Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Sleepy Stories. I'm your host, Lucy,
Speaker 1: and my friends and I will be reading you a
Speaker 1: sleepy bedtime story every week to relax you and to
Speaker 1: help you to drift off into a RESTful sleep. From
Speaker 1: time to time, we will also read you a relaxing,
Speaker 1: peaceful meditation that will take you somewhere beautiful and calming.
Speaker 1: Once we have read the stories, we will then read
Speaker 1: them a second time, but this time they will be
Speaker 1: ready even slower. This will help you to relax even more.
Speaker 1: Before we begin, I would like you to close your
Speaker 1: eyes and breathe in and out nice and deeply. Take
Speaker 1: a few seconds to inhale, and then hold your breath
Speaker 1: for a few seconds more, and then release and breathe out.
Speaker 1: Do this a few times if you need to. While
Speaker 1: you listen to the music and you listen to my voice,
Speaker 1: give yourself time to let your body relax and your
Speaker 1: mind settle. It's important that we allow time for us
Speaker 1: to feel safe, cozy, and completely at ease. And now
Speaker 1: it's time for this week's story.
Speaker 2: Once in a kingdom where roads occasionally changed direction out
Speaker 2: of boredom, there lived two sisters named Evelyn and Poppy,
Speaker 2: Evelyn was twenty years old, sensible, organized, and rarely surprised
Speaker 2: by anything. She carried three maps, two compasses, a notebook,
Speaker 2: spare shoelaces, and a small tin labeled for emergencies, though
Speaker 2: she had never never explained what was inside it. Poppy
Speaker 2: was seventeen, curious, cheerful, and almost always surprised. She collected buttons, feathers,
Speaker 2: interesting stones, and questions no one could answer. She regularly
Speaker 2: spoke to statues, greeted passing clouds, and believed that any
Speaker 2: door painted blue probably led somewhere worth visiting. The sisters
Speaker 2: loved one another dearly, but they agreed on almost nothing.
Speaker 2: One morning, they received a letter sealed with purple wax.
Speaker 2: It read to the two travelers, come to the Palace
Speaker 2: of a hundred windows before the final bell of Midsummer.
Speaker 2: The King seeks those who understand what is truly valuable.
Speaker 2: Bring only what you need. Below the message was a
Speaker 2: tiny golden map. Evelyn immediately packed food, blankets, rope, a lantern,
Speaker 2: and all three of her maps. Poppy packed one apple,
Speaker 2: a striped scarf, and a tiny silver spoon she had
Speaker 2: found beneath a cupboard. Why are you taking that, Evelyn? Asked,
Speaker 2: in case we meet a very small giant, there is
Speaker 2: no such thing as a very small giant. That is
Speaker 2: exactly what a very small giant would want you to think.
Speaker 2: They set off before breakfast. At the edge of their village.
Speaker 2: The main road divided into three. A wooden sign pointed
Speaker 2: left and read the sensible road. Another pointed right, the
Speaker 2: beautiful road. The middle sign simply said probably not, we
Speaker 2: take the sensible road. Evelin said. The middle one sounds interesting,
Speaker 2: said Poppy. It sounds dangerous, it says probably. Before they
Speaker 2: could decide, all three signs spun around and pointed towards
Speaker 2: the middle path. Evelin frowned. That is very unhelpful. The
Speaker 2: sign creaked. A new message appeared, The road has voted,
Speaker 2: so they followed it. The path soon led to a
Speaker 2: stone bridge stretching across a deep ravine. At its center
Speaker 2: stood a carved face with bushy eyebrows. Travelers boomed the
Speaker 2: bridge answer my riddle, or you may not cross. Evelyn
Speaker 2: opened her notebook. What has no wings but flies, no mouth,
Speaker 2: but whispers, and disappears whenever you try to hold it
Speaker 2: the wind, Evelin said. At once, No a thought, said Poppy,
Speaker 2: no time. Evelin suggested.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: The sisters offered clouds, dreams, smoke, music, and Evelin's patience.
Speaker 2: All were wrong. At last, Poppy sat down this silly
Speaker 2: There could be several answers. The bridge's stone eyebrows rose correct,
Speaker 2: a section of the bridge lowered. The answer was a
Speaker 2: riddle with too many possible answers. Evelyn stared at it.
Speaker 2: That is a dreadful riddle. I have been alone for
Speaker 2: three hundred years, said the bridge. I amuse myself. As
Speaker 2: they crossed, Poppy noticed a bright blue feather caught between
Speaker 2: two stones. She picked it up. You do not need that,
Speaker 2: Evelyn said. It might belong to a bird. That is
Speaker 2: usually where feathers come from. Poppy tucked it into her pocket.
Speaker 2: Beyond the bridge lay a village where everyone sang instead
Speaker 2: of speaking. A baker leaned from his window and sang,
Speaker 2: good morning, travelers, Dusty and Red. Would you care for
Speaker 2: some wandering bread? Before the sisters could answer, two round
Speaker 2: loaves bounced out of the bakery and hopped down the street.
Speaker 2: Poppy chased one, Evelyn chased Poppy. The loaf leapt over
Speaker 2: a fountain, rolled beneath a cart, and hid behind a
Speaker 2: flower pot. Stop. Evelyn cried. The bread stopped, then it
Speaker 2: turned around, bounced twice, and knocked her gently on the ankle.
Speaker 2: The baker hurried over, still singing, you must greet the
Speaker 2: bread politely, you see, or it assumes you mean robbery.
