Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - New Year's on the Mountain (Premium)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, Thomas here. You're listening to a preview episode. You can enjoy the entire story tonight by subscribing to our supporters' feed. There you'll get access to the entire back catalogue, bonus episodes, and more, and it's all completely ad-free. Click the link below to learn more and thank you so so much. Me and the team really appreciate your support. Alvor lived with his cat in the little log cottage in the foothills of the Dovery Mountains. He led a good life here in this beautiful land. In the spring, wildflowers dotted the fields and meadows around his cottage. In the summer, the grass was green and tall and shimmered in the breath.

Starting point is 00:01:08 In the fall, the green turned to golden brown and the sharp peaks of the mountains grew prominent on the horizon. Wintertime was pretty too, however I thought. Wintertime was pretty too, however I thought. The first snowfall looked like a dusting of outer sugar on the land. As the days moved shorter and the night grew colder, the dusting of snow transformed into a thick glare, hiding the intricacies of the land beneath. Clear icicles, warmed on the overhang of his roof, and glistened in the few hours of daylight. At night, the northern lights shone overhead, like an ever-shifting, twinkling curtain of green. 15 Quintley, Curtain of Green.

Starting point is 00:02:05 Overall, how vor loved living here in these fortills? This was the cottage his parents had lived in and his grandparents too. This was his home, and to him, it was perfect nearly all the time, except for New Year's Eve. This time of year men trouble for Halvor and his cat. For many years now, New Year's men trolls, and everyone knows trolls are trouble. On New Year's Eve, Alvor would lay out a fine holiday meal on his table with fish, bread, and cream porridge. He would set each place carefully with a plate, a fork, and a white cloth napkin. He would set red gandles on a dish in the middle, each tied with a delicate green bowl, and then howvor and his cat would leave, trudging out in the knee-high snow, down to the

Starting point is 00:03:16 next village. There, he'd take a room at the inn, and spend the evening eating a simple meal at a table downstairs. That's because every new year's eve, the trolls would come down from the mountain. And when the trolls came, people didn't stick around to find out why. didn't stick around to find out why. With large feet, pointy ears and long tails, they'd tumble and rumble down the snowy slopes, laughing as they went. Trolls were loud and blacking in manners. They'd flap their hands and sang at the wrong time. Their voices were scratchy and off key. They had sharp teeth and little tusks coming out of the corners of their mouths. As they'd come down the mountain, they'd leave avalanches of disturbed snow in their wake. They'd keep up their singing and shouting and clapping,

Starting point is 00:04:28 all the way to a Howe-Vois cabin. When they'd arrive, the mother troll would pound on Howe-Vois door with her big, hairy fist and shout-happy new year. Unfortunately, she didn't know her own strength, and the force of her fist would just about knock how Moore's door offers hinges. He couldn't count the number of times he had to repair both the door and its frame the following day. After inadvertently breaking in Halvor's door, the troll mother would sigh upon realizing nobody was home. Then the troll family would

Starting point is 00:05:14 pile into Halvor's little cottage and help themselves to his holiday meal. After all, why let a fine feast go to waste? They'd slurp and gobble and lick their tusks with delight. They'd finish every last scrap. Standing up at the end, they'd blow out the candles and leave the college to go back up the mountain to their coals and rocky home. When Halvor would return the next day, he'd find his cottage in shambles. Chairs and benches knocked over, silverware on the floor.

Starting point is 00:06:00 Dores and pantry doors opened, and dirty plates left on the table. And of course, the door would be hanging by its last hinge, with a large drift of snow piled up in his living room. This made Halvor's cat especially grumpy, coming back to a cold home without a front door to keep the heat in. And that's why Halvor hated New Year's. He wished the pesky trolls would just stay up the mountain and stop causing trouble. Halvor looked outside his window. It was just a few days before New Year's Eve, the snow was falling lightly. It pressed his nose to the glass and felt the chill ripple down his neck. A single snowflake landed on the other side of the window.

Starting point is 00:07:02 It was shaped like a paper cut out he'd made as a child. It had four points joined by delicate webbing, running in circles through the center. With only days to go until the start of the new year, Alvor wished he could find the answer to his troll problem. He saw it, and as he did, he heard a light knock on his door.

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - New Year's on the Mountain (Premium)

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