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Speaker 1: Or an ad free listening experience and more stories, please

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Speaker 1: check out sleep Tight Premium. A link can be found

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Speaker 1: in our show notes. Thank you, hello friends, and welcome

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Speaker 1: to sleep Tight Stories. We have moved and are experiencing

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Speaker 1: lots of new things this summer. This story is based

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Speaker 1: on our own little family of raccoons that chased Clark

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Speaker 1: around the house one night. He didn't try to scare

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Speaker 1: the raccoons, and we know not to feed wild animals,

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Speaker 1: but in this story we can use our imagination to

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Speaker 1: meet Fred, who has a different reaction. Fred and the Raccoon.

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Speaker 1: Fred looked over his freshly cut lawn with a feeling

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Speaker 1: of satisfaction. He had spent the whole day cutting grass,

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Speaker 1: planting new flowering bushes, and removing weeds from one of

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Speaker 1: his many gardens. He had bought a couple of wooden chairs,

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Speaker 1: placed them in the middle of his yard, and was

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Speaker 1: now content to sit and enjoy some cold lemonade after

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Speaker 1: a day of work. Fred had just moved to his

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Speaker 1: new home a month earlier. He had never had the

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Speaker 1: opportunity to have a lawn, bushes, or flowers, or gardens

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Speaker 1: of any kind, so he was determined that his gardens

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Speaker 1: would be the most beautiful and orderly in the whole

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Speaker 1: wide world. Fred liked order, and it had taken him

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Speaker 1: months to plan all the moving pieces to leave his

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Speaker 1: life in the big city to move outside a small

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Speaker 1: town on Prince Edward Island. No more honking horns, no

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Speaker 1: more long commutes on crowded subways. He wanted to try

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Speaker 1: living somewhere quiet, and most of all, he wanted a

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Speaker 1: large space all to himself. Fred lived in a charming,

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Speaker 1: old renovated farmhouse in the heart of Pi's countryside, just

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Speaker 1: outside a small town. Its weathered and worn exterior was

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Speaker 1: painted in a soft shade of white that contrasted with

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Speaker 1: all the colors of the surrounding gardens. There was a

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Speaker 1: vegetable garden, a flower garden bursting with colors, and even

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Speaker 1: a Japanese inspired garden with a pond. He cut his

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Speaker 1: grass so that it would make intricate patterns for all

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Speaker 1: to see when they drove by. To the back of

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Speaker 1: his property was a large wooded area full of evergreen trees,

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Speaker 1: and to his right and left fields full of potatoes.

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Speaker 1: To Fred, this was paradise. After he finished his lemonade,

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Speaker 1: it was time to put his tools away and go

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Speaker 1: into his house for the night. The next day, Fred

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Speaker 1: woke up to the sounds of chirping birds, a distant rooster,

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Speaker 1: the rustling of the trees, and the sight of a

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Speaker 1: beautiful blue sky from his bedroom window. What a beautiful day,

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Speaker 1: he said aloud. I think I will have my morning

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Speaker 1: coffee in the garden. Fred got dressed and walked down

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Speaker 1: the stairs to his kitchen, which, like the rest of

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Speaker 1: his house, was clean and shiny. He brewed his coffee

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Speaker 1: and took his cup with him as he went out

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Speaker 1: the back door towards his garden. Usually the air was

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Speaker 1: full of the smell of the flowers or the green

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Speaker 1: of the grass and trees, but this time he noticed

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Speaker 1: something stinky. I wonder what that awful smell is, he thought,

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Speaker 1: as he walked on the path toward his garden. Then

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Speaker 1: he saw something on the ground in front of him.

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Speaker 1: What is that? He thought? It was sort of yellow

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Speaker 1: and brown. He went down to look at it and

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Speaker 1: saw that it was a rotten banana peel. Looking up up,

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Speaker 1: he noticed just a few steps further a used bag

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Speaker 1: that once held his cookies. As he slowly walked, he

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Speaker 1: noticed garbage all over his beautiful lawn, and the wind

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Speaker 1: had even blown some into his garden. Fred was upset.

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Speaker 1: What is going on? He said out loud. At the

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Speaker 1: back of his house and beside his gardens was an

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Speaker 1: old barn that he used to keep his gardening tools.

