1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media book Club book Club book Club. It's 2 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: the Cool Zone Media book Club. That's our new intro. 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,159 Speaker 1: I'm totally gonna get it exactly the same from now on. 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: I'm very good at consistently making up ditties. Welcome to 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: the Cool Zone Media book Club. I'm your host, Marta 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: at Kiljoy and every Sunday I read you a story. 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: It's like a book club, only you don't have to 8 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,199 Speaker 1: do the reading because I do it for you. And 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: we read fiction and sometimes we read stories that are 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: like the perfect story for Cool Zone Media book Club. 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: Sometimes we read stories like the one today Today is 12 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: an example of one of the perfect stories in case 13 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: that didn't come across. Because today I'm going to read 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: you a story called The Orchard of Tomorrow by Kelseyu. 15 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: Who's Kelseu? Well, i'll read you her bio Kelsey You. 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: He is a Taiwanese Chinese American writer who is eternally 17 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: enthusiastic about sharks and appreciates a good ghost story. Over 18 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: a dozen of her short stories and essays appear in 19 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: Clark's World, Apex, Nightmare, Fantasy, Pseudopod, and elsewhere. Her debut 20 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: novella Bound Feet was a Shirley Jackson Award nominee, and 21 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 1: her next novella, Demon Song, will be published by Titan 22 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,479 Speaker 1: Books in twenty twenty five. Kelsey's first novel, It's Only 23 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: a Game, is published by Bloomsbury. Find her on Instagram 24 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 1: and Twitter at a novel Escape, or visit her website 25 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: kelseu dot com. Her name is spelled k E l 26 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: sa yu dot com. Kelsey lives in the Pacific Northwest 27 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: with her husband, children and a pile of art supplies. 28 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: And as one Shirley Jackson Award nominee to another, did 29 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: you get the rock? One of the coolest things about 30 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: the Shirley Jackson Award is that if you're nominated, they 31 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: give you a rock that's engraved with you know, Shirley 32 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: Jackson Award nominee, like whatever year. And it makes me 33 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: really happy because it's a clever joke about the story 34 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 1: of the lottery. Ooh, I wonder if I can read 35 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: that to you all one day. I don't know to 36 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: figure it out, but this story that I'm about to 37 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: read to you, The Orchard of Tomorrow, originally appeared in 38 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: Clark's World magazine in July twenty twenty three, and I 39 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: just want to shout out. Neil Clark is the editor 40 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: of Clark's World. Neil keeps winning well deserved awards for 41 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 1: his work. He's one of the best editors in speculative fiction, 42 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: and honestly, like, if this is the only place you 43 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: get your stories, that's great. I love the stories that 44 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: I read to you. But there are a bunch of 45 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: really good speculative fiction magazines out there right now. Like 46 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: we are actually living in a golden era of short fiction, 47 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: which is interesting. We are not in a golden era 48 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,119 Speaker 1: of short fiction readership. We are in a golden era 49 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: of short fiction authorship and published ship. We're also not 50 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: in a golden era of Margaret making up words. We're 51 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: in a pretty mediocre era of that. But I highly 52 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: recommend Clark's World, Strange Horizons. I don't know, it's just 53 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: the magazines that are out right now full of good stuff. 54 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: You should read them if you like stories, which you 55 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: probably do, or you wouldn't be listening to this The 56 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: Orchard of Tomorrow by Kelsey U in the rich even 57 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: tide glow, I wait for her in the place where 58 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: the peaches once grew, mouth watering, little golden dusts to 59 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: signal the arrival of summer. Hefty o Henry's skin, dark 60 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: as rust honey, yellow flesh bursting with flavor, Dainty summer ladies, 61 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: impossible to eat without juice dripping down your chin, and 62 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: reliably sapid fair times to close out the season. As 63 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: our elders tell it, this orchard was once bursting with 64 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: variety of the fuzzy skinned fruit. I kneel down, dig 65 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: my fingers into the soil, and scoop up a handful. 66 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: It's dry, too dry, and it crumbles in my hand. 67 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: I close my fist, sweat from my palm, soaking the 68 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,919 Speaker 1: dirt as I try to imagine a time when the 69 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 1: ground was rich with nutrients, when the landscape was filled 70 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: with ripening peach trees, silhouettes full and dark against the 71 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: twilight sky, When my grandparents' backs and arms ached something 72 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 1: fierce after a full day of picking fruit. All I had, 73 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: all Laine and I ever had, were stories to show 74 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: us what the world had been like. The sun dips 75 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: below the horizon, and my hope sinks with it. So 76 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: much has changed in all the time that's passed, but 77 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: her haunts remain the same. I would rather