The Figs (Adam's Secrets Version)

To celebrate the new season of Grim Grimmer Grimmist, I am uploading another Adam's Secrets episode. This is an episode that we put out a couple of years ago, but I re-listened to and sort of took a walk down memory lane. Remembering how it was recorded, the experience of recording it, and some little tidbits about the story and the experience of making So, enjoy this episode. And at the end, stay tuned for a little director's cut walk down memory lane.

And don't forget, if you want to hear all the episodes without ads, you can subscribe at pinna.fm and use code Grim. For a discount. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Hi, my name is Adam Gidwick. I'm an author. I'm also a storyteller. I like telling all kinds of stories, but I especially like telling grim fairy tales. You may think you know Grim Fairy Tales, and you may think that they are sweet and boring. But listen, those tales you heard were the cute, happy, little kid bedtime versions of the Grim Tales. The original Grim Fairy Tales aren't like that at all. They're weird, and sometimes gross, and often weird.

In other words, they're grim. And I'm about to host a virtual storytelling session and tell one of the original grim, grim tales to a bunch of kids. Do you want to join me? Do you want to hear a grim fairy tale? I don't know if you said yes or no because I can't hear you. So let me help you decide. On a scale of grim, grimmer, and grimmest, the story I'm going to tell today is grimace. There is death, and it's pretty gruesome, and we just might visit the worst place on earth. Well, not on earth.

If I get to a part of the story and you start to feel scared or uncomfortable, this is what you could do. You could turn down the volume and count to five. Then turn the volume back up. If it still seems like a part you don't want to hear, turn it down and count to five again. You know how much weird and gross and scary you're ready for. You know what you need. Okay, I'm about to join the session. There are kids inside waiting to hear a grim fairy tale. So, are you coming in?

Are you ready? Should we tell the story? This story is called The Fate. Who knows what a fig is? Like figs, like It is a fruit. Who can describe that fruit to It's dry on the outside and it's kinda it's it's a little wet on the inside and it's sweet. That's a lovely description of it. Yeah. All right. So this story's called The Figs, and it is adapted from a story by Thank you. Pronounced it perfectly.

Once upon a time, there was a rich man who had a beautiful daughter and all the money he could ever hope for. Uh Ha ha ha ha ha ha! But there was one thing that he longed for that he could not have. A good fig. You see, this rich man came from a land far away, where delicious figs grew in every yard, and now he could never find a fig as delicious as those.

So he let it be known that whoever could bring him a fig as good as the figs in the land of his childhood would be rewarded. And that reward would be Marry his daughter.'Cause that's what always happens in fairy tales when some rich guy has a daughter. It's not even like marrying the daughter, it's like you can have this is yours now. Which is is that okay? No. Word of this rich man's offer eventually reached the home of a woman who'd come from the same land as the rich man.

And while she was very poor, she had brought a cutting from a fig tree from that land to this new one, and planted it, and it had grown and grown and grown. And now she had a fig tree that produced figs just as delicious as the figs from the faraway land she'd grown up in.

Now, this poor woman had three sons. Why is it always three? Why is it always three sons? Anyone do do we ever talk about this? I'm pretty sure because these are lucky number in fairy tales. That's a good guess. Um here's my guess. Remember, fairy tales originally were not written down. They were part of what we call the oral tradition, which means that one fairy tale was told by one person to another person, who told it to another person and another, and so on. Like telephone.

Like telephone. Exactly. Until eventually Franz Xaver von Schoenwerth or the Brothers Grimm heard the story and wrote it down. Now think about this. I've told you tons of stories. Now imagine that I couldn't read the story when I was telling it to you, because I do read these. What if I just had to remember it and repeat it like in the old days? You it keep changing.

Yes. If I had to remember that in one story it was three sons, in another story it was four sons, in another story was two sons, I'd never get the stories right. So why is it always three? Your heads would explode. Because I don't want my head to explode. That is exactly right. So the poor woman with the fig tree called her three sons to her and told them one of you. We'll bring a sack of my ripest figs to this rich man. Then you can marry his daughter, and we'll all be rich. So? she asked.

Who wants to bring him the figs? The eldest son said. I'm the eldest. And the middle son said, No. Oh, I'll go. I'm the handsomest. And the youngest son said Well he didn't say anything. He never did. You see, the youngest son was a sad young man. He had been sad since the day his family had left their homeland. when he was just a small child. He was sad because he'd had a friend there whom he loved very much, and he hadn't had a friend like that since. Why'd they leave your homeland?

