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Speaker 1: Marley lived in the city, not right in the middle

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where the tall buildings were, but further out where most

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of the houses had gardens, and that was fine with Marley.

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She didn't want to live too close to the city center.

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There was always some sort of superhero incident taking place there,

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like when the mad Master of Crime the Laughing Hyena

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filled the Opera house with frozen yogurt, or when Robotosaurus

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tried to steal all the gold from the bank. That

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sort of thing didn't tend to bother the folk that

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lived this far out. It was a much quieter life.

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That's not to say that there wasn't noise. Lying in

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her bed at night, Marlee could often hear the sounds

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of traffic, barking dogs, blasts of music, and occasional shouts

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and laughter. Tonight was a warm one, so Marley had

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her window cranked open slightly for some fresh air on

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to sleep quickly. But something had disturbed her during the night,

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and she now found herself wide awake and staring at

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the ceiling. It must have been late because she couldn't

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hear any cars at all, just the sound of her

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garden swing moving back and forwards in the wind. Which

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was odd. She'd seen the weather prediction on the TV

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the evening before, and it had said it was going

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to be a warm, still night, no wind. It was

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why she'd opened her window. Getting to her knees, she

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pulled the curtain aside and squinted out into the darkness.

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There was somebody on her swing. Marley watched for a moment.

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The figure was making a soft sniffling sound, and, although

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it was hard to see properly in the dark, appeared

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to wipe their sleeve across their eyes, as if they

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were upset. If this was right, Marley couldn't stand by

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and do nothing. She made the decision to go outside.

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Speaker 1: See you there,