The Magical Paradox: Bedtime Tale

This is a bedtime story about a hedgehog heading home from a party one night across the meadow when they encounter a curious mist. A golden light forms within the mist and turns into a portal to another time and place and transforms the hedgehog into a human. They head to a bookshop where they read and decode a letter, before passing through a portal, heading through the landscape to a swamp, and within that swamp, encountering a genie.

The genie grants them a wish, which creates the experience they have been having. After their experience, they find themselves back in the meadow as if no time had passed. They continue their journey home and settle down to sleep. Drifting peacefully and comfortably asleep into Slumberland.

Transcript

So,

Just take a moment to lay your eyes to close,

And allow yourself to begin to relax.

And as you gradually drift asleep,

I'm just going to count down from 10.

And while I count,

You can imagine a healing light softly passing through your body,

Healing and relaxing the muscles,

Calming the mind.

From 10,

Relaxing the muscles around the top of the head,

Around the face,

Around the jaw,

Relaxing the muscles around your temple and your forehead,

Just smoothing those muscles out,

Calming and softening deeper,

So peacefully.

9,

As that relaxation begins to work its way around the back of your head,

Just slowly relaxing down the back of your neck,

Tingling gently with a deep sense of peace,

And with each out breath that you take,

You can find yourself relaxing deeper and deeper asleep.

And as you relax deeper,

And deeper asleep,

I don't know whether it's the sound of my voice that helps,

You drift deeper asleep,

Or whether it's the spaces between my words.

And as that relaxation moves with the next out breath,

Down your neck,

Around your neck,

Deep within you,

Drifting,

Floating deeper,

And more peacefully relaxed.

7,

The relaxation moving down those arms,

Around the shoulders and the shoulder blades,

Softening and relaxing the muscles,

Perhaps making those arms begin to feel heavier and heavier,

Just as the eyelids can feel heavier and more relaxed.

With that relaxation,

Moving slowly down those arms,

Carefully inching its way towards those fingertips,

Bringing comfort and peace to the arms,

To the hands,

To those fingers.

5,

Softly,

Slowly,

Carefully relaxing down around the chest,

The upper back,

And deep within you,

And the relaxation can move to your stomach,

Your lower sides,

And your lower back,

Relaxing so calmly,

As a mind and a body.

As the relaxation moves down around your bottom,

Down into your legs,

Carefully moving its way,

Down towards your feet,

Moving all the way down,

Both legs deeper,

And deeper,

And as the relaxation moves through your body,

It can bring a deep sense of peace and calm,

Taking you to a place in your mind where you drift deeper,

And deeper asleep so easily and so effortlessly,

Where your mind is so calm and peaceful,

Where sleep just seems to draw you in,

Where the mind slows,

Rushes,

To as that relaxation spreads around the lower legs,

Around the ankles,

All the way down into the feet,

And one,

Feeling that relaxation through your whole body,

Like a wave of peace and comfort,

And you know the process of sleep involves,

The body relaxing fully,

As the mind begins to drift into its own reverie,

Before passing into pleasant dreams,

And as you continue listening to this,

And we move into the story,

So you can sleep deeply,

And sleep well,

And one day,

The hedgehog is enjoying a good meal with friends,

They sat around the bonsai tree,

Enjoying that good meal,

The scent of the food wafting to their nostrils,

The gentle sound of laughter,

The clinking of crockery,

And clanging of cutlery,

The sloshing of drinks into cups,

And thudding of bottles onto tables,

And the scent of that bonsai tree with its waxy leaves,

And the soily scent of the pot of dirt the trees planted in,

And the hedgehog's cheeks ache gently under the tension of hours of laughing and smiling,

And their stomach fills as full as their heart,

And they close their eyes,

As the evening comes to an end,

And they say their goodbyes,

And they leave the venue,

Heading out into the fresh cool air of a vast field,

The gentle glow of light flickering from the hole they are just exiting,

The night time,

So clear the stars like pinpricks of light are dappled across the night sky,

The faintest of breezes tickling the tops of the trees as they rustle their leaves,