Speaker 2: Poppy bowed to the loaf, good morning. May we eat
Speaker 2: you please? The loaf gave a small, resigned bounce. The
Speaker 2: baker handed it to her. As they ate, Poppy noticed
Speaker 2: a brass button on the bakery floor. She slipped it
Speaker 2: into her pocket. Eveling side. We were told to bring
Speaker 2: only what we need. We may need a button. We
Speaker 2: already have, buttons, not this one. They continued into a
Speaker 2: forest where the trees moved whenever nobody was looking. Evelyn
Speaker 2: checked her compass, The needle spun in circles. She checked
Speaker 2: her map. The ink had rearranged itself to form the
Speaker 2: words nice. Try this forest is impossible, she muttered. Poppy
Speaker 2: walked ahead, humming. The path twisted behind her. Soon the
Speaker 2: sisters found themselves separated. Poppy evening called over here. Poppy
Speaker 2: sounded nearby, then far away, then somehow above her. Evelyn
Speaker 2: hurried through the trees, but returned to the same mossy
Speaker 2: stump three times. At last she stopped. We must walk together.
Speaker 2: Poppy emerged from behind a fern. The sisters linked arms. Immediately,
Speaker 2: the forest became still. A straight path appeared beneath their feet.
Speaker 2: Evelyn looked at Poppy, Do not wander off again. I
Speaker 2: didn't wander the forest wandered. At the end of the path,
Speaker 2: they found a smooth pebble shaped like a heart. Poppy
Speaker 2: picked it up. Evelyn opened her mouth. Don't, said Poppy.
Speaker 2: By evening they reached a slow moving hill. It turned
Speaker 2: out not to be a hill at all, but an
Speaker 2: enormous tortoise with a small library strapped to its shell.
Speaker 2: The tortoise wore half moon spectacles. Do you have any
Speaker 2: books about the Palace of one hundred winters, Evelyn asked.
Speaker 2: The tortoise took so long to answer that Poppy ate
Speaker 2: her apple while waiting, possibly, he said. At last, he
Speaker 2: climbed a tiny ladder, leaning against his own shell, and
Speaker 2: disappeared among the shelves. After several minutes, he returned with
Speaker 2: a dusty book. The palace gate opens only for those
Speaker 2: carrying everything they truly needed along the journey. Evelyn smiled, triumphantly.
Speaker 2: You see food maps, rope lantern. Poppy looked worriedly at
Speaker 2: her feather, button, pebble, and spoon. The tortoise peered at
Speaker 2: them over his spectacles. Need is a peculiar word, he said.
Speaker 2: Most creatures understand it only afterwards. Before they left, he
Speaker 2: gave them directions. Follow the path past the upside down waterfall.
Speaker 2: Turn left at the mountain that compliments you. Compliments us,
Speaker 2: Evelyn asked. You have excellent posture, said the mountain in
Speaker 2: the distance. Thank you, Poppy called, And your scarf is delightful,
Speaker 2: Poppy beamed. Evelyn's compliment came several minutes later. You have
Speaker 2: packed very efficiently. That is more like it, she said.
Speaker 2: They passed the upside down waterfall, whose water flowed from
Speaker 2: a lake into the clouds. Behind it, they heard skar weaking.
Speaker 2: A tiny green dragon sat on a rock, shivering. Smoke
Speaker 2: puffed nervously from its nostrils. Are you lost, Poppy asked, No,
Speaker 2: said the dragon, I am hiding from what fire? Evelyn stared,
Speaker 2: But you are a dragon. That does not mean I
Speaker 2: must enjoy everything expected of dragons. The dragon had been
Speaker 2: sent to light the Midsummer lantern at the palace. But
Speaker 2: every time it tried to breathe fire, it frightened itself
Speaker 2: and sneezed. Poppy wrapped her striped scarf around its shoulders.
Speaker 2: You needn't make a huge flame, she said, Perhaps begin
Speaker 2: with a spy. The dragon tried. It produced smoke, then
Speaker 2: a tiny flame. Then it screamed and hid behind Evelyn.
Speaker 2: You did it, Evelyn said, I did you did. The
Speaker 2: dragon tried again, making a flame no larger than a candle.
Speaker 2: It grinned ingratitude. It gave Poppy a small silver key.
Speaker 2: Evelyn examined it. What does it open? I don't know,
Speaker 2: said the dragon. I found it in a pie. They
Speaker 2: reached a market just before sunset. Unlike ordinary markets, no
Speaker 2: one used coins. People traded memories. A woman exchanged the
Speaker 2: memory of her first snowfall for a silk umbrella. A
Speaker 2: fisherman traded the memory of an enormous fish for a
Speaker 2: pair of yellow boots. Surely, giving away memories is a
Speaker 2: terrible idea, Evelyn said. A merchant overheard her. Only if
Speaker 2: you trade the important ones, what could we buy, Poppy asked.
Speaker 2: The merchant showed them a bottle containing a golden light,
Speaker 2: A memory of laughter very useful in gloomy places. What
Speaker 2: does it cost one small memory? Poppy offered the memory
Speaker 2: of a particularly boring Tuesday. The merchant excepted, do you
Speaker 2: still remember it? Evelin asked, No, said Poppy. Wonderful night
Speaker 2: had fallen When they reached the Castle of Cats. Dozens
Speaker 2: of cats sat on the walls, window sills, and roof.
Speaker 2: A large white cat wearing a velvet collar approached them.
Speaker 2: To reach the palace, he said, you must cross our courtyard.
