The Historic Time Traveling of the Snake Trying to Find Peter in the 90’s (Not the Story Pirate, the Frog)

Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Story Pirates
Episode Title: The Historic Time Traveling of the Snake Trying to Find Peter in the 90’s (Not the Story Pirate, the Frog)
Date: May 21, 2026
Hosts: Lee Overtree, Peter McNerney, Calvin the Snake (character)
Main Theme:
A zany, nostalgia-filled adventure based on a story co-written by over 100 kids in the Story Pirates Creator Club. The episode centers on a time-traveling snake named Calvin who journeys back to the 1990s to rescue his lost pet frog, Peter. Packed with 90s references, fast-paced comedic sketches, and silly sci-fi twists, the episode celebrates childhood imagination and the collaborative magic of storytelling. It also features the recurring “Story Love” segment, highlighting inventive stories submitted by young listeners.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Intro and Episode Setup

• [00:07] Lee Overtree introduces a special bonus episode written by more than 100 kids, themed around traveling back to the 90s to rescue a pet frog, peppered with plenty of 90s references and kid-driven creativity.
  • Notable: Invitation to future Zoom “Create a Story” sessions for listeners and their families.

2. The Time-Traveling Snake Story

• [03:09] – [11:50]
• Setting: Cuckoo clock factory & a bustling 1990s mall.
• Plot Summary:
  1. Calvin the Snake works at a cuckoo clock factory with Fiona the Cat. He reminisces about the 90s and his lost pet frog, Peter.
  2. Calvin recalls losing Peter at a 90s mall after a Sandra Bullock movie (“The Net”) and is suddenly struck by nostalgia and regret.
  3. Calvin decides to use the clocks to build a robot, who then builds a time machine with a rooster personality (despite being made from cuckoo clocks).
     • “Why do you sound like a rooster instead of a cuckoo bird?” (Calvin – 06:26)
     • “Nobody knows.” (Time Machine – 06:28)
  4. Calvin sets the machine for 1996 and travels backwards through time, humorously observing cultural moments like the pandemic, binge-watching, and the ice bucket challenge.
     • “Glad that pandemic is over so I can start playing Wordle.” (Lee Overtree as background – 07:27)
     • “Wow, look at me binge-watch TV while doing an ice bucket challenge.” (Calvin – 07:30)
  5. Calvin spots his younger self and Peter at the mall, just as history repeats itself with Peter running after a giant fly.
  6. Using his robot ensemble, Calvin creates a net to stop Peter—accomplished via an absurd sequence involving mountaintop backflips and crashing through a skylight.
  7. Calvin gives his younger self Peter back, accompanied by sage, silly advice:
     • “Just promise me one thing. Don’t let Peter get lost. Don’t let him out of your sight. And also, never cut those bangs.” (Calvin – 09:30)
     • “Why would I?” (Young Calvin – 09:41)
     • “Exactly.” (Calvin – 09:41)
  8. Calvin travels “back to the future” and finds that Peter is still with him—but older. The realities of time travel are playfully dismissed.
     • “When it comes to time travel, it’s best not to think about it.” (Calvin – 11:21)
     • “When it comes to the net, it’s best not to think about it.” (Lee Overtree – 11:47)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “It’s quitting time here at the cuckoo clock factory.” (Calvin – 03:09)
• “It's best if we don't think about it too hard.” (Calvin to younger self – 09:31)
• “You got that right, Sandra Bullock.” (Calvin – 11:50)

3. Story Love: Kids’ Stories Spotlight

• [14:21] – [22:33]
• Lee and Peter read and analyze three creative stories from kid listeners, riffing on themes and asking imaginative questions.

a) "The Slow Sloth" by Willa, Age 7 (Nebraska)

• Slothy the sloth takes a whole year to come to dinner, by which time the food is gone.
• “‘Slothy was coming. But it took a long time. Long, long time. … It took one year. When he got to the table, the food was gone.’” (Narration – 14:55)
• Comedic debate about sloth family life and the logistics of eating only once a year.

b) "Anchovy the Flying Burger" by Orion, Age 11 (Ohio)

• Anchovy the burger can fly after being spat out by a radioactive cat; later saves the city from an attacking flying golf club, reveals he was being controlled by Jeff the Stickman.
• “Does that mean the backstory is a lie?” (Peter – 18:09)
• Includes a good-natured groaner:
  • “Why do I always bring an extra pair of socks when I go golfing? ... In case I get a hole in one.” (Peter – 18:48)

c) "The Clock that Can Talk" by Maggie, Age 4 (Arizona)

