Cowabunga (In the Aftermath)

[Nothing. Just the hiss of the tape. You think the album is over. You reach for your phone.]

[0:45–0:50 - Drum machine starts]
[A cheap drum machine. Not a good one. The kind from a 1980s keyboard found in a thrift store.] [The beat: bossa nova. Soft. Stupid. Completely wrong for everything that came before.]

[0:50–0:55 - First chord]
[A single guitar chord. Sloppy. Fingers in the wrong place. The strings buzz. Someone says:] "Oops."

[0:55–1:00 - Second chord]
[Another chord. Still sloppy. Still buzzing. A laugh. Not the menacing laugh from earlier. A real laugh. A drunk laugh.]

[1:00–1:10 - The vocalist speaks]
[A heavily distorted voice. Clearly drunk. Slurring. The words are:]

"Alright, alright... one more... for the dust..."

[He burps.]

"Sorry."

[1:10–1:15 - The catchphrase]
[A final, accidental guitar strum. Then, with genuine, stupid joy:]

"Cowabunga, you freaks."

[1:15–1:25 - The fall]
[A laugh. Then the sound of a body falling over. A chair scraping. A thud. A second laugh, from farther away.]

[1:25–1:30 - The end]
[One more accidental guitar strum. The drum machine plays two more bossa nova beats.]

Surf Rock, male, Key: F major (bright, wrong)
· Tempo: 110 BPM (bossa nova, for some reason)