That's a good question. There are lots of reasons for people having to leave their homeland to come to another place, and I don't know which one it was for here. Maybe maybe all the figs like dried out or something and that's why she took a branch like when they started drying it. And one reason that people do leave their homelands is because there stops being enough food for everyone. What are other reasons why people have to leave their homeland? Because it flooded?

Yes, floods could make people leave. 'Cause sometimes it can be dangerous where they live where there's like war going on and they survive, they have to flee the country. Yes, that's definitely a reason. Um this is sort of not related but I had to leave New York. Yes. Yes, that's an excellent reason. I mean, it's not a happy reason, but that's definitely a reason that people leave their homes.

You guys, we came up with so many reasons that are totally believable for why this family left. I don't know the right one, but they all could be right, what you just said.

Well, the two older sons argued about who would bring the figs to the rich man, because they each wanted to marry his daughter. You know what? Eventually the poor woman chose her eldest son, because he was the eldest son. So he picked a sack full of the ripest figs from their fig tree and set out for the rich man's house.

Now on the way there was a forest, and as the eldest son was passing through the forest, he came across a very old man with a long black cloak sitting in a chair in the middle of the path. This very old man was so thin that you could practically see his bones. The eldest son had never seen an old man sitting in a chair in the middle of a path in the woods, and he didn't like things he had never seen before. Even if he didn't have a good reason why. He hopped and tried to push past the man.

said the very old man. What have you in your sack there? The eldest son already didn't like new things, and he definitely didn't like this nosy old man. So he snapped. Are you talking to me? I've got a bunch of pig snouts. That's what I've got. And on he went. When the eldest son arrived at the home of the rich man, he saw the rich man's daughter sitting on a fine marble bench just outside the house's grand front door. The rich man's daughter was very beautiful. The eldest son said.

Good afternoon. But the young woman on the bench barely raised her head to greet him, as if her thoughts were far away. As the eldest son walked through the grand front door of the rich man's home, he thought angrily to himself, She'll give me the respect I deserve soon enough. But she's my wife. What do we think of the oldest son? Mean you're sexist person. What does it mean to say he's sexist? Mmm, he doesn't really give a second thought. to like girls.

Interesting. That's a great definition. That's like who says that to someone or thinks about that like to someone who's gonna be their wife? Yeah. Right, not a person, but a but an object. I agree. The eldest son entered the house and found the rich man counting gold coins in a high ceiling room. I have brought you the most delicious figs in the world. The eldest son exclaimed. He thrust the sack at the rich man and put his hands on his hips.

The rich man opened the sack, and gaped in horror, because the sack was not full of figs. It was full of Was phone fixed now? It was full of pig snouts. I know I know why he has pig snaps in there. Why? So he was mean to the old skinny ma'am, which is totally fine to be skinny by the way. Yes. Um And old. So he is probably the person who was responsible for the pig snaps. Very interesting. I think that the old man is magical and whatever you say to him comes true.

Very interesting. The rich man stared at the bagful of pig snouts. Horrified and offended. He called his servants. Throw him in the well, the rich man bellowed. So the servants picked up the eldest son by his arms and legs, carried him outside, and tossed him into the well, where the eldest son broke his neck and died. Wow. Oof. Was there lots of blood? I don't know if there's a lot of blood but he does have a broken neck and he's lying at the bottom of a wet. I wish there was a blood explosion.

Okay, maybe maybe there was. I don't know. When the eldest son didn't come home, the poor woman called to the middle son and told him to take another sack of figs to the rich man.

and also to find out what had happened to the eldest son. Said the middle sun. I won't fail. After all, I am much handsomer than my brother. He picked a sack full of sweet figs from the tree and set off. Soon he came to the same forest, and began to journey through. When he stopped. Again, the man as old as death sat in a chair in the middle of the path. Ooh! The middle son was, in his opinion, much too handsome to stop and talk to some strange old man in the woods.

So he huffed and roughly pushed past the old man. What's in that shack then? The middle son replied, why? Are you talking to me? I've got What do you think he says? Pig snaps. Pig butt. No pig feet. This time, he actually said horse dunk. What's horse dung? I've got a big sack of horse stung. He said, and on he went. When the middle son arrived at the home, the first time we have to be a little Did you know that you can listen to Grim, Grimmer, Grimmist without any ads interrupting the story?

