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Speaker 1: Welcome to the ten minute Storyteller. That's me Bill Simpson,

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Speaker 1: your host, narrator and author. We hear at the ten

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Speaker 1: minute Storyteller endeavor to entertain you with tall tales or

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Speaker 1: rendered swiftly and with the utmost empathy. We pledge to

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Speaker 1: pack as much entertainment, emotion and exploration into the human

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Speaker 1: condition as ten minutes will permit mini novels on steroids.

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Speaker 1: This week we meet Pat. Pat got fed up with

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Speaker 1: America for any number of reasons, the politics, the stress

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Speaker 1: his marriage. So Pat split headed to Portugal, a nice

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Speaker 1: little beach town on the coast where life could not

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Speaker 1: be sweeter. The ex pat look at Pat leaving the

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Speaker 1: good life out for his morning cycle on the Avenida

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Speaker 1: Mariano Colada, a slow, easy roll, one hand on the

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Speaker 1: handlebars of his beach cruiser, the other hand on his

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Speaker 1: Cafe Comulte. Later Pat might head inland on his road

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Speaker 1: bike and do some climbing, get a nice little workout,

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Speaker 1: But mornings he dislikes to turn the pedals, look out

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Speaker 1: to see and smile at the pretty girls out walking

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Speaker 1: and jogging. Almost six months he's been in Penuche, on

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Speaker 1: Portugal's west coast, He's less than two hours on the

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Speaker 1: A eight from Lisbon, but he's only been down to

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Speaker 1: the capitol a couple times. When he first arrived, he

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Speaker 1: thought he'd go into the Capitol at least once a week.

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Speaker 1: Thought he'd need that urban stimuli, the theaters, museums and restaurants.

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Speaker 1: But waits in place. He's really digging the small town,

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Speaker 1: laid back beach five. In fact, sometimes Pat thinks this

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Speaker 1: is the life he's been wanting to live for the

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Speaker 1: past fifty years. No stress, no pressure, no car, no mortgage,

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Speaker 1: no politics. Pat was sick and tired of the politics

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Speaker 1: back in America. Maybe more than anything else, he was

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Speaker 1: fed up with the stinking politicians. Trump had been living

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Speaker 1: in his brain for years. Couldn't get the sick, angry

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Speaker 1: blabbermouth out of his thoughts. One hundred or more times

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Speaker 1: a day, that pissant real estate scammer swept through his brain,

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Speaker 1: destroying any sense of peace or harmony. So when Wendy

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Speaker 1: ran off with his buddy Hank, Pat took an extended

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Speaker 1: trip to Spain, Italy and Portugal, and after much consideration,

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Speaker 1: he put his dough down on a very nice two

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Speaker 1: bedroom condo right downtown on the Rua Antonio Cervantes. It's

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Speaker 1: a nice old brick building with a courtyard and plenty

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Speaker 1: of south facing windows. Pretty spartan so far. There's a bed, sofa,

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Speaker 1: a little wooden table with a couple chairs where he

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Speaker 1: eats and writes his medical blurbs for Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis.

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Speaker 1: The work's kind of sporadic, but with the small salary,

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Speaker 1: his savings and his investments, Pat feels like he has

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Speaker 1: enough dough to live a long, stress free life right

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Speaker 1: here in the town and country of his choosing. All

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Speaker 1: vestiges of his life in America had been severed. Sure,

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Speaker 1: he gets lonely from time to time, occasionally seeks out

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Speaker 1: the company of other expats at the local cafes and

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Speaker 1: turbanas the wounds Wendy and his old buddy Hank inflicted

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Speaker 1: on him are still too fresh for Pat to seek

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Speaker 1: the company of women. But he hopes one day and

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Speaker 1: in the not too distant future, some lovely lass will

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Speaker 1: roll into his life and fill the empty spaces. Until then,

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Speaker 1: he cycles and swims and walks for miles and miles.

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Speaker 1: He has a dream of one day walking the entire

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Speaker 1: Portuguese coast from Porto in the north to Farrow on

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Speaker 1: the Gulf of Cadez, a distance of nearly five hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty kilometers. If he walks twenty kilometers a day,

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Speaker 1: he can do the entire coast in less than a month,

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Speaker 1: stopping in small towns, sunny villages, and staying in charming

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Speaker 1: pussadas along the way. The walk is something for the

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Speaker 1: future to dream about and contemplate. Pat he doesn't think

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Speaker 1: at all about the past, about the regret and mistakes

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Speaker 1: and things that went wrong, the abortions early in their

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Speaker 1: marriage when they were young and he wasn't quite ready

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Speaker 1: yet for fatherhood, and later the miscarriages once he finally

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Speaker 1: was ready, and that well, that a fair he had

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Speaker 1: with his secretary. That was nothing, a silly indulgence, but

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Speaker 1: of course Wendy got herself all worked up over it,

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Speaker 1: very nearly ended their marriage over it. No, Pat has

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Speaker 1: deleted the past. Nothing good comes from thinking about the past.

