Our heroes take in some fresh air.
Transcript is below the cut!
INN BETWEEN
Episode: Bonus episode, “Nature Walk”
Transcript provided by Ria Couoh.
**************
(00:00) INTRO:
Inn Between theme plays.
(01:00) NATURE WALK.
Background sounds of a forest, including multiple various birds chirping and singing, wind and the occasional rustle of leaves.
TODE
I’m surprised you haven’t explored these woods!
HELIX
Mama said there are cougars here that would eat us whole!
TODE
That’s silly.
OWEN
I told you, Helix! I told you she was just trying to scare us!
TODE
It would take at least four bites to eat something your size.
LAIO
Hah! Gross!
HELIX
(seriously)
That’s not funny, Laio.
LAIO
(mumbling)
Kind of funny…
OWEN
Wait, Mama wasn’t lying?
TODE
I have not known your mother for very long, Owen, but she does not strike me as someone who would lie to you about danger.
But cougars are generally shy, if you stay together and make plenty of noise, they won’t typically try to hurt you.
HELIX
Cousin Tode?
TODE
Yes, Helix?
HELIX
Is it true that you can talk to animals?
TODE
It is true.
OWEN
That’s magic, right?
TODE
Yes, Owen, I suppose it is.
Bird calls thrice from above.
LAIO
Hey, cousin Tode, what’s that bird saying?
TODE
Something… inappropriate.
LAIO
(sighs)
(disappointed)
Aw…
TODE
Look there, little cousins, the spider web was constructed by a master architect! The spider first picks a framework of sturdy thick silk, and then drapes it with sticky silk as a trap for passing insects.
HELIX
Pretty!
OWEN
Spiders are weird.
TODE
They are weird… and wonderful!
LAIO
Can I lick it?
TODE
(affronted)
After she worked so hard on it? No! Come along!
HELIX
Cousin Tode, what would you do if you had eight legs?
TODE
I don’t know. I might learn to knit, and then I could knit as I walked.
HELIX
Cool!
LAIO
I’d juggle… a lot.
OWEN
You have to learn first, Laio.
LAIO
I know how to juggle!
OWEN
(sharply)
You do not!
LAIO
Do too! I can juggle two things!
TODE
That’s very impressive.
Ah! Here’s something else interesting, little cousins! Do you know what these are?
HELIX
Shelf mushrooms!
TODE
That’s right. Now, mushrooms aren’t like plants. Plants leech nutrients from the soil and use the sun to grow, but mushrooms get nutrients more like we do.
OWEN
(vaguely horrified, mostly fascinated)
You mean they eat?
TODE
What they do is very much like eating, yes. These shelf mushrooms eat wood.
OWEN
Mm…
HELIX
Yum.
LAIO
Cool! Can I lick it?
TODE
Do you enjoy having vivid and horrific hallucinations?
LAIO
Maybe…?
TODE
(severely)
No.
LAIO
No…
(sighs)
Right, okay.
OWEN
Are we almost there?
TODE
Yes, just a little further.
HELIX
Cousin Tode?
TODE
Yes, Helix?
HELIX
(excitedly)
Cousin Cybilene said that you grew up in the woods.
TODE
I did, yes.
HELIX
Were you scared?
TODE
What do you mean?
HELIX
If I grew up in the woods, I would be scared.
LAIO
(mocking)
That’s because you’re a baby!
HELIX
Am not!
TODE
(disappointed)
There’s no call for that, Laio.
LAIO
What? Helix is the youngest one here!
TODE
You meant it as an insult.
LAIO
(quietly)
Maybe.
OWEN
So, were you?
TODE
I’m sorry?
OWEN
Were you scared?
TODE
Hm…
(thoughtfully)
I have been afraid quite often. It’s natural to be afraid when you’re in danger. It’s even natural to be afraid if you think you might be in danger, but it’s not all danger in the woods.
HELIX
There’s stuff like spider webs.
LAIO
And poison mushrooms!
TODE
Oh, they won’t kill you!
OWEN
But you can’t just live alone…
TODE
I didn’t live alone. I had many friends!
