WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>Life Story Studios Gaining Story a Voice.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Mary Murphy and ready or not, It's time

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<v Speaker 2>to get Wicked.

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<v Speaker 1>Warning. The Wicked Library is a horror fiction podcast created

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<v Speaker 1>for a mature audience. Our stories contain graphic descriptions of pain, murder, violence, blood, betrayal,

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<v Speaker 1>and inhumanity. Monsters win, people die, and hope is often shattered.

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<v Speaker 1>There is also beauty, heart, catharsis, and raw emotion. Fear

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<v Speaker 1>may be deeply personal, but we all share it. If

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<v Speaker 1>at any time a story takes you to a place

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<v Speaker 1>too dark, turn on the lights, press pause or press stop,

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<v Speaker 1>and always remember that, unlike in the real world, these

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<v Speaker 1>nightmares and your participation in them, are under your control.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to the Wicked Library. I'm Daniel Foytec and

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<v Speaker 1>as always, thank you for joining us. A heartfelt thank

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<v Speaker 1>you to our supporters on Patreon. You make these stories

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<v Speaker 1>possible and keep the shadows well fed. Today's tale drifts

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<v Speaker 1>up from the darkest depths of the sea, where lullabies, lore,

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<v Speaker 1>sailors to ruin, and the hungers of man leave nothing untouched.

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<v Speaker 1>Before we begin, an additional content warning. As longtime listeners

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<v Speaker 1>the Wicked Library know we love the older, darker fairy tales.

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<v Speaker 1>These non sanitized tales were meant to caution, worn and disturb,

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<v Speaker 1>leaving a deep, lasting impression on those who heard them.

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<v Speaker 1>They are the original horror stories. They never shied away

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<v Speaker 1>from exploring the darkest depths of human nature, and Tonight's tale,

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<v Speaker 1>while it is a modern story, follows in that tradition.

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<v Speaker 1>Like many fairy tales, it contains elements of body horror, transformation,

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<v Speaker 1>and unsettling themes of power, control and obsession. There are

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<v Speaker 1>moments of intense violence, non consensual touch, psychological and physical trauma,

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<v Speaker 1>and acts of unimaginable cruelty, including harm to the most

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<v Speaker 1>innocent among us. Yet, despite its horrors, this is a

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<v Speaker 1>compelling and powerfully terrifying tale, one that calls to the

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<v Speaker 1>depths like a siren's song, both haunting and irresistible, dragging

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<v Speaker 1>you unrelentingly deeper into dark waters. Listener discretion is very

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<v Speaker 1>strongly advised, and now settle in if you dare for

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<v Speaker 1>a very dark tale told by the incomparable Addison Peacock,

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<v Speaker 1>with a haunting original score by Niko Vites of the

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<v Speaker 1>Inky Pop print.

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<v Speaker 2>How Will You Woo Her? By Sabella Jabjenko Part one,

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<v Speaker 2>How will you woo her, this white maid of thine?

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<v Speaker 2>With breaking of wastel, with pouring of wine? Come now,

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<v Speaker 2>my darlings, it's time for bed. Grandmother Hydra called to

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<v Speaker 2>the little maids, and they obediently wriggled toward her, curling

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<v Speaker 2>up together in the giant clam shell that served as

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<v Speaker 2>their bed. Grandmother said the youngest, her hair gently waving

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<v Speaker 2>in the water like strands of pale green kelt. Tiny

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<v Speaker 2>shrimp darted here and there in it, brilliant flashes of

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<v Speaker 2>bright blue and red. Grandmother, tell us a story. The

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<v Speaker 2>other little maids set up a chorus, Yes, Grandmother, a story,

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<v Speaker 2>a story, until the fish that encircled them were in

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<v Speaker 2>quite a state of excitement, dashing to to and fro

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<v Speaker 2>and fighting each other's flashing silver tails. Hush now, my pets,

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<v Speaker 2>grandmother said, settling herself in a curve of coral, worn

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<v Speaker 2>smooth by years of contact with her coiled tail. Of course,

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<v Speaker 2>I will tell you a story. The great octopus circled,

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<v Speaker 2>rings of red and purple, pulsing a silent lullaby as

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<v Speaker 2>he settled over the maids, tucking them gently beneath the

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<v Speaker 2>canopy of his spread bulk. The maids snuggled down into

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<v Speaker 2>his tentacles and looked up at Grandmother Hydra expectantly, their

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<v Speaker 2>eyes black circles, and the pale ovals of their faces.