Speaker 2: That seems simple, said Evelin. It would be, except our
Speaker 2: queen has lost her favorite toy. Every cat in the
Speaker 2: castle was searching. They looked beneath cushions, inside flower pots,
Speaker 2: and behind suits of armor. Poppy noticed a blue tail
Speaker 2: sticking from beneath the throne. She pulled out a toy
Speaker 2: bird missing one feather. The feather, she cried. She fitted
Speaker 2: the blue feather into the toy's wing. The cat queen
Speaker 2: purred with delight and allowed them to pass. That was fortunate,
Speaker 2: Evelyn admitted, useful feather, said Poppy. Outside the castle, they
Speaker 2: met a lonely giant sitting beside the road. He was
Speaker 2: not very small. In fact, he was enormous He held
Speaker 2: a bowl of soup and stared sadly at it. My
Speaker 2: spoon fell down a well, he said. Poppy produced the
Speaker 2: tiny silver spoon. It looked absurdly small in the giant's hand,
Speaker 2: but it grew until it was the perfect size. You
Speaker 2: did meet a giant, said Evelyn, and I had the
Speaker 2: correct spoon. I will never hear the end of this.
Speaker 2: The giant ate happily and lifted the sisters over the
Speaker 2: final mountain. At dawn, they finally saw the Palace of
Speaker 2: a hundred windows. It glittered in the distance, tall and silver,
Speaker 2: with banners flying from every tower. But the palace gate
Speaker 2: was closed. Hundreds of travelers waited outside. Merchants carried gold,
Speaker 2: knights carried weapons, Scholars carried books. A herald stood upon
Speaker 2: the wall. Only those who carry everything they truly needed
Speaker 2: may enter. One by one, the travelers were refused. A
Speaker 2: merchant's gold had helped no one, A knight's sword had
Speaker 2: never left its sheath. A scholar had carried fifty books,
Speaker 2: but read none of them. Evelyn and Poppy stepped forward.
Speaker 2: The herald examined Eveland's pack, maps, rope, lantern, food, and blankets.
Speaker 2: You use some of these he said, but not all
Speaker 2: the gate remained closed. Evelyn looked crushed. Then the Herald
Speaker 2: examined Poppy's pockets a feather, a button, a pebble, a spoon,
Speaker 2: a key, and a bottle of laughter. They looked useless
Speaker 2: at first, said Poppy. The Herald smiled, yet each was
Speaker 2: carried with curiosity rather than greed. A tiny door appeared
Speaker 2: in the palace wall. It had no handle, only a
Speaker 2: silver lock. Poppy used the dragon's key. Inside they found
Speaker 2: a dark passage. Evelyn lit her lantern, but it had
Speaker 2: run out of oil. Poppy opened the bottle. The memory
Speaker 2: of laughter floated into the air, filling the corridor with
Speaker 2: warm golden light. At the end stood an ancient mosaic
Speaker 2: showing the Kingdom's founders. One small piece was missing. Poppy
Speaker 2: placed the heart shaped pebble into the empty space. The
Speaker 2: mosaic slid aside, revealing another door. A royal cloak hung
Speaker 2: beside it, but one of its brass buttons was missing.
Speaker 2: Poppy sewed on the button using thread from Evelyn's emergency tin.
Speaker 2: The cloak rose, as though worn by an invisible person,
Speaker 2: and opened the final door. Beyond it sat the king.
Speaker 2: He was not dressed in jewels. He wore simple traveling
Speaker 2: clothes and muddy boots. You have arrived, he said. Evelin bowed.
Speaker 2: What is the The king smiled, There is no chest
Speaker 2: of gold. Poppy did not look disappointed. The true purpose
Speaker 2: of the journey, he continued, was to discover who could
Speaker 2: recognize value before being told what was valuable. He turned
Speaker 2: to Evelyn. You prepared carefully, which saved you from hunger
Speaker 2: and darkness. Then he turned to Poppy, and you paid
Speaker 2: attention to what others overlooked. The king offered each sister
Speaker 2: a place among his royal Travelers, whose work was to
Speaker 2: journey across the kingdom, solve unusual problems and help those
Speaker 2: they met. Evelyn accepted immediately. Poppy asked whether the job
Speaker 2: included snacks. It did, and so the sisters traveled together
Speaker 2: for many years. Evelyn continued to carry maps, rope, and
Speaker 2: emergency shoelaces. Poppy continued to collect things that seemed entirely pointless.
Speaker 2: They still disagreed about which roads to take. They still
Speaker 2: argued whenever Poppy spoke to furniture, but they learned that
Speaker 2: Evelyn's careful plans and Poppy's curious heart were more useful
Speaker 2: together than either could ever be alone, And whenever someone
Speaker 2: laughed at the odd little treasures in Poppy's pockets, Evelyn
Speaker 2: would shake her head and say, do not ask somehow
Speaker 2: we will need them, and sooner or later they always did.
Speaker 2: For the smallest things are not always useless, the strangest
Speaker 2: roads are not always wrong, and the best traveling companion
Speaker 2: is often the person who sees the world differently from you.
Speaker 2: Once in a kingdom where roads occasionally change direction, out
Speaker 2: of boredom, there lived two sisters named Evelyn and Poppy.
Speaker 2: Evelyn was twenty years old, sensible, organized, and rarely surprised
Speaker 2: by anything. She carried three maps, two compasses, a notebook,
Speaker 2: spare shoelaces, and a small tin labeled for emergencies, though
Speaker 2: she had never explained what was inside it. Poppy was seventeen, curious, cheerful,
Speaker 2: and almost always surprised. She collected buttons, feathers, interesting stones,
Speaker 2: and questions no one could answer. She regularly spoke to statues,
Speaker 2: greeted passing clouds, and believed that any door painted blue
Speaker 2: probably led somewhere worth visiting. The sisters loved one another dearly,
Speaker 2: but they agreed on almost nothing. One morning, they received
Speaker 2: a letter sealed with purple wax. It read to the
Speaker 2: two travelers, come to the Palace of a hundred windows
Speaker 2: before the final bell of Midsummer. The king seeks those
Speaker 2: who understand what is truly valuable. Bring only what you need.