Just subscribe to Pinna. Not only will you get to hear me tell these fairy tales straight through, the way I tell them to kids, you get access to tons of other awesome original shows and audiobooks, all ad-free. Subscribe to PINA at pinna.fm. That's P-I-N-N-A.fm. And use code GRIM with two M's to get 30% off an annual subscription. And remember, it's not a smurf! Go on Adventures with Opal Watson, the curious brave kid detective with her own mystery-solving business.

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But the young woman didn't even raise her head, as if her thoughts were very far away. As the middle son walked through the grand front door of the rich man's home, he thought angrily to himself. She'll notice how handsome I am soon enough, when she's my wife. Uh-huh. Mean. He's a jerk. He's turkey jerky. He is turkey jerky. The middle son found the rich man counting gold coins in the same high-ceiling room. I have brought you the most delicious figs in the world. The rich man opened the sack.

and gaped in horror. Because his sack was not full of figs. It was full of The rich man was horrified and offended. Ooh. He called his servants throw him In the well. The rich man bellowed. So the servants picked up the middle son by his arms and legs, carried him outside, and tossed him into the well, where the middle son broke his neck and died. Wouldn't his fall have been cushioned by the older brother's dead? Wow, that is a disgusting thought.

The older brother's gone. And then all the blood squirted out of the other brother. Yeah that too I guess. Jiminy Cricket, you guys are messed up. Okay, okay.

When the middle son didn't come home, the poor woman became worried. She called her youngest son to her, told him to pack a sack of figs, and go find his brothers. And while he was at it, he might as well win the hand of the rich man's daughter. The youngest son didn't want to go. He missed the land of his birth and his childhood best friend so much. That he didn't want to do anything, especially not marry some girl who probably didn't want to marry him either. But his mother insisted.

So the youngest son collected the figs and off he went. Thank you. Soon the youngest son was journeying through the same forest on the same path, and he came across the same very old man. Oh but this time the very old man was not sitting in a chair. He was standing, talking to another man in a long green coat.

The youngest son stopped to listen, and he realized that the man in the long green coat and the very old man were arguing. He also realized that the man in the long green coat Was any idea who the man in the long green coat was? His best friend. His dad, the king. All good guesses, not y not right yet. He was a blue smurf. He was not a smurf. I'll tell you what, in all of the fairy tales, the man in the long green coat is always The devil. And the very old man was deaf.

So the youngest son listened a while longer to their argument, because when you hear death and the devil arguing, you probably shouldn't interrupt. But then the youngest son stepped forward, and he resolved the argument between death and the devil. They thanked the youngest son, and he continued on his way. None of you have any questions about that? Like, um, death and the devil were arguing and this random kid just solved their problem?

Oh we have questions. Our heads are breaking, just we can't Yeah, okay, that makes sense. What do you think they were fighting over? They are fighting over who gets it the bones to make jewelry with. Creepy. Like I call a school to make Baby helmet. Oh, that's gross. How does the young how does the youngest son solve that disgusting argument? He's just like, Here, I'll go dig up at some waves. Here you go.

Oh my gosh. Okay, I'm disturbed. All right. Can I just say this is one of those moments in the Franz Xaver von Schoenwert stories where you're like H how does that uh uh Right, you're like the devil and death are arguing and this random guy was just like, I can solve it. Yeah bros, can you chill? That's totally what he said. Exactly what he said. Yeah. just waltzes up and is like, Hey guys, can you chill? I'm trying to bring these things

When the youngest son arrived at the home of the rich man, the rich man's beautiful daughter was still sitting on that marble bench out front, because she really loved that bench, or something. This time though, she wasn't just staring off into the distance. She had buried her face in her arms, and she was weak. Something about the way she was crying reminded the youngest son of of himself.

He moved toward her to ask if she was okay, but she seemed to sense him, and turned away, and cried harder. So he left a single fig on the bench beside her, and he continued on into the house. The youngest son found the rich man in the same high ceiling room, counting gold coins. He handed the rich man the sack. The rich man eyed it skeptically. He was pretty sick of opening sacks to find disgusting things like pig snouts and horse dung. If these aren't figs The rich man said.

