July 13, 2024 • 35 mins
In this episode, we discover that Charon, Ferryman of the Dead, has a new ride, and we hear about the Immaculate Reception of Ex-Sister Agnes with a guest appearance by Saint David Bowie and Our Lady of Done with Your Eternal Bullshit.
Join me, Asteria Blackwell, as we dive once more into the Stories from the Lost Library, hosted by Elysium Public Radio.
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Email Big Midge the Oracle: oracle@asteriablackwell.com
Email Asteria: asteria@asteriablackwell.com
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Written and Narrated by Sandy Lynn. https://www.sandylynnstudio.com/.
All copyrights reserved. May 2024.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Asteria Blackwell (00:02):
Greetings and welcome, dear citizens of
Elysium.
You are listening to ElysiumPublic Radio.
I am your host, asteriaBlackwell, and this is Stories
from the Lost Library.
Now, before we begin, we alwaysstart with a warning, and, yes,
I realize the irony, for in thegolden days we would always
(00:25):
start with an honored prayer tothe muses for a memorable tale.
But in these modern times,warnings have replaced prayers
and our lawyers are insistent.
So take this warning as ouropening prayer.
This library, these stories,this missive, this community is
a safe and sacred space.
(00:47):
Keep all swords, daggers,poison, ignorance and hate to
yourself, for they have no placehere.
We are all seeking peace andsoftness.
There will be no tolerance forhateful words and comments,
general rudeness, patriarchaland colonialist attitudes and
(01:08):
those afflicted with thedisorder of having their mouth
be larger than their brains.
There is no guarantee everystory here will be a happy one.
In fact, some will be downrightawful, or the muses forbid
boring.
But what you consider boringand awful may not be to someone
(01:28):
else.
That is the nature ofstorytelling.
Not every story is for you.
I am high priestess of thesehallowed halls.
I am king of this space.
My word is law, and the law isthat all are welcome here, and I
truly mean all, every gender,every race, every background and
(01:49):
every inclination.
If you cannot abide by my laws,then please go roll in the mud
with the rest of the pigssomewhere else.
As for the rest of us, welcome.
You were meant to find your wayhere.
Welcome back everyone.
(02:16):
It's so good to meet you inthis space once more.
I must say the city of Elysiumhas seen a dramatic upturn in
new faces recently.
I believe some are that largegaggle of archaeologists who
took a wrong turn in the tomb ofan early dynasty, pharaoh, but
(02:36):
others seem to have found theirway here on their own, which is
wonderful.
We love showing off our greatcity, but most of us have been
here so long we've forgottenjust how confusing it can be
when you first set foot inElysium.
For example, there is thispleasant young man named Greg
who visited me at the front deskasking for books on how Elysium
(03:00):
came to be the way that it is,and he was hoping to sort it out
because he's been trying togive directions to the Uber Eats
driver and his food keepsgetting lost.
So for Greg and the rest of ournew neighbors, dead or undead,
I thought I would take thisopportunity to discuss our
history and the importance ofunderstanding ley lines.
(03:24):
Now most people understand thathumans and animals can become
ghosts, and that's just a givenof life.
But not everyone realizes thatcities and even countries can
become ghosts too.
I mean, take the great butdoomed city of Troy, for example
.
It was very well known by allaccounts and it even had a very
(03:47):
well-received book written aboutits downfall, and it also had
very famous people living withinits walls.
Yet when it died by siege fromthe Greeks, troy fell into the
underworld where it lives on asa ghostly shade, even as the
archaeologists dig up its bonesin the living world thousands of
years later.
Of course, atlantis is our mostfamous ghostly continent,
(04:13):
arguably lost after a massiveearthquake.
In the underworld include ElDorado, hominoptera, herculaneum
, pompeii, detroit and, ofcourse, half of Elysium, the
(04:37):
dead half at least.
Elysium is a very odd place.
I think we can all agree onthat.
I mean, it's not very common tohave a town that exists half in
the underworld and half in theliving world.
That living world half tends towander.
Some of you may stumble acrossElysium floating off the
Mediterranean coast, whileothers may see it parked off the
western coast of Australia andI've heard on good authority it
(05:00):
was spotted outside of Buffalo,new York, in 1987.
But really the key is thatanywhere ley lines exist, you
have a chance of stumbling uponElysium.
And I just realized I forgot totell you what ley lines are.
Some of you into the woo-woonew, agey stuff probably already
(05:21):
know, but if you do not, I tendto think of them as rivers of
energy that crisscross the globeand where they intersect you
typically find great monumentssuch as the Great Pyramids of
Egypt.
Now you might think that havinghalf of your town in the
underworld would seem quitenoticeable, but really it's not
(05:45):
that bad.
Yes, we have a distinct shiftwhere the wind blows one way and
then you might cross the streetand it blows another.
It's typically more cloudy onthe underworld side, but we do
have spectacular night skieswith plenty of opportunities to
catch the aurora borealis.
There are some zones that arekind of half and half, almost
(06:09):
like a dead zone, where lifeexists but never really takes
off too well, and those areasget used for things like
cemeteries, industrial parks,mattress stores and parking lots
.
Due to these ley lines, allsorts of supernatural beings
(06:29):
tend to find their way here,whether the living half of the
town likes it or not.
Yet despite everything that'shappened, elysium does hold
itself in quite high regards fora number of things, such as
upholding antiquated traditionsand keeping the streets free of
(06:50):
riffraff, and having the goshdarned best apple festival
within a thousand miles, despitewhat that dump in the Garden of
Eden claims.
So, friends, that's thebackground of Elysium.
We're always at a crossroads.
We are the crossroads.
Many deals are struck here andmany gods and wandering souls
(07:15):
wind up on these streets, sweptup in the eddies of the lane
lines.
And according to our young andhip university liaison, Cassie,
she states that all of the UberEats drivers are members of the
same fraternity and you must puta cheap six-pack of beer on
your porch or outside your doorso they can hone in on your
(07:38):
exact location.
It seems the boys who frequentfraternities have a sixth sense
for finding the cheapest beerpossible.
(08:01):
Dear listeners, I want to thankthose of you who came to the
library or reached out todiscuss rebuilding Karen's
broken raft.
I'm afraid the consensus wasthat it's too far beyond repair.
Karen and I remained at ourimpasse for a long while, I will
say.
The town council rejected theidea of funding and building a
(08:25):
large ferry as a replacement,for it would have required a
property tax hike in Elysium,and the gods know that that
would never pass.
I mean to be fair, the RiverAcheron and the River Styx
aren't even in our tax district.
But a hero has come to ourrescue.
(08:46):
Dave Riggle from Dave's RV andBoat Sales on South Lombard
Street has saved the day.
Dave brought forth the idea forCharon to upgrade to something
with a motor called I believe itwas called a pontoon boat.
Yes, that's it, a pontoon boat,and I think this is a quite
(09:07):
novel and practical idea.
But it did take Dave a few daysto convince Charon of the same.
But really it just makes sensethat dedicated old ferry had
given as much life as it could.
But according to Dave, pontoonboats can haul more souls across
the river at a much faster pace.
(09:29):
It also has a built-in stereosystem and a leather captain's
chair which I understand Caronhas really taken a liking to.
It also apparently lends itselfwell to the sport of water
skiing, and for an extra goldcoin some brave souls are
choosing to jet into theafterlife on a pair of silver
(09:51):
string skis.
Cassie and I spotted Charonsporting board shorts and
sunglasses the other daycruising up and down the other
day cruising up and down thesacred river behind the library
with Dave learning how tomaneuver his new ride.
The pontoon is bright cherry,metallic red, and everyone in
town can hear him blasting SweetHome, alabama.
(10:14):
It seems he is quite pleasedwith this new upgrade, and even
ones such as Caron can changewith the times.
The old fairy who had given hislife for this job has received
a proper burial.
I located a quiet, cool grovein the open air section of our
(10:34):
library and the old king canonce again watch the stars swirl
overhead and he is content atlast.
Finreir, the great wolf of thenorth, came to the Ambrosia cafe
the other day and he is lookingmuch happier and healthier than
(10:57):
I've seen him in a long time.
He had a great appetite and atesix dog biscuits while we
shared coffee.
It seems that his father, loki,has not shown up, but there was
an elderly aunt who came by,brushed out all of the mats from
his fur, cooked him breakfastand she ended up staying a few
(11:18):
weeks cleaning up his home andplanting flowers.
He said she always shows upwhen he's in a bad place and I'm
glad he has this person in hislife.
I just wish his father wouldhave bothered to come see him.
But Finrear is doing well andthanks everyone for their calls
and cards of support, and heapologizes once again for eating
(11:40):
the sun.
The organizers of the upcomingCity Dionysia have announced
that all submissions for thePlaywriting Festival must be
received by the end of the month, or before the end of the full
moon if you don't use a humancalendar.
They have also announcedthey're waiving the fee for any
(12:09):
women submitting to the women'sportion of the competition in a
gesture of solidarity.
And remember, no one will befed to the lions this time if
you lose.
I must say I don't understandhow waiving a fee shows
solidarity.
If they wanted to accomplishthat, they'd let the women enter
the full festival withoutseparation.
But what do I know?
I'm just a woman, apparently.
And as for the lion, that'snice but it doesn't do old
(12:33):
Actaeus Polaris any good, sincehe was last year's main course.
But Cassie and I are happy toproofread anyone's submission.
We've already started seeingmany prospective writers camping
out in the library.
Shakespeare and Kit Marlowespend more time making out than
writing, but it seems to beworking for them.
(12:54):
We've also had a strangemiddle-aged woman come in the
other day who pulled out whatseemed to be handwritten copies
of the Odyssey and the Iliad andthen a large pot of ink and she
started writing.
She wrote for 12 hours straightand had four of Phryne's
magical stay-awake concoctionsand she wrote like a woman
(13:17):
possessed.
It was rather fascinating.
(13:46):
And now a word from our newsponsor, dave Riggle, from
Dave's RV and Boat Sales onSouth Lombard Street.
Dave's RV and Boat Sales canhelp you get into the adventure
of your dreams.
Whether you need a workhorse ofa boat, like our great friend
Karen, or whether you just wanta little traveling caravan, he's
got you covered.
They know every bit of waterand land between here and the
Sargasso Sea and they willalways help you see all of it.
(14:08):
So come on down today.
He's got new and used boats,pontoons, jet skis, fishing
boats, byrooms, clipper ships,galleons, dhows, nars, paddle
boats, paddle steamers andcruisers, just to name a few.
Thank you, dave, and thank youagain for all of you've done to
(14:30):
help our friend Karen.
Big Midge's oracles have beenbrought to you by Dave's RV and
Boat Sales and remember, if youwish to submit a question for
Big Midge.
Email her at oracle atassyriablackwellcom.
Oracle number one.
(14:51):
Dear Big Midge, where are themale oracles?
And, for that matter, whateverhappened to Apollo, the god who
used to whisper prophecies tothe Pythia at Delphi?
No offense, but your oraclescould really use some work.
Maybe you should reach out tohim and see if he might help you
(15:11):
out.
Sincerely, Just Saying, dear,just Saying.
Of course, not all oracles arewomen.
Not all oracles are even human.
If you looked at the worldaround you for more than a
second, do you really think theseashells on the beach Just hold
echoes of ocean waves?
(15:32):
No, they are oracles of theirown kind, spilling secrets of
the lost souls in the depths,secrets of the lost souls in the
depths, secrets of the deepseas and secrets of the old gods
who still rule below the waves.
And as for Apollo, he was anopportunist, a god using a
(15:54):
natural gift to further alonghis hobby of raping those he
took a liking to.
He's not welcome here and, forthe record, the voice that
whispers to me will not bemansplained, so it will never
speak to men.
Most of you are utterlyexhausting and, frankly, I avoid
speaking to you as well.
Oracle number two, dear BigMidge, number two.
(16:23):
Dear Big Midge, if a man whobecame a werewolf on the full
moon were to go out into outerspace, would he be a werewolf 24
hours a day because the moonwould always be full.
Or is it still just a once amonth thing?
Sincerely Werewolf AstronautQuandaries.
Werewolf Astronaut Quandaries.
(16:43):
Dear Werewolf AstronautQuandaries, you would be a
werewolf full-time.
So if you are space-bound andalso sensitive to the full moon,
please plan accordingly.
Oracle number three Note thisquerent asked for their question
not to be published, so we areonly putting out the answer.
Dear Anonymous, I know why youcame here.
(17:05):
Yes, you were searching for themeans to tell a story, a siren
call that will not let you rest.
But what if, I told you, youmust be careful with the one
that holds?
You told you, you must becareful with the one that holds
you.
I understand how intriguing itsounds now with this story of
oracles and magic, but you mustbe careful, as careful as
(17:28):
witches are on a full moon, foran oracle story may change your
life.
An oracle spoken worms into youand takes hold and grows into
something much larger.
You must say a prayer to themuses for your safe journey
through those pages.
You must sing loudly for thesake of your own soul, for
(17:52):
anything less will swallow youwhole.
Thank you for the oracles, bigMidge, great advice as always,
and please give a big hand to myfamiliar who is voicing her
love of Big Midge as well.
(18:17):
And now for the weather, whichDave Riggle informs me is not so
great for boating at the moment.
We have a heavy bank of fogcoming in on the heels of the
blood red moon.
The fog will cover everythingin an endless mist.
It has just woken up from along winter hibernation, so this
fog is a hungry one, ravenous,really.
(18:40):
The reports are saying the foghas been reported to be feasting
on memories.
So if you have things you'dlike to forget, maybe now is the
time for a little midnightwalkabout.
Or if you have things you'dlike to keep, then close your
windows and cover your head.
The fog is expected to departin a few days and after rainbows
(19:04):
and auroras are expected toreturn to our skies.
Thank you, dave, for sponsoringtoday's weather.
We have an update to one of thecommunity support groups that I
was asked to share with everyone.
The newest support group, whichwas for those whose life has
(19:27):
been wrecked by a Greek god wasoverwhelmed with attendance.
There was a line out of thedoor at the community center and
the organizers did not realizethere were so many of you in
need of help.
So for this week's meeting, itwill now be held at the
university's conference center.
There are multiple rooms set upso that everyone can have a
(19:49):
good conversation, and I believesome therapists and witches
will be on hand to help everyoneprocess.
I'm really glad to hear this.
We've had a need for eons, andalso the organizers of the
Olympics and the City DionysiaFestival have announced that the
amphitheater is now closed sothat rehearsals and preparations
(20:10):
may start for the festivals,and the main square is about to
close so that vendors can comein and get ready for the start
of this wonderful event.
Tickets are going fast, soplease be sure to get yours soon
.
(20:42):
Okay, dear friends, it's timefor a tale, if you will.
A few weeks ago, when we wereexperiencing an influx of souls
fleeing the endless laundry ofthe Catholic Church, a woman
came in and offered to help withsupplies, funds, living
quarters and pretty muchanything that anyone would need
who was trying to start a newlife.
(21:02):
Her name is Agnes and, inaddition to offering safe haven
for rebellious nuns.
Agnes has lent her time andexpertise to the library and I
am most grateful.
She's fixed the air conditionerin the front entryway and
solved that incessant squeakcoming from the top hinge of the
(21:22):
main doors.
Right now she's outsidebuilding something I'm not quite
sure what, but I hear a lot ofsaws and hammering and I expect
that it will be nothing lessthan extraordinary Friends.
Agnes and I have become quitegood friends over the past few
weeks.
She keeps to herself most ofthe time, so I expect that not
(21:43):
many of you have crossed pathswith her, but please, for a
moment, close your eyes andhumor me.
I want you to picture a woman,built solid like a house,
wearing a worn black leatherjacket and jeans with holes in
the knees, no matter the weather.
She has black nails to go alongwith her black jacket, short,
(22:05):
spiky hair with a white streakdown the side and, of course,
the heavy leather boots that sheso fondly calls her
shit-carrers.
Agnes is nothing if not blunt,and some of you with thinner
skin may find her abrasive, butnothing she says is untrue.
Agnes shared her story with meafter a wonderful night
(22:28):
involving a lot of wine and mead, and with the stream of fleeing
nuns finding their way to us, Iknew right away that there were
many souls who needed to hearthis story.
So, with her permission, hereis Agnes's story.
(22:50):
I was raised in a Catholicchurch.
Literally when I was a coupleof years old, someone had left
me on the front steps of OurLady of Eternal Sorrows in
Bumfuck.
Indiana Didn't really have anysocial services offices around
at that time, so everyone justkind of shrugged and left me in
the care of the nuns and thenproceeded to forget about me.
(23:11):
My birth certificate actuallysays my name is Sister Agnes,
because the idiot who typed itgot distracted by his lunch and
missed it, and of course there'sno way to correct it without
endless paperwork that I don'thave and can't access, which is
ironic.
Actually, the nuns named meafter Saint Agnes, who was a
(23:33):
teenage girl who said no tomarrying a man, and so her
father and the suitors killedher by dragging her naked
through the streets, trying toburn her at the stake and then
just resorting to lopping herhead off.
Of course, as all things gowith the church, they felt bad
about it after she was dead, sothey made her a saint, as if
(23:54):
that would cleanse the sins ofhow they had treated her without
having to feel too bad about it.
Oh, she's with God now theywould say Well, bullshit, she
wouldn't have been there if itwasn't for your ego and your
dick Christ.
That's the whole fuckingproblem with the church.
Everyone is so damned focusedon what happens after you die
(24:15):
that no one takes the time tobecome a decent human being
while they're alive.
I grew up surrounded by womenlike this, watching them, day in
and day out, be the mosthateful beings I have ever
encountered.
They took pleasure in whackingme with rulers when I couldn't
remember multiplication tables,or when I accidentally broke a
(24:36):
glass washing dishes tables, orwhen I accidentally broke a
glass washing dishes, or foranything really.
I watched them spend all oftheir time saying all of these
flowery bullshit prayers andthen turn to me and say the
harshest shit like you're asinner, you're going to hell.
You need to pray for your soul.
You're going to burn inpurgatory for an eternity.
You know all that warm, fuzzy,feeling crap in purgatory for an
(25:01):
eternity.
You know all that warm, fuzzy,feeling crap.
I didn't know anythingdifferent, not until they had to
send me to the local school foran education I didn't know
there was a world outside ofthose walls, and so I believed
them.
When they told me I was a pieceof shit human being, I tried to
do all of the steps they wanted,like get baptized and take
communion and spell out all ofyour sins and all of that jazz.
(25:22):
But like any multi-levelmarketing scheme, there are a
lot of promises but minimalresults for the effort.
There was a lot of oh well, youhaven't prayed enough.
You haven't taken orders to bea nun, but you just haven't
confessed enough.
You haven't taken orders to bea nun, but you just haven't
confessed enough.
There was always some bullshitof needing to be more and do
(25:44):
more.
So I worked harder, thinkingthat if I kept doing what they
asked, I'd finally be cleansedor whatever they were wanting,
and the gaping hole in my chestwould heal up.
If I just did everything rightor did it hard enough, or erased
everything of who I was, thenthat happiness might kick in.
(26:04):
Spoiler alert it never kickedin.
They told me to pray to thesaints, who were then supposed
to pray on my behalf to God forsome boon or some help in an
area, but none of those saintsever really spoke to me.
They were all too far removed,too dead, too dusty to make any
(26:26):
difference in my life.
I never found any kind of a Godin that church.
I sure found a lot of hate,though, even though everyone
kept telling me it was a placeof joy and peace.
I found death, with corpseshanging from crosses and
everyone drinking his blood,like a vampire, while telling me
(26:47):
it would bring me life andforgiveness.
It just tasted like stalecrackers and grape juice.
You know, I've never met a truevampire in real life that I'm
aware of, but I sure as shitknow that the church is one.
It's a 2,000-year-old vampirebleeding the world dry and
leaving nothing but destructionin its path.
(27:09):
Feed on your fear, your anger,your hatred.
Let us suck the life out of youwhile giving you our blood in
return so that you become one ofus.
You are beholden to us.
I fucking hated that place.
Every week, priests would comein and take our confessions,
(27:32):
because apparently women aren'tapproved to handle shit like
that.
They'd line us up and tell usdon't leave anything out.
We want every scrap, every bite.
It won't count unless you tellus everything.
Those fucks always creeped meout.
Father Peter was the one in theconfessional and he was always
(27:54):
the hungriest, fattest asshole Ihad ever met in my life, both
for food and for sins.
He told anyone willing orunwilling to listen that this
was his favorite part of the jobto help wash away the sins of
the faithful.
I always wondered who heconfessed to, or even if he
(28:14):
bothered to confess at all.
He certainly never tried tohide his sins.
Father Peter was notorious forhis wandering hands on young
nuns and his weekly poker nightswith the sheriff.
For years I stepped into thatconfessional over and over and
let Father Peter pin me openlike a bug on a specimen board
(28:36):
so that he could use hisso-called connection to the
almighty to peer inside.
He and his fat fingers movedorgans around, dug into
intestines, searched for everyhint of a secret, a sin,
searching for the things hecould use to make you hate
yourself.
To make you hate yourself.
Oh, but don't worry, dear mydear child, I shall wash you
(29:00):
clean, he would say, whileasking for more.
Well, I never felt clean afterleaving that confessional.
I felt worse.
That damned room always reekedof unwashed robes and Father
Peter's greasy hands.
I could not get out of thatplace fast enough, and I always
(29:20):
had to get outside to work withmy hands, usually in the garden
or, if it was too cold, down tothe laundry room, so the boiling
water and steam would wash awayFather Peter's cleansing.
Father Peter never bothered tocleanse his sins, I am sure of
that.
Every day I had to sit in thosepews and stare at that bleeding
(29:44):
crucifix hanging over the altarand wonder when God would ever
show up for himself To askforgiveness for all of his sins.
When would he be brave enoughto confess To all of the blood
spilled and lives destroyed inthe name of this religion, a
religion that has never beensatisfied with what you offered,
a religion that always wantsmore and more and more?
(30:08):
Who could ever wash the sins ofan absent God?
Well, luckily I never have toworry about that, because one
day, while I was washingeveryone's dirty underwear, I
died and was saved by none otherthan St David Bowie.
Yeah, I know how it sounds,trust me, I like to call it the
(30:32):
Immaculate Reception, because Iwas elbow deep in a washing
machine trying to fix it andthen my contraband radio fell
off the shelf and into the water, with me fried the ever-loving
shit out of me.
I got knocked to the floor,ended up with this damn white
streak in my hair and I wascertain I was dead, because,
when I opened my eyes, davidfucking bowie was standing at my
(30:55):
smoking a cigarette and lookingat me.
Oh Agnes, you poor thing, whatthe fuck are you still doing
here?
And well, frankly, that was adamn good question.
You can leave, you know, justget up and walk out and never
come back.
You can become someone else.
Of course, as he said this, hisoutfits rotated through Ziggy
(31:18):
Stardust to Aladdin Sane and theThin White Duke, and I kind of
got the point.
You can go, make your ownsaints, make your own religion.
You don't need salvation, youneed to live your life.
There are more like you thanyou'll ever know, and in fact,
I'd like you to meet a friend ofmine.
He stepped aside and there wasone of the most beautiful women
(31:43):
I've ever seen.
She was wearing, of all things,jeans and a t-shirt, and
converse, sneakers and a wide,sharp smile.
Agnes Saint David Bowie saidthis is Lilith, or, as she likes
to call herself, our lady ofdone with your eternal bullshit.
And I'll tell you right now.
(32:05):
None of the saints ever spoketo me much before then.
But this, my friends, this is asaint I can really get behind.
Lilith reached out her handsand you bet your ass I took it.
I walked right out of thatfucking vampire's nest and
dripping wet robes and into thesunlight with her, and I don't
(32:27):
regret a damn second of it.
I like to think of it as ado-it-yourself excommunication
the best decision I've ever made.
My heart breaks for all ofthose, like Saint Agnes, who
have been killed or cast out ordemonized in the name of the
church.
Lilith has helped me see thatwe can create a new world, find
(32:48):
new saints to follow and newgods worthy of worship.
Your mileage may vary, butsince I've left that damn
vampire, I've never been told tohate anyone or dig around for
sins or to give money to fundwars and opulence.
That was never deserved.
If there's anyone out there whowants to leave that filth and
(33:08):
hears this, reach out.
However you can, I'll offer upa route for your own
do-it-yourself excommunication.
I won't ask for a penny.
I'm not interested in your sinsand I'll never promise you
eternal salvation.
Your life will be yours againand you can live it as you wish,
without the need of permissionor forgiveness from anyone.
(33:32):
Thank you so much, agnes, forallowing us to share your story.
I'm thrilled you were able toescape and create a life that
you love living and, as I havementioned in the past, if you
get a message to me or come bythe library, I will help you in
(33:52):
any way I can.
You can email me at asteria atasteriablackwellcom.
That's our show for now.
Join us next time when we'llhave more on the upcoming City
Dionysia Festival, and I can'twait to see the productions this
year.
Remember you can also send inyour questions from Big Mitch at
oracle at asteriablackwellcom.
(34:16):
This has been a production ofElysium Public Radio.
My name is Asteria Blackwelland this is Stories from the
Lost Library.
This has been a production ofElysium Public Radio and Sandy
Lynn Studio.
Our music is written andperformed by Scott Buckley.
(34:36):
Today's story was written andnarrated by Sandy Lynn.
Follow us on Instagram andTikTok under the handle Asteria
Blackwell For more informationon the show or to obtain a
library card for the LostLibrary of Elysium, or perhaps
to join our mystery cult.
Then find us on Substack at.
Greetings and welcome, dear citizens of
Elysium.
You are listening to ElysiumPublic Radio.
I am your host, asteriaBlackwell, and this is Stories
from the Lost Library.
Now, before we begin, we alwaysstart with a warning, and, yes,
I realize the irony, for in thegolden days we would always
(00:25):
start with an honored prayer tothe muses for a memorable tale.
But in these modern times,warnings have replaced prayers
and our lawyers are insistent.
So take this warning as ouropening prayer.
This library, these stories,this missive, this community is
a safe and sacred space.
(00:47):
Keep all swords, daggers,poison, ignorance and hate to
yourself, for they have no placehere.
We are all seeking peace andsoftness.
There will be no tolerance forhateful words and comments,
general rudeness, patriarchaland colonialist attitudes and
(01:08):
those afflicted with thedisorder of having their mouth
be larger than their brains.
There is no guarantee everystory here will be a happy one.
In fact, some will be downrightawful, or the muses forbid
boring.
But what you consider boringand awful may not be to someone
(01:28):
else.
That is the nature ofstorytelling.
Not every story is for you.
I am high priestess of thesehallowed halls.
I am king of this space.
My word is law, and the law isthat all are welcome here, and I
truly mean all, every gender,every race, every background and
(01:49):
every inclination.
If you cannot abide by my laws,then please go roll in the mud
with the rest of the pigssomewhere else.
As for the rest of us, welcome.
You were meant to find your wayhere.
Welcome back everyone.
(02:16):
It's so good to meet you inthis space once more.
I must say the city of Elysiumhas seen a dramatic upturn in
new faces recently.
I believe some are that largegaggle of archaeologists who
took a wrong turn in the tomb ofan early dynasty, pharaoh, but
(02:36):
others seem to have found theirway here on their own, which is
wonderful.
We love showing off our greatcity, but most of us have been
here so long we've forgottenjust how confusing it can be
when you first set foot inElysium.
For example, there is thispleasant young man named Greg
who visited me at the front deskasking for books on how Elysium
(03:00):
came to be the way that it is,and he was hoping to sort it out
because he's been trying togive directions to the Uber Eats
driver and his food keepsgetting lost.
So for Greg and the rest of ournew neighbors, dead or undead,
I thought I would take thisopportunity to discuss our
history and the importance ofunderstanding ley lines.
(03:24):
Now most people understand thathumans and animals can become
ghosts, and that's just a givenof life.
But not everyone realizes thatcities and even countries can
become ghosts too.
I mean, take the great butdoomed city of Troy, for example
.
It was very well known by allaccounts and it even had a very
(03:47):
well-received book written aboutits downfall, and it also had
very famous people living withinits walls.
Yet when it died by siege fromthe Greeks, troy fell into the
underworld where it lives on asa ghostly shade, even as the
archaeologists dig up its bonesin the living world thousands of
years later.
Of course, atlantis is our mostfamous ghostly continent,
(04:13):
arguably lost after a massiveearthquake.
In the underworld include ElDorado, hominoptera, herculaneum
, pompeii, detroit and, ofcourse, half of Elysium, the
(04:37):
dead half at least.
Elysium is a very odd place.
I think we can all agree onthat.
I mean, it's not very common tohave a town that exists half in
the underworld and half in theliving world.
That living world half tends towander.
Some of you may stumble acrossElysium floating off the
Mediterranean coast, whileothers may see it parked off the
western coast of Australia andI've heard on good authority it
(05:00):
was spotted outside of Buffalo,new York, in 1987.
But really the key is thatanywhere ley lines exist, you
have a chance of stumbling uponElysium.
And I just realized I forgot totell you what ley lines are.
Some of you into the woo-woonew, agey stuff probably already
(05:21):
know, but if you do not, I tendto think of them as rivers of
energy that crisscross the globeand where they intersect you
typically find great monumentssuch as the Great Pyramids of
Egypt.
Now you might think that havinghalf of your town in the
underworld would seem quitenoticeable, but really it's not
(05:45):
that bad.
Yes, we have a distinct shiftwhere the wind blows one way and
then you might cross the streetand it blows another.
It's typically more cloudy onthe underworld side, but we do
have spectacular night skieswith plenty of opportunities to
catch the aurora borealis.
There are some zones that arekind of half and half, almost
(06:09):
like a dead zone, where lifeexists but never really takes
off too well, and those areasget used for things like
cemeteries, industrial parks,mattress stores and parking lots
.
Due to these ley lines, allsorts of supernatural beings
(06:29):
tend to find their way here,whether the living half of the
town likes it or not.
Yet despite everything that'shappened, elysium does hold
itself in quite high regards fora number of things, such as
upholding antiquated traditionsand keeping the streets free of
(06:50):
riffraff, and having the goshdarned best apple festival
within a thousand miles, despitewhat that dump in the Garden of
Eden claims.
So, friends, that's thebackground of Elysium.
We're always at a crossroads.
We are the crossroads.
Many deals are struck here andmany gods and wandering souls
(07:15):
wind up on these streets, sweptup in the eddies of the lane
lines.
And according to our young andhip university liaison, Cassie,
she states that all of the UberEats drivers are members of the
same fraternity and you must puta cheap six-pack of beer on
your porch or outside your doorso they can hone in on your
(07:38):
exact location.
It seems the boys who frequentfraternities have a sixth sense
for finding the cheapest beerpossible.
(08:01):
Dear listeners, I want to thankthose of you who came to the
library or reached out todiscuss rebuilding Karen's
broken raft.
I'm afraid the consensus wasthat it's too far beyond repair.
Karen and I remained at ourimpasse for a long while, I will
say.
The town council rejected theidea of funding and building a
(08:25):
large ferry as a replacement,for it would have required a
property tax hike in Elysium,and the gods know that that
would never pass.
I mean to be fair, the RiverAcheron and the River Styx
aren't even in our tax district.
But a hero has come to ourrescue.
(08:46):
Dave Riggle from Dave's RV andBoat Sales on South Lombard
Street has saved the day.
Dave brought forth the idea forCharon to upgrade to something
with a motor called I believe itwas called a pontoon boat.
Yes, that's it, a pontoon boat,and I think this is a quite
(09:07):
novel and practical idea.
But it did take Dave a few daysto convince Charon of the same.
But really it just makes sensethat dedicated old ferry had
given as much life as it could.
But according to Dave, pontoonboats can haul more souls across
the river at a much faster pace.
(09:29):
It also has a built-in stereosystem and a leather captain's
chair which I understand Caronhas really taken a liking to.
It also apparently lends itselfwell to the sport of water
skiing, and for an extra goldcoin some brave souls are
choosing to jet into theafterlife on a pair of silver
(09:51):
string skis.
Cassie and I spotted Charonsporting board shorts and
sunglasses the other daycruising up and down the other
day cruising up and down thesacred river behind the library
with Dave learning how tomaneuver his new ride.
The pontoon is bright cherry,metallic red, and everyone in
town can hear him blasting SweetHome, alabama.
(10:14):
It seems he is quite pleasedwith this new upgrade, and even
ones such as Caron can changewith the times.
The old fairy who had given hislife for this job has received
a proper burial.
I located a quiet, cool grovein the open air section of our
(10:34):
library and the old king canonce again watch the stars swirl
overhead and he is content atlast.
Finreir, the great wolf of thenorth, came to the Ambrosia cafe
the other day and he is lookingmuch happier and healthier than
(10:57):
I've seen him in a long time.
He had a great appetite and atesix dog biscuits while we
shared coffee.
It seems that his father, loki,has not shown up, but there was
an elderly aunt who came by,brushed out all of the mats from
his fur, cooked him breakfastand she ended up staying a few
(11:18):
weeks cleaning up his home andplanting flowers.
He said she always shows upwhen he's in a bad place and I'm
glad he has this person in hislife.
I just wish his father wouldhave bothered to come see him.
But Finrear is doing well andthanks everyone for their calls
and cards of support, and heapologizes once again for eating
(11:40):
the sun.
The organizers of the upcomingCity Dionysia have announced
that all submissions for thePlaywriting Festival must be
received by the end of the month, or before the end of the full
moon if you don't use a humancalendar.
They have also announcedthey're waiving the fee for any
(12:09):
women submitting to the women'sportion of the competition in a
gesture of solidarity.
And remember, no one will befed to the lions this time if
you lose.
I must say I don't understandhow waiving a fee shows
solidarity.
If they wanted to accomplishthat, they'd let the women enter
the full festival withoutseparation.
But what do I know?
I'm just a woman, apparently.
And as for the lion, that'snice but it doesn't do old
(12:33):
Actaeus Polaris any good, sincehe was last year's main course.
But Cassie and I are happy toproofread anyone's submission.
We've already started seeingmany prospective writers camping
out in the library.
Shakespeare and Kit Marlowespend more time making out than
writing, but it seems to beworking for them.
(12:54):
We've also had a strangemiddle-aged woman come in the
other day who pulled out whatseemed to be handwritten copies
of the Odyssey and the Iliad andthen a large pot of ink and she
started writing.
She wrote for 12 hours straightand had four of Phryne's
magical stay-awake concoctionsand she wrote like a woman
(13:17):
possessed.
It was rather fascinating.
(13:46):
And now a word from our newsponsor, dave Riggle, from
Dave's RV and Boat Sales onSouth Lombard Street.
Dave's RV and Boat Sales canhelp you get into the adventure
of your dreams.
Whether you need a workhorse ofa boat, like our great friend
Karen, or whether you just wanta little traveling caravan, he's
got you covered.
They know every bit of waterand land between here and the
Sargasso Sea and they willalways help you see all of it.
(14:08):
So come on down today.
He's got new and used boats,pontoons, jet skis, fishing
boats, byrooms, clipper ships,galleons, dhows, nars, paddle
boats, paddle steamers andcruisers, just to name a few.
Thank you, dave, and thank youagain for all of you've done to
(14:30):
help our friend Karen.
Big Midge's oracles have beenbrought to you by Dave's RV and
Boat Sales and remember, if youwish to submit a question for
Big Midge.
Email her at oracle atassyriablackwellcom.
Oracle number one.
(14:51):
Dear Big Midge, where are themale oracles?
And, for that matter, whateverhappened to Apollo, the god who
used to whisper prophecies tothe Pythia at Delphi?
No offense, but your oraclescould really use some work.
Maybe you should reach out tohim and see if he might help you
(15:11):
out.
Sincerely, Just Saying, dear,just Saying.
Of course, not all oracles arewomen.
Not all oracles are even human.
If you looked at the worldaround you for more than a
second, do you really think theseashells on the beach Just hold
echoes of ocean waves?
(15:32):
No, they are oracles of theirown kind, spilling secrets of
the lost souls in the depths,secrets of the lost souls in the
depths, secrets of the deepseas and secrets of the old gods
who still rule below the waves.
And as for Apollo, he was anopportunist, a god using a
(15:54):
natural gift to further alonghis hobby of raping those he
took a liking to.
He's not welcome here and, forthe record, the voice that
whispers to me will not bemansplained, so it will never
speak to men.
Most of you are utterlyexhausting and, frankly, I avoid
speaking to you as well.
Oracle number two, dear BigMidge, number two.
(16:23):
Dear Big Midge, if a man whobecame a werewolf on the full
moon were to go out into outerspace, would he be a werewolf 24
hours a day because the moonwould always be full.
Or is it still just a once amonth thing?
Sincerely Werewolf AstronautQuandaries.
Werewolf Astronaut Quandaries.
(16:43):
Dear Werewolf AstronautQuandaries, you would be a
werewolf full-time.
So if you are space-bound andalso sensitive to the full moon,
please plan accordingly.
Oracle number three Note thisquerent asked for their question
not to be published, so we areonly putting out the answer.
Dear Anonymous, I know why youcame here.
(17:05):
Yes, you were searching for themeans to tell a story, a siren
call that will not let you rest.
But what if, I told you, youmust be careful with the one
that holds?
You told you, you must becareful with the one that holds
you.
I understand how intriguing itsounds now with this story of
oracles and magic, but you mustbe careful, as careful as
(17:28):
witches are on a full moon, foran oracle story may change your
life.
An oracle spoken worms into youand takes hold and grows into
something much larger.
You must say a prayer to themuses for your safe journey
through those pages.
You must sing loudly for thesake of your own soul, for
(17:52):
anything less will swallow youwhole.
Thank you for the oracles, bigMidge, great advice as always,
and please give a big hand to myfamiliar who is voicing her
love of Big Midge as well.
(18:17):
And now for the weather, whichDave Riggle informs me is not so
great for boating at the moment.
We have a heavy bank of fogcoming in on the heels of the
blood red moon.
The fog will cover everythingin an endless mist.
It has just woken up from along winter hibernation, so this
fog is a hungry one, ravenous,really.
(18:40):
The reports are saying the foghas been reported to be feasting
on memories.
So if you have things you'dlike to forget, maybe now is the
time for a little midnightwalkabout.
Or if you have things you'dlike to keep, then close your
windows and cover your head.
The fog is expected to departin a few days and after rainbows
(19:04):
and auroras are expected toreturn to our skies.
Thank you, dave, for sponsoringtoday's weather.
We have an update to one of thecommunity support groups that I
was asked to share with everyone.
The newest support group, whichwas for those whose life has
(19:27):
been wrecked by a Greek god wasoverwhelmed with attendance.
There was a line out of thedoor at the community center and
the organizers did not realizethere were so many of you in
need of help.
So for this week's meeting, itwill now be held at the
university's conference center.
There are multiple rooms set upso that everyone can have a
(19:49):
good conversation, and I believesome therapists and witches
will be on hand to help everyoneprocess.
I'm really glad to hear this.
We've had a need for eons, andalso the organizers of the
Olympics and the City DionysiaFestival have announced that the
amphitheater is now closed sothat rehearsals and preparations
(20:10):
may start for the festivals,and the main square is about to
close so that vendors can comein and get ready for the start
of this wonderful event.
Tickets are going fast, soplease be sure to get yours soon
.
(20:42):
Okay, dear friends, it's timefor a tale, if you will.
A few weeks ago, when we wereexperiencing an influx of souls
fleeing the endless laundry ofthe Catholic Church, a woman
came in and offered to help withsupplies, funds, living
quarters and pretty muchanything that anyone would need
who was trying to start a newlife.
(21:02):
Her name is Agnes and, inaddition to offering safe haven
for rebellious nuns.
Agnes has lent her time andexpertise to the library and I
am most grateful.
She's fixed the air conditionerin the front entryway and
solved that incessant squeakcoming from the top hinge of the
(21:22):
main doors.
Right now she's outsidebuilding something I'm not quite
sure what, but I hear a lot ofsaws and hammering and I expect
that it will be nothing lessthan extraordinary Friends.
Agnes and I have become quitegood friends over the past few
weeks.
She keeps to herself most ofthe time, so I expect that not
(21:43):
many of you have crossed pathswith her, but please, for a
moment, close your eyes andhumor me.
I want you to picture a woman,built solid like a house,
wearing a worn black leatherjacket and jeans with holes in
the knees, no matter the weather.
She has black nails to go alongwith her black jacket, short,
(22:05):
spiky hair with a white streakdown the side and, of course,
the heavy leather boots that sheso fondly calls her
shit-carrers.
Agnes is nothing if not blunt,and some of you with thinner
skin may find her abrasive, butnothing she says is untrue.
Agnes shared her story with meafter a wonderful night
(22:28):
involving a lot of wine and mead, and with the stream of fleeing
nuns finding their way to us, Iknew right away that there were
many souls who needed to hearthis story.
So, with her permission, hereis Agnes's story.
(22:50):
I was raised in a Catholicchurch.
Literally when I was a coupleof years old, someone had left
me on the front steps of OurLady of Eternal Sorrows in
Bumfuck.
Indiana Didn't really have anysocial services offices around
at that time, so everyone justkind of shrugged and left me in
the care of the nuns and thenproceeded to forget about me.
(23:11):
My birth certificate actuallysays my name is Sister Agnes,
because the idiot who typed itgot distracted by his lunch and
missed it, and of course there'sno way to correct it without
endless paperwork that I don'thave and can't access, which is
ironic.
Actually, the nuns named meafter Saint Agnes, who was a
(23:33):
teenage girl who said no tomarrying a man, and so her
father and the suitors killedher by dragging her naked
through the streets, trying toburn her at the stake and then
just resorting to lopping herhead off.
Of course, as all things gowith the church, they felt bad
about it after she was dead, sothey made her a saint, as if
(23:54):
that would cleanse the sins ofhow they had treated her without
having to feel too bad about it.
Oh, she's with God now theywould say Well, bullshit, she
wouldn't have been there if itwasn't for your ego and your
dick Christ.
That's the whole fuckingproblem with the church.
Everyone is so damned focusedon what happens after you die
(24:15):
that no one takes the time tobecome a decent human being
while they're alive.
I grew up surrounded by womenlike this, watching them, day in
and day out, be the mosthateful beings I have ever
encountered.
They took pleasure in whackingme with rulers when I couldn't
remember multiplication tables,or when I accidentally broke a
(24:36):
glass washing dishes tables, orwhen I accidentally broke a
glass washing dishes, or foranything really.
I watched them spend all oftheir time saying all of these
flowery bullshit prayers andthen turn to me and say the
harshest shit like you're asinner, you're going to hell.
You need to pray for your soul.
You're going to burn inpurgatory for an eternity.
You know all that warm, fuzzy,feeling crap in purgatory for an
(25:01):
eternity.
You know all that warm, fuzzy,feeling crap.
I didn't know anythingdifferent, not until they had to
send me to the local school foran education I didn't know
there was a world outside ofthose walls, and so I believed
them.
When they told me I was a pieceof shit human being, I tried to
do all of the steps they wanted,like get baptized and take
communion and spell out all ofyour sins and all of that jazz.
(25:22):
But like any multi-levelmarketing scheme, there are a
lot of promises but minimalresults for the effort.
There was a lot of oh well, youhaven't prayed enough.
You haven't taken orders to bea nun, but you just haven't
confessed enough.
You haven't taken orders to bea nun, but you just haven't
confessed enough.
There was always some bullshitof needing to be more and do
(25:44):
more.
So I worked harder, thinkingthat if I kept doing what they
asked, I'd finally be cleansedor whatever they were wanting,
and the gaping hole in my chestwould heal up.
If I just did everything rightor did it hard enough, or erased
everything of who I was, thenthat happiness might kick in.
(26:04):
Spoiler alert it never kickedin.
They told me to pray to thesaints, who were then supposed
to pray on my behalf to God forsome boon or some help in an
area, but none of those saintsever really spoke to me.
They were all too far removed,too dead, too dusty to make any
(26:26):
difference in my life.
I never found any kind of a Godin that church.
I sure found a lot of hate,though, even though everyone
kept telling me it was a placeof joy and peace.
I found death, with corpseshanging from crosses and
everyone drinking his blood,like a vampire, while telling me
(26:47):
it would bring me life andforgiveness.
It just tasted like stalecrackers and grape juice.
You know, I've never met a truevampire in real life that I'm
aware of, but I sure as shitknow that the church is one.
It's a 2,000-year-old vampirebleeding the world dry and
leaving nothing but destructionin its path.
(27:09):
Feed on your fear, your anger,your hatred.
Let us suck the life out of youwhile giving you our blood in
return so that you become one ofus.
You are beholden to us.
I fucking hated that place.
Every week, priests would comein and take our confessions,
(27:32):
because apparently women aren'tapproved to handle shit like
that.
They'd line us up and tell usdon't leave anything out.
We want every scrap, every bite.
It won't count unless you tellus everything.
Those fucks always creeped meout.
Father Peter was the one in theconfessional and he was always
(27:54):
the hungriest, fattest asshole Ihad ever met in my life, both
for food and for sins.
He told anyone willing orunwilling to listen that this
was his favorite part of the jobto help wash away the sins of
the faithful.
I always wondered who heconfessed to, or even if he
(28:14):
bothered to confess at all.
He certainly never tried tohide his sins.
Father Peter was notorious forhis wandering hands on young
nuns and his weekly poker nightswith the sheriff.
For years I stepped into thatconfessional over and over and
let Father Peter pin me openlike a bug on a specimen board
(28:36):
so that he could use hisso-called connection to the
almighty to peer inside.
He and his fat fingers movedorgans around, dug into
intestines, searched for everyhint of a secret, a sin,
searching for the things hecould use to make you hate
yourself.
To make you hate yourself.
Oh, but don't worry, dear mydear child, I shall wash you
(29:00):
clean, he would say, whileasking for more.
Well, I never felt clean afterleaving that confessional.
I felt worse.
That damned room always reekedof unwashed robes and Father
Peter's greasy hands.
I could not get out of thatplace fast enough, and I always
(29:20):
had to get outside to work withmy hands, usually in the garden
or, if it was too cold, down tothe laundry room, so the boiling
water and steam would wash awayFather Peter's cleansing.
Father Peter never bothered tocleanse his sins, I am sure of
that.
Every day I had to sit in thosepews and stare at that bleeding
(29:44):
crucifix hanging over the altarand wonder when God would ever
show up for himself To askforgiveness for all of his sins.
When would he be brave enoughto confess To all of the blood
spilled and lives destroyed inthe name of this religion, a
religion that has never beensatisfied with what you offered,
a religion that always wantsmore and more and more?
(30:08):
Who could ever wash the sins ofan absent God?
Well, luckily I never have toworry about that, because one
day, while I was washingeveryone's dirty underwear, I
died and was saved by none otherthan St David Bowie.
Yeah, I know how it sounds,trust me, I like to call it the
(30:32):
Immaculate Reception, because Iwas elbow deep in a washing
machine trying to fix it andthen my contraband radio fell
off the shelf and into the water, with me fried the ever-loving
shit out of me.
I got knocked to the floor,ended up with this damn white
streak in my hair and I wascertain I was dead, because,
when I opened my eyes, davidfucking bowie was standing at my
(30:55):
smoking a cigarette and lookingat me.
Oh Agnes, you poor thing, whatthe fuck are you still doing
here?
And well, frankly, that was adamn good question.
You can leave, you know, justget up and walk out and never
come back.
You can become someone else.
Of course, as he said this, hisoutfits rotated through Ziggy
(31:18):
Stardust to Aladdin Sane and theThin White Duke, and I kind of
got the point.
You can go, make your ownsaints, make your own religion.
You don't need salvation, youneed to live your life.
There are more like you thanyou'll ever know, and in fact,
I'd like you to meet a friend ofmine.
He stepped aside and there wasone of the most beautiful women
(31:43):
I've ever seen.
She was wearing, of all things,jeans and a t-shirt, and
converse, sneakers and a wide,sharp smile.
Agnes Saint David Bowie saidthis is Lilith, or, as she likes
to call herself, our lady ofdone with your eternal bullshit.
And I'll tell you right now.
(32:05):
None of the saints ever spoketo me much before then.
But this, my friends, this is asaint I can really get behind.
Lilith reached out her handsand you bet your ass I took it.
I walked right out of thatfucking vampire's nest and
dripping wet robes and into thesunlight with her, and I don't
(32:27):
regret a damn second of it.
I like to think of it as ado-it-yourself excommunication
the best decision I've ever made.
My heart breaks for all ofthose, like Saint Agnes, who
have been killed or cast out ordemonized in the name of the
church.
Lilith has helped me see thatwe can create a new world, find
(32:48):
new saints to follow and newgods worthy of worship.
Your mileage may vary, butsince I've left that damn
vampire, I've never been told tohate anyone or dig around for
sins or to give money to fundwars and opulence.
That was never deserved.
If there's anyone out there whowants to leave that filth and
(33:08):
hears this, reach out.
However you can, I'll offer upa route for your own
do-it-yourself excommunication.
I won't ask for a penny.
I'm not interested in your sinsand I'll never promise you
eternal salvation.
Your life will be yours againand you can live it as you wish,
without the need of permissionor forgiveness from anyone.
(33:32):
Thank you so much, agnes, forallowing us to share your story.
I'm thrilled you were able toescape and create a life that
you love living and, as I havementioned in the past, if you
get a message to me or come bythe library, I will help you in
(33:52):
any way I can.
You can email me at asteria atasteriablackwellcom.
That's our show for now.
Join us next time when we'llhave more on the upcoming City
Dionysia Festival, and I can'twait to see the productions this
year.
Remember you can also send inyour questions from Big Mitch at
oracle at asteriablackwellcom.
(34:16):
This has been a production ofElysium Public Radio.
My name is Asteria Blackwelland this is Stories from the
Lost Library.
This has been a production ofElysium Public Radio and Sandy
Lynn Studio.
Our music is written andperformed by Scott Buckley.
(34:36):
Today's story was written andnarrated by Sandy Lynn.
Follow us on Instagram andTikTok under the handle Asteria
Blackwell For more informationon the show or to obtain a
library card for the LostLibrary of Elysium, or perhaps
to join our mystery cult.
Then find us on Substack at.
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