0:01

Hi. This is Josh Create Lead at Hope Lab.

0:03

Thank you for listening. At Hope

0:05

Lab, we advanced solutions that support

0:07

a firm and empower young people. And we

0:09

just launched product called Aimee, a free

0:12

digital tool that supports and helps LGBTQ

0:14

plus teams explore and affirm their identity,

0:17

and learn helpful ways to cope with the stress.

0:19

You can find it at WWW

0:21

dot imi dot gude.

0:25

From the hundreds of queer young people who help

0:27

create Aimee, we know that many young people

0:29

desire a world that is more accepting, inclusive,

0:32

and just. Amy helps provide

0:34

a space for queer teens, especially those

0:36

with intersexual identities to feel supported

0:38

and affirmed. As Renee, fifteen

0:40

year old from Mississippi told us, IMe

0:42

is four queer people, five queer people

0:45

to help everyone. Visit

0:47

WWW dot imi dot

0:50

guide or share the link with someone you know.

0:52

And follow at I m guide on Instagram for

0:54

supportive fun and queer I m related

0:56

content. Thanks for listening. A

0:59

message from the Fable and Folly network.

1:01

Looking to get out of the

1:03

ads and back to the story, fable

1:06

and folly plus is a new way to support

1:08

the creators you love. The podcast

1:10

you're listening to right now and more than

1:12

sixty others can be heard ad free for

1:14

little as four dollars a month by visiting

1:16

fable and folly dot com slash plus.

1:19

And now, you'll start to see fable

1:21

and falling network shows are offering

1:23

bonus content to all existing

1:26

and new supporters. Find

1:28

exclusive new episodes from shows

1:30

like where the stars fell, the Call

1:32

of Cthulhu Mystery Program, and

1:34

Civilize. Plus, early

1:36

access to new episodes of midnight

1:38

Burger, all still entirely

1:41

ad free. Hi.

1:44

I'm Sean Williams. I'm co founder of

1:46

Gideon Media, and I play Josh and

1:48

Graham and give me away. But today, I wanna

1:51

tell you about fiction podcast we at

1:53

Gideon particularly love. Unseen.

1:56

Unseen is the new Urban Fantasy

1:58

friction podcast by long story short productions.

2:01

The extraordinary creative team

2:03

behind zero hours, time bombs,

2:06

and the legendary audio

2:08

epic Wolfe three fifty nine. Unseen's

2:11

premise is simple. In a world

2:13

where magic is real but invisible to almost

2:15

everyone, the few magical beings

2:17

that do exist, struggle every

2:20

day just to be seen. These

2:22

interwoven stories of identity connection

2:25

and personhood play out

2:27

across a series of monologues

2:30

beautifully written and performed by a

2:32

stunning lineup of the

2:34

best writers and actors in American audio

2:36

drama. Overseen by the peerless

2:39

core team of Gabriel Erbina,

2:41

Sarah Shackett and Zach Belendy,

2:43

unseen guides listeners through

2:46

an original groundbreaking modern

2:48

fantasy landscape. You

2:50

can find info and transcript at unseen

2:53

dot show, but right

2:55

now we're proud to share this episode

2:57

of unseen.

3:05

Today's episode of unseen is

3:07

sponsored by better help. Is there

3:09

something interfering with your happiness or

3:11

preventing you from achieving your goals? Are

3:13

you looking to give your mind the same amount

3:16

of care and attention you give your physical health?

3:18

Are you simply trying to do your best to survive

3:21

twenty

3:21

twenty? We're all in need of a little

3:23

therapy

3:24

right now. And that's why team unseen

3:26

recommends better help. Betterhelp

3:28

will assess your needs and match you with your

3:30

own licensed professional therapist. You

3:32

can start communicating in under forty

3:34

eight hours. And the service is available

3:37

for clients worldwide. You can

3:39

log in to your account anytime and send

3:41

a message to your counselor. You'll get timely

3:43

and thoughtful responses. Plus,

3:45

you can schedule a weekly video or

3:47

phone sessions, so you won't ever have

3:49

to sit in an uncomfortable waiting room as

3:51

with traditional therapy. It's not

3:53

a crisis line. It's not self

3:55

help. Better help is professional counseling

3:58

done securely online. There

4:00

is a broad range of expertise available,

4:02

which may not be locally available in many

4:04

areas. It's more affordable than traditional

4:07

offline counseling and financial aid

4:09

is available. Betterhelp is committed

4:11

to facilitating great therapeutic matches,

4:14

so they may get easy and free for you

4:16

to change counselors if needed. In

4:18

fact, so many people have been using better

4:20

help, that they are recruiting additional counselors

4:22

in all fifty states. Visit their

4:24

website and read their testimonials that

4:26

are posted daily. Like this one,

4:29

I've only had a few sessions and they've been more

4:31

helpful than I can express. Hannah

4:33

is very kind and insightful and works

4:35

hard to make sure we connect, very

4:37

glad we were matched, better help

4:39

wants you to start living a happier life

4:42

today. And as a special offer for

4:44

unseen listeners, you can get ten percent

4:46

off your first month at betterhelp dot

4:48

com slash unseen. That's

4:51

better HELP dot com

4:53

slash unseen. Visit better

4:55

help dot com and join the over

4:57

one million people who have taken charge

4:59

of their mental health with the help of an experienced

5:02

professional. Again, that's BETTERHELP

5:07

dot com.