Speaker 2: Below the message was a tiny golden map. Evelyn immediately
Speaker 2: packed food, blankets, rope, a lantern, and all three of
Speaker 2: her maps. Poppy packed one apple, a striped scarf, and
Speaker 2: a tiny silver spoon she had found beneath a cupboard.
Speaker 2: Why are you taking that, Evelyn asked, in case we
Speaker 2: meet a very small giant. There is no such thing
Speaker 2: as a very small giant. That is exactly what a
Speaker 2: very small giant would want you to think. They set
Speaker 2: off before breakfast. At the edge of their village, the
Speaker 2: main road divided into three. A wooden sign pointed left
Speaker 2: and read the Sensible Road. Another pointed right, the beautiful road.
Speaker 2: The middle sign simply said, probably not. We take the
Speaker 2: sensible road. Evelin said, the middle one sounds interesting, said Poppy.
Speaker 2: It sounds dangerous, it says probably. Before they could decide,
Speaker 2: all three signs spun around and pointed towards the middle path.
Speaker 2: Evelin frowned. That is very unhelpful. The sign creaked. A
Speaker 2: new message appeared. The road has voted, so they followed it.
Speaker 2: The path soon led to a stone bridge stretching across
Speaker 2: a deep ravine. At its center stood a carved face
Speaker 2: with bushy eyebrows. Travelers boomed the bridge, answer my riddle,
Speaker 2: or you may not cross. Evelyn opened her note book.
Speaker 2: What has no wings but flies, no mouth but whispers,
Speaker 2: and disappears whenever you try to hold it the wind,
Speaker 2: Evelin said at once no a thought, said Poppy, no.
Speaker 1: Time.
Speaker 2: Evelin suggested.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: The sisters offered clouds, dreams, smoke, music, and Evelin's patience.
Speaker 2: All were wrong. At last, Poppy sat down, This is silly.
Speaker 2: There could be several answers. The bridge's stone eyebrows rose correct,
Speaker 2: a section of the bridge lowered. The answer was a
Speaker 2: riddle with too many possible answers. Evelyn stared at it.
Speaker 2: That is a dreadful riddle. I have been alone for
Speaker 2: three hundred years, said the bridge. I amuse myself. As
Speaker 2: they crossed, Poppy noticed a bright blue feather caught between
Speaker 2: two stones. She picked it up. You do not need
Speaker 2: that Evelyn said it might belong to a bird. That
Speaker 2: is usually where feathers come from. Poppy tucked it into
Speaker 2: her pocket. Beyond the bridge lay a village where everyone
Speaker 2: sang instead of speaking. A baker leaned from his window
Speaker 2: and sang, good morning, travelers, Dusty and Red, would you
Speaker 2: care for some wandering bread? Before the sisters could answer,
Speaker 2: two round loaves bounced out of the bakery and hopped
Speaker 2: down the street. Poppy chased one, Evelyn chased Poppy. The
Speaker 2: loaf leapt over a fountain, rolled beneath a cart, and
Speaker 2: hid behind a flower pot. Stop. Evelyn cried. The bread stopped,
Speaker 2: then it turned around, bounced twice, and knocked her gently
Speaker 2: on the ankle. The baker hurried over, still singing, you
Speaker 2: must greet the bread politely, you see, or it assumes
Speaker 2: you mean robbery. Poppy bowed to the loaf good morning.
Speaker 2: May we eat you please? The loaf gave a small,
Speaker 2: resigned bounce. The baker handed it to her. As they ate,
Speaker 2: Poppy noticed a brass button on the bakery floor. She
Speaker 2: slipped it into her pocket. Eveling sighed, we were told
Speaker 2: to bring only what we need. We may need a
Speaker 2: button we already have buttons, not this one. They continued
Speaker 2: into a forest where the trees moved whenever nobody was looking.
Speaker 2: Evelyn checked her compass, the needle spun in circles. She
Speaker 2: checked her map. The ink had rearranged itself to form
Speaker 2: the words nice. Try this forest is impossible, she muttered.
Speaker 2: Poppy walked ahead, humming. The path twisted behind her. Soon
Speaker 2: the sisters found themselves separated. Poppy evening called over here.
Speaker 2: Poppy sounded nearby, then far away, then somehow above her.
Speaker 2: Evelyn hurried through the trees, but returned to the same
Speaker 2: mossy stump three times. At last, she stopped. We must
Speaker 2: walk together. Poppy emerged from behind a fern. The sisters
Speaker 2: linked arms. Immediately the forest became still. A straight path
Speaker 2: appeared beneath their feet. Evelyn looked at Poppy. Do not
Speaker 2: wander off again. I didn't wander The forest wandered. At
Speaker 2: the end of the path, they found a smooth pebble
Speaker 2: shaped like a heart. Poppy picked it up. Evelyn opened
Speaker 2: her mouth. Don't, said Poppy. By evening they reached a
Speaker 2: slow moving hill. It turned out not to be a
Speaker 2: hill at all, but an enormous tortoise with a small
Speaker 2: library strapped to its shell. The tortoise wore half moon spectacles.
Speaker 2: Do you have any books about the Palace of a
Speaker 2: hundred windows, Evelyn asked. The tortoise took so long to
Speaker 2: answer that Poppy ate her apple while waiting, possibly, he said.
Speaker 2: At last, he climbed a tiny ladder, leaning against his
Speaker 2: own shell, and disappeared among the shelves. After several minutes,
Speaker 2: he returned with a dusty book. The palace gate opens
Speaker 2: only for those carrying everything they truly needed along the journey,
Speaker 2: Evelyn smiled triumphantly. You see food, maps, rope, lantern. Poppy
Speaker 2: looked worriedly at her feather, button, pebble, and spoon. The
Speaker 2: tortoise peered at them over his spectacles. Need is a
Speaker 2: peculiar word, he said. Most creatures understand it only afterwards.