My servants will toss you into the well. Why wouldn't they be fair? I don't know, but the last two young men who came here had the most revolting stuff in their side. That's why they're at the bottom of my well, with their necks broken. The youngest son nearly fainted, hearing this news about his older brothers. Meanwhile, the rich man began to open the sack of figs.

Suddenly the youngest son wanted to stop him. What if they weren't figs? Maybe someone had switched them when he was talking to Death and the Devil. Or maybe his family had been cursed somehow. Or But it was too late. The rich man opened the sack. And he found The rich man tasted a fig. He chewed it slowly. Thoughtfully. Finally, he began to grin. He said This tastes just like home. And then he shouted, Daughter! Daughter! TASTE LEAS FIGS!

He rushed outside, and the youngest son followed him. The rich man's daughter was still weeping, the fig that the youngest son had left still lying untouched on the bench beside her. The rich man lifted his daughter's head and gave her a fig from the sack. As she chewed it, her tears fell. Her frown disappeared. She saw the other fig on the bench and she ate that too. And as she chewed it, Slowly, her face broke into a tear streaked smile. Mm-hmm.

And when the youngest son saw that smile, he felt as if the sunshine of his native land was warming his face. He felt happy again, for the first time since he was little. Because She's the long lost friend. Yeah. Yeah. Oh. Because the daughter of the rich man was his long-lost best friend from childhood, whom he had loved so much and had not seen for so many years. At just that moment, the rich man's daughter realized the very same thing.

And threw her arms around the youngest son's neck, and they held one another, crying tears as sweet as those figs. Now he's like I got some Time on the plan. 빠밤 빠밤 빠밤 And that should be the end of this story. The rich man got his figs, and the youngest son and his childhood best friend decided to get married, so they would never be parted again. And they were happy at last. That isn't the end. He doesn't want him to marry his daughter.

You see, the rich man wasn't the nicest guy ever. Have you noticed that? Yeah, pretty much. Because he kept murdering people who brought him stuff. And he wasn't about to let his daughter marry her childhood best friend just because he'd shown up with a sack of figs. No matter what he'd promised. So he asked the youngest son, How rich is your family? Well, we are very rich. said the youngest son. In Vegas? No, not in figs. In money. How rich are you in money?

said the rich man, and the youngest son answered. Not very much. You're as poor. Poor as dirt, aren't you? The youngest son hung his head. Yes, sir. The rich man was not pleased. His daughter said no. You're right, Father. I shouldn't marry someone just because they brought Tasty figs. But shouldn't I get to marry my best friend? No, no. No? No. No, repeated the rich man. These figs are sweet, certainly, but my daughter is the sweetest thing on this earth. Unless you can find a figure.

Sweet as she is, you cannot marry her. And if you come back with a fig any less sweet than she I will Throw you down my w Well And you'll break your neck and die. I Well, the youngest son looked at his best friend and knew instantly that the task was impossible. There was no fig on earth as sweet as she was.

But the rich man called his servants and had them throw the youngest son out of the house, and they locked the door so the youngest son couldn't get back in, and his best friend couldn't get out. What do you think is gonna happen now?

He's gonna go to the old bony man. The youngest son wandered away. Eventually he came to the forest, and he walked down the path until he was face to face with death. What's the matter? said Death. How did you know something was the matter? Well, first of all, I'm deaf. And secondly, you're crying. Oh. That makes sense. So the youngest son told Death what had happened. Death tapped his chin with a long, bony finger. A fig as sweet as his daughter. How sweet is she?

As sweet as anything on this earth. replied the youngest son. And Death said, Продолжение следует... He took the youngest son to the bottom of a grand cliff. The youngest son looked up at the black rock towering above them. Then he saw Death grab a piece of rock that looked kind of like a doorknob. He pulled it, and the huge cliff face swung open, and they walked down a steep, rocky set of stairs into the underworld. Everything was grey and cold.

They passed through an orchard, and the tree trunks and branches were gray and cold too. But the fruit on the trees looked ripe and sweet. There they found the devil pruning the branches of a fig tree. The devil was pleased to see the youngest son again. Hey, you're the guy who resolved that argument for us, aren't you? Just by telling us to chill. That was brilliant. I never would have thought of that. Thank you. Yeah, sure. No worries.