• A refrigerator and gingerbread girl in a kitchen are frightened when the clock talks to them about time.
• “[The clock] starts talking to them about what time it is. They get scared. The end.” (Maggie’s story – 19:30)
• Philosophical and comedic exploration of talking appliances and why time can feel scary.
  • “If you start talking to someone about what time it is, you could terrify them.” (Lee – 19:51)
  • Peter and Lee, in faux-scientific mode, debate space-time, gravity, and rules of talking inanimate objects.

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4. Notable 90s Nostalgia & Cultural References

Throughout the episode, the cast riff on:

• 90s pop culture: skateboards, neon gloves, tall socks, rat tails, mixtapes, puffy hair
• Famous films (“The Net” with Sandra Bullock)
• Goofy celebrity and music references (including a fake Elvis Presley cameo [10:53])
• Playful anachronisms: hula hoops, disco dancers, dragons, and deliberate confusion about whether Elvis was from the 90s.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:07] — Lee introduces the episode and the 100-kid collaborative story
• [03:09] — "The Historic Time Traveling of the Snake Trying to Find Peter in the 90's" sketch begins
• [06:26] — Calvin builds the robot and time machine ("Cock-a-doodle-doo!")
• [07:27] — Time travel montage through the decades, with cultural callbacks
• [09:07] — Robots 3 & 4 build the net; “Sandra Bullock already did.”
• [09:30] — Calvin meets younger self and advises him, net saves the day
• [11:16] — Calvin finds older Peter and ponders altered memories, time travel paradox
• [14:21] — "Story Love" segment begins: kid stories read and discussed
  • [14:38] — "The Slow Sloth"
  • [17:05] — "Anchovy the Flying Burger"
  • [19:10] — "The Clock that Can Talk"
• [21:37–22:33] — Philosophical musing on sentient objects, space-time, and creative rules.

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Highlights & Tone

• Playful, improvisational humor: The hosts frequently riff, banter, and veer into comedic philosophical asides, staying true to a kid’s-eye view of logic, storytelling, and weirdness.
• Celebration of kids’ imaginations:
  • "Maggie has invited us to ponder these questions. And ponder them we will." (Lee – 22:22)
• Encouraging participation: Repeated invitations for listeners to join the next collaborative story, submit their own writing, and check out the Creator Club.
• Memorable closing lines:
  • “We miss you, 1990s.”

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Conclusion

This episode encapsulates the Story Pirates Podcast’s mission: spotlighting the power of kid-driven creativity through madcap comedy, collective storytelling, and an infectious spirit of fun. The centerpiece story, with its affectionate 90s nostalgia and time-travel hijinks, keeps energy high and laughs coming, while the "Story Love" segment showcases the ingenuity of young writers and models supportive, joyful engagement with new ideas. As always, Lee, Peter, and the Story Pirates blend enthusiasm, improvisation, and deep respect for young voices.

For more:

• Join future story-writing Zooms: See episode notes
• Submit kid stories: storypirates.com
• See bonus Story Love content: Story Pirates YouTube channel

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Selected Memorable Quotes

• “Only I could go back in time. Of course. It's so simple, Calvin. You're all alone in a clock factory. Can't you just use all these clocks to build a time machine?” (Calvin – 03:47)
• “When it comes to time travel, it's best not to think about it.” (Calvin – 11:21)
• “You got that right, Sandra Bullock.” (Calvin – 11:50)
• “If you start talking to someone about what time it is, you could terrify them.” (Lee – 19:51)

Transcript

[Calvin the Snake]

Lemonade.

[Lee Overtree]

Hey, Story Pirates podcast listeners. Lee here. Today we have a very special bonus episode for you featuring another new story written by not one, not two, but over a hundred different kids in our Creator Club. And this time, it's about time travel to the 90s. And don't forget, we've teamed up with Rhett and Link from Good Mythical Morning for a special story contest to celebrate their new book, Spaghetti Head and Chicken Fingers. To find out more and submit your kids stories, visit storypirates.com mythical and the Story Pirates 2026 tour continues. Get [e-mail] live or for our upcoming shows in Ridgefield, Connecticut. A brand new Creator Club story and story love with Lee and Peter coming up right after a few words for the grown ups.

