from under the van a
light a glow And my mate can't get through on
the phone to anyone just like dead air And then
the van starts shaking again And now it's quite
strong. Okay, like like like violent shaking
and then and then the van Lifts up into the air.
I swear to God I can feel it hanging in the air
and my mate he's going crazy and the other guys
in the back have woken up and they scream, but
I'm kind of quiet I don't know what to say. I'm
kind of... I felt like my voice had left my body.
And where... The whole van is hanging in the
air with this light for... I'd say five seconds?
And then we drop onto the road again. So we make
contact with the road like there's an audible
thud so it we're definitely we would we would
we were definitely off the ground And then just
out of nowhere that engine turns back on and
headlights turn on and everything's right again
like Like nothing had happened The moment driving
is freaking out Okay, so then we we pull over
and get out of the car and the phone's working
again so we reported to the roadside assistance
people and and just wait there for ages for someone
to come check out the vehicle but like there's
nothing physically wrong with it it's it's working
fine but it's it's really shaken us and my mate
is convinced there's some fault with the van
but there's there's clearly not all of us standing
out on that road knew it was not the van but
then the longer we waited in the dark and you
know took turns taking naps before these roadside
assistance guys turned up it was like the further
we got from it the easier it was to just pretend
it was nothing like it was an engine fault we
were dealing with so that's that's what my mate
decided And some of the other guys in the back
decided they'd dreamt it. You know, we didn't
discuss it. We just kind of decided communally
without speaking that we would pretend that this
thing that had just happened to us hadn't happened
to us. And it was weird for me because there
were other people around when it happened, so
it felt like... I've had moments where I felt
like I'm crazy, to be honest. Like four other
grown adults were there with me and say it didn't
happen and I know it did but I Don't know maybe
it didn't You know, if they're so convinced it
didn't happen then maybe it didn't But then That
means there's something seriously wrong with
my head To have experienced something that to
me was real Do you think there's something wrong
with your head? No. I just couldn't get back
on with my life without acknowledging that this
thing that I'd experienced was real. I couldn't
put it out of my head. It stayed there. I googled
stuff. but only when I was alone, because I was
ashamed of it. I felt like a weirdo, you know?
But when I found you guys, the idea that I could
talk about this thing that I had been hiding,
that I could talk about it with a bunch of people
who might listen and get it, that meant a lot
to me. Well, I'm glad you found us. Yeah. Me
too. It's hard to accept something that everyone
else around you just refuses to accept. It takes
a lot of courage. Yeah. That's her. That's her.
She's waving. Should we go over? Yeah, I think
we should. Are you coming? I think she'd like
to hear from you first. Alright. Hovering is
written and directed by Alex Duncan. It was produced
by Alex Duncan and Clea Frost. This episode
was performed by Oliver Coleman and Ben Clements.
Sound design and mixing by Clea Frost. Music
by Audrey Vixen. Cover art by Phoenix Waddell.
Full credits and more information available in
our show notes.