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<v Speaker 2>The shrimp and fish calmed, slowed, and finally settled into

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<v Speaker 2>the gently waving forest of their hair, flashes of silver

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<v Speaker 2>and red fading into the shadows. Grandmother Hydra smiled indulgently,

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<v Speaker 2>her teeth white and sharp as broken shells. I'll tell

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<v Speaker 2>you the story of little Sister, a story every one

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<v Speaker 2>of you should know and heed. Shining eyes searched Grandmother's

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<v Speaker 2>face expectantly, each little rasp tongue was still Little Sister

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<v Speaker 2>lived here in the Great Hall, and was most lovely,

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<v Speaker 2>with scales like pearls, hair of dark help, and crowned

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<v Speaker 2>with the most beautiful of anemonies. And her voice. Her

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<v Speaker 2>voice was as lovely as her face, and she sang

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<v Speaker 2>many and many a ship of men to the jagged rocks.

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<v Speaker 2>The little maids tittered, sharp little teeth glittering behind pallid lips,

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<v Speaker 2>but continued Grandmother with a stern look, and the little

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<v Speaker 2>maids fell silent again and curled their tails together. Beneath

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<v Speaker 2>the octopus. On one of her visits, she sang to

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<v Speaker 2>a kingship. The sea was gray and throwing up great

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<v Speaker 2>waves of froth, hungrily crashed against the ship, But it

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<v Speaker 2>being the ship of a king, the sides were sturdy

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<v Speaker 2>and the sails tall, and though the sea raged about it,

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<v Speaker 2>the ship held so Little Sister sang and sang until

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<v Speaker 2>her throat was raw and her voice ragged with her effort.

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<v Speaker 2>She sang to the men of the wonders to be

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<v Speaker 2>found under the gray waves, of the white breasts and

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<v Speaker 2>golden treasures of our family. And the men, sick with

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<v Speaker 2>desire for the sound of her voice and the images

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<v Speaker 2>of her song, turned the sturdy vessel onto the rocks

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<v Speaker 2>and flung themselves into the icy sea. And oh how

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<v Speaker 2>little Sister laughed and laughed at the sport of it.

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<v Speaker 2>But one man did not fling himself into the brine.

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<v Speaker 2>For he had seen Little Sister, seen her in the waves,

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<v Speaker 2>seen her dark eyes and her white shoulders, the wild

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<v Speaker 2>green fall of her hair, and the flash of her teeth.

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<v Speaker 2>He saw her pale lips parting to sing, and her

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<v Speaker 2>song filled his mind with black water, and his human

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<v Speaker 2>heart with a crushing desire. So focused was Little Sister

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<v Speaker 2>on her song and the delight of the sailors gasping

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<v Speaker 2>their last and sinking around her, that she did not

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<v Speaker 2>realize she had been seen. The little maids, pale as sea,

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<v Speaker 2>bleached bone, shrunk against the octopus and chittered their sharp

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<v Speaker 2>little teeth, until the octopus calmed them with his caressing

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<v Speaker 2>tentacles and settled his bulk comfortingly around them. Grandmother Hydra paused,

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<v Speaker 2>looking into their upturned faces, then continued. Too late. Too late,

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<v Speaker 2>Little Sister saw him, saw that his eyes were upon her,

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<v Speaker 2>crawling upon her with a mad hunger. She dove, swimming

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<v Speaker 2>as fast as her lovely tail would take her, but

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<v Speaker 2>with a terrible sense of dread in her pain breast.

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<v Speaker 2>And she was right to feel so, for the man

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<v Speaker 2>who had seen her was none other than the King himself,

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<v Speaker 2>and he vowed if it took his lands, his riches,

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<v Speaker 2>his mind, and his very soul, he would have her.

