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Speaker 1: Hello friends, It's mister Jim and welcome back to kid

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Speaker 1: Short Stories. Today's story comes to us from Grayson and mya. Hey, guys,

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Speaker 1: they sent me an awesome idea for a story, and

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Speaker 1: you can too. Just head over to kidshort stories dot com.

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Speaker 1: Send me your idea and maybe we'll turn it into

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Speaker 1: an awesome adventure. Are you guys ready for a game

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Speaker 1: of baseball that is saved by an underwater mermaid. I

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Speaker 1: don't know how in the world that's gonna go, but

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Speaker 1: me too.

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Speaker 2: Let's go.

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Speaker 1: It was a beautiful day on a Saturday afternoon, and

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Speaker 1: Grayson's team was in the championship baseball game. Have you

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Speaker 1: ever played baseball before?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 1: It is super, super fun. And Grayson's team was really,

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Speaker 1: really good. They had played an entire season of games.

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Speaker 1: That whole season led up to this very game. Since

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Speaker 1: this was a championship game, they were playing on a

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Speaker 1: very special field. It was in a beautiful location, just

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Speaker 1: on the edge of the ocean, and so if you

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Speaker 1: hit the ball over the fence for a home run,

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Speaker 1: the ball would sail right into the water. Every kid

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Speaker 1: dreamed of not only playing in this field, but smashing

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Speaker 1: the ball over the fence. Gray Sin, gray Sin, gray Sin.

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Speaker 1: The crowd was cheering his name as he stepped up

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Speaker 1: to the plate. It was the end of the game,

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Speaker 1: the bottom of the ninth, and their team was down

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Speaker 1: by two runs. The score was five to three. It

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Speaker 1: was up to Grayson to get on base so that

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Speaker 1: another one of his teammates could hit a big hit

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Speaker 1: and drive him home. But they needed to score two

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Speaker 1: runs to tie or three runs to win. Grayson's feet

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Speaker 1: dug into the dirt to get a better grip. As

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Speaker 1: he held onto the bat with all of his might,

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Speaker 1: he twisted it in his fingers to get a better grip.

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Speaker 1: He rested the bat on his shoulder, and here comes

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Speaker 1: the first pitch. Stew right one, screamed the umpire as

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Speaker 1: the ball went right down the middle into the catcher's mint.

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Speaker 1: But Grayson was not afraid. He knew how to take

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Speaker 1: a deep breath, calm down, and get ready for the

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Speaker 1: next pitch. As the pitcher held the ball in his hand,

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Speaker 1: he got ready to throw it, so strike two, yelled

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Speaker 1: the umpire. Grayson was waiting for his pitch. He knew

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Speaker 1: that he wasn't going to swing at something that was

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Speaker 1: going to trick him and That is an important part

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Speaker 1: of baseball. You have to be patient. You have to

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Speaker 1: wait for a really good pitch that you can swing

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Speaker 1: hard at and crush the ball. Grayson knew that he

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Speaker 1: was down to his last strike. That means if he

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Speaker 1: gets another strike, he's out. Well, that did not face him,

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Speaker 1: so the pitcher gripped the ball. Grayson was ready. He

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Speaker 1: squinted his eyes and locked in on the pitcher's fingers.

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Speaker 1: He knew the grip on the pitcher's hand and he

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Speaker 1: knew what pitch was going to come. As the pitcher

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Speaker 1: threw the ball, Grayson turned and swung the bat as

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Speaker 1: hard as he could. The sound of the ball hitting

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Speaker 1: the bat was a cracking sound that could be heard

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Speaker 1: from miles away. As the ball lifted off his bat,

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Speaker 1: it took off like a rocket ship.

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Speaker 2: Whoah.

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Speaker 1: The crowd began shouting as Grayson started running for first base.

