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Library is a horror

1:06

fiction podcast created for

1:08

a mature audience. Our

1:10

stories contain graphic descriptions

1:13

of pain, murder, violence,

1:15

blood, betrayal, and inhumanity.

1:17

Monsters win, people die,

1:19

and hope is often

1:21

shattered. There is also

1:23

beauty, heart, catharsis, and

1:25

raw emotion. Fear may

1:27

be deeply personal, but

1:29

we all share it.

1:31

If at any time a

1:34

story takes you to a

1:36

place too dark, turn on

1:38

the lights, press pause, or

1:40

press stop. And, always remember

1:42

that unlike in the real

1:45

world, these nightmares and your

1:47

participation in them are under

1:49

your control. Welcome

2:01

back to the Wicked Library.

2:03

I'm Daniel Foytec and as always

2:06

thank you for joining us. A

2:08

heartfelt thank you to our supporters

2:10

on Patreon. You make these stories

2:13

possible and keep the shadows well

2:15

fed. Today's tale drifts up from

2:17

the darkest depths of the sea

2:20

where lullabies lure sailors to ruin

2:22

and the hungers of man leave

2:24

nothing untouched. Before we begin, an

2:27

additional content warning. As long time

2:29

listeners of the Wicked Library know,

2:31

we love the older darker fairy

2:33

tales. These non-sanitized tales were meant

2:36

to caution, warn, and disturb,

2:38

leaving a deep lasting impression

2:40

on those who heard them.

2:42

They are the original horror

2:44

stories. They never shied away

2:46

from exploring the darkest depths

2:48

of human nature. And tonight's

2:50

tale, while it is a

2:52

modern story, follows in that

2:54

tradition. Like many fairy tales,

2:56

it contains elements of body

2:58

horror, transformation. and unsettling themes

3:00

of power control and obsession.

3:02

There are moments of intense

3:04

violence, non-consensual touch, psychological

3:06

and physical trauma, and

3:08

acts of unimaginable cruelty,

3:10

including harm to the

3:12

most innocent among us.

3:14

Yet, despite its horrors,

3:16

this is a compelling

3:18

and powerfully terrifying tale.

3:20

One that calls to

3:22

the depths like a

3:24

siren song, both haunting

3:27

and irresistible. dragging you

3:29

unrelentingly deeper into dark

3:31

waters. Listener discretion is

3:33

very strongly advised. And now,

3:35

settle in if you dare

3:37

for a very dark tale

3:39

told by the incomparable Addison

3:41

Peacock with a haunting original

3:43

score by Nikoveteze of the

3:45

Inky Popperit. the

4:32

How will you woo her?

4:34

By Sabella Jabchenko.

4:37

Part one. How

4:40

will you woo her, this

4:42

white maid of wine?

4:44

With breaking of wassle?

4:47

With pouring of

4:49

wine? Come now,

4:51

my darlings. It's time

4:54

for bed. Grandmother hydr called

4:56

the little maids and they

4:59

obediently wriggled toward her curling

5:01

up together in the giant

5:03

clam shell that served as their bed.

5:06

Grandmother said the youngest her

5:08

hair gently waving in the water

5:10

like strands of pale green kelp.

5:12

Tiny shrimp darted here and

5:15

there in it brilliant flashes of

5:17

bright blue and red. Grandmother

5:19

tell us a story. The other little

5:21

maids set up a chorus. Yes,

5:23

grandmother, a story, a story! Until

5:26

the fish that encircled them were

5:28

in quite a state of excitement,

5:30

dashing to and fro and fighting

5:33

each other's flashing silver

5:35

tails. Hush now, my pets, grandmother

5:37

said, settling herself in a

5:39

curve of coral, worn smooth

5:41

by years of contact with her

5:44

coiled tail. Of course I will tell

5:46

you a story. The great octopus

5:48

circled. rings of red and

5:50

purple, pulsing a silent lullaby as

5:52

he settled over the maids, tucking

5:55

them gently beneath the canopy of

5:57

his spread bulk. The maids snuggled

5:59

down into his tentacles and

6:02

looked up at Grandmother Hydra

6:04

expectantly, their eyes black circles

6:07

in the pale ovals of

6:09

their faces. The shrimp and fish

6:11

calmed, slowed, and finally settled

6:13

into the gently waving

6:15

forest of their hair, lashes of

6:18

silver and red fading into

6:20

the shadows. Grandmother Hydra

6:22

smiled indulgently, her teeth

6:24

white and sharp as broken shells.