have sat 78 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: outside her place, the one that was once upon a 79 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 1: time my home too, and awaited her return. But I 80 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: knew I should give her the choice to see me 81 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: or not. After eight years apart and everything I said 82 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: to her when we last spoke, it's the least I 83 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: owe her, So I shoved a note under her door. 84 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: Meet me at the orchard at sunset. It was the 85 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: right thing to do. Yet here I am, now, in 86 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: the gloaming, all alone. I unclenched my fist and a 87 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: dead beetle tumbles out with the clumped dirt. It lies 88 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: belly up on the ground that once teemed with its kind. 89 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: I brush my hands off and reach into the pocket 90 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 1: of my thin coat, checking to make sure it's still there. 91 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: The surprise I've saved for Lane, the one that might 92 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: be my saving grace if she gives me the chance 93 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: to show her. I turn, making my way toward the 94 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: tree at the edge of the field, the lone survivor. 95 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: It's bare and a fruit now, but it's still standing, 96 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: leaning back against its trunk. I close my eyes, thinking 97 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: of when Lay and I spent all our days whispering 98 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: secret dreams for a hopeful future. So what you're back 99 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: Now I open my eyes to see a hollow, cheeked 100 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,799 Speaker 1: version of Lane, wraith like and disconnected from the version 101 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: of her that lives in my memory. Her sloppily patched 102 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: shirt is too large, hanging strangely on her bony shoulders. 103 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: Eight long years, filled with who knows how many hungry days, 104 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: hungry nights, have whittled her away to this. Guilt twists 105 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: in my gut, leaving me momentarily speechless. If she's shocked 106 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: by how different I am, it shows only in the 107 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: slight narrowing of her eyes, the same warm brown as 108 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: I remember, but ringed with dark circles. Now Lane was 109 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: always closed off to anyone outside her tight circle, and 110 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: I'm no longer snugly on the inside. I suck in 111 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: a breath, sharp with the pain of distance between us. 112 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: This is a waste of time. She turns to leave. 113 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,599 Speaker 1: The movement is so like her, so very lame, that 114 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,039 Speaker 1: it reminds me of how things used to be, of 115 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: why I'm here when I made her angry too many 116 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: times near the end, she did this. She was usually 117 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: the one to run from our fights first, but she 118 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: always came back, unlike me. I reach out to grab 119 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: her sleeve. Lane. Wait, She crosses her arms. What do 120 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: you want to go back to the way things were? 121 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: I bite back the words. I miss you. Want to 122 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: share a tale with you? It's a dirty trick. The 123 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: Terrible Winter. After Lane's parents died in a flash flood, 124 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: she moved in with me and mom. On cold nights, 125 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: when Lane's grief threatened to swallow her hole, Mom would 126 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: wrap us up in blankets and tell us stories of 127 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: Swan Wukong, the monkey King. I see longing cross Lane's face. 128 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: Then she straightens, her veil of indifference falls back into place. 129 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: She pulls away, forcing me to let go of her sleeve. 130 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: I don't want to hear it. Please, I say, Andrea, Please. 131 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 1: She sighs, and I still know her well enough to 132 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: know it's a victory. However, small, somewhere inside the prickly 133 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: creature standing before me, the ghost of my former best 134 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: friend lives on. In the celestial gardens of Shi Wong Mu, 135 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: the Queen Mother of the West, three types of peaches 136 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: of immortality grew. The first bloomed but once every three 137 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: thousand years, granting an extension of life equal to its 138 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: growth time to anyone who consumed one. The second grew 139 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: for six thousand years, offering immortality and strength of body. 140 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,439 Speaker 1: The third ripened every nine thousand years, and its gifts 141 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: were the most precious of them all. For the consumer 142 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: of the rarest peach would become as eternal as the 143 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: sky above and the earth below, and live as long 144 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: as the fiery Sun and the frigid moon. To celebrate 145 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: the ripening of the peaches, Shi Wong Mu and her 146 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: husband Yu Wong, the Jade Emperor, would invite all the 147 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: deities to their Azure banquet hall on Mount Kunlan for 148 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: a magnificent gathering. There they would present the peaches of 149 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,719 Speaker 1: immortality for all to partake, thereby ensuring the deity's continual 150 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: immutable existence. In the brief space of my tail, Lane's 151 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: eyes have grown wide and attentive. Her arms are still crossed, 152 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: but her posture has loosened. I can't help myself. I 153 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: shift toward her. The movement so slight, I hope she 154 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: won't notice. Instantly she's on guard. Lane