1383 – Frank 7 | Read With Me (Sleep With Me Plus Sneak Peek)

Episode 1383 – Frank 7 | Read With (Sleep With Me Plus Sneak Peek)

[START OF RECORDING]

SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for the podcaster who loves pop music, but I try not to share it too…my love of pop music too much with you, 'cause I’m here to put you to sleep, not…try not to get caught in the hook. But by the time you hear this reference, it’ll be as dated as my watermelon sugar references, and then I’ll be going back to whatever, 2016, 2019, and saying I’ll be riding into your sleep like a dark horse of dreamland and singing in the shower, because it’s time for Sleep With Me — if you're confused, you're in the right place — the podcast to put you to sleep.

INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest…or all you could do; it’s optional. It’s also optional…listening to me is optional. Understanding me definitely…I don't know, it’s optional, but I was trying to think of another word for it, 'cause you say, well, it’s not quite…optional and something. But what I propose to do is I’m gonna send my voice…oh no…turn out the lights and press Play…I’m gonna do the rest.

What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether that’s thoughts…you think if I’ve done this thousands…a thousand times…but thoughts, so things on your mind that you're thinking about, past, present, or future, thoughts, feelings, it could be anything you're experiencing emotionally…so thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, senchange…I was gonna say senchanges, which that could be another one, sensations and changes, or changes caused by sensations or sensations caused by changes. Whatever…but then also, it could be changes in…these could be sensations caused by changes, too, like schedule, routine, outdoor…you say, I got…that buzzing out there has got a sensation going inside me now.

You say, when did that buzzing start? Well, Earl, it’s been going as long as I can remember. I say, well, I just noticed it. What is it? You say, I don't know. It’s a gentle buzzing. Oh, I feel like I’m hearing a whirring. You say, okay, are you back asleep again? Oh, okay, she is. I better get back to this sleep podcast. Okay, so whatever’s keeping you awake, I’d like to take your mind off of that. What I’m going to do is I’m gonna smooth this safe place, I’m gonna pat it, I’m gonna rub it down. I guess you could picture me…and this is, again, another dated reference 'cause I record the shows ahead of time…like that popular tag-team commercial with the scooping, and you could picture me dancing in a comfortable, joyous way like in that TV commercial, or not. You could just say, well, no.

Hopefully you feel like I’m in…you say, well, there’s a lot of different kinds of joy, Scoots. I say, yeah, I’m like a deflated balloon that was at a great birthday party. Here’s an analogy I’ve never made for a podcast before, but it’s pretty apt 'cause you say, okay, Scoots, give me a accurate, brand-new, made-up analogy about the podcast. I say, well, I just did. You want me to do…can I go back to that one? Oh yeah, no, I thought you were. Sorry, I’m…I was late. Sorry, I was…I’m your set-up person, Scoots. Thanks. Yeah, you know when…? A lot of people don’t know this, but birthday balloons and balloons in general, they do have some sentience. The occasionally…the sentient balloon; we’ve all seen that one thing…at least in the eighties they made us watch it. I don't even remember.

There’s all those songs about red balloons in English and other languages, but then there was a movie we used to watch every year in school, or at least it felt like it, with a boy in a red balloon. But I’m talk…I feel like that movie does…at least I don't have joy associated with it. Now, that might be my own issue, and those issues, I’ve had a few. But this is…I’m talking about balloons…sentient balloons from birthday parties, particularly joyous children’s birthday parties. Those are joyous balloons. Also, come on down to Joyous Balloons. Our balloons cost four times as much 'cause they're filled with joy. Joyous Balloons. You could find us at joyousballoons dot…whatever…I wish I purchased it before I brought this up. Joyous Balloons; our balloons are full of joy.

Balloons not actually full of…they are…there’s no way to disprove our statement that they're full of joy. All balloons are…have one breath of a person whose laugh…from a joyous person, and then the rest are helium. Joyous Balloons, balloons full of joy. Joyous Balloons. But so, you say, if that existed…and you said, okay, it doesn't seem like something Scoots just made up at the beginning of a sleep podcast when he was supposed to be describing the sleep podcast and getting to the point and then he didn’t. I’d say, well, this…those balloons are there for the party and post-party, and maybe some of them fly off to the big balloon place in the sky where they get to dissipate their joy into the atmosphere for everyone to enjoy. Oh, also, our balloons are biodegradable. Joyous Balloons; they're a joy for everyone.

Don’t tell the kids this because…but when they say biodegradable, we mean edible for our forest friends. Not for human consumption. Joyous Balloons. Please don’t consume our balloons. They're for joy and…they're only for looking at or maybe tying around a wrist. But after the balloon deflates, that’s what this podcast is like. It’s got a little bit of joy left in it, but mostly…so, hopefully there’s a little joy in this podcast. That took me eight minutes or something to say that. Okay, but I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night…deep, dark night…lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, and pointless meanders and superfluous tangents, all of which you just witnessed, to keep you company while you fall asleep. This is a podcast…if you're new, I’m glad you're here and I really hope we can help.

This is a podcast you don’t really listen to. You just kinda barely pay attention, like when you're looking at a balloon. You say, okay, interesting. Anyway, next. You say, are you the monarch who likes viewing balloons? Say, oh, that was my favorite children’s book. I guess we know what tonight’s episode’s gonna be about. So, I won't go on any more tangents about that. But so, this is a podcast you just barely pay attention to. It’s more background noise or to keep you company. It also doesn't put you to sleep. It’s here to be here while you fall asleep. That’s why the show…episodes are over an hour, to give you plenty of time to drift off so that…yeah, that you could fall asleep whenever you want. So, this is a podcast…it’s a little bit different. It’s a podcast you don’t really listen to. It doesn't really put you to sleep.

It has creaky, dulcet tones and pointless meanders, and structurally it’s also very different. The show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, so you feel welcome and seen. That’s probably the most important part of the podcast, to be honest with you, because that’s what it is about a safe place. I’m here for you to keep you company. So, then there’s listener support and show support so the podcast can be here twice a week on the regular for free. Then after that is the intro. The intro’s around…right now I’m shooting for ten to twelve minutes for the intro part just as a experiment, and the intro’s a show within a show that eases you into bedtime.

