Episode Transcript
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0:00
We-time meets me-time, where magic meets the
0:02
sea on a Disney cruise. Adults can
0:04
relax and enjoy dedicated spaces designed just
0:07
for them. Indulge in a
0:09
massage at Census Spa, or take a
0:11
dip in Quiet Cove, an adult-exclusive pool.
0:14
Don't worry, the kids are having some
0:16
me-time of their own at incredible kids'
0:18
clubs. And there's amazing
0:20
we-time, like entertainment, imaginative dining,
0:22
character encounters, and more around
0:24
every corner. A magical vacation
0:26
at Sea Awaits on Disney
0:28
Cruise Line. Here
0:56
we go. Every
1:26
culture has its own myths and folk tales.
1:28
Those stories told and retold over time. Those
1:48
folk heroes that are a part of
1:51
our collective story. I
1:53
was fascinated as a kid by Johnny Appleseed,
1:55
John Henry, Paul Bunyan, those large-scale- larger-than-life
2:00
figures that sort of pointed us in
2:02
the direction of what was possible for
2:04
humanity, right? Now,
2:07
those heroes can defeat tyrants and
2:09
impossible match-ups like David and Goliath.
2:12
They can outsmart animals or monsters
2:14
like the Inuit folk hero, Kivyuk.
2:17
They can be tricksters who use
2:19
their wits to free themselves, like
2:21
John the Conqueror. Their
2:24
stories serve many purposes, of course, but
2:26
one of them, as I
2:28
said, is to inspire, to empower
2:30
us, to give us hope. In
2:34
today's story, K.T. Briski has
2:36
created a mythos and a folk
2:38
hero for the land of the
2:40
dead. It's called, Folk
2:42
Hero Motifs in Tales Told by
2:45
the Dead, and it was originally
2:47
published in Strange Horizons. K.T.
2:49
Briski is a Canadian author
2:52
whose short fiction has appeared
2:54
in many publications, including Lightspeed,
2:57
Nightmare, Strange Horizons, and The
2:59
Deadlands. K.T. has been
3:01
a finalist for The Sunburst, The
3:03
Aurora, and the U.G. Foster Memorial
3:05
Award, and they also
3:08
co-founded and co-chair the ephemera
3:10
reading series. If
3:13
you are so inclined, you will find
3:15
a content advisory in the episode description.
3:19
And now, if you're
3:21
ready, let's take
3:23
a deep breath. Folk
3:43
Hero Motifs in Tales Told by
3:45
the Dead By
3:47
K.T. Briski. At
4:00
the end. So.
4:03
Skull been hero. Trickster.
4:06
Corpse. Plans. To
4:08
dive into the great mosque that
4:10
rains the sea ice far beyond
4:13
our gravelled so. Against
4:16
the frozen waves model
4:18
blue and classy white
4:20
the more yawns Impenetrable.
4:23
It's the abyss. The days is
4:25
back. A great round drink
4:27
in the pure snow world we
4:30
woke up in. The
4:33
rays of the midnight sun is don't
4:35
penetrated. There's. Never been
4:38
a corpse that leaped in
4:40
and return to sell the.
4:45
But skull bone is the
4:47
original corpse. The same
4:49
cadaver who walked to the
4:51
living lands and returned with
4:54
his lover see tunnels under
4:56
the mountains and brought darkness
4:58
to these lands of light.
5:00
perpetual is met a torsos
5:02
were the first frigid/to tread
5:04
upon this windswept snow. So.
5:07
Skull Bones ties a piece of
5:09
rope around his front and waste and
5:12
gives the other end to his fellow
5:14
corpse. As
5:16
long as I keep talking on
5:18
the rope Regular says scumbags. Let
5:21
me be but if
5:23
I told three times
5:25
only best. His
5:28
fellow corpses not. Truth
5:30
is every one and the after
5:32
death wonders what weights and them
5:34
off. But. No one's
5:36
been ready to take that last.
5:41
Year. I. Go. Skull
5:43
don't cause. Dead
5:46
souls slapping the ice
5:48
skull bones flings himself forward.
5:51
For a moment he hangs
5:53
suspended in cold air, his
5:55
arms outstretched has withered face
5:57
time with sectors. Then.
6:01
He. Drops into the much.
6:05
For a while the tugs
6:07
com regular on the real,
6:10
the corpses pure over the
6:12
maus edge, but they don't
6:14
dare slide their greed toes
6:16
past the ice within the
6:18
mosque. Nothing not water, not
6:20
darkness. Not chaos, just.
6:23
Voice. Tones.
