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The Blue Cave · Stories from Väruld

• 0:02
  Presenter: You are listening to Stories from Väruld.
• 0:05
  Presenter: In this episode, the Blue Cave.
• 0:18
  Narrator: She removed her backpack and sat down.
• 0:20
  Narrator: Her legs expressed their joy as she stretched them out on the cool floor of the cave.
• 0:26
  Narrator: They were tired and stiff.
• 0:28
  Narrator: She had been walking for a long time.
• 0:31
  Narrator: Too long, maybe.
• 0:34
  Narrator: She found some bread and dried meat in the bag and chewed on it.
• 0:39
  Narrator: Her appetite wasn't there, though her body should have been screaming for food.
• 0:45
  Narrator: It was the cave's doing, her loss of hunger.
• 0:49
  Narrator: As for the other changes, if she hadn't put down on paper what she was about to do in there, she would have probably been dead by now.
• 0:58
  Narrator: Dead or lost or out of her mind.
• 1:01
  Narrator: The cave was a challenge that few could handle.
• 1:05
  Narrator: Those who had met its demands had come out enlightened and healthy, but also quiet about what had happened to them.
• 1:14
  Narrator: There were stories about what the Blue Cave obliged from its visitors, for them to be worthy of its powers.
• 1:21
  Narrator: But none of them originated from those who survived.
• 1:25
  Narrator: If they didn't remember or didn't want to tell, she didn't know.
• 1:31
  Narrator: Whatever they had been through, none of them had ever revealed anything.
• 1:37
  Narrator: She had searched the stories to find the key to getting back safely, but found none.
• 1:43
  Narrator: One was rich, another poor.
• 1:46
  Narrator: Where one was sick, another was healthy.
• 1:50
  Narrator: One woman came out enlightened, and another lost her mind.
• 1:55
  Narrator: Two twin brothers went in, one was successful, the other not.
• 2:01
  Narrator: Out of five brave adventurers, two never returned.
• 2:07
  Narrator: And the other three most likely returned like ghosts and out of their minds.
• 2:13
  Narrator: One in about twenty came back out with the mission accomplished.
• 2:19
  Narrator: She had never been able to figure out what they did that made them special.
• 2:23
  Narrator: She had walked into the blue cave without a clue if she had the right qualifications.
• 2:29
  Narrator: All she had was a firm determination and the stories told of those driven insane.
• 2:36
  Narrator: And they were concordant on one thing.
• 2:40
  Narrator: The cave ate their minds.
• 2:44
  Narrator: There was always light, though there should have been complete darkness down in the mountain.
• 2:53
  Narrator: The blue walls were spooky.
• 2:56
  Narrator: Creaking, clicking sound made her think that the tunnels would crumble and fall, burying her.
• 3:03
  Narrator: And then these mind-nagging emotions overwhelmed her from time to time, causing her to question everything, even her right to exist.
• 3:14
  Narrator: She did her best not to listen.
• 3:18
  Narrator: She looked at the paper where she had both written and drawn images to illustrate that her mission was to regain her health.
• 3:27
  Narrator: She hoped to find something or someone in there that would take her pain away, to make her well again.
• 3:35
  Narrator: It was nothing noble, nothing that had to do with saving others.
• 3:40
  Narrator: No sacrifice made.
• 3:43
  Narrator: Just her and her well-being.
• 3:46
  Narrator: She put her hands over her ears in a vain effort to keep the nagging from the cave out.
• 3:53
  Narrator: She had the right to try, she reminded herself.
• 3:58
  Narrator: She had the right to exist.
• 4:00
  Narrator: She was worthy of a life without solid pain on all days.
• 4:07
  Narrator: She was not worthless.
• 4:10
  Narrator: She rolled up like a ball until she realized that it just made it worse.
• 4:16
  Narrator: Instead, she jumped to her feet, her back turned to where she came from, and continued her journey further into the blue cave.
• 4:24
  Narrator: Her only chance was to move further inside.
• 4:27
  Narrator: If she stopped and started to listen, even just to keep the voice out, she was doomed.
• 4:33
  Narrator: If she were going to keep the cave from poisoning her mind, she could not even allow herself to acknowledge that there was a voice.
• 4:41
  Narrator: It was just solid rock.
• 4:44
  Narrator: Things are what do you make of them?
• 4:47
  Narrator: She reminded herself.
• 4:49
  Narrator: The pain in her body screamed and forced her down on her knees.
• 4:56
  Narrator: It was more intense than it had ever been.
• 4:59
  Narrator: Good.
• 5:00
  Narrator: It reminded her of her quest and made her even more dedicated.
• 5:06
  Narrator: The pain had been her companion for most of her adult life.
• 5:10
  Narrator: She rose to her feet and let out a long breath.
• 5:14
  Narrator: The pain was just pain.
• 5:17
  Narrator: It could be controlled and contained.
• 5:20
  Narrator: She put one foot in front of the other, forcing herself to walk forward.
• 5:26
  Narrator: Perhaps those who came out sane and enlightened did so because they had the sanity to give up, she thought.
• 5:38
  Narrator: Without thinking, she cast an eye over her shoulder and saw a much friendlier tunnel.
• 5:44
  Narrator: She shut her eyes firmly and turned her head forward.
• 5:50
  Narrator: Giving up had never been encouraged.
• 5:53
  Narrator: Weak people gave up.
• 5:56
  Narrator: Stubborn people bang their heads against doors that will never open.
• 6:01
  Narrator: The cave echoed her thoughts.
• 6:04
  Narrator: Obstinate people do, she replied, but I'm smart.
• 6:10
  Narrator: Smart people find ways to open the doors.
• 6:15
  Narrator: The pain rushed through her body as fire, laming her.
• 6:20
  Narrator: She fell to the floor.
• 6:22
  Narrator: The coolness felt comfortable as a bed, and she had to force herself up to her knees, crawling forward.
• 6:30
  Narrator: Did the cave start to lean over?
• 6:33
  Narrator: Was she climbing?
• 6:36
  Narrator: She looked around and saw the path as a steep hillside behind her.
• 6:41
  Narrator: A foot slipped, causing a small stone to fall in what was now a shaft.
• 6:46
  Narrator: Her hands were about to grab for a hold that did not exist on the flat floor when she closed her eyes, keeping her palms firmly to the ground and continued to crawl.
• 6:58
  Narrator: The surface under her changed.
• 7:01
  Narrator: The tickling of grass was unmistakable.
• 7:04
  Narrator: She opened her eyes.
• 7:07
  Narrator: The cave was behind her.
• 7:10
  Narrator: She had just crawled out of its opening.
• 7:13
  Narrator: Confused, she rose and looked at the bluish opening in the mountainside.
• 7:20
  Narrator: She had returned with her mind intact.
• 7:24
  Narrator: And, she realized, without the pain.
• 7:37
  Presenter: Thank you for listening to Stories from Väruld. In the next episode, Ghost Story from Alsukhur .