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Source: collected/019-from-between-the-woodsman.mp3
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00:00:00.140 Speaker 1 Hello,
00:00:18.600 Speaker 1 traveler. I am Second Mask, purveyor of
00:00:24.360 Speaker 1 secrets, master of mysteries, and right hand to the Revealer
00:00:29.720 Speaker 1 herself.
00:00:32.840 Speaker 1 Whether you realize it or not, you are under her dominion.
00:00:39.220 Speaker 1 All of these collected worlds are hers. But
00:00:45.680 Speaker 1 fear not, because she and I are generous souls. We
00:00:51.440 Speaker 1 seek only to reveal the many secrets her worlds have to offer.
00:00:58.640 Speaker 1 Ah, I am so glad to see the travelers flitting about again between
00:01:04.440 Speaker 1 worlds, sowing and revealing secrets. And in honor of this
00:01:10.120 Speaker 1 momentous occasion, I will be hosting an auction, an auction
00:01:15.920 Speaker 1 unlike any you have seen before, for I will be selling secrets.
00:01:22.260 Speaker 1 Take this book, for instance. There is nothing like it in all the Eternium.
00:01:28.700 Speaker 1 Like everything at this auction, it has a story. The best secrets are
00:01:34.120 Speaker 1 stories, don't you think? The man who sold this to me did so at great
00:01:40.200 Speaker 1 cost to himself. I took ten years from his life simply to remove the memory
00:01:46.220 Speaker 1 of it. His own frantic notes are scrawled on the front cover. See, you can see them
00:01:52.060 Speaker 1 here. Ah, but you're made of tougher stuff than he, aren't you? I'm sure you have
00:01:57.220 Speaker 1 nothing to fear. And in the spirit of celebration and generosity, I will
00:02:03.140 Speaker 1 read it to you at no cost.
00:02:07.320 Speaker 1 You have no body at present, so relax your mind instead and listen to
00:02:14.540 Speaker 1 The Woodsman.
00:02:18.140 Speaker 1 My name isn't important. Who I am isn't important.
00:02:24.180 Speaker 1 The only thing that matters is a single question. Read it carefully, then read it
00:02:30.240 Speaker 1 again. Is it better to live a tortured existence
00:02:36.440 Speaker 1 or to not exist at all?
00:02:40.000 Speaker 1 This isn't an academic question. It matters. It matters because you
00:02:45.700 Speaker 1 have to decide right now. I couldn't live with the weight of that question.
00:02:52.220 Speaker 1 I'm sorry. I just couldn't do it alone. So I wrote here.
00:02:59.960 Speaker 1 I tried. I really tried. If you change the words,
00:03:06.320 Speaker 1 lifeless. If you stop halfway, lifeless.
00:03:12.580 Speaker 1 I understand if you hate me too after reading this, but you need to decide.
00:03:20.360 Speaker 1 Is it better to live a tortured existence or to not exist at all?
00:03:27.380 Speaker 1 If you choose oblivion, then simply stop reading.
00:03:35.340 Speaker 1 The Woodsman. I'm walking down the street, holding my arms over my head to
00:03:41.220 Speaker 1 try and stop the falling rain from soaking my dress.
00:03:45.220 Speaker 2 Why are we out here exactly?
00:03:48.320 Speaker 3 We're out here because I have four daughters and not a single one of them is
00:03:53.040 Speaker 3 married.
00:03:54.700 Speaker 2 So?
00:03:56.200 Speaker 3 So, there.
00:03:58.320 Speaker 2 Is that the Woodsman? Why is he just sitting here?
00:04:02.740 Speaker 1 He looks pensive and sort of sad.
00:04:06.140 Speaker 3 Who knows? It doesn't matter. The point is he's sitting there and you are the
00:04:12.080 Speaker 3 pretty young girl he's been dying to talk to.
00:04:15.700 Speaker 1 I don't believe her. I've never even talked to him, unless you count a polite nod
00:04:21.040 Speaker 1 when he wanders into the general store, stinking from his work mapping the forests.