6:27

I'll tell you the story of

6:30

Little Sister, a story every

6:32

one of you should know, and

6:34

heed. Shining eyes searched

6:36

grandmother's face expectantly,

6:39

each little rasp tongue was

6:42

still. Little Sister lived here

6:44

in the great hall and was

6:46

most lovely, with scales like

6:49

pearls, hair of dark kelp,

6:51

and crowned with the

6:54

most beautiful anemonies.

6:56

And her voice, her voice was as

6:58

lovely as her face, and she

7:00

sang many and many a ship

7:02

of men to the jagged

7:04

rocks. The little maids tittered,

7:06

sharp little teeth glittering

7:09

behind pallid lips. But,

7:11

continued grandmother with a stern

7:14

look, and the little maids

7:16

fell silent again, and curled

7:18

their tails together beneath

7:20

the octopus. On one of

7:22

her visits, she sang to a king's

7:25

ship. The sea was gray and

7:27

throwing up great waves of

7:30

froth, hungrily, crashed against

7:32

the ship, but it being the ship

7:34

of a king, the sides were

7:36

sturdy, and the sails tall, and

7:38

though the sea raged about it,

7:40

the ship held. So little

7:42

sister sang and sang until

7:44

her throat was raw, and

7:47

her voice ragged with her

7:49

effort. She sang to the men of

7:51

the wonders to be found under

7:53

the gray waves of the white

7:55

breasts and golden treasures of our

7:57

family. And the men, sick with desire

7:59

for for the sound of her

8:01

voice and the images of her

8:04

song turned the sturdy vessel

8:06

onto the rocks and flung

8:08

themselves into the icy sea. And

8:11

oh, how little sister laughed and

8:13

laughed at the sport of it!

8:15

But one man did not

8:17

fling himself into the brine,

8:19

for he had seen little sister,

8:21

seen her in the waves. seen

8:24

her dark eyes and her white

8:26

shoulders, the wild green fall of

8:28

her hair and the flashing of

8:30

her teeth. He saw her pale lips

8:33

parting to sing, and her

8:35

song filled his mind with

8:37

black water and his human

8:39

heart with a crushing desire.

8:41

So focused was little sister

8:44

on her song, and the

8:46

delight of the sailors gasping

8:48

their last and sinking around

8:50

her. that she did not realize she

8:52

had been seen. The little maids,

8:54

pale as sea-bleached bone, shrunk

8:57

against the octopus and

8:59

chittered their sharp little

9:01

teeth until the octopus

9:03

calmed them with his

9:05

caressing tentacles and settled

9:07

his bulk comfortingly

9:09

around them. Grandmother Hydra

9:11

paused, looking into their

9:13

upturned faces, then continued.