6:27
Stop. Coming. They
6:29
hold the wrote back instructions be
6:32
damned. Sit slithers out of the
6:34
mall with in frayed and know
6:36
school bone inside. The
6:39
tricksters luck finally ran
6:41
out. The corpses
6:43
toss the rope in the mall and
6:45
high tail it back to their lonely
6:47
list. That was
6:49
the end of Scum Own. If
6:52
he's not climbed out of the more
6:54
yet been he's in there still. As
6:58
for the rest of us, We.
7:01
Stayed this. Happily.
7:04
Ever after. That's
7:09
always not it. My knickers.
7:12
The way our fairy tales and. When.
7:15
I breathed and bled and
7:17
sank. Story is ran, they
7:19
lived happily ever after. But.
7:22
You can't verb death. It's
7:24
a sentence all on it's own. Still,
7:28
A desk happily ever after would
7:30
be my druthers. But. Language
7:32
grinds down even slower than
7:35
the mountains that ring arcs
7:37
cadaverous village. Stories
7:39
move quicker at least.
7:42
When. You got an eternity to spend
7:44
you craft stores for the selling
7:46
and tell. Tail
7:48
finished I were do my wine
7:51
purple toes near the lifeless Would
7:53
Stoltz. Poignant. Irony.
7:56
Having a wood stove and neither
7:58
matches nor breast North. Kindling,
8:01
And. Signal for another beaker of
8:03
Bryony seawater. Work.
8:06
Set sit by my elbow. Good.
8:08
Sort. Works. Best.
8:11
Bartender we've ever had. The.
8:14
Midnight sun lances the
8:16
tavern windows striking might
8:18
long waxy singers. A
8:21
lie limp. Out of practice.
8:24
For. The brittle fingernails. I tap
8:26
a rhythm on the beaker.
8:28
Oh music. not quite. Someone.
8:32
Else spins a new yarns thread.
8:35
I've heard every story
8:37
before. This. One. Bores,
8:40
Me to oblivion. Songs.
8:42
Khatab says crossed with half
8:45
remembered science fiction. Leaning.
8:48
Back I gaze out the window.
8:51
A frozen sea stretches
8:53
forever. It's. Me their skin
8:55
carved by the we're just. A
8:58
few corpses stroll the shoreline,
9:00
gathering stocks for gambling. I
9:04
spy something. He. A
9:08
small Darth says staggers
9:10
across the sea ice
9:12
birch disjointed. No.
9:15
One I recognize. When.
9:17
Eternity piles up like
9:19
snow drifts. Curiosity bites
9:21
deep. I have
9:23
rise from my ceased ignoring
9:25
the unfolding story as the
9:27
diminutive strangers struggles up the
9:29
shallow slope before the towers.
9:33
Kissed. Died.
9:35
Or really poor sod.
9:37
he looks nicer tests.
9:40
Stick. Glimpse of green shot
9:42
of fluorescent shorts and tee
9:45
shirts. Despite myself, I flinched.
9:47
Corpses don't get chills, but
9:50
old habits die hard. the
9:54
kids slips inside shoulders clinched
9:56
as every i phones on
9:58
him Not panting,
10:01
but tensed like he wants
10:03
to. New arrival,
10:06
Ward asks him. His
10:09
eyes flicker. I came
10:11
out of the maw. Almost
10:14
dropped my damn beaker. Silence
10:17
falls sharp. The
10:19
kid juts his chin against our
10:21
gaping stairs. Yeah, I
10:24
came out of the maw, he
10:26
repeats. And Skullbone
10:28
was there. Before
10:38
he went into the maw, Skullbone
10:40
traveled to the living lands. When
10:43
he was a breathing man, he'd
10:45
had a lover, and the longer
10:47
Skullbone deft, a keener,
10:50
that separation stung. Towards
10:53
the corpse's village there arose
10:55
great mountains. These
10:57
mountains went, Skullbone, for it was
10:59
out of the mountains we had
11:02
come. He told
11:04
no one of his journey. None
11:06
accompanied him but the biting wind
11:08
and the crunching of ice against
11:10
the rock. At
11:13
the mountain's feet, the wind
11:16
spoke. Should
11:19
you find your lover
11:21
and bring him back, then
11:24
walk you first along
11:26
the path, with your
11:28
lover following behind. Do
11:32
not look back
11:35
until you feel the
11:37
snow beneath your feet.
