{"id":3205,"date":"2021-09-18T02:54:50","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T01:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edgeverse.org\/?p=3205"},"modified":"2022-06-30T06:36:15","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T05:36:15","slug":"shepard-tone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/edgeverse.org\/?p=3205","title":{"rendered":"Shepard Tone"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Here you can read an entire shorty story, completely free. Blips are strictly less than two thousand words, or maybe more, and typically have a surprise twist in the tail. \nThese stories are free for you to download and share but please link back to us so we can build our site and create more free content. \nThanks very much for visiting. Please enjoy the story. <\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sometimes a \u2018Blip\u2019 just comes from a stupid conversation that Jack and Seth have when they should be doing something productive. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h6>
A brief discussion about something that went unnoticed in a movie (that pissed Jack off) moved on to sound-effects and how they are even less likely to draw conscious attention. In a certain movie, if legend is true, a motorcycle with 4 gears actually shifts up around 28 times. The conversation eventually moved along to include the \u2018Shepard Tone\u2019. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h6>
This ridiculous sound tricks the brain into thinking the sound is always rising in pitch and tone so that it sounds like something always accelerating without ever ending. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h6>
We went full-circle and <\/span><\/span>they<\/span><\/span> came up with the idea to tell a story where the situation follows the same idea, shifting the drama from dull and empty to a point of ridiculous emotional excitation. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h6>
The next morning Jack went somewhere quiet and began plugging away. Seth picked up the broken pieces of his sanity and between them, they hammered this ridiculous nonsense into a ridiculously nonsensical story.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Shepard Tone<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Starring Jack Godwynn as Seth Atkinson<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cBut why are you doing it?\u201d she asked with a sigh.<\/p>

She spoke with a thin voice, the voice of someone whose soul had not been dragged out, smashed repeatedly against a sharp rock, violated until membership of a political party felt like a good idea, and then shoved back in with a hot poker. However, it was perhaps the thin voice of a person to whom that might seem preferable.<\/p>

\u201cIt will be interesting,\u201d he replied boringly.<\/p>

He was the kind of man that wasn\u2019t bullied at school, because even the most brutal individual\u2014one hardened by life\u2019s rough edges, whose personal self-hatred had a desperate need to project itself onto someone else\u2014would have felt a bit sorry for him. He had aspired to work in a library and failed, he had the same haircut his mother used to give him as a child, and his favourite food still needed to have milk poured onto it.<\/p>

If he told anyone that anything was going to be interesting, it was a certainty that the opposite would more likely be true. This was largely why his wife\u2019s soul would have preferred any moderate violence be visited upon it, rather than continue to endure still more of this continually torturous lack of actual torture.<\/p>

\u201cInteresting?\u201d she said with a raised eyebrow.<\/p>

He stuck his screwdriver into a hole in his car\u2019s dashboard and smiled to himself uninterestingly.<\/p>

\u201cOh yes!\u201d he began. \u201cThis will play the tone through the car\u2019s speakers. It will be interesting.\u201d He fixed her a look that told her that he had massively misunderstood the world again. \u201cWhen I play this tone, everything will change for the better.\u201d<\/p>

A tiny flicker of a hopeful smile dared to flash across her lips. \u201cWill we die?\u201d she asked.<\/p>

\u201cBetter!\u201d he said, causing her to sigh hopelessly. \u201cI\u2019ve found this tone on the internet. It\u2019s all very clever: it constantly escalates; it tricks you into thinking it\u2019s always rising.\u201d<\/p>

She looked around the garage where his tools were all neatly arranged, hung up on racks with labels made on a little machine he bought on the internet. She huffed to herself and said, \u201cLike the medication I have to take so I don\u2019t do that thing again in the bath with the toaster?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe don\u2019t talk about that!\u201d He frowned his bushy, unkempt eyebrows and continued working. \u201cSome things are too interesting.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cLike a clever sound played through the car\u2019s speakers?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNo, that\u2019s just interesting enough. No more, no less.\u201d<\/p>

She rolled her eyes and stuck her fingernails into the skin of her forearm just to feel something. Anything. \u201cIs it?\u201d she quipped.<\/p>

He grinned widely, and pointed to a small music player with a blue LED light that would flash on and off conservatively. \u201cThis will change our lives for the better.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cLike a divorce?\u201d she suggested, daring to hope again.<\/p>

\u201cI told you I\u2019d never sign the papers,\u201d he told her, smashing any misplaced optimism she had been foolhardy enough to dabble with.<\/p>

Thick, wet blood began to ooze beneath her fingernails.<\/p>

\u201cThis tone will make the car sound like it\u2019s always going faster!\u201d he said with unreasonable enthusiasm. \u201cIt said so on the internet, on a site that was truly fascinating.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSo it won\u2019t sound like someone playing an annoying sound through the speakers in a car that gets overtaken by supermarket trolleys on a steep hill?\u201d<\/p>

He frowned thoughtfully. \u201cNo. Probably not.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSo how will this change our lives?\u201d she asked. \u201cWill we not still be driving around in your mum\u2019s old car\u2014the one she gave you because it was too boring for her? Will we not spend every weekend driving it around the local DIY stores?\u2019<\/p>

\u201cWe will, but now we\u2019ll be doing it with this tone playing in the background, instead of \u2018Coldplay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>

She nodded to herself, and a tiny flutter of a smile flashed across her careworn face. That did sound a little bit better, she had to admit.<\/p>

Preparing to plumb the depths of an imagination that hadn\u2019t extended to securing a job in a room full of old books that nobody wanted to read, he explained.<\/p>

\u201cLet me tell you a story,\u201d he began. \u201cJust imagine\u2026\u201d<\/p>



<\/p>

Mr Shepard wasn\u2019t an interesting man, but didn\u2019t spend all of his weekends going to DIY shops with \u2018Coldplay\u2019 screeching painfully from his car-stereo, oh no! He was a man who wore a suit sometimes, and if he wanted a job in a library, you can be damned sure he would have got it. But he most definitely didn\u2019t. He was a man who aspired to higher depths than that. Yes\u2014he was an accountant!<\/p>

\u201cSo you really don\u2019t have any friends, and everyone hates you?\u201d his wife asked casually as their base model Nissan Jarvis (with no added options: not even the polymer coating, aluminium wheels with glossy black bits, or door handles painted the same colour as the body) rolled quietly along the roads of a Middle-English county that was moderately well known for a specific kind of cheese.<\/p>

\u201cAccording to the email, anyway,\u201d he agreed. \u201cI was moderately irritated by it, and would have complained to Human Resources, but that would have meant talking to Hilda\u2026 And, you know, she\u2019s the one that sent the email.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cBut you do have a few friends,\u201d his wife assured him with a supportive, but slightly insincere smile. \u201cAnd some of them don\u2019t hate you very much at all.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cQuite,\u201d he agreed. \u201cI got a Christmas Card last year, and I\u2019m expecting almost twice that next time.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re bored,\u201d a small childlike voice said from the back of the car.<\/p>

Dorris, the wife of an accountant, turned to her two children who were safely strapped into the rear seats and said, \u201cWe\u2019re all bored. Do I have to keep reminding you what Daddy does for a living?\u201d<\/p>

The children were respectively an older girl and a slightly younger boy who were both fussily dressed, although the girl\u2019s light brown hair was tangled at the bottom where someone had clearly just given up halfway through the effort of combing it. The boy\u2019s looked like the dog was in charge of maintenance, which was nonsense because they were clearly \u2018goldfish\u2019 people.<\/p>

\u201cCan Daddy press the \u2018Fun\u2019 button?\u201d the boy asked.<\/p>

Mr Shepard gazed out thoughtfully as they passed a signpost with a speed warning on it that they were in no danger of coming close to matching. \u201cFun is only fun if it\u2019s carefully measured,\u201d he said. \u201cWe pressed the button last week, remember?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI think it might be time for more fun again?\u201d his wife suggested.<\/p>

Never terribly good at judging these things he asked, \u201cYou\u2019re sure it wouldn\u2019t be too much for them? I wouldn\u2019t want them over-excited in the DIY shop next week!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIt won\u2019t be too much!\u201d the children cried out in joyless union.<\/p>

He looked at his wife and flashed her a soulless accountant\u2019s smile. \u201cSo be it,\u201d he said, and reached out for the button on his dash. It was a round button with an exciting\u2014but not too exciting\u2014flashing blue light in the middle. Pressing it would turn their entire lives into something completely different\u2014it would change everything! His finger hovered over it for a moment, and there was a gasp in the car as the passengers all waited with baited breath.<\/p>

It snapped in with a click.<\/p>

A tone began, a soft whine that escalated upwards, always and forever sounding just like the acceleration of an electric motor that never stopped running more quickly.<\/p>

\u201cWow!\u201d said the young girl with monotone enthusiasm. \u201cThis is so exciting! We\u2019re going faster and faster!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYou maniac!\u201d the young boy added with dry, flavourless zeal. \u201cIt\u2019s almost as exciting as Coldplay!\u201d<\/p>

Mr Shepard rolled his eyes at the ridiculous comment; as if anything could be as exciting as Coldplay!<\/p>

\u201cTruly we live in an age of wonder,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was the idea of a great man who went on to work in a library, as legend would have it. It changed automotive design forever, making cars not just more fun, but safer and more interesting. Do you want to know why?\u201d<\/p>

The little girl shook her head.<\/p>

\u201cLet me tell you a story,\u201d he began. \u201cJust imagine\u2026\u201d<\/p>



<\/p>

She was driving along the roads in her sporty little car while her slightly androgynous boyfriend, of questionable ethnicity\u2014for the sake of diversity\u2014sat next to her, marvelling at her driving skills. And not just because she was a woman: she was powerful; she could do kicks and stuff, and was the equal of any man.<\/p>

Her boyfriend, who was\u2014for the sake of diversity\u2014the equal of any woman said, \u201cWow, this is so interesting. You\u2019re a strong woman like the main character in everything on Netflix.\u201d<\/p>

She looked at him with a manly scowl and said, \u201cAnd Amazon Prime.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYes,\u201d he apologised. \u201cYou have corrected me because I am just a man. You were right to do so.\u201d<\/p>

As the buildings on the mean streets of the urban sprawl whipped past the window of her red Porsche Vixen\u2014the kind of sports car any accountant would secretly dream of owning\u2014she said, \u201cWe\u2019re driving fast so that you know I like to live life on the edge.\u201d<\/p>

He nodded in agreement. \u201cI now know you like to live life on the edge,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you don\u2019t smoke or do drugs, because that would be bad, and you\u2019re probably a cop, or something.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYeah,\u201d she asserted strongly. \u201cI\u2019m probably a cop.\u201d She looked out of the window pensively, as if troubled by something deep within her: the hidden darkness, or possibly the authentic Indian dal jalfrezi she had eaten for lunch. \u201c\u2026or something.\u201d<\/p>

He gripped the chair nervously, since driving just slightly below the speed limit was almost too interesting for him.<\/p>

\u201cScary enough for you?\u201d she said with a charismatic grin that screamed empowerment. \u201cI can make it more scary!\u201d<\/p>

His head snapped to the side and his eyes widened as he gazed in horror into her unusually wide pupils. \u201cNot the \u2018Fun\u2019 button?\u201d he gasped.<\/p>

\u201cWe don\u2019t call it that here,\u201d she told him. \u201cThis is not some accountant driving his kids to the DIY shop. I\u2019m probably a cop\u2014or something!\u201d<\/p>

He looked out through the windscreen and shook his head in amazement. \u201cI\u2019m so impressed by you. I wish I was a strong woman!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYou can\u2019t just be<\/i> a strong woman!\u201d she chastised with a smug chuckle, putting him in his place. \u201cYou have to identify<\/i> as a woman first, and then be stunning and brave for a while. You\u2019re better off as my boyfriend\u2014you can just sit back and bask in my glory.\u201d<\/p>

He nodded. \u201cI will do that,\u201d he said. \u201cPress the button, and I\u2019ll sit here and continue basking.\u201d<\/p>

With the click of a dark grey button, the car began to rapidly speed up, perpetually increasing in speed until it couldn\u2019t possibly go any faster. And then continuing to get faster and faster some more.<\/p>

\u201cPlease slow down!\u201d he eventually pleaded. \u201cYou\u2019re going to break the speed limit!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNot on my watch!\u201d she proclaimed lawfully. \u201cWe are actually still driving at the same speed, slightly below the speed limit.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cBut we are also getting increasingly faster and faster, are we not. How can this be?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s an old theatrical trick,\u201d she exposited. \u201cThis car is fitted with an Infinity Drive\u2014that\u2019s infinite fluid gear ratios. When I push the \u2018High Speed Pursuit\u2019 button, the engine speed starts to rise, with the gear ratio lowering in tandem. When the engine reaches its fastest speed, it stops accelerating, drops down to a lower speed (as if manually changing to a higher gear), and then begins rising all over again while the gear ratio continues to adjust in tandem. The whole process repeats endlessly. It adds excitement to high speed pursuits, by giving the impression the vehicle is getting faster and faster, when in fact its relatively low speed never actually changes.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWow!\u201d he said. \u201cThat exposition dump was so natural. Your dialogue is really well written!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m as good as any show on Netflix or Amazon Prime, baby,\u201d she gloated interestingly. \u201cDo you want to hear something interesting?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSure,\u201d he said enthusiastically. \u201cIf it\u2019s as good as shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cLet me tell you a story,\u201d she began. \u201cJust imagine\u2026\u201d<\/p>



<\/p>

It was the distant future\u2014you could tell because of all the CGI buildings that cast the wrong kind of shadows. The car hurtled down a completely straight road at three hundred miles per hour, completely safely because it was all controlled by computers then, or now, or will be\u2014whatever the correct tense should be.<\/p>

The world was quieter now (sic.), thanks to depopulation and climate change that everyone knew about from legendary media output sources such as Netflix and Amazon Prime\u2014praise be to them. It was a brave new world where people stayed indoors, took their medication, followed the rules and obeyed their computer overlords completely, just like the old world leaders had always planned.<\/p>

Women were in charge now, and there hadn\u2019t been any negative consequences other than the total collapse of civilisation, but that had been replaced by a glorious new world with really long roads that were so well made that they looked like computer generated images\u2014so that was all fine.<\/p>

Matriarch B11 turned off some horrible, whining, screeching sound that was coming from the car\u2019s sound system. \u201cWhat was, is, or will be that horrible noise?\u201d she asked.<\/p>

The little boy next to her said, with a very effeminate voice, \u201cI identify as a girl.\u201d<\/p>

Matriarch B11 frowned at him\/her and said, \u201cWell done, \u2018Petal,\u2019 but I asked what that dreadful screaming sound was.\u201d<\/p>

The child cocked its head to one side thoughtfully and said, \u201cColdplay.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cComputer,\u201d she said. \u201cPlease delete Coldplay forever.\u201d<\/p>

The computer replied in a raping male voice, \u201cYou request is being considered. Obey all commands, citizen.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cObey all commands,\u201d she grumbled. \u201cI\u2019m a woman. My kind didn\u2019t fight to overthrow the patriarchy just to end up obeying a male-sounding computer.\u201d<\/p>

The car hurtled along beneath a very large glass ceiling.<\/p>

\u201cWhat was your part in the great gender war?\u201d the child asked.<\/p>

\u201cI was a powerful warrior,\u201d she told\/tells\/will tell her\/him. \u201cI fought valiantly on both the Twitter and Instagram fronts. Your grandmother even had an account on YouTube and TikTok. When she was a teenager, she made videos in her underwear for your freedom to be told to identify as a woman.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWow!\u201d the child said, sounding truly inspired. \u201cYou helped to make the computer our master.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWell no\u2026\u201d she said with a frown. \u201cWe just wanted equal rights to men. Consideration of long-term consequences was never the strong suit of anyone on Twitter. After all, we always assumed nothing would actually change to necessitate it. We certainly never imagined all this was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhat\u2019s a men?\u201d the child asked, chewing on a soy-bar as his glassy eyes gazed away into oblivion.<\/p>

\u201cI hear they were terrible,\u201d she said. \u201cThey used to control us like the computer does now, only not as bad.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cDeviation from acceptance is not tolerated,\u201d came the toxic drone.<\/p>

Matriarch B11 glared out and dug her nails into her forearm. There was no steering wheel to hold onto since the computer took care of all that, and the roads were all straight besides. It would have been easier to just build train-tracks, but complexity was a much more efficient means of social control, and that was therefore better.<\/p>

\u201cThe car is accelerating,\u201d the child said, its voice rising in pitch, much like the sound of the motor.<\/p>

\u201cNo, it\u2019s just the noise the car makes,\u201d she assured her child, or at the very least the child that had been assigned to her. \u201cMany years ago, they started fitting this noise to cars that sounds like it raises in pitch forever. It was meant to be fun, but then they realised it made people drive more safely because it gave the impression of acceleration while actually having no effect on the speed.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhat is fun?\u201d the child asked.<\/p>

The Matriarch rolled her eyes. \u201cAccording to your grandmother, it was a bottle of pink wine, a Netflix account, a bucket of ice-cream, and a night spent on Twitter getting people cancelled. I sometimes dream of what those days must have been like.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cDreaming is not permitted!\u201d commanded the oppressive rumble. \u201cSituation resolution in progress.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhat is dreaming?\u201d the child asked.<\/p>

\u201cShut up,\u201d she told it. \u201cYou\u2019re 15\u2014you should know what it is by now.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAre we actually going faster?\u201d the child asked, evidently confused.<\/p>

\u201cNo,\u201d she snapped. But, the world was blurring past much quicker now and the car did seem to be accelerating. She was certainly starting to feel uncomfortable, and said to the benevolent machine that ran the world on her behalf, without asking if anyone wanted it to, \u201cComputer, are we accelerating?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSituation resolution in progress,\u201d it repeated. \u201cPlease stand by while you are resolved.\u201d<\/p>

She gulped hard as light streaked past the glass vehicle and she felt herself being pressed back into her seat. \u201cJust close your eyes.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m scared,\u201d said the child. \u201cIs this fun?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cLet me tell you a story,\u201d she began. \u201cJust imagine\u2026\u201d<\/p>



<\/p>

The car streaked towards the gigantic, glowing maw of the sun. Damien Hardshaft slammed the lever forward, cranking the gears into place in his powerfully customised racing space-car.<\/p>

\u201cI think we should go faster,\u201d he said with a grin. \u201cBeyond what\u2019s safe, mind.\u201d<\/p>

His beautiful passenger nodded, and tapped away on a computer pad. \u201cI\u2019ve given you 20% more power, but I\u2019ve had to shut down the internal temperature management and switch off life-support. I\u2019m also pretty sure the bulbs in the indicator aren\u2019t going to glow as bright.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cTo hell with being alive!\u201d Damien said. \u201cYou\u2019re never truly alive unless you\u2019re facing death.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe have around 3 minutes of being truly alive before our eyeballs melt.\u201d<\/p>

He nodded. \u201cCan we go any faster yet than this? I want to be even more<\/i> alive!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe could both lose some weight?\u201d she suggested, checking the computer. \u201cOr we could jettison the cargo pods. We\u2019re carrying two crates of beer, a bucket of fried chicken, three litres of Polish vodka, a quart of Bulgarian Champagne and half a kilo of cocaine. Also that collection of exotic liqueur miniatures my uncle spent his life collecting as souvenirs of his many travels.\u201d<\/p>

He looked at her thoughtfully. \u201cIt is possible to be too alive then, I guess.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAgreed,\u201d she said with a grin. \u201cWe can be differently alive later, consuming beer, vodka, shampansko, chicken and cocaine. And miniatures. Just think\u2014we could drink my uncle\u2019s entire life in a single sitting! How alive would he be then?!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAs I recall he\u2019s as dead as we will be if we manage to consume all the cargo. We probably will be if we try to blow the whole cargo at once as well!\u201d He seemed to relish the prospect. \u201cLet\u2019s do that then!\u201d<\/p>

She sighed as the gigantic glow of the sun began to engulf them, burning through the plastic hull of the car. \u201cDo you ever consider just how silly this world is?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNo!\u201d he said.<\/p>

She shrugged and began nibbling on a possibly toxic candy bar called \u2018Schrodinger\u2019s Carbs.\u2019 \u201cBut we flew into the sun yesterday. We raced through an asteroid field twice last weekend.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI see what you\u2019re saying,\u201d he said, rubbing his chin. \u201cYou want to race through fields of ice with our eyes shut, right?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYeah,\u201d she said with a nod. \u201cOr maybe just stay home and talk?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cTalk?\u201d he said, frowning curiously. \u201cTalk about fields of ice and closed eyes?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOr our feelings? Sometimes I feel like I want to talk about my feelings. Do you ever feel like you want to talk about feelings?\u201d<\/p>

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as the sun brilliantly tried to set fire to his features. \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>

The engines droned higher and higher as every parsec of power was thrown into them.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s like we\u2019re just always trying to go further,\u201d she said. \u201cI just wonder what the point is?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThere\u2019s no point,\u201d he grinned manically. \u201cThere used to be a point when we had libraries, accountants, strong female role models<\/span> and gender parity, but we\u2019ve forgotten about all that crap now. We just go faster and faster.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cBut what have we lost along the way?\u201d she sighed.<\/p>

\u201cNot cocaine!\u201d he told her, sniffing hard as a single drop of blood ran down from his nose.<\/p>

\u201cCan you imagine a world where we didn\u2019t try to terrify ourselves all the time?\u201d she asked. \u201cCan you imagine just living your life?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cBy our own philosophy, it wouldn\u2019t technically be a life,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s terrifying.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cTerrifying enough to try?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWow!\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re as smart as the Twitter-legends of old. You have the wisdom of a Netflix parable and the confidence of an Amazon Prime protagonist.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAnd nice breasts,\u201d she added with a scowl.<\/p>

\u201cSorry\u2026 And nice breasts. It was wrong of me not to comment.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cShall we try it tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNo!\u201d he cried out, yanking the controls to the left, causing the melting car to veer away violently. \u201cLet\u2019s try it now!\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHow?\u201d she asked with a shrug.<\/p>

\u201cI don\u2019t know\u2014why don\u2019t you tell me a story, and we\u2019ll see where it leads us,\u201d he said as she began to imagine.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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