5:31

Long story short productions presents.

5:38

Unseen. Episode

5:51

one. Never

5:58

ending circles by Gabriela

6:00

Urbana.

6:14

You ever get this feeling like there's more

6:16

to life than what you know? Like,

6:18

there has to be more out there

6:21

somewhere

6:22

waiting for you to find it. There

6:24

has to be more. Right?

6:36

There's a shop in London that no

6:38

one ever sees. It's

6:40

in the middle of Covent Garden on

6:42

Floral Street. Right across from the

6:44

white lion, one of the busiest

6:46

places in the UK. A

6:49

hundred thousand people pass through at

6:51

every single day. And

6:55

right in the middle of it, tucked between this

6:57

ancient pub and some trendy cosmetics

7:00

place. Is a shop. Nobody

7:02

notices. I'm

7:05

not being metaphorical either. There's

7:07

literally a shop in London you can't see.

7:10

There's no name on the outside of the shop.

7:12

Just a blank sign, which no one

7:15

ever glances at, hung over a smooth

7:17

black door that no one ever goes through. There's

7:20

a window display, but it's full of merchandise and

7:22

no one ever stops to look at. And

7:25

I know what you're thinking. Is not tucked

7:27

away in some knuckle, hidden by construction

7:29

or anything like that. It's out in the

7:31

open. Cloudera's day, and yet

7:34

no one ever noticed it. And

7:36

even if they do, no one ever goes

7:38

in. They see it as something

7:41

boring or uninteresting or they

7:43

remember an important appointment that they need to

7:45

go to right now even though

7:47

they don't have an important appointment at all.

7:49

Just a plain back door in front of a plain

7:52

old shop in the middle of the busiest

7:54

city in the

7:54

world. Standing there day

7:57

after day on the scene.

8:08

So why doesn't anyone see

8:11

this fabulous shop? It's

8:13

complicated. No.

8:16

Just kidding. It's dead simple. Magic,

8:18

of course. Which is real, by the way,

8:20

just in case I'm the first to tell you.

8:23

Magic one hundred percent real.

8:25

Again, super literal, actual

8:27

magic, actually real. Okay?

8:31

Okay.

8:34

Of course, just because something is

8:36

real doesn't mean it's simple,

8:39

but it'd be too easy. But

8:42

we'll get to that in a moment. For

8:45

now,

8:45

here, come on in.

8:49

This is Barrows, the shop you

8:52

can't find unless you know how to look for

8:54

it, which sounds like a crap

8:56

business model until you realize. If

8:58

you discovered an honest to goodness magic

9:00

shop, would you ever shop anywhere

9:02

else? Yeah.

9:05

I didn't think so. Barrows

9:08

is England's Europe's arguably

9:11

finest provider of persuasion incantations

9:14

our chemical sundries and wonder

9:16

working supplies, all

9:18

of which is just a fancy sounding way

9:20

of saying we sell things that are magic,

9:23

have magic or help you do

9:25

magic. It's

9:28

an amazing place actually. You

9:30

step in through the door and there are all these

9:33

impossible things. Things

9:35

you've spent your entire life thinking

9:37

can't be real except suddenly, oh

9:39

wait, there they are. Clockwork

9:41

devices that fly on their own,

9:44

fire lights that burn for months,

9:46

old books that tell you about the real history

9:48

of the world, the one we've all forgotten.

9:54

Barrows is the best kept secret

9:56

in London. I've been

9:58

working at it for a little while now.

10:02

Oh, right. Sorry. Sorry.

10:05

I'm doing this a bit out of order, aren't I?

10:08

Harry Winter at your service. Well,

10:12

technically, Harriet,

10:14

Karen Winter. I

10:17

know. Right? Apparently, the name's a family

10:19

thing. Never was much for it. But the final

10:21

straw came when I was thirteen. Had

10:23

this horrible old bag of a teacher,

10:26

the kind you'd go out of her way just to make

10:28

you miserable to feel like

10:30

she could. She was called

10:32

Harriet, and I thought, nope.

10:36

No. Thank you. Harry

10:39

to Karen, that's a sad,

10:41

mean, old lady nobody cares about.

