UnFictional
Strangers in a Good Way
One woman discovers that her childhood crush has grown up into someone she doesn’t recognize.
By Bob Carlson • • 29m ListenFirst, a hypnotic search for a common language, and one girl’s ardent prayers to speak in tongues.
Then, another girl’s ardent prayers for letters. When 12-year-old Lauren fell for Darryl in the ‘90s, he was a skater boy who loved Nirvana and drawing. They were pen pals for years. She’d check her mailbox multiple times a day, hoping for a letter from him. But when she finds him online decades later, his feed is filled with guns and right-wing hashtags. It seems like he's become an entirely different person. So she gives him a call to catch up.
The envelope of a letter from Darryl to Lauren.
The envelope of a letter from Darryl to Lauren.
Contributors:Courtney Harrell is a producer at Pineapple Street Media.
Lauren Cook is an actress, storyteller and Emmy award-winning writer. She has been published in The Cut and her audio stories have aired on UnFictional and the storytelling podcast, Risk! As an actress, she's appeared on The Mindy Project and Fresh Off The Boat. She is repped by Gersh and Authentic Management.
**Written by:**Lauren Cook
Editors:Nick White and Carla Green
Mixed and scored by Ray Guarna.