11:41
Skullbone bowed. For
11:44
in the land of the dead, the wind too has
11:46
eyes. With
11:48
strong, gnarled fingers, he climbed
11:50
until he heaved himself onto
11:52
a path which wound steadily
11:55
upwards. Singing to
11:57
himself, Skullbone Walked up the
11:59
mountain path. Then into the lands
12:01
of a living. He
12:04
staggered into a velvet summer
12:06
nights warm breeze ring upon
12:08
his rotting flesh. The sequence
12:10
stars fricking his eyes. He.
12:14
Stumbled to his old village. Is
12:17
deathly grace slipped away. And
12:20
in his own bed, skull
12:22
bone south his lover. Die
12:27
cannot repeat bear conversation
12:29
but. At length his lover
12:32
gathered his shoes and coats and
12:34
followed skull bone into the night.
12:37
Is living singers corral
12:39
in skull bones. Dead
12:41
was. I must. Not
12:44
the best skull bones just.
12:47
Or or Saudi lost.
12:50
His. Lover squeezed his hand. Sweat.
12:53
Slicked skull bones papers pass
12:55
fighting shudder school bone strode
12:57
towards the mountains distant me
12:59
is lovers puns and breaths
13:01
dragged across the back of
13:04
his neck. Flair
13:06
of panic kindles beneath skull
13:09
bones, ribs. He loosened his
13:11
grasp, but his lover squeezed
13:13
tighter, his red red hearts
13:16
sudden like judgment nailing and
13:18
skull bones eager. To
13:21
smells, sounds, the inescapable wants.
13:23
What a a steak school
13:26
bone had made. You.
13:29
Must go back. School bone
13:32
cried. His
13:35
lover whispered. With life's
13:38
relentless reasons. I
13:40
saw a whole. School
13:42
Bone flailed interest and scattered
13:45
stones of the mountain pass
13:47
rattled underfoot. Far below, the
13:49
midnight sun glinted off the
13:52
villages silver rules and School
13:54
Moon glanced down snow and
13:56
not yet pass under his
13:58
first. You
14:01
cannot follow tier. School.
14:03
Them Said: If the wind
14:05
surge up you look back
14:07
and gazed upon his lovers
14:09
fleshy face splashed with tears
14:11
and plump with blood it's
14:13
snarls and fast. Back to
14:16
the Living Last. So
14:19
Skull bones saved the village
14:22
from the horror of is
14:24
living lovers and learned a
14:26
valuable lesson that he is
14:29
always listen to the with.
14:37
If you want to spark chaos among
14:40
the dead, Liven. Things up
14:42
as it were. Pulling the
14:44
words more and skull bones.
14:47
Into conversation. As
14:50
the kid crosses his arms,
14:52
week clustered corpses gasp. Truth
14:55
be told, the last storyteller looks
14:57
and newest. But. Even sees
15:00
listening six. I
15:03
speak first. Move.
15:05
Came out of the most
15:07
jump since forever ago. The
15:10
kid says carelessly. Don't
15:12
know how long. Dogs.
15:14
All around. Time
15:16
and Eternity and all about. But.
15:21
I miss Go Boom there and he
15:23
pushed me out and. The
15:25
he's waiting. Around
15:27
the tavern. Corpses. Sneak
15:30
peeks out the windows, their
15:32
leathery tongues licking dry lips.
15:34
Every one wonders what the
15:37
more hosts. It it's
15:39
like die all over again.
15:41
No one returned to say
15:43
whether it's utter oblivion or
15:45
a paradise more fantastical than
15:47
this one, which would be
15:49
hard. This. One but
15:51
said it's not just from the
15:53
cold. War. Sidles
15:56
up to me. What? Do
15:58
you think I'd is. I'm
16:01
the de facto leader. Kill
16:03
me now. Oh.
16:05
Wait, I
16:08
sigh. Let's
16:10
go see. Not
16:14
one stiffs stays behind.
16:17
Makers life forgotten and war
16:19
doesn't even shut the door
16:21
properly. The. Ice grows
16:24
and cracks beneath us. glazed
16:26
we'll belly blue. The and
16:28
with white didn't specify the
16:30
bubbles. The
16:34
kids keeps glancing over his shoulder. Until
16:36
I try to catch up. What's
16:38
your name? I. Asked. Simon.
16:43
A Pos. That's
16:45
my living mean. Hard
16:48
not to roll my eyes. We.
16:50
Don't know our names when were born
16:52
and we lose them when we die.
16:55
Split. The certainty in the kids
16:57
voice seeks. Scoble.
17:02
Tell you so. Yeah.
17:05
Not a smart know
17:07
why name, just a
17:09
child's implacable logic. It.
17:12
Sends shivers down my spine. Metaphorically:
17:15
Speaking. Around
17:17
the mall the ice rears
17:20
up. white jacket snow racism
17:22
or a rough and surface
17:24
if I could breed my
17:26
lungs with crack with frostbite.
