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Totally Made Up Tales


Sep 2, 2016

Our fourth episode of Totally Made Up Tales, with more tales of wonder and mystery. Spread the word! Tell a friend!

 

Music: Creepy – Bensound.com.

 

Andrew:

Here are some totally made up tales. Brought to you by the magic of the internet.

 

James:

One

 

Andrew:

Day

 

James:

Elise

 

Andrew:

Held

 

James:

Her

 

Andrew:

Boyfriend

 

James:

Tightly

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Whispered

 

Andrew:

That

 

James:

She

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

Pregnant.

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Was

 

Andrew:

Surprised

 

James:

But

 

Andrew:

Delighted.

 

James:

Together

 

Andrew:

They

 

James:

Planned

 

Andrew:

For

 

James:

A

 

Andrew:

Home

 

James:

That

 

Andrew:

Would

 

James:

Welcome

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

New

 

Andrew:

Life.

 

James:

Painting

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Nursery

 

Andrew:

In

 

James:

Bright

 

Andrew:

Green

 

James:

With

 

Andrew:

Some

 

James:

Dinosaurs

 

Andrew:

On

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Walls.

 

James:

Building

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

Crib

 

Andrew:

Out

 

James:

Of

 

Andrew:

Ikea

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

Reading

 

James:

To

 

Andrew:

Each

 

James:

Other

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Day

 

Andrew:

Of

 

James:

Delivery

 

Andrew:

Arrived

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

They

 

James:

Took

 

Andrew:

Elise

 

James:

To

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Hospital,

 

Andrew:

Where

 

James:

She

 

Andrew:

Gave

 

James:

Birth

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

A

 

Andrew:

Healthy

 

James:

Baby

 

Andrew:

Dinosaur

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

End.

 

James:

This is the story of the Gamekeeper's Family.

 

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there lived a couple in a wood.

 

Andrew:

The husband was a gamekeeper at the local estate.

 

James:

His wife was a housekeeper for the same.

 

Andrew:

They had lived in their little cottage very happily for the last fifteen years.

 

James:

But ... they longed for a child.

 

Andrew:

They had tried many things, been to doctors, healers and priests but without success.

 

James:

They had traveled the world looking for witches that might be able to cure their barrenness, but all in vain.

 

Andrew:

After many years of searching and hoping, they had resigned themselves to their situation and were content to mind the children of their neighbours and fellow workers.

 

James:

But one day, as the gamekeeper walked home through the forest paths, he came across a basket.

 

Andrew:

Attached to the basket was a note, read, “please take care of me” and inside wrapped up in blankets there was a tiny baby.

 

James:

He rushed home to his wife to show her what he had found.

 

Andrew:

They spent a long time discussing whether or not it would be right for them to keep this child. Who had left it there and why?

 

James:

Eventually, they chose to consult the local vicar who assured them that with all of their experience helping to look after their neighbours' children and given that almost everyone else in the village already had children of their own, the right thing would be for them to keep it and raise it as their own.

 

Andrew:

This they did, with great success and a fine healthy young man was the product of their labours.

 

James:

They had named him Benjamin, after the wife's father and as Benjamin grew in stature, he also grew in the love given to him, not only by them but by others in the village. For everyone enjoyed his outgoing and pleasant company.

 

Andrew:

As the years passed the time came for him to take over his father's job as gamekeeper on the estate and this he did.

 

James:

He had spent his childhood growing up amongst the forest and knew how to look for the different types of woodland animal and also how to protect them. How best to defend them from poachers and so forth. And so, continuing the charm of his childhood as he started his job, he proved to be more than adept as a gamekeeper and was rapidly promoted until he became head gamekeeper.

 

Andrew:

After many years, his parents passed away in a peaceful old age and he moved back to the cottage where he had grown up.

 

James:

By this time, he was himself, married, although as with his parents, he and his wife Amelia, had not been able to have a child.

 

Andrew:

One day, while out walking in the estate, completing his rounds and jobs, Benjamin too came across a basket with a note attached.

 

James:

The note, as the note on his own basket, said “please take care of me” and inside was a tiny child that he took home to Amelia and which as with his parents before him, they decided it was right to adopt.

 

Andrew:

Now, the listener will not know that Benjamin's parents had not chosen to share with him the story of how they had found him in a cradle in the woods. And so, it did not occur to him that there was anything unusual about this coincidence.

 

James:

As Benjamin and Amelia's daughter, Susanna, grew, she also, much like Benjamin was much loved around the village and when it came time for her to start working, she took over Amelia's job as housekeeper, as Amelia had taken over the job of Benjamin's mother before her.