10:44

That's not me. But Harry

10:46

Winter Hell

10:49

yeah, that's me. I

10:53

was born in a little town called Celsi on

10:55

the English Channel. As

10:57

a little girl, I used to go down to the

10:59

beach and try to see all the way

11:01

to the other side. On a clear

11:03

day, I could almost make it out. This

11:06

whole other world across the water.

11:09

I went to school, I made friends,

11:12

and then I lost friends over tiny things

11:14

that seem like they were the size of the whole

11:16

universe. I got into fights

11:19

and I failed quizzes and I learned math

11:21

tape and the names of the planets, and I

11:23

always always did my homework

11:25

at the last possible moment. went

11:28

on long road trips with my mom. I

11:30

thought she was the greatest and the worst

11:32

and smartest, most amazing, most

11:35

awful woman in the world. I

11:37

was right. We've gone long holidays

11:39

and criss cross the whole of this miserable rainy,

11:42

fascinating country. Also, it was Oh,

11:44

yeah. I got older,

11:47

went to a bigger school, studied new things,

11:49

I got into reading, I got into fights,

11:51

like actual proper fights, which

11:55

got me into trouble. Got me a

11:57

record, which at the time I thought was

11:59

pretty swish. I

12:01

started running. I hated it.

12:03

But I was going through a period of my life where I thought

12:05

I had to do things I hated. So I

12:08

ran. I ran to school,

12:10

I went back home, I ran to parties and

12:13

concerts and all kinds of stupid places

12:15

that seemed so important decline.

12:18

met new people. I had terrible drinks

12:20

and said I loved them. I kissed

12:23

boys who said they loved me and

12:25

I kissed girls and thought I might love them

12:27

and I

12:29

kept running. I go older

12:32

again, went to uni far away.

12:34

It didn't stick. He's

12:38

cracking at mom. I've missed her terribly.

12:40

Went to another Yumi, one that was much closer.

12:43

It stuck a bit more. I

12:47

decided I was going to make myself into a better

12:49

person. I teach myself foreign languages.

12:53

I'd read more of it. I'd learn about politics and

12:55

have all kinds of smart opinions about things

12:57

I couldn't fix. It went okay

13:00

until it didn't. My mom moved

13:02

to London, and I went with her. Many

13:04

people, made new friends, made

13:06

plans, canceled plans, lost

13:08

friends. I went to films

13:11

and I laughed and I failed to find

13:13

a job. I shaved my head and

13:15

instantly regretted it. I got

13:17

into new music. And then I decided

13:19

the new music sucked and I went back to my old

13:21

music. I took lessons and looked for projects

13:24

and helped my mom and kept on running in these

13:26

in these never ending circles.

13:29

And I take days off the calendar and

13:31

every day no matter what I did, I was

13:33

always five minutes behind.

13:38

And then one day I looked up and I'd

13:40

been alive for a quarter of a century.

13:43

And the entire time I'd been so focused

13:45

on what I'd been doing that

13:47

I had never really thought about what I wanted

13:49

to, you know, do. And

13:53

now that I was thinking about it,

13:57

I had bugger all of an idea of what

13:59

I should do with myself. So

14:04

I did what people do in that circumstance.

14:07

It's really not a binding commitment and it would

14:09

really help out with keeping water pure for the animals

14:11

that live in rivers nearby. I got a terrible

14:13

job. This company in

14:15

London hired me to stand in Earls Court

14:18

for nine hours at a time

14:21

and convince people to sign petitions, refugees,

14:24

EU things, taxes, homelessness,

14:27

whatever cause was in vogue. Are

14:29

you sure that I can't Yeah. No. That's

14:31

alright. Have a good day. Like I said,

14:33

terrible job. Every day, I

14:35

tried to get hundreds of people to talk to

14:37

me. If I was lucky, maybe a

14:40

dozen of them would give me the time of day.

14:42

Mostly people looked right through me. That's

14:46

where I was the day I discovered magic is

14:48

real, which Oh,

14:50

god. I hate saying it like that.

14:52

It really sounds all wide eyed

14:55

and whimsical and sprinkled with pixie

14:57

dust, which just it

14:59

isn't me. I do

15:01

cool. Detached. That's

15:04

me. Not

15:09

bad day though. That

15:12

day was unbelievable. It

15:15

was the end of my shift, my back hurt,

15:17

my feet were killing me, and I'd only gotten

15:20

three sodding signatures. It

15:22

was just after dark. The lights have

15:24

just come on. God. I

15:26

can still see it so

15:27

clearly. The sea

15:29

of people in front of me are looking up one

15:31

by one as they start to hear it. Then

15:35

I heard it and I looked up

15:37

and there was this this

15:40

big angry, fiery red

15:42

thing streaking through night sky.

15:45

The official story was that it was a meteor,

15:47

one that burned up a lot lower than they normally

15:49

do. That's what everyone else on

15:51

that street thought, and honestly, that's

15:54

what I saw too at first.