17:31
The more you office
17:34
impenetrable as always. Absolutely.
17:39
Nothing. They're. Certainly
17:42
not school loan. A
17:44
corpses lurch to will host
17:47
the kids. Shoulders slumped, no
17:49
one speaks but the wind
17:51
screaming around are dead den
17:54
busts. the
17:56
kid bites his lip baby teeth
17:58
leave in dense and the pallid
18:00
flesh. Turning his back on
18:02
us, he plops cross-legged in the
18:04
snow. When
18:07
he comes back, you'll be sorry. Wart
18:10
snorts and turns away,
18:12
then another corpse, then
18:15
another. One
18:17
by one, the corpses trail back to
18:19
the village, a slow-moving
18:22
band of wizened bodies bent
18:24
against the wind. Here's
18:27
the thing about oblivion.
18:31
The longer you hang around the maw, the
18:34
more insistently it calls. I
18:37
find myself edging nearer, my
18:40
bare toes pushing up crushed
18:42
ice. They look like frozen
18:45
grapes, the nails shiny-swollen. Simon,
18:51
I say, gentle. His
18:54
little spine stays ramrod straight. He'll
18:58
come back? I said so.
19:01
Then, defiantly, Skullbone
19:03
never breaks a promise. Now,
19:24
let's get back to our story. Before
19:31
Skullbone braved the living lands, he
19:33
yearned to bring darkness to the
19:35
dead. For here,
19:38
the midnight sun shines always
19:40
overhead, shadows never
19:42
lengthen, and days never
19:45
pass. That
19:47
light perpetual weary is the dead
19:49
like winter. Its rays
19:52
strike the snow petalously, the
19:54
chill is the pokeryl. So
19:57
Skullbone searched the after-death's
19:59
far reaching emptiness for
20:02
darkness. The
20:04
ocean he besieged, to
20:06
the wind he pleaded, but though
20:08
he crossed from horizon to horizon,
20:11
he found neither shadow nor gloom
20:13
nor pall. At
20:16
last he came to the mountains.
20:19
Blankly they regarded him, bearded
20:21
with the snow and cragged with
20:24
the winds ravaging. Have
20:27
you any darkness among your
20:29
roots? asked Skullbone. The
20:33
mountains said, dig.
20:39
We bring nothing into the living
20:41
world, and it is certain we
20:44
carry nothing out. With
20:46
only his bare hands, Skullbone thrust
20:48
his fingers into frozen earth. Still
20:51
by little he tunneled under the
20:54
mountain, wriggling forward like a worm.
20:57
How long, Skullbone dug, I cannot
20:59
say, but how familiar
21:01
it felt, the wet earth
21:04
papped around his nostrils and his
21:06
fingernails clawing stones from his path.
21:11
Far from the sky's blue
21:13
stare, beneath the mountains' roots
21:15
there nestled a patch of
21:17
darkness. Skullbone
21:20
cupped it in his hands, and
21:22
carefully he bellied from the tunnel.
21:26
Once outside, he put one eye to
21:28
a crack in his fingers. The
21:31
darkness rested safe within.
21:35
News of the darkness soon spread,
21:37
and corpses lined up nearly to
21:39
the maw for the chance to
21:42
peek into Skullbone's clasped hands. Far
21:45
did a single look content them. Again
21:48
and again they returned until
21:50
Skullbone's temper frayed. I
21:53
can't stand here for eternity,
21:56
can I? He
21:58
snapped, but the corpse Houses
22:00
wailed as he turned to leave,
22:02
their dead fingers clutched at his
22:04
elbows, his hair, his ankles. When
22:07
he leaped, they followed. In
22:10
a fit of peek, Skullbone hurled
22:12
the darkness overhead, saying, See
22:15
it then! For
22:17
an instant, it blotted out even
22:19
the midnight sun, and all the dead
22:22
stood in the shadow of the grave.
22:26
But then it burned away
22:29
like mist, and
22:32
only the light remained.
22:38
A long time after I reclaimed my
22:40
seat, Simon slouches in.
22:43
No one glances at him as he slinks
22:45
between the chairs and tables. Bart
22:48
pretends not to hear when he asks for
22:50
a drink, sighing, I
22:53
signal for an extra beaker. Where
22:57
you from, kid? Salt
23:00
and snow sparkle in his limp hair. The
23:03
maw! No, really. Really?
23:06
Okay. My voice
23:09
stays easy. What's it like
23:11
then? Nothing
23:14
passes over the kid's face. Not
23:17
a shadow, not precisely, but then
23:19
it's gone. Unease
23:22
steals through me again like
23:24
wind off the frozen sea.