It kind of explains what the podcast is to new listeners, it kinda gives an example, but it gives you a little bit of a chance to wind down before we get to the bedtime story that’s here to put you to sleep. Now, some listeners fall asleep right away. Some listeners…like three percent of listeners skip the intro, but most listeners use it as a way to have some distance and to get into their bedtime mode. This is part of your bedtime routine or your wind-down routine. So, you could be doing something else or getting ready for bed or in bed getting comfortable, slowly drifting off. That’s the idea of Sleep With Me, is that you're slowly drifting off. If you fall asleep fast, all the better. So, there’s a intro and…yeah, you say, well, you're explaining everything for like, eighteen minutes and it never makes any sense. I say, exactly.

One day you'll get so used to it, you won't even listen at all. You'll just…they say, was he talking about…did he invent another business to go with Tube Town and Tossin’s Grocery Store? Scoots almost…he has three things. He could…he almost has his own…one day he will have…couldn't call it a theme park, but…so, that’s the intro, then there’s business. Again, that’s what keeps the show free for everybody. That’s my favorite part, because I say, some people, they just want to listen for free. They don’t want to have to sign up and go through a certain company or another company. So, I don't know, I like that. Then there will be our story. It was gonna be something, but obviously we're gonna have to talk about this monarch and the balloons now, 'cause how could we turn our back on the joyous balloons?

Plus, a business opportunity for me, a imaginary one, at least. So, that’ll be our bedtime story, usually around fifty minutes of bedtime story. That’s five zero, and then some thank you’s at the end. So, all told, the episodes are over an hour, and the biggest thing is this podcast takes some getting used to. So, most regular listeners…and that’s…hundreds of thousands of people have told me, I didn’t like you at first. It took two or three tries to realize not to pay attention to you at all. I said, you get me. I love it. It’s like we’ve known each other for a hundred years. They say, the first time listening, it felt like a hundred years. I say, yeah. So, most listeners say give it two or three tries because the show is very different.

I make the show because you deserve a good night's sleep and because I’ve been there tossing and turning. But I really believe you get a good night's sleep…your world’s gonna be better, my world’s gonna be better, and I know how it feels on the other side. Like, 4:30 this morning, I know how it feels. So, if I can help, it’s my honor. I really appreciate you coming by and checking out the show. I really work hard. I yearn and I strive, and I really hope I can help you fall asleep. Thanks again for coming by, and here’s a few ways I’m able to be here for you free twice a week.

Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is the second time you get to hear me say that welcome, because this episode is constructed from a intro from the past and our Read With Me episodes here. It’s a Frankie and Victor episode with our friend Frank and his…so, I’m reading from the book Victor and Frankie, also known as a famous Mary Shelley novel. This is a little bit different than episodes we’ve done with Sleep With Me, but we tested this out on Sleep With Me+. It was so popular, we wanted to bring it to everyone. So, it’s me reading through a book, also paraphrasing, making stuff sleepy, but it’s not perfectly sleepy, just like everything else we make, you know? It exists within this world, but it’s pretty chill. So, I hope you enjoy it, and without further ado, more of Victor and Frankie. Thanks, everybody.

Chapter 12. This is still Frankie speaking. I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep. I thought of the occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people, and I longed to join them but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before in that other village and resolved whatever course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching and endeavoring to discover the motives which influenced their actions. The cottagers arose the next morning before the sun. The young woman arranged the cottage and prepared the food, and the youth departed after the first meal. This day was passed in the same routine that which preceded it.

The young man was constantly employed out of doors and the girl in various laborious occupations within. The old man, with whom I soon perceived to be not able to see everything, employed his leisure hours on his instrument or in contemplation. Nothing could exceed the love and respect which the younger cottagers exhibited towards their venerable companion. They performed towards him every little office of affection and duty with gentleness, and he rewarded them by his benevolent smiles. They were not entirely happy. The young man and his companion often went apart and appeared to weep. I saw no cause for their unhappiness, but I was deeply affected by it. If such lovely creatures were miserable, it was less strange that I, an imperfect and solitary being, should be wretched.

Yet why were these gentle beings unhappy? They possessed a delightful house, for such it was in my eyes, and every luxury. They had a fire to warm them when chill and delicious viands when hungry. They were dressed in excellent clothes and still more, they enjoyed one another’s company and speech, interchanging each day looks of affection and kindness. What did their tears imply? Did they really express frowny faces? I was first unable to solve these questions, but perpetual attention and time explained to me many appearances were, for at first, enigmatic. A considerable period elapsed before I discovered one of the causes of the uneasiness of this amiable family. It was poverty, and they suffered it in a distressing degree.

All they had to eat were vegetables from the garden and the milk of one cow, which gave very little during the winter. When they could hardly procure food to support the cow, they often, I believe, suffered the pangs in their tummy tum tums, which vary poignantly, especially the younger two cottagers, for several times they placed food before the older gentleman when they reserved none for themselves. This trait of kindness moved me sensibly. I had been accustom, during the night, to borrow some of their food for myself. But when I saw that I…by doing this, it impacted them, the cottagers, I abstained and satisfied myself with berries, nuts, and roots which I gathered from a neighboring wood. I discovered also another means through which I was enabled to assist to their labors.

I found that the youth spent a great part of each day collecting wood for the family fire, and during the night I often took his tools, the use of which I quickly discovered, and brought home wood sufficient for the consumption of several days. I remember the first time I did this, the young woman, when she opened the door in the morning, appeared greatly astonished on seeing a great pile of wood on the outside. She uttered some words in a loud voice, and the other youth joined her, who also expressed surprise. I observed with pleasure that he did not go into the forest that day, but spent it repairing the cottage and cultivating the garden. By degrees I made a discovery of a still greater moment. I found these people possessed a method of communicating their experience and feelings to one another by articulate sounds.

I perceived that the words they spoke sometimes produced smiles or frowns or tears in the minds and countenance of the hearers. This was indeed a godlike science, and I ardently desired to become acquainted with it. But I was baffled in every attempt I made for this purpose. Their pronunciation was quick, and the words they uttered, not having any apparent connection with visible objects, I was unable to discover any clue by which I could unravel the mystery of their reference. By great application, however, and after having remained during the space of several revolutions of the moon in my hovel…oh, the moon in my hovel, how I love that moon in my hovel. But I discovered the names that were given to some of the most familiar objects of discourse. I learned and applied the words ‘milk’, ‘bread’, and ‘wood’.