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<v Speaker 2>Grandmother piped up a tiny voice from the pile of

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<v Speaker 2>little maids. What is a soul? Grandmother smiled again, that

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<v Speaker 2>this smile was dark, her lips curling like sea worms,

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<v Speaker 2>her eyes black as muscleshells well, my little loves, this

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<v Speaker 2>is a part of the story you must learn, and

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<v Speaker 2>though you are young, must hold too tight so that

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<v Speaker 2>you may not suffer little Sister's cruel fate. A soul,

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<v Speaker 2>my sweet darlings, is something with which man is cursed,

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<v Speaker 2>a horrible thing that gives them a great and grasping

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<v Speaker 2>hunger that will not let them be once it has

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<v Speaker 2>been stirred. And it is thus that the and of

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<v Speaker 2>man knows no lasting happiness, and why the family of

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<v Speaker 2>man can never live in harmony. So it was that

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<v Speaker 2>little Sister stirred the King's soul, and how it was

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<v Speaker 2>that it refused the king any peace, any rest, until

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<v Speaker 2>he found her and possessed her. Such is the clutching,

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<v Speaker 2>ravenous way of a soul, my darlings, Part two, Not

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<v Speaker 2>with pouring of cups or with breaking of bread, but

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<v Speaker 2>with wood that is cloven and wine that is red.

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<v Speaker 2>The king, whose people had lived long and long near

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<v Speaker 2>the sea, knew of the sea witch. There was a

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<v Speaker 2>shrinking of tiny, pale bodies into the comforting weight of

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<v Speaker 2>the octopus at her mention, and so he knew that she,

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<v Speaker 2>and she alone might help him. So the king came

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<v Speaker 2>to the sea, and brought with him all of the

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<v Speaker 2>gold and jewels from his treasure hull, and poured them

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<v Speaker 2>into the sea, winking brilliant red and blue and yellow

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<v Speaker 2>as they sank beneath the gray waves. And he begged

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<v Speaker 2>the sea Witch to hear him, but she did not,

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<v Speaker 2>for the Sea Witch is strange, beyond strange, my darlings,

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<v Speaker 2>and her heart is perverse and cruel above all things.

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<v Speaker 2>And so the treasure lay in great, untouched heaps on

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<v Speaker 2>the seafloor, and the shrimp and crabs played amongst the

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<v Speaker 2>lost wealth of the king's realm. The king wept on

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<v Speaker 2>his knees at the shore, promising the sea Witch all

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<v Speaker 2>his power and land. But as we know, this was

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<v Speaker 2>a fool's promise, for the Sea Witch's powers surpassed even

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<v Speaker 2>those of great Father Dagard. Here grandmother paused the long

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<v Speaker 2>webbed bones of her fingers, dancing a secret symbol in

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<v Speaker 2>the water. All the little maids obediently followed, their green locks,

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<v Speaker 2>stirring as they dipped their heads respectfully. The sea Witch

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<v Speaker 2>has no desire for the land of man. So he

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<v Speaker 2>had offered her his riches and his power and his lands,

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<v Speaker 2>but for naught, and his wretched soul burned and tormented

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<v Speaker 2>him night and day, and the memory of little sisters,

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<v Speaker 2>pale wet breasts and dark eyes, and of her song, oh,

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<v Speaker 2>my darlings, her song, haunted him, and there was no

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<v Speaker 2>rest to be found for the king. His beard and

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<v Speaker 2>his hair grew long and touched with white, and his

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<v Speaker 2>eyes became wild with a tortured longing. It passed that

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<v Speaker 2>he brought to the shore other things with which he

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<v Speaker 2>might gain the attention of the sea Witch. And so

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<v Speaker 2>it was that slaves were captured and marched across the

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<v Speaker 2>wet sands, and their deaths at the king king steel

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<v Speaker 2>knives turned the water scarlet until you could not tell

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<v Speaker 2>where the bloodied sea ended and the blazing sunset began.

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<v Speaker 2>The sea Witch took notice of this and was pleased.