[Calvin the Snake]

I love Story Pirates. It just filled me up with joy.

[Lee Overtree]

My mom loves the jokes.

[Calvin the Snake]

Yo yo, Matcha maybe very proud about my sightings. Yeah, we're just getting like, really deep

[Lee Overtree]

into, like, I want to say, philosophy.

[Calvin the Snake]

I definitely think I can be more creative now. I'm the champion. The Story Pirates.

[Lee Overtree]

Okay, everybody, here's what's going on. As you've probably heard before, every once in a while we invite all of our Creator Club members to join me and Peter on a Zoom and we write a wacky story together. This time, over 100 different kids from all over the world showed up. And together we wrote this incredible story about a snake named Peter who is not Peter the story pirate who travels back in time to the 1990s to save his pet frog. And yes, there are a lot of references to things we loved from the 90s in this episode. And Elvis, he was from the 90s, right?

[Calvin the Snake]

Right.

[Lee Overtree]

And P.S. grownups, we're doing this whole thing again on Zoom with me and Peter in July. And it's not too late to get your kids involved. We're going to write a brand new story together and then adapt it for the podcast, just like in today's episode. Information on how to join us is in the episode description for today's episode. So grown ups, check it out and join us. And now, without further ado, we present to you a story by the Story Pirates Creator Club. The historic time traveling of the snake trying to find Peter in the 90s. Not the story Pirate, the frog. Enjoy.

[Calvin the Snake]

Oh, it's quitting time here at the cuckoo clock factory. Oh, Calvin the snake. This isn't just a cuckoo clock factory. Meow. I know that, Fiona the Cat. But it's mostly cuckoo clocks. You got me there. I sure did. Anyway, any big plans this weekend? Not really. My only plans are to try to find my lost neon gloves. Neon gloves? Like the kind that were very big in the 90s. Remember the 90s? Wow. I haven't thought about the 90s in quite some time. Hmm. Yep. Looks like you're about to get lost in a bit of nostalgic 90s daydreaming. So I'll leave you to it, huh? Oh, right. I'll see you Monday. Bye. The 90s. That was quite a decade. Famous for so many things. Skateboards, mixtapes, rat tails, no screens, tall socks, puffy hair, hula hoops, disco dancers, dragons, Elvis Presley and Grunch. If my memory's correct, all that's true. But there's something else in my memory of the 90s, something I haven't thought about in a long time. It's all coming back to me. Wow. Peter, my pet frog. Wasn't that an incredible movie we just got done seeing here at the mall? Ribbit. I agree that Sandra Bullock is going places. The Net. More like the best movie ever. Ribbit. What's that? You want to go to the hat store here at the mall and buy another hat? How many hats do you need, Ribbit? I can't argue with that. Let's go. Buzz, buzz. There. Well, look who it is. Calvin the snake and his pet frog, Peter. Whoa. That is the biggest, juiciest fly I have ever seen. Ribbit, Ribbit. Peter, I know that frogs love flies, but don't get any ideas. Ribbit, Ribbit. Hey, don't look at me that way, frog. Ribbit, Ribbit. He's chasing me. Ribbit, Ribbit, Ribbit. No, Peter, come back. Come back, Peter. Oh, my gosh. I completely forgot. After that, I never saw my dear pet frog ever again. Oh, Calvin, how could you forgotten such a core memory? If only there was some way to go back to prevent Peter from hopping off. Only I could go back in time. Of course. It's so simple, Calvin. You're all alone in a clock factory. Can't you just use all these clocks to build a time machine? No, of course not. But I can use all these clocks to build a robot who can build a time machine for me. Here I go. And done. My robot is complete. Turning on. Hello, Calvin the snake. I'm robot number one.

[Peter McNerney]

I love your bangs.

[Calvin the Snake]

Of course you do. My paints things are beautiful. But that's not why I built you. Oh, no? You built me to build a time machine? That's right. You better get to it. We don't have much time.

[Peter McNerney]

Soon we will have all the time in the world.

[Calvin the Snake]

Oh, yeah.

[Peter McNerney]

Here I go.