So delicately,

So calmly,

Saying their goodbyes,

And the hedgehog trundles through the meadow on their journey home,

The cheeks still aching with the memories of the fun,

The humour,

And while walking home through this meadow,

Heading towards a distant bush,

A gentle mist begins to roll in across the field,

Like a calm wave rolling in to a sandy shore,

And that gentle mist envelops the hedgehog as they walk,

The moisture catching on their spines,

Forming tiny droplets of water,

Pooling around their nose and dripping near their nostrils,

And within this mist,

The hedgehog notices some gentle twinkling,

Like lights from fireflies,

Only the light is soft and golden and hovers silently through the mist,

And the mist brings a certain stillness to the environment,

And then the golden lights begin to spread out almost like waves,

Until through the mist,

The golden bands of waves vibrating,

Undulating,

Humming with peace and calm,

The sounds of the rustling leaves from the trees now a distant memory,

And that golden light begins to brighten,

And the humming becomes more directional,

And the brightening light forms sharper before the hedgehog,

And begins to sink gently towards the ground,

Like a dusting of golden icing falling on the top of a cake,

Drifting slowly through the mist to the ground,

And the hedgehog continues to walk through this mist,

And on the ground before them,

A path begins to form,

A path made of golden light,

That's like threads of grass weaving gently together,

Each golden blade of grass weaving with the couple of blades beside it,

And that weave seeming to form from the outside of the path,

With the blades of grass moving to the center and spreading off,

Disappearing into the mist,

And the braided golden grass feels more solid to walk on,

The hedgehog's feet making the dullest sound on that grass,

Following that secret golden path deeper and deeper into the mist,

With a sense of wonder and curiosity,

And the hedgehog is aware that this is an unusual experience,

This path isn't normally here,

It's normally just a straight walk through the field,

Through meadows,

Back to their home under a bush,

And yet here they are,

Following a secret golden path,

Which has appeared within a magical mist,

And as they continue walking,

So the mist seems to thicken around them,

Becoming increasingly difficult to see through that mist in any direction but along the path,

Almost like walking through milk,

And then before them,

The mist begins to shimmer,

Silver sparkles begin to shine,

They continue to walk along this golden path,

Passing through the shimmering,

Shining,

Sparkling patch of mist before them,

And as they pass through the shimmering,

Sparkling mist,

So they feel a tingle through their body,

Like the faintest hint of electricity dances through their spines,

From the tip of their nose to the rear of their body,

And as that begins to fade,

A stillness sets in,

And the mist begins to clear,

And they're in a strange environment they've never seen before,

They're walking along a path,

Past shops and other businesses,

And they no longer seem to be a hedgehog,

They seem to have taken on the form of a human,

And it takes a moment for them to get used to the feeling of walking on two legs,

Of seeing the ground so far away while they're walking,

Of being able to independently move their front two legs,

And seeing the hands at the end of them,

And they almost trip over while distracted,

Staring at those hands,

Looking at the fronts,

The backs,

Taking hold with both hands of their collar,

Feeling and looking down at the suit they're wearing,

Passing by a shop front,

Catching a glimpse of themselves in the window,

Stopping for a moment to admire what they look like,

Turning around and looking at their back,

Looking at their front,

Smiling and looking at the strange teeth they have,

Feeling their back and the absence of spines,

And feeling compelled with curiosity,

To want to know more about the experience which feels so real to them,

They don't feel like they've fallen asleep,

Or accessed an altered state of any kind,

They feel like only moments ago,

They're walking through the meadow,

They continue on through this town,

And the sun is just setting beyond the end of the street,

The sky here is darkening,

The moon is casting it's silvery glow,

Everything begins to take on the most beautiful blue hue,

But the shops aren't shutting just yet,

And as they walk toward a bookshop,

They see the door is open and someone stood in that doorway,

A friendly old man,

With a grey bushy beard,

Long scraggly grey hair,

And the most charming smile,

Revealed by the lines around their eyes,

And this person invites them over and they head over towards the front of the bookshop,

And the person reaches out with two hands and takes hold of one of the hands of the hedgehog,

And vigorously shakes the hand,

Saying welcome Mr.