I learned also the names of the cottagers themselves. The youth and his companion had each of them several names, but the old man had only one, which was Father. The girl was called Sister or Agatha, and the youth Felix, Brother, or Son. I cannot describe the delight I felt when I learned the ideas appropriated to each of these sounds and was able to pronounce them. I distinguished several other words without being able as yet to understand or apply them, such as ‘good’, ‘dearest’…Scooter…and ‘frowny face’. I spent the winter in this manner. The gentle manners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me. When they were unhappy, I frowned. When they rejoiced, I sympathized in their joys.

I saw few human beings beside them, and if any other happened to enter the cottage, their harsh manner and rude gait only enhanced to me the superior accomplishments of my friends. The old man, I could perceive, also endeavored to encourage his children, as sometimes I found that he called them to cast off their melancholy. He would talk in a cheerful accent with a expression of goodness that bestowed pleasure even upon me. Agatha listened with respect. Her eyes sometimes filled with tears, which she endeavored to wipe away unperceived. But generally, I found that her countenance and tone were more cheerful after having…listening to the exhortations of her father. It was not thus with Felix.

He was always the saddest of the group, and even to my unpracticed senses, he appeared more frowny than his friends. But if his countenance was more frowny, his voice was more cheerful than that of his sister, especially when he addressed the older man. I could mention innumerable instances which, although slight, marked the dispositions of these amiable cottagers. In the midst of poverty and want, Felix carried with pleasure his sister the very little white flower that peeped out from beneath the snowy ground. Early in the morning, before she had risen, he cleared away the snow that obstructed her path to the milk house, drew water from the well, and brought wood from the outhouse where, to his perpetual astonishment, he found his store always replenished by an invisible hand.

In the day, I believe, he worked sometimes for a neighboring farmer, because he often went forth and did not return ‘til dinner, yet brought no wood with him. At other times he worked in the garden, but as there was little to do in the frosty season, he read to the old man and Agatha. The reading had puzzled me extremely at first, but by degrees I discovered they uttered many of the same sounds when he read as when he talked. I conjectured, therefore, that he found on the paper signs for speech which he understood, and I ardently longed to comprehend these also. But how was that possible when I did not even understand the sounds for which they stood as signs? I improved, however, sensibly in this science, but not sufficiently to follow up any kind of conversation.

Although I applied my whole mind to the endeavor, for I easily perceived that although I eagerly longed to discover myself to the cottagers, I ought not to make an attempt until I first learned the language, which knowledge might enable me to make them overlook the fact that I was a plant-based being…the figure I have. For with this, also the contrast perpetually presented to my eyes, had made me acquainted. You would say I would crack mirrors, Victor. I admired the perfect forms of my cottagers, their grace, their beauty, delicate complexions, and then I would see myself in the transparent pool looking nothing like them, a little bit like them and a little bit like the trees and the logs and the bogs. At first I just stared back, unable to believe that I was indeed who was reflected in the mirror.

When I became fully convinced that I was in reality different, shall we say, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas, I did not yet entirely know the woe that I would know. Oh, the woe I would know. As the sun became warmer and the light of the day longer, the snow vanished and I beheld the bare trees and the earth. From this time, Felix was more employed, and the heart-moving indications of not having enough slowly disappeared. Their food, as I found afterwards, was coarse but wholesome, and they procured a sufficiency of it. Several new kinds of plants sprang up in the garden, which they dressed, and these signs of comfort increased daily as the season advanced.

The old man, leaning on his son, walked each day at noon when it did not rain, as I found it was called when the heavens poured forth its waters. This frequently took place, but a high wind quickly dried the earth, and this season became far more pleasant than it had been. Now, my mode of life in my hovel was uniform. During the morning I attended the motions of the cottagers, and when they dispersed in various occupations, I slept, and the remainder of the day was spent observing my friends. When they retired to rest, if there was any moon or the night was starlit, I went into the woods and collected my own food and fuel for the cottage. When I returned, as often as it was necessary, I cleared their path from the snow and performed those offices I had seen done by Felix.

I afterwards found that these labors, performed by an invisible hand, greatly astonished them, and once or twice I heard them on these occasions utter the words ‘good spirit’, ‘wonderful’, but I did not understand the signification of these terms. My thoughts now became more active, and I longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures. I was so inquisitive to know why Felix appeared so frowny-faced and Agatha so quick to tears. I thought, oh, so foolishly as my woe will…you will so know my woe. But I thought that it might be possible, that it might be in my power to restore happiness to these deserving people. When I slept or was absent or not around, the forms of the venerable father, the gentle Agatha, and the excellent Felix flitted before me.

I looked upon them as superior beings who would be the arbiters of my future destiny. I formed in my imagination a thousand pictures of presenting myself to them and their reception of me. I imagined, you know, that they’d frown at first, but my gentle demeanor and concilitating words…I should win their favor and afterwards their love. These thoughts exhilarated me and led me to apply with fresh ardor acquiring the art of language. My speaking was indeed harsh but supple, and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, it was more of a swampy…I had swampy, dulcet tones, or boggy, dulcet tones at the time. But I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease.

It was as the rear end and the lapdog, yet surely that gentle donkey whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better. The pleasant showers and genial warmth of spring greatly altered the aspects of the Earth. People, who before this change had been hiding out in caves and dispersed, were employed in various arts of cultivation. The birds sang in more cheerful notes, and leaves began to bud forth on the trees. Happy, happy Earth. I guess I felt less of a bond with it at the time. I had more bonded with my cottagers. But I felt happy for the Earth as I did for my cottagers, fit habitation for gods, which, so short a time before, was bleak, damp, and unwholesome. My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature. Maybe this was a sign I could win them over.

Maybe it was my spring, too. The past was blotted from my memory, just like my memory of the winter. The present was tranquil and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and the anticipations of joy. Chapter 13. I now hasten to the more moving part of my story. I shall relate the events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I had been, have made me what I am. Spring advanced rapidly. The weather became fine and the skies cloudless. It surprised me that what was before a desert and gloomy should now bloom with the most beautiful flowers and blooms. My senses were gratified and refreshed by a thousand scents of delights and a thousand sights of beauty. It was on one of these days when my cottagers periodically rested from labor.

The old man played on his guitar and the children listened to him. There, I observed the countenance of Felix was melancholy beyond expression. He sighed frequently, and once his father paused in his music and I conjectured by his manner that he inquired the cause of his son’s sorrow, Felix replied in a cheerful accent, but the old man was recommencing his music when someone tapped at the door. It was a lady on horseback accompanied by a country man as a guide. The lady was dressed in a dark suit and covered by a veil. Agatha asked a question to which the stranger only replied, pronouncing in a sweet accent, the name of Felix. Her voice was musical but unlike that of either of my friends.

