Welcome back to the Wandering Library. Tonight, Thomas Bennett reads "The Ferryman's Ledger."In a small valley where the river runs slow and green around a long bend, an old ferryman named Walter Penrose has spent thirty-one years writing every traveler's name into a heavy, dark-green ledger kept on his cottage table. The book has the soft corners of something loved, and at least one entry that a woman named Margaret has been traveling many years to find.On a morning when the mist is still lying along the far bank, Margaret steps aboard the ferry carrying only a small canvas bag, and says she has come a long way to look at a book. She sits at the cottage table and turns the pages carefully, until her hand goes still and she says, quietly, "Here." What she has found is the name of her father — Henry Alistair Vogel — written in Walter's hand on a morning thirty-one years ago, when Henry crossed the river carrying a small leather suitcase and a letter he had written to a daughter he had not yet seen.This story is about small objects that hold our lives — a ledger, a suitcase, a stone the color of a dove's egg — and the patient ways one person is remembered by another.Chapters:0:00 — The Ledger in the Morning Light2:08 — The Five Crossings of the Day4:38 — Margaret Arrives on the Path6:52 — The Cottage and the Heavy Green Book9:10 — The Entry She Had Been Looking For11:42 — He Did Come to Meet You, Then13:46 — A Stone the Color of a Dove's Egg15:54 — Margaret Walks Up the Path17:38 — The New Entry on the PageThis episode was crafted with care using AI tools for story creation and voice synthesis, with a human writer shaping every sentence. Settle in, get comfortable, and let Thomas's voice carry you gently into the long evening.DISCLAIMER 📢Bedtime Sleep Stories For Grownups is an independent production by HustleStudios. The stories and topics discussed are for entertainment and informational purposes only. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect HustleStudios or its affiliates.Some names and details may be altered to protect privacy. Listener discretion advised. All content protected under copyright law.This episode might be ad-supported. Support us on Patreon for ad-free episodes, early access, and exclusive promos.👉 Check our Patreon👉 Or subscribe via Apple Podcasts📻 Listen to Hustle Studios Radio 24/7!🎧 radio.hustlestudios.net/live🔊 All our podcasts — playing back to back, anytime!

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