9:16

Too late, too late, little sister

9:18

saw him. saw that his eyes

9:20

were upon her, crawling upon her

9:22

with a mad hunger. She dove, swimming

9:24

as fast as her lovely tail

9:26

would take her, but with a

9:29

terrible sense of dread in her

9:31

pale breast. And she was right to

9:33

feel so, for the man who had

9:35

seen her, was none other than the

9:38

king himself. And he vowed,

9:40

if it took his lands, his

9:42

riches, his mind, and his very

9:45

soul, he would have her. Grandmother

9:49

piped up a tiny voice from

9:51

the pile of little maids. What

9:53

is a soul? Grandmother smiled

9:55

again, but this smile was

9:57

dark. Her lips curling like sea

9:59

were Her eyes black as muscle

10:01

shells. Well, my little loves,

10:03

this is a part of the story

10:06

you must learn. And though you are

10:08

young, must hold too tight, so

10:10

that you may not suffer

10:13

little sister's cruel fate. A soul,

10:15

my sweet darlings, is something

10:17

with which man is cursed. A

10:20

horrible thing that gives them

10:22

a great and grasping hunger that

10:24

will not let them be

10:26

once it has been stirred. And

10:29

it is thus that the

10:31

land of man knows no

10:33

lasting happiness, and why the

10:35

family of man can never

10:37

live in harmony." So it

10:39

was that little sister stirred

10:42

the king's soul, and how

10:44

it was that it refused

10:46

the king any peace, and

10:48

he rest until he found

10:50

her and possessed her. Such

10:53

is the clutching, ravenous way

10:55

of a soul, my darlings.

10:58

Not with pouring of cups

11:00

or with breaking of bread,

11:02

but with wood that is

11:04

cloven and wine that is red.

11:06

The king, whose people had

11:08

lived long and long near

11:11

the sea, knew of the sea witch.

11:13

There was a shrinking of

11:15

tiny pale bodies into the

11:17

comforting weight of the octopus

11:20

at her mention. And so he

11:22

knew that she and she alone

11:24

might help him. So the

11:26

king came to the sea. and

11:28

brought with him all of the

11:30

gold and jewels from his treasure

11:33

hall, and poured them into

11:35

the sea, winking brilliant red and

11:37

blue and yellow as they

11:39

sank beneath the gray waves,

11:42

and he begged the sea

11:44

witch to hear him. But she

11:46

did not, for the sea

11:48

witch is strange beyond strange,

11:50

my darlings, and her heart

11:52

is perverse and cruel above

11:55

all things. And so... The

11:57

treasure lay in great untouched heaps on

11:59

the sea. floor, and the shrimp

12:01

and crabs played amongst the

12:04

lost wealth of the king's realm.

12:06

The king wept on his knees

12:08

at the shore, promising the

12:10

sea witch all his power

12:12

and land, but as we

12:14

know, this was a fool's

12:17

promise, but the sea witch's

12:19

powers surpassed even those of

12:21

great father Dagon. Here grandmother

12:23

paused, the long wept bones

12:25

of her fingers dancing a

12:27

secret symbol in the water.

12:29

which all of the little

12:32

maids obediently followed, their green

12:34

locks stirring as they dipped

12:36

their heads respectfully.

12:38

The sea witch has no desire

12:40

for the land of man. So

12:42

he had offered her his riches

12:44

and his power and his lands,

12:47

but for not, and his wretched

12:49

soul burned and tormented him

12:51

night and day, and the

12:53

memory of little sisters pale

12:55

wet breasts and dark eyes

12:57

and of her song Oh,

12:59

my darlings, her song haunted

13:01

him, and there was no

13:03

rest to be found for

13:06

the king. His beard and

13:08

his hair grew long and

13:10

touched with white, and his

13:12

eyes became wild with a

13:14

tortured longing. It passed that

13:16

he brought to the shore, other

13:18

things with which he might

13:21

gain the attention of the

13:23

sea witch. And so it was.

13:25

That slaves were captured and

13:27

marched across the wet sands,

13:29

and their deaths at the

13:31

king's steel knives turned the

13:33

water scarlet, until you could

13:35

not tell where the bloody

13:38

sea ended and the blazing

13:40

sunset began. The sea witch

13:42

took notice of this and was

13:44

pleased in her weird fashion.

13:46

She came to the king in

13:49

his fitful dreams and touched

13:51

his fevered mind and asked of

13:53

his desire. So it was that

13:55

little sister swam into the visions

13:58

of the sea witch with the of

14:00

her tail and the kelp

14:02

of her hair, and so

14:04

it was that she was

14:06

doomed. But the sea witch

14:08

did not hasten, for time

14:10

is different in her deep

14:12

caves, and she had want

14:14

of still more from the

14:16

king. And so he stood

14:18

on the shore, raving and

14:20

tearing at his black hair

14:22

until bloody clumps of it

14:25

floated on the red water.