Death told the devil that they were looking for something as sweet as the youngest son's best friend. How sweet is she? The devil asked. As sweet as anything on this earth. Oh yeah. What about below it? And he plucked a fig from the tree he was pruning and held it up. Try this. You probably shouldn't, because if you do, you must remain in the underworld forever. The youngest son said Oh. Just take one? Be my guest. Fine. And the devil gave the youngest son a fig. The youngest son said.

Thank you. Because that seemed wild.

But as Death led the youngest son back toward the stone staircase out of the underworld, the youngest son saw two people. Who do you think he saw? His brother And his other brother. The youngest son saw his brothers. back to the devil and asked if he could bring his brothers out of the underworld too. In addition to the fig.

Well, this was highly irregular. Death and the devil discussed it. They really couldn't let people come down here and just take their family members home again. But on the other hand, the youngest son had told them to chill, and that had been pretty brilliant. So in the end they agreed that the youngest son could take his brothers out of the underworld. Death led the eldest son, the middle son, and the youngest son back up to the land of the living.

But before he let them go on their way, Death poked a thin, bony finger in the faces of the two older sons. Hope you've learned your lesson. The two eldest sons had been thrown down a well, broken their necks, and died, and then gone to the underworld. So, yeah, they'd learned their lessons. Yes, we have. We're sorry. cried the two older sons, and they hid behind their little brother. The youngest son thanked Death and went to the rich man's house.

The rich man was very surprised to see him back already. Axo soon? Yes, sir. said the youngest son, and he handed the rich man the devil's fig. You know that if this fig is not as sweet as my daughter, I will have you tossed in that well, right? And you'll likely break your neck and die. I know. But the rich man didn't listen. He took a bite. This fig is even sweeter than Sorry. I hope I didn't scare you too. No, yeah.

I was uh I was trying to fix something on my computer and you just screamed and I was like and the rich man was dragged down to the underworld, and never seen again. The youngest son brought his two brothers home, just as his mother had asked him to. And the rich man's daughter came to live with them.

She didn't want her father's money. She just wanted to marry her best friend and live in a warm little home with a fig tree that grew figs exactly as sweet as those in the faraway land of her childhood. The end. Alright, so are we gonna do a rendition of uh I've got sunshine? No. What come on. I'll do that around. Yeah, we'll we'll do backup. You ready? I got some job. On a cloudy. Bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom When it's cool. Dang it. I've got the month of man. I guess.

What can make me be? Feel this way. Sweet big. Sweet. Sweet face. All right. Well done everybody. Go where it is. All right guys, this was super fun. Thank you Adam for existing. Aww, thank you all for existence.

The figs is one of my favourite. And I think it's one that um I don't usually hear from kids as their favorite, though every once in a while a kid says the figs is their favorite and it kind of makes me smile a little. I think it doesn't feel exactly like a typical fairy tale in part because It's not about one of the more common emotions that kids have, like feeling jealous of a sibling or feeling mistreated by a parent or by grownup.

or needing to do something brave and difficult though that exists in the story too. The emotion at the heart of the figs is missing a place that you've left behind. Which is a feeling that some kids can identify with. And as you get older, you know, if you go off to college or if you move, you might be more likely to have experienced this emotion. But because it's not the most common fairy tale emotion, this story to me feels kind of rare and special and beautiful.

One of the first moments in this episode that sort of uh let me see that it was gonna be a special one was when the kids describe what a fig. I find it kinda hard to describe a face. And the kids did it so beautifully. And maybe my favorite thing about it actually is that you can hear if you listen closely in my voice.

how surprised and delighted I am by the way I'm often delighted by what kids say on the podcast, obviously, because I put it on the podcast, but you can't always hear it in my voice because I've got so many things going on. trying to focus on the next thing that happens in the story. I'm trying to make sure that um everybody in the classroom that I'm recording in is focused and paying attention and ready for the next moment. I'm also making sure that we get good sound for

the recording so that when you listen to it it sounds good too. So I got a lot of things that I'm thinking about as I'm telling a story. And that means sometimes when a kid says something amazing, I I kind of just say interesting or yeah. And then I I keep moving. But this one, for some reason, the way this kid described the like the dryness or whatever they said on the outside of the fig and the wetness on the inside, uh, just kind of stopped me for a minute.

And you can hear in my voice how moved I was by this simple, poetic little description of a face.