23:27
But then he's shrugging. I
23:29
don't know. Kids. It's
23:33
nice, he ventures at last.
23:36
There's… there's stars
23:38
at night. They
23:41
got night times there. Night
23:44
time? Day time? The
23:47
kid starts kicking his legs against my chair.
23:50
Skullbone goes on adventures every day. And
23:53
if you're his friend, you
23:55
can come. And
23:57
Everyone's his friend. It
24:00
does. No. One
24:03
cares. He sucks is lower lip.
24:06
They. Got all the games I played
24:08
before and no one says it's not
24:11
your turn. No. One's mean
24:13
at all and they got you.
24:15
Know those like. Candy
24:17
tubes. My fingers
24:19
a suddenly. What?
24:21
I wouldn't give sell hack.
24:24
Asked for one hour with
24:26
a piano. Have
24:29
consciously I press an old
24:31
favorite on my thighs: Haydn's
24:33
Surprise Symphony. Sometimes.
24:37
I want to wish. For. Wanting to
24:39
here to do. They
24:41
not. Use it. I
24:44
ask seeming nonchalance. She
24:47
got every says. Melodies
24:49
surge up inside like ice
24:52
crash upon the so. Mumbling,
24:55
An excuse I wonder to a group
24:58
on the taverns our side. Their
25:00
retelling skull bone bringing the
25:03
darkness. but the words rush
25:05
past my fingers, marks half
25:07
remembered phrases across my skin,
25:09
dancing of patterns I can
25:12
almost taste. And
25:15
walk out into the brilliant
25:17
like. stumbling, single minded, scarcely
25:19
watching my step, but. I'm
25:22
not surprised when I reached the
25:24
mall. Empty.
25:27
Voracious, he teases
25:29
back. Cooley,
25:32
I scoop a chunk of ice from the
25:35
ground and hurl it is. Nothing
25:38
happens. Of course, it
25:41
vanishes, disappearing forever in
25:43
a starry night. A
25:46
swell of music. Scraping
25:50
behind me. Worked
25:52
clears his throat, looking sheepish.
25:56
What? Are you doing here? Due
26:00
Diligence Six I try to
26:02
laugh. War doesn't
26:04
buy it for a moment.
26:06
He stands on tiptoes peering
26:08
over the edge in his
26:10
face clouds over. Kids
26:13
tells a good story but skull
26:16
bones? Just a ferry to. Yeah.
26:20
Ease. And the
26:23
dead, We got nothing but
26:25
stars. Easy to
26:27
see how this one could get out of.
26:31
Still, fairy tales have an
26:33
annoying habit of being true.
26:54
Long before skull bones found darkness
26:56
and of the mountains there was
26:58
another corpse with a story he
27:00
covered. Her. Tail remembered whole
27:03
from the land of the
27:05
list. Try those
27:07
go bone might He could not
27:09
persuade the corpse to part with
27:11
her stores tight lipped see kept
27:14
it to ourselves and not a
27:16
more Sullivan did. she slipped into
27:18
another tests. I'll
27:20
sell it. She. Said. Oh
27:24
for the right price. Diverse.
27:27
Hundred thousand stories threaded through
27:29
my marrow. Said. Scott
27:32
know Hundred thousand. Poland
27:34
is besides summer truth
27:36
all our reach. What?
27:39
Will you take forest? The
27:42
other corpse smiled. A
27:44
glass of wine. Only.
27:46
Salt water flowed in the Land of
27:48
the Dead. But. School Bone
27:50
gathered beakers from the village
27:52
has and strode on to
27:54
this. when he returned the
27:56
other corpse scoffed. Months
27:59
know. The water for this tales.
28:02
Is is not fermented yet.
28:05
And scope bone placed speakers in
28:07
the windows size. Each.
28:09
Time he passed, he adjusted
28:11
their position and shook limits
28:13
just so. Other
28:16
corpse watched. Ten.
28:19
Friends and eventually asked. What?
28:22
Now. They. Must rest in
28:24
the snow snow. You know nothing
28:26
about the wine of the Dead.
28:29
Embarrass. The corpse helped him
28:31
bury the beaters in a snow bank. They.
28:34
Are they list while school bone
28:36
ignored. You. Mustn't
28:38
look at them at this stage.
28:41
He said seats. Nas.
28:44
You know, The. Other
28:46
courts averted her eyes. But
28:49
at last school bone uncovered his
28:51
beakers. While. The corpse
28:53
watched a stoned it's t whispered
28:55
to them seat spice when he
28:58
finished. He. Raised a beaker to
29:00
his. Remember.
29:03
Only true story tellers can
29:05
taste my wine. The
29:08
court sees another. Let
29:11
me try. But
29:13
those you drink and ranks coldness
29:15
and salt only met her tongue.
29:18
The trickster corpse tilted his head.
29:21
Was it. To. Your liking.
29:25
She. Hesitated. Of
29:28
course he went off the
29:30
richer the tails, the rich
29:33
other body. It.
29:35
Was. Wonderful see
29:37
croaked. He smiled.
29:40
Then. I'll have my.
29:44
Duly sold. Truly
29:46
top. Once. He had
29:48
learned her tail be shared it freely
29:51
among the dead. You've. heard
29:53
too so we shall test
29:55
another tough Home
30:11
again, home again. If
30:14
I were living, I'd say that
30:17
days passed, but there's no time
30:19
in the after-death, only
30:21
eternity. Hers
30:24
is an asymptotic existence, nearing
30:27
the day after forever, never
30:30
actually arriving. I
30:33
try to forget, Simon,
30:35
to scrape the possibility
30:37
of skull bone from my mind. Since
30:40
there isn't a stick of furniture in
30:43
my hut, I lie flat on my
30:45
back and watch the light play across
30:47
the corrugated tin ceiling. After
30:50
my breath, I hum a mass
30:52
that haunts me like a ghost. D
30:55
minor. But I don't
30:57
have perfect pitch and no way
31:00
to tune myself. If
31:02
I could cry, I would.
31:06
I sit up, rub my dry
31:08
eyes, curse myself once
31:11
or twice, and then amble
31:13
back to the tavern. Simon
31:16
sits in a corner by himself, staring
31:18
across the ice. When
31:21
he sees me, he straightens with
31:23
a guilty shiver. No
31:26
time to waste words. Corpses
31:30
jump into the maw all the time,
31:32
I say. How'd
31:34
you manage to climb out? He
31:38
shrugs. Sighing,
31:40
I lower my voice. You
31:45
heading back to the maw soon? What's
31:49
your name again? Haydn.
31:53
Was that your living name? No.
31:57
I Fail to keep the bitterness out. I'm
32:00
afraid Skull Bone hasn't shared mine with
32:03
me. Simon.
32:05
Stands up against his
32:07
cloud gray face. His
32:09
eyes are wide and
32:11
dark. Miniature maus. Then
32:14
he offers his hand. For
32:17
a moment. I stay the
32:19
rigor Mortis rigid, cold inside
32:21
and out. Sized
32:24
as a piano with cut
32:26
streets, Simon doesn't flinch at
32:28
my scouts, doesn't turn away.
32:31
Just leaves. His hand. Against
32:35
my better judgment when you it.
33:00
Let's. Get back to our stores. In
33:07
the earliest days of his death,
33:09
School Bone made a bet that
33:11
he could tell a story to
33:13
fill eternity. Once.
33:15
Upon a Time. He said.
33:18
There was acquired naming
33:20
the skull bones t
33:22
know a story that
33:24
could fill eternity. This
33:27
is how it went.
33:30
Once upon a time it's there
33:33
was a corpse named Scumbag Steve
33:35
know a story that could see
33:37
his eternity. See is how we
33:40
at least once upon a time
33:42
there was a false names come
33:44
on steam new story that to
33:47
sell eternity. This is how it
33:49
went. He didn't
33:51
tell it further everyone had
33:53
guess the anti. P.
33:57
won the bet know As
34:06
we stagger over plunging cracks
34:08
and wind-sculpted ridges, I
34:10
croon to Simon what I can remember. Symphonies,
34:14
oratorios, half a
34:16
concerto. My fingers tense
34:18
and release where they should, but
34:21
the phrases start and stutter and
34:23
stop like a failing heart. Like
34:26
mine did, maybe. The
34:29
wind flings loose snow into my eyes.
34:32
It stings my bloodless lips. To
34:35
every side the ice stretches
34:37
gleaming to the horizons. Heads
34:39
bowed against the keening gales
34:41
we stagger through barrenness. Here's
34:45
the thing about the after death. When
34:48
you first get here, you're relieved.
34:51
This is it? This is death? Okay.
34:55
This is okay. This you
34:57
can handle. Other corpses
35:00
for stories and chat, seawater
35:02
to sip. Cold
35:04
as the devil's ass crack, but hey, we're
35:07
dead. Chills as
35:09
natural to us as warmth
35:11
to the living. But
35:14
when that sun doesn't set, when
35:17
you rouse yourself and the
35:19
same stories droning on, and
35:22
the ice and mountains crowd
35:24
like claustrophobia made manifest, you
35:26
realize this is it. This
35:32
is death. Or worse, this
35:34
is what comes after. Be
35:37
grateful. It's not total oblivion we
35:39
tell each other. But
35:42
sometimes I wonder, isn't
35:45
this oblivion too? The
35:49
maw's blank indifference weakens my
35:51
knees. The wind roars
35:54
over it, offended by its
35:56
gaping negative space, Hand
35:59
slipping free from sight. humans grip.
36:01
I need to see a stray
36:03
I spell. it's cascade into the
36:05
abyss. Should
36:08
we wait? I ask? Simon.
36:12
Shuffles. Yeah. Fine.
36:15
By me. Nice to
36:17
chest. I sit on the wind
36:19
ruff and ice, stare into the
36:21
void. likes I'll glimpse angelic choirs
36:23
on the far side, but the
36:26
mas emptiness sets my head spinning
36:28
so I retreat a little rest
36:30
my eyes on the thin greece.
36:34
Simon's. On site. His
36:37
shoulders slumped. Chin
36:39
up kid, I say. Even
36:41
this hope sinks in my
36:44
chest. Okay,
36:46
He whispers. For
36:49
a long, long period. We
36:52
wish. Just the to
36:54
us sitting at the end it into
36:56
the unknown. The
36:58
wind shreds our dead skin is.
37:01
Peaceful and patient. The dead may
37:03
rest, but. Not fools.
37:07
The. Capsizing ceiling in my belly
37:09
strengths by the time Simon
37:11
sidles away from me. I
37:14
know. He's
37:19
Not coming. Simon. Shakes.
37:22
His head. But. Incest
37:24
as feast. I'm
37:27
not. Did
37:30
you make the whole thing up? It
37:33
was a good story he whispers.
37:36
Was a A. Legend
37:42
has it that Skull Bones was
37:44
the first courts to walk this
37:46
frozen waste. But. That's
37:48
most. See. Wasn't
37:50
a fucking homo erectus. was
37:53
a. Square. do you
37:55
draw the line anyway it
37:57
all these australopithecus go somewhere
37:59
else But the story
38:01
goes like this anyway. Once
38:04
upon a time, well beyond the
38:06
mountains of the dead, there lived
38:08
a man. He lived,
38:11
he loved, and then he
38:13
died. And
38:15
he ended up here, mottled
38:18
gray feet flat to the snow,
38:21
liver mortise flush reddening his
38:23
jawline and the undersides of
38:25
his arms. The
38:28
first of all corpses wandered a
38:30
senseless path through the snow and
38:32
found only a frozen sea, a
38:34
clutch of hovels and the great
38:36
maw opening like a hellmouth in
38:39
the middle of it all. He
38:42
wasn't a trickster then. He
38:44
was just a man, now
38:47
dead. He cried
38:49
for his mother, his
38:51
grandmother. He shouted at the
38:53
wind and the mountains until his voice
38:55
rasped to silence. Nothing
38:58
changed. Nothing ever
39:01
changed. But
39:04
eventually we named
39:06
him Skullbone. We
39:08
told all sorts of stories about
39:10
him. They
39:13
kept us going more than anything
39:15
else, lent meaning to
39:17
the emptiness, connected
39:19
us each to each,
39:22
and nerved our hearts to
39:24
take that final step into
39:27
whatever follows next.
39:31
And maybe he never existed.
39:35
Probably he didn't. Maybe in
39:38
the end, that doesn't matter
39:40
as much as the fact that
39:42
the stories do. Silence.
39:58
Even The wind dropped. the down. Waiting.
40:01
For me to snap. But.
40:03
I edge nearer the more my
40:06
toes caressing the I still and.
40:09
Simon. Stay safely distance. His
40:12
hands thrust deep into the pockets
40:14
of his neon shorts. I'm
40:17
sorry. He whispers i just.
40:20
I really wanted. You.
40:23
Wanted it to be true. That.
40:26
Least dead hearts. Can't.
40:29
Breathe. Blue. Sky
40:31
above black mark below.
40:35
My. Toes curl into the
40:37
snow digs. Test.
40:41
Watch. Out Simon says.
40:44
But. No one falls into the
40:46
moth. Not. Really? That's
40:49
the thing about the after death. We
40:52
largely don't choose. when we entered.
40:55
But I think all of us choose
40:57
when we. Turn
40:59
as he. Islam and all
41:02
space. I glance
41:04
over my shoulder. You
41:06
can't Simon says and
41:09
certainly a it wasn't
41:11
real. That
41:13
doesn't mean it's not true.
41:16
Simon shivers and shudders chewing
41:19
his lip. With a smile,
41:21
I offer my hand. For.
41:24
A moment he stays
41:26
there. Rigor mortis switched
41:29
site is the snow.
41:32
This possibly against is
41:35
better judgment. He
41:37
takes. Music
41:39
buzzes at my lips as we
41:42
stand at the moment. Age. Or
41:45
requiem. Is
41:48
have to laugh. I'd
41:50
expect nothing less. For
41:53
any. I ask simon. Now
42:03
and year among the dead, our
42:06
fairy tales and and to be
42:08
guess. Be
42:11
to. Say.
42:23
T tells a hell of a story.
42:26
Don't. Think. I
42:29
love. Stories about
42:32
storytelling. I
42:34
think. The Princess Bride
42:36
has gotta be in my top
42:38
three favorite stories about storytelling and
42:41
this one is. This
42:43
was in the top five. I
42:46
love this story. I love kitties
42:48
use of language. It's. On.
42:52
It's. It's flowery.
42:55
But. It's absolutely appropriate to
42:57
the subject. Ten
42:59
that the characters scold them
43:01
as the kids that the
43:04
bartender. I mean, these. These
43:06
are characters that really just
43:08
sprung up the page for
43:10
me. I mean
43:12
I I. I absolutely love the idea
43:14
of. Stories. And
43:17
storytelling being the currency in
43:19
this after world. And
43:21
the idea that you know
43:24
the story may not be
43:26
real, but it doesn't mean
43:28
it's not true. Because.
43:31
There is this
43:34
unspoken contract between
43:36
storyteller and story
43:38
listener. And
43:41
yes your we can You
43:43
know have to shout our
43:45
stories into the void. Weekend.
43:49
We can yell into the
43:51
mom but. What
43:53
satisfaction is there in the
43:55
past? The.
43:58
point of be alive
44:01
or in this case dead
44:04
is to have
44:06
community to
44:08
share something of value each
44:13
to each they say
44:15
each to each and
44:19
for me that's the magic of
44:22
storytelling it's
44:27
best enjoyed in
44:29
the company of others that's
44:33
why I do this because
44:35
I love the idea of sharing
44:38
stories that I love
44:41
with people that I love
44:45
and you all are certainly among
44:48
that number in
44:50
any case while we are here
44:52
in the land of the
44:55
living I
44:57
will go on reading stories to
45:00
you because
45:04
that's my story and
45:06
I'm sticking to it my
45:22
thanks today to KT Briski for allowing
45:24
me to read their story if
45:27
you enjoyed it please check out
45:29
lots more of KT short fiction
45:31
and novels and scripts at
45:34
KT briski.com
45:37
our producer on this episode of LeVar
45:40
Burton reads is Julia Smith
45:42
she is the best in the business
45:44
y'all our fabulous researchers LD
45:46
Lewis always happy to have you
45:48
aboard my sister we had
45:50
additional research support this season from
45:53
Talon Stradley and Josephine Marjorana theme
45:55
music by the extraordinary Editing
45:59
And. The design courtesy of
46:01
the fantastic skills of Mr. Casey
46:03
Horford. If you
46:06
enjoy this podcast, sleep, tell a friend
46:08
about it or leave us a review
46:10
on Apple Podcasts. Like I say, share
46:12
the short fiction. Well, The
46:16
Barber To is a production of
46:18
Sitter and Levar Burton Entertainment or
46:20
executive producers are Josephine More her
46:22
on us and yours truly Love
46:25
Arbor And if you want find
46:27
me on the internet time Lavar.burden
46:29
on Instagram at Levar Burton on
46:32
As for you can simply go
46:34
to the Barberton.and also join my
46:36
book club at Sable Dot C
46:39
O Last of our I'll see
46:41
you next time. Be.
47:05
I it's Levar Burton. I've got a
47:07
brand new podcast called Sound Detectives. It's
47:09
a comedy adventure about the magic and
47:12
mystery of sound and it's fun for
47:14
the whole family. In this world, Sounds
47:16
have gone mysteriously missing. Follow Detective Hundred
47:18
and his sidekick Audi. Be here as
47:21
the track them down and find the
47:23
nefarious sounds. Mint or with a little
47:25
help from me. Love! You can listen
47:27
to Sound Detectives on Sirius Xm, Pandora,
47:30
or wherever you get your podcasts. And
47:32
don't forget to follow the show so
47:34
you never. Miss an episode. Sound
47:37
good to you. Sounds great to me.
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