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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 Bob. All Bob has ever wanted

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Speaker 1: to be is retired. Retirement, the act of leaving one's

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Speaker 1: job and ceasing work forever. Yep, that's been Bob's ambition

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Speaker 1: all along, and now he's finally made it. Bob's brief retirement.

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Speaker 1: Bob a palodrome for sure, started dreaming of retirement practically

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Speaker 1: on the first day he went to work. Rarely, for

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Speaker 1: over thirty five years did a workday pass wherein Bob

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Speaker 1: did not daydream about retirement. Bob backward and forward board

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Speaker 1: his coworkers to tears with his endless prattle about the

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Speaker 1: novels he would pen and the adventures he would seek.

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Speaker 1: The second he secured his retirement. Finally, the big day arrived,

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Speaker 1: his last day at the office, the staff threw him

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Speaker 1: a small party with Duncan coffee and donuts, a few balloons,

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Speaker 1: some short speeches about what a great guy Bob was

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Speaker 1: and how they all hoped retirement would be everything Bob

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Speaker 1: had dreamed about since his arrival. Soon after he graduated

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Speaker 1: from college, and that very evening, a lovely evening in

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Speaker 1: late May, with warm tempts and the sun still high

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Speaker 1: in the sky, Bob went to the garage and pulled

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Speaker 1: out his bicycle. It was time to go for a ride.

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Speaker 1: He pumped up the tires and oiled the chain. He

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Speaker 1: rode around the block a couple times and enjoyed the

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Speaker 1: feeling of freedom as the wind whistled past his years.

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Speaker 1: This is the life, Bob announced right out loud. This

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Speaker 1: is what it's all about. This is what I've been

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Speaker 1: waiting for all these years. The wind on my face

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Speaker 1: and the sweat on my brow. Later, out on the patio,

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Speaker 1: enjoying the sunset with his wife and a tequila sunrise,

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Speaker 1: Bob talked vigorously about riding his book across the country.

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Speaker 1: The journey would take a couple months at least, but

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Speaker 1: no problem. Bob had all the time in the world.

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Speaker 1: He'd been reading up on it, and the best way

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Speaker 1: was west to east, as often the wind would be

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Speaker 1: at his back. Maybe, suggested his wife, who had not

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Speaker 1: been looking forward to Bob's retirement, had as much as Bob.

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Speaker 1: Maybe just stick to the neighborhood for the time being.

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Speaker 1: Bob laughed and squeezed his wife's thigh. California to Jersey

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Speaker 1: or bust, honeypot, you can drive the sagwagon. I'm still teaching, Bob.

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Speaker 1: No problem, we'll do it after school lets out for

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Speaker 1: the summer. I can't wait, his wife muttered, but of

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Speaker 1: course Bob didn't hear, because Bob's hearing wasn't too sharp.

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Speaker 1: In the morning, after his wife shoves off for school,

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Speaker 1: Bob carries his extra large coffee mug into the small

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Speaker 1: makeshift office he built in the basement several years ago.

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Speaker 1: In anticipation of this moment, the dog follows him down

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Speaker 1: there to see what it's all about, but soon retreats

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Speaker 1: up to the big bay window in the living room,

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Speaker 1: where she can watch the neighbors coming and going. Bob

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Speaker 1: sets the giant mug on his desk and takes a seat.

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Speaker 1: He pulls himself up to his desk and opens his

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Speaker 1: brand new spiral bound notebook. No computers or word processing

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Speaker 1: for Bob. Now, he intends to write the first draft

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Speaker 1: of his novel the old fashion way with pen and paper.

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Speaker 1: Bob opens the notebook and writes the title on the

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Speaker 1: top line, may Day, and underneath the title the author's name,

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Speaker 1: Robert Allen Thompson. Bob knows the whole plot of the

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Speaker 1: book by heart. He has been devising the plot in

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Speaker 1: his head for years, along through protagonist and the antagonist,

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Speaker 1: the good guys and the bad guys, the red herrings,

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Speaker 1: and the clever twist at the end. It's an espionage thriller. Washington, DC, London,

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Speaker 1: Tel Aviv, istanbult Iran. Bob he can see the whole

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Speaker 1: story as clearly as a high blue February sky. But

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Speaker 1: oh boy, oh boy, that first sentence. Dang, this is

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Speaker 1: kind of tricky. Bob hadn't anticipated this. He thought those

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Speaker 1: sentences would just roll off his pen like marbles off

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Speaker 1: the table. Bob scribbles a few attempts, but even before

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Speaker 1: he has a sentence half finished, he crosses it out.

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Speaker 1: He makes several trips upstairs for more coffee and to

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Speaker 1: pet the dog, who mostly ignores him. As this is

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Speaker 1: her naptime, and she has no idea why he's even home.

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Speaker 1: Just before lunch, Bob settles on this as not only

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Speaker 1: his opening sentence, but his opening paragraph. What Jake had

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Speaker 1: to do was as clear and concise as the directions

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Speaker 1: on a package of frozen vegetables. Add peas to half

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Speaker 1: a cup of boiling water, reduce heat, simmer three minutes serve.

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Speaker 1: Bob thinks this is a very clever opening for his

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Speaker 1: world weary espionage novel. Now, if you can just come

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Speaker 1: up with another three or four hundred pages, he'll be

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Speaker 1: on his way to a second and far more rewarding

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Speaker 1: career as a best selling novelist. For lunch, Bob heats

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Speaker 1: some pea soup and makes a chicken sandwich on rye

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Speaker 1: from last night's leftovers, and then back in the basement,

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Speaker 1: after taking the dog for a walk around the block,

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Speaker 1: Bob crosses out the paragraph about the piece. He can't

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Speaker 1: begin to imagine why he ever even wrote that down.

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Speaker 1: An hour passes, another hour, more sentences get written and

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Speaker 1: crossed out, and finally, around four point fifteen, knowing his

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Speaker 1: wife will soon be home, Bob settles on this as

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Speaker 1: his opening sentence. Jake turned and fired. Happy with that

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Speaker 1: and wanting to get out of the house before his

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Speaker 1: wife arrives, Bob packs up for the day and heads

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Speaker 1: out on another bike ride. He goes around the block

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Speaker 1: and out past the high school and through the park,

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Speaker 1: where a bunch of kids are playing baseball. Bob rides

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Speaker 1: along and watches a kid hit a high, hard one

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Speaker 1: to center field out to deep center field. As he watches,

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Speaker 1: a frazzled mother of four, piloting an oft dented minivan

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Speaker 1: and running late for her son's Mighty mack lacrosse practice,

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Speaker 1: turns in the park parking lot. Bob doesn't see the

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Speaker 1: minivan because he's busy watching that high fly ball, and

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Speaker 1: he doesn't hear the minivan because well, because Bob's hearing

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Speaker 1: isn't too sharp. The frazzled mother of four doesn't see Bob.

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Speaker 1: She's half turned around yelling at her kids, demanding they

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Speaker 1: stop fighting. Bob watches that baseball race across that lovely

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Speaker 1: spring sky. It's the last thing Bob sees. The minivan

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Speaker 1: clobbers Bob knocks him off his bike. His ill fitting

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Speaker 1: helmet goes flying. Bob's head smashes into the asphalt and

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Speaker 1: that well, that's all, he wrote. Thanks for listening to

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Speaker 1: this original audio presentation of Bob's Brief Retirement narrated by

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Speaker 1: the author. If you enjoy today's story, please take a

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Speaker 1: few seconds to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast,

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Speaker 1: and then go to Thomas William Simpson dot com for

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

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

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Speaker 1: Josh Kalani and as part of the Elvis Duran Podcast

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Speaker 1: Network in partnership with iHeart Productions. Until next time, this

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Speaker 1: is Bill Simpson, your ten Minute Storyteller,