Speaker 2: Before they left, he gave them directions. Follow the path
Speaker 2: past the upside down waterfall. Turn left at the mountain
Speaker 2: that compliments you. Compliments us, Evelyn asked, You have excellent posture,
Speaker 2: said the mountain in the distance. Thank you, Poppy called,
Speaker 2: and your scarf is delightful, Poppy beamed. Evelyn's compliment came
Speaker 2: several minutes later, you have packed very efficiently. That is
Speaker 2: more like it, she said. They passed the upside down waterfall,
Speaker 2: whose water flowed from a lake into the clouds. Behind it,
Speaker 2: they heard squeaking. A tiny green dragon sat on a rock, shivering.
Speaker 2: Smoke puffed nervously from its nostrils. Are you lost, Poppy asked, No,
Speaker 2: said the dragon. I am hiding from what fire? Evelyn stared,
Speaker 2: But you are a dragon. That does not mean I
Speaker 2: must enjoy everything expected of dragons. The dragon had been
Speaker 2: sent to light the midsummer lantern at the palace, but
Speaker 2: every time it tried to breathe fire, it frightened itself
Speaker 2: and sneezed. Poppy wrapped her striped scarf around its shoulders.
Speaker 2: You needn't make a huge flame, she said, Perhaps begin
Speaker 2: with a spark. The dragon tried. It produced smoke, then
Speaker 2: a tiny flame. Then it screamed and hid behind Evelyn.
Speaker 2: You did it, Evelyn said, I did you did? The
Speaker 2: dragon tried again, making a flame no larger than a candle.
Speaker 2: It grinned ingratitude. It gave Poppy a small silver key.
Speaker 2: Evelyn examined it. What does it open? I don't know,
Speaker 2: said the dragon. I found it in a pie. They
Speaker 2: reached a market just before sunset. Unlike ordinary markets, no
Speaker 2: one used coins. People traded memories. A woman exchanged the
Speaker 2: memory of her first snowfall for a silk umbrella. A
Speaker 2: fisherman traded the memory of an enormous fish for a
Speaker 2: pair of yellow boots. Surely giving away memories is a
Speaker 2: terrible idea, Evelyn said. A merchant overheard her. Only if
Speaker 2: you trade the important ones. What could we buy, Poppy asked.
Speaker 2: The merchant showed them a bottle containing a golden light.
Speaker 2: A memory of laughter very useful in gloomy places. What
Speaker 2: does it cost one small memory? Poppy offered the memory
Speaker 2: of a particularly boring Tuesday. The merchant accepted. Do you
Speaker 2: still remember it? Evelin asked, No, said Poppy. Wonderful night
Speaker 2: had fallen. When they reached the Castle of Cats. Dozens
Speaker 2: of cats sat on the walls, windowsills, and roof. A
Speaker 2: large white cat wearing a velvet collar approached them. To
Speaker 2: reach the palace, he said, you must cross our courtyard.
Speaker 2: That seems simple, said Evelin. It would be, except our
Speaker 2: queen has lost her favorite toy. Every cat in the
Speaker 2: castle was searching. They looked beneath cushions, inside flower pots,
Speaker 2: and behind suits of arms. Poppy noticed a blue tail
Speaker 2: sticking from beneath the throne. She pulled out a toy
Speaker 2: bird missing one feather. The feather, she cried. She fitted
Speaker 2: the blue feather into the toy's wing. The cat queen
Speaker 2: purred with delight and allowed them to pass. That was fortunate,
Speaker 2: Evelyn admitted. Useful feather, said Poppy. Outside the castle, they
Speaker 2: met a lonely giant sitting beside the road. He was
Speaker 2: not very small, In fact, he was enormous. He held
Speaker 2: a bowl of soup and stared sadly at it. My
Speaker 2: spoon fell down a well, he said. Poppy produced the
Speaker 2: tiny silver spoon. It looked absurdly small in the giant's hand,
Speaker 2: but it grew until it was the perfect size. You
Speaker 2: did meet a giant, said Evelyn, and I had the
Speaker 2: correct spoon. I will never hear the end of this.
Speaker 2: The giant ate happily and lifted the sisters over the
Speaker 2: final mountain. At dawn, they finally saw the Palace of
Speaker 2: a hundred windows. It glittered in the distance, tall and silver,
Speaker 2: with banners flying from every tower, But the palace gate
Speaker 2: was closed. Hundreds of travelers waited outside. Merchants carried gold,
Speaker 2: knights carried weapons, Scholars carried books. A herald stood upon
Speaker 2: the wall. Only those who carry everything they truly needed
Speaker 2: may enter. One by one, the travelers were refused. A
Speaker 2: merchant's gold had helped no one. A knight's sword had
Speaker 2: never left its sheath. A scholar had carried fifty books,
Speaker 2: but read none of them. Evelyn and Poppy stepped forward.
Speaker 2: The Herald examined Eveland's pack, maps, rope, lantern, food, and blankets.
Speaker 2: You use some of these, he said, but not all.
Speaker 2: The gate remained closed. Evelyn looked crushed. Then the Herald
Speaker 2: examined Poppy's pockets a feather, a button, a pebble, a spoon,
Speaker 2: a key, and a bottle of laughter. They looked useless
Speaker 2: at first, said Poppy. The Herald smiled, yet each was
Speaker 2: carried with curiosity rather than greed. A tiny door appeared
Speaker 2: in the palace wall. It had no handle, only a
Speaker 2: silver lock. Poppy used the dragon's key. Inside they found
Speaker 2: a dark passage. Evelyn lit her lantern, but it had
Speaker 2: run out of oil. Poppy opened the bottle. The memory
Speaker 2: of laughter floated into the air. Filling the corridor with
Speaker 2: warm golden light. At the end stood an ancient mosaic
Speaker 2: showing the Kingdom's founders. One small piece was missing. Poppy
Speaker 2: placed the heart shaped pebble into the empty space. The
Speaker 2: mosaic slid aside, revealing another door. A royal cloak hung
Speaker 2: beside it, but one of its brass buttons was missing.