On hearing this word, Felix came hastily to the lady, who, when she saw them, threw up her veil, and I beheld a countenance of angelic beauty and expression, her hair of a shining raven black and curiously braided, her eyes dark but gentle, although animated, her features of a regular proportion and her complexion wondrously fair, each cheek tinged with a lovely pink. Felix seemed ravished with delight when he saw her. Every trait of sorrow vanished from his face, and it instantly expressed a degree of ecstatic joy which I could hardly believe capable. His eyes sparkled as his cheek flushed with pleasure, and at that moment I thought him as beautiful as the stranger. She appeared affected by different feelings.

Wiping a few tears from her lovely eyes, she held out her hand to Felix, who kissed it rapturously and called her as well as I could distinguish, his sweet, sweet, sweetie pie. She did not appear to understand him, but smiled. He assisted her to dismount and dismissing her guide, conducted her into the cottage. Some conversation took place between him and his father, and the young stranger knelt at the old man’s feet and would have kissed his hand, but he raised her and embraced her affectionately. I soon perceived although the stranger had articulate sounds and appeared to have a language of her own, she was neither understood nor herself understanding the cottagers.

They made many signs which I did not comprehend, but I saw her presence diffused gladness through the cottage, dispelling their sorrows as the sun dissipates morning mists. Felix seemed peculiarly happy, and with smiles of delight welcomed his sweet, sweet sweetie. Agatha, the ever-gentle Agatha, kissed the hands of the lovely stranger and, pointing to her brother, made signs which appeared to me to mean that he had been sorrowful until she came. Some hours passed thus while they, by their countenances, expressed joy, the cause of which I did not comprehend. Presently I found, by the frequent recurrence of some sound which the stranger repeated after them, that she was endeavoring to learn their language, and the idea instantly occurred to me that I should make use of the same instructions to the same end.

The stranger learned about twenty words at the first lesson. Most of them, indeed, were those I had before understood, but I profited by the others. As the night came on, Agatha and the Sweet Sweet Sweetie retired early. When they separated, Felix kissed the hand of the stranger and said, goodnight, sweet Safie. He sat up much longer conversing with his father, and by the frequent repetition of her name, I conjectured that their lovely guest was the subject of their conversation. I ardently desired to understand them and bent every faculty towards that purpose, but I found it utterly impossible.

The next morning, Felix went out to his work, and after the usual occupations of Agatha were finished, Sweet Sweet Sweetie sat at the feet of the old man, taking up his guitar, and played some airs so entrancingly beautiful they at once drew tears of sorrow and delight from my eyes. She sang and her voice flowed in a rich cadence, swelling or dying away like a nightingale of the woods. When she had finished, she gave the guitar to Agatha, who at first declined it. She played a simple air and her voice accompanied it in sweet accents, but unlike the wondrous strain of the stranger, the old man appeared enraptured and said some words which Agatha endeavored to explain to Sweet Sweet Sweetie and by which he appeared to wish to express that she bestowed upon him the greatest delight by her music.

The days now passed as peaceable as before, and with the sole alteration that joy had taken place of the sadness of the countenances of my friends. Sweet Sweet Sweetie was always in a good mood. She and I improved rapidly in our knowledge of the language so that in two months I began to comprehend most of the words uttered by my protectors. In the meanwhile, the ground was covered with herbage and the green banks interspersed with innumerable flowers sweet to the scent and to the eyes, stars of pale radiance among the moonlight woods.

The sun became warmer, the nights clear and balmy, and my nocturnal rambles were an extreme pleasure to me, although they were considerably shortened by the late setting and early rising of the sun, for I never ventured abroad during daylight, fearful of a meeting and the same treatment I had formally endured in the first village I had entered. My days were spent in close attention that I might more speedily master their language and I may boost that I improved more rapidly than Sweet Sweet Sweetie, who understood very little and conversed in broken words, whilst I could comprehend and imitate almost every word that was spoken. While I improved in speech, I also learned the science of letters as it was taught to the stranger, and this opened before me a whole field for wonder and delight.

The book which Felix instructed Sweet Sweet Sweetie was Volney’s Ruins of Empires. I should not have understood the purport of this book had not Felix, in reading it, giving…had given very minute explanations. He had chosen this work, he said, because the declamatory style was famed in imitation of Eastern authors. Through this work I obtained a cursory knowledge of the history and a view of several empires at the present existing in the world, and it gave me insight into the manners of the governments and the religions of the different nations of the Earth. I heard a lot about a lot of different stuff. I don't know, at the time I took…it was the only way. I heard about ups and downs and knowing all; discoveries, not good things, sometimes, too.

But these wonderful narrations inspired with me warm, strange feelings. Were humans indeed at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so causing of frowny faces everywhere? Humans appeared at one time a mere scion of not goodness and at the other, as all that can be conceived of, as noble and godlike. To be a great and virtuous person appeared to be the highest honor that can befall a sensitive being, but to be selfish and self-seeking, as many on record had been, appeared to be a low, low point, not a Sweet Sweet Sweetie, a condition more abject than that of the blind mole or the worm in the dirt. For a long time I could not conceive how one person could make so many tears flow and frowny faces frown.

I didn’t understand why there were laws or governments, but when I heard about vices, my wonder ceased and I turned away. I was kinda grossed out by it. Every conversation of the cottagers now opened up new wonders to me while I listened to the instructions which Felix bestowed upon Sweet Sweet Sweetie. The strange system of human society was explained to me. I heard about the division of property and labor, of wealth in the hands of few, and people not really having nothing, and then the idea of noblety, of rank, of class. These words induced me to turn towards myself. I learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow creatures were high and unsullied. They were…to have the cash, the gold, the bling.

A person might be respected with only one of them, but without any of them, they were, except in rare circumstances…they were there to help the other people get more. It blew my mind, particularly my mind at that time, because who was I? What was I? Of my creation and my creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endured with a figure plant-like, root-like, leaf-like, a leaf-based being, a plant-based being, but composting leaves. You could say I was a leaf heap if you were being nice about it, too. Maybe I wasn’t even the same as these humans. I was more agile than they and I could subsist upon a coarser diet. I’m pretty sure I had filum and cambium, and they didn’t, too.