steps backward as 155 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: if I'm a creature bearing fangs. Her shoulders stiffened, and 156 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,439 Speaker 1: she presses her arms tightly together again, narrows her eyes 157 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: as if to remind herself to stay wary. When she speaks, 158 00:09:56,040 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: her voice is pure ice. Let me guess you learned 159 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: that story from one of the dragons. She spits, the 160 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: diminutive that we and most other common porn folk used 161 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: to refer to the world's wealthy elite. I WinCE, No, 162 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: it's not like that. Did you enjoy it there? Waking 163 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: up on a clean, fluffy bed every morning for eight years, 164 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: eating your fill each meal, and spending your leisure time 165 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,079 Speaker 1: enjoying all the things they stole from us, everything they 166 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: hoarded in their precious locked towers so they could continue 167 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: to live in comfort while the rest of us died 168 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: for scraps. Lane's voice breaks at the end, her choked sobs, 169 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: A thing with spikes lodging itself deep inside my heart. 170 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: This is so much worse than the way she screamed 171 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: at me when I first told her the dragons had 172 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,200 Speaker 1: offered me a job in one of their distant preservation greenhouses. 173 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: Back then, Lane and I spent most of our days 174 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: doing any work we could find in exchange for food 175 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: and basic comforts. Her mom, for her, for me. Whenever 176 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: we had moments free. My mom would rest at home 177 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: while Laine would visit the elders in the community, listening 178 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: to their stories as she helped them in any way 179 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:14,079 Speaker 1: she could. I, meanwhile, spent my time applying the knowledge 180 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,199 Speaker 1: passed down through my family, trying to work out how 181 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: to restore the damaged soil so it would grow things again. 182 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: The planter at our tiny shared house had barely begun 183 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: to sprout my first successful attempt when a recruiter showed up. 184 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: Lane was gone. Knowing the dragons as I do now, 185 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: he likely waited until I was alone to approach me. 186 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: I took in his clean tailored clothes, his rosy cheeks, 187 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: untroubled eyes, and perfectly styled hair, the disdainful look he 188 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: directed at the home I shared with the ones I 189 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: loved most, and I told him to go to hell. Sure, 190 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: he said, with a dismissive little laugh, I'll do that, 191 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,319 Speaker 1: but first you'll want to hear this. We can give 192 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: you all the resources you need to grow things, real things, 193 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: not this child's play. Your grandparents were farmers, right, I 194 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: glared at him. They had an orchard back before the 195 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: world broke, before assholes like you came and took the 196 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: last of their fruiting trees. And exchange for resources that 197 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: should be freely shared. Now get the hell out. I 198 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: was ready to run inside, grab my Almah's old shovel 199 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,600 Speaker 1: and smack him on the head. Consequences be damned. And 200 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: then he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I 201 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: did enjoy it for a time. I finally admit to 202 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: Lane thinking about the day I entered the Dragon's Lair. 203 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: I won't lie to her. At first, it was a relief. 204 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: Lane stares at me, and I'm afraid I've made things 205 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: even worse. But she doesn't say anything, so I go on. 206 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: I it's useless to describe what it felt like to 207 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: get a full night sleep, to have so much food 208 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: available that I gorged myself sick for a week before 209 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: learning to take it slow, to know my mom would 210 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: stay alive for three more years thanks to the pills 211 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: the Dragon's horse for themselves. I can't say any of it. 212 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: Laine would only hate me all the more, so I 213 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 1: say the only thing I can say. I missed you, Blaane. 214 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: I'm sorry I left. She presses her lips together and 215 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: turns away. She's tense, agitated, fingernails digging into her own 216 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,839 Speaker 1: arms and she's about to begin pacing. I can't tell 217 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: if I'm closer to regaining her trust or losing her forever. 218 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,679 Speaker 1: So I begin the next part of the story knowing 219 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: it'll be hard for her to resist a tale about 220 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: the one character she always loved hearing about the most, 221 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: which is these ads. No, it's not part of the story. 222 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: I just there's ads and they come here that This 223 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: is where the ads go. This is where the first 224 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: of the two breaks go. I trust you to find 225 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: the four to fifteen second button. I mean, listen to 226 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: these wonderful deals that we all believe in. Here they 227 00:13:48,160 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: are and we're back. In the course of his journey 228 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: to the West, Swoon Wu Kong angers several gods and 229 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,680 Speaker 1: gains heavenly powers, thus attracting the attention of the Jade Emperor. 