Hedgehog,

We've been expecting you,

It's so exciting to have you here visiting,

Everything's prepared for you,

They introduce themselves as Walter Lily,

And Walter then lets go of the shaking hand,

The hedgehog's hand still slightly shaking on it's own,

They step aside and gesture with one hand for the hedgehog to head into the shop,

And the hedgehog walks into the bookshop,

Smelling that old book smell,

Seeing dust motes dancing in the light of lamps dotted down the aisles,

Feeling the stillness in the shop,

As the rows of books absorb the sound,

And Walter closes the door behind the hedgehog,

The door tringing as it shuts,

They lock the door and turn the sign to closed,

They then walk past the hedgehog,

Saying come on,

Come on,

Follow me,

Follow me,

As they walk the hedgehog through the bookshop,

And at the back of the shop is a doorway with a thick velvet curtain,

Hanging across the space,

They push through the velvet curtain,

It swings back into place,

The hedgehog pushes through the curtain,

Feeling the texture,

The weight,

The movement of that velvet curtain,

Letting go as they pass by,

And Walter says that they have something to show them,

And they take them to a desk,

And they place on that desk a strange looking letter,

And they say that this letter has been in this shop for many,

Many years,

An explorer came here years ago,

They placed this letter here,

Told us to look after it,

Walter then reaches over and out of a ornate box,

They take a pocket watch,

They pop the pocket watch open,

The sound of it ticking,

The hands gently moving,

They say with the letter was this pocket watch,

And they told us exactly when a visitor would arrive,

It's when the pocket watch showed a very specific time,

And on the pocket watch the hedgehog notices,

There's more hands than expected,

There's a line on the watch,

And there's a hand on that line,

And Walter explains that,

That hand has slowly been moving around the watch,

And it's taken years for that hand to move until it meets the line,

And they knew that someone would be here when it reached that line,

And the hedgehog asks who delivered the watch and the letter,

And what does it have to do with them,

And they say that they don't fully know,

All they know is that many years ago,

Long before they,

Or even a blink in someone's eye,

This was left here,

But today,

As the pocket watch reached that line,

The pocket watch began to glow a golden glow,

And as it glowed that golden glow,

So the world seemed somehow different,

And then just as the glow faded,

You appeared to be walking down the street,

And they say,

So I knew,

You must be for here,

And now here you are,

To hear this tale,

And the hedgehog with curiosity,

Picks up the pocket watch,

Feels the weight of that watch in their hand,

The coolness of the metal against their skin,

The texture of the metal of the face,

Of the glass over the face,

Of the case,

Of the back of the case,

Puts it up against their ear and listens to the ticking,

And the movement of the mechanism within that watch,

And they ask,

What am I supposed to do,

Why do I need to be here,

And Walter says that,

Apparently,

You're the only one who can decode the letter,

And out of the same ornate box the pocket watch was in,

They take a little velvet pouch,

They carefully open the drawstring at the top of the pouch,

Removing a pendulum,

And the pendulum has a little ball of silver attached to a silver chain,

And at the foot of the silver chain,

Is a spiral silver spike,

And they hand it to the hedgehog,

And explain that,

You should be able to use this,

Move it over the letter,

Focus on decoding the letter,

And so the hedgehog holds the pendulum over the different sentences and words on that letter,

And says,

I don't know what to do,

And Walter says,

Just focus,

Imagine a healing light gently passing down through your head,

Calming your body,

Relaxing your shoulders,

Your back,

All the muscles through to the tips of your toes,

Imagine all of your attention on the tip of that pendulum,

Right on the tip of the spike,

Look down at that spike,

Look at the very tip of the pendulum,

Feel the weight of the pendulum between the fingers,

Place all of your attention there,

Begin to feel one with the pendulum,

And just ask,

If it's possible for the pendulum to give you the answers,

And if it moves,

You'll know it is,

And the hedgehog breathes in,

And out,

Relaxing deeper,

And deeper,

Breathing in,

And out,

Going deeper and deeper into the experience,

The mind feeling free and open,

As the pendulum begins to swing softly in clockwise circles,

And they know they're not doing this,

It feels like it's happening all by itself,

And they ask the pendulum,

If this means yes,

And the pendulum swings harder and faster in circles,

And they ask,

Can you give me a sign to say no,

And the pendulum slows down and then begins swinging back and forth,

Back and forth,

And then they ask the pendulum to go still,

And they say,

Can you translate this coded letter,

And they carefully and very slowly move the pendulum across the letter,

And they notice that it begins to move in circles over certain letters within the letter,

