Hello, gentle listener, and welcome to Nocturnal Transmissions,

the fortnightly podcast that brings you dark tales both old and new, performed by your humble narrator.

Kristen Holland.

This time we bring you something new.

Nocturnal transmissions is proud to present. Taylor All Goods, the Early Bird. My My My

My rocky relationship with sleep isn't entirely a curse. My condo overlooks the water and a new sunrise

awaits me each day. I watch the blackness soften into blue, then swirl into purples and oranges.

Then, there it is, the pale sun casting out the dark.

This day was as beautiful as any, but I dreaded it just the same.

As partner at the firm, I wasn't usually questioned when I said I needed a personal day.

This made it 20 years exactly since.

Things fell apart.

20.

I don't know what it is about multiples of ten that makes them more spacious,

but here we were.

I'm the eldest of my siblings, and I admit I was a bully growing up.

I would pinch Emma's sides in church and hide her stuffed animals from her,

threatening to burn them.

For the record, I never followed through on these threats. At the end of the day,

my little sister was everyone's favorite, myself included. People always remarked to my parents

on what a gorgeous girl she was, gold kissed hair those green eyes all agreed

that she would grow up to be a knockout but emma never had a chance to grow up.

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