THE STARTER
Project Overview
Welcome to Maplewood-Sparta, where suburban streets are lined with shadows. Some say the 90s are dead and gone. But here ... they linger.
This is the sixth in the SPARTANS! anthology—think Are You Afraid of the Dark? meets haunted mixtapes and 90s nostalgia.
Episode 6: THE STARTER—a story of Saint Patrick's Day 1995, high school baseball, and a magic ritual that lets you pull from your well of luck ... with a catch.
STORY DESCRIPTIONTold around a campfire by his younger brother, this is the story of high school senior Patrick, who stands on the edge of everything he’s ever wanted—and everything he might lose.
In the shadowed ballfields of Maplewood-Sparta, Patrick has always been the relief pitcher, always waiting for his shot to start, to finally matter. But with his future and a college scholarship on the line, and his best friend Mike burning with his own hunger for glory, the boys turn to a whispered legend: a secret ritual that promises a way to tap into your well of luck… for a price.
Patrick’s best friend Mike, a charismatic ex-QB and current ace on the mound, is desperate to bring back the glory days of the Spartans’ legendary ’93 shutout season. He drags Patrick to meet the fallen Old Captain, who reveals a simple, dangerous ritual: knot a thread torn from something you wear proud (a Starter jacket), speak a couplet, burn the thread—and “withdraw” luck from your life’s fixed account.
The risk: no one knows how much luck they have to spend, or what’s left after the cheers fade.
Both characters Patrick and Mike have been introduced in SPARTANS! episode 4: THE CHAIN.
You can listen to past episodes of the SPARTANS! anthology here.
EPISODE RATING for THE STARTER
🌙 Lantern (Teen / PG-13)
Advisory: Ritual magic/luck spell; underage alcohol presence; sports injury; themes of pressure/envy; mild profanity.
Run-time: Approx. 30 minutes.
Word Count: approx 4,100
TIMELINE
Audition deadline: January 21, 2026 (end of day)
Casting decisions: January 22, 2026
Table read (zoom): About 1 hour. Any day January 24-27 (flexible, based on actor's availability)
Recording deadline: February 8, 2026 (about 2 weeks to record)
Release: February 16 and 18, 2026 at the Cosmographia Codex Substack (free and paid) then February 20 on Spotify/Apple/Amazon Music/Audible/YouTube.
🎧 FINAL FILE REQUIREMENTS
Format: WAV required for final recording
Sample rate: 44.1 kHz or higher
Final files (when ready for production) should be clean, broadcast-ready voice tracks: no background noise, no music/effects, minimal breaths, consistent levels.
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Format: Single-episode audio drama. One performer reads ALL narration and voices ALL characters.
Setting: Maplewood-Sparta (somewhere in suburban America with seasons.)
Date: Feb-March 1995
Tone: 90s high school sports story with emotionally authentic coming-of-age themes
Set in late-winter 1995 in Maplewood-Sparta, this campfire tale is narrated by Owen, recounting the story of his older brother Patrick—a quiet, hardworking relief pitcher who dreams of becoming a starter, earning a scholarship, and escaping small-town gravity.
Voice: Owen (unnamed in text), Patrick’s younger brother, early-teens in the 90s but telling the story as a young man later.
Placement/Color: Warm chest voice, intimate proximity, gently raspy edges; conversational confessional
Accent: General American
Tempo: Measured, cinematic; able to compress for gameplay passages; breathe space before turns
Emotional arc (macro):
Opening: cozy, wry, “pull up a log”
Middle: curiosity → awe → unease
Turn: guilt/compassion for Patrick, wary of “luck”
Ending: quiet triumph-with-questions
Narrator Anchors (use these to reset tone):
“Welcome to the campfire…” (smile in the voice)
“It was 1995 and the field was all wrong for baseball.” (colder, observational)
“He was lucky.” (soft, ambivalent landing)
The goal is subtle characterization—this is Owen telling a story, not full radio drama.
Both characters Patrick and Mike have been introduced in SPARTANS! episode 5 THE CHAIN.
You can listen to past episodes of the SPARTANS! anthology here.
Patrick (protagonist; senior, relief pitcher → starter)Energy: About 18 years old, earnest, contained, quietly hungry
Placement: Slightly higher/forward but still natural; tighten at moments of doubt
Tempo: A half-beat slower when he’s thinking; sharper on game action
Arc notes: Modest → tempted → resolute (chooses not to burn the thread)
Energy: About 18 years old, big-man-on-campus confidence and charm with hairline cracks
Placement: Wider, brighter; smile in the words; goes tight/defensive when ribbed
Tempo: Quicker, declarative; snaps under pressure
Energy: About 20 years old, Spent charm, smoke-roughened; a little rough around the edges, but warmth with regret underneath
Placement: Lower, back in the throat; dry chuckle; avoid caricature
Tempo: Measured; leave air around warnings
- american
- male adult
- warm
- male young adult
NARRATOR (Beginning of the story. Observational): It was 1995 and the field was all wrong for baseball. Too early in the year. February cold seeped into their knuckles and knees, turning every throw into a sting. Out past the chain-link fence, the trees stood bare, skeletal against a navy sky that dropped fast into black. The grass was still brittle, icy, more yellow than green, crunching under cleats.
NARRATOR (Half baseball announcer, half mounting excitement of a spectator): Mike took the mound first. His windup smooth, almost cocky—the kind that hushed the other team’s bench. The first pitch hissed, dead-on. The PA crackled with the strike call. A few kids whooped from the stands.
OLD CAPTAIN (Reluctantly telling a secret): Everyone’s got a certain amount of luck. How much? Nobody knows. But it’s fixed. Set. The powers that be dish it out little by little — a win at a game, a good hand of cards, getting lucky with a girl. Whatever.
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