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<v Speaker 2>In her weird fashion, she came to the king in

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<v Speaker 2>his fitful dreams, and touched his fevered mind and asked

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<v Speaker 2>of his desire. So it was that little sister swam

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<v Speaker 2>into the visions of the sea Witch with the pearl

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<v Speaker 2>of her tail and the kelp of her hair, and

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<v Speaker 2>so it was that she was doomed. But the sea

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<v Speaker 2>Witch did not hasten, for time is different in her

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<v Speaker 2>deep caves, and she had want of still more from

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<v Speaker 2>the king. And so he stood on the shore, raving

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<v Speaker 2>and tearing at his black hair until bloody clumps of

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<v Speaker 2>it floated on the red water. And still the sea

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<v Speaker 2>Witch waited until the king demanded the lovely mates and

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<v Speaker 2>all his lands loaded onto his boats and set to sea,

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<v Speaker 2>where the sails were touched with torches, where there were

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<v Speaker 2>brothers and fathers who resisted. The blood flowed over the land,

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<v Speaker 2>until nothing remained of the King's people but stone eyed soldiers,

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<v Speaker 2>breathing mothers and starving children, And nothing remained of his

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<v Speaker 2>lands but dark and smoldering villages. When the last of

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<v Speaker 2>the King's ships were aflame, and the screams of the

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<v Speaker 2>burning daughters and the scent of the slaughtered suns reached

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<v Speaker 2>the deep halls of the sea Witch, finally she smiled

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<v Speaker 2>her ghastly smile and reached out for a little sister.

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<v Speaker 2>Part three. With rings? Will I woo her? With chains?

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<v Speaker 2>Will I wed with ships that are broken, with blood

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<v Speaker 2>that is shed. When sister awoke, her heart wept, The

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<v Speaker 2>fish that swam, and the creatures that crept glowed a

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<v Speaker 2>terrible green and stared at her with their great blind eyes.

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<v Speaker 2>The waters were cold, so cold, and blacker than any

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<v Speaker 2>she had ever seen, and she knew at once she

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<v Speaker 2>was in the cursed hall of the Sea Witch. And

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<v Speaker 2>though Little Sister half swooned with the terror and the

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<v Speaker 2>crushing depth, still she struggled. But it was for naught,

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<v Speaker 2>my darlings, for nought, because she was chained fast to

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<v Speaker 2>the rotting timbers of a vast wrecked ship, an iron

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<v Speaker 2>chain of man fastened cruelly about her neck and her slender,

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<v Speaker 2>white wrists. So she wept, but her pleased to her father,

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<v Speaker 2>to her sisters, and even to the sea Witch. Herself

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<v Speaker 2>rose from her mouth in silver bubbles and were lost

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<v Speaker 2>in the black waters. It would have been a kindness

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00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:01.759
<v Speaker 2>of little Sister's mind, could have floated away in a

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<v Speaker 2>silver bubble, lost among the glowing grotesqueries of the Witch's hull.

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<v Speaker 2>But alas, my darlings, it did not. When the Sea

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<v Speaker 2>Witch arrived, and as she laid out her rusted, ancient tools,

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<v Speaker 2>and when she smiled her hideous smile as she began

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<v Speaker 2>her work, little sister was awake for all part four,

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<v Speaker 2>not with gold, for a ring, nor kisses on lips,

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<v Speaker 2>but with slaying of sailors and breaking of ships. When

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<v Speaker 2>the witch had finished her unspeakable work, the iron chains

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00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:47.519
<v Speaker 2>fell away, and Little Sister was seized by every manner

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00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:52.240
<v Speaker 2>of slippery, stinging creature, held fast by clawed pincers, her

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00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:56.919
<v Speaker 2>face wrapped in grasping suckers, The writhing mass carried Little

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00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:59.360
<v Speaker 2>Sister to the surface, and though many of them died

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00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:03.879
<v Speaker 2>along the way, their bodies bloating and bursting into stinking slime,

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00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.799
<v Speaker 2>no longer held tight by the depths, Finally they broke

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00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:12.079
<v Speaker 2>the surface, throwing her from the sea and onto her fate.