15:57

And then it was just the strangers

16:00

feeling. I remember

16:02

feeling lucky for

16:04

the first time in a long while really I

16:07

was lucky to be standing in the middle of

16:09

Earl's bloody cart, lucky

16:11

to be looking up at the sky and seeing this

16:15

this what am

16:17

I looking at? I

16:19

remember that question running through my mind just

16:21

a moment before it happened. And

16:24

then I blinked.

16:29

And the world changed. It

16:32

was like something just brick or

16:35

like this muscle that had been stuck

16:37

in place for ages finally loosened

16:39

up. And I wasn't

16:41

seeing a meteor anymore. I

16:44

was seeing what was really happening in the

16:46

sky. It was

16:48

these two people, young, a

16:50

guy and a girl hand in hand surrounded

16:52

by fire, flying over

16:54

London. And deep down,

16:57

It made sense to me. Some

17:00

people can fly. Of course, they can.

17:02

Why did I think they couldn't? How did I forget

17:05

that people can fly? Then

17:09

they were gone. And

17:12

the thousand people shrugged and

17:14

went, well, never mind math and just fell

17:16

back into whatever they were doing, but

17:19

I couldn't. I just

17:21

stood there crying

17:24

like a complete practice for

17:27

hours. Okay.

17:34

Okay. Enough of that.

17:37

Horrible, cheekily bit of history,

17:40

but it really did happen. And

17:42

it completely changed the way I see the world.

17:45

Whatever those two people broke in my mind,

17:47

it wasn't getting put back together. I

17:50

could see magic now and

17:52

I started to see it everywhere.

17:56

I'd see people making things fly or

17:59

making something catch fire or

18:01

making things vanish. And

18:03

one day, I noticed a shop

18:05

in Covent Garden, one that

18:07

everyone walked by and nobody

18:09

paid attention to. Except

18:11

now, I could see it.

18:14

And I could see the sign that was hanging off its

18:16

window. Help wanted.

18:21

So I got part time job working in a magic

18:23

shop and it was the most amazing

18:25

job in the world. Since

18:28

only a handful of can even see the shop.

18:31

Everyone that came in was interesting or

18:34

messed up in weirdly absorbing ways.

18:36

No boring customers at Barrows. Everyone

18:40

that came in always had something fascinating

18:43

they were trying to do. They

18:45

wanted to make it snow on a summer's

18:47

day or or or they wanted to make

18:49

a memory disappear, or

18:52

they were looking for a book on one of the

18:54

ancient wars, the ones I'd a

18:56

hurdle, the ones that involved

18:58

dragons. And

19:01

we helped them, and they gave us money

19:04

They paid us. It

19:07

was in decent. Once

19:10

a week, we'd get shipments of new merchandise. Unbelievable

19:14

stuff. Clocks that ran backwards

19:16

or made strange things happen around them at

19:18

midnight, potions to breed themselves.

19:21

And machines that put themselves together, supplies

19:24

for recipes that I couldn't understand and

19:26

books on how to do magic. I couldn't.

19:30

Not yet at least, but one day,

19:33

I would. I

19:35

kept running and for exercise, for

19:37

fun, but also because I was seeing

19:39

new things, a whole new

19:42

side of the world. Not quite

19:44

on every street corner, but

19:46

on any street corner. I

19:49

made new friends. Friends who could do

19:51

impossible things with the snap of the finger.

19:53

And every day that were impossible,

19:56

meant a little less. I

19:59

went out with people, men and women

20:01

who could do literal magic. And

20:03

as they took me out to dinner, and made my

20:05

appetizer dance around our plates. I

20:08

thought to myself, I

20:10

love

20:10

them. I

20:13

love them. Please,

20:16

God. Let me love them.

20:22

I wanted to know more about my I

20:24

wanted to know everything, how

20:26

it worked, where it started, why

20:29

people couldn't see it. Mister

20:31

Barrow let me borrow books we didn't sell.

20:34

So I committed to giving myself an

20:36

education. I started

20:38

reading two books a week. Then

20:41

one book a week. Then

20:43

half a book and then

20:46

I will reading anymore. I

20:49

started again. I stopped

20:51

again. I didn't

20:53

know what was wrong with me.

20:57

And of course, I

20:59

wanted to do magic. I

21:01

was able to see it, so I should

21:04

be able to do it. Right?

21:07

Well, I try. And

21:09

I didn't get it and I tried

21:11

again and again and

21:14

I didn't get it. I

21:17

told myself I wasn't going to give up.

21:19

I just needed to give a time, just

21:21

a little bit of time, and then it would

21:23

be amazing. I

21:25

started and stopped and

21:28

started and stopped and started

21:30

and stopped and stopped over and over again.

