A Bedtime Story of Fireworks Over Sleepy Forest 🎆 🌳 | Rewind

[00:00:10] Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original bedtime stories and sleep meditations for kids, designed to make bedtime a dream. With any luck, all of you are already tucked up in bed and super relaxed, with your imaginations primed, because tonight's tale is nothing short of spectacular. It's fireworks night in Sleepy Forest, and we all know what that means.

[00:00:39] Brilliant streaks of light bursting in the night sky, bonfires, appetising hot food, mugs of cocoa and marshmallows. But it's not any old crowd that gathers. I wonder if you can guess how many familiar faces you're going to hear about in this story, setting up their place ready for the big show. Will we encounter five familiar characters, do you think, from Sleepy Forest and Surrounds?

[00:01:08] Or ten? Or fifteen? Let's find out. Start to steady your breath and get ready to listen to the story. Maybe let your eyes close. That's it, close them and see what you can see. It might sound silly, but sometimes when I close my eyes, I can see flashes and colours behind my eyelids. Like my own little private fireworks show.

[00:01:32] You have a go and see what you can see, whilst I start Fireworks Over Sleepy Forest, by Jane Thomas. Before we begin, here's a quick ad break, then we'll start tonight's bedtime story. If you'd like to support our podcast, enjoy ad-free listening, and unlock all our premium stories, you can join the Coco Club. To join, follow the link in the show notes. Hello, lovely listeners. Abbe here.

[00:02:00] This Christmas Eve, Coco's holding his annual celebration at Cozy Cabin, and we'd love for all of our Cocoa Club listeners to be on the guest list. That's right. This year, your name could be written into Cocoa's Cozy Christmas Eve Party, a special story we're releasing on Christmas Eve, where you can be the guest. From November 2nd to 16th, all new members can enjoy a 30 days of Koala Kids Plus, completely free. Just click Try Free on Apple Podcasts, or follow the link in our show notes.

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[00:03:15] You can start your free trial in just two taps on Apple Podcasts. Or if you're listening on Spotify or Yoto, just tap the link in the show notes. See you there! Here on Koala Moon, we know how helpful a bedtime story can be when your child's mind is still busy at the end of the day. But once your little one is asleep, perhaps you could use some help switching off, too.

[00:03:38] If you find yourself lying in bed thinking about tomorrow's to-do list, you might like Nothing Much Happens, hosted by Catherine Nicolai. As the name suggests, these are cosy, calming stories where nothing much happens. There's no plot to follow, just soothing narration, repetition, and comforting sensory details to give your busy mind something quiet to focus on.

[00:04:04] So, after a day of looking after everyone else, it could be a way to wind down for your own bedtime. You can listen to Nothing Much Happens wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes every Monday and Thursday. It's a crisp winter evening in Sleepy Forest. The night of the annual fireworks display.

[00:04:32] All across the forest, friends and families are bundling up in scarves and mittens, ready to watch the sky light up in colour. And down by the lake, a group of young friends are checking off their list, making sure they've got everything they need for the big night ahead. Big blanket? asked Kevin, running his eyes down his list. Here! called Cuddle, holding up the huge red and blue picnic blanket her mother had let her borrow for the evening.

[00:05:02] Kevin put a tick next to big blanket on his list. Hot chocolate? he asked. Here! called Tammy, the big-bottomed, smiley-eyed wombat holding up a huge green flask. Kevin was about to put a tick when he looked up at her and narrowed his eyes. Marshmallows? he asked cautiously.

[00:05:27] Tammy reached into the backpack by her feet and held a big bag full of marshmallows aloft. Here! she called out in triumph. Everyone knew hot chocolate needed marshmallows. One without the other was impossible. Kevin added the tick to his list. Camera? asked Kevin. Nobody answered. Everyone looked around at each other.

[00:05:53] There was a bit of a murmur, and Kevin cleared his throat and called out again, Camera? Cuddle glanced across at Buttons, the badger cub who had recently joined their class at school. He was wearing a huge pair of headphones and had his eyes closed, his head bobbing away to a beat nobody else could hear. Around his neck hung a camera. Cuddle nudged Buttons and he swiveled around to look at her.

