The Moth Podcast: Bug Juice and Slushies

On this episode… liquid nostalgia. We’ve got two stories about those fountains of childhood sugar highs and summer memories - bug juice and slushees. This episode was hosted by Michelle Jalowski. Storytellers: Stacey Bader Curry goes to sleepaway camp, and is faced with a sticky situation. Denzell Jobson makes an unexpected friend because of anime.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:02Speaker 01

  Welcome to The Moth. I'm Michelle Jalowski, and on this episode, liquid nostalgia. We've got two stories about those fountains of childhood sugar highs and summer memories: bug juice and slushies. First up is Stacy Bader-Curry, who told this at a New York City Grand Slam where the theme was "Without a Net." Also, a quick side note: if your childhood didn't include bug juice and you're wondering what it is, think "Water Down Cooley." Here's Stacy, live at the Moth.

• 1:31Speaker 02

  Thank you. I am in the lake. I am in water up to my chest, and I have a dilemma. In the middle of the lake, there is a floating dock, and on that dock is Kyle Peters. Now, in fifth grade, Kyle Peters came up with us the perfect nickname for me: Master. Stacy Masturbator.

• 1:58Speaker 02

  But now, we're in sixth grade. And I don't know why, but I love him. And I want to go on this dock with him. But all I know how to do is tread water and float on my back. Nothing that will actually propel me forward. But I decide I'm gonna float on my back and hope some kind of lake current will take me there. And as soon as I flip onto my back, I forget all about Kyle Peters. Because that water, it's so warm. It's so relaxing. But then, I start to hear this sound, and it sounds like beep, beep, beep.

• 2:42Speaker 02

  And I'm ignoring it. But it gets louder and louder. And finally, I open my eyes. And I realize, I'm in my bed. And I am ignoring my alarm clock. And I am not lying in this luscious lake. But in a pool of my own pee. And this is not good. Because later that morning, I am to go with my entire grade on our first school overnight to Fairview Lake. And everyone is very excited about this. There's gonna be a bonfire and smores. And there's rumors that they have bug juice at Fairview Lake. And I don't know what bug juice is, but it sounds delicious.

• 3:26Speaker 02

  And I have never gone one night of my entire life without wetting the bed. And I just know that Kyle Peters is not gonna want to marry a chronic bed wetter. So I try everything to combat this bedwetting. And nothing works. But it's too late. I'm on a bus with a bunch of sixth graders singing "Centerfold." And I've got no plan B. I am just gonna not wet the bed, out of sheer determination and a commitment to not drink the bug juice. Friends, I drank the bug juice. I blame the Samores.

• 4:10Speaker 02

  They were overrated and dry. And I wake up the next morning, and I'm in the lower bunk of a cabin with 15 of my female classmates. And they're running around and laughing and... Cleaning up and packing up as we were instructed to do before breakfast. And I am lying in a pool of my own pee. And I don't dare move from my sleeping bag. I play possum and I just want everyone to leave so I can clean up on my own. But there are two stragglers and I hear from across the cabin, "Hey, master, get up, you're gonna miss breakfast." And I say, "Ah, I'm not feeling well." And they say, "Oh, we'll go get the teacher."

• 4:54Speaker 02

  And I say, "No, no one can know about my bed wetting." And there's a tinge of fear in my voice, which piques their curiosity. And they move closer to me and they say, "Well, get out of bed then." And I don't know what to do. I feel trapped. I hate myself. I hate my frizzy hair. I hate that I'm bow-legged. I hate that we're poor. I hate that I'm Jewish, because none of my friends are Jewish. And I hate that I am 11 and I still wet the bed. And if I could go back in time, I would tell myself, "It's all gonna be fine. One day, you'll actually like your curly hair and being Jewish.

• 5:39Speaker 02

  And one day, you'll get this random follow request on Instagram from Kyle Peters. And you'll accept it and he'll proceed to like every single one of your pictures and you'll never like one of his." And, uh, yeah.