21:34

And the entire time, I

21:36

kept working at Barrows, helping

21:39

people with whatever impossible thing

21:41

they were trying to do. Here,

21:45

this one's a little friendlier than

21:47

your old model. That should be plenty for what

21:49

you need. No.

21:52

No. That's no good for what you want. How

21:54

about this new kit? We just got it in from California.

21:57

The instructions make no sense,

21:59

but think you'll do loads better with it. Okay.

22:03

Okay. But everyone

22:05

says this takes a bit of time to get the hang of.

22:08

So you're not allowed to get discouraged and bring it

22:10

back for at least a month. Okay?

22:13

Deal. Until

22:15

suddenly, I wasn't

22:17

helping people do the impossible anymore. I

22:20

was just helping

22:22

mister McPherson with a birthday present for

22:24

his son. I wasn't

22:27

stocking strange clocks that could tell you everything

22:29

except the time. I was

22:31

just putting

22:34

up the latest shipment of dust keepers.

22:38

And one day, I looked up and

22:41

I'd been working at Barrows four years.

22:44

Even though it was the strangest shop in the

22:46

world, it was still just a shop

22:49

and I well, I

22:51

was almost thirty. And what was I?

22:54

Just a girl who works in a shop with

22:57

no idea what she wants to do with her life.

23:05

One day, I was helping a customer choose between

23:07

two incandation books. Look,

23:10

you know what you need better than anyone, but

23:12

if you want my advice, zero is a

23:14

lot easier to follow and there

23:17

was a sound behind me. It was mister

23:19

Barrow, my boss. He gestured

23:21

towards the back of the store. My office,

23:24

when you get a moment, I'd

23:27

always like mister Barrow. He was strict

23:30

but fair, and he worked longer hours

23:32

than anyone at the shop even though he owned the place.

23:34

The only thing I didn't like about

23:36

him were his hands. He

23:39

had these long pale fingers

23:41

and the way they moved about always reminded me

23:43

of spiders legs. He

23:47

asked me to close the door and have a seat.

23:50

Once I'd done so, he asked, Harry,

23:53

how long have you been working here? I

23:56

didn't know what he was getting up, so I just shrugged

23:59

and said four and a half years. He

24:01

frowned and said it was actually closer to five

24:03

years. Wasn't it? Something in my

24:05

stomach arrived uncomfortably at that. I

24:07

mumbled something about Mister

24:12

Barrow said I was one of the senior employees

24:15

now one who knew the ins and outs

24:17

of the shot best. That

24:19

feeling in my stomach went from a writhe to

24:21

a flail. By

24:23

the time I focused back on what mister Barrow was

24:25

saying, he was offering me a promotion. Assistant

24:28

manager specifically, he said, It would

24:30

mean more pay, of course, but also more responsibility.

24:33

You'd have a more active role in acquisitions.

24:36

Of course, you'd also have to work some week cans,

24:39

beyond calls, that sort of thing.

24:42

There was a long pause after that. Like,

24:47

quite long. Then

24:50

I realized he was waiting for me to say

24:52

something. Oh, Well,

24:54

mister Parrow, this is this

24:57

is quite a lot of I

24:59

mean, it's very flattering. It's just that

25:03

Can I think on it for a bit and get back

25:05

to you? He

25:07

nodded and said, of course, but

25:10

didn't hear whatever the rest of it was. I

25:12

was out door already.

25:17

A bit later, I was mounting the hill, but

25:19

a million miles away. I

25:21

was thinking about one of my least favorite

25:23

questions in the world. What do you

25:26

want to be when you grow up? People

25:29

used to ask me that all the time. When

25:31

I was kid, obviously, but even way

25:34

way past that. When I was eighteen,

25:36

when I was twenty two, when I was twenty

25:39

four, which I really thought was a bit much. And

25:41

then suddenly, it just

25:44

stopped. Like, a switch

25:46

got flipped and suddenly, I was a grown up.

25:48

I was done. And whatever I was,

25:51

that's what I was going to. Oh,

25:54

right. Sorry. Sorry. I was somewhere

25:57

else entirely. I

25:59

was rescued from that horrid train of

26:01

thought by a customer wanting to get ringed

26:03

out. As

26:05

I scan the things she wanted, I stole

26:07

glance at her. She was

26:09

young. Couldn't have been more than twenty

26:12

one or twenty two? She had this

26:14

fluorescent green fingernail polish and a

26:16

dipped eye to you and a torn up to you for a

26:18

band that I didn't recognize. I know

26:20

I know in the eyes of the law, this

26:23

creature was an adult. But

26:25

she didn't look that way to me. She looked like

26:27

an infant. She looked brand

26:30

new. Then

26:32

I looked at what she was buying. Advanced

26:34

books, heavy duty alchemical

26:37

ingredients, some of the good wander working

26:39

supplies, the kind you wouldn't dare touch

26:41

unless you knew what you were doing. This was

26:43

someone who could do serious spellcraft.