 

Andrew:

And so it was that this story played out from generation to generation. Susanna had a son named Robert. Robert had a daughter named Barbara. Barbara had a son named Tom.

 

James:

And always, down through the generations, the same jobs were passed from father to daughter, from daughter to son, across the generations, gamekeeper and housekeeper both.

 

Andrew:

But why? Why was it that these popular, lovable, outgoing people were never able to have children of their own? And where was it that the mysterious foundlings were coming from?

 

James:

For that, dear listener, we must go back to the first gamekeeper and housekeeper, Benjamin's parents, and see their story from another angle.

 

Andrew:

Once upon a time there was a magical forest where there dwelled many sprites and pixies.

 

James:

Chief among them was a fairy who had lived for many hundreds of years, spending her time looking after the non-magical creatures of the kingdom.

 

Andrew:

Now, many fairies have an ambiguous and complicated relationship with human beings, seeing them somewhat like a tree sees a fungus growing on its bark.

 

James:

At times, the fairy would help humans through stumbling difficulties in their lives, but at other times she would punish them for what she saw as a transgression against the magical forest.

 

Andrew:

She was, to our eyes, capricious in her whims. Sometimes kind, sometimes cruel.

 

James:

One day, the gamekeeper, while walking home through the forest spied a rogue pheasant which had somehow escaped from, as he thought, the forest that he managed.

 

Andrew:

What appeared to be a pheasant to his eyes, was in fact the fairy, wandering through her domain.

 

James:

He carefully set a trap and as she did not consider him a threat, she walked right into it and was quickly bound and trussed with him carrying her home towards the pot.

 

Andrew:

He was not by nature a sentimental person, having spent his life working with the wild animals of the forest. But, there was something about the way this bird fixed him with a seemingly knowing stare as he set it down on the kitchen table that made him think twice about instantly wringing its neck.

 

James:

In the moment that he hesitated, the fairy, as fairies sometimes do, cast a spell, not only for her to be released and free but also so that he would forget having ever encountered her. And, as fairies are also sometimes wont to do, she cursed him at that moment, annoyed and upset that she had ignominiously been bound and walked over the forest. She cursed him that he should never have a child to love him.

 

Andrew:

Sometime later, the fairy observed his wife walking through the forest and weeping and lamenting her lack of children.

 

James:

Unaware that this woman was in any way related to the gamekeeper she had previously cursed, she cast a beneficial spell over the housekeeper that she would have a child that she so clearly desired.

 

Andrew:

The child of course, was easy to provide for fairy folk often have children which they need to be raised in the human world.

 

James:

And no one ever questioned from Benjamin through Susanna, through Robert, through Barbara, through Tom, why, when their feet touched the ground in the forest, flowers grew in their footsteps.

 

Andrew:

And from generation to generation, they continued to live, in the small charming cottage in the middle of the wonderful magical wood.

 

James:

Sally

 

Andrew:

Held

 

James:

Her

 

Andrew:

Handbag

 

James:

Defensively

 

Andrew:

When

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Mugger

 

James:

Threatened

 

Andrew:

Her

 

James:

With

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

Knife.

 

Andrew:

She

 

James:

Balanced

 

Andrew:

On

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Balls

 

James:

Of

 

Andrew:

Her

 

James:

Feet

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Lashed

 

Andrew:

Out

 

James:

With

 

Andrew:

Her

 

James:

Handbag

 

Andrew:

Knocking

 

James:

Him

 

Andrew:

Over

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

Giving

 

James:

Her

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Chance

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

Escape.

 

Andrew:

She

 

James:

Reported

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Incident

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Police

 

James:

Who

 

Andrew:

Promptly

 

James:

Ignored

 

Andrew:

Her

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

Carried

 

James:

On

 

Andrew:

Filling

 

James:

In

 

Andrew:

Paperwork.

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

End.

 

James:

Our next story is Jeremy's Place.

 

One

 

Andrew:

Day

 

James:

Jeremy

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

Walking

 

Andrew:

Along

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

High

 

James:

Street

 

Andrew:

When

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Noticed

 

James:

That

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Shops

 

Andrew:

Were

 

James:

All

 

Andrew:

Closed.

 

James:

In

 

Andrew:

Normal

 

James:

Times

 

Andrew:

They

 

James:

Would

 

Andrew:

Be

 

James:

Open

 

Andrew:

On

 

James:

Fridays

 

Andrew:

But

 

James:

Today

 

Andrew:

They

 

James:

Were

 

Andrew:

Not

 

James:

Hmmm?”

