PODCAST · fiction
Stories
by Francis Rosenfeld
I GARDEN, I WRITE, AND I WATCH THE WORLD GO BY
Episodes
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 24 - Love. Always.
Keep your house in order, your garden well tended, your body strong and your mind on praiseworthy thoughts. Never assume anything but trust that you'll have good guidance to find your way through the haze of uncertainty, because, my dear, that love you have in your heart is everything. Blessings,...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 23 - Life Crafting
“Most of us stumble upon our purpose later in life, but you have to have one if you want your time here to make sense. Imagine trying to make a cake by adding random ingredients into the mix, just because you have them: there isn't a single chance of it coming out edible. Your life works the same...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 22 - The Temple of Your Mind
Those people who entered our happiness and burned it to the ground never really did anything to us: they didn’t rob us of our vast fortune, they didn’t hurt our bodies, they didn’t force my brother to hate me. All they did was to seep darkness into our lives, and they carry no blame for that in…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 21 - Drive
I don't believe in destiny, Lelia, nor do I believe in exceptional circumstances, obstacles impossible to overcome, or other people's power over my life. That is not to say that life is easy: some fights you don't win, but you have to fight them anyway, because this is the guiding principle for…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 20 - Facing Yourself
“What is it exactly that you are trying to accomplish?" sister deAngelis asked one of the children, who had been moving the cookies from a plate to a basket, and then to a wire display, and was now preparing to move them again. "Sister Mary-Francis said we should find a display for these," the...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 19 - On Both Sides of the Mirror
“Mom, why did you let Ael use my room? She never puts anything away!" Lelia complained to her somewhat distracted mother. Lily looked up. "Oh, this whole house has turned into ceremony headquarters, your room was the only quiet place left, she needed to finish a project," she explained. "What's...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 18 - Blessed Touch
“Don't tell me we have to redo all of these! This is the seventh time!" sister Mary-Francis cried out over the sea of lavender gauze that refused to drape itself as planned. "The pleats should fold in the other direction and the folds are two small, try to imagine this in the actual setting,"…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 17 - Emotional Liability
“You didn't find any other place for this?" sister Jove asked the group of children who had dropped a basket of cookies on her desk and were getting ready to leave. "Oh, no, sister Jove, these are for you!" a cheerful seven year old clarified, grinning from ear to ear to reveal the gap that took...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 16 - The Cloud
“How can you not care about this, it's our daughter's greatest life event, don't tell me not to be worried!" Lily paced, tense. "Everything is going to be fine, why are you so agitated? All the preparations are well on their way, and even if they weren't, it's not like we can't change them if…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 15 - Something Out of Nothing
“Have you finished writing your letter, dear?" sister Therese showed up on Roberta's doorstep, at the end of a long door to door pilgrimage during which none of the sisters were forgotten. Therese already had a stack of letters in her hand, which proved her dedication to encouraging the others to...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 14 - Synchronicity
“The approved list for the flower arrangements reads as follows: lilacs, French lavender, and water lilies," Lily announced, excited. "Aren't we lucky Sys can make this stuff up at the last minute? Who asks for lilacs in an equatorial climate?" sister Novis mumbled, slightly annoyed. "They fit…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 13 - Paradigm Shift
“Where are the feeding schedules for the dragons?" sister Joseph boomed through the interlink. "I thought you were going to draw them up, you said you didn't trust us to do them properly," sister Felix defended herself. "What do we need you for, then, if I have to do everything myself?" sister...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 12 - Just Being
“What are you doing?" Seth asked Sarah, startling her. "Recording the atmospheric readings," the redhead replied, without turning her head. "Really?" Seth asked, and Sarah could feel the smile that came with the question, without seeing it. "Why is this surprising? You know I always record the...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 11 - The Soul’s Shadow
“What are you doing?" Seth asked, staring in disbelief at sister Felix, who apparently spent several hours trying to put together a puzzle of sorts from left over pieces of gauze featuring every shade of purple, from lavender to violet. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were putting...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 10 - Cherishing Your Gift
“Sister Therese, can we count on you to perform at the joyous celebration? The wisps seem to be fascinated with music, especially vocal music. I often wonder if this isn’t the only reason they agreed to communicate with us. That and the immortals’ nagging, those Purple chatter boxes can talk you…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 9 - Uncertainty
“Where are we going to host the science symposium? It has come to my attention that the wisps expect to spend some of their time here discussing multiverse physics with Purple." Sarah lifted her head from her research to find herself face to face with Roberta. She didn't hear her come in, but…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 8 - Nonlinear Time
“Sister, did you finish the table placement cards?" sister Jesse asked sister Benedict. "I thought you said you needed them Wednesday," sister Benedict replied. "Today is Wednesday." "Today is Monday." "I'm pretty sure it's Wednesday." Sister Benedict looked at her calendar. It said Monday.…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 7 Abolishing Fear
“Sister Novis," Lelia whispered, so softly that Novis, who had just returned from a rock climbing expedition and was struggling to put away her gear on a high shelf, almost didn't hear her. "Oh, sweetie, I didn't expect to see you here, I thought your mother kept you busy with the preparations…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 6 - Status and Rhetoric
“Places, please!" Lily spoke, a little sharper than she wished. She had shouted directions to staff, friends and caterers all day, and her voice was giving out a little. "Sister Joseph, you will lead the procession, followed by sister Novis and Sarah, then Seth will bring the rest of the group…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 5 - Out There
"We are going to wear our ceremonial robes, I assume?" Seth entered Sarah's apothecary. Sarah was mixing perfumes, she and Sys had come up with the idea of creating a scent to match the lavender gauze and flower arrangements, even though the plant decorations were still in question on account of...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 4 - Living in Context
“Who is waiting for Jimmy and Jenna?" sister Novis poked her head through the door that sister Roberta had left ajar. The sister was revising a last minute idea for the festivities, secretly offended that Lily was so adamant about not having anything happen that wasn't already approved. What a...
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 3 - Who Are You?
“Did you see my notes?" Humon asked, shuffling the pads on Lily's desk. Lily lifted her eyes from the mound of packages, reminders, and party decorations that had been slowly accumulating around her ever since they got the blessed news the Bonding Ceremony was going to be celebrated on Terra Two....
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 2 - The Gates of Perception
“Who is in charge of the hors d'oeuvres?" Seth asked. "Sister Abigail," Roberta replied, focused on a delicate piece of machinery that needed soldering under the microscope. "You're not serious!" Seth yelled, making Roberta's hand shake for a second. The pen slid over the board, covering it with…
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Letters to Lelia - Chapter 1 - Love.Purple.
"What exactly are you doing?" sister Roberta asked Sarah, who was fumbling with a knotted bunch of ribbons, growing more frustrated by the minute. "I can't believe I'm wasting my time with this! Where is Sys? Why can't we just remake this?" the redhead abandoned the struggle, her cheeks flushed…
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Letters to Lelia - One Thousand Years Later
Vlor Consular Mission in Airydew, Terra Two, July 2nd, 3245 Beloved Lelia, My eyes well up with joy seeing you all grown up and ready to set out on your own path. Many centuries passed me by, they brought me challenges and successes, knowledge, wisdom and occasional silliness, and they opened my...
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Letters to Lelia - Foreword
"My Principal Progenitors have always had a flair for the dramatic," Humon reflected out loud after reading Tagas Cloud's letter, in the same even tone of voice Lily had become accustomed to. "What do they mean, Humon? What does all of this mean?" Lily started tentatively, her voice overcome by…
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A Year and A Day - The Ceremony
The day after the Night of the Mothers, for the second time, grandmother asked Aifa. “Did you enjoy the ceremony, granddaughter?” And again, Aifa responded. “It was beautiful, Doyenne, I just thought I’d feel different after that, is all.”
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A Year and A Day - November - The Manifestation of God
Atthe end of November, nature had finally settled into its cold season slumber. There was a chill in the air, a chill whose fingers got colder every morning, and which was embroidering lacy frost on the ground and on the windows, the icy breath of the earth made manifest. The Twins seemed...
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A Year and A Day - November - All Souls’ Day
“Are you coming, granddaughter?” grandmother asked, somewhat impatient. Aifa was still fiddling with her garment and time was growing short. “We have to go right now, otherwise we’ll be late.” “Late for what, doyenne?” Aifa asked, heading towards the door. “Our trip, dear. No, don’t take that, we...
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A Year and A Day - October - The Celebration of the Victory of Good
Aifa looked out the window, a little worried about a couple of leaden clouds that had started gathering over the horizon. The feast of the Victory of Good over Evil was mostly celebrated outdoors, and she didn’t want the rain to ruin her delicate silk garments or wash off the intricate body...
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A Year and A Day - October - The Blessing of Animals and Nature
Everybody loved the Blessing of Animals and Nature, especially the children, of course, who had waited all year to bring their pets to the Hearth so that the Twins could utter a benediction over them. At the beginning of October, all families climbed the stairs up to the Market Square, bringing a...
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A Year and A Day - September - The Feast of Trumpets
The sun set slowly in the sound of the trumpets, falling like a large orange ball into the sea. The trumpets kept calling as the light subsided, and the people looked out into the open waters from the elevated platform of the market square. “Today we release our burdens. Cast all your regrets to...
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A Year and A Day - September - The Celebration of Harvest
There weren’t many times when the Hearth was bare, but the Celebration of Harvest was one of them. People were scattered around the city, busy with the preparations, only returning to the Great Hall to bring things for the feast. The Twins, who had far outgrown the need to be watched like…
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A Year and A Day - August - The Snake Ceremony
Aifa, her grandmother and the rest of the Caretakers had been working hard all morning, braiding bunches of colorful ribbons into rainbows. The entire Grand Hall of the Hearth was filled with ribbons, whose silky threads seemed to be animated by their own inner spirit and slithered into crevices...
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A Year and A Day - August - Ancestors’ Day
“Hurry up, granddaughter, we wouldn’t want our guests to find us unprepared,” Aifa’s grandmother commented, more to assuage her own tension than anything else. Everything had been prepared, cleaned, shined to a blinding polish, planned to the last detail. “Today is a big day, you know, the time...
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A Year and A Day - July - The Day of Abundance
“Knead joyfully, granddaughter, you don’t want that bread to be heavier than a rock,” grandmother teased. All the Caretakers were gathered at their house to bake together for the Day of Abundance. They had started early in the morning and the aroma of fresh bread, right out of the oven, filled…
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A Year and A Day - July - The Festival of the Chariots
The middle of July brought with it an abundance of early harvest, but the Caretakers were so busy, they didn’t even notice the buoyant unfolding of life around them. They spent day after day, gathered around the Twins, listening to the wisdom the two poured forth, wisdom whose source nobody…
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A Year and A Day - June - Bonfire Day
For the second time that year, the community took their trip down the side of the mountain, down to the sea. It was the middle of June, and it seemed like the whole world was covered in flowers, especially the tall, bright yellow flowers of the meadow, which some still believed were faeries in...
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A Year and A Day - June - The Gifts of the Spirit
“Are you nervous, granddaughter?” grandmother asked. It was Aifa’s first public speaking assignment, one for which she had prepared the entire week, and she was, of course, all nerves. “Don’t fret over it, you will do just fine.” “What if I don’t?” Aifa asked, wretched. “Then you won’t,”...
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A Year and A Day - May - The Day of Enlightenment
The Great Hall was filled with light and flowers, there were so many flowers, so many candles, the whole floor was covered in them. It felt strange for Aifa to watch the Twins, who were dressed up in their simple white garments and had flowers woven in their elaborately braided hair, sit donning...
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A Year and A Day - May - The Night of Power
“Aifa,” grandmother whispered, although nobody in the house was sleeping. “Are you ready, granddaughter? It is time to go to the Hearth.” Aifa wrapped her garment a little tighter around her waist and washed her face with the rose water her mother had made, put on her shoes and walked in silence...
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A Year and A Day - April - The Return of the Thunderbirds
Anyway, that afternoon Aifa and the Twins were out on the daffodil meadow, which Ama and Jal seemed to be particularly fond of, when all of the sudden the sky grew dark and shook with rumblings. Any other children would have run for the hills, screaming their lungs out, but not the Twins, who...
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A Year and A Day - April - The Feast of Returning to Life
From the moment the Twins arrived, poor Aifa hadn’t experienced a moment’s rest. They were five years old now, constantly moving around and getting into everything, and last, but not least, they never stopped talking. They seemed to have reached that glorious age when everything aroused their...
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A Year and A Day - March - The Dawn of the Flowers and Seeds
The closer it got to the spring equinox, the more animated the Grand Hall of the Hearth became, engulfed in a flurry of activities related to sprucing up, clearing and decorating it for the arrival of the Twins. Every now and then one of the Caretakers went out into the yard, to check if the ice…
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A Year and A Day - March - The Reading of Blessings
The Day of the Blessings usually started early in Aifa’s household. Aifa and her siblings were already dressed up in their costumes by the time the sun was high up in the sky, and were crowding each other in the kitchen, where they were all gathered to stuff their goody baskets with filled…
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A Year and A Day - February - The Feast of the Blue-Green Dragon
Towards the end of February winter started easing its grasp on the mountain springs, allowing them to come back to life, almost suddenly, in bubbling expressions of movement and sound. The tiny brooks searched for each other down the mountain, forming tiny pools and waterfalls, and when they…
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A Year and A Day - February - The Festival of Candles
Ifyou were born in Cré at the beginning of February, you would be among the youngest people to enter the Hearth. It was the yearly tradition that new mothers should bring the babies who have been born over the course of the previous year to receive a blessing. Aifa was born in the summer, so she...
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A Year and A Day - January - The Spirit of Awakening
“Wake up, granddaughter,” Aifa’s grandmother shook her gently, so she wouldn’t be startled out of her deep sleep. “We need to go to the Hearth soon, we don’t want to keep people waiting.” Aifa got up quickly, washed her face and hands and put on the clothes that she’d been setting aside the day...
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A Year and A Day - January - The Blessing of the Waters
Aifa had always asked herself, ever since she was a little child, why would a community decide to perform a ceremony that featured water during the time of year when it was almost guaranteed to be frozen. Of course if she asked her mother, she would have gotten hours of cross-referenced…
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A Year and A Day - December - The Birth of Life Itself
Itwas the week before the feast of the Birth of Life, a time when the city of Cré was usually bustling with activity. Everybody rushed to finish the preparations for the feast, get the gifts wrapped, and most importantly, get ready for the big social gathering that happened at the Hearth each…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
I GARDEN, I WRITE, AND I WATCH THE WORLD GO BY
HOSTED BY
Francis Rosenfeld
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Stories have?
Stories currently has 237 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Stories about?
I GARDEN, I WRITE, AND I WATCH THE WORLD GO BY
How often does Stories release new episodes?
Stories publishes regularly with 237 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Stories?
You can listen to Stories on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Stories?
Stories is created and hosted by Francis Rosenfeld.
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