26:46

She handed me her credit card, but I didn't want

26:48

to take her money. I wanted to sneeze

26:50

and order her to put these things back where she

26:52

found them. I wanted to grab her by the lapels,

26:54

give her a firm shake and yell at her face,

26:57

hey, it's not your turn yet.

27:06

Instead, I thanked

27:08

her for shopping at Barrows, put her

27:10

stuff in one of the nice bags and told her

27:12

to come back soon.

27:16

Here's the real problem. All

27:19

my life, I've been so sure

27:21

about what I don't want to be. A

27:23

ring, drab, I don't want

27:25

to get a job teaching at a school where I'll

27:27

spend forty years as a

27:30

not even glorified babysitter and

27:32

then retire to a little cottage and

27:34

and and build bird feeders or something.

27:38

No. That's not me. I'm

27:40

Harry Flip in winter, I've always

27:42

known I was going to be amazing. I

27:45

was going to be a rock star

27:47

or a famous writer or

27:51

One of those journalists that sends corrupt politicians

27:54

to jail. Yeah. Yeah.

27:59

Of course, you do need time to get

28:01

good at whatever you want to do. I

28:04

was never sure what I wanted to do, so

28:07

I never got good at anything. They

28:10

say practice makes perfect that

28:12

you can't just snap your fingers and be magically

28:14

good at something. Turns

28:17

out that's true for everything, even

28:20

magic. Hello.

28:23

Welcome to Barrows. How can I Oh,

28:25

it's just you Charlie? How's your

28:27

week been alright? Now,

28:30

the man that just stepped in is one of our regulars.

28:33

Most people just pop in when they've got a magical

28:35

problem they need solved. But a few wayward

28:37

souls come to borrowers every chance they

28:39

get. And none more than the

28:42

shuffling, the spectacle, being poll

28:44

of a man that just popped in. But

28:48

before we talk about Charlie Driscoll, I

28:51

need to tell you about witnesses.

28:58

Now amongst the minority of

29:00

people who know magic is real, we're generally

29:03

referred to as the unseen world. Hi.

29:06

There's a subgroup of people who well,

29:10

they get a raw deal. We

29:12

call them witnesses. These

29:14

are people who are able to see past the thing

29:16

that blocks most people from noticing magic,

29:19

but they can't actually

29:22

do any magic themselves. It

29:25

sucks. We

29:27

get witnesses in the shop every now and then.

29:29

Almost always young guys with this sad,

29:32

desperate look in their eyes. And

29:34

no one. No one in the world

29:36

is a bigger witness than Charlie Driscoll.

29:40

I met Charlie my first week at Barrows. He's

29:42

been coming into the shop every Thursday without

29:45

fail for years. Apparently,

29:47

he'd figured out magic was real at fifteen.

29:50

But more than twenty years later, he's

29:52

never managed to do a single spell. He'd

29:55

spent fortune on lessons and tutors

29:57

apparently, but none of it went

29:59

anywhere. So now

30:01

he comes into burrows and drops

30:03

between a hundred and three hundred pounds on

30:06

the focusing agents or beginners

30:08

alchemy kits or just

30:10

whatever's new, whether he can

30:12

use it or not. He's

30:15

not a bad guy. He's

30:17

decent and polite and hasn't

30:19

hit on me once, which is rarer than you

30:22

might think. And he knows a

30:24

ton about magic at this point. But

30:27

He's just a

30:29

bit sad. He's this

30:31

sad bloke. He works himself to the bone

30:33

at some advertising agency he just

30:35

he can blow it all on trying to do something

30:38

that he just can't.

30:41

I'd find it all comical or pity or

30:43

both if, well,

30:46

if I wasn't kind of in the same boat

30:48

as him. Not

30:50

that Charlie knows I can't do magic. Not

30:53

that anyone knows I can't do magic.

31:05

I say hi to Charlie and he asks me how my

31:07

week's been. I and say fine.

31:09

We exchange some pleasantries for few

31:11

minutes before he zooms off in such of the all greery

31:14

books that have finally come in. Then

31:16

about fifteen minutes later, he zooms back

31:19

and drops three books in front of the tilt.

31:22

I scan the books and tell them it comes to seventy

31:24

three quid, and I should have left it

31:26

there. I should have left it

31:28

there. Instead, I

31:31

say, unless, of course, you think

31:33

today's the day. See, Charlie

31:35

and I have a standing bet. I don't

31:37

know exactly how or when it started,

31:40

but Charlie's

31:42

a witness. Everyone knows

31:44

Charlie is a witness. I think,

31:47

in fact, I sincerely pray that

31:49

even Charlie knows that Charlie is

31:51

a witness. So when he's in

31:53

the shop, he gets teased. Everyone

31:56

does it. And my

31:58

way of teasing is a bet.