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Thought

 

Andrew:

Is

 

James:

There

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

Special

 

Andrew:

Occasion?

 

James:

Perhaps

 

Andrew:

It's

 

James:

Remembrance

 

Andrew:

Day?

 

James:

But

 

Andrew:

That

 

James:

Is

 

Andrew:

Always

 

James:

On

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

Sunday.”

 

Andrew:

So

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Knocked

 

James:

On

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Door

 

Andrew:

Of

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Post

 

James:

Office

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Waited

 

Andrew:

For

 

James:

Someone

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

Open

 

Andrew:

It.

 

James:

Waited

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Waited

 

Andrew:

Then

 

James:

Waited

 

Andrew:

Some

 

James:

More.

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Gave

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Putative

 

Andrew:

Post-mistress

 

James:

Half

 

Andrew:

An

 

James:

Hour

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

She

 

Andrew:

Didn't

 

James:

Appear.

 

Andrew:

So

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Pushed

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Door

 

Andrew:

Opened.

 

James:

Funny,”

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Thought

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Stepped

 

Andrew:

Inside.

 

James:

Inside

 

Andrew:

There

 

James:

Was

 

Andrew:

No

 

James:

Light.

 

Andrew:

In

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Space

 

James:

Reserved

 

Andrew:

For

 

James:

Packages,

 

Andrew:

There

 

James:

Was

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

Small

 

Andrew:

Dog.

 

James:

Strange,”

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Thought,

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Approached.

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Dog

 

Andrew:

Looked

 

James:

At

 

Andrew:

Him

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

Opened

 

James:

His

 

Andrew:

Mouth.

 

James:

Why

 

Andrew:

Are

 

James:

You

 

Andrew:

Here?”

 

James:

Asked

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Dog

 

Andrew:

I

 

James:

Want

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

Know

 

Andrew:

What's

 

James:

Going

 

Andrew:

On?”

 

James:

Said

 

Andrew:

Jeremy.

 

James:

This

 

Andrew:

Is

 

James:

Not

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

Place

 

Andrew:

For

 

James:

You.”

 

Andrew:

Said

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Dog

 

James:

Where

 

Andrew:

Am

 

James:

I?”

 

Andrew:

You

 

James:

Are

 

Andrew:

In

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Seventh

 

James:

Kingdom.”

 

Andrew:

Jeremy

 

James:

Backed

 

Andrew:

Away

 

James:

From

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Dog

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Fled.

 

Andrew:

Once

 

James:

Outside

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Started

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

Calm

 

Andrew:

Down

 

James:

Again.

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Convinced

 

Andrew:

Himself

 

James:

That

 

Andrew:

Nothing

 

James:

Strange

 

Andrew:

Had

 

James:

Happened

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

Him

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Proceeded

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

Walk

 

Andrew:

Down

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

High

 

James:

Street

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Knocked

 

Andrew:

On

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Door

 

James:

Of

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Butchers.

 

Andrew:

Again

 

James:

There

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

No

 

Andrew:

Reply

 

James:

So

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Pushed

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Door

 

Andrew:

Open

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

Stepped

 

James:

Inside.

 

Andrew:

Within,

 

James:

There

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

No

 

Andrew:

Light.

 

James:

In

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Area

 

Andrew:

Where

 

James:

Meat

 

Andrew:

Would

 

James:

Be

 

Andrew:

Chilled

 

James:

There

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

Another

 

Andrew:

Dog.

 

James:

What

 

Andrew:

Are

 

James:

You

 

Andrew:

Doing

 

James:

Here?”

 

Andrew:

Said

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Dog.

 

James:

I'm

 

Andrew:

Just…”

 

James:

No!”

 

Andrew:

Said

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Dog.

 

James:

This

 

Andrew:

Is

 

James:

Not

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

Place

 

Andrew:

For

 

James:

You!”

 

Andrew:

Jeremy

 

James:

Looked

 

Andrew:

Confused.

 

James:

Where

 

Andrew:

Am

 

James:

I?”

 

Andrew:

Go!

 

James:

This

 

Andrew:

Is

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Kingdom.

 

James:

You

 

Andrew:

Must

 

James:

Leave.”

 

Andrew:

Jeremy

 

James:

Backed

 

Andrew:

Away

 

James:

From

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Dog

 

Andrew:

Into

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Doorway,

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

Stepped

 

James:

Back

 

Andrew:

Onto

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

High

 

James:

Street.

