Part One: The Beginning

Part One: The Beginning

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Cade Manning (singer songwriter): "Music has always been part of my life. My parents were young when they had me. Still in high school. My dad and his friends had formed a band, I forget the name of it, and they'd always be practicing in the basement of my dad's house. I'd be down there, just hanging out and listening to them play from as far back as I can remember. I think they were pretty good too. But, uh, they disbanded after Dad and the guitarist had a falling out. After that, it was me and him in the basement listening to records and playing together. My dad actually was the one who taught me how to play the drums. I didn't pick up a guitar until I was like 7 maybe because I didn't want to bring up the ugly memories of the fallout."

Anne Manning (Cade's Mother): "From the moment he found things made sound when you hit them Cade was ready to learn anything and everything he could about music. I vividly remember the day he found out that things made noise. I had been at home with him while his father was away at work and Cade had this little plastic drum my mother had given him that he didn't really use much until this particular day. He balled his little fists up and hit the drum as hard as he could. BOOM! I remember his head turning to me so fast like he was trying to figure out if I had heard the noise too. (laughs). After that it was all over me and John. Peace and quiet were flung out the window after that day. But yes, Cade was always interested in music. I remember going over to John's from school some days and going down to the basement and seeing the two of them engrossed in sheet music. Probably some songs that John had written. It was almost comedic at some points. Here you had this little toddler, 3 or 4 years old, sitting in his young father's lap, learning how to read music notes! (laughs)."

John Manning (Cade's Father): "I met Anne through a friend of mine. She was my buddy Don's cousin. Don had brought her to one of our band's rehearsals and it was love at first sight. About a year into our relationship is when Anne found out she was pregnant. After Cade was born our lives changed dramatically. For me it was balancing my band, school, and fatherhood. For Anne it was balancing work, school, family life, and motherhood. It was hard on us but we managed. Sadly I lost the band during the early years of Cade's life. The fallout was hard. Those guys were my best friends. I mean they meant a lot to me. They were with me throughout Anne's entire pregnancy and they were with me when Cade was born. They even helped us raise him. Cade was like their nephew. We went through a lot together. But then we just lost each other so quickly when me and the guitarist, Axel, got into a fight. We disbanded after the fight. It hurt to lose them, sure, but each day I'd see Cade, sitting in his corner, messing with whatever musical toy he had and I slowly began getting over it all. I had decided that if I couldn't play music with my buddies liked we'd dreamt then I'd at least teach my son."

The flashlights illuminate our way as we walk towards the old carousel. No one has been in the old mall off of I-82 in years. People say that the old place is haunted. But I think they’re all being dramatic

The dust grows thicker the closer we get to the carousel. We can barely see two feet ahead of us. My heart begins to beat faster with every step I take. I glance left and right, afraid that something is going to jump out from the dark and grab me. ‘Calm down. It’s just a silly story Nana told you to scare you.’.

The dust breaks revealing the old carousel that brought many generations of the people in this town joy. I look at my surroundings and notice that the dust encircles the carousel like a barrier. ‘How odd.’.

“This is boring. Let’s go-”. “Why don’t you take a ride? You’ve come all this way.” I whip my head around searching for the source of the sounds. “Meredith? Is that you?” “Meredith is waiting for you Teddie. Why don’t you join her?” My heart rate speeds up dramatically. Sweat begins to run down my face as I feel tears well up in my eyes from fright. “This isn’t funny Meredith!” I yell to what seems like nothing.

A child-like giggle echoes throughout the empty mall as I spin in a circle out of fright.

Creak creak creak. The noise makes me freeze and turn my gaze to the carousel in front of me. A bright spotlight shines on the carousel as it turns with no operator. Broken music plays from the old speakers add to my fear.

The carousel finally stops turning and the light goes out. “Help…me…” a coarse and ragged voice emanates from the carousel. The light returns but is brighter than it was previously, it focuses on the horse right in front of me. My eyes adjust and my body breaks down as a guttural scream erupts from my body.

Strings were tied around Meredith’s wrists and they had been maneuvered into position that made her hands seem like they were holding the pole that connected the horse to the rest of the ride. A frilly pink dress took the place of her original clothing to illuminate the feeling of her being a young girl. Bows decorated her once straight, now curled, hair. Stockings adorned her legs and a pair of Mary Janes were on her feet. But her face was the worst of it. Her lips had been stretched to the point of a permanent smile and her eyelids had been sewn open so that she could never close them.

The light disappeared and the carousel began to spin again. But it spun faster with every turn it took. Soon it had become a blur and created a small gust of wind. I stood up and began to run away from the carousel as music began to play and echo. “Why are you running Teddie? Don’t you want to ride the carousel? Meredith has been waiting for you.” The voice calls out to me as I run as fast as I can to the exit. Shadowy tentacles begin to come after me as I reach the exit. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I scream just as the tentacles reach me. With a final leap I make it out of the abandoned mall.

I keep running to make sure that the shadows can’t reach me. When I finally stop to catch my breath I process everything that just happened. Tears begin to fall as I remember what happened to Meredith.

