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Now, on

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to the show. This is

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Ria. Welcome to Little Stories for

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Tiny People. Before I get to

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this story, there's just one thing

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I have to do. As many

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of you will remember, my

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little studio is filled with

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lots of interesting things, like

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my cactus collection, and the

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remains of my antique

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teacup collection, my

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tower of breakable plates, and

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many other practical items. And

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also, my fireplace.

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Yes, I have a real

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fireplace inside my tiny little

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studio. I use it

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seasonally, of course, only when

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it gets unbearably cold in here. When

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I came in here yesterday, it was

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a bit chilly, but nothing I couldn't

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handle. But when I walked in just

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now, I realized, today's

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the day I must

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fire up the fireplace.

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Strike up the fireplace?

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Light the fire in the fireplace?

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I can't think of a catchy way to

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say this, so I will just say, it's

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time. freezing

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in here, people. My studio

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is like an icebox. I can't

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possibly tell you a story when

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I'm this cold. Especially when my

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hard metal stool is not just

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hard metal, but also ice

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cold metal. That's where I draw

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the line. So here

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we go. I'm just going to get

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a cozy fire going. Then I'll

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get right to the story. There

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we go. It's so cozy and

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warm. The feeling is slowly coming

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back into my hands and cheeks.

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Let's get to our story. It's

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called Little Hedgehog and the Ice

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Festival. Take it away, Marlo. Remember,

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there are no pictures. You have

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to imagine them in your mind.

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You can imagine them however you

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want. Okay, here we go. It

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was a Saturday night and

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Little Hedgehog and Phoebe were

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deep in concentration, making get

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well soon cards for their

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teacher, Mr. Lum Drum, who

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had to miss several days

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of school due to a broken

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foot. And maybe the first

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hedgehog to a broken foot while

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reading. To be fair,

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I was simultaneously when they

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heard a knock. Usually

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they would have popped up and

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darted to the front door, but

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they were each at critical junctures

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in their card making endeavors. I

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hope your dad gets the door,

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Little Hedgehog. Phoebe muttered as she

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tried to perfect the curl of

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her cursive G. Meet you,

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Little Hedgehog murmured as she placed

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a star sticker in one corner

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of her card. But the two

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tiny hedgehogs heard nothing coming from

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the kitchen, nor from

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Mr. Hedgehog's office. And whoever

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was trying to get their

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attention was insistent. Hmm,

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I guess we better go see who it is. All right. Reluctantly,

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they set down their

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cards and scampered through

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the burrow to the

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front door. Hellllllllloooo! Oh,

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Bebe! There's no one

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there. Curious, very curious. The

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two hedgehogs leaned out the

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doorway of Little Hedgehog's burrow

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and peered into the dark of the

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forest. All they could

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see were spindly, leafless trees. The

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glow of the moon from behind

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a haze of clouds and a

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moth fluttering through the air. Bebe,

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do you think it could have

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been that moth? I

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do not believe that moth could

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have produced the knocking sound we

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heard. Good point. They shrugged, closed

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the door, and scampered back to

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their work. Not one

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minute later, another knock

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pierced the silence. Little

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Hedgehog and Bebe exchanged a look.

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They both went still for a moment,

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wondering if they'd hear the sound

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of Mr. Hedgehog's paw steps. Instead,

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they heard him working on something in

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the next room. Where did I put

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my thesaurus? Bebe, why do you think

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my dad has not gone to the

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door yet? Given that we typically have

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to race to beat your dad to

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the door, I believe there could be

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one of two explanations. I'm

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listening. Mr.

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Hedgehog already knows who is at the

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door and wants us to answer the

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knocks for some unknown reason. Like

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a special surprise? Perhaps. Okay,

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what's your second possible explanation? Mr.

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Hedgehog is losing his hearing, a

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regrettable yet common development for hedgehogs

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of his age and activity level.

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Hmm. Regardless of the

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reason, Mr. Hedgehog did not

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emerge from his room and

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the knocking continues. continued.

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Well, I guess we should see if there's anyone there

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now. Okay. The

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two tiny hedgehogs scampered again to

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the burrow door, but when they

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creaked it open... Hello?

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Greetings. There was no one there.

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All they could see were the trees

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swaying in the midnight breeze, a sprinkling

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of stars in the sky, and

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a crow in a nearby tree. Baby,

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how can someone be knocking on the

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door when we are holding open the door and

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there is clearly no one knocking against it? Baby,

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is there an invisible creature knocking on the door

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of my burrow? Hello? Invisible

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creature? Are you

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there? Baby, blinked. Little

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hedgehog, I believe the knocking is coming

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from elsewhere in the burrow. I believe

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it may be coming from... your

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bedroom. Hmmm.

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Little hedgehog and Bebe scampered back

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down the hall. On the way

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there, they heard Mr. Hedgehog muttering

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to himself. Now where did I

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put my dictionary of idioms? Back

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in Little Hedgehog's room, the knocking

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was much louder. Bebe,

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how did we think that knocking

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was coming from the front door?

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I propose it was due to

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our strong association between knocking and

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the front door. Everyone

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expects knocking to originate from

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the front door, and it

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seems our sense perceptions were

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distorted due to our own

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expectations based on repeated experiences

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over time. Sounds plausible

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to me, Bebe. Indeed,

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the knocking was not coming

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from the front door of

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Little Hedgehog's burrow, but it

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was coming from the bookcase. Someone

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was knocking on the

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backside of Little Hedgehog's

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bookcase. Months earlier,

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Little Hedgehog and Beebe had

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discovered that behind the bookcase

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in question, there was a

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tunnel that led to an

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underground water recreation facility, as

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well as to a competitive

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diving arena. It was

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delightfully convenient to have an underground

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passageway located so close

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by. In the months

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since this discovery, the two

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tiny hedgehogs had witnessed a trail

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of ants travel into the tunnel,

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March past the prickly bears,

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March, March, March,

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past the prickly bears,

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toward this mysterious tunnel.

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But they'd never, not even

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once, witnessed anyone come

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out of it. It

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seemed that someone was trying to

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do just that. There

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is so much more to this

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story. You can

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hear the full episode

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by becoming a Little

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Stories Premium subscriber. Visit

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littlestoriespremium.com to join. Thank

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you, as always,

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for listening in.