14:27

And still the sea witch

14:29

waited. until the king demanded

14:31

the loveliest mates in all

14:33

his lands loaded onto his

14:35

boats and set to sea,

14:37

where the sails were touched

14:39

with torches. Where there were

14:41

brothers and fathers who resisted,

14:43

the blood flowed over the

14:45

land until nothing remained of

14:47

the king's people but stonide

14:49

soldiers, grieving mothers and starving

14:51

children, and nothing remained of

14:53

his lands but dark and

14:55

smouldering villages. When the last

14:58

of the king's ships were

15:00

aflame, and the screams of

15:02

the burning daughters and the

15:04

scent of the slaughtered sons

15:06

reached the deep halls of

15:08

the sea witch. Finally, she

15:10

smiled her ghastly smile and

15:12

reached out her little sister.

15:14

Part Three With rings will

15:16

I woo her, with chains

15:18

will I wed, with ships

15:20

that are broken. With ships

15:22

that are broken. with blood

15:24

that is shed. When little

15:26

sister awoke, her heart wept.

15:29

The fish that swam and

15:31

the creatures that crept glowed

15:33

a terrible green and stared

15:35

at her with their great,

15:37

lined eyes. The waters were

15:39

cold, so cold, and blacker

15:41

than any she had ever

15:43

seen, and she knew at

15:45

once she was in the

15:47

cursed hall of the sea

15:49

witch. And though little sister,

15:51

half swooned with the terror

15:53

and the crushing depth, still

15:55

she struggled, but it was

15:57

for no- My darlings, for

15:59

naught, because she was chained

16:02

fast to the rotting timbers

16:04

of a vast wrecked ship.

16:06

An iron chain of man

16:08

fastened cruelly about her neck

16:10

and her slender white wrists.

16:12

So she wept, but her

16:14

pleas to her father, to

16:16

her sisters, and even to

16:18

the sea which herself rose

16:20

from her mouth in silver

16:22

bubbles, and were lost in

16:24

the black waters. It

16:28

would have been a kindness

16:30

of Little Sister's mind could

16:32

have floated away in a

16:34

silver bubble, lost among the

16:36

glowing grotesquearies of the witch's

16:38

hall. But alas, my darlings,

16:40

it did not. And when

16:42

the sea witch arrived, and

16:44

as she laid out her

16:46

rusted ancient tools, and when

16:48

she smiled her hideous smile

16:50

as she began her work,

16:52

Little Sister was awake for

16:54

all. Part

16:58

four. Not with gold for

17:00

a ring, nor kisses on

17:03

lips, but with sleighing of

17:05

sailors and breaking of ships.

17:07

When the witch had finished

17:09

her unspeakable work, the iron

17:11

chains fell away, and little

17:13

sister was seized by every

17:15

manner of slippery, stinging creature,

17:18

held fast by clawed pinchers,

17:20

her face wrapped in grasping

17:22

suckers. The writhing mass carried

17:24

Little Sister to the surface,

17:26

and though many of them

17:28

died along the way, their

17:31

bodies, bloating and bursting into

17:33

stinking slime, no longer held

17:35

tight by the depths. Finally,

17:37

they broke the surface, throwing

17:39

her from the sea, and

17:41

onto her fate. On to

17:44

the wet sand went Little

17:46

Sister. Gaping, gasping, her lungs

17:48

searing, breathing the hot air

17:50

of man. The sun beat

17:52

down upon her. The glare

17:54

of it blinding her, the

17:57

heat of it burning her.

17:59

She covered her down. eyes

18:01

with one pale bruised arm

18:03

and sobbed until darkness took

18:05

her. When she awoke again,

18:07

this time in the dim

18:09

twilight, the king crouched over

18:12

her, his eyes feverish, his

18:14

face quite mad. He reached

18:16

a trembling hand out to

18:18

touch little sister, and his

18:20

hand, warm as a basking

18:22

rock as he stroked her,

18:25

sent her into a shuddering

18:27

fit of fear and loathing.