• 5:59Speaker 02

  And one day, you will wake up and you won't have done a thing, but you'll be dry. You'll be 14 and a half. But it's okay. Middle school sucks for everyone. But I'm glad Future Me wasn't there to swoop in and rescue me because I figured something out. I figured out that I can MacGyver my way out of any situation with a little fucking creativity. Because I realized that I can use being weird and different and none of my friends

• 6:40Speaker 02

  were Jewish, which meant that none of my friends had any idea of what it meant to be Jewish, except for what I told them. So before I lost my nerve, I slid out of that sleeping bag and with my back to the bunk, I said to those two girls, "Did you guys know that in the Jewish faith, it is tradition that you flip your mattress when you sleep someplace new?" And they just looked at me like, "Really?" And I was like, "Yeah." And with one deft movement, I lifted up that blue ticking striped mattress and thank God it did not leak through. And then with the other hand, I whipped out my sleeping bag

• 7:21Speaker 02

  and flipped the mattress all the way over. And they just went, "Weird." And they left and I crumbled my sleeping bag and shoved it into my duffel bag and I cleaned up and I joined all my classmates for pancakes and bug juice. Thank you.

• 7:44Speaker 01

  That was Stacy Bader Curry. Stacy is a 10-time Moth Slam winner, teacher, mother, wife, and writer, living in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. And she wants you to know, if you're wondering, that she still hasn't liked any of Kyle Peters' Instagram posts. After the break, a story about slushies and unexpected friendship. Be back in a moment.

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• 10:00Speaker 01

  Welcome back. Denzel Jobson told our next story at a New York City Story Slam where the theme of the night was happy accidents. Here's Denzel, live at the Moth.

• 10:22Speaker 04

  And so, starting sixth grade in Brooklyn, if you're from New York, first of all, you go from taking the cheese bus that picks you up at your house, to taking the MTA. And the MTA is scary as an adult. So imagine when you're doing that at 11 years old. Also, at 11, I was really skinny, and I wasn't athletic, and I didn't play any sports, which is how a lot of boys bond. And I was really into Japanese comics. Cool now, not cool in 2005. And then, the final thing that really put the nail in the coffin, was I had horrible acne in sixth grade. And every time, like, the teacher called on me in class, my classmates would shout out "Pizza Face",

• 11:06Speaker 04

  and the teachers would laugh.

• 11:10Speaker 04

  Like, they weren't wrong. So, sixth grade was, like, really lonely. And I was nerdy, and I didn't really have any friends. But the reprieve came in the spring. You know, it's hot in New York in the spring. And every day after school, the ice cream truck, Mr. Softy, shout out, would be, like, posted outside the school, which in retrospect is maybe a little creepy. But school would let out, and like, all the kids would bum rush Mr. Softy. And we'd just, like, it'd be chaos around the truck, and we're trying to get our money out, but also not get robbed and get ice cream. And I'm like, one day, it's in the spring, I'm like, finally make it to the front of the line, and I get a cherry slushy, because it's just liquid sugar, and that's all you want at 11. And I'm getting out of line, I have this red slushy,

• 11:55Speaker 04

  and I turn around, and I spill the entire slushy on a guy behind me, who's wearing a black leather jacket. So it's just this black jacket and, like, red cherry puree, like, falling down his jacket. It literally looks like he just murdered someone. And then it's, and I know it's just silent, and then, like, the school, you know, all of our classmates form a circle around us, which is always a bad sign in middle school. And so, I look up, and the guy I spilled the slushy on was Raphael. And Raphael was a school jock. He was the boy that, like, every boy wanted to be, and every girl wanted to be with. And I'm looking at him, and I'm scared as shit,

• 12:39Speaker 04

  because I think he's gonna beat my ass. And then, as per middle school fashion, someone shouts out, "Beat his ass, Raf! Fuck him up!"