“Why did you leave Teddie? I thought you wanted to ride the carousel?” Alarm bells start to ring in my head as the voice begins to speak to me. I feel something cold wrap around my ankle and drag me. My head hits the ground and I fall unconscious.

Part Two: The Come Up

Part 1

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Cade Manning (singer songwriter): "I began to write songs when I was 11 or 12. I spent most of my middle school years writing and making music. I didn't really bother with making friends or anything. Music was the only thing that I cared about. During those years of my life I was always writing songs, recording them, and editing so I could post them onto Soundcloud and whatnot. When Musically was a thing I posted there too, so I could build my platform. Doing all of that really took up my time , so there wasn't ever really time for me to do normal preteen things like hanging out or whatever. I was focused on building towards my career."

Anne Manning (Cade's mother): "I was, not worried per say, but concerned with the lack of friends Cade had when he was younger. I mean don;t get me wrong, I loved that he was dedicated to working towards his dream, but I didn't think that not interacting with kids his age was a good thing. John and I did try to help him but were unsuccessful."

Cade Manning (singer songwriter): "I wouldn't say I had no friends. There was a guy I grew up with. Tommy Wade. I would say he was, is, my best friend. Our moms were, still are, childhood best friends. Tommy's mom had him a few weeks before my mom had me so I think they had hopes of us becoming like the 'next generation' of them. They were right. Many memories of my childhood include him. Like the time we were on the swing set at his cousin's house and I thought it would be a great idea to jump off while I was high in the air and ended up scratching up my knee pretty bad. Blood was oozing down my leg and I remember Tommy screaming and almost passing out. But yeah, he and I have been great friends since were babies. Even through those middle school days where I was grinding pretty much day and night building and expanding my music. Tommy helped me through all of it. He became my first real fan. From the very beginning he was always hyping me up and helping me. He helped me develop my style and genre and was always there for me whenever I was stuck or hating the way a song was coming out. He helped me get my music out there, posting songs that I had recorded or was in the midst of making. He showed his other friends my music and they all fell in love with it, asking him when I'd make more. I honestly feel like none of this would have happened had we not become close. So, thank you Tommy. For everything."

Tommy Wade (Cade's childhood friend): "Yeah, Cade was always into music. Always banging on anything that made noise, he was. Our childhood was fairly normal. We were always at his place or mine. It depended on whose parents were working. We had sleepovers almost every weekend. Family events, birthday parties, my grandpa's funeral, he was there. Every important milestone he witnessed. And vice versa. When we hit middle school that's when Cade really doubled down on making it into the industry. I thought it was a bit weird that someone my age already knew what they wanted to be. But at the same time I knew that Cade had made up his mind long before we reached middle school. I fully supported his dream. I wanted to see him make it. Whenever he recorded new music I was always the first one that got to hear it. I loved everything he made. I remember the long nights of posting his new songs everywhere. Soundcloud, Musically, Snapchat, Instagram, anywhere really. In school I would show my other friends his stuff and they loved it. They always asked me when he would make something new, and I always felt a rush of pride in me when they would rave about his new song or beat. Watching Cade's music spread around to people outside of school was surreal. Then it spread out to other counties and eventually our of state. As social media became more popular, more people would post themselves singing along to his music or dancing. It felt good watching Cade get more popular. And I was there from the beginning."

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Anne Manning (Cade's mother): "I remember the day very vividly. September 19, 2021. I'm the kitchen, going through the mail, when I get a call from an unknown number. I answer it because I have this feeling that I should. A man's voice comes through the speaker. He asks me, 'Is this Cade Manning?'. I'd told him it wasn't, that I was his mother, and in my head I'm wondering, 'what does this man want with my son?'. He explained to me that he was a music producer with a record label and that he wanted to talk to Cade because he had come across him on Musically or some app like that and was interested in hearing more in person. And I'm like 'Oh my gosh, this is it. This is what he's been waiting for.' I had told him that Cade wasn't home at the time, he was out with his dad, but I would give him Cade's phone number so he could speak with him about it. As soon as we hung up I immediately called John to tell him about it. He was ecstatic. I didn't tell Cade directly about it because I didn't want to spoil the surprise but I did tell him to watch out for a call from an unknown number. He was confused but he listened to me. And from then on, the rest is history."

John Manning (Cade's father): "When Anne called I nearly yelled out loud from shock. Cade and I were out at the grocery store when she called me. As soon as we were done I sped home."

Cade Manning (singer songwriter): "I was very confused when my dad started acting weird. He kept giving me these weird glances. and started speeding, which was unlike him. When we got home my mom was standing in the doorway, with a big smile and bright eyes. It was honestly a bit freaky. She told me that she had gotten a call, didn't tell me who from, and to be on the lookout for a call from a number I didn't know. A few hours later I got a call from a California number and I answered it because my mom had told me to and it was a producer with Pacific Coast Recording Company that was interested in hearing more of my music. He wanted to meet with me to do a studio session. I was stunned. In my head I was freaking out because this is what I had been working towards since I was 11. I said yes, of course. Then two weeks later I was off to LA."