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Speaker 1: It was also where he kept his garbage containers, and

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Speaker 1: when he arrived there, he noticed that they were all

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Speaker 1: knocked over, open and the contents spewed all over the place.

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Speaker 1: What a mess. Stomping his feet as he went, Fred

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Speaker 1: took his coffee back into the kitchen, came back and

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Speaker 1: cleaned up all the mess that was over his lawn

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Speaker 1: and gardens. Finally, after spending the rest of the morning

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Speaker 1: cleaning up, everything was orderly again. The rest of his

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Speaker 1: day was uneventful and he enjoyed the quiet of his

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Speaker 1: beautiful and tidy gardens. The following day, Fred got up,

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Speaker 1: noticed the sun was shining again, grabbed his coffee and

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Speaker 1: went outside to his favorite spot in the garden. On

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Speaker 1: the way, he saw some pieces of tissue on the ground,

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Speaker 1: and farther ahead it looked like the stems from carrots

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Speaker 1: he had for dinner. Oh no, not again. Fred walked

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Speaker 1: to the old barn and saw yet again that his

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Speaker 1: garbage containers were all knocked over and open, and the

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Speaker 1: content spewed all over the place, another mess. Stumping his

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Speaker 1: feet as he went, Fred took his coffee back into

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Speaker 1: the kitchen, came back out, and spent the rest of

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Speaker 1: the morning cleaning up all the mess that was over

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Speaker 1: his lawn and gardens. After he finished, he thought, I

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Speaker 1: can't have something making a mess like this every night.

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Speaker 1: I must do something. Fred thought for a while and

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Speaker 1: made a decision. I'm going to hide out here tonight

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Speaker 1: and surprise whatever has been making this mess. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: they will be so scared that they will never come

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Speaker 1: back here and make a mess again. So that night

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Speaker 1: Fred hid in his barn. He wasn't used to staying

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Speaker 1: up so late, so he was getting sleepier and sleepier

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Speaker 1: und till just as he was about to fall asleep,

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Speaker 1: he heard a loud thud, and then another and another.

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Speaker 1: He thought he could hear wet smacking noises. How rude,

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Speaker 1: he said, Not only is something making a mess, it

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Speaker 1: is eating my garbage with its mouth open. So he

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Speaker 1: quietly walked to the door, one step after another. He

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Speaker 1: opened the door, slowly, very slowly, so the old barn

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Speaker 1: door wouldn't creak until he slipped outside. He walked to

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Speaker 1: the corner of the building and jumped around the corner,

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Speaker 1: yelling with a great big roar, roar, screech went the

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Speaker 1: large animal, arching its back as it ran off. Humphm.

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Speaker 1: Fred said, it is even wearing a mask, ask like

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Speaker 1: a bandit. Well, no matter, that will teach it. I'm

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Speaker 1: sure it won't be around here again. Fred cleaned up

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Speaker 1: the mess, went into his house and went straight to sleep.

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Speaker 1: The next morning, he woke up to yet another beautiful day.

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Speaker 1: He got up and stretched, hearing the sounds of birds

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Speaker 1: and the rustling of trees, he decided to have his

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Speaker 1: morning coffee outside in the garden again. Fred grabbed his

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Speaker 1: coffee and started walking towards his favorite spot. On the way,

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Speaker 1: he noticed some orange peels on the ground, and farther ahead,

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Speaker 1: random bits of garbage strewn about. Oh no, not again,

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Speaker 1: Fred saw that yet again, his garbage containers were all

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Speaker 1: knocked over open and the contents spewed everywhere. His tidy

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Speaker 1: and beautiful lawn and gardens were covered with garbage, stumping

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Speaker 1: his feet as he went. Fred took his coffee back

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Speaker 1: into the kitchen came back out and spent the rest

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Speaker 1: of the morning cleaning up all the mess. When his

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Speaker 1: work was finished, Fred was still a bit angry. Maybe

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Speaker 1: I wasn't scary enough last night, he thought, I will

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Speaker 1: wait for that bandit again tonight, but this time I

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Speaker 1: will be super scary, and then I am sure it

