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Speaker 1: Hello friends, and welcome to sleep Tight Stories. I'd like

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Speaker 1: to say hello to some friends. Hello to Henry, and

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Speaker 1: hello to Chloe Millan from Minardo, South all the way

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Speaker 1: in South Australia. I'd like to say happy birthday to

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Speaker 1: Zeala who is turning to on October thirtieth, Happy birthday

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Speaker 1: to Wesley who is turning seven on October thirty first,

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Speaker 1: and happy sixth birthday to Micah from Edmonton who is

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Speaker 1: also celebrating his birthday on October thirty first. A very

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Speaker 1: happy birthday to you all. I hope your day is

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Speaker 1: very special. If you'd like to support us and get

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Speaker 1: some of the perks like shout outs, birthday messages and

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Speaker 1: goodies in the mail, please visit our support page at

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Speaker 1: sleep tightstories dot org slash support. Thank you. This is

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Speaker 1: our first Halloween story for this year. It is about

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Speaker 1: a little boy and a girl named Dan and Annie.

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Speaker 1: They live in a village with a witch's house on

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Speaker 1: the hill. The house stares down on Dan's village and

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Speaker 1: he has been told never to go there. Annie, his friend,

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Speaker 1: is quite mischievous and decides to go and see what

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Speaker 1: this house is really like. When they get there, they

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Speaker 1: meet the witch and find out that she needs their help.

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Speaker 1: Can they help her? House on the Hill by Geraldine

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Speaker 1: gran Leise. The house had always been there for as

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Speaker 1: long as I could remember, and I was seven. A

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Speaker 1: witch lived in the house. The house was behind some

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Speaker 1: trees at the top of the hill, staring down on

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Speaker 1: my village. I was told never to go there. I

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Speaker 1: heard this every day. Stay away from the house hidden

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Speaker 1: behind the trees on the top of the hill. My

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Speaker 1: mom and dad would say, if you go close, you

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Speaker 1: will hear tick talk, tick talk. So always stay on

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Speaker 1: the street with the lantern on the corner and mister

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Speaker 1: Harvey's Draper's shop next door. My name is Dan and

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Speaker 1: my friend is Annie. She is a little taller, a

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Speaker 1: little smarter, and much more mischievous than me. We're usually

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Speaker 1: together all the time. It was the day before Halloween

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Speaker 1: and our imaginations were running wild in anticipation of what

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Speaker 1: might happen. We headed out together to get our favorite

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Speaker 1: sweets from the sweet shop near mister Harvey's Draper's shop

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Speaker 1: that sat under the lantern. When I glanced up from

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Speaker 1: the seat placed neatly under the lantern, I saw her

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Speaker 1: run towards the hill. My heart skipped a beat, but

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Speaker 1: Annie ran further and further until she was almost the

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Speaker 1: size of an ant in the distance. Follow me, Dan,

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Speaker 1: I followed her reluctantly as I climbed the hill. No, no, Annie,

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Speaker 1: come back, you will hear the tick talk. When I

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Speaker 1: got to the top, I crouched down and quietly started

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Speaker 1: to creep carefully around the house. The long weeds and

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Speaker 1: nettles stung me, but I tried not to cry out.

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Speaker 1: I climbed up on my tiptoes and peered through the

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Speaker 1: broken window. How I wished I was ten years old.

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Speaker 1: Then I would be up higher, and surely I would

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Speaker 1: be much braver. At that moment, talk talk, the voices

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Speaker 1: got nearer. I peeped through the hole in the torn

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Speaker 1: curtains to see Annie sitting on an upside down mop bucket.

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Speaker 1: It was then my eyes were drawn to the woman

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Speaker 1: she was chatting to. I was astounded by her appearance.

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Speaker 1: She was wearing pants like boxers wear in a boxing ring,

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Speaker 1: and a little torn, crinkled gray vest hung from her

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Speaker 1: spindly old body. I studied her further. She was a

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Speaker 1: little old woman with a long crooked nose, hooked fingers,

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Speaker 1: and cracked teeth. She was sitting on a worn out

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Speaker 1: rocking chair, swinging all the while. She screeched. I can't

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Speaker 1: go out at Halloween, Annie exclaimed. I trembled as she

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Speaker 1: mentioned Annie's name. Don't tell me Annie has told the

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Speaker 1: witch her name, I thought, as I grimaced across at her.

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Speaker 1: The witch hobbled up and pointed to the door with

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Speaker 1: her walking stick. Come in, boy, and stop peeping trembling.

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Speaker 1: I stumbled inside and nervously sat beside Annie. The witch

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Speaker 1: then started mumbling to herself. I don't have my beautifully

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Speaker 1: scary black dress anymore, she said. She leaned over to

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Speaker 1: open a cupboard, and as she opened it, a broom

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Speaker 1: fell out at my feet. It caused a shiver to

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Speaker 1: run down my spine. She pulled out a dress from

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Speaker 1: the cupboard, but it was bright pink. The witch sobbed uncontrollably.

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Speaker 1: What happened to your dress? I washed it with my

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Speaker 1: white and red stockings and it turned out bright pink.