LAIO
Cousin Cybilene said wolves. Were you friends with wolves?
TODE
(laughs)
(warmly)
Yes, quite a few.
OWEN
What do wolves talk about?
TODE
They’re not much different than us. They talk about how their food sources are coming along, and their families… and the weather!
LAIO
They don’t talk about killing and maiming?
OWEN
Ew.
TODE
Well, sometimes. Just like you, I imagine.
LAIO
(pleased with himself)
Oh, yeah!
TODE
Alright, little cousins, just step here. This is what I wanted to show you, this right here.
OWEN
Just some rocks?
HELIX
Big rocks!
LAIO
Why are we looking at rocks, Cousin Tode?
TODE
Because these are not just any rocks! These rocks have a story.
OWEN
What story?
TODE
It goes like this: the surface of this world is covered in thick plates of earth, on which all of us live.
OWEN
Like a turtle or something?
TODE
More like… several turtles whose shells are always sliding over each other and pushing at each other.
HELIX
Is that where… earth—quakes come from?
TODE
It is! All of this happens very slowly, of course, but sometimes the plates push over each other and wrinkle up in the mountains.
LAIO
What’s under the plates?
TODE
(dramatically)
Magma! Liquid rocks!
LAIO
Sweet!
OWEN
What’s that got to do with these rocks?
TODE
Sometimes when the plates move, magma squirts between the cracks and starts to cool!
LAIO
Whoa! Solid magma!
OWEN
(flatly)
That’s just rocks.
HELIX
Is that what these rocks are?
TODE
It is! The rocks around it are made of sandstone, which has worn away over years and years and years—!
HELIX
And years!
TODE
Leaving only the remnant of volcanic activity behind.
OWEN
Wow, that is pretty cool.
HELIX
Are these rocks older than you?
TODE
(chuckles)
Yes, just a little bit.
LAIO
Hey, Cousin Tode, can I…?
TODE
(exasperated)
Yes, you can lick it.
LAIO
Nice!
Licking sound.
LAIO
Mm! Tastes like rocks!
TODE
Most rocks do, I find.
LAIO
(lightly)
Gross!
HELIX
Hey, Cousin Tode?
TODE
Yes?
HELIX
Do you wish that you still lived alone in the woods?
TODE
Interesting question! I do sometimes like to be by myself when things get too loud.
OWEN
(sniffles)
It’s so loud at home…
LAIO
I like it when it’s loud. It means we’re all alive and together!
TODE
That’s exactly the thing, Laio.
(sincerely)
If I still lived alone in the woods, I wouldn’t know any of you, and I can’t imagine a world where that’s a good thing.
HELIX
Aw!
OWEN
It’s weirder now that you’re here, but it’s good.
LAIO
(touched)
We love you too, Cousin Tode!
TODE
Yes, I… Good! I’m glad!
Shall we go back?
HELIX
Do we have to?
OWEN
It will be dinner time soon.
TODE
It certainly will. Come along, children.
Small pause.
OWEN
Look, a chipmunk.
LAIO
Cousin Tode, can I lick him?
TODE
(amused)
If you can catch him.
Ambience fades.
(07:24) OUTRO
Inn Between theme plays in the background.
(07:25) CREDITS:
HANNAH
This episode, “Nature Walk”, was written and directed by Hannah Wright with assistant director William Wright. The show is produced and edited by Katherine Ayers.
The voice of Tode is Anthony Morales.
This episode featured the voices of special guests: Jude Stonecypher as Laio, Benny L as Owen and Josie L as Helix. Thanks, guys!
Our theme song is by Eli Hamada McIlveen and our artwork is by Gabrielle Buxman. Our transcriber is Ria Couoh.
Transcripts for this and every episode can be found on our website, thegoblinshead.com.
Find and follow us on Twitter, @inn_between_. Or support us on Patreon, at patreon.com/thegoblinshead.
If you like the show, take a walk! Or leave us a review.
Thanks for listening!
Music ends.
HANNAH
This story was created in the traditional territory of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples, and edited in the unceded territory of the Salish, Kootenai, and Kalispel peoples.
EPISODE ENDS.