Speaker 2: Poppy sewed on the button using thread from Evelyn's emergency tin.
Speaker 2: The cloak rose, as though worn by an invisible person,
Speaker 2: and opened the final door. Beyond it sat the King.
Speaker 2: He was not dressed in jewels, he wore simple traveling
Speaker 2: clothes and muddy boots. Arrived, he said, Evelyn bowed, what
Speaker 2: is the prize? The King smiled, there is no chest
Speaker 2: of gold. Poppy did not look disappointed. The true purpose
Speaker 2: of the journey, he continued, was to discover who could
Speaker 2: recognize value before being told what was valuable. He turned
Speaker 2: to Evelyn. You prepared carefully, which saved you from hunger
Speaker 2: and darkness. Then he turned to Poppy, and you paid
Speaker 2: attention to what others overlooked. The king offered each sister
Speaker 2: a place among his royal travelers, whose work was to
Speaker 2: journey across the kingdom, solve unusual problems and help those
Speaker 2: they met. Evelyn accepted immediately. Poppy asked whether the job
Speaker 2: included snacks. It did, and so the sisters traveled together
Speaker 2: for many years. Evelyn continued to carry maps, rope, and
Speaker 2: emergency shoelaces. Poppy continued to collect things that seemed entirely pointless.
Speaker 2: They still disagreed about which roads to take. They still
Speaker 2: argued whenever Poppy spoke to furniture, but they learned that
Speaker 2: Evelyn's careful plans and Poppy's curious heart were more useful
Speaker 2: together than either could ever be alone. And whenever someone
Speaker 2: laughed at the odd little treasures in poppies pockets, Evelyn
Speaker 2: would shake her head and say, do not ask somehow
Speaker 2: we will need them, and sooner or later they always did.
Speaker 2: For the smallest things are not always useless, the strangest
Speaker 2: roads are not always wrong, and the best traveling companion
Speaker 2: is often the person who sees the world differently from you.
Speaker 2: Once in a kingdom where roads occasionally changed direction, out
Speaker 2: of boredom, there lived two sisters named Evelyn and Poppy.
Speaker 2: Evelyn was twenty years old, sensible, organized, and rarely surprised
Speaker 2: by anything. She carried three maps, two compasses, a notebook,
Speaker 2: spare shoelaces, and a small tin labeled for emergencies, though
Speaker 2: she had never explained what was inside it. Poppy was seventeen, curious, cheerful,
Speaker 2: and almost always surprised. She collected buttons, feathers, interesting stones,
Speaker 2: and questions no one could answer. She regularly spoke to statues,
Speaker 2: greeted passing clouds, and believed that any door painted blue
Speaker 2: probably led somewhere worth visiting. The sisters loved one another dearly,
Speaker 2: but they agreed on almost nothing. One morning, they received
Speaker 2: a letter sealed with purple wax. It read to the
Speaker 2: two travelers, come to the Palace of a hundred windows
Speaker 2: before the final bell of Midsummer. The king seeks those
Speaker 2: who understand what is truly valuable. Bring only what you need.
Speaker 2: Below the message was a tiny golden map. Evelyn immediately
Speaker 2: packed food, blankets, rope, a lantern, and all three of
Speaker 2: her maps. Poppy packed one apple, a striped scarf, and
Speaker 2: a tiny silver spoon she had found beneath a cupboard.
Speaker 2: Why are you taking that, Evelin asked, in case we
Speaker 2: meet a very small giant, There is no such thing.
Speaker 2: As a very small giant. That is exactly what a
Speaker 2: very small giant would want you to think. They set
Speaker 2: off before breakfast. At the edge of their village, the
Speaker 2: main road divided into three. A wooden sign pointed left
Speaker 2: and read the sensible road. Another pointed right, the beautiful road.
Speaker 2: The middle sign simply said, probably not, we take the
Speaker 2: sensible road. Evelin said, the middle one sounds interesting, said Poppy.
Speaker 2: It's sounds dangerous, it says probably. Before they could decide,
Speaker 2: all three signs spun around and pointed towards the middle path.
Speaker 2: Evelin frowned, that is very unhelpful. The sign creaked. A
Speaker 2: new message appeared, The road has voted, so they followed it.
Speaker 2: The path soon led to a stone bridge stretching across
Speaker 2: a deep ravine. At its center stood a carved face
Speaker 2: with bushy eyebrows. Travelers boomed the bridge answer my riddle,
Speaker 2: or you may not cross. Evelyn opened her notebook. What
Speaker 2: has no wings but flies, no mouth, but whispers, and
Speaker 2: disappears whenever you try to hold it the wind, Evelin
Speaker 2: said at once no, a thought, said Poppy, no time.
Speaker 2: Evelyn suggested.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: The sisters offered clouds dreams, smoke, music, and Evelin's patience
Speaker 2: all were wrong. At last, Poppy sat down. This is silly.
Speaker 2: There could be several answers. The bridge's stone eyebrows rose correct,
Speaker 2: a section of the bridge lowered. The answer was a
Speaker 2: riddle with too many possible answers. Evelyn stared at it.
Speaker 2: That is a dreadful riddle. I have been alone for
Speaker 2: three hundred years, said the bridge. I amuse myself. As
Speaker 2: they crossed, Poppy noticed a bright blue feather caught between
Speaker 2: two stones. She picked it up. You do not need that,
Speaker 2: Evelyn said. It might belong to a bird. That is
Speaker 2: usually where feathers come from. Poppy tucked it into her pocket.