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Speaker 1: Pat's into mindfulness now, into meditation and staying in the present.

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Speaker 1: He doesn't bother anymore with the news, except of course,

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Speaker 1: with events here in Ponouche, police reports and such. His

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Speaker 1: iPhone he threw away months ago, while still back in

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Speaker 1: the States. Actually, by the time he finally crushed the

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Speaker 1: device with its tracking software and tossed it in a

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Speaker 1: trash can along the side of the road, he was

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Speaker 1: in Canada, where he'd crossed early that morning at the

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Speaker 1: border station north of Jackman. All good now, all calm,

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Speaker 1: all peaceful and stress free. The days slide by. The

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Speaker 1: weather is pleasant, cool at night, warm in the afternoon,

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Speaker 1: a bike ride, a walk, some reading on the beach,

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Speaker 1: a morning coffee with a new acquaintance from London. And

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Speaker 1: in the evening, Pat studies his maps in preparation for

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Speaker 1: his long, leisurely walk from Porto to Farrow. His future.

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Speaker 1: Pat knows it's tough to plan for the future. He

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Speaker 1: knows things can go awry, life can so quickly slide

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Speaker 1: off the rails, and so it's best to just lay low,

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Speaker 1: do some deep breathing exercises, drink plenty of water, eat

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Speaker 1: a simple diet from the sea, grapes from the arbor,

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Speaker 1: beans from the garden, get some sun, and of course converse.

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Speaker 1: But don't talk to anyone about the past. Talk about

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Speaker 1: the past, even a made up past, and you might

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Speaker 1: just slip up, might say something better left unsaid. Pat

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Speaker 1: grills himself a nice piece of baccalaw codfish that he

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Speaker 1: just purchased fresh down at the fish pier off the

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Speaker 1: Avenda de mar. He tosses in some peppers and onions.

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Speaker 1: The rice steams. He thinks he might just have a

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Speaker 1: chilled glass of Alvarino with his lunch, and after tidying up,

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Speaker 1: he'll sit down in the courtyard, out of the wind

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Speaker 1: and read those last few chapters of the Sun also

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Speaker 1: rises that he's been meaning to finish for the past

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Speaker 1: week or so. And then, halfway through the meal, his

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Speaker 1: wine glass halfway to his lips, a firm and aggressive

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Speaker 1: knock hits the front door. Pat spills the wine on

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Speaker 1: his brand new linen shirt. Damn it, He stands, dabs

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Speaker 1: at the shirt with a dish towel. He can't recall

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Speaker 1: anyone knocking on his door before, except once or twice

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Speaker 1: his landlady, but she knocked with discretion. Crossing the room,

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Speaker 1: he calls out Portqueo policia Boro. Pat mutters, and the

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Speaker 1: past comes flooding in. He considers escape out the back

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Speaker 1: and over the garden wall. But then what no, no,

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Speaker 1: he tells himself, relax, take some deep breaths. Come on,

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Speaker 1: it must be nothing. He calms his pounding heart and

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Speaker 1: pulls open the door. Three men stand in the doorway,

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Speaker 1: two local police officers and a tall, angular gentleman in

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Speaker 1: a dark blue business suit. In perfect English, the tall

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Speaker 1: one asks Patrick Sullivan. Pat silence is a gasp? Well

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Speaker 1: actually no names, Young Patrick, Young Alan Gordon FBI, and

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Speaker 1: the agent whips out his creds for Pat's inspection. This time,

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Speaker 1: Pat cannot silence the gasp FBI Agent Gordon nods yes, sir,

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Speaker 1: and in possession of the proper warrants and extradition papers

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Speaker 1: with the assistance of local law enforcement. Mister Sullivan, I

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Speaker 1: am here to place you under arrest. A bead of

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Speaker 1: perspiration forms on Pat's upper lip. Excuse me, I am

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Speaker 1: placing you under arrest, mister Sullivan, for the double homicides

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Speaker 1: of missus Wendy Sullivan and mister Hank Anderson. You have

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Speaker 1: the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and

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Speaker 1: will be used against you. Thanks for listening to this

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Speaker 1: original audio presentation of the expat narrated by the author.

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Speaker 1: If you enjoy today's story, please take a few seconds

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Speaker 1: to rate review and subscribe to this podcast, and then

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Speaker 1: go to Thomas William Simpson dot com for additional information

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Speaker 1: about the author and to view his extensive canon. The

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Speaker 1: Ten Minute Storyteller is produced by Andrew Pliglisi and Josh

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Speaker 1: Klani and as part of the Elvis Duran Podcast Network

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Speaker 1: in partnership with Iheartproductions. So until next time, if there

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Speaker 1: is a next time, this is Bill Simpson, your ten

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Speaker 1: Minute Storyteller,