And Walter writes down the letters,

As the hedgehog just focuses on allowing the experience to happen,

And by the time the hedgehog has been across the whole letter,

They drift back from their experience,

They look up at Walter,

They ask Walter what it revealed,

Walter says that it just says,

Present hotel,

And the hedgehog asks if this means anything to them,

And Walter says that down the street,

On the left,

Is a hotel,

Perhaps it means that hotel,

And so they take the letter and the pocket watch,

In case they'll need it later,

And they take the pendulum in the little pouch,

And they leave the bookshop,

Head down the street,

Head over to the hotel,

And they ask if they can spend the night in the hotel,

Whether there are any rooms available,

And the person in the hotel explains that there's one room that's free right now,

And they get handed the key,

And they head to that room,

And the room smells so clean and fresh,

The windows are jar,

And there's the fresh air,

Smell,

Filling the room,

They close the window,

They sink into the corner of the bed as they sit down,

They find themselves softly touching the sheets of the bed,

They lie back on the bed,

Legs hanging onto the floor,

Gazing at the ceiling,

Feeling a deep sense of tiredness,

But still curious about what they should learn whether this hotel is the next clue,

And they slide themselves back on the bed,

So their head can rest on the pillows,

They take out the letter,

Analyse the letter some more,

They look at that watch,

And while they rest there,

Gazing at the ceiling,

They hear a faint hum,

Similar to the hum they heard in the mist,

They move their head slightly left and right,

Gradually triangulating the hum,

Moving to different points around the room,

Moving their head until they realise it's coming from the large oak wardrobe,

They find the wardrobe in the corner of the room,

And they head over to the wardrobe and open the doors,

And behind the two dressing gowns hanging in the wardrobe is what looks like a glowing electric blue portal,

And they step through that portal,

And they find themselves in a meadow,

And the meadow looks vaguely familiar,

And they are here as this human standing in this meadow,

And they crouch down onto their knees,

Then they lower their head down sideways until their ear is being tickled by the grass,