Another thing I love about this story is a small change that I made to it that really changed what it was about and I kind of referenced this at the beginning. So the original Franz Xaver von Schoenwut story says There was once a king who loved figs more than any other food, which is also just a great and surprising beginning of a fairy tale. That's unlike any fairy tale I've ever heard. But it doesn't give an explanation of why.

And so I added in this element of it having the rich man instead of a king being from a different country. And missing this taste, and also the poor woman being from that same country. And the reason I did that is because uh what inspired me to do that was my wife's granddaughter. Came to this country from Sicily, which is the big island at the bottom of Italy. And he brought with him a cutting of figs. and planted a fig cutting in his yard and a fig tree grew up in front of their house.

And if you drive through Brooklyn, which is where I s I live and where he moved, you can see uh a lot of houses with fig trees in front of their yards where immigrants from Italy came and moved and planted their fig trees. Speaking of these immigrants from Italy who came to Brooklyn, I really love that conversation about the reasons people have to leave their home.

As you may or may not be aware, that's a big question today in the United States. Uh, should we have immigrants? Should we have more immigrants? Fewer immigrants? And I think a part of the question that we often forget about, we often think of it from our Do we want more immigrants in the United States? But I think we often forget to talk about why they might be coming to the United States and why they might be leaving. And I thought these kids were so thoughtful about that question.

I wish grown-ups were as thoughtful as these kids. And speaking of being thoughtful, this conversation about how the first son treats the girl. And one of the kids on the podcast says it's like he's treating her like she's a pencil, which I just thought was so great. Grown ups spend a lot of time talking about objectifying others. Frequently it's in terms of like men objectifying women, which means thinking about women as something to look at or um as somebody to just

Do something useful for them and not thinking of them as people. They think of them as objects. Thinking of people objectifying people is a big fancy word, but this kid stumbled on that same concept all himself. by saying he thinks of her like a pencil, meaning like something just to use.

One of the things that I love about talking to kids is, you know, adults, we have these big fancy concepts like objectifying, and we may not really think about what they mean. We may not really understand them. Kids may not have the concept. But they understand and observe the world so freshly and accurately. Also, because you say things like, I wish there was a blood explosion. What is wrong with you, little people?

The idea about like the older brother is a cushion that the middle brother's body will fall on and then blood squirts out of the older boy's dead body. I mean, it's not just that you guys are gross, it's that you're so specific about it. That's what's so horrifying and delightful, but mostly horrify. Speaking of which uh the suggestion about like the baby's skull

um uh surprised and disturbed me yet again on re-listening. I'd forgotten about it and it again made me laugh so hard my chest hurt, which I shouldn't admit uh that something so gross made me laugh that. And then there's another moment that really made me laugh, which is when the suggestion for how the argument between death and the devil, which is something I added to the story, is not in the original story.

Um and I didn't have a good way for the main character to um solve that problem. And when I don't have a good way for the main character to solve a problem, sometimes I'll just ask the kids if they have an idea. And there were some ideas, uh, but my favorite was just when the kid was like, just chill. Uh, Um, and it made me laugh so hard and was so surprising that I brought it back. And then later, when we record the actors, I rewrote the actors' dialogue.

to reflect what that kid said. I don't always get to do that, but that that's you know when a kid has said something really special when I rewrite the actor's dialogue uh to work And of course. The completely spontaneous and truly unplanned singing of I Got Sweet Figs on a Cloudy Day at the end. Um is absolutely one of my favorite spontaneous moments in a grim, grimmer, grimmest episode of all.

Thanks for listening to this Secrets episode. Uh we're gonna keep making them because you all seem to like listening to them. Talk to you soon.

Grim Grimmer Grimmist is a penna original production, created, written, and narrated by me, Adam Gidwitz. Author of A Tale Dark and Grim. Co-written by Allie Horn. Produced and edited by Ilana Milner. Casting by Paula Gammon-Wilson. Voice direction by Ilana Milner and Paula Gammon-Wilson. Sound design and mixing by

NYC. Executive produced by Ann Richards. Production support by Ashley Beecher and Thaddeus Danqua. Characters voiced by Arlando Smith, Billy Bob Thompson, Carolina Doe, Colin Ryan, Erica Schroeder, J. Clinton, Marion Toro, Michael Crouch, Rob Morera, Samantha Cooper, and Walker Breland. Special thanks to all the kids who joined us for our storytelling sessions. You guys are awesome. The world of Sonic the Hedgehog.

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