• 12:49Speaker 04

  And so, he's got like his school rep to protect. And I'm looking at him and he's looking at his jacket. And I ran home. I, I, I'm Jamaican, my Usain Bolt came out. I had never run home before. I didn't know I could find my way home, but I ran home. And like, no one's behind me. So I turn around and Raf is still in the same spot, looking down at his jacket. And I'm thinking, he's gonna kill me tomorrow. So I'm like, I get home, I tell my mom what happened. I'm like, I don't wanna go to school tomorrow. Obviously, I'm going to school. Uh, and so, the next day, I'm thinking, okay, but there are teachers at school. Like, they'll protect me, right? It'll be fine.

• 13:34Speaker 04

  So I walk to the bus stop and Raphael's at the bus stop. No. Right? And so, I'm thinking, either he like tracked me down? Or he just lives in the neighborhood? And I don't know which one's worse. And so, he sees me and, you know, I just pretend I don't see him. But he starts walking towards me and he gets up into my face. And I just turn up, I apologize, I'm like, man, I'm so sorry. Like, it was an accident. I'll buy you another jacket. And he's just like looking at my hand and he's like just staring at what I have in my hand. And then he asked me a question that just like changed the course of my life forever. He says, "You fuck with Naruto?"

• 14:17Speaker 04

  Uh, cuz I had a Naruto comic in my hand. And I answer him, I'm like, "Do I fuck with Naruto?"

• 14:25Speaker 04

  I am Naruto. Um, way cooler, or not nearly as cool in retrospect, when you remember that. But we go to school together. And on the 15-minute bus ride, we just talk about Naruto and anime and, and it's, it's, it's awesome. And for the rest of the school year, we go to school together and go home together every single day. Just like talking about anime and life and girls and all the stuff you do. And at the end of school year, I realize like I've made a friend. And over the next three years of middle school, uh, we become best friends. There are sleepovers at each other's houses. Our parents become best friends. Um, and then, you know, like we're there for the best and worst moments like in each other's lives.

• 15:09Speaker 04

  Uh, somehow, through Raf, I become cool. I'm prom king at the end of middle school. Which, which...

• 15:19Speaker 04

  It's weird, but awesome. And like, our duo turns into a trio, then a quartet, and then it's like, motley crew of prepubescent boys, just like, taking on the world. It's like, very Stranger Things-esque, minus the monsters. And then, you know, like, life goes on. And Raphael and I aren't in each other's lives anymore. But I think back to, just like, that moment where these two boys, who probably never would have been friends, but, just like, happenstance, like, running outside Mr. Softy's ice cream truck, leads to some of my happiest childhood memories. So, shout out to Raphael and Mr. Softy. Thank you.

• 16:04Speaker 01

  That was Denzel Jobson. Born and raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, where everyone makes it up as they go, Denzel loves a good story. He's been going to Moth Story Slam since 2018, and his name was finally picked out of the hat in 2025. He believes wholeheartedly that the happy accidents of life are where we discover our best selves. That brings us to the end of our episode. Thanks so much for joining us. From all of us here at The Moth, we hope your summer is filled with wonderful memories and that you avoid brain freeze.

• 16:35Speaker 05

  Michelle Jalowski is a director at The Moth, where she helps people craft and shape their stories for stages all over the world. This episode of The Moth Podcast was produced by Sarah Austin Jenness, Sarah Jane Johnson, and me, Mark Sollinger. The rest of The Moth's leadership team includes Sarah Haberman, Christina Norman, Marina Kluchay, Jennifer Hickson, Jordan Cardinalle, Kate Tellers, Suzanne Rust, and Patricia Uranya. The Moth Podcast is presented by Odyssey. Special thanks to their executive producer, Leah Reese Dennis. All Moth stories are true, as remembered by their storytellers. For more about our podcast, information on pitching your own story, and everything else, go to our website, themoth.org.

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