And from this perspective they realise this meadow is their meadow,

But perhaps as it looked a long long time ago,

And they stand back up again,

Walking through the meadow,

And they see before them,

That at this time,

Beyond the hedge,

At the far end of the meadow,

Is a yellow road,

And they follow that yellow road,

And it swings around,

Past a curious house that doesn't exist in their time,

And this house smells of gingerbread,

And looks like it has a marshmallow roof,

And as they walk around the side of the house,

They notice the sides of the house,

Down the corners,

Is padded with what feels like marshmallow,

They squidge that in their hands,

They smell the sweet marshmallow scent,

They continue following this road,

Until they eventually find their way to a swamp,

And this swamp seems to have marshmallows floating on its surface,

And a frog resting on a marshmallow,

Croaking,

Before leaping into the water,

And the ripples spread out,

Reach the shore,

Lap at the shore,

And then that frog suddenly appears at the hedgehog's feet,

And asks them to follow,

And without question,

They begin to walk into this water,

They walk up to their waist,

And then crouch down to be underwater,

Taking a deep breath,

Diving down and following that frog,

Feeling the peace and stillness of being underwater,

How everything moves so slow and gentle,

And they follow that frog towards a golden light,

And the frog passes through the golden light,

And they follow through that golden light,

And they exit the golden light,

As if just walking out,

Into a vast chamber,

Like a chamber of a palace,

And the frog leaps into the air,

And transitions into a person,

And they're wearing tucks and tails,

And they guide the hedgehog,

Deeper into this chamber,

Footsteps echoing behind them,

Seeing that golden glowing orb,

They just came through,

And in the heart of this chamber,

Is a golden bottle,

And they walk over to the golden bottle,

And the frog tells them,

You've been invited to make one wish,

And the hedgehog says they don't understand,

And they say,

Just give that golden bottle a rub,

And you will,

And with their sleeve,

They gently rub the side of the golden bottle,

And a puff of purple smoke erupts from the top of the bottle,

It begins to fill the room,

Before sinking down to one spot in the room and coalescing,

And forming from that purple smoke,

Is a genie,

And this genie says that,

You've been chosen to have a wish,

What would you wish for,

And the hedgehog says,

There's nothing I really wish for,

I've got everything I want,

I've got friends,

I'm in good health,

I have a good life,

I'm curious about the wonder,

The mystery of the world,

And the genie says,

That's what drew the magical connection through space and time,

To you,

Your curiosity and wonder,

And the hedgehog says,

Well until tonight,

I was curious what it would be like to be a human,

Being so tall,

Walking on two legs,

They have very different lives to us hedgehogs,

But I obviously don't have that curiosity now,

I've experienced it,

And the genie says that,

You've only experienced it,

If you wish it,

And the hedgehog says,

Well,

But I have experienced it,

And the genie says,

Well then you must have wished it,

And the hedgehog responds,

But I haven't wished it,

And the genie says,

Well then you haven't experienced it,

So if you've experienced it,

You must wish it,

And the hedgehog says,

Well I would wish it,

If I hadn't already experienced it,

And the genie says,

You would what?

And the hedgehog says,

Wish it,

And the genie says,

What?

And the hedgehog says,

That I could be a human,

To experience what it's like,

And the genie says,

Your wish is granted,

And the hedgehog says,

But I've already experienced it,

How can you grant a wish I've already experienced?

And the genie just says,

Paradox,

And smiles,

And says,

I hope you learn what it is you want to learn,

From your experience as a human,

And the genie asks,

As a human,

What would you like to do?

And the hedgehog says,

That they would love to,

Travel around,

Ride a horse,

Go from one town to another,

Climb some stairs,

Stay in a hotel,

Read a proper book,

Go out on a boat on the ocean,

And they list all these things they'd love to do,

And so,

The genie creates a portal,

And the portal whirls and whirs,

And joined by the frog,

The hedgehog walks through the portal,

And they find themselves in a really old world,

They recognize this as the town they were in earlier,

Only it all looks so much older,

The bookshop's still there,

The hotel's still there,

But most of the other places are yet to be what they were,

And they walk through the town,

They mount some horses and ride out of the town,

The hedgehog bobbing up and down on a horseback,

Finding it uncomfortable at first,

As they gradually get their stride and learn to ride,

And they ride for miles,

Until they find a seashore,

They light a campfire on the seashore,

They rest by that campfire,

Listening to the waves lapping on the shore,

They watch as night sets in and the moon begins to dip low in the horizon,

Its silver light dancing across the tops of the waves,

The cool sea breeze wafting across the shore,

Shadows dancing with the flames,

They settle down for the night,

Drifting so peacefully asleep,

Awakening the next morning,

As the sun begins to rise,

And there's a small rowboat up on the shore a little way away,

Together they pull that out into the water,

Wading up to their waists before climbing into the boat,

And rowing out into the water,

Bobbing up and down on the waves,

The sounds of the oars pushing that water back,

Sloshing,

Pushing,

Sloshing,

Pushing,

They pull the oars onto the boat,

They spend a little while just resting on the boat,

Gently bobbing up and down with the waves,

The hedgehog drifts into a reverie absorbed in the experience,

As the day continues on and the sun finds its way overhead,

They row the boat back to shore,

Putting in some extra effort to push hard to get that boat to ground itself as it slides its way noisily up onto the shore,