18:29

He smiled with his strange

18:31

blunt teeth and murmured words

18:33

of love and desire. His

18:35

hands roaming over her, tangling

18:38

in her hair, grasping at

18:40

her breasts. He ran his

18:42

hands down her lovely belly,

18:44

lower and lower, until she

18:46

screamed suddenly in a great

18:48

agony. It was then that

18:50

the king saw what the

18:53

sea witch and her perverse

18:55

cruelty had done to the

18:57

little sister. how

19:00

the witch had answered his

19:02

fevered prayers. Her fin, the

19:04

parts which had not been

19:07

devoured by the witch's hoard,

19:09

lay in bloody tatters on

19:11

the sand. Little sister's gorgeous

19:14

tail, which had once fanned

19:16

the waters and shimmered like

19:18

sunlight on the sea, had

19:21

been raggedly hacked up the

19:23

centre by the sea witch's

19:25

blades. The bones of a

19:28

sea-bleached skeleton's legs gleamed here

19:30

and there from the twitching

19:32

red muscle, sewn on to

19:35

Little Sister's flesh with indifferent

19:37

stitches. Skeletal feet poked from

19:39

the ragged ends like an

19:42

eel's bony snout from the

19:44

rocks. They looked into each

19:47

other's faces, little sister's eyes

19:49

mad with pain and revulsion.

19:51

The King's eyes dart the

19:54

weight and the cost of

19:56

his lust. When he mounted

19:58

her, roughly spreading her bleeding

20:01

tail apart on the gray

20:03

sand, his black... beard digging

20:05

into her throat, little sister's

20:08

mind finally found a silver

20:10

bubble and floated away into

20:12

deep black waters. Part 5

20:15

And how will you tame

20:17

her this mad maid of

20:19

thine with kisses for seal

20:22

with gold as a sign?

20:25

The king wed little sister in

20:27

a celebration that reached even the

20:29

great halls of Father Degan. The

20:32

sky was lit in gold and

20:34

red with fireworks. Banners flew, and

20:36

the king fed his soldiers' joints

20:39

of cooked beast, which is the

20:41

way they do such things, and

20:43

soft white bread, and much ale

20:46

and wine. The king held fast

20:48

to his pale bride all throughout

20:50

the day and the night, and

20:53

he never left her side, or

20:55

let his arms from about her

20:57

waist. Her throat pale as oyster

21:00

shell grew red, the caresses of

21:02

his beard and his teeth upon

21:04

her skin, and her breasts ached

21:07

with the pawing of his hot

21:09

hands. The heat of his body

21:11

pressed to hers made her head

21:14

heavy. Her eyes half-litted, her limbs

21:16

slow as drifting kelp. She found

21:18

that she could balance on the

21:21

tattered wreck of her tail. To

21:23

move about... and the manner of

21:25

men. But the rest of the

21:28

sea-witches' blades bit into her anew

21:30

with each movement, the stolen bones

21:32

creaked, and crooked black stitches tore.

21:34

In time, her little tongue grew

21:37

bloody, and her jog were stiff

21:39

with the clenching of her teeth

21:41

against the pain. Though

21:44

her husband took his rough way

21:47

with her and clutched her to

21:49

him and kissed and pawed her,

21:51

he could not make her speak

21:53

or sing, which was his wish.

21:56

Her mind, my little ones, was

21:58

too far away. Her body too...

22:00

the heat and the light and

22:03

the noise and the dreadful pain

22:05

of losing her family and the

22:07

sea. And though the king dressed

22:09

her in gowns of heavy silk

22:12

and draped her with jewels and

22:14

gold, he could not stop the

22:16

bleeding from her ruined tail, which

22:18

followed her everywhere, leaving strange skeletal

22:21

footprints throughout the halls and rusty

22:23

puddles at all the windows which

22:25

faced the sea. Part six. with

22:28

a bit for the mouth and

22:30

a ring for the hand, with

22:32

a neck chain of foam or

22:34

a waist chain of sand. As

22:37

the months passed, the king raged

22:39

at her, tore at her green

22:41

hair, and threw her about with

22:43

his heavy hands as if to

22:46

shake a song from her lips.

22:48

Yet in all his anger, he

22:50

still held her close through the

22:53

day and through the night, and

22:55

his desire for her new no

22:57

bounds. The bloodied haves of her

22:59

tail bloomed black... and purple with

23:02

the marks of his hips, her

23:04

white breasts marked with the scarlet

23:06

moons of his teeth, and always,

23:08

always his hands upon her, the

23:11

weight of his lust for her,

23:13

the cost of his prize, lay

23:15

more heavily upon his head than

23:18

a crown, and he knew no

23:20

peace, and gave her no rest.

23:22

But the true depth of the

23:24

sea witch's cruelty finally became clear,

23:27

one grey morning. When Little Sister

23:29

stared out the window at the

23:31

sea with her dark eyes, her

23:33

husband behind her, one of his

23:36

heavy hands tangled in the waist

23:38

of her silken gown, his face

23:40

buried in the salt scent of

23:42

her hair, muttering his mindless promises

23:45

of love and pain, when she

23:47

felt a twitch in her belly.

23:49

And she knew that the seed

23:52

of her loathsome human husband grew

23:54

within her that she would bring

23:56

it forth. in blood and suffering

23:58

like a beast of the land.

24:01

There rose a horrified moan from

24:03

the clamshell, and a sudden chittering

24:05

of tiny teeth, sharp as coral,

24:07

as the little maids rived in

24:10

sudden agitation, the green fires of

24:12

many little eyes flashed warnings into

24:14

the dark water. Hush, now, little

24:17

ones. Grandmother hydred gently stroked one

24:19

pearl-white cheek. The story is nearly

24:21

complete. The teeth gnashing quieted. The

24:23

green fire in each little eyes

24:26

slowly winking, winkingking back into black.

24:28

And grandmother continued. And

24:31

so it was that little sister

24:33

found she had been given the

24:36

most horrible curse of all. She

24:38

had been given a human soul.

24:40

With a scream and a strangled

24:42

cry, she tore away from her

24:44

husband's grasping hands. So startled was

24:47

he to hear her make a

24:49

sound after these many months that

24:51

he forgot for one moment to

24:53

hold on to her. She raced

24:55

down the stairs of the tower,

24:58

heedless of the hot agony flaring

25:00

up her tail of the tearing

25:02

of stitches and cracking of bones.

25:04

Blinded by tears, she cried out

25:06

in despair and helplessness for her

25:08

sisters, for her father, to help

25:11

her. The little maids were silent

25:13

as the moon, their eyes black

25:15

and round as stones, hanging on

25:17

every word of their grandmother. When

25:19

little sister reached the shore, she

25:22

flung herself into the sea, her

25:24

heart and mind broken, begging for

25:26

Belice. clawing at the belly which

25:28

had finally marked her as cursed

25:30

and lost to her family in

25:32

the sea forever. Her piteous cries

25:35

reached Father Degan, who saw what

25:37

the sea witch had done to

25:39

his daughter, and though he had

25:41

no power over the witch, deep

25:43

in her dark caves, and could

25:46

not bring little sister back to

25:48

the sea, he called some of

25:50

his daughters to them, and gave

25:52

them a knife, sharp as an

25:54

eel's grin, and bid them take

25:57

it to their lost and grieving

25:59

sister. They rose out of the

26:01

water with their hair around their

26:03

white breasts like kelp and their

26:05

eyes dark as abalone and the

26:07

king who had chased his cold

26:10

bride to the sea sat down

26:12

upon the sand without a whimper

26:14

as if struck dead. The daughters

26:16

sang out to Little Sister and

26:18

gave to her the knife of

26:21

their father while the king sat

26:23

senseless in the sand, lost in

26:25

their voices and their pale faces.

26:27

Part 7 With the

26:29

wind for a seal and the

26:32

sun for a sign and so

26:34

I will wed her this white

26:37

wife of mine and So little

26:39

sister turned to the king and

26:41

with a gull's high scream of

26:44

joy and triumph Seized a handful

26:46

of his thick black hair pulled

26:48

his head back and sliced his

26:51

throat open from ear to ear

26:53

Spilling his hot blood onto the

26:55

sand and stinking steaming gouts He

26:58

fell onto the sand with a

27:00

grunt And little sister plunged Father

27:02

Dagan's knife into his chest, tearing

27:05

the cage of his ribs apart

27:07

with her fine strong hands, ripped

27:09

his heart from the splintered bones

27:12

and wet meat, and sawed it

27:14

into two ragged halves, as had

27:17

been done to her tail. With

27:19

wild joy, she flung the halves

27:21

of his heart aside, and plunged

27:24

the blade into her pale belly.

27:26

She sank it again and again

27:28

into her flesh, stabbing at the

27:31

fluttering spark of cursed humanity within

27:33

her until the blood ran in

27:35

red riffulets down her battered silk

27:38

gown, and the knife slipped from

27:40

finger, growing numb, and still. Sisters!

27:42

She cried, Father, I'm free! I

27:45

am free! She leapt into the

27:47

crashing surf as all her sisters

27:50

sang to her. And the blood

27:52

flowed, and the heavy gown that

27:54

pulled, and her ruined tail that

27:57

could not swim, carried her down,

27:59

down, down into the lovely depths.

28:01

As she sank, She sang, my

28:04

darling, she sang of her agony

28:06

and her captivity, of her freedom

28:08

and her release, her body slowly

28:11

dissolved into froth, shimmering and bobbing

28:13

as it danced to the surface.

28:15

And so it was, though Father

28:18

Dagon could not return his daughter

28:20

to the sea. He could free

28:23

her from the sea witch's curse

28:25

and turn her to sparkling sea

28:27

foam. Her

28:29

sisters tenderly wreathed their dark

28:32

hair and pale breasts with

28:34

shimmering mantles of this foam

28:36

before they sank back into

28:39

the shelter of the sea.

28:41

They sang of the death

28:44

of their sister, and sailors

28:46

for miles shivered in their

28:48

wooden ships, and the few

28:51

soldiers still left in the

28:53

cold halls of the king's

28:56

castle, slunk away into the

28:58

woods, with not a single

29:00

backwards glance. Grandmother Hydra gently

29:03

caressed each little head, smoothed

29:05

the gently waving hair, tucked

29:08

every little chin down into

29:10

the octopus, who pulsed gently

29:12

with slow, soothing colors. Each

29:15

little pair of black eyes

29:17

was low-litted, heavy with sleep,

29:20

and with the sad lesson

29:22

of little sister. Remember my

29:24

darlings when singing to the

29:27

ships, be cautious, and never

29:29

seen. for the cool and

29:31

grasping nature of man's soul

29:34

is not to be forgotten.

29:36

All the tiny heads nodded,

29:39

a sleepy agreement. The little

29:41

black eyes closed, a pair

29:43

at a time, and the

29:46

little maids slept. And far

29:48

above them, beyond the crashing

29:51

waves, the white moon shone

29:53

on the glittering bubbles of

29:55

sea-foam. and on the ancient

29:58

remains of a silent, ruined.

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1302. Today's story was How Will

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You Woo Her? by Sabella Chevchenko.

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Our gifted storyteller was Addison Peacock.

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To find more tales from the

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depths and beyond, visit the Wicked

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Library.com and Ninth Story.com. Want to

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share your own dark tale? Submissions

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for season 13 are open. Find

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out how to submit your story

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on our website. To keep this

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library of nightmares wellstock, support us

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on Patreon. at patron.com,/wicked library. Or

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leave us a five-star rating and

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