Pretty sure photosynthesis helped me out, but I didn’t see any photosynthesis going on with them. Didn’t know what photosynthesis was at the time, though, but I had a general concept of it. I didn’t have the words. You know why? Because I bore the extremes of heat and cold. It didn’t bother my frame quite so much. My stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around, I saw and heard nothing like me. Was I then a blot upon the Earth which everyone fled from, which you all turn their backs to? I’m saying this as a narrator, Victor, but I cannot describe to you how it felt that these reflections…what they turned inside me. I tried to dispel them, but my sorrow only increased with knowledge.

Oh, that I had forever…this is where my woe…this is the height of my…well, it’s not even the height of my woe, but it’s woe time, and not the Joey Lawrence woe from the future that’s actually the past, dear Victor. W-O-E woe. Woe that I had to remain forever in my woods or that I had never felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat. Oh, what a strange nature is knowledge. It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like lichen on a rock. I wish sometimes to shake it off. Shake it off, Victor, but I could not, just like the song. You don’t know it, but I do. But I shouldn't know it, but I do, Victor. Shake, shake it off. Shake off all thought, all feeling. But I learned that there was but one means to overcome these sensations, and that was the transferring of realms, a state which I did not yet understand.

I admired virtue and good feelings and loved the gentle manners and amiable qualities of my cottagers, but I was shut out, shut out from them, except through a means which I obtained by stealth when I was unseen and unknown, and which rather increased than satisfied the desire I had becoming one among my fellows. The gentle words of Agatha, the animated smiles of Sweet Sweet Sweetie, the charm, they were not for me. The mild exhortations of the old man and the lively conversations of the loved Felix were not for me. M-I-S-E-R-Y. Oh, my woe, unhappy wretch. Other lessons were impressed upon me even more deeply.

I heard of the difference between…I learned more differences in things, of growth and birth, of infancy, of toddlerhood, of the terrible twos and the tremendous threes; I heard this discussed, how the lives and the cares of the parents were wrapped up in the precious charge, how the mind of the youth expanded and gained knowledge, of brother, sister, and all the various relationships that bind one human being to another in mutual bonds. But where were my friends and my relations? No father watched my infant days. No mother blessed me with smiles and caresses, leaf-based or other, plant-based or other, compost-based or other. If they had, all my past life was forgotten, a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing. From my earliest remembrance, I had been as then I was in height and proportion.

I had yet never seen a being resembling me or compared to me. You know, nothing like me. This wasn’t terminal uniqueness, Victor. This was uniqueness…I mean, who was I? What was I? The question again recurred, only to be answered with groans, groans of woe. I will soon explain to what these feelings tended, but allow me now to return to the cottagers, whose story excited in me such various feelings of indignation, delight, and wonder, but which all terminated in additional love and reverence for my protectors, for so I loved in an innocent, half-painful, self-deceit, to call them. Chapter 14. Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my friends.

It was one which could not fail to impress itself deeply on my mind, unfolding as it did in a number of circumstances, each interesting and wonderful to one so utterly inexperienced as I was. The name of the old man was DeLacey. He was descended from a good family in France where he had lived for a number of years in affluence, respected by his superiors and beloved by his equals. His son was bred in the service of his country, and Agatha had ranked with the ladies of highest distinction. A few months before my arrival, they had lived in a large and luxurious city called Paris, Paris, Paris. I know, dear Victor, it’s Paris, but I was pretending…that’s why I said Paris, but I knew they said Paris. But some say Paris.

Surrounded by friends they were, and possessed of every enjoyment which virtue, refinement of intellect or taste, accompanied by a moderate fortune, could afford. The daughter of Sweet Sweet Sweetie…I’m sorry, the father of Sweet Sweet Sweetie, Safie, had been the cause of this not-so-great situation. He was a merchant and had inhabited Paris for many years when, for some reason which I could not learn, he became all…he liked to make speeches on things like soap boxes. He took on a strong viewpoint, and it was not friendly to the governing groups. On the very day Sweet Sweet Sweetie was there to arrive to join him in Paris or Paris or Paris, he was told, you're gonna have to…you need a time-out, a long, long time-out. As a matter of fact, they didn’t even…they said, we're gonna give you time-out in another realm.

He said, but my Sweet Sweet Sweetie just arrived. I was just on a soap box. That’s just my imagining of what he said. It didn’t seem fair at all, and all of Paris was indignant. It was judged that because he was a merchant, because he had a lot of money, because of his…because of who he was, where he was from, that was why they judged him and not for what he did, for just making speeches, you know, and having a strong viewpoint. Felix accidentally, apparently, was present at the trial, and he was indignant, too. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't believe his nose, even. When he heard what was decided, he had made at that moment a solemn vow to deliver him, and looked around for the means. A little trick, trick, trickery for the father of Sweet Sweet Sweetie.

But Felix…this wasn’t a skill of his, so many fruitless attempts he made to gain admittance. They said, well, if you're gonna give him a time-out while you prepare for his longer time-out, I’m gonna get him outta there. He even found a strongly-grated window in a quiet part of the building, which he got into. What could have been his future father-in-law was super frowny-faced. Felix visited the grate at night and spoke through it, kinda like a tin-can phone, and made his intentions known. The father, amazed and delighted, endeavored to kindle the zeal of his deliverer by promises of reward and wealth. Felix was not interested…at first…this was just Felix, by the way, acting on his own thoughts and feelings and conscience. Felix said, I’m not interested in those offers, man.

But then he laid eyes on Sweet Sweet Sweetie, who was visiting her father, and who, by her gestures, expressed her lively gratitude. Felix was…he had already made the commitment, so this wasn’t why he committed to helping the father. But he said, holy cow, I’ll look extra heroic here if I take on this toil and hazard. The father quickly perceived the impression that his daughter had made on the heart of Felix and endeavored to secure in him more entirely and said, hey, why don’t you two get together? Let’s get me away from here. Convey me outta here ASAP, and then you and my daughter may be wed. But Felix, too delicate to accept this offer…but he looked forward to the idea, as a matter of fact, as the consummation of his happiness.

Now, during the ensuing days, when the preparations were going forward, Felix was making his plans to make a quick getaway. The zeal of Felix was warmed by several letters he received from Sweet Sweet Sweetie, who found means to expressing her thoughts in the language to Felix with the aid of someone else, a servant of her father who understood French. She thanked him in the most ardent terms for his intended services towards her parent, and at the same time, she gently deplored her own fate. I have copies of these letters, for I found means during my residence in my hovel to procure the implements of writing, and the letters were often in the hands of Felix or Agatha. Before I depart, I’ll give these letters to you.