32:01

Every time he buys something when I'm on shift,

32:04

I go, tell you what Charlie,

32:06

do a bit of magic. Here's a fifty p

32:08

coin. If you can make it fly or

32:10

move or do anything on its own, your

32:12

order's on the house. And every time

32:14

he tries and nothing happens.

32:19

I should have known better than to push it that day.

32:22

But instead, go

32:25

and then Charlie, do a bit of magic for us.

32:29

Which was mean. I'm

32:31

stupid and the biggest bloody boulder

32:33

to throw from my incredibly delicate glass

32:35

house. But I

32:38

threw it. And he looked at the coin

32:40

and he just smiled at me and went,

32:42

you're on. Now,

32:45

Here's the thing about magic. It's apparently

32:47

all about what you do with your mind. I

32:50

asked mister Bauru about it one time

32:52

and he went, Well, the most common

32:54

form of magic is called persuasion,

32:57

and it comes down to how you understand the world

32:59

around you. You take something,

33:01

something you know well and look at it.

33:04

You hold its image in your mind. You

33:06

feel everything you know about it.

33:08

You grasp the truth of it. And

33:11

then you introduce something

33:13

new. This chair

33:15

is wooden. It was designed for someone

33:17

to sit on. It is old. And it

33:19

is worn and it's

33:22

on fire. If your

33:24

focus is good enough, if you really

33:26

believe the change in your mind, it

33:28

becomes true in the world too, or

33:31

something like that. He said it better.

33:34

The point is, magic's a dance between

33:36

you and your head. And

33:39

unfortunately, until it starts

33:41

actually happening, someone trying to

33:43

make it happen looks an awful lot like a middle

33:45

aged man staring really intently

33:48

at a coin. But

33:51

there was something different about it this time.

33:55

This time, I found myself hoping that

33:57

he was able to do it. Maybe

34:00

just maybe And

34:04

then he shrugged and gave me a little

34:07

lopsided grin and shook his

34:09

head. Not today I suppose

34:11

he said, maybe next week.

34:14

And when I didn't reply, he got this strange

34:16

look on his face. Hey, Harry,

34:19

you're alright? And I

34:21

really wasn't alright. Because

34:23

at that moment, I was struck by a vision

34:25

of the rest of my life. Of me,

34:28

standing behind this counter staring at Charlie

34:30

as he stared at coin that refused to do

34:32

anything even remotely magic related.

34:35

Over and over and over again

34:37

until we were in our forties, our fifties,

34:39

until I realized that I was getting on and

34:41

should find a new assistant manager to take

34:43

over. Charlie asked me again,

34:47

you okay? You're looking a little pale? I

34:50

didn't have an answer, so I didn't say anything.

34:53

I just you know, turned

34:55

around and tried to run out of the shop. This

34:59

was made difficult by the enchanted

35:01

mirror we'd gotten that morning. And which

35:04

I'd forgotten was leaning against the part of the counter

35:06

I needed to get through. I smacked into

35:08

it. It's smacked onto the floor and

35:13

Seven years bad luck is it? Bring

35:16

it on, I suppose.

35:24

Charlie helped me clean up the glass. He

35:26

even offered to pay for it. Mister Barrow wouldn't

35:29

get mad at me, which was too

35:31

much. I really feel quite guilty

35:33

about taking him up on the offer. We

35:36

swept up the bits of the enchanted mirror, Charlie asked

35:38

me what was wrong. I want to

35:40

tell him I was just having a bad day,

35:43

but for whatever reason it slipped

35:45

out. And I went, Barrows

35:48

is off of me a promotion and I don't know if I

35:50

want it on which made him look

35:53

at me like I was mental. How

35:55

is that a problem? Of course, he

35:57

wants it. This is the greatest

35:59

job in the world. And

36:01

Charlie would say that. But

36:04

I shake my head and tell him, no.

36:07

It's just a job,

36:10

a good one, but

36:13

just a job. And I want

36:15

to be more than a girl who works in a shop.

36:18

Which, of course, makes him go

36:21

right. So what

36:23

do you want to do? The

36:28

silence was truly deafening.

36:32

I don't know. I tell him

36:34

I don't know. He just looks

36:37

at me and a funny

36:39

light comes into his eyes. He

36:41

asks me what time I get off work, there's

36:43

something I should see I start to wave him

36:45

off. It's stupid. don't he interrupts

36:48

and reminds me that he just paid for an eight hundred

36:50

pound mirror that I just

36:51

broke. So I tell him I get

36:53

off at half past nine. He nods and tells

36:56

me to meet him outside the shop then.