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Speaker 1: Before he even made it to first base, the ball

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Speaker 1: had splashed into the ocean. The score was now five

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Speaker 1: to four. Their team was getting so close to tying

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Speaker 1: or even maybe winning the game. Grayson rounded the bases

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Speaker 1: and stepped on home plate as his team was waiting

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Speaker 1: for him there, and jumped all over him. That is

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Speaker 1: a really good feeling. When you're on a team and

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Speaker 1: you do something awesome and your team is able to

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Speaker 1: celebrate with you, or if someone else on your team

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Speaker 1: does something awesome and you can celebrate with them, that

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Speaker 1: is a really special feeling. That's what I love about

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Speaker 1: being on a team. Like, whether that's soccer or football,

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Speaker 1: basketball or baseball, being on a team is something pretty special.

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Speaker 1: After the team sat back down on their bench, the

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Speaker 1: umpire walked over to the coach to ask for a

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Speaker 1: new ball, because remember that old ball is now floating

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Speaker 1: somewhere in the ocean. Grayson's coach turned around to look

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Speaker 1: for their bucket of balls. You see, every team, they

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Speaker 1: always carry a big bucket full of baseballs that can

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Speaker 1: they can use during the game, and as he turned around,

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Speaker 1: the bucket was missing. Where did the bucket go, cried

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Speaker 1: the coach. Everybody started looking around, but nobody could find

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Speaker 1: any more baseballs. They are all missing. The umpire walked

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Speaker 1: onto the field and made an announcement to everyone.

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Speaker 2: If you're unable to find another baseball for the game,

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Speaker 2: the game will be forfeited and the other team will win.

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Speaker 1: Grayson and his whole team was completely crushed.

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Speaker 2: What are we gonna do?

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Speaker 1: Where did all those baseballs go? Said one of his teammates.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, but that ball I hit into the

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Speaker 1: ocean's probably still floating out there. Maybe I could go

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Speaker 1: get it. Grayson took off running as his team continued

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Speaker 1: to look for any baseballs. Without a baseball, the game

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Speaker 1: would be forfeited and they would lose. Grayson hopped over

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Speaker 1: the fence to the field. On the other side was

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Speaker 1: a steep, pretty steep drop of rocks all the way

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Speaker 1: down to the ocean. He carefully hopped down one by

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Speaker 1: one by one and was met by a big, crashing,

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Speaker 1: wet wave. pH As the water sprayed in his face,

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Speaker 1: he looked around and couldn't see the ball anywhere. To

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Speaker 1: continue the story, we actually have to go back in time. Eh,

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Speaker 1: back in time about ten minutes ago, you know, right

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Speaker 1: when Grayson hit that big home run. As the ball

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Speaker 1: was sailing through the air and came curs splashing into

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Speaker 1: the ocean, it actually knocked onto Maya's tail.

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Speaker 2: Oh who is that is that? Like?

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Speaker 1: A Oh my goodness. As Maya the Mermaid turned around,

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Speaker 1: she saw something she'd never seen before. She picked it

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Speaker 1: up in her hand and swam down deeper into the ocean.

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Speaker 1: She couldn't wait to show all of her friends. Girls,

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Speaker 1: look at this, Look at this, said Maya. I think

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Speaker 1: i my tail was just hit by an asteroid from space.

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Speaker 1: Look at this crazy thing. The mermaids began passing this

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Speaker 1: baseball around, which they thought was some kind of asteroid

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Speaker 1: from space, and they were completely in awe of this

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Speaker 1: white ball. Oh my goodness, Maya, is your tail Okay,

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Speaker 1: didn't catch on fire when that thing from space hit it.

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Speaker 1: They all turned around and looked at Maya's tail, inspecting

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Speaker 1: for any burn damages or maybe alien juice. No, no,

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Speaker 1: no alien juice and no burn marks. Huh Wait a second,

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Speaker 1: maybe it's not from outer space. Maybe it came from

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Speaker 1: somewhere else. Then Maya had a great idea. We should

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Speaker 1: go as that old turtle. He knows everything, and I

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Speaker 1: bet he would know what this thing is. As they

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Speaker 1: swam together as a flock of mermaids. Wait, what do

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Speaker 1: you call a group of mermaids? Is it a flock

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Speaker 1: or a gang or a club? No, I'm gonna go

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Speaker 1: with flock. It kind of feels like flock. As they're

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Speaker 1: gliding through the air, it's kind of like birds. As

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Speaker 1: Maya and her friends were swimming through the ocean looking

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Speaker 1: for this very, very old turtle, they found him swimming

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Speaker 1: through some a kelp forest. Hello, mister sea turtle.

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Speaker 2: It's Maya. Ooh, hello Maya. I haven't seen you in years. Wow,

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Speaker 2: you look so big now. Oh how are you doing today? Oh?

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Speaker 1: I'm doing great, said Maya, except I got hit on

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Speaker 1: my tail with some kind of I don't know, either

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Speaker 1: an alien egg or an asteroid. I'm not sure what

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Speaker 1: it is, and I thought maybe you would know. Here

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Speaker 1: she handed the sea turtle the baseball. Oh my, that

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Speaker 1: is not an alien eggand not an asteroid. That, my friend,

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Speaker 1: is a baseball. What is a baseball? Is it like

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Speaker 1: made of gold or diamonds? Or is it rare?

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Speaker 2: And what is it? Oh?

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Speaker 1: No, no, no, a base bowl is what humans?

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Speaker 2: Uh?

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Speaker 1: They hit with sticks made of wood. Oh my, was

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Speaker 1: this baseball mean to the humans? She asked. Ugh.

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure, but it seems to be some sort

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Speaker 2: of game that they play, throwing this ball around and

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Speaker 2: whacking it with sticks. Wow, humans are strange, said Maya.

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Speaker 2: You should probably swim up to the surface and throw

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Speaker 2: it back to where it came from, and be done

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Speaker 2: with it.

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Speaker 1: Uh okay. Maya and her friends swam away and waved

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Speaker 1: goodbye to the sea turtle. They swam back up to

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Speaker 1: the surface where Maya had been hit by that baseball.

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Speaker 1: She popped her head out of water, and there was Grayson. Remember,

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Speaker 1: Grayson had come down to the shore. He was looking

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Speaker 1: for the baseball, and now he's staring at a mermaid.

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Speaker 1: Maya had never seen a person before, and Grayson had

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Speaker 1: never seen a mermaid before. They were just in shock.

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Speaker 1: And then Maya took the ball and threw it back

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Speaker 1: towards Grayson, who caught it in his hand. Grayson shook

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Speaker 1: the water off the baseball and then looked back up

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Speaker 1: and Maya the mermaid had vanished. He wasn't exactly sure

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Speaker 1: if he was seeing things or if that was real,

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Speaker 1: but all that mattered was he had the baseball. He

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Speaker 1: ran back to the field and his team screamed in

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Speaker 1: triumph as they saw Grace and holding the ball above

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Speaker 1: his head. Playball, shouted the umpire. What an amazing adventure.

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Speaker 1: This may be the end of today's story, but I

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Speaker 1: think it's just the beginning of something amazing, something maybe

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Speaker 1: even magical that is about to happen the end. Great job,

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Speaker 1: you listened all the way to the end, and you

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Speaker 1: know what time it is. It's time for kid shout out.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna give a very special hello to the Little

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Speaker 1: Seeds pre K in Michigan. Hey, guys, and I want

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Speaker 1: to say hello to Annsley from South Carolina, Beckett and

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Speaker 1: Foster from Canada, Mokeshi from New Jersey, Spire from British Columbia,

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Speaker 1: Breadon from Ontario, and Boppy and Levi from Massachusetts. I'm

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Speaker 1: so glad that you're all in the kitchenort Sery's family

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Speaker 1: and on our spy team. We could not stop Doctor

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Speaker 1: Stinkybreath and his crew without you, my friends. It would

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Speaker 1: mean so much to me if you left a review

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Speaker 1: on Apple Podcast sharing how much you love this podcast. Well,

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Speaker 1: my friends, I hope you have a superdoper day. I'll

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Speaker 1: see you next time.

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Speaker 2: Bye.