They will prove the truth of my tale. I mean, why else…? I mean, I wouldn't just be carrying around copied letters between two people in love in a tough circumstance, or a brother and sister and stuff. I mean, I’m a tree-based being, right? Why would I be carrying around copies of letters? So, it should prove my tale. But at present, as the sun has already far declined, I shall only have time to repeat the substance of them to you. Now, Sweet Sweet Sweetie related that her mother, she wasn’t in great circumstances at all, but her and her father had fallen in love. Then they…the daughter was very enthusiastic then talking about her mother and father together.

The mother had taught the daughter and taught her to aspire to higher powers of intellect and independence of spirit, but her mother eventually headed to another plane of existence, but her lessons were indelibly impressed on the mind of Sweet Sweet Sweetie, who never wanted to return to the home of her mother again. She allowed only to occupy herself…she wouldn't be able to pursue those things, and she didn’t find that…she found that ill-suited to the temper of her soul, now accustomed to grand ideas and a noble emulation for virtue. So, the prospect of marrying somebody as nice as Felix and maybe even heroic and living in a place where she could pursue her dreams as well was enchanting to her.

Eventually they set the date for the time-out to the other realm for the father, but on the night previous to it, he was gone, and before morning, he was distant many leagues from Paris. Felix had procured passports in the name of his father, sister, and himself. He had previously communicated his plan to the former, who aided the deceit by quitting his house under the pretense of a journey and concealed himself with his daughter in an obscure part of Paris. Felix conducted the father and daughter through France to Leon, across Mont Cenis to Leghorn, where the father decided to wait for a favorable opportunity passing into some part of his former home.

Now, Sweet Sweet Sweetie did resolve to remain with her father until the moment of his departure, before which time the father renewed his promise that she should be united with his deliverer, and Felix remained with them in expectation of that event. In the meantime he enjoyed the society of the father who exhibited towards him the simplest and tenderest affection. They conversed with one another through means of an interpreter and sometimes with interpretation of looks. Sweet Sweet Sweetie sang to him the divine airs from her past places of living. The father allowed this intimacy to take place and encouraged the hope of the youthful lovers, while in his heart he had formed far other plans.

In his heart he loathed this idea that her father should be united with some…with Felix, but he didn’t want Felix to detect the resentment he had if he should appear lukewarm, for he knew he was still…he was the one who got him here. He could tell on him, and the Italians, where they were, would call the French, and it would be all trouble, trouble, trouble. He resolved by a thousand plans the way he should be enabled to prolong the deceit until it might no longer be necessary, and to secretly take his daughter with him when he departed. His plans were facilitated by the news that arrived from Paris, 'cause the government of France, they were not happy. You could say they were greatly steaming at the escape of the father, and they spared no expense to detect and find who did it.

Because this wasn’t really Felix’s game, the plot of Felix was quickly discovered, and DeLacey and Agatha got busted, B-U-S-T-E-D. They got time-outs. The news reached Felix and roused him from his dream of pleasure. His father, without sight and getting older, and his gentle sister, lay in a noisesome place while he enjoyed free air and society with the woman he loved. This idea made him very unhappy. He quickly arranged with the father that if the latter should find a favorable opportunity to get outta there before Felix got back to Italy, Sweet Sweet Sweetie could remain as a boarder at a convent at Leghorn. Then, quitting the lovely Sweet Sweet Sweetie and her papa, he hastened to Paris and delivered himself up and said, yeah, it’s me. I’m here to take…make amends.

He was hoping he would free DeLacey and Agatha by this proceeding. He did not succeed. They remained…they had a time-out five months before the official time to judge the time-out even started, and the result of this cost them everything. By the way, then they got exiled from France. This is where they found themselves, in misery at a cottage in Germany, where I discovered them. Felix soon learned that the father, for whom him and his family endured so much, on discovering that Felix had no more money and no more home other than a cottage in Germany, he gave up the good feeling and honor and left Italy with his daughter, sent Felix and pittance of money to aid him, and said, maybe someday in the future we’ll work on maintenance together.

Such were the events that preyed on the heart of Felix and rendered him, when I first saw him, the most frowny-faced of his family. He could have endured poverty while this distress, the mead of his virtue, he gloried in it. But the ingratitude of the father and the loss of his Sweet Sweet Sweetie were misfortunes more bitter and irreparable. But now, the arrival of Sweet Sweet Sweetie infused new life into his soul. When news reached Leghorn that Felix was deprived of his wealth and rank, the merchant commanded his daughter to think no more of Felix but to prepare to return home. The generous nature of Sweet Sweet Sweetie was not happy at all with her father’s command. She attempted to expostulate with her father, but he left her and said…reiterating his tyrannical mandate.

A few days after, the father stopped by his daughter’s place and told her hastily he had reason to believe his residence at Leghorn had been leaked and that he should speedily be delivered to the French government. He had consequently hired a vessel to convey him back home, and they would sail to…outta there in a few hours. Now, he was gonna leave his daughter under the care of a confidential servant to follow at her leisure with the greater part of his property and his stuff, which had not yet arrived at Leghorn. When alone, Sweet Sweet Sweetie resolved in her own mind a plan of conduct that would allow her to pursue what she cared about. Heading back home was abhorrent to her. She was averse to it. So were her feelings.

By some papers of her father which fell into her hands, she heard of the exile of Felix and learned the name of the spot where they then resided. She hesitated some time, but at length she formed her determination. Taking with her some jewels that belonged to her and a sum of money, she quitted Italy with an attendant, a friend from Leghorn but who understood the common language, and they departed for Germany. She arrived safely at a town twenty leagues from the cottage of DeLacey, but that was when her friend fell under the weather.

Sweet Sweet Sweetie nursed her with the most devoted affection, but her friend said, I’m gonna go to the other realm, I’m so under the weather, where the weather’s always better. Sweet Sweet Sweetie was there alone, unacquainted with the language and ignorant of the customs of this world. She fell, however, into good hands, for she had heard…her friend told her where they were going, and after her friend left, Sweet Sweet Sweetie somehow arrived in safety at the cottage of her lover.

[END OF RECORDING]

(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)

Read With Me

Red Balloon Media

https://medium.com/@curtisdrake10/a-war-caused-by-balloons-da4beb629236

https://www.openculture.com/2012/06/the_classic_1956_oscar-winning_childrens_film_ithe_red_ballooni.html

https://www.villagevoice.com/2007/11/06/the-red-balloon/

How language is learned

https://www.rocketlanguages.com/blog/how-are-languages-learned

https://dana.org/resources/how-does-the-brain-learn-language/

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/language-acquisition

Volney’s Ruins of Empires

https://aaro.org/events/event-reports/volneys-ruins-of-empires

https://foundationsofliterarystudies.wordpress.com/tag/ruins-of-empires/

https://www.cram.com/essay/Analysis-Of-Volneys-Ruins-Of-Empires-By/FKF4GMSZHBWW

Enclosures

https://celdf.org/the-enclosure-movement/

https://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/short-history-enclosure-britain

https://www.agrariantrust.org/enclosure-old-and-new/

French Revolution

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/french-revolution

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/history/history-study-guides/the-long-and-short-reasons-for-why-revolution-broke-out-in-france-in-1789/

https://revolution.chnm.org/exhibits/show/liberty–equality–fraternity/social-causes-of-revolution

Episode Number: 1383

Title: Frank 7 | Read With Me

Plugs: Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Rusty Biscuit LInks; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

Sponsors: Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Kindred; Odoo; Uncommon Goods

Summary:

• Intro (1017)
• This is all optional
• Sen-changes
• Tag team commercial with Scooping?
• I’m like a deflated balloon that was at a great birthday party
• Birthday Balloons occasionally do have sentience
• 99 Red Balloons
• Red Balloon Movie
• Joyous Balloons Store
• “The Monarch that likes viewing balloons”
• Slowly drifting off
• One day Scoots will create enough stores to have a theme park
• Chapter 12
• Frankie still speaking
• Longing to join these people, but too afraid of their reaction
• The cottagers arose before the sun rose
• The old man can’t see everything
• These young people love the elder cottager
• The younger people are miserable and I don’t know why
• A Delightful House
• What did their tears imply?
• Poverty was one cause of this distress
• Pangs in the tummy tum tums
• I had been borrowing food from their house at night
• But I stopped after that
• Secret nighttime wood assistance
• They were astonished to see the wood I left on their doorstep
• I started learning about their language
• Oh, the Moon in my Hovel
• Ove months, I started to learn words
• Father, Agatha (Sister), Felix (Brother/Son)
• I spent the winter learning their language slowly
• I loved watching these lovely people
• Old man wanted them to cast off their melancholy
• They try to stay cheerful for his sake
• Felix would work for a neighboring farmer outside of the winter
• Equating reading and speech
• How could I start to read if I still can’t speak?
• If I can speak, they’ll look past the fact that I’m a Plant Based Being
• Bitter despondence and mortification to be different
• Oh The Woe I Would Know
• Spring emerges
• Their food was coarse but wholesome
• I slept in the afternoon then watched them in the evening
• I collected food and fuel at night
• Labors Performed by an Invisible Hand
• I thought I could restore happiness to these people
• I thought I could win them over
• My speaking was harsh but supple
• Swampy Dulcet Tones
• Boggy Dulcet Tones
• A happy Earth in spring
• Maybe it was my spring too
• Anticipations of Joy
• Chapter 13
• Spring advanced rapidly
• A thousand scents of delight and a thousand sights of beauty
• Melancholy Felix
• Someone tapped on the door
• A lady covered by a veil
• She’s there for Felix
• Felix is joyous and ecstatic to see her!
• Sweet Sweet Sweetie Pie
• She doesn’t speak the same language as Felix
• They welcome her
• She was endeavoring to learn their language
• I picked up the language faster than her
• Her name is Safi
• SSS has a beautiful voice
• The Wondrous Strain of the Stranger
• SSS and I improved a lot in our language
• The night shortens, which makes my nighttime journeys tougher
• I boast that I’m a quick learner
• And I learned the science of letters!
• Volney’s Ruins of Empires
• It taught me a lot about powerful empires
• And a lot of other not good things
• Warm, strange feelings
• Were humans so virtuous and magnificent but also causing frowns?
• How could they contain so much?
• To be virtuous was a great honor
• To be selfish was not good
• I couldn’t understand why people would do bad
• I was grossed out by vices
• The Strange System of Human Society
• Enclosures / Class – why???
• I was ignorant of my creator
• You could nicely call me a leaf heap
• Did I fall into this same category as a LBB?
• I didn’t know what photosynthesis was but I did do it
• My sorrow only increased with knowledge
• It’s Woe Time
• Oh what a strange nature is knowledge
• Only transferring realms could overcome this woe
• A desire to become one among my fellows
• They were not for me
• M-I-S-E-R-Y
• I learned of more differences
• I learned about the ages of life
• Where was my family?
• I have no memory of them
• A Blind Vacancy from which I distinguish nothing
• Who am I?
• Groans of Woe
• Chapter 14
• Learning the history of my friends
• Old man is DeLacy
• He had lived in France as nobility
• They had lived in Paris
• They had a great life with a modest fortune
• SSS’s father had caused this situation
• He was a merchant and liked to make speeches on soapboxes not friendly to the governing groups
• He’s gonna get a timeout in another realm
• Felix couldn’t believe this fate
• He solemnly vowed to deliver this father to safety
• He could communicate through a grated window
• He just wanted to do good
• But then he met SSS
• The father says they can marry if Felix gets him out
• Felix couldn’t’ accept but was excited about the idea
• The Zeal of Felix
• SSS wrote letters to Felix through a friend
• I have copies of these letters to prove my tale is true
• I can only repeat the substance of the letters to you right now
• The story of SSS’s parents
• Her mother taught her to have a strong spirit
• It was a nice prospect to marry someone like Felix
• The father is secreted away before his timeout
• Felix conducts his family away to Leghorn
• But SSS’s father loathes the idea of his daughter marrying Felix
• The French government is greatly steaming at his escape
• They discovered Felix’s plot
• DeLacy and Agatha got busted
• Felix is unhappy his family is punished
• Felix turned himself in to free his family 
• But they had a timeout for 5 months instead
• They lost everything and were exiled
• Miserable, in a cottage in Germany
• Felix then learned that SSS’s father had left Felix out to dry
• This is when I came upon them
• But SSS’s arrival renews his spirit
• SSS is not happy with her father
• He leaves after his location is leaked
• She’s supposed to follow with their belongings
• But SSS goes after what she wants
• She learns where Felix is
• She heads to the German town where they are
• But her companion changes realms
• She somehow manages to find Felix’s cottage