 

Andrew:

Now

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

Having

 

Andrew:

Second

 

James:

Thoughts

 

Andrew:

About

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Shopping

 

James:

Trip

 

Andrew:

That

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Had

 

James:

Planned

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Walked

 

Andrew:

Back

 

James:

Towards

 

Andrew:

Home.

 

James:

Passing

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Police

 

Andrew:

Station,

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Went

 

James:

To

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Door

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Knocked.

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Door

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

Not

 

Andrew:

Locked,

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

So

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Went

 

James:

Inside.

 

Andrew:

Within,

 

James:

There

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

No

 

Andrew:

Light.

 

James:

In

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Cells

 

Andrew:

Where

 

James:

Prisoners

 

Andrew:

Usually

 

James:

Resided,

 

Andrew:

There

 

James:

Was

 

Andrew:

A

 

James:

Third

 

Andrew:

Dog.

 

James:

Seriously!”

 

Andrew:

Said

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Dog.

 

James:

What

 

Andrew:

Are

 

James:

You

 

Andrew:

Doing

 

James:

Here?”

 

Andrew:

Jeremy

 

James:

Panicked

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Ran

 

Andrew:

At

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Dog.

 

James:

Give

 

Andrew:

Me

 

James:

Back

 

Andrew:

My

 

James:

Place!”

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Exclaimed.

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Dog

 

Andrew:

Jumped

 

James:

Sideways

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Avoided

 

Andrew:

Jeremy's

 

James:

Grasping,

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Replied,

 

Andrew:

This

 

James:

Is

 

Andrew:

Your

 

James:

Place

 

Andrew:

Here.”

 

James:

Slamming

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Cell

 

Andrew:

Door

 

James:

Shut,

 

Andrew:

Jeremy

 

James:

Collapsed

 

Andrew:

Into

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Corner

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

Slept.

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Next

 

James:

Day

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Awoke

 

Andrew:

In

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Cell

 

James:

To

 

Andrew:

Discover

 

James:

Three

 

Andrew:

Policemen

 

James:

Looking

 

Andrew:

At

 

James:

Him

 

Andrew:

In

 

James:

Confusion.

 

Andrew:

What's

 

James:

All

 

Andrew:

This

 

James:

Then?”

 

Andrew:

They

 

James:

Said

 

Andrew:

In

 

James:

Unison.

 

Andrew:

Jeremy

 

James:

Stumbled

 

Andrew:

Out

 

James:

Into

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Open

 

Andrew:

Air

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

Saw

 

James:

That

 

Andrew:

Things

 

James:

Were

 

Andrew:

Back

 

James:

To

 

Andrew:

Normal.

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

Post

 

James:

Office

 

Andrew:

Was

 

James:

Open,

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

Butchers

 

Andrew:

Had

 

James:

Customers,

 

Andrew:

The

 

James:

High

 

Andrew:

Street

 

James:

Was

 

Andrew:

Bustling.

 

James:

What

 

Andrew:

Happened

 

James:

Yesterday?”

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Thought

 

Andrew:

As

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Opened

 

James:

His

 

Andrew:

Front

 

James:

Door.

 

Andrew:

I

 

James:

Swore

 

Andrew:

I…”

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

In

 

James:

Front

 

Andrew:

Of

 

James:

Him

 

Andrew:

Were

 

James:

Three

 

Andrew:

Dogs.

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

End.

 

 

 

James:

Peter

 

Andrew:

Liked

 

James:

Jam

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Toast.

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Regularly

 

Andrew:

Ate

 

James:

Ten

 

Andrew:

Slices

 

James:

Of

 

Andrew:

Them

 

James:

For

 

Andrew:

Breakfast.

 

James:

His

 

Andrew:

Constitution

 

James:

Was

 

Andrew:

As

 

James:

Solid

 

Andrew:

As

 

James:

A

 

Andrew:

House.

 

James:

One

 

Andrew:

Day

 

James:

He

 

Andrew:

Ran

 

James:

Out

 

Andrew:

Of

 

James:

Jam

 

Andrew:

And

 

James:

Had

 

Andrew:

To

 

James:

Use

 

Andrew:

Marmite

 

James:

Instead.

 

Andrew:

This

 

James:

Gummed

 

Andrew:

His

 

James:

Works

 

Andrew:

Up

 

James:

And

 

Andrew:

He

 

James:

Slowly

 

Andrew:

Died.

 

James:

The

 

Andrew:

End.

 

I've been Andrew, and I'm here with James. These stories were recorded without advanced planning and then lightly edited for the discerning listener. Join us next time for more totally made-up tales ...