Page 9 of The Voice We Find

I can tell I’ve stumped her. “Listen, I don’t have all the answers, but I’ll ask Jason to send you a link. Maybe there are solutions for someone in your exact scenario. You can’t be the only down-on-her-luck heiress looking for a way out of her castle.” Her mischievous grin is marked by amusement. “You do realize you’re living out the real-life equivalent to several Disney movie plots, right?”

I laugh at this. “So you’re saying I either need to find Aladdin’s lamp or a dashing prince to ensure a happy ending?”

“Either of those options would be acceptable.”

“Okay,” I say decidedly. “I’ll look into it.”

Dana grins her most winning smile. “I have a good feeling about this, Sophie.”

“You said that about pickle ice cream once, too.”

She pulls a face and gives a full body shiver. “Pleasenever bring that up again. I still don’t know how you can eat that stuff.”

“Get him to send me the link.” I return to the desk and reach for my laptop.

“On it. Bye!”

Before I’ve even finished typing in my password, I receive her forwarded text from Jason, and soon I’m lost in a perusal of an entire industry I’d never given a single thought to in the past. Halfway down the page, I notice a sentence that hooks me like the desperate, gullible fish I’ve become since I moved back to California.

Are you an out-of-work actor looking for a reliable, flexible income? Click here to learn more information about one of the fastest-growing industries in entertainment today.

I hover my finger over the attached mini trailer of a woman wearing headphones and smiling like she’s living her best life as she talks into a radio mic while peppy music plays in the background. I refresh the page to watch the video a second time and then scan the Q&As below it. Apparently, some narrators prefer working in a studio outside their home. I click on themore detailssection and read that a narrator’s pay scale is based on experience. Does stage acting count?

Phantom watches me through his one good eye as I learn how to upload a sample using my iPhone. The quality won’t be stellar, but it’s a start. At least I’ll be able to register a profile and search the current job openings in my area.

I click the flashing headphones dancing on my screen next to theenter your zip codeprompt. Immediately, I’m redirected to a page of local and national job openings for voice actors. I scroll through the list, reading each description and requirement carefully. I sort the postings that require fancy equipment I don’t own—which, as it turns out, are most of them. By process of elimination, there are only a couple that meet my limited criteria. And only one that catchesmy eye enough for me to upload my résumé and figure out how to send in a sample to Chip Stanton, the contact at Fog Harbor Audio in San Francisco.

And then I send it off and say a prayer to the same God my Gigi loved with her whole heart and hope He’ll guide me.

4

August

My phone lights up next to my soundboard, and I quickly press Pause on the male narrator I’m listening to as he describes the color patterns of Canada geese along a riverbank. While I’ve never made a habit of checking my phone on the job, I’ve also never had to listen to someone read for eight-plus hours until recently, either. Checking my phone notifications has become somewhat of a needed palate cleanse for my ears as this is the third audiobook I’ve produced for Fog Harbor Audio. So far, staying alert when my mind wants to drift has proven to be the most challenging part of this gig.

But it’s a solid paycheck. And that’s what matters most.

I glance at the screen and smile when I see her name.

Gabby:

How many energy drinks have you consumed today? Don’t lie.

I chuckle at my sister’s familiar text greeting. She’s either found a signal due to a camp excursion, or our aunt has popped in with lunch for her and her friends again. I side-eye the sixteen-ounce beverage on my desk.

Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m still on my first can.

Gabby:

The jumbo size or the regular?

I groan.

Are you doing anything useful today besides monitoring my caffeine intake?

Gabby:

Aunt Judy brought five batches of mom’s famous peanut butter fudge to camp, so we took our lunch down to the water. I forgot how delicious this stuff is!

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