Notable Language:

• Intro
• Optional
• Sen-changes
• Story
• A Delightful House
• Tummy Tum Tum
• Oh, the Moon in my Hovel
• Plant Based Being (PBB)
• Oh The Woe I Would Know
• Labors Performed by an Invisible Hand
• Swampy Dulcet Tones
• Boggy Dulcet Tones
• Sweet Sweet Sweetie Pie
• The Wondrous Strain of the Stranger
• The Strange System of Human Society
• Photosynthesis
• It’s Woe Time
• M-I-S-E-R-Y
• Paris
• The Zeal of Felix
• B-US-T-E-D

Notable Culture:

• • Intro
  • “Levitating” – Dua Lipa
  • “Watermelon Sugar” – Harry Styles
  • “99 Red Balloons” song
  • Red Balloon Movie
  • Joyous Balloons, the store
  • Story

• Frankenstein

• Volney’s Ruins of Empires
• Joey Lawrence
• “Shake It Off” – Taylor Swift
• Paris
• French Revolution

Notable Talking Points:

• Intro (1017)
• This is all optional
• Sen-changes
• Tag team commercial with Scooping?
• I’m like a deflated balloon that was at a great birthday party
• Birthday Balloons occasionally do have sentience
• 99 Red Balloons
• Red Balloon Movie
• Joyous Balloons Store
• “The Monarch that likes viewing balloons”
• Slowly drifting off
• One day Scoots will create enough stores to have a theme park
• Chapter 12
• Frankie still speaking
• Longing to join these people, but too afraid of their reaction
• The cottagers arose before the sun rose
• The old man can’t see everything
• These young people love the elder cottager
• The younger people are miserable and I don’t know why
• A Delightful House
• What did their tears imply?
• Poverty was one cause of this distress
• Pangs in the tummy tum tums
• I had been borrowing food from their house at night
• But I stopped after that
• Secret nighttime wood assistance
• They were astonished to see the wood I left on their doorstep
• I started learning about their language
• Oh, the Moon in my Hovel
• Ove months, I started to learn words
• Father, Agatha (Sister), Felix (Brother/Son)
• I spent the winter learning their language slowly
• I loved watching these lovely people
• Old man wanted them to cast off their melancholy
• They try to stay cheerful for his sake
• Felix would work for a neighboring farmer outside of the winter
• Equating reading and speech
• How could I start to read if I still can’t speak?
• If I can speak, they’ll look past the fact that I’m a Plant Based Being
• Bitter despondence and mortification to be different
• Oh The Woe I Would Know
• Spring emerges
• Their food was coarse but wholesome
• I slept in the afternoon then watched them in the evening
• I collected food and fuel at night
• Labors Performed by an Invisible Hand
• I thought I could restore happiness to these people
• I thought I could win them over
• My speaking was harsh but supple
• Swampy Dulcet Tones
• Boggy Dulcet Tones
• A happy Earth in spring
• Maybe it was my spring too
• Anticipations of Joy
• Chapter 13
• Spring advanced rapidly
• A thousand scents of delight and a thousand sights of beauty
• Melancholy Felix
• Someone tapped on the door
• A lady covered by a veil
• She’s there for Felix
• Felix is joyous and ecstatic to see her!
• Sweet Sweet Sweetie Pie
• She doesn’t speak the same language as Felix
• They welcome her
• She was endeavoring to learn their language
• I picked up the language faster than her
• Her name is Safi
• SSS has a beautiful voice
• The Wondrous Strain of the Stranger
• SSS and I improved a lot in our language
• The night shortens, which makes my nighttime journeys tougher
• I boast that I’m a quick learner
• And I learned the science of letters!
• Volney’s Ruins of Empires
• It taught me a lot about powerful empires
• And a lot of other not good things
• Warm, strange feelings
• Were humans so virtuous and magnificent but also causing frowns?
• How could they contain so much?
• To be virtuous was a great honor
• To be selfish was not good
• I couldn’t understand why people would do bad
• I was grossed out by vices
• The Strange System of Human Society
• Enclosures / Class – why???
• I was ignorant of my creator
• You could nicely call me a leaf heap
• Did I fall into this same category as a LBB?
• I didn’t know what photosynthesis was but I did do it
• My sorrow only increased with knowledge
• It’s Woe Time
• Oh what a strange nature is knowledge
• Only transferring realms could overcome this woe
• A desire to become one among my fellows
• They were not for me
• M-I-S-E-R-Y
• I learned of more differences
• I learned about the ages of life
• Where was my family?
• I have no memory of them
• A Blind Vacancy from which I distinguish nothing
• Who am I?
• Groans of Woe
• Chapter 14
• Learning the history of my friends
• Old man is DeLacy
• He had lived in France as nobility
• They had lived in Paris
• They had a great life with a modest fortune
• SSS’s father had caused this situation
• He was a merchant and liked to make speeches on soapboxes not friendly to the governing groups
• He’s gonna get a timeout in another realm
• Felix couldn’t believe this fate
• He solemnly vowed to deliver this father to safety
• He could communicate through a grated window
• He just wanted to do good
• But then he met SSS
• The father says they can marry if Felix gets him out
• Felix couldn’t’ accept but was excited about the idea
• The Zeal of Felix
• SSS wrote letters to Felix through a friend
• I have copies of these letters to prove my tale is true
• I can only repeat the substance of the letters to you right now
• The story of SSS’s parents
• Her mother taught her to have a strong spirit
• It was a nice prospect to marry someone like Felix
• The father is secreted away before his timeout
• Felix conducts his family away to Leghorn
• But SSS’s father loathes the idea of his daughter marrying Felix
• The French government is greatly steaming at his escape
• They discovered Felix’s plot
• DeLacy and Agatha got busted
• Felix is unhappy his family is punished
• Felix turned himself in to free his family 
• But they had a timeout for 5 months instead
• They lost everything and were exiled
• Miserable, in a cottage in Germany
• Felix then learned that SSS’s father had left Felix out to dry
• This is when I came upon them
• But SSS’s arrival renews his spirit
• SSS is not happy with her father
• He leaves after his location is leaked
• She’s supposed to follow with their belongings
• But SSS goes after what she wants
• She learns where Felix is
• She heads to the German town where they are
• But her companion changes realms
• She somehow manages to find Felix’s cottage