[Calvin the Snake]

Building. Wow. He's doing it. He's really doing it. He's using all the clock gears and the cuckoo clock bit. And done. Calvin, I present Good time machine. Cock a doodle doo. Hiya, Calvin. I'm a time machine. Cock a doodle doo. Why do you sound like a rooster instead of a cuckoo bird? Nobody knows. You ought to travel through time. Huh? Just turn my clock hands to the date and time that you want and we'll get going. Cock. Okay, I'll start with the year hand. Here. Ow. Ow. Oh. Does it hurt? A little bit. Keep going. Ow. Ow. Ow. Do you want me to stop? Not at all. Keep going. Ow. Ow. I don't like this. Nobody does.

[Lee Overtree]

Ow.

[Calvin the Snake]

It does. October 11, 1996. All right, now hop on in and close the door. Okay. All right. Time to travel back in time. In three, two, one. Whoa. I can see the decades flying by out the window. It's the 2000s.

[Lee Overtree]

Glad that pandemic is over so I can start playing Wordle.

[Calvin the Snake]

The 2010s. Wow. Look at me binge. Watch TV while doing an ice bucket challenge. The 2000s, a smartphone.

[Peter McNerney]

Eh, what could go wrong?

[Calvin the Snake]

And finally, 1990. Cock a doodle doo. We're here. Watch your step on the way out. This is it. I'm in the mall. It's so full of people and no one's looking at a phone. And look, it's the movie theater. Wow. Peter, my pet frog. Wasn't that an incredible movie we just got done seeing here at the mall? Maybe. Great Scott. Look, there's younger me and Peter, my long lost pet frog. Buzz, buzz. Excuse me. Oh, I'm sorry, Time machine. Look who just buzzed past me and is heading over to the movie theater. It's the fly. That Sandra Bullock is going places. The net. More like the best movie ever. Ribbit. That's it. I'll stop Peter with a net. Do you have a net? No, but I can build two robots to make a net. Do you have time for. Here I go. Wow. He's doing it. He's actually doing it. And done.

[Peter McNerney]

Hello, I am Robot 3. And I'm Robot 4.

[Calvin the Snake]

Why does Robot 4's voice sound so different? And why did you skip two? I don't have time to explain, time machine. Well, technically, we have all the time in the grass. Quickly. Build me the perfect net.

[Peter McNerney]

Sandra Bullock already did. That was a reference to the movie the Net.

[Calvin the Snake]

Ow. That's good, but you know what I mean.

[Peter McNerney]

Of course. Here we Go. And here you go.

[Calvin the Snake]

Perfect. Now to capture Peter with this net, the fastest way possible, by climbing the mountain next to the mall, doing five back flips off the peak, falling all the way through that open skylight and landing on Peter with the net.

[Peter McNerney]

Is that the fastest way?

[Calvin the Snake]

Too loud.

[Peter McNerney]

He's already gone.

[Calvin the Snake]

I hope he makes it back on time. The fly is approaching. Peter. Buzz, Buzz. Look who it is. Calvin the snake. And his pet frog, Peter. Whoa. That is the biggest, juiciest fly I have ever seen. Ribbit, ribbit. Peter, I know that frogs love flies, but don't get any ideas. Ribbit, Ribbit. Hey, don't look at me that way, frog. Ribbit, Ribbit. He's chasing. Wait, what's that sound? It sort of sounds like me, but 30 years older and falling from a mountaintop after doing five backflips. How in the world would he even know what they're saying? Ribbit. Whoa. That snake just fell through the skylight. Ribbit, ribbit. And stopped Peter from running away by catching him in a net. I'm outta here. Buzz, Buzz. Calvin, it's me. You. I mean, a stranger. A stranger. Are you sure you aren't my twin brother? But 30 years older. It's best if we don't think about it too hard. Here, take your pet frog, Peter, and go buy that hat. Thanks, mister. Just promise me one thing. Don't let Peter get lost. Don't let him out of your sight. And also, never cut those bangs. Why would I? Exactly. Ribbit, ribbit. You're funny. All right, I gotta go back to the future. I mean, my house. Alright, see you later. Bye. Wow. You did it, Calvin.

[Lee Overtree]

Yeah.

[Peter McNerney]

Good job.

[Calvin the Snake]

So, thanks, Elvis Presley.

[Peter McNerney]

You're welcome. You're welcome very much.

[Calvin the Snake]

Alright, let's go back to the future.

[Lee Overtree]

Watch me as a hula hoop. Ho ho ho, ho.

[Calvin the Snake]

Cock a doodle doo. Here we are. Back to the future. Wow. I can't believe it. But did it work? Everything looks the same. I guess it didn't make a difference.