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Speaker 1: Then she gingerly stood up, reaching up to retrieve her

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Speaker 1: hat from a hook in the corner, just above a

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Speaker 1: box with spells written on it. She pulled her hat

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Speaker 1: off the hook, but it wasn't black. It was orange.

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Speaker 1: I could sense her sorow, but it was so funny

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Speaker 1: that I almost giggled too, until I felt Annie dig

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Speaker 1: me in my ribs with her thumb. What happened to

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Speaker 1: your hat? I washed it with my red and yellow

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Speaker 1: knickers and it turned orange. It was then that I

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Speaker 1: heard the talk tick talk, and noticed hundreds of clocks

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Speaker 1: on the wall lining up her hallway. I summoned up

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Speaker 1: my courage to ask, why do you have all the clocks?

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Speaker 1: They remind me that I am going to ride my

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Speaker 1: broomstick through the sky in the Witch's Parade at Halloween,

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Speaker 1: but I can't go looking like this. The door creaked open,

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Speaker 1: and in walked a very sad looking cat, meowing incessantly.

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Speaker 1: It gently stroked my leg as it went past, and

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Speaker 1: I giggled. I had almost forgotten for a moment where

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Speaker 1: I was. For the first time I saw the witch smile.

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Speaker 1: She only had four teeth. I thought she must never

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Speaker 1: have brushed them, but I wasn't brave enough to ask.

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Speaker 1: I have an idea, said Annie. My granny has a

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Speaker 1: long black dress you could borrow, and we can dye

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Speaker 1: your hat black again using this mop bucket. Dan will

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Speaker 1: help you do that as I am running home for

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Speaker 1: the dress. Now, how dare Annie leave me here alone

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Speaker 1: with the witch? I felt a nudge. Well, Sir Dane,

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Speaker 1: get to it. Her voice frightened me. I turned the

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Speaker 1: bucket upright, took her orange hat and placed it inside.

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Speaker 1: I thought for a moment, Now, can you find me

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Speaker 1: something red, something green, and lastly something blue? Please, I

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Speaker 1: said loudly, just in case she was a little deaf.

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Speaker 1: She scratched her bony head. She was unsteady on her

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Speaker 1: feet as she rose, mumbling again. I was afraid to

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Speaker 1: move until she came back. When she entered the room again,

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Speaker 1: she was cradling one red sock, a green leaf from

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Speaker 1: the garden, and a blue vest with hundreds of holes.

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Speaker 1: I thought, I giggled so loudly, but this time, when

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Speaker 1: I looked at her again, she was laughing too. Well

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Speaker 1: that has been worn one or two many times. Well,

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Speaker 1: sir Dan, do your magic, she cackled with excitement. I

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Speaker 1: crossed my fingers behind my back. I couldn't believe my eyes.

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Speaker 1: She dropped her head, sat on the mop bucket. Then

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Speaker 1: she said the spells, and a box was flying around

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Speaker 1: her head. It then dropped and a spell landed at

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Speaker 1: her feet. I need water. She stood up, saying, killy

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Speaker 1: do achillie, not a diddly do oh, fiddly food fiddly can.

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Speaker 1: Put the water in the can. Now we are sorted.

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Speaker 1: Start stirring, sir Dan. She handed me her walking stick.

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Speaker 1: All at once. The walking stick started to stir the

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Speaker 1: contents of the bucket, faster and faster. It went like

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Speaker 1: a washing machine. When it stopped, I crossed my fingers,

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Speaker 1: closed my eyes, wishing as hard as I could, with

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Speaker 1: my heart beating so fast. She lifted the hat from

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Speaker 1: the bucket. It was black. I opened my eyes and

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Speaker 1: I almost fainted with relief, but her smile warmed me

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Speaker 1: a little. I was happy for her when I saw

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Speaker 1: her delight. Just then I heard Annie's voice, I'm back.

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Speaker 1: She brought the dress out from behind her back, a

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Speaker 1: beautiful black lace dress. The witch jumped up and down,

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Speaker 1: screeching with sheer happiness. She danced around the kitchen holding

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Speaker 1: her beloved cat, who didn't look amused. That night, we

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Speaker 1: crept home chatting about the witch and how funny she was.

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Speaker 1: We wondered would we see her in the sky on

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Speaker 1: Halloween night? We crossed our fingers again, hoping we would.

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Speaker 1: The next day was Halloween. We were busy carving pumpkins

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Speaker 1: and getting ready to go trick or treating. Just then

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Speaker 1: our front door was blown open. It was banging against

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Speaker 1: the wall and there were tons of leaves in our hall.

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Speaker 1: Annie and I thought we heard a whisper, so we

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Speaker 1: listened carefully. Come out, Sir Dane and Annie. We ran

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Speaker 1: outside to see the witch up here we heard. We

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Speaker 1: looked up and saw that the witch's parade was starting,

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Speaker 1: and there at the front was our friend with a

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Speaker 1: banner at the end of her broom which read, I'm

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Speaker 1: the happiest Witch in the parade. Now, thank you Dan

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Speaker 1: and Annie, and that is the end of our story.

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Speaker 1: Good Night, sleep tight.