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Speaker 1: will never return again. Fred grumbled all through dinner. I

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Speaker 1: didn't move to this place to have to clean up

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Speaker 1: garbage all the time, And how dare this bandit make

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Speaker 1: my beautiful gardens and lawn so messy? That night, he

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Speaker 1: hid again in his barn. He waited and waited and waited, until,

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Speaker 1: letting out a great, big yawn, he said, well, I

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Speaker 1: guess it has gotten tired of making a mess here,

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Speaker 1: so I might as well go to bed. As he

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Speaker 1: was just about to leave the barn, he heard a

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Speaker 1: loud thud, and then another and another. The mask banded

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Speaker 1: his back, he thought. This time he grabbed a broom

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Speaker 1: because he thought if he had a broom, he would

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Speaker 1: look even scarier, and so with the broom in hand,

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Speaker 1: he quietly walked to the door, one step after another.

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Speaker 1: He opened the door slowly, very slowly, so the old

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Speaker 1: barn door would creek until he slipped outside. He walked

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Speaker 1: to the corner of the building, and, shaking the broom

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Speaker 1: over his head, jumped around the corner, yelling with a great,

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Speaker 1: big roar roar. This time there wasn't just one bandit

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Speaker 1: with gleaming eyes staring at him in the night, but four,

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Speaker 1: and the largest one didn't move, so Fred yelled again rore.

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Speaker 1: This time the largest bandit started slowly, but then very quickly,

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Speaker 1: walking towards him, and it made an angry sound. Oh no, yikes.

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Speaker 1: Fred dropped his broom and started running, and the bandit

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Speaker 1: ran after him, chasing him through the yard, around some trees,

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Speaker 1: past the and finally all the way up to the

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Speaker 1: back door of his house. Fred got inside just in time.

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Speaker 1: When he turned on the outside lights, he finally saw

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Speaker 1: what had chased him and what he assumed had been

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Speaker 1: making the mess outside his old barn. It was a

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Speaker 1: large raccoon, and with it were a number of baby raccoons.

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Speaker 1: Fred lived in a city all his life and didn't

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Speaker 1: know much about raccoons, but he felt sad for scaring

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Speaker 1: it when all it was trying to do was feed

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Speaker 1: its babies. So he turned off the lights and decided

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Speaker 1: to call it a night, leaving the mess and the

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Speaker 1: problem until the morning. The following day. After cleaning up

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Speaker 1: the garbage, he decided to do something different. Maybe I

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Speaker 1: can help this raccoon and its family and be its

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Speaker 1: friend instead of its adversary. I was wrong to get

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Speaker 1: so upset without knowing why there was such a big mess.

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Speaker 1: I can share with this family since I have so

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Speaker 1: much space and food. That afternoon, Fred secured his garbage

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Speaker 1: containers so they couldn't be opened and their contents spilled

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Speaker 1: all over the yard. He then brought out some treats

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Speaker 1: he had made just for the raccoons. Fred put the

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Speaker 1: treats inside a little house that the previous owner of

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Speaker 1: his property had left for him, and he put it

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Speaker 1: in a special area off the garden pond. He thought

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Speaker 1: he could create a special house just for them. The

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Speaker 1: next morning, Fred grabbed his morning coffee and walked towards

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Speaker 1: his favorite spot in the There was no garbage to

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Speaker 1: be seen, and his lawn and gardens were as tidy

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Speaker 1: as he had left them the day before. After he

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Speaker 1: had finished his coffee, he walked towards the house where

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Speaker 1: he had left the treats. The bowl that the treats

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Speaker 1: were in was empty. Fred felt happy. Who knows, He thought,

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Speaker 1: maybe over time we can be friends. He then walked

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Speaker 1: back into his house to prepare more treats for the

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Speaker 1: family he hoped would someday be his new friends. And

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Speaker 1: that's the end of our story. Good night, sleep tight.

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Speaker 2: If the moon gives a prize and the sun stops

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Speaker 2: it shine and all you've garden to ask, we wait

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Speaker 2: on the time, and together we find. And it's small

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Speaker 2: than one way to go Yeah, it's small than one

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Speaker 2: way to go home.