They climb off the boat,

They walk a little way from the shore,

The hedgehog scrambles up a tree,

Reaching up,

Grabbing the branches,

Pulling themselves up,

Climbing up among the branches,

Lying back on one of the branches,

Resting their back against the trunk,

Hanging upside down from a branch,

With their legs wrapped over the top of the branches,

Really taking advantage of being a human for a while,

And after a full day of being a human,

The frog says that it's time to go,

But there are some things you have to do on the way,

They head back into the town,

Riding those horses back,

They go to the bookshop,

And the frog says you've got some items to leave here,

They leave that letter,

The frog takes the watch and sets the watch,

And tells the owner to pass this down through the generations,

And your shop is going to be successful for many generations to come,

When this hand on this watch reaches that mark there on the face,

The watch will activate,

And a visitor will arrive at the shop,

And they'll know how to decode this letter,

And they'll use this pendulum to do so,

And the shopkeepers curious,

They place it all into a box,

They place that box into a corner,

They say they promise to look after it,

The frog then says it's time for us to make our way back to where we came from,

And they leave the bookshop,

They head over to the hotel,

They check in to that specific room,

The frog opens the wardrobe,

And places what looks like a penny into the very back of the wardrobe,

And wedges that down in among the woodwork at the back of the wardrobe,

And seems to scrape the top of the penny with an object,

And then they come back out from the wardrobe and close the doors,

And they say that won't get discovered,

And it'll activate itself creating a portal,

Exactly when you know when,

For you to find it in the future,

And then they leave,

And they say they've got somewhere else to be,

But they'll be back to see the hedgehog in the morning,

Downstairs after breakfast,

And they say they'll settle up and pay what's owed,

There's nothing for you to worry about,

And so the hedgehog says goodbye as they leave,

And they rest back on that bed feeling the familiarity of the bed,

Like they felt when they laid back on it before,

Only this time,

When they push themselves back and rest their head on their pillow,

They drift easily and effortlessly asleep,

They dream of magical times,

Of strange places,

Of wonder and curiosity,

Then drift into the deepest,

Calmest sleep,

And the next morning they go and they enjoy breakfast,

And they see that frog,

And together they head back,

Down through the town,

Finding their way back to the portal,

Back to the genie,

The frog confirms with the genie that everything's set in place for the paradox to take effect,

And the genie asks some questions about what the hedgehog has learned by spending some time as a human,

About this different perspective on life,

And one of the things the hedgehog shares is that they're aware of the stories they'll have to tell,

That they don't think anyone will believe them when they say it,

But it also gave them this unique and very different experience of the world,

And that it turns out humans think so differently to hedgehogs,

And have a very different experience of the world being so much taller and bipedal,

And the genie heads back to the bottle,

They leap into the air,

Instantly turning to purple smoke,

And lowering themselves down into that bottle,

And the frog guides the hedgehog back through the portal as they rise up through that swamp,

And as they walk back out onto the shore the frog is now a frog again,

And it croaks at the hedgehog,

Before leaping back in the water and then leaping out the water back onto that marshmallow,

And the hedgehog walks back the way they came,

Finds their way back through this strange version of the land that they know,

Back through the meadow,

Finding their way out into that room,

They find themselves as it's still night time,

Settling down in bed,

Drifting asleep again in this hotel room,

Waking the next day,

Enjoying their breakfast,

And when they sign the visitors book,

They flick back over some of the pages and they see the entry from centuries earlier,

Their name,

The frogs name,

They smile,

They head back to the bookshop,

And they hand the items back at the bookshop saying they had the experience they expected to have,

They share the experience and the tale of the paradox,

Before leaving the bookshop,

Following that road back away from the town,

And as they walk so a mist begins to form,

They find themselves walking back through the meadow,

Discovering they're a hedgehog on all fours,

With drops of water condensing on their spines,

And the mist begins to clear,

And they hear the genie's voice just saying that was my gift to you,

And as they turn around,

The mist has cleared,

The night is as it was when they started walking home,

As if no time has passed,

And they continue home,

Arriving at that hedge,

Heading into their home under the hedge,

Enjoying a cup of drink,

And relaxing for a little while,

Before heading to bed,

Pondering the experience they've had,

And drifting and floating,

So peacefully,

So relaxed asleep,

Into slumberland.