Speaker 2: Beyond the bridge lay a village where everyone sang instead
Speaker 2: of speaking. A baker leaned from his window and sang,
Speaker 2: good morning, travelers, Dusty and Red, would you care for
Speaker 2: some wandering bread? Before the sisters could answer, two round
Speaker 2: loaves bounced out of the bakery and hopped down the street.
Speaker 2: Poppy chased one, Evelyn chased Poppy. The loaf leapt over
Speaker 2: a fountain, rolled beneath a cart, and hid behind a
Speaker 2: flower pot. Stop. Evelyn cried. The bread stopped, then it
Speaker 2: turned around, bounced twice, and knocked her gently on the ankle.
Speaker 2: The baker hurried over, still singing, you must greet the
Speaker 2: bread politely, you see, or it assumes you mean robbery.
Speaker 2: Poppy bowed to the loaf, good morning. May we eat
Speaker 2: you please. The loaf gave a small, resigned bounce. The
Speaker 2: baker handed it to her. As they ate, Poppy noticed
Speaker 2: a brass button on the bakery floor. She slipped it
Speaker 2: into her pocket. Evelin sighed, we were told to bring
Speaker 2: only what we need. We may need a button. We
Speaker 2: already have, buttons, not this one. They continued into a
Speaker 2: forest where the trees moved whenever nobody was looking. Evelyn
Speaker 2: checked her compass, the needles spun in circles. She checked
Speaker 2: her map. The ink had rearranged itself to form the words.
Speaker 1: Nice.
Speaker 2: Try this forest is impossible, she muttered. Poppy walked ahead, humming.
Speaker 2: The path twisted behind her. Soon the sisters found themselves separated.
Speaker 2: Poppy Eveling called over here. Poppy sounded nearby, then far away,
Speaker 2: then somehow above her. Evelyn hurried through the trees, but
Speaker 2: returned to the same mossy stump three times. At last,
Speaker 2: she stopped. We must walk together. Poppy emerged from behind
Speaker 2: a fern. The sisters linked arms. Immediately the forest became still.
Speaker 2: A straight path appeared beneath their feet. Evelyn looked at Poppy,
Speaker 2: Do not wander off again. I didn't wander The forest wandered.
Speaker 2: At the end of the path, they found a smooth
Speaker 2: pebble shaped like a heart. Poppy picked it up. Evelyn
Speaker 2: opened her mouth. Don't, said Poppy. By evening they reached
Speaker 2: a slow moving hill. It turned out not to be
Speaker 2: a hill at all, but an enormous tortoise with a
Speaker 2: small library strapped to its shell. The tortoise wore half
Speaker 2: moon spectacles. Do you have any books about the Palace
Speaker 2: of a hundred windows, Evelyn asked. The tortoise took so
Speaker 2: long to answer that Poppy ate her apple. While waiting,
Speaker 2: possibly he said. At last, he climbed a tiny ladder,
Speaker 2: leaning against his own shell, and disappeared among the shelves.
Speaker 2: After several minutes, he returned with a dusty book. The
Speaker 2: palace gate opens only for those carrying everything they truly
Speaker 2: needed along the journey, Evelyn smiled triumphantly. You see food, maps, rope, lantern,
Speaker 2: Poppy looked worriedly at her feather, button, pebble, and spoon.
Speaker 2: The tortoise peered at them over his spectacles. Need is
Speaker 2: a peculiar word, he said. Most creatures understand it only afterwards.
Speaker 2: Before they left, he gave them directions. Follow the path
Speaker 2: past the upside down waterfall. Turn left at the mountain
Speaker 2: that compliments you. Compliments us, Evelyn asked. You have excellent posture,
Speaker 2: said the MoU in the distance. Thank you, Poppy called,
Speaker 2: And your scarf is delightful, Poppy beamed. Evelyn's compliment came
Speaker 2: several minutes later. You have packed very efficiently. That is
Speaker 2: more like it, she said. They passed the upside down waterfall,
Speaker 2: whose water flowed from a lake into the clouds. Behind it,
Speaker 2: they heard squeaking. A tiny green dragon sat on a rock, shivering.
Speaker 2: Smoke puffed nervously from its nostrils. Are you lost, Poppy asked, No,
Speaker 2: said the dragon. I am hiding from what fire? Evelyn stared,
Speaker 2: But you are a dragon. That does not mean I
Speaker 2: must enjoy everything expected of dragons. The dragon had been
Speaker 2: sent to light the Midsummer lantern at the palace, but
Speaker 2: every time it tried to breathe fire. It frightened itself
Speaker 2: and sneezed. Poppy wrapped her striped scarf around its shoulders.
Speaker 2: You needn't make a huge flame, she said, Perhaps begin
Speaker 2: with a spark. The dragon tried. It produced smoke, then
Speaker 2: a tiny flame. Then it screamed and hid behind Evelyn.
Speaker 2: You did it, Evelyn said, I did? You did. The
Speaker 2: dragon tried again, making a flame no larger than a candle.
Speaker 2: It grinned ingratitude. It gave Poppy a small silver key.
Speaker 2: Evelyn examined it. What does it open? I don't know,
Speaker 2: said the dragon. I found it in a pie. They
Speaker 2: reached a market just before sunset. Unlike ordinary markets, no
Speaker 2: one used coins. People traded memories. A woman exchanged the
Speaker 2: memory of her first snowfall for a silk umbrella. A
Speaker 2: fisherman traded the memory of an enormous fish for a
Speaker 2: pair of yellow boots. Surely, giving away memories is a
Speaker 2: terrible idea, Evelyn, said, a merchant over her her. Only
Speaker 2: if you trade the important ones, What could we buy,
Speaker 2: Poppy asked. The merchant showed them a bottle containing a
Speaker 2: golden light. A memory of laughter very useful in gloomy places.