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Billy Reign (music producer): "I first met Cade when he was 16 in October 2021. A buddy of mine had a teen son who had been obsessively listening to this artist who had been trending on Tiktok for a little while now. He gave me the name of the artist and some of his stuff, I listened to it and didn't to hear more than 10 seconds of this first song before I knew that I wanted to meet him. I worked with my team to find him so I could get in contact with him. I first got into contact with the mother before she forwarded me towards Cade. I called him and invited him out to LA to do a recording session to see if I wanted to him on the label. He came out, we got to know each other, and within a couple of days I had him walking out of the studio with a contract."

Director: "Why did you decide after only one session with Cade to sign him?"

Billy Reign (music producer): "Great question. I knew I wanted him because there wasn't any artist like him out there. His vocals were so raw and real and you could feel the passion he poured into music. He was so in tune with his emotions that they flowed into his writing which were only made greater when he sang. And he could play almost any instrument you put in front of him. And with him being so young I knew I would be able to help hone him into what he wanted to be."

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Cade Manning (singer songwriter): "After Billy and I, professionally, recorded a couple of songs together he handed me a contract and I signed it, with my parents and lawyer present because I was a minor at the time. It was agreed before I left to go back home that we would wait until I was out of school for the summer to record any albums but I still had to write new songs, make beats, and send it all over to Billy so that we had stuff ready to record when I was done."

Tommy Wade (Cade's childhood friend): "I remember Cade telling me that he was going to be gone for about a week a little less than a month after school started because he had to go to LA for something important. It wasn't until he got back when I found out what the important thing was. When he got back from LA, Cade showed me the contract he had signed with Pacific Coast. It was insane. I remember freaking out with him and crying tears of joy. I was really proud of him."

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Billy Reign (music producer): "When Cade got out of school for the summer he came back to LA to record his first album with us. Over the course of the school year he had been keeping in contact with me about songs that he had written and wanted to record. Over the nine month period he sent me samples and recordings of him playing the things he written and some of his revised songs he'd written when he was younger. As soon as he'd settled down we were in the studio recording for hours. Honestly I was shocked by how much he was giving us. On the first day alone we were in the studio for at least 10 hours, taking short breaks in between a few songs of course, but even then he didn't look tired at all. By the end of the first week we had recorded about 18 songs. We went through all of them one by one and cutting the ones he didn't like. When we were done with that we had 14 songs left. We edited those and created the album. All in all it took about a month but we had done. We helped him create his first studio album."

Cade Manning (singer songwriter): "It was crazy. Better than anything I had ever imagined. My first real studio album. I titled it TEENAGE DREAMS. A bit on the nose but I thought it fit perfectly. Me and Tommy were posting about it just to get the word and we dropped the album on July 1, 2022. People who had been following me and my music for years were really excited and stuff and when it dropped it was like a tidal wave of love and support. Within the following weeks it was getting more and more streams everywhere. It was even trending on Tiktok. I heard one of the songs from it on the radio for the first time when I was out with Tommy and another friend of mine who were visiting and it was like an out of body experience. It was great. After the album was released my account followings tripled on every platform. The love I was receiving was insane."

John Manning (Cade's father): "When Cade's album was released it was mayhem. Nearly overnight he went from this desperate kid trying to make it to a media sensation. Every radio station was playing his songs and he was riding that high for a while. For good reason. His music was good. Cade was achieving things that I had dreamed about and I was so proud of him. Still am. Anne and I watched as Cade was gaining the fame he deserved and we almost cried. Really. We spent the summer in LA watching Cade rise to stardom at such a young age. He was being recognized on the streets by fans and was signing autographs not too long after the release. It was a true wonder watching him reach his dream."

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Mom used to tell me that giving people second chances is like giving someone a second bullet because they missed the first time. When I was younger I didn’t quite understand what she meant.

Now I understand…

The walls are alive with shadows as the flame consumes the flower. The one he gave me. I watch the petals that once meant so much to me burn down to the stem. The memories of our time together run through my mind as I watch my last memory of him die in my hand.

I used to be an emotional person. The smallest of things used to send me into an emotional spiral. But things are different now. The eyes that once shone bright with childlike innocence are now sunken and cold. All their life was stolen from them.

Now all that is left are the thorns. I pick them up and hold them in my palm. Weakened by the heat of the flame they crumble easily when I crush them. When I crush my past self.

Silent? I don’t think I can remember a time when things were truly silent. There had always been noise. But not just any noise. Anna’s noise. Anna has always been the opposite of silence. She is loud, but not the overwhelming kind of loud that will leave you with a headache. Anna loves to talk. Whenever she can, even if she will sometimes get into trouble for it. But that’s just Anna.

Twelve years. That was how long I have been friends with Anna. Twelve years of nonstop noise and laughter. Anna loves making people laugh. I don’t think there has ever been a time where she hasn’t been laughing. That smile of hers so bright it could rival the sun.

But now everything is silent. The sirens, the screams, and…Anna.

I just want to thank the three people that follow me. I don't know how you found me but I really appreciate you all and love each of your works.

@chrollohearttags

@lanirawhoney

@trashmoutheggowaffle