37:04

The rest of the shift went by quietly. We

37:06

didn't get a lot of other customers, and I didn't

37:08

destroy any other priceless artifacts in the middle

37:10

of panic attack. It's the

37:12

small mercies. Charlie

37:15

was already there by the time I was done closing up

37:17

for the night. I asked him what he wanted

37:19

to show me. He just smiled

37:21

and told me to follow him. We

37:24

didn't talk about much. We've

37:28

never really hung out anywhere other than the shop,

37:30

so we just walked in silence.

37:33

He led us away from Covent Garden. Away

37:35

from the more crowded streets. Eventually,

37:38

I realized we'd walked to one of the parks. We

37:40

followed one of trails for a bit and came up on

37:42

a wooded area. And then,

37:44

all of a sudden, the trees opened

37:47

up into a clearing. And

37:50

in that clearing, there were maybe

37:52

sixty people. People doing

37:54

amazing things. People

37:56

are enchanting fire to make it dance.

37:59

People walking on air. People

38:01

making mood for a flow of backwards. It

38:03

was a magical street trip. A

38:06

few performers doing tricks for tips.

38:08

Entertaining the magical community of London.

38:11

It was wonderful and

38:16

and it had nothing to do with me. Some

38:22

magician that was miles better than I'd

38:24

ever be flicked her wrists and the world

38:26

around her changed and everyone around

38:28

her loved it and cheered and I

38:30

wanted to die.

38:36

And that's when Charlie sweet,

38:40

innocent Charlie Driscoll changed

38:43

my life. Because he

38:45

pointed at the magician that had just made the crowd

38:47

lose its mind and said, be

38:49

watching closely. I

38:52

frowned not sure what he was getting at.

38:55

I took another look and then

38:57

my jaw dropped because

38:59

I knew that magician. It was

39:01

the girl in the shop from earlier today, the

39:03

one I'd wanted to run out of town. And

39:06

somehow in that moment, through the crowd,

39:09

She saw me and she smiled and

39:11

waved. And I

39:13

spun around and saw another one of the performers.

39:16

Another one of our regulars actually instructions

39:18

make no sense, but I think you'll do

39:20

loads better with it. And

39:23

then I saw a magician behind them. A

39:25

young man, I'd helped him pick up his first

39:28

magic book. You're not allowed to get discouraged

39:30

and bring it back for at least a month.

39:32

Okay? He glanced out into

39:34

the crowd and then did double take when he saw

39:36

me. He waved like was recognizing an

39:38

old

39:38

friend. Everyone there,

39:41

all the performers. They'd

39:44

all

39:44

gotten their start in magic through arrows.

39:47

That weird feeling in my stomach was back,

39:50

but now it felt

39:53

fine. It was

39:55

this weird deep pleasant

39:57

fullness. I realized

40:00

I had done something

40:01

amazing. I'd done it without

40:03

even knowing it.

40:20

Charlie and I watched the performers for few

40:22

hours that night. I

40:24

laughed, I cried, I

40:26

gasped out loud a whole bunch. It

40:28

was all deeply uncool and undignified. I

40:32

loved it. I loved

40:34

all of it. As

40:36

we walked back into the city, Charlie didn't

40:38

have to say a thing. I heard

40:40

it all in my head. Maybe

40:42

being a girl in a shop isn't the worst thing

40:44

that could happen to me. Maybe

40:47

one day, I'll be something else. But

40:51

I don't think I'm ever going to grow past what

40:53

I am if I don't let myself

40:55

be at first. I

40:58

stopped in the middle of the street and took a deep

41:00

breath. It

41:03

felt like the first time I'd breathed

41:05

in months. The first time

41:08

oxygen reached every part of me.

41:11

It was going to be okay. I

41:14

was going to be okay.

41:26

There's a shop in London that can't be seen.

41:29

Hundreds of thousands of people walk

41:31

past it every day and don't even notice

41:34

it's there. But if

41:36

you see it, if you suddenly

41:38

notice something out of the corner of your eye,

41:41

come on in I work there.

41:44

I just started this week as a assistant manager.

41:48

Personally, I would

41:50

love to help you find what you need to start

41:52

doing magic. Hello.

41:56

Welcome to Barrows. My name

41:58

is Harriet. How can I help

42:00

you today?

42:36

This has been unseen by

42:38

long story short productions. Based

42:43

on an original idea by Gabriela

42:45

Urbana with additional conceptual

42:47

design work by Sarah Shackett, Today's

42:52

episode was written and directed by

42:54

Gabriela Urbana, with script editing

42:56

by David k Barnes, It

43:03

starred Donnie James in the role of

43:05

Harry Winter. Original

43:11

music by Alan Rody and sound

43:13

design by Zac Valente. Unseen

43:20

is produced by Sarah Shackett, Zach

43:22

Valenti. And Gabriela Urbana,

43:25

along with Angel Assavetto, Jen

43:27

Schneider and Amy Tenguay. For

43:33

more information on the un