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<v Speaker 2>Onto the wet sand went Little Sister, gaping, gasping, her

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<v Speaker 2>lungs searing, breathing the hot air of man. The sun

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00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:26.400
<v Speaker 2>beat down upon her, the glare of it blinding her,

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00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:29.960
<v Speaker 2>the heat of it burning her. She covered her dazzled

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<v Speaker 2>eyes with one pale, bruised arm and sobbed until darkness

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00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:39.400
<v Speaker 2>took her. When she awoke again, this time in the

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00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:44.200
<v Speaker 2>dim twilight, the king crouched over her, his eyes feverish,

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<v Speaker 2>his face quite mad. He reached a trembling hand out

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<v Speaker 2>to touch Little Sister, and his hand warm as a

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<v Speaker 2>basking rock. As he stroked her sent her into a

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00:17:56.680 --> 00:18:01.599
<v Speaker 2>shuddering fit of fear and loathing. S mild with his strange,

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00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:06.519
<v Speaker 2>blunt teeth and murmured words of love and desire, his

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00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:10.720
<v Speaker 2>hands roaming over her, tangling in her hair, Grasping at

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00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:14.200
<v Speaker 2>her breasts. He ran his hands down her lovely belly,

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00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:19.079
<v Speaker 2>lower and lower, until she screamed suddenly in a great agony.

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<v Speaker 2>It was then that the King saw what the sea

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00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:27.359
<v Speaker 2>Witch and her perverse cruelty had done to the Little Sister.

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<v Speaker 2>How the witch had answered his fevered prayers. Her finn,

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00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:37.680
<v Speaker 2>the parts which had not been devoured by the witch's hoard,

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00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:44.200
<v Speaker 2>lay in bloodied tatters on the sand. Little Sister's gorgeous tail,

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00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.599
<v Speaker 2>which had once fanned the waters and shimmered like sunlight

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00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:51.039
<v Speaker 2>on the sea, had been raggedly hacked up the center

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00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.920
<v Speaker 2>by the sea Witch's blades. The bones of a sea

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00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:58.680
<v Speaker 2>bleached skeleton's legs gleamed here and there from betwitching red

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00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:02.440
<v Speaker 2>muscle sewn on the Little Sister's flesh with indifferent stitches.

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00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.079
<v Speaker 2>Skeletal feet poked from the ragon ends like an eel's

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00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:12.799
<v Speaker 2>bony snout, from the rocks, they looked into each other's faces,

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00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:18.680
<v Speaker 2>Little Sister's eyes mad with pain and revulsion, the king's

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00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.519
<v Speaker 2>eyes dark the weight and the cost of his lust.

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00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:27.640
<v Speaker 2>When he mounted her, roughly, spreading her bleeding tail apart

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00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:31.359
<v Speaker 2>on the gray sand, his black beard digging into her throat,

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00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:36.720
<v Speaker 2>Little Sister's mind finally found a silver bubble and floated

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00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:47.519
<v Speaker 2>away into deep black waters. Part five, And how will

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00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:51.160
<v Speaker 2>you tame her? This mad maid of thine? With kisses

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00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:55.799
<v Speaker 2>for seal with gold as a sign, the King wed

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00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:59.000
<v Speaker 2>Little Sister in a celebration that reached even the great

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00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:03.000
<v Speaker 2>halls of Father de The sky was lit in gold

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00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.759
<v Speaker 2>and red with fireworks. Banners flew, and the king fed

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00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:09.759
<v Speaker 2>his soldier's joints of cooked beast, which is the way

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00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:13.519
<v Speaker 2>they do such things, and soft white bread, and much

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00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:17.039
<v Speaker 2>ale and wine. The king held fast to his pale

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00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:19.599
<v Speaker 2>bride all throughout the day and the night, and he

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00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:23.400
<v Speaker 2>never left her side or let his arms from about

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00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:28.599
<v Speaker 2>her waist. Her throat paloe as oyster shell grew red,

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00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:31.839
<v Speaker 2>the caresses of his beard and his teeth upon her skin,

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00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.680
<v Speaker 2>and her breasts ached with the pawing of his hot hands.