[00:06:22] She pointed to the camera and then to Kevin and grinned. Buttons held the camera high in the air and called out, Here! And gave Cuddle a thumbs up. Kevin carefully put a tick on his list. He confused himself for a moment when he asked who had the spare hats in case it got extra, extra cold. Then, realised after a bit of a panic, that he was the one who had them stashed safely in his bag.

[00:06:52] I guess, Kevin announced at last, I guess we're good to go. Right then, let's get our warmest clothes on. Come on, everyone. The gang pulled on hats and scarves and mittens, big chunky coats and long warm socks, onto feet that were then slipped into boots. Cuddle had a secret extra layer of protection against the cold. She had a hot water bottle tucked inside her jumper.

[00:07:22] This was the first time she and her friends had been allowed to go to the Sleepy Forest annual fireworks display by themselves. And she wasn't about to mess it up by having to come home early because she was cold. They all held hands in a line, with Harry the Hoglet at one end keeping a hand free to keep pushing his glasses back up his nose, and Kevin at the other end so he too could keep a hand free.

[00:07:50] He needed it for something other than glasses rearranging, though. His latest obsession was yo-yoing. In fact, he'd become quite the star in school, performing a whole load of tricks in the playground. Buttons was mesmerized by the yo-yo, and had spent many hours now watching Kevin's hands

[00:08:19] and how exactly he did this and that. At some point, Buttons would build up the courage to ask Kevin for a lesson, but not yet. For now, it was enough just to be around them all. And so they walked hand in hand to Betty Badger's bakery, joining the chattering queue of creatures, all waiting for the exact same thing. The tradition on the night of the fireworks display

[00:08:47] is to eat one of Betty Badger's pumpkin and cinnamon muffins. They are plump and soft and absolutely delicious, with a thick layer of butter icing on top and a secret scoop of applesauce within. Nobody was quite sure where this tradition came from, but Cuddle's grandmother remembered eating the pumpkin and cinnamon muffins back when she was a little puggle, and that was many, many moons ago.

[00:09:17] It was one of those crisp, clear evenings when the ground was already white with a heavy frost, so the grass crunched a little underfoot. Some of the puddles had a thin layer of ice on top, so it was satisfying to sort of crack your way through with your boot to the water below. The trees were all decorated with little jars of fireflies that glowed gold and green in the darkness.

[00:09:47] Owls hooted directions and pointed out where there were spaces for picnic rugs to be laid down, hovering over bare spots and directing families and friends to where they might sit. The lake was busy with little rowing boats. If you were really lucky, you could get there early enough to stake a claim to one of these, the ultimate firework watching spot. Coco and Kira were one of the pairs lucky enough to be out in a boat,

[00:10:17] each fully draped in a blanket and with their paws wrapped around huge mugs of hot chocolate, looking at the stars reflected in the lake and eager for the display to start. Cuddle stamped her feet in the line at Betty Badger's Bakery, trying to keep them warm. Her breath floated in a little cloud in front of her face, and she and Kevin took turns seeing who could make the biggest cloud.

[00:10:46] Cuddle was on the point of drawing in her next lungful of air, breathing in as long and deep as she possibly could, when Button stepped forwards and tapped her on the shoulder. She watched as he blew his breath out and appeared as a series of perfect little rings that drifted off into the darkness. Harry's glasses slipped down his nose as his eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell open.

[00:11:16] Tammy giggled and kept trying to copy buttons, but couldn't stop herself bursting out laughing, so instead her breath came in lots of little bits of clouds. Try as they might, neither Cuddle nor Kevin could copy what Buttons did. Amazing trick, said Kevin loudly, slapping Buttons on the back. Buttons blushed. Well, in so much as a badger can blush.