Speaker 2: What does it cost? One small memory. Poppy offered the
Speaker 2: memory of a particularly boring Tuesday. The merchant accepted, do
Speaker 2: you still remember it? Evelyn asked no, said Poppy. Wonderful
Speaker 2: night had fallen. When they reached the Castle of Cats,
Speaker 2: Dozens of cats sat on the walls, windowsills, and roof.
Speaker 2: A large white cat wearing a velvet collar approached them.
Speaker 2: To reach the palace, he said, you must cross our courtyard.
Speaker 2: That seems simple, said Evelyn. It would be, except our
Speaker 2: queen has lost her favorite toy. Every cat in the
Speaker 2: castle was searching. They looked beneath cushions, inside flower pots,
Speaker 2: and behind suits of armor. Poppy noticed a blue tail
Speaker 2: sticking from beneath the throne. She pulled out a toy
Speaker 2: bird missing one feather. The feather, she cried. She fitted
Speaker 2: the blue feather into the toy's wing. The cat queen
Speaker 2: purred with delight and allowed them to pass. That was fortunate,
Speaker 2: Evelyn admitted, useful feather, said Poppy. Outside the castle, they
Speaker 2: met a lonely giant sitting beside the road. He was
Speaker 2: not very small, In fact, he was enormous. He held
Speaker 2: a bowl of soup and stared sadly at it. My
Speaker 2: spoon fell down a well, he said. Poppy produced the
Speaker 2: tiny silver spoon. It looked absurdly small in the giant's hand,
Speaker 2: but it grew until it was the perfect size. You
Speaker 2: did meet a giant, said Evelyn, and I had the
Speaker 2: correct spoon. I will never hear the end of this.
Speaker 2: The giant ate happily and lifted the sisters over the
Speaker 2: final mountain. At they finally saw the Palace of a
Speaker 2: hundred windows. It glittered in the distance, tall and silver,
Speaker 2: with banners flying from every tower. But the palace gate
Speaker 2: was closed. Hundreds of travelers waited outside. Merchants carried gold,
Speaker 2: knights carried weapons, Scholars carried books. A herald stood upon
Speaker 2: the wall. Only those who carry everything they truly needed
Speaker 2: may enter. One by one, the travelers were refused. A
Speaker 2: merchant's gold had helped no one. A knight's sword had
Speaker 2: never left its sheath. A scholar had carried fifty books,
Speaker 2: but read none of them. Evelyn and Poppy stepped forward.
Speaker 2: The herald examined Eveland's pack, maps, rope, lantern, food, and blankets.
Speaker 2: You use some of these, he said, but not all.
Speaker 2: The gate remained closed. Evelyn looked crushed. Then the Herald
Speaker 2: examined Poppy's pockets, a feather, a button, a pebble, a spoon,
Speaker 2: a key, and a bottle of laughter. They looked useless
Speaker 2: at first, said Poppy. The Herald smiled, yet each was
Speaker 2: carried with curiosity rather than greed. A tiny door appeared
Speaker 2: in the palace wall. It had no handle, only a
Speaker 2: silver lock. Poppy used the dragon's key. Inside they found
Speaker 2: a dark passage. Evelyn lit her lantern, but it had
Speaker 2: run out of oil. Poppy opened the bottle. The memory
Speaker 2: of laughter floated into the air, filling the corridor with
Speaker 2: warm golden light. At the end stood an ancient mosaic
Speaker 2: showing the Kingdom's founders. One small piece was missing. Poppy
Speaker 2: placed the heart shaped pebble into the empty space. The
Speaker 2: mosaic slid aside, revealing another door. A royal cloak hung
Speaker 2: beside it, but one of its brass buttons was missing.
Speaker 2: Poppy sewed on the button using thread from Evelyn's emergency tin.
Speaker 2: The cloak rose as though worn by an invisible person,
Speaker 2: and opened the final door. Beyond it sat the King.
Speaker 2: He was not dressed in jewels. He wore simple traveling
Speaker 2: clothes and muddy boots. You have arrived, he said. Evelin bowed.
Speaker 2: What is the prize? The king smiled, there is no
Speaker 2: chest of gold. Poppy did not look disappointed. The true
Speaker 2: purpose of the journey, he continued, was to discover who
Speaker 2: could recognize value before being told what was valuable. He
Speaker 2: turned to Evelyn. You prepared carefully, which saved you from
Speaker 2: hunger and darkness. Then he turned to Poppy, and you
Speaker 2: paid attention to what others overlooked. The king offered each
Speaker 2: sister a place among his royal Travelers, whose work was
Speaker 2: to journey across the kingdom, solve unusual problems and help
Speaker 2: those they met. Evelyn accepted immediately. Poppy asked whether the
Speaker 2: job included snacks. It did, and so the sisters traveled
Speaker 2: together for many years. Evelyn continued to carry maps, rope,
Speaker 2: and emergency shoelaces. Poppy continued to collect things that seemed
Speaker 2: entirely pointless. They still disagreed about which roads to take.
Speaker 2: They still argued whenever Poppy spoke to furniture, but they
Speaker 2: learned that Evelyn's careful plans and Poppy's curious heart were
Speaker 2: more useful together than either could ever be alone. And
Speaker 2: whenever someone laughed at the odd little treasures in Poppy's pockets.
Speaker 2: Evelyn would shake her head and say, do not ask.
Speaker 2: Somehow we will need them, and sooner or later they
Speaker 2: always did, For the smallest things are not always useless,
Speaker 2: the strangest roads are not always wrong, and the best
Speaker 2: traveling companion is often the person who sees the world
Speaker 2: differently from you.