00:04:27.400 Speaker 2 He's Papa's age.
00:04:29.860 Speaker 3 He is not. And he's far more handsome than your papa, so consider yourself lucky.
00:04:35.800 Speaker 1 I resent the way she said that. I hate how she always makes me feel like I'm a
00:04:40.680 Speaker 1 burden, even when I do what she asks. I almost walk away, risking her wrath,
00:04:46.660 Speaker 1 but something stops me. He looks so sad over there.
00:04:52.700 Speaker 1 It would be getting dark soon.
00:04:56.320 Speaker 1 No one should have to sit alone in the rain and in the dark.
00:05:02.360 Speaker 1 I sigh and steel myself.
00:05:04.520 Speaker 2 [sighs] He never talks to anyone. What if he's
00:05:10.840 Speaker 2 weird?
00:05:12.180 Speaker 3 Oh, goodness, girl. It's just a conversation. And he's not weird. He's
00:05:17.880 Speaker 3 just tired of his lifestyle, I think. You're the perfect thing to cheer him up.
00:05:24.640 Speaker 2 Fine.
00:05:26.360 Speaker 1 It wasn't fine, but what was I going to do? Run away to Temit's Ville and
00:05:32.300 Speaker 1 work the fields? Never.
00:05:35.920 Speaker 1 As I walk over to the Woodsman, my mother flees with surprising haste. She had a
00:05:41.280 Speaker 1 smile on her face, though, so regardless of how bad I botch this conversation, at
00:05:46.480 Speaker 1 least she will be pleased for a while. Maybe she'll even wait a few more days before
00:05:51.300 Speaker 1 introducing me to the next love of my life. Maybe.
00:05:56.580 Speaker 1 The Woodsman is sitting on a large stump with various equipment strewn about the
00:06:00.720 Speaker 1 ground next to him. Among the equipment is a crossbow. I wonder what that's for.
00:06:06.700 Speaker 1 Wolves?
00:06:08.960 Speaker 1 He's still staring off into the woods that surround the clearing around our village.
00:06:13.460 Speaker 1 It's like we're living on a little island of grass inside a great big sea of trees.
00:06:19.200 Speaker 1 "Good evening." The woodsman doesn't reply. I look
00:06:24.900 Speaker 1 around, feeling awkward. How annoying. Well, I'm at least
00:06:30.720 Speaker 1 going to get him to tell me to piss off. It's one thing to be turned down and
00:06:35.320 Speaker 1 another entirely to be ignored. I sit down on the stump next to him. He'll talk
00:06:41.259 Speaker 1 eventually. We can't ignore each other forever.
00:06:45.660 Speaker 1 To my surprise, he does speak. "Why am I just sitting here in the rain? Shouldn't
00:06:51.700 Speaker 1 I be doing something? It's such a strange place to start." For some reason,
00:06:58.320 Speaker 1 those questions catch me off guard for a moment. Not that I mind skipping the formal
00:07:03.100 Speaker 1 pleasantries of a greeting. It can get tiresome asking how another person is doing
00:07:08.540 Speaker 1 when it's plain to see that they are sitting sullenly in the rain looking at a
00:07:12.440 Speaker 1 gloomy forest. He probably hates spending so much time in there. "I don't
00:07:18.400 Speaker 1 think anyone will blame you for waiting until the rain lets up, sir. It's dreadful
00:07:22.700 Speaker 1 weather to be mucking about in those woods." He turns to me with a strange
00:07:27.120 Speaker 1 expression. Is that pity? "It's so short.
00:07:32.960 Speaker 1 Why is it so short?" I don't respond to his strange questions. I did interrupt his
00:07:38.880 Speaker 1 brooding after all. It wouldn't be right for me to interrupt a person's thoughts and
00:07:43.500 Speaker 1 then complain that I don't understand. He shivers and I notice how chill the air has
00:07:49.080 Speaker 1 become. Before long, I'm shivering too. "I'll go get us some warm cider."