[00:11:45] He blew out some more perfect rings and Kevin swung his yo-yo in and out of them. They grinned at each other and high-fived, shuffling forwards in the queue and getting ever closer to the pumpkin and cinnamon muffins. Now, perhaps you remember that there is a lane in the little village of lower starry skies that leads to a gate that leads to Sleepy Forest. At the end of the lane, up a turning that's lined with hedgerows,

[00:12:15] the slumberjack lives with her family. Willow is there now, on the porch, sitting in a rocking chair next to her grandpa. And between them is a huge tub of freshly popped popcorn. They're both leaning back with their feet up on the railings, looking up at the sky above Sleepy Forest and waiting for the firework display to start. That's the rather wonderful thing about fireworks.

[00:12:42] You don't need to be close to get to see them. So, perhaps it won't surprise you to know that further up the lane, Aunt Tilly and Beau are sitting out in Aunt Tilly's garden. This is where the roses bloom year-round, and the pair are sitting in deck chairs piled high with cushions and snuggled under warm blankets. They're surrounded by soft pink roses, and the air is filled with their scent.

[00:13:11] Between them is an upturned plant pot serving as a table, and on the table is a tray that holds chocolate and honey biscuits and a pot of sweet tea, steam winding its way up and out of the spout and off into the world. They, too, are waiting for the fireworks. And not so very far away, Mr. Featherman is cosily installed in his bed.

[00:13:38] He has a window that looks out over the treetops of Sleepy Forest, so he can have the luxury of staying tucked up in bed while he watches the display. He now lives in the company of two huge fluffy cats, and they're curled up on the end of his bed. The one called Monster keeping Mr. Featherman's left foot extra warm, and the one called Wally keeping Mr. Featherman's right foot extra toasty.

[00:14:08] Mr. Featherman is eating his fourth round of cheese on toast while he sits in bed, something he doesn't usually do, but he makes an exception for the annual Sleepy Forest fireworks display. It is, after all, rather wonderful. It also gives him an excuse to keep away from the garden for the evening, which gives the good luck gnomes who live out there a chance to enjoy the fireworks, too. They've all left their posts,

[00:14:37] put down their wheelbarrows and fishing rods and what have you, and are standing together in the patch of late autumn pansies. This is, for them, the finest viewing spot. I won't name them all, but you know who they are. Uma of the Dimple Dumpling and Mr. Time Love of Rise and Chime. All of lower starry skies are curled up cosy and warm somewhere, waiting to see the fireworks display.

[00:15:07] Everyone knows this year is going to be extra wonderful because there isn't a cloud in the sky, and there's nothing to stop every gold and red and blue and green spark from being seen as the colours light up the world. Cuddle and her friends are now armed with their muffins, and they're once more in a line holding hands with Harry at one end and Kevin at the other.

[00:15:36] They wait at the tree stump until an owl appears and gestures with his wing for them to follow. They wind their way between the picnic blankets already in place, heading towards a spot right by the lake. They aren't sure how they're quite so lucky to be getting front row seats, and when they ask the owl, he just shrugs his wings

[00:16:02] and hurries back to the tree stump to guide the next group to a suitable spot. The big picnic blanket is spread on the ground and everyone settles down. Kevin solemnly hands out the extra hats and they all accept gratefully. The evening is getting colder and colder, and everyone burrows down into their heavy coats. Scarves are inched further up their faces,

[00:16:32] so only the tips of their noses emerge. Cuddle snuggles against her hot water bottle. Coco and Kira wave to the group from their little rowing boat. Hello, new badger, calls out Coco. Buttons, of course, doesn't hear him, his headphones very much firmly in place in anticipation of the loud bangs of the fireworks.

[00:16:57] But Cuddle nudges him and points towards Coco and calls back. He's caught Buttons, and he blows the most amazing rings with his breath. Coco turns to Kira. He does what? Coco asks. Kira shrugs. She doesn't think she can have heard properly either. They both smile and wave, and call out, Hi there, Buttons.

[00:17:25] Buttons turns to Cuddle to ask what is going on, