Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Chapter five meet the browns girlant recognized Archie's face. He saw it in her intrigued gaze. He expected her to give a shout, alarming all the ants at their workout.
But to Archie's enormous surprise, she kept looking him in the eyes, then walked towards him and said, quickly, put these on your head. Out of her bag, she took a hat and sunglasses to go with that, then whispered in an angel's voice, come with me.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: Don't make a noise.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: No need for girl ant to say it twice. Strictly following her strange advice, Archie began walking by her side. With a nervous yet eager stride, they took the escalator down and left the arcade into town. Archie almost had to race to keep up with her pace.
As the distance from the centre grew, the glass stained towers became few. There were houses now in wood and bricks, with benches and gardens for picnics.
Archie felt as if he could breathe again, having escaped all those businessmen crowding the pavements of this city, lacking compassion, warmth, and pity.
Poor Archie hadn't eaten for days. He could easily devour a few buffets. His weakness overpowered him. He felt faint from head to limb.
As they walked into pretty street, Archie tripped over his own feet falling face flat on the ground, too tired even to make a sound.
There he lay, exhausted and cold like an old carpet unrolled his sunglasses broken on the no strength left to rise on his own.
But just as he was about to give in to this fatigue that was making him spin, someone took him by the wrist, a touch he really could not resist.
Gerlandt whispered in his ear, we're almost there.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Have no fear. Just a few more yards to complete than you can restore.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: With his last show of strength, Archie raised himself full length, feeling her arm around his waist. He continued walking, slow paced.
After minutes that felt like a day, they turned into a narrow pathway. Archie smelled lavender and thyme, hints of roses, orange and lime.
A little wooden house arose with a white door and green windows. Girl ant knocked and stepped inside. The hinges screeched as if they cried.
The entrance hall was dark as night. In front of them, Archie saw a light creeping from underneath another door, drawing strange shadows on the floor.
As he got close, Archie heard talking. He was scared but kept on walking. He was too weak to run away in garland. His faith now lay.
One push and the door opened wide.
There was no more time to hide. Unstoppable like a tidal wave, light streamed into this dark cave. Archie was blinded by this light, temporarily reducing his sight. A blur of dots and specks, mysterious shapes and flecks.
He felt he was being watched. But as his sight was still blotched, he could do nothing but wait and anxiously accept his fate.
Now he saw three shapes shifting, one of them standing and lifting a large, blunt object in the air, giving Archie quite a scare.
He recoiled against the wall, curling up like a soccer ball in order to avoid any blows that could hit him on the nose.
But the weapon was only a chair, offered to him with due care by a gentle, broad, smiling face like his mother's. Full of grace, Guerland said, meet my mum. Archie, quite exhausted and numb, felt as though standing on quicksand when he shook the ladys hand. She helped him kindly onto the chair, then backed off to give him some air, leaving Archie with a good, clear view of another ant. No, there were two. At the table sat a slender man sipping silently from a can. Playfully, he gave Archie a wink before returning to his drink.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: This is my beloved father, Pete Brown, the best personal trainer in town, said.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: Girlant with unconcealed pride as Pete put his empty lemonade aside.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: My brother, you've already met, continued the.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Girl, a little upset. Archie followed her troubled gaze and recognized a familiar face. Here, bandages around his shoulder, as if he'd been hit by a boulder, sat the first ant he'd met in town, his victim, poor, unlucky wes brown.
Archie tried to stand up but stumbled. Just before he fell, he mumbled, I didn't mean to land on your bark. I'm sorry. Then everything went black.