230 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 1: At first, Hu Wong appoints him Keeper of the Horses, 231 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,960 Speaker 1: the lowliest position in heaven, intended as both a slight 232 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: and a means to keep him under observation. An outsider 233 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: to the deities politics, Swan Wukong does not immediately recognize 234 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: the offense. Once he learns of it, he's outraged to 235 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: contain the vengeful, destructive monkey, Hu Wong sends a band 236 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: of his celestial warriors, but Swong Wukong defeats them all. 237 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: In doing so, much to Huong's chagrin, Sun Wukong earns 238 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: himself the revered position as guardian of Chi Wang Mu's 239 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: private orchards. Swang Wukong is pleased with his new role, 240 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: having witnessed a fellow monkey die of old age earlier 241 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: in his adventures. He fears death. He will do anything 242 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: to avoid it, and his fortune is great for his 243 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: appointment coincides with the rare ripening of the precious fruit. 244 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: He watches as preparations begin for the banquet, anticipating both 245 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: the taste of heavenly fruit and an end to his mortality. 246 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: For surely, as protector of the peaches, he is guaranteed 247 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: a spot at the table. Yet the feast of peaches 248 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: approaches and still no invitation arrives. Swoon Hou Koon thinks 249 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: of the peaches of immortality laid out on a serving 250 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: dish in the azure banquet hall, awaiting the arrival of 251 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: Chi Wong Mu's honoured guests. He thinks of the way 252 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: that gods slight him at every opportunity. He thinks about 253 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: how they never wanted him here, and how now that 254 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: he's forced his way in, they still find ways to 255 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: exclude him, and he finds a way to sneak inside. 256 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: Lane's eyes are a war zone, torn between the hurt 257 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: that must have been festering during our time apart and 258 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 1: the legend of the Monkey King. She loves so much, 259 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: and this tale is new to her. I discovered a 260 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: translated copy of Journey to the West in the Dragon's 261 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: library the month after Mom died. Each night, curled up 262 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: alone in on my warm, cozy bed, I read. If 263 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: I held the book at just the right angle, kept 264 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: him only my bedside lamp on, and turned away from 265 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: the empty bed on the other side of the room, 266 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: I could almost pretend Mom was still there, just out 267 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: of sight, softly snoring as I whiled away the evening. 268 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: Weeks passed before I read far enough to discover the 269 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: tale of Swan Wu Kong and the Peaches of Immortality, 270 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: a tale Mom never told me. In Lane, despite the 271 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: fruit at the heart of it, Despite my grandparents peach orchard, 272 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: this one where my mom and Lane's mom grew up 273 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: playing together while their parents picked fruit, Or maybe because 274 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: of this orchard. When Lane and I were a ten 275 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: and eleven. Lane's mom told us about the scorching hot 276 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: summer when a wild fire destroyed most of the peach trees. 277 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: The way the sickly scent of charred fruit and thick 278 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: miasma of smoke lingered for days, The way volunteers from 279 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: town came over to help glean the salvageable fruit and 280 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,439 Speaker 1: discard the ruined ones, to call the dead trees and 281 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: cut the rotten bits from the ones that could be saved, 282 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: To make jokes with my awe Gong, to distract him 283 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: from the pain of seeing his precious trees charred to ash, 284 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: and bring my Almah discreet tissues to soak up the 285 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: tears she pretended she hadn't shed. Lane's mom was the 286 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: one to tell us because decades after the fire, it 287 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: was still too painful for my mom our grandparents to 288 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,360 Speaker 1: speak of. And even though it was my family's history, 289 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,359 Speaker 1: my family's tragedy, Lane, as much as I soaked up 290 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: every word, it was Laine who wanted to write what 291 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: she saw was a terrible wrong. It was Laine who 292 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 1: wanted to bring the orchards back to life, to restore 293 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,679 Speaker 1: the land to what it had once been. It was 294 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 1: Laine who first suggested it would be worth trying to 295 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: restore the soil, revitalized the land, to pick up the 296 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: work my mom had begun before she had me, The 297 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: work Mom would have continued once I was grown, had 298 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: she not become ill. It's Lane who stands before me, 299 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 1: now surrounded by the ghosts of my family's peach trees 300 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: in the orchard that my grandparents had once thought would 301 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: sustain my family forever. Why are you telling me this tale, 302 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: she asks, voice wavering between confusion and anger. Did she 303 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: did your mom? Is this one of her stories? Mom 304 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: died five years ago. My voice is even. I've learned 305 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:38,439 Speaker 1: to mask the ache that accompanies those words. Lane worries. 