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00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:39.799
<v Speaker 2>The heat of his body pressed to hers made her

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00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:44.599
<v Speaker 2>head heavy, her eyes half litted, her limbs slow as

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<v Speaker 2>drifting kelp. She found that she could balance on the

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00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:53.960
<v Speaker 2>tattered wreck of her tail to move about in the

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00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.519
<v Speaker 2>manner of men, But the rust of the sea witch's

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00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:01.200
<v Speaker 2>blades bit into her anew. With each move, the stolen

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00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:06.640
<v Speaker 2>bones creaked, and crooked black stitches tore. In time, her

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00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:10.160
<v Speaker 2>little tongue grew bloody, and her jaw grew stiff with

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00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.799
<v Speaker 2>the clenching of her teeth against the pane. Though her

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00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.680
<v Speaker 2>husband took his rough way with her and clutched her

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00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:20.759
<v Speaker 2>to him and kissed and pawed her, he could not

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00:21:20.920 --> 00:21:25.200
<v Speaker 2>make her speak or sing, which was his wish. Her mind,

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00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:29.440
<v Speaker 2>my little ones was too far away, her body too

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00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.079
<v Speaker 2>sick with the heat and the light and the noise

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00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:35.559
<v Speaker 2>and the dreadful pain of losing her family and the sea.

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00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:38.599
<v Speaker 2>And though the king dressed her in gowns of heavy

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00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.759
<v Speaker 2>silk and draped her with jewels and gold, he could

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00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.119
<v Speaker 2>not stop the bleeding from her ruined tail, which followed

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00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:50.440
<v Speaker 2>her everywhere, leaving strange skeletal footprints throughout the halls, and

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00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:55.839
<v Speaker 2>rusty puddles at all the windows which faced the sea.

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00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.160
<v Speaker 2>Part six with a bit for the mouth, and a

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00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.400
<v Speaker 2>ring for the hand, with a neck chain of foam

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00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:08.160
<v Speaker 2>or a waste chain of sand. As the months passed,

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00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:11.359
<v Speaker 2>the king raged at her, tore at her green hair,

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00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.759
<v Speaker 2>and threw her about with his heavy hands, as if

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00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:16.759
<v Speaker 2>to shake a song from her lips. Yet in all

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00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:19.839
<v Speaker 2>his anger, he still held her close through the day

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00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.039
<v Speaker 2>and through the night, and his desire for her knew

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00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:26.160
<v Speaker 2>no bounds. The bloodied halves of her tail bloomed black

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00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.400
<v Speaker 2>and purple with the marks of his hips, her white

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00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:33.759
<v Speaker 2>breasts marked with the scarlet moons of his teeth, and always,

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00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:37.519
<v Speaker 2>always his hands upon her. The weight of his lust

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00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:40.920
<v Speaker 2>for her, the cost of his prize, lay more heavily

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00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.599
<v Speaker 2>upon his head than a crown, And he knew no

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00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:48.759
<v Speaker 2>peace and gave her no rest. But the true depth

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00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:53.240
<v Speaker 2>of the Sea Witch's cruelty finally became clear one gray morning,

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00:22:54.200 --> 00:22:56.519
<v Speaker 2>when little Sister stared out the window at the sea

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00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:00.440
<v Speaker 2>with her dark eyes, her husband behind her, one of

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00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.559
<v Speaker 2>his heavy hands tangled in the waist of her silken gown,

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00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.160
<v Speaker 2>his face buried in the salt scent of her hair,

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00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:12.279
<v Speaker 2>muttering his mindless promises of love and pain. When she

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00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:16.599
<v Speaker 2>felt a twitch in her belly, and she knew that

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00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:20.319
<v Speaker 2>the seed of her loathsome human husband, grew within her,

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00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:23.680
<v Speaker 2>that she would bring it forth in blood and suffering,

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00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:28.960
<v Speaker 2>like a beast of the land. There rose a horrified

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00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:31.599
<v Speaker 2>moan from the clam shell, and a sudden chittering of

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00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:35.079
<v Speaker 2>tiny teeth, sharpest coral. As the little maids writhed in

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00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:39.119
<v Speaker 2>sudden agitation, the green fires of many little eyes flashed

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00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:44.839
<v Speaker 2>warnings into the dark water. Hush now, little Once Grandmother

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<v Speaker 2>Hydra gently stroked one pearl white cheek. The story is

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00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:54.119
<v Speaker 2>nearly complete. The teeth gnashing quieted the green fire in

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00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:58.720
<v Speaker 2>each little eye, slowly winking back into black, and Grandmother continued.

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00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:04.119
<v Speaker 2>And so it was that little sister found she had

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00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:08.680
<v Speaker 2>been given the most horrible curse of all. She had

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00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:13.119
<v Speaker 2>been given a human soul. With a scream and a

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00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:16.799
<v Speaker 2>strangled cry, she tore away from her husband's grasping hands.

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<v Speaker 2>So startled was he to hear her make a sound

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00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.559
<v Speaker 2>after these many months, that he forgot for one moment

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00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:24.359
<v Speaker 2>to hold on to her. She raced down the stairs

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00:24:24.359 --> 00:24:27.240
<v Speaker 2>of the tower, heedless of the hot agony flaring up

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00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:30.680
<v Speaker 2>her tail, of the tearing of stitches and cracking of bones.

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<v Speaker 2>Blinded by tears, she cried out in despair and helplessness

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<v Speaker 2>for her sisters, for her father to help her. The

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00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:42.640
<v Speaker 2>little maids were silent as the moon, their eyes black

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00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:46.599
<v Speaker 2>and round as stones, hanging on every word of their grandmother,

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00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.759
<v Speaker 2>and Little Sister reached the shore. She flung herself into

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00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:56.000
<v Speaker 2>the sea, her heart and mind broken, begging for Belise,

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00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:59.400
<v Speaker 2>clawing at the belly which had finally marked her as cursed,

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00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:03.880
<v Speaker 2>and lost her family and the sea forever. Her piteous

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00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:07.480
<v Speaker 2>cries reached father Dagen, who saw what the sea witch

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00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:10.000
<v Speaker 2>had done to his daughter, And though he had no

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00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:13.759
<v Speaker 2>power over the witch deep in her dark caves and

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00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:17.119
<v Speaker 2>could not bring Little Sister back to the sea, he

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00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:19.640
<v Speaker 2>called some of his daughters to them and gave them

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00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:23.319
<v Speaker 2>a knife sharp as an eel's grin, and bid them

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00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:27.440
<v Speaker 2>take it to their lost and grieving sister. They rose

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00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:30.200
<v Speaker 2>out of the water, with their hair around their white

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00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:34.279
<v Speaker 2>breasts like kelp and their eyes dark as abaloney, and

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00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:37.359
<v Speaker 2>the king, who had chased his cold bride to the sea,

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00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:41.759
<v Speaker 2>sat down upon the sand without a whimper, as if

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00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:46.359
<v Speaker 2>struck dead. The daughters sang out to Little Sister and

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00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:48.960
<v Speaker 2>gave to her the knife of their father, while the

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00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:53.039
<v Speaker 2>king sat senseless in the sand. Lost in their voices

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00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:59.720
<v Speaker 2>and their pale faces part seven with the wind for

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00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:02.880
<v Speaker 2>a sa seal and the sun for a sign. And

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00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:05.799
<v Speaker 2>so I will wed her, this white wife of mine.

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00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:09.759
<v Speaker 2>And so Little Sister turned to the king, and with

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<v Speaker 2>a gull's high scream of joy and triumph, seized a

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00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:16.519
<v Speaker 2>handful of his thick black hair, pulled his head back,

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00:26:16.839 --> 00:26:20.440
<v Speaker 2>and sliced his throat open from ear to ear, spilling

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00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:24.079
<v Speaker 2>his hot blood onto the sand and stinking steaming gouts.

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00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:28.440
<v Speaker 2>He fell onto the sand with a grunt, and Little

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00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:32.160
<v Speaker 2>Sister plunged Father Dagan's knife into his chest, tearing the

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00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:35.160
<v Speaker 2>cage of his ribs apart. With her fine, strong hands,

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00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:38.440
<v Speaker 2>ripped his heart from the splintered bones and wet meat,

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00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:42.200
<v Speaker 2>and sawed it into two ragged halves, as had been

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00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:46.279
<v Speaker 2>done to her tail. With wild joy, she flung the

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00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:49.039
<v Speaker 2>halves of his heart aside and plunged the blade into

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00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:52.519
<v Speaker 2>her pale belly. She sank it again and again into

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00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:56.119
<v Speaker 2>her flesh, stabbing at the fluttering spark of cursed humanity

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00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:59.680
<v Speaker 2>within her, until the blood ran in red rivulets down

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00:26:59.720 --> 00:27:03.640
<v Speaker 2>her battered silk gown and the knife slipped from finger.

