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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 here at the ten

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Speaker 1: Minute Storyteller endeavor to entertain you with tall tales are

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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 Jack. Jack is about to turn ten.

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Speaker 1: His family has just arrived at their airbnb on the

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Speaker 1: coast of Maine. Right next door to their seafront cottage

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Speaker 1: is a graveyard with gravestones dating back to the eighteenth century.

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Speaker 1: Jack stumbles upon one stone that sends a shiver of

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Speaker 1: terror down his spine. The graveyard. The airbnb right up

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Speaker 1: hadn't mentioned the graveyard. Over one hundred picks of the

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Speaker 1: lovely seafront cottage and its picturesque views of dead Man's

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Speaker 1: Bay and the mighty Atlantic beyond, but not a single

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Speaker 1: shot of the ancient cemetery right next door. The Smiths

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Speaker 1: arrived last night after dark, a ten hour drive from

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Speaker 1: Jersey to this cozy cottage on the craggy Main coast. Mom, Dad,

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Speaker 1: Jack and his little twin sisters, and of course Max,

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Speaker 1: their faithful hound. Jack, as always a bubbling fountain of

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Speaker 1: energy and curateosity, is up and at it early, ready

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Speaker 1: to go, eager to explore, Max too ready to roll.

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Speaker 1: All these new smells have the hound half out of

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Speaker 1: his mind. They're at the front door, chafing at the bit.

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Speaker 1: Just hang on, Jack calls his father John from the

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Speaker 1: first floor bedroom. I'll be right with you, okay, Just

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Speaker 1: let me get some clothes on. So cool, says Jack

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Speaker 1: as they step out onto the front stoop and take

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Speaker 1: in the wild, otherworldly scenery. The rolling hills down to

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Speaker 1: the bay, the islands shrouded in fog, the ocean stretching

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Speaker 1: far off to the horizon. Max races around the yard,

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Speaker 1: sniffing and peeing every two feet, laying claim to this

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Speaker 1: fresh piece of real estate. A squirrel or maybe a rabbit,

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Speaker 1: grabs his attention, and off he scampers straight into the graveyard.

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Speaker 1: Jack and his dad follow. The cemetery occupies steep, hilly ground.

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Speaker 1: All land rolls down to the sea, nothing flat till

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Speaker 1: you reach the water, several hundred feet below. Ancient gravestones,

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Speaker 1: some dating back to the seventeen hundreds. Isaiah Cole born

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Speaker 1: January eighth, seventeen ninety six died September fifteenth, eighteen fifty two.

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Speaker 1: Alice Courtright Conrad, wife of Michael Conrad, born June one,

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Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight died December twenty second, eighteen thirty seven.

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Speaker 1: And groundhog holes everywhere. Watch your step, calls Dad, you'll

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Speaker 1: bust an ankle. Max close to madness, races from hole

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Speaker 1: to hole, pushing his snout deep into each, eager for

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Speaker 1: an encounter with the musty smelling beast that lies within.

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Speaker 1: Dad calls Jack, look at this. One kid only lived

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Speaker 1: a week. How can you only live a week? Baby?

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Speaker 1: Henry Ahler born November twenty eighth, eighteen forty one died

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Speaker 1: December seventh, eighteen forty one. Ah, you know, back in

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Speaker 1: those days, lots of infant mortality, says Dad. What's infant mortality?

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Speaker 1: Asks Jack? Early death explains Dad, you know, lots of

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Speaker 1: infections and diseases back in those days could take you

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Speaker 1: away long before you reached adulthood. Take take you away,

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Speaker 1: ask Jaq's what do you mean You mean you mean

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Speaker 1: like kill you? Yep, that's exactly right, son, But nothing

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Speaker 1: like that kills us anymore, right, I mean, I mean,

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Speaker 1: now we live forever. Dad laughs. Well, let's just say

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Speaker 1: it's a whole lot more likely you'll live to a

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Speaker 1: ripe old age these days. Jack looks concerned till his

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Speaker 1: attention gets diverted. Look at this, he says, excitedly. Whole

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Speaker 1: family died on the same day. Moses Craig born April

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Speaker 1: twenty two, eighteen twenty eight. Hannah Henderson Craig born June

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Speaker 1: twenty seventh, eighteen thirty one, Rachel Craig born January seventh,

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Speaker 1: eighteen fifty two, Horace Craig born August twenty fourth, eighteen

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Speaker 1: fifty three. Barton Greig born February second, eighteen fifty five.

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Speaker 1: All died December thirty first, eighteen fifty nine. Now, that

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Speaker 1: says Dad is a tragedy. What do you think happened?

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Speaker 1: It's hard to say. Son could have been a collar outbreaker,

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Speaker 1: maybe swamp fever, or maybe the house burnt down, could

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Speaker 1: have been a house fire. Who knows, Well, we're not

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Speaker 1: going to die of stuff like that, are we? No?

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Speaker 1: No way good? Because because you know, I gotta tell

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Speaker 1: you I'm kind of afraid of death. Oh yeah, I

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Speaker 1: didn't know that how so ah, I don't know. It's

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Speaker 1: like starting a new year of school, or I guess

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Speaker 1: going off to summer camp, or like lying awake at

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Speaker 1: night in the dark. You know, the unknown. Death is

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Speaker 1: like the unknown. It's spooky, Dad, Dang, Jack says Dad.

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Speaker 1: That's some heavy stuff for a ten year old. I'm

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Speaker 1: not ten yet, Dad, not till tomorrow. Right, that's correct, Jack,

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Speaker 1: that's correct. They circle through the hilly graveyard and start

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Speaker 1: to make their way back to the cottage, where they

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Speaker 1: can see Mom standing on the front stoop waving. Max

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Speaker 1: is already back at the cottage. At the sight of Mom,

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Speaker 1: the hound knows breakfast will soon be in his bowl.

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Speaker 1: Come on, Jack says Dad, I need some coffee. Jack

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Speaker 1: follow but soon stops and stares at a small gravestone

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Speaker 1: covered with moss and half toppled over. Jack stares and stares.

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Speaker 1: His father stops and turns around. What is it, Jack,

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Speaker 1: what's the problem? Jack swallows hard. He points at the gravestone,

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Speaker 1: his hand shakes. Dad retreats and takes a look. Jack

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Speaker 1: Smith born July fourth, nineteen ten died July fourth, nineteen twenty,

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Speaker 1: age ten years. They both stare father and son. Well, now, that,

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Speaker 1: says Dad, after a time, is a hell of a coincidence,

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Speaker 1: one hundred years ago to the day tomorrow, Dad, Tomorrow

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Speaker 1: is the fourth of July, says Jack, very softly. Am

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Speaker 1: I going to die tomorrow on my birthday? My tenth birthday?

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Speaker 1: Just like this Jack Smith did? And he points again

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Speaker 1: at the old stone. Oh God knows, says Dad, slightly

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Speaker 1: freaked out, but doing an excellent job of covering it

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Speaker 1: up the way you got to do when you're a father.

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Speaker 1: You're not really even Jack. That's just your nickname. You're

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Speaker 1: John John Smith, after your old man, after me, John

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Speaker 1: Smith Junior. That's you. We just call you Jack, so

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Speaker 1: people don't get us mixed up. Ah, I think, says Jack,

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Speaker 1: even quieter. Now I think I'm going to die tomorrow

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Speaker 1: on my birthday of that infant mortality thing, or that cholera,

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Speaker 1: or maybe the swamp fever or the fire, the house

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Speaker 1: fire you mentioned. Something's gonna get me. Dad puts his

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Speaker 1: arm around his son, reassures him all will be well,

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Speaker 1: tells Jack he's going to live a long and happy

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Speaker 1: and productive life. But that night Jack goes to bed

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Speaker 1: with a stomach a bad stomach ache, bent double and

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Speaker 1: all balled up inside. Dad tells him it's nothing, just

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Speaker 1: the lobster roll and the ice cream Sunday, the cotton candy,

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Speaker 1: and the twenty ounce bottle of coke. But in the

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Speaker 1: morning Jack has a fever one hundred and three burning up.

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Speaker 1: Is it swamp fever? Jack asks his dad in a

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Speaker 1: voice so soft John Smith has to press his ear

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Speaker 1: against his son's lips to hear. All morning, the boy

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Speaker 1: vomits and sweats and practically hallucinates, all while telling his

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Speaker 1: parents every few seconds that he knows he's going to die.

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Speaker 1: My death, he whispers, in a voice not quite like

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Speaker 1: his own, has been foretold by the gravestone in the graveyard. Later,

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Speaker 1: in a voice all together mysterious, he mutters, through dry,

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Speaker 1: cracked lips, I don't want to be here when I die.

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Speaker 1: And still later, in a voice beyond the grave, ten

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Speaker 1: year old Jack Smith philosophizes, live well today, because you

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Speaker 1: have no idea what's coming tomorrow. By late afternoon, Jack

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Speaker 1: is up and back at it, bounding down the hill

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Speaker 1: to the water's edge, splashing in the shallows with Max,

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Speaker 1: shouting and laughing and skipping stones. Across dead Man's Bay,

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Speaker 1: looking forward to hamburgers on the grill and chocolate cake

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Speaker 1: with buttercream icing, and finally fireworks to celebrate his tenth birthday.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this original audio presentation of the Graveyard.

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Speaker 1: You enjoy today's story, Please take a few seconds to rate, review,

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Speaker 1: and subscribe to this podcast, and then go to Thomas

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Speaker 1: William Simpson dot com for additional information about the author

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Speaker 1: and to view his extensive canon. The Ten Minute Storyteller

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Speaker 1: is produced by Andrew Plaglici and Josh Colotney and as

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Speaker 1: part of the Elvis Duran Podcast Network in partnership with Iheartproductions.

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Speaker 1: Until next time, this is Bill Simpson, your ten Minute Storyteller,