00:07:55.560 Speaker 1 I spoke too cheerfully. Lord, am I terrible at this. How does one make
00:08:01.200 Speaker 1 conversation? Isn't it just supposed to happen or not happen?
00:08:07.460 Speaker 1 Mother has gone baby crazy. She sees perfect matches in the most unlikely suitors.
00:08:13.620 Speaker 1 She'll be setting me up with the mop before long on account of its beautiful thick
00:08:18.220 Speaker 1 hair.
00:08:20.900 Speaker 1 Still, I look over at the chiseled rough features of the woodsman.
00:08:26.400 Speaker 1 Perhaps she wasn't completely wrong about him. "There isn't time for cider.
00:08:32.280 Speaker 1 There's never time for cider." Is he pouting? Yes,
00:08:38.260 Speaker 1 he's definitely pouting. "Oh, come now. It's just inside the bunkhouse.
00:08:44.240 Speaker 1 My uncles have it warmed already. I'll be back in just a few minutes, and then the
00:08:47.800 Speaker 1 two of us can gaze into the woods with cider." The woodsman cracks a smile.
00:08:53.740 Speaker 1 "We're cursed, you know. My curse is to remember."
00:09:00.660 Speaker 1 I smile too. I don't know what game he's playing, but if he thinks I'm some dull
00:09:06.000 Speaker 1 girl who would be frightened by his stories from the woods, he is sorely mistaken.
00:09:10.960 Speaker 1 "Oh? Then what's my curse?" His smile fades.
00:09:17.780 Speaker 1 Then he points into the darkness between the towering trees. "They kill the others,
00:09:23.980 Speaker 1 but they always take you. You scream for death, but it never comes.
00:09:30.520 Speaker 1 Or if it does, it comes long after mine. They will take you,
00:09:36.720 Speaker 1 shape you,
00:09:38.800 Speaker 1 break you. They will smear you into themselves." He laughs
00:09:44.860 Speaker 1 a dark, cynical laugh. Then he continues. "Forgive me,
00:09:51.720 Speaker 1 but I can't listen to the screams anymore. When the time comes, I will leave.
00:09:58.420 Speaker 1 I suggest you do the same." The woodsman's words are strange and
00:10:03.960 Speaker 1 frightening in a way I don't expect. I don't really know what I expected to talk
00:10:09.820 Speaker 1 about when I came over to sit with him, but I hadn't expected this. But
00:10:15.820 Speaker 1 this, this echoes. It feels so
00:10:21.140 Speaker 1 familiar.
00:10:23.820 Speaker 1 I feel foolish, but I just want to run back to the bunkhouse now. I know it will
00:10:29.640 Speaker 1 make me look like the frightened girl that I pretended not to be, but I don't care.
00:10:36.600 Speaker 1 I just want to be in the light, in the warmth. I want to sing and dance and watch my
00:10:42.340 Speaker 1 uncles drink until they cannot stand, then laugh with the others as they are dragged
00:10:47.300 Speaker 1 away by their wives. "I have to go." It was a mistake to come talk to the
00:10:52.940 Speaker 1 woodsman. He is twice as weird as I feared he might be. Lesson learned. Time
00:10:58.980 Speaker 1 to go. "You won't make it." He puts a foot on his crossbow,
00:11:05.320 Speaker 1 drawing it back with a huff of exertion. Is he going to kill me? Panic shoots
00:11:11.060 Speaker 1 through me. No. No, he won't. And yet he doesn't seem right.
00:11:17.200 Speaker 1 This man isn't world-weary as Mother said. He's broken.
00:11:23.120 Speaker 1 He sees my expression and smiles with unexpected warmth. He sets the loaded crossbow
00:11:28.740 Speaker 1 back down at his feet. "This isn't for you, child, though I would shoot you
00:11:34.640 Speaker 1 with my only bolt if you asked." He looks down at the crossbow and shakes his head,
00:11:40.800 Speaker 1 smiling wryly. "It's so cruel that there is only one." "I,
00:11:47.580 Speaker 1 I don't understand." He begins speaking again as if he hadn't heard me. "I'd like a
00:11:52.540 Speaker 1 kiss next time, if you don't mind. I've never asked for that." My face flushes red
00:11:58.560 Speaker 1 and I nervously spread the wrinkles out of my dress. It's not like I haven't kissed
00:12:03.440 Speaker 1 boys, but they were boys. The woodsman is more than
00:12:09.160 Speaker 1 twice my age. Is this right? He said he wouldn't hurt me, but what will he
00:12:15.160 Speaker 1 do if I say no? He doesn't look like a violent man.
00:12:21.976 Speaker 2 You don't have to wait until next time. I could give you one now, on the cheek.
00:12:28.536 Speaker 1 I regret the words the moment I say them. I'm never thinking, always acting.
00:12:35.136 Speaker 1 Mother hates my impulsiveness, but she must have intended for something like this to
00:12:39.956 Speaker 1 happen. Had she really seen some potential chemistry between me and the strange
00:12:45.616 Speaker 1 man who spent as much time in the woods as he did in the village? On the cheek is
00:12:50.956 Speaker 1 fine. So I lean in and kiss his cheek. The hairs of his beard scratch
00:12:56.816 Speaker 1 against my face and I jerk back after leaving only a tiny peck. It was a nightmare.
00:13:03.616 Speaker 1 How many women, real women, has he kissed? Thank you.
00:13:10.196 Speaker 1 It's almost time. They'll be here soon. He lifts the crossbow and stares intently at
00:13:16.056 Speaker 1 the darkness of the woods all around our village. What is he looking for?
00:13:22.315 Speaker 1 A person? Multiple people? I whisper to him.
00:13:28.216 Speaker 2 Is there someone out there? Are we under attack?
00:13:32.056 Speaker 1 Yes. Yes? That's all he has to say?
00:13:36.676 Speaker 2 I have to go warn the others. We'll gather some men and make a fight of it. How
00:13:41.616 Speaker 2 many?
00:13:43.076 Speaker 1 Too many. And they aren't human. It doesn't matter, child. Just sit.
00:13:49.316 Speaker 1 So I stand up.
00:13:51.236 Speaker 2 No, I'm getting help. If we can't fight, we can run. We'll pack bare essentials and
00:13:57.036 Speaker 2 be gone within the hour. We can flee to Timmitsville. It's not twenty miles by the
00:14:02.136 Speaker 2 road.
00:14:03.056 Speaker 1 The woodsman shakes his head in frustration. Timmitsville is overrun,
00:14:09.056 Speaker 1 or soon will be. I've gone there before. There is no sanctuary. Just
00:14:15.016 Speaker 1 sit down. I am infuriated. Logically, I
00:14:20.476 Speaker 1 understand that the surest way to anger me is to command me against my will. And
00:14:26.016 Speaker 1 yet, I cannot stop the rage from building. Mother always says that I am stubborn.
00:14:33.396 Speaker 1 I prefer to think that I'm right.
00:14:37.216 Speaker 1 There is a cracking sound from within the woods, like the pop of a tree branch.
00:14:43.696 Speaker 1 The cracking doesn't stop. The sound of tortured wood grows louder.
00:14:49.956 Speaker 1 In the gloom of the coming night, I can see an entire tree go down, just a stone's
00:14:55.796 Speaker 1 throw into the woods.
00:14:57.936 Speaker 2 What was that?
00:14:59.476 Speaker 1 I'm torn between staying to see and fleeing to the safety of the village center.
00:15:05.216 Speaker 1 Unfortunately, it's time.
00:15:09.976 Speaker 1 I know you think I'm a coward, but, but I just can't listen to your screams anymore.
00:15:16.556 Speaker 1 Please just say you forgive me. He looks at me longingly. He's
00:15:22.076 Speaker 1 waiting for an answer.
00:15:24.916 Speaker 2 I forgive you.
00:15:27.496 Speaker 1 I don't know why I say it. Maybe because he looks like he needs me to say it.
00:15:33.956 Speaker 1 I don't understand his mind or what has fractured it this way. But if a few
00:15:39.776 Speaker 1 useless words will grant him some reprieve, who am I not to help? Thank you.
00:15:46.516 Speaker 1 I thought I was supposed to protect you. But that doesn't make sense. Then I thought
00:15:52.376 Speaker 1 I was supposed to give you answers. The way he speaks, it's like he's reading the
00:15:58.176 Speaker 1 script from a play. He delivers his lines like he's trying to get them over with.
00:16:04.236 Speaker 1 I want to ask him a strange question, but I can't bring myself to speak the words.
00:16:10.436 Speaker 1 What's come over me? But if that's my purpose here, I failed you.
00:16:18.056 Speaker 1 I gave up a long time ago. Then, with a smooth, practiced
00:16:24.016 Speaker 1 motion, he puts the crossbow to his temple and pulls the trigger. Blood
00:16:30.196 Speaker 1 splatters both of us. It isn't much, not really. Only a little gets on my
00:16:36.056 Speaker 1 dress. I stare down at the little red dots, unable to think.
00:16:42.576 Speaker 1 His body falls over and rolls a few feet down the hill. That's
00:16:49.416 Speaker 1 when I start screaming. I tear at my dress, trying to rip the bloody parts away.
00:16:55.576 Speaker 1 It doesn't work, so I scramble to my feet to get away from his body. Another crack
00:17:00.816 Speaker 1 in the forest, and another. My attention snaps from the horror of his body toward
00:17:06.756 Speaker 1 the tree line. Twisted shapes move in the almost darkness at the edge of the forest.
00:17:14.296 Speaker 1 The question I wanted to ask the woodsman comes unbidden to my mind.
00:17:20.736 Speaker 1 Are we real?
00:17:25.136 Speaker 1 Am I real?
00:17:27.536 Speaker 1 It's a silly question on the surface. I feel. I hurt. I
00:17:33.296 Speaker 1 experience. But if we're real, why do you keep doing this
00:17:39.556 Speaker 1 to me? I don't understand.
00:17:44.156 Speaker 1 I am caught off guard by a moan. It's a thing making a low, sad sound.
00:17:50.796 Speaker 1 And I can see it. Even with the dim light of the cloudy evening
00:17:56.636 Speaker 1 sky, I can see it. It's almost human, like a
00:18:02.576 Speaker 1 child has taken a person and squeezed it between their hands. It
00:18:08.616 Speaker 1 is as if the body were clay. Crossbow bolts cover it like porcupine
00:18:14.416 Speaker 1 quills. It's pulling itself by its misshapen arms through the grass and up the hill
00:18:20.216 Speaker 1 toward the village. Toward me.
00:18:24.460 Speaker 1 The forest becomes a cacophony of splintering trees. Massive twisted
00:18:30.020 Speaker 1 creatures push aside the ancient trees as if they were mere twigs. A wall of
00:18:35.880 Speaker 1 moaning, writhing flesh pours from the forest. My
00:18:41.620 Speaker 1 mind is blank with fear. I am an animal, and my instincts get me off the
00:18:47.600 Speaker 1 ground and running. Not running anywhere in particular, just away. I
00:18:53.460 Speaker 1 run through the village. I am mindless. A girl greets me and steps into my path. I
00:18:59.240 Speaker 1 know her. I put my shoulder into her chest and knock her away without stopping. She
00:19:04.200 Speaker 1 lets out a single, wounded cry, but I am already gone, running out of the village
00:19:09.840 Speaker 1 and down the dirt path that leads to Temitzville.
00:19:13.860 Speaker 1 Behind me I hear a few panicked shouts and then a great crash. They are screaming.
00:19:20.640 Speaker 1 So many screams. My friends and family. I know them.
00:19:26.540 Speaker 1 And yet, I have no idea who they are. It's as if somebody told me
00:19:32.220 Speaker 1 everything about my life with them, but I can't remember any of it.
00:19:38.480 Speaker 1 Did you do that too?
