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Speaker 1: Hello, friends, and welcome to sleep Tight Stories. This is

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Speaker 1: the fifth part of our story about Esther and the

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Speaker 1: Magical Book of Dreams. Esther is a very curious girl

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Speaker 1: who is always daydreaming about heading off on an adventure. Shirewood,

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Speaker 1: where she lives, is very boring for her, and she

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Speaker 1: can't wait to go and explore the areas around her.

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Speaker 1: Esther is reading a book that she found one day

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Speaker 1: when she took a different path home, but she is

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Speaker 1: afraid she is going to have to give it to

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Speaker 1: her mother now, and she doesn't know what is going

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Speaker 1: to happen when she does. The Magical Book of Dreams

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Speaker 1: Part five. Once upon a time, in a world full

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Speaker 1: of magic and fun, there lived a little girl named Esther.

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Speaker 1: She lived in a small village far from any castles,

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Speaker 1: at the very edge of the known kingdom. They were

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Speaker 1: surrounded by beautiful gardens, flowers, sparkling streams of water, and

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Speaker 1: protected from the elements by moss covered rocks and tall

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Speaker 1: towering trees. It was a wonderful and quiet place, far

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Speaker 1: from the hustle and bustle of the mystical forest. Esther's

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Speaker 1: small village was called Shirewood, and life there was slow

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Speaker 1: by design. Whereas those of the Mystical Forest might talk

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Speaker 1: of politics or philosophy, those of Shirewood were more interested

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Speaker 1: in practical matters like agriculture and preserving their old ways.

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Speaker 1: They didn't have all the conveniences of the other villages, towns,

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Speaker 1: or cities in the Kingdom, and they were very protective

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Speaker 1: of their way of life. Despite the lack of conveniences,

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Speaker 1: they were very independent and outsiders, though welcomed with open arms,

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Speaker 1: were rare. What Shirewood was known for was as a

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Speaker 1: gateway to what was once known as the Unknown Realm.

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Speaker 1: The Kingdom was huge, with vast plains, deserts, mountain ranges, forests,

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Speaker 1: and seashope, but it was not all encompassing. There were

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Speaker 1: regions far afield that the Kingdom traded with or heard

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Speaker 1: about from those who loved to travel, but they were

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Speaker 1: as mysterious to those in the Kingdom as traveling to

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Speaker 1: some far off exotic place might be to us today.

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Speaker 1: The most mysterious and the most dangerous was the place

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Speaker 1: that Shirewood served as a gateway to. While many people

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Speaker 1: used to travel through Shirewood in order to understand this

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Speaker 1: place of mystery, the Unknown Realm holds as much mystique

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Speaker 1: today as it did hundreds of years ago. The reason

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Speaker 1: for this is quite simple. No one has ever returned

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Speaker 1: from their expedition to explore the realm. Subsequent attempts to

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Speaker 1: find these intrepid travelers failed as well. As the word

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Speaker 1: spread of the traveler's fate, the number of people who

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Speaker 1: traveled through this small village became less and less, until

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Speaker 1: it became an idea for only the most restless adventurers.

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Speaker 1: Despite the known dangers, many young people in Shirewood still

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Speaker 1: dreamed of unraveling that mystery, and often, as was the

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Speaker 1: case with Esther, dreamed of exploring the unknown realm. Esther

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Speaker 1: was restless living and growing up in her hometown, something inherited,

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Speaker 1: perhaps from her father, who himself disappeared during an expedition.

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Speaker 1: She dreamed not just of the unknown realm, but of

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Speaker 1: all the places beyond the wall of Shirewood, the mystical forest,

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Speaker 1: the towns and villages of the east, and those people

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Speaker 1: who lived there. Esther was a good student, but she

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Speaker 1: was prone to daydreaming, always looking out the window, thinking

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Speaker 1: of what existed outside the confines of their village. Today

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Speaker 1: was no exception, as her mind repeated over and over

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Speaker 1: again the text that she had read the night before.

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Speaker 1: She had but six months left in this school year,

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Speaker 1: and then she was free to visit the mystical forest,

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Speaker 1: the unknown realm, or anywhere she wanted to. But until

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Speaker 1: then she had to endure Headmaster Eileen's boring lectures. She

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Speaker 1: was doing her best, but a day's like today, when

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Speaker 1: the headmaster talked about gardening, she wanted to run away.

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Speaker 1: She survived the in depth talk on the silent life

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Speaker 1: of soil and didn't attempt an escape this time, but

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Speaker 1: she did rejoice when the end of the school day

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Speaker 1: finally came. She had avoided her friends Dobie and Winkie

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Speaker 1: all week. She knew they would be waiting for her

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Speaker 1: outside near the gateway to the school, as they always

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Speaker 1: made a habit of hanging out and joking around together

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Speaker 1: whenever they had time. But today she wanted to get

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Speaker 1: home and quickly help her brother with his homework so

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Speaker 1: that she might have more time to read the difficult

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Speaker 1: text in the book. She escaped the schoolyard via the

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Speaker 1: smaller exit only the younger students took, in order to

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Speaker 1: pass by a small sweet store that was ida yearly

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Speaker 1: positioned near the school and had been opened for generations.

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Speaker 1: It was a rite of passage that once you reached

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Speaker 1: a certain age, you stopped going in that direction to

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Speaker 1: stop for a piece of dragon candy, though Esther would

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Speaker 1: still visit from time to time. After passing the sweet store,

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Speaker 1: she took a fork in the dirt path and started

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Speaker 1: walking along the way that led to her home, careful

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Speaker 1: not to walk on the stone covered moss, which had

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Speaker 1: led to many bruised knees over the years. They tended

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Speaker 1: to be very slippery. As she walked, she admired the

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Speaker 1: gardens that people grew. Esther loved how they looked, and

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Speaker 1: appreciated the food that they produced. Still, she was less

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Speaker 1: enthusiastic about their in depth study than the headmasters there was.

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Speaker 1: It was getting near dinner time, so the homes along

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Speaker 1: the way were burning wood to fuel their stoves, the

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Speaker 1: smoke rising in the sky. Other places in the kingdom

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Speaker 1: used various forms of magic to cook and heat their homes,

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Speaker 1: but Shirewood stuck to the old ways. She eventually approached

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Speaker 1: the fork in the path that had led to her

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Speaker 1: current nightly secret. The direction to the left led to

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Speaker 1: the part of the village where she lived and the

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Speaker 1: right was the path the explorers always took to leave

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Speaker 1: the village to explore the unknown realm. It was still

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Speaker 1: overgrown and hard to see. She went left this time,

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Speaker 1: knowing that perhaps one day soon she would head down

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Speaker 1: that path again. Esther quickly came to her small home

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Speaker 1: at the edge of the village. Her mother was gathering

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Speaker 1: laundry she had hung outside, including some of Esther's favorite clothes.

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Speaker 1: People in Shirewood still washed all their clothes by hand,

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Speaker 1: which Esther knew must be backward compared to what they

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Speaker 1: did elsewhere in the kingdom with all their magic. You

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Speaker 1: are home quickly, her mother said, as Esther opened the

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Speaker 1: gate to their yard. Didn't you hang out with your

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Speaker 1: friends today? Not today, mother, Well, your brother is a

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Speaker 1: bit late today, no doubt. He stopped at the sweets

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Speaker 1: shop and will have ruined his dinner with all that

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Speaker 1: dragon candy, and then he will wake us up in

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Speaker 1: the middle of the night saying he is starving because

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Speaker 1: he didn't eat enough at dinner. Esther replied, I'd like

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Speaker 1: you to quickly finish your chores and come in the

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Speaker 1: house before he comes home. I have something I want

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Speaker 1: to talk to you about. Her mother said, as she

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Speaker 1: walked into their house with a basket full of laundry.

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Speaker 1: Upon hearing that, Esther became overwhelmed with the feeling of dread.

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Speaker 1: She didn't have much in the way of chores, just

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Speaker 1: cleaning up some of the mess in the yard, but

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Speaker 1: she wished she could stretch out the ten minutes of

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Speaker 1: work until it was time for bed. What could her

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Speaker 1: mother want to talk about? Somehow she must know about

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Speaker 1: the book, and now she would have to give it

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Speaker 1: to her mother. Her mother would then give it to

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Speaker 1: the headmaster or the village elders, and she would never

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Speaker 1: get to read its contents again. After she finished her chores,

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Speaker 1: she walked into the house and her mother was standing

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Speaker 1: in the kitchen waiting for her. I would like to

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Speaker 1: talk to you about that heavy thing you have been

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Speaker 1: carrying around in your bag this past week, her mother said,

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Speaker 1: indicating that she knew all about what Esther had been

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Speaker 1: up to. Okay, Esther replied, I know you went down

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Speaker 1: the path that all the travelers used to take. I

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Speaker 1: knew from the very first day I saw the stains

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Speaker 1: on your mouth from eating the berries that only grow

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Speaker 1: in that area. I've noticed you are up late every

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Speaker 1: night and how distracted you have been lately. You always

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Speaker 1: have been a daydreamer, but it has been much worse lately.

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Speaker 1: Is there something you would like to share? Her mother asked.

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Speaker 1: She could never lie to her mother, so it was

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Speaker 1: time to tell her everything. One day, on my way

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Speaker 1: home from school, I took the right fork instead of

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Speaker 1: the left and followed the path through an old clearing

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Speaker 1: where I suppose travelers would meet and rest before continuing

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Speaker 1: on their way. When I was there, I found a

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Speaker 1: leather bound book, well more of a travel journal, full

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Speaker 1: of a collection of stories and pictures. Why did you

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Speaker 1: feel it necessary to take that turn? You know most

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Speaker 1: parents don't want our children to go down that path,

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Speaker 1: her mother asked, it's boring in Shirewood. I want to

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Speaker 1: see the Kingdom or see anything. I want to travel

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Speaker 1: and experience more than what we are allowed in this

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Speaker 1: small village. Going down that path was a brief escape.

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Speaker 1: I guess her mother's side. Your father was much the

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Speaker 1: same as you, Never content and couldn't appreciate what he

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Speaker 1: had until he had something to compare it with. He

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Speaker 1: traveled a lot, but always came home, that is until

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Speaker 1: he was bitten by the bug of the mystery of

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Speaker 1: the Unknown Realm, her mother said, with deep sadness in

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Speaker 1: her eyes. Esther took the book out of her bag

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Speaker 1: that she still carried on her back. This is the

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Speaker 1: book I found in the clearing. It was dirty, but

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Speaker 1: in remarkable condition, she said, as she handed the book

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Speaker 1: to her mother. Esther's mother gently opened the book, leafing

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Speaker 1: through its pages, looking at the complicated text and the

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Speaker 1: many illustrations. This is quite old. I can't imagine it

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Speaker 1: has been sitting where you might have found it for long.

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Speaker 1: One must have left it out there for what reason.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. Have you read it all yet? No,

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Speaker 1: the handwriting and some of the language are quite difficult

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Speaker 1: to read. But mother, please don't take it away and

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Speaker 1: give it to the headmaster or the village elders, or

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Speaker 1: burn it or burn it. Don't talk such nonsense. Child.

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Speaker 1: Books are sacred in this household, and as far as

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Speaker 1: giving it to the elders or your headmaster, I don't

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Speaker 1: see why we would want to do that. If this

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Speaker 1: book proves to be of historical significance, we might share

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Speaker 1: with those in the village who might gain from reading it.

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Speaker 1: But I have no intent on giving it away. Esther

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Speaker 1: visibly relaxed. This is what we are going to do

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Speaker 1: every night as part of your and your little brother's

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Speaker 1: reading time. We will read this book together. That way

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Speaker 1: we can all benefit from its contents and discuss what

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Speaker 1: it contains. There is no need for secrets. We will

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Speaker 1: start tonight after dinner, during our normal study and reading period.

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Speaker 1: Just then, Esther's little brother walked in the door, dragon

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Speaker 1: candy stains all over his mouth. What's everyone standing around for?

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Speaker 1: And what's for dinner? I'm starving And that's the end

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Speaker 1: of this part. Good night, sleep tight,