[Peter McNerney]

Ribbit, ribbit.

[Calvin the Snake]

Peter, you're here. And you're older.

[Peter McNerney]

Ribbit, ribbit.

[Calvin the Snake]

But if you're here, does that mean that I never lost you? Does that mean that my memory should be updated to include all the things that we would have rivet? Ribbit, ribbit. Ribbit, ribbit. You're right. You're right. When it comes to time travel, it's best not to think about it. Uh, is that a wormhole? It is. Look what's coming out of it. It's the net. But where did this net come from?

[Lee Overtree]

When it comes to the net, it's best not to think about it.

[Calvin the Snake]

You got that right, Sandra Bullock. Cock a doodle. The end. We'll be right back after these words for the grown ups.

[Lee Overtree]

Hey, grown ups. Today's episode is sponsored by Quince. You know, lately, I have been a little more serious about what I wear every day. I've been leaning into pieces that feel effortless, comfortable and still put together. You know, it just makes getting dressed simpler and I look better. And Quince has been my go to. The fabrics feel elevated, the fits are flattering, and everything just works without me overthinking it, you know? Quince makes it easy to refresh your everyday this spring with pieces that feel as good as they look. They use premium materials like 100% European linen, organic cotton, and ultra soft denim. Their lightweight linen pants, dresses and tops start at $30 and are effortless, breathable, and easy to wear on repeat. Everything at quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middleman. So you're paying for quality and craftsmanship, not brand markup. You know, in one of our recent Story Love videos, I wore this really nice white Quince sweater that I. And I gotta say, it really upped my look. For once, I was not dressed like a teen headed off to summer camp, and instead I looked like a professional kids and family podcaster. Right? And then I wore the same sweater home. And my family was like, hey, did you have something fancy today? And I was like, no. And they just stared at me. They didn't say anything for like a full minute. You see, it's just confusing to see me wearing something so nice and flattering. Thanks, Quince. Refresh your everyday with luxury you actually use. Head to quince.com storypirates for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E dot com storypirates for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com storypirates. Hey, welcome back to StoryLove, where we take stories written by kids and we talk about them. Peter Lee. Hello.

[Peter McNerney]

Hello.

[Lee Overtree]

You know the story Pirates. We get tens of thousands of stories a year and some of those stories we get to put on our podcast and some of them we get to talk about on this segment. Yeah, Story Love.

[Peter McNerney]

I can't wait anymore.

[Lee Overtree]

Okay. Do you want to read first?

[Calvin the Snake]

Yes.

[Lee Overtree]

Okay. Go ahead, Lee.

[Peter McNerney]

Our first story comes to us today from a seven year old from Nebraska Named Willa. And Willa's story is called the Slow Sloth. The Slow Sloth. Sloth. Mom, it's time for dinner. Slothy. Slothy.

[Calvin the Snake]

I'm coming.

[Peter McNerney]

Narrator. Slothy was coming. But it took a long time. Long, long time. Narrator. It took one year. When he got to the table, the food was gone. Slothy.

[Calvin the Snake]

Oh no.

[Peter McNerney]

The food is gone. I'm so hungry. It has been one year. Slothy.

[Lee Overtree]

Whaaaat?

[Peter McNerney]

To be continued.

[Lee Overtree]

Ah, excellent story. I think it's for the best that the food was gone. Because you can't leave food out that long. You could get sick eating it.

[Peter McNerney]

Best case scenario, that food has deteriorated, it's decomposed, A plant has grown out of it.

[Lee Overtree]

Oh, is that how it works?

[Peter McNerney]

And so fresh fruit is awaiting.

[Lee Overtree]

So old food becomes new plants.

[Peter McNerney]

I'm pretty sure if you leave a bagel on the street, an apple tree will grow.

[Lee Overtree]

Right, right.

[Peter McNerney]

That's how it works. Right.

[Lee Overtree]

Okay. Well, the other thing that could have happened is that it could have been exactly one year and it was dinner time again.

[Peter McNerney]

So if you're a sloth, sloth famously eat once a year.

[Lee Overtree]

No, no, no, no. But you're timing things I see with a year delay. If you're a sloth family.

[Peter McNerney]

Well, we need to ask ourselves, where is Slothy coming from?

[Lee Overtree]

I assumed their bedroom upstairs. That's usually where you are when someone says come to dinner.

[Peter McNerney]

Because this is slow, even for a sloth. But the title of the story is the Slow Sloth.

[Lee Overtree]

Okay, you're right. So we can assume that this sloth is slower than the normal sloth. Which is why the mom is so shocked.

[Peter McNerney]

Yeah. And was the mom worried the whole time? Or is the whole family that slow? So she thought, I better go check on him.

[Lee Overtree]

I think that the mom knows the pattern here, so it's not a surprise.

[Peter McNerney]

It seems like mom sees her child once a year. This childhood is going very quickly and also very slowly. Mom was sitting there, was like, I could go check. But I'm his mother.

[Lee Overtree]

That's right.

[Peter McNerney]

I have to. You should come see me.

[Lee Overtree]

Maybe she took like an online correspondence class during that time.

[Peter McNerney]

She could have started a whole new career.

[Lee Overtree]

Yeah. A business.

[Peter McNerney]

Uh huh.

[Lee Overtree]

This story was incredible. Thanks so much for sending it in, Lee.

[Peter McNerney]

Do you want to read the next one?

[Lee Overtree]

You bet I do. This one is from Orion. An 11 year old from Ohio. And it's called Anchovy. The flying burger.

[Peter McNerney]

Oh, excellent.

[Lee Overtree]

Once there was a burger named Anchovy. Anchovy could fly. Oh, by the way, he could fly because a radioactive cat tried to eat him, but spit him out. The radioactive cat said spit was also radioactive, and the radioactiveness made the burger able to fly. Back to the story. Anchovy was flying around when suddenly a flying golf club attacked the city. Anchovy grabbed the flying golf club and made a hole in one. The golf club's only weakness, because he saved the day. He was tired, so he landed on a table. The end. P.S. jeff the Stickman was controlling Anchovy the whole time.

[Peter McNerney]

Whoa, whoa. I have a lot of questions about this. Okay, please hit me, because there's this whole backstory about how this burger can fly. Radioactive spit from a cat. And in the end, Jeff the Stickman was controlling Anchovy the whole time. Does that mean the backstory is a lie?

[Lee Overtree]

No.

[Peter McNerney]

And the burger is just a ship?

[Lee Overtree]

No. Yes. The. Well, you see what I'm saying? I do see what you're saying, but in no way does I think this negate the backstory. I imagine when the radioactiveness turned the burger into a flying burger, you know, it's sort of like some controls sort of went like, bloop, bloop out of the burger.

[Peter McNerney]

Yeah, maybe Jeff was like, ooh, a giant burger. I'm a stick man. I'm gonna eat it. And he was eating the bun. He goes, whoa. And then the cat happened and he's like, suddenly there's a spaceship now.

[Lee Overtree]

So many questions.

[Peter McNerney]

This story also had reminded me of one of my favorite jokes, which is, why? Do you know why I always bring an extra pair of socks when I go golfing?

[Lee Overtree]

Because you have a hole in one

[Peter McNerney]

in case I get a hole in one.

[Lee Overtree]

That's your favorite?

[Peter McNerney]

In this moment.

[Lee Overtree]

Number one.

[Peter McNerney]

In this moment. It's my favorite. The joke I'm currently telling is always my favorite one.

[Lee Overtree]

Well, my favorite story right now is this one. Orion. Excellent work, my friend. All right, Peter, we got one more. You wanna give it a go? I do.

[Peter McNerney]

This one comes to us from a 4 year old from Arizona named Maggie. And Maggie's story is called the Clock that Can Talk.

[Lee Overtree]

I love it.

[Peter McNerney]

The refrigerator. And the sparkly gingerbread girl sees the clock in the kitchen. The clock starts talking to them about what time it is. They get scared.

[Calvin the Snake]

The end.

[Lee Overtree]

Fantastic. Short, sweet, terrifying.

[Peter McNerney]

It's really terrifying. But what she's not telling us is the Terry, the scary.

[Lee Overtree]

What do you think she. What do you. What do you mean by that?

[Peter McNerney]

My mind races. Like, they get scared. And that implies to me that the way the clocks spoke to them was creepy in some way.

[Lee Overtree]

Well, time is scary. You know, if you start talking to someone about what time it is, you could terrify them. For example, I could say, like, Peter, Yeah, it is 10am right now. You have so much work to do. You got to get it done. You got to eat lunch. At some point, you got to get home. That's going to take 45 minutes.

[Calvin the Snake]

I'm scared.

[Lee Overtree]

And then you're going to have to, you know, soon it's going to be bedtime. You're going to be tired. Yeah, that's. Talking to someone about what time it is is way more than just saying three o'. Clock. Mm. Right.

[Peter McNerney]

Don't even get me started about space time.

[Lee Overtree]

Oh, I would love to.

[Peter McNerney]

Oh, okay. Gravity. Gravity's not a gravity. We don't even know what it is. It's not even a thing. It's.

[Lee Overtree]

Is that space time?

[Peter McNerney]

Well, planets, they bend space time. So the idea is that when you get close to a planet, you're not actually moving towards it, but time and space are. And so the straight line becomes a curved line.

[Lee Overtree]

This is honestly how I imagine all scientists are acting when they're describing space time. Oh, yeah. I had an imagination about line curving.

[Calvin the Snake]

Yeah.

[Peter McNerney]

Okay, so you're in an elevator, but a planet is too big, and so are you moving.

[Lee Overtree]

Scientists, thank you for your work, and Maggie, thank you for yours. Here's my thought about this, Peter, is the refrigerator and a sparkly gingerbread girl. Both of those are inanimate objects.

[Peter McNerney]

Yes.

[Lee Overtree]

Right, so we're starting from a baseline of, like, why should they be so surprised that the clock is talking to them? Are they the only ones that are sentient in this universe? But I assume that they can't speak themselves.

[Peter McNerney]

Oh, interesting.

[Lee Overtree]

Right. So I imagine there's this counter with a sparkly gingerbread girl on it sitting there. She's looking at the fridge, the fridge is looking at her. And they're sort of just like, aware of each other, but they haven't figured out a way really to communicate. And then the first time in their whole lives that they hear something talk and communicate to them.

[Peter McNerney]

And that's always a really interesting question. What's the rules of this world? Cause that's not something that occurred to me, which is all the objects are alive, and they're aware of the sound, and they're aware but can't speak. So the clock speaking is the weird thing.

[Lee Overtree]

Yes.

[Peter McNerney]

Or in my mind, if they're alive, everything's alive. They can all speak. So what he is saying about time is the weird thing, but Maggie has invited us to ponder these questions.

[Lee Overtree]

Maggie. And ponder them we will. Thank you so much for your story. That's it for today's Story Story Love. To read all these stories, just head to storypirates.com it's easy.

[Peter McNerney]

Just do it.

[Lee Overtree]

Bye. And guess what Grown Ups? You can still find an even longer version of today's story Love on YouTube, so check it out and subscribe to our channel if you don't mind. And Grown Up Story Love isn't just the name of a segment on our show. It's also the name of our incredible corporate volunteer program. So to find out more about StoryLove or StoryQuest, our digital creative writing program, or our nonprofit arm, Story Pirates Changemakers, check out the show notes for links. That's it for today's bonus episode, Grown Ups. Don't forget to check the show notes for today's episode to find out how your kids can join us for our next Create a Story session in July. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, stay creative and stay kind. The story pirates podcast is a production of story pirates studios, executive produced by lee overtree and benjamin salka. Co executive producers are holly and rizwan kasim, manya, lissi, aaron moore, murray sampson, jack schaefer and jacob vaughn. This episode was produced by sam baer, peter mcnerney, lee overtree and brittany stahl. Recording sound design and mixing by sam baer at the relic room in new york city. Additional production by brett toobin. Theme song by bobby lord. Musical scoring by eric erson and jack mitchell. Our head writer is peter mcnerney. Staff writers are megan o' neill and alexis simpson. Episode artwork by pamela franklin. The historic time traveling with the snakes trying to find Peter in the 90s, not the story Pirate. The Frog was Adapted by Peter McNerney. Musical scoring by Jack Mitchell. This episode features performances by Christina Grosse, Peach, Justin Linville, Sarah Morgan, Ashy, Peter McNerney, Josh Nassar, Sam Rogal, and Addie Weyrich. You know, that episode just got me so nostalgic for the 90s. So I thought I'd name even more things from the 90s that I personally miss a lot. Half pipes, garbage trucks, semiconductors, James Bond, France Flambe, pancakes, shoes that don't need laces, pigs in blankets, Easy Bake Ovens, Velcro, saltines, the moon landing and the common cold. We miss you 1990s.