Then another thing. Just this morning we came up with a really cool idea. What if we would have dozens of people contributing, all over the world, to make the most kick-ass audio book ever? Imagine listening to The Sunhitcher so that every character would be played by a different person. Every driver, every couch surfing host, every hitchhiker, everyone in the book would have their own unique voice. Complicated? Yes. Doable? Definitely.

Please comment if you like the idea. This is quite a big project and might well be one of those flying ideas that never catch fire, but if it does then we will need at least:

• A producer: Someone who sees the whole project from an idea to a ready audio book. Probably the same person who would take care of “casting”, i.e. finding and guiding the people to record their parts.
• A sound engineer: Someone to collect the recordings, to put the pieces together and to ensure the quality of the audio book. Apart from the narrative and dialogue, maybe there could be other “audio landscape” as well (sounds of the nature, traffic, socializing, music etc).
• The cast members: 24 female voices and 53 male voices add up to 77 people. It sounds like a huge production but most of these cast members need to say only a few lines. The biggest and most important role, of course, falls for the person playing Remmus Reverof. He is both the narrator and the leading voice actor. Unfortunately this has to be someone who can also pronounce the Finnish rolling R fluently.

Ready to volunteer a little bit of your time? Let´s do this!

Benji was studying to become a doctor, at the age of seven. And a violin player. And a mechanical engineer. And a chemist. And, well, many interesting things. His loving foster parents, Saul and Eva, tried to provide him with as much assistance in his studies as possible. Though they were not rich, they had taught Benji to use internet and even built a DIY-lab for him to carry out his scientific experiments. Benji’s curiosity was insatiable.

“Lick, follow me! Let’s go and see who lives thele. Don’t folget the bluebellies!” Benji ran down the muddy hill with Rick and a basket of blueberries they had picked on the way. Slosh, splat, slosh, splat. His two small feet seemed to find every puddle on the way. “Ouch! Huuuldles,” Benji mumbled to himself as he tripped on a twig and sent the blueberries flying in the air. He landed face down in the mud and hit his forehead on a small stone. A tiny wound appeared on his forehead. “Don’t look at me like that, Lick. I’m fine,” he noticed the teddy bear lying in the mud upside down, staring at him. “I know. Eva always tells us to be caleful. But wasn’t that fun or what? Lick, lick! Wake up! Go and get the bellies,” Benji reprimanded his sloth-like teddy bear.

Two hours later the blueberries were back in the basket, all 249 of them, rinsed and cleaned in a stream of cold clear water. Benji drank from the stream. He was exhausted but the sight of the mansion still intrigued him. “Come, Lick! Let’s go befole it gets dalk!”

Benji and Rick arrived at a humongous gate that enclosed an impeccable garden. “Sad. The tlees look sad,” Benji said without knowing that these particular trees had been bought with big money, imported all the way from Turkey, planted and taken care of by a professional team of gardeners and nourished regularly with expensive nutrients. “Oh, that’s why. Why didn’t I think of it myself,” Benji listened to Rick’s reasoning and patted it amiably. “They ale sad because they ale implisoned behind the bals,” Benji concluded and stared at the gate, four times his height.

“Who are youuu and what are you doooing here?” a voice from the intercom startled Benji. He didn’t realize that the sound was coming from the loudspeaker attached to the wall.
“God? Is it really you? Eva always talks about you but I never–“
“What? Nouuu. Get ouuut of here before I call the secuuurity,” the voice said, breaking badly. This was a definite clue for Benji. He knew that breaking of the voice happens to boys aged 10-16. It made him doubt. If there was this guy called God, he’d probably be past puberty already. Rick’s muddy paw was pointing at a surveillance camera. Benji noticed it and flashed a wide smile.
“My name is Benji and I would like to be youl fliend. Can I come in, please?”
No response.
“I blought some bluebellies,” Benji said for emphasis and raised the basket in view.
“Blueberries? Aren’t they expensive?”
“We picked them oulselves,” Benji announced proudly.
“Who’s weeee?”
“Lick,” Benji raised showed his teddy bear to the camera.
“Eeew. You lick it!”
“His name is Lick. What’s youls?”
“Brandon.”
“Nice to meet you, Blandon. Can I come in?”
“My pa-heeee-rents are not home,” Brandon said and coughed in embarrassment.
“Gleat! Then we can play.”

A moment of silence. The intercom buzzed and, slowly, the gate opened.

Brandon welcomed Benji at the door and offered him a tour around the mansion, with kickboards. He was a snobbish 12-year-old kid, wearing an uncomfortable-looking tuxedo. His white collar shirt was hanging out loosely on top of his black pants, revealing his considerable pot belly. Pimples covered his face and his gel-filled light brown hair was disheveled. He carried a pack of medicine that he popped like candy.

Brandon was alone in the enormous house. Benji had lost interest towards the house already outside. Regardless of its decorative ornaments and 19th century interior design, or maybe because of it, the house looked grim and unwelcoming. But Brandon, on the other hand, was curious to get to know this odd visitor.

“So, what are youuu doing here all alone?” Brandon asked, sipping his moccacino and gulping down a couple of white pills.
“I’m exploling, with Lick,” Benji responded, his eyes shining.
“But, what abba-huuut your parents? How do they let you–“
“My palents ale dead,” Benji surprised.
“Oh,” Brandon put down his drink and didn’t know what to say. He took another pill.
“I live with Saul and Eva. They love me vely much.”
“Your foster parents?”
“Yes.”
“What doooo they dooo for living?” Brandon asked his voice breaking ever more badly. He took a handful of the delicious blueberries and munched them with great pleasure.
“What do you mean?” Benji found the question silly. “They eat, dlink, sleep, poo and bleathe, just like evelyone else.”
“Right. And they let you roam around alo–“ Brandon noticed Benji’s eyes forming two demanding lines and hasted to correct himself: “How come they let you and Rick run around the woods without adult supervision? I mean, do you even have a cell phone?” Benji didn’t understand this kind of questions. He had been exploring and learning by himself as long as he remembered, which was not very long for a seven-year-old but a few years anyways. The thought had never occurred to him to ask for Saul’s and Eva’s permission to do something. On occasion, he asked for their assistance, sometimes for forgiveness, but never for permission.
“Do you like the bluebellies?” Benji changed the topic.
“Yeah, man! I ne-heee-ver had these before. Where did youuu buy them?”
“I told you. We picked them from the forest,” Benji answered. Brandon coughed and spat out the berries.
“From the forest? Youuu me-heen they are not from the shop? Are youuu trying to poison me-heee?” Brandon got alarmed and ran to rinse his mouth with bottled water. Benji had no idea what’s going on. Before he could say anything Brandon grabbed him by his collar, dragged him to the front door, opened it and pushed Benji out. “Why did I ever let youuu i-hee-n? Don’t you know youuu are not supposed to pick anything from the ground?” Brandon was bursting with anger.
“But nature food is delicious,” Benji tried.
“It’s poison! Get out of here!”
“You know nothing about poison.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“My palents died of dlug oveldose,” Benji’s eyes were watering as he said that.
“Drug users! Of course,” Brandon sighed as he was about to slam the door.
“Prescription drugs, you prick!” Benji screamed and ran away with Rick.

I’m currently residing in Berlin and hosting other travelers. If you would like to come and meet me, feel free to check our site and drop me a couch request.

Love,

Tomi