306 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: Her lip bites back a tear. I'm sorry, Andrea, I nod, 307 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: but I'm frustrated with myself. I would do almost anything 308 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 1: to repair Lane's in my friendship, but I won't use 309 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,200 Speaker 1: Mom's death. I won't use Lane's compassion, her grief, her 310 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:57,119 Speaker 1: sympathy to my advantage. She didn't tell me about the 311 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: peaches of immortality. I learned about them later. Lane stiffens, 312 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: her voice grows hard again. The dragons they had a library, 313 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: and Lane kicks the base of the tree hard enough 314 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,160 Speaker 1: to make me flinch. A fucking course, a private little 315 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 1: library they keep for themselves and their sick offense. How 316 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:18,719 Speaker 1: did it feel to work for them, to help them 317 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,919 Speaker 1: preserve the fruits they plundered from us, from farmers like 318 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: your grandparents, to keep safe in their walled off greenhouses. 319 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,359 Speaker 1: How did it feel to read the stories they made 320 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: sure to save, to collect for themselves under the claim 321 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 1: of preserving knowledge for the good of humanity? Why are 322 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: you really here? Did they finally let you off your 323 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,119 Speaker 1: leash for one evening? Or are you on some mission 324 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: for them? You know what, Andrea, it doesn't matter. I 325 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: don't need you anymore. I'm done. Lane turns and strides off. Lane. 326 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 1: I left, I left my work there. I'm done with them. 327 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: She stops for a second, but doesn't turn around. I 328 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: see her take a deep breath. Then she shakes her 329 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 1: head as if to remind herself she's done with me, 330 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: and starts off again. I hurry to catch up. I 331 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: didn't just leave, I call out after her. I also 332 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:13,119 Speaker 1: stole something precious from them. This time she does turn around. 333 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: You did what? Let me finish the tale? Please, then 334 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: I'll tell you everything fine, but I'm gonna keep walking, 335 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: all right. I walk alongside lane, hoping like hell it 336 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: isn't the last time I get the chance. Swan Wou 337 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 1: Kong eyes the centerpiece of the celestial banquet table, a 338 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:38,400 Speaker 1: bowl of eternal peaches, larger than any earthly peach, perfectly 339 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,959 Speaker 1: proportioned and plump with juice. His stomach growls something fierce, 340 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: and his heart fills with longing for the fruit of 341 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: the gods. The key to shedding his mortality lies within reach. 342 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,439 Speaker 1: He takes one, waiting for Hu Wong to appear in 343 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: a rage, for a band of celestial warriors to attack, 344 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: for the guests to arrive and show their outrage in 345 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: any number of ways, but no one stops him. Swan 346 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: Wu Kong eats the peach of immortality. One is all 347 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: he needs, One is all anyone has ever needed. But 348 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: he eyes the bowl of precious fruit grown in Si 349 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: wang Mu's sacred guarded garden, hidden away and cultivated for 350 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: her innermost circle, a guarantee that they'll stay eternal, stay 351 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: in power, a gift for those who already have everything. 352 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: The peaches are not meant for folk like him, Swan 353 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: Wu Kong eats another peach, then another, his heart hardening 354 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 1: with each bite. He's full to bursting, so full that 355 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,920 Speaker 1: hunger is not but a distant memory. But he keeps 356 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: eating until he's finished every last one. He washes them 357 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: down with a vessel of heavenly wine, and just to 358 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: spite them further, he seeks out the corner of Lautza, 359 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: the father of Taoism, and steals his infamous pills of immortality. 360 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: Swan Wu Kong swallows those two before he leaves shi 361 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: Wang Mu Palace. He knows that what the hell? Andrea 362 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: Lane interrupts, Is this supposed to be some sort of allegory? 363 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: Are you supposed to be Swan Who Kong, the heroic 364 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 1: monkey king who stole something precious from the corrupt elite? 365 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,680 Speaker 1: Are you going to try to convince me you work 366 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: there because you wanted to get close to them, to 367 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:22,119 Speaker 1: do something for good for us commoners. Lane's practically breathing fire. 368 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: She's so angry. You know, when I saw your note, 369 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:26,879 Speaker 1: I wondered how you'd play it. Half the reason I'm 370 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: here is because I wanted to know what excuse you'd 371 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: come up with. Now I know you're going to paint 372 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,199 Speaker 1: yourself as some sort of fucking martyr. At least I 373 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: win that bet with myself. No, Lane, I don't think 374 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: I'm the goddamn monkey king. I know I have no 375 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: right to be mad, but her accusations cut away at 376 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: my self control. My words tumble out unvarnished. Of course, 377 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 1: I don't fucking think I'm Swan Wokong. And he wasn't 378 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: doing it for the common good? Didn't you listen to 379 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,160 Speaker 1: the story? He was selfish as fuck. He only wanted 380 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: to take because he was pissed that he wasn't invited. 381 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: Everything else was a justification, unlike these ads that have 382 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:06,239 Speaker 1: no justification for being here except for the way our 383 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 1: economic system works. Here's ads, and we're back. Then? Why 384 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: bother telling me the story? Is it because you think 385 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: I sit around all day and daydream about stories, because 386 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: I'm a dreamer who doesn't understand what the real world demands. 387 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: That sometimes people have to give up childish ideals in 388 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: favor of security and shelter and medicine. That things are 389 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,919 Speaker 1: more complicated than I'm willing to admit. That some people 390 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: grow up and grow out of being dreamers, while others 391 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 1: let themselves get left behind, until all they have are 392 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: dreams worth less than poisoned dirt. Her words steal away 393 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: my anger, my breath, because they're not her words. They're mine, 394 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: thrown at her in anger on that last day before 395 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: I left to work for the dragons. She says it 396 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: like she's repeated the words in her head a thousand times, 397 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:11,640 Speaker 1: like she replays them in her mind before she goes 398 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: to sleep, like every word is a fact, an inarguable truth, 399 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: a bludgeon. Her words hit me the same way my 400 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,880 Speaker 1: first taste of ripe, juicy peach did four months ago, 401 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: the moment that knocked me from my comfortable complacency, that 402 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,159 Speaker 1: reminded me of how much I love the woman before me, 403 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,920 Speaker 1: who should have been there to taste that wonderful fruit 404 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: we once dreamed we'd share some day when we'd regrown 405 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: the peach trees. I feel it again, the self loathing 406 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: for every fiber of my well rested, well fed being, 407 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:47,960 Speaker 1: not only because I was willing to leave her behind, 408 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: but because I was willing to stay long after I 409 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: should have left the dragons. I want to crawl into 410 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,680 Speaker 1: a dark hole in the ground and wait there until 411 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: my body grows still, my flesh cold, and I'm nothing 412 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: but meat and bones, feeding the insects. I almost turned 413 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: to leave again, but Laine deserves better. Lane always deserved 414 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: better than I gave her. I'm sorry. The words are 415 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: a drop of water on a forest fire, as pointless 416 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: as staying silent. I wish I could take back what 417 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: I did. All I can do is tell you that 418 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:27,159 Speaker 1: I was wrong. I was absolutely wrong. I know her 419 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: words cleave mine, sudden and vehement. No, she says again, 420 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: that's the worst fucking part that you were right when 421 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: you left. I had nothing without you. My dreams felt worthless, 422 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: all the things I thought we could do to change 423 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,920 Speaker 1: the world. She shakes her head. I've gone so many 424 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: days without food, seeing so many people suffer and die 425 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: because of the greed of people like the dragons, And 426 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: as much as I want to say, all it did 427 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: was make me more determined, that would be a goddamn lie. 428 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: Sometimes I wonder why bother or too small to change anything. 429 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,959 Speaker 1: We're too insignificant to do anything but do what we 430 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,360 Speaker 1: can to survive. She lowers her voice to a whisper, 431 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,960 Speaker 1: and she won't look at me. Too many nights I 432 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 1: lay awake, wishing had gone with you. I put my 433 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 1: hands on Lane's shoulders to stop her in her tracks, 434 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 1: because I can't let her go another moment, believing this, 435 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,920 Speaker 1: because it breaks me to see her so broken. Lane 436 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: doesn't pull away. She's shaking, and when I draw her close, 437 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: I realize she's sobbing with her entire body. There's so 438 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,119 Speaker 1: little of her left. I hug her, and she cries 439 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: on my shoulder, the same way she did half our 440 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 1: lives ago, the day she showed up at my house 441 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:46,159 Speaker 1: newly orphaned, face a wreck of blotchy tears. I listen 442 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 1: now as she tells me how the last few years 443 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: have been especially hard, so goddamned heart, I swallow a 444 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 1: reply when she whispers that this doesn't mean that she 445 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 1: forgives me. I wait until her tears run, until she 446 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: wipes her face on the hem of her shirt, until 447 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 1: she's spent, Lane, I say, and she looks up. You 448 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: weren't wrong. Laane starts to shake her head, but it's 449 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: half hearted, like she's too tired to care anymore. I 450 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 1: put more force into my voice. I need her to 451 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: know I'm not just saying it. I'm the one who 452 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: was wrong. We need dreamers. We need people like you 453 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: who can imagine the way things could be. Dragons think 454 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: they're the only ones who are truly free because they've 455 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:35,399 Speaker 1: shackled everyone else. They think that access to all the 456 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: world's most precious things makes their lives richer, fuller. But 457 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: all they've done is create private, little fortresses of fear. 458 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: They play petty games with each other because they fear 459 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: one another too. They've taken everything, and so they're afraid 460 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:53,199 Speaker 1: to lose anything. I wish I could say that I 461 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: regret my choice to leave. I can't not when that 462 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,640 Speaker 1: choice gave my mom three more years. Shouldn't have said 463 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,680 Speaker 1: the shit I said just to make myself feel better 464 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: about what I was doing. I shouldn't have stayed for 465 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: five years after she died. I want to say I 466 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: did it because I had some grand plan to learn 467 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,159 Speaker 1: what I could from them and upend everything. But the 468 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: truth is I got comfortable. I told myself the security 469 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: was worth it. Leariness has seeped back into Lane's expression, 470 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 1: but she doesn't leave. At least she's listening. People like 471 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: me lack imagination. I swallow hard. It's not an admission. 472 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 1: I like to make people like me. Can only see 473 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 1: what's right in front of them. Sometimes you never could 474 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: see the orchards the way I could. I look around, 475 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,520 Speaker 1: trying to picture the trees the way they were in 476 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: Lane's mom's stories. I wished for so long that I could. 477 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: I say, Lane's sighs. It's a long, weary sound. What 478 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: does it matter anymore, It makes no difference if you 479 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: regret it or not. It happened. You left, I stayed. 480 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: We're here now, and it's too late. The world has 481 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 1: only gotten worse. There's nothing to come back to. All 482 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: my dreams crumbled to dust, just like you knew they would. 483 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: You should have stayed where you were. I shake my head. 484 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: There are two things I learned there in the dragon's enclave. 485 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: First that the fruit of today never tastes quite like 486 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: the fruit of yesterday. Thanks to breeding, to natural selection, 487 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: to climate change, fruit evolved in taste and texture over time. 488 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: There's evidence that peaches were domesticated as far back as 489 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: eight thousand years ago in northwest China. But those ancient 490 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: Chinese peaches, they're gone forever. She eyes me, okay. And Second, 491 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: there is one good thing about the dragons. Lane's lips 492 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: turned down. I almost laugh at the skepticism radiating off her. 493 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, what the hell is good about them? They 494 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: keep really good records on how to care for their 495 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: precious things. I pull something from my pocket and hand 496 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: it to her. Lane's eyes narrow, but she accepts the 497 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: small journal filled with the notes I memorized and painstakingly 498 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: copied from the Dragon's records over the course of the 499 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: last four months. Her brows furrow. What's this? I hand 500 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,240 Speaker 1: her the other item from my pocket, the thing I've 501 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: been saving, hoping it'll be enough, A small cloth wrapped bundle. 502 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 1: She unravels the cloth, and her breath catches. Is that 503 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: is it? What I think it is? The wonder in 504 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: her voice makes everything that went into this moment worth it. 505 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: It is. Lane turns over the ridged, blush pink peach pit, 506 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: running her fingers over its smooth grooves. She wipes her 507 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 1: eyes and laughs involuntarily, a little hiccup of a thing, 508 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: and then her shoulders slouch again. But it's a waste. 509 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: You should have smuggled out food in medicine. That's what 510 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: we need most. I did that too, She shakes her head, 511 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: still staring at the peach pit. Then why bother with 512 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,960 Speaker 1: this one tree won't change the world. Besides, it's not 513 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,920 Speaker 1: just that the dragons stole the last fertile peach trees. 514 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: It's that this soil won't grow them anymore. Your grandparents 515 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: orchard will never go back to what it used to be. No, 516 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 1: it won't, I say, surprise alights Lane's face. It probably won't, 517 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,160 Speaker 1: I amend. Maybe someday the peaches will return here. But 518 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: there are pockets of the world that it will still 519 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: be able to grow them, or places that will be 520 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: able to grow them for the first time. This isn't 521 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: the only peach pit or the only fruit we want 522 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 1: to bring back to the world. Outside the dragon's protective 523 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: little bubbles, there are many of us, so many more 524 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: than I ever could have imagined, smuggling out the things 525 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,320 Speaker 1: they hoard, the plants, the animals, the stories, the technology. 526 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:52,240 Speaker 1: Others are fighting in small ways, setting up a future 527 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: where we take back what is ours. But this is 528 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: part of it. People wrote stories about fruit trees, built 529 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 1: legends around them because they mattered. You were right to dream. Lane. 530 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: Hope flares in her eyes, and it's the most beautiful thing. 531 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: We'll travel find a spot for this pit. I have 532 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: a few places we can start. I gesture towards the notebook, 533 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,600 Speaker 1: and Lane hands it back to me absently. And if 534 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 1: those ones don't work, we'll find another and try again. 535 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: We'll test them, we'll grow them, We'll keep trying. We'll 536 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 1: do anything we can. Our world is never going back 537 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:31,880 Speaker 1: to what it used to be. Peaches aren't what they 538 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 1: used to be. But with a lot of effort and 539 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: a little luck, maybe you and I will be the 540 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: first to taste the peaches from the orchard of tomorrow. 541 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: I reach out my hand, throat tight with hope. I 542 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: don't deserve a second chance, but Lane was always a 543 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: better person than I. Laane looks at me a gaze 544 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,720 Speaker 1: that pierces me through. Then she looks beyond me. She 545 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: takes several deep breaths, and I brace myself for her refusal, 546 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: for the pain I know I deserve. This time, she'll 547 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:04,000 Speaker 1: be the one to walk away. She wraps the precious 548 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 1: pit back up in the cloth and tucks it away, 549 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: and she places her hand in mine, and though her 550 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: skin is cold, warmth floods me, lighting up my entire body. 551 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,880 Speaker 1: She glances my way, and her expression is still wary, 552 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: still uncertain, but she doesn't loosen her grip or let go. 553 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:24,239 Speaker 1: You are going to tell me the end of that, 554 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: swan mu kong taale right. I smile at her, blinking 555 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: back the tears that fill my eyes. I'll tell you 556 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:33,480 Speaker 1: on the way. I'll tell you every tale I read. 557 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: She squeezes her hand in mine, and together we take 558 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 1: our first steps towards the place where the peaches will 559 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: grow once more. And that's the story. I hope you 560 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:48,240 Speaker 1: all liked it half as much as I did, because 561 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 1: then you still liked it a lot. 562 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 2: I don't know. 563 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:52,800 Speaker 1: It's funny, like you know, I usually have so much 564 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:55,720 Speaker 1: to say about these stories. And one thing I like 565 00:33:55,800 --> 00:34:02,040 Speaker 1: about this writing is that it's just clear right. There's allegories, 566 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 1: there's like thoughts and concepts in it and stuff, and 567 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,000 Speaker 1: they're just written in a way where you don't need 568 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 1: to like really dig in to be like I wonder 569 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,400 Speaker 1: what this one little thing here means or whatever you 570 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,960 Speaker 1: just know. And it's also not heavy handed, like I think, 571 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,120 Speaker 1: this is an amazingly well read, well written story. I 572 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:24,919 Speaker 1: must said, well read story, and you know well that too. 573 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:26,319 Speaker 1: I don't know, I have no idea if I did well, 574 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: but whatever So if you enjoyed this story, if you 575 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: go to Kelseyu's website, which is k E L s 576 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:42,319 Speaker 1: e a yu dot com, all of her publications are 577 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: listed and linked there, so you can read so much 578 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,759 Speaker 1: more of her work. And when I asked her what 579 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,239 Speaker 1: she wanted to tell you all, like what's a plug here? 580 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:54,759 Speaker 1: At the end, she said, the story's most likely to 581 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,279 Speaker 1: fit a similar audience as the Orchard of Tomorrow are 582 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:01,520 Speaker 1: in memories, We Drown from Clerk's wor World, a scarcity 583 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:06,719 Speaker 1: of sharks in Reckoning, and Harvest of the Deep in fantasy. 584 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: I have two books out Bound Feet, which is a 585 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,840 Speaker 1: horror novella and It's Only a Game, which is a 586 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 1: young adult thriller that just came out last Tuesday. And 587 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:19,560 Speaker 1: I have another horror novella coming out next fall with 588 00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: Titan that's called Demon Song. It also ties in Swan 589 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,040 Speaker 1: Wu Kong and Chinese folklore, so anyone interested in that 590 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: story element might enjoy it. And I'm looking forward to 591 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: finding those books. They seem really good. All right. Well, 592 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 1: if you listen to this on Cool People Did Cool Stuff, 593 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: you should also check out it could happen here. And 594 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:42,920 Speaker 1: if you listen to this on It Could Happen Here. 595 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 1: You should also check out cool People Who Did Cool Stuff. 596 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 1: I'm Margaret Kildoy and I will talk to you all 597 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: next week with another episode of cool Zone Media book 598 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:55,560 Speaker 1: club Club glubul. 599 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 2: It Could Happen Here as a production of cool Zone Media. 600 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visitorsite cool zonemedia 601 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 2: dot com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 602 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 603 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 2: find sources for It could Happen Here, updated monthly at 604 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:12,920 Speaker 2: coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening