apricotaudios - [F4A] Little Space Bedtime Story: The Word Collector

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

😴Petnames used: My Lovely, Darling 😴Suitable for: [A] all genders; contains some roleplay elements 😴In this audio, we're reading a bedtime story—"The Word Collector" by Peter Hamilton Reynolds. It's about a little boy who loves learning new words, and he loves sharing his learning even more. Overall, it's a very wholesome story, and at the end of the book, we say goodnight, and I tuck you in with a small kiss. I hope you'll like it, and sleep tight~

Hi, my lovely. Are you ready for your bedtime story? Yeah. Okay. Come here. Yeah, I have a feeling you'll like this one. Okay. The word collector by Peter Hamilton Reynolds. Collectors collect things. Some people collect stamps. Some collect coins. Others collect rocks. Some collect art, some collect books, others collect baseball cards, some people collect comic books. And Jerome, what did he collect? Hmm, what do you think Jerome collects? Yeah, those are some very good guesses.

We'll find out soon. But before we do that, how about we take a look at some of the pictures? Look at this one. They have little doodles on the wall and they're all different colorful dots. It's so pretty. And this person is collecting coins. Look, they have stacks of coins. Do you want to count how many there are in this stack? One, two, three, and is collecting rocks. That must be very heavy. But now let's find out what Jerome collects. Jerome collected words.

He collected words he heard. Certain words caught his attention. My trip to Peru was perfectly pleasant. And which word is he writing down? That's right. The word Peru. Peru is a country. He collected words he saw.

And words jumped out at him, like in this poster, Willow Tea Shop. And Jerome is writing down the word willow, like a willow tree. Yeah. He collected words he read. Certain words popped off the page. Jerome is reading a book, and it's the Wizard of Oz. Now you want to read that book one day? Sure

He's writing down the word emerald It's a very pretty color An even prettier stone Short and sweet words Like spark Bloom Drift and Dream Two syllable traits

Like treasure Moutief Whisper Candid Hover syllable words that sounded like little songs, like geometry, kaleidoscope, and symphony. There were words he did not know the meaning of at first, but they were marvelous to say, like aromatic, effervescent, yeah, and dolep, and quintu words whose sounds were perfectly suited to their meaning,

like molasses, torrential, smudge, and Tyrannosaurus rex, otherwise known as the T-Rex. Roar. There's even a lion here. His drawings are very pretty. Jerome filled his scrapbooks with more and more of his favorite words. How about we read some of them? Potential, everlasting, timber, harm, harmony, breeze, violet, and shimmer.

Jerome's collections grew, and he began organizing them by dreamy, science, sad, action, and poetic. One day while transporting them. What do you think is going to happen? Jerome's carrying a very big stack, and it looks like he's running. Jerome slipped and his words went flying. Uh-oh. The papers are going everywhere. And I hope Jerome is okay. Yeah. As he began to pick them up, he noticed his collections had become jumbled, with big words next to little words and sad words next to dreamy word. Jerome began stringing words together. Words he had not imagined being side by side.

Wow. Look, there's so many words here, darling. Whisper, symphony, electric, peace, safer, cascading, and stars. He used his words to write poems. He used his poems to make songs. They moved, and they delighted. Jerome is singing to his friends here and there's a little doggy and a little kitty in the audience. Some of his simplest words were his most powerful. Like, I understand. Yeah, apologizing to his friend. Thank you.

What was Jerome doing here? He's thanking her for watering his flower. And then you, you, you matter. Jerome's telling the doggy that he's important. And guess what? You also matter, sweetie. Eagerly collected more and more of his favorite words. Which words do you like here? Light, peace? Yeah, I know. Hugs is one of my favorite words too. The more words he knew, the more clearly he could share with him. the world to use thinking, feeling, and dreaming.

One breezy afternoon, Jerome climbed the highest hill, pulling a wagon packed with his word collection. This looks like a very heavy wagon. And Jerome must be very strong. He's pulling it all by himself. He smiled as he emptied his collection of words into the wind. And there's the silhouette of Jerome, and his papers are flying. in the wind like a pretty pattern. And the sky is also very. There's some purple and then it's fading to pink and then to blue.

He saw children in the valley below scurrying about collecting words from the breeze. Look, all the kids are down here on the ground and they're catching the little pieces of papers. Yeah, but do you see the big words that they're holding on? Like hope, humor, wish, and resilience. Jerome had no words to describe how happy that made him. Jerome is sharing some of the words that he's learned that makes him very strong. Here is a quote from the author,

Reach for your own words and tell the world who you are and how you will make it better. Peter Hamilton Reynolds. And that's the end of the book.