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00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:11.799
<v Speaker 2>Growing numb and still sisters, she cried, father, I'm free,

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00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:15.519
<v Speaker 2>I am free. She leapt into the crashing surf as

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00:27:15.559 --> 00:27:18.559
<v Speaker 2>all her sisters sang to her, and the blood flowed,

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00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:21.559
<v Speaker 2>and the heavy gown that polled and her ruined tail

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00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:26.200
<v Speaker 2>that could not swim carried her down, down, down, into

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00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:32.599
<v Speaker 2>the lovely depths. As she sang, She sang, my darlings.

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00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:36.599
<v Speaker 2>She sang of her agony and her captivity, of her

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00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:41.160
<v Speaker 2>freedom and her release. Her body slowly dissolved into froth,

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00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:45.640
<v Speaker 2>shimmering and bobbing as it danced to the surface. And

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00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:49.039
<v Speaker 2>so it was. Though Father Dagon could not return his

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00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:53.119
<v Speaker 2>daughter to the sea, he could free her from the

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00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:57.960
<v Speaker 2>sea witch's curse and turn her to sparkling sea foam.

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00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:04.000
<v Speaker 2>Her sisters tenderly wreathed their dark hair and pale breasts

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00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:07.519
<v Speaker 2>with shimmering mantles of this foam. Before they sank back

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00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:10.960
<v Speaker 2>into the shelter of the sea. They sang of the

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00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:15.160
<v Speaker 2>death of their sister, and sailors for miles shivered in

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00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:18.440
<v Speaker 2>their wooden ships, and the few soldiers still left in

388
00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.079
<v Speaker 2>the cold halls of the king's castle slunk away into

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00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:29.319
<v Speaker 2>the woods with not a single backwards glance. Grandmother Hydra

390
00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:33.839
<v Speaker 2>gently caressed each little head, smoothed the gently waving hair,

391
00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:38.200
<v Speaker 2>tucked every little chin down into the octopus, who pulsed

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00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:43.640
<v Speaker 2>gently with slow, soothing colors. Each little pair of black

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00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:47.480
<v Speaker 2>eyes was low lided, heavy with sleep and with the

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00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:53.359
<v Speaker 2>sad lesson of little sister. Remember, my darlings, when singing

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00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:57.640
<v Speaker 2>to the ships, be cautious and never seen, for the

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00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:02.160
<v Speaker 2>cruel and grasping nature of man's soul is not to

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00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:07.559
<v Speaker 2>be forgotten. All the tiny heads nodded a sleepy agreement.

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<v Speaker 2>The little black eyes closed a pair at a time,

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00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:18.400
<v Speaker 2>and the little maids slept, and far above them, beyond

400
00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:23.200
<v Speaker 2>the crashing waves, the white moon shone on the glittering

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00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:27.319
<v Speaker 2>bubbles of sea foam and on the ancient remains of

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00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:55.519
<v Speaker 2>a silent, ruined kingdom.

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00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:57.799
<v Speaker 1>Thank you for listening to episode number thirteen oh two.

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00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:01.720
<v Speaker 1>Today's story was how Will You Woo Her? By Sabella Chevchenko.

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00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.119
<v Speaker 1>Our gifted storyteller was Addison Peacock. To find more tales

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00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:10.799
<v Speaker 1>from the depths and beyond, visit the Wickedlibrary dot com

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00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:13.880
<v Speaker 1>and Ninth Story dot Com. Want to share your own

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00:30:13.960 --> 00:30:18.160
<v Speaker 1>dark Tale submissions for season thirteen are open. Find out

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00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.160
<v Speaker 1>how to submit your story on our website. To keep

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<v Speaker 1>this Library of nightmares well stock, support us on Patreon

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<v Speaker 1>is created by Ninth Story Studios LLC. All rights reserved.