“What is it?” asks the ten year old.
“It’s one of Odds Bodkin the Storyteller’s drives. Come on, let’s plug it in.” The parent inserts the Epic Drive into the parent’s computer and a list of titles appears. “Ever heard of The Odyssey?”
“No.”
“Ever heard of Zeus, Athena and the ancient Greek gods?”
“In some books at school.”
“All right. Well, way back when, people didn’t have books.”
“Why not?”
“Because they hadn’t been invented yet. No books. No TVs. No tablets or phones. But they did have stories. And people called Singers of Tales would come to town to tell stories to crowds of people. A famous one was named Homer. The Odyssey is one of his stories. He used voices and music, and people imagined his adventure, like going to the movies in their minds. That’s how Odds Bodkin does it.”
“So there’s no pictures?”
The parent starts to play the recording. The ten year old hears wind, then bird cries and music. A voice from inside a horse fashioned of wood begins to speak. All is danger, and stealth. In the ten year old’s mind, the walled city of Troy appears in the dawn light.
It’s 1300 B.C. and the Odyssey has begun.
That night, the child stays up late, under the covers, listening, since the tale is four hours long.