00:19:42.200 Speaker 1 The screams and crashes die away behind me. My footfalls on the dirt path and my
00:19:47.800 Speaker 1 labored breaths are all I hear. I am surrounded by dense forest. It's
00:19:53.820 Speaker 1 twenty miles to Temitzville. I hear a moan on the narrow path ahead of me, the
00:19:59.840 Speaker 1 cracks of breaking tree limbs in the distance. In every direction.
00:20:06.400 Speaker 1 It's twenty miles to Temitzville, but it may as well not exist.
00:20:12.560 Speaker 1 I'm exhausted. I kneel in the dirt and hang my head. I can't
00:20:18.220 Speaker 1 fight my fate anymore. I want to. I would fight.
00:20:24.760 Speaker 1 But it's as if you compel me towards this same ending.
00:20:30.980 Speaker 1 A tower of human bodies, all stuck together, writhes its way down the dirt path.
00:20:37.780 Speaker 1 Their bodies are so misshapen, but it's clear who they are. I don't want
00:20:43.820 Speaker 1 to look. I cover my face and throw myself onto the ground. Please,
00:20:50.700 Speaker 1 stop reading. Can you hear me? Don't let them do this to me again.
00:20:58.380 Speaker 1 The creature is so close to me. I look up at it. I have to.
00:21:05.000 Speaker 1 There are others like it surrounding me in every direction. Slowly,
00:21:10.640 Speaker 1 slowly moving their bloated bodies on twisted masses of limbs. And they are all
00:21:17.860 Speaker 1 me. Every single one of them is me. I see the pain in their
00:21:23.540 Speaker 1 monstrous faces, sometimes as many as a dozen faces per body. They are all
00:21:29.500 Speaker 1 covered in crossbow bolts.
00:21:32.740 Speaker 1 How many times has the woodsman fired his only bolt in my defense?
00:21:39.720 Speaker 1 They don't want you to do this to me, but they are compelled. It's your
00:21:45.740 Speaker 1 fault. You're making this happen. I don't know how or why,
00:21:51.920 Speaker 1 but it's always you. Please, just stop reading.
00:21:57.920 Speaker 1 I can feel everything. I don't know if I'm real,
00:22:04.260 Speaker 1 but I'm real enough.
00:22:07.100 Speaker 1 I'm here.
00:22:09.520 Speaker 1 A single meaty appendage slaps my leg and pain like a fire rolls up my
00:22:15.520 Speaker 1 body. I hear the popping of bones as the creature sucks me into its mass.
00:22:21.760 Speaker 1 I scream and nothing comes out. Why won't you stop it? Why won't you stop
00:22:27.780 Speaker 1 reading? I am being pulled apart. Why?
00:22:35.600 Speaker 1 I hate you.
00:22:46.640 Speaker 1 Welcome back. Now, was that mere novelty? Or something
00:22:52.580 Speaker 1 more? How does it work, do you think? So many
00:22:58.000 Speaker 1 secrets to uncover. You could have this book, and many things like it.
00:23:04.940 Speaker 1 Oh, but I have no payment, you are thinking. Be at ease.
00:23:10.940 Speaker 1 I don't want your money. I deal only in secrets.
00:23:16.960 Speaker 1 So, go now and find me some. Or miss out on a
00:23:22.660 Speaker 1 once-in-a-many-lifetimes event. An auction unlike any
00:23:28.400 Speaker 1 other. But be warned. When you
00:23:34.240 Speaker 1 bring your secrets, I will know what is true, what is embellished,
00:23:40.800 Speaker 1 and what is a lie.
00:23:44.300 Speaker 1 Until next time, traveler.
00:23:59.300 Speaker 1 Special thanks to our voice actors, Alfie Murray-Dudgeon, who played The Woodsman,
00:24:05.480 Speaker 1 and Christy Soutar, who played The Mother and The Girl. Her Twitter is
00:24:11.320 Speaker 1 LittleRedHen42, and there are links to the rest of her contact information in the
00:24:15.800 Speaker 1 show notes. And on a personal note, they were both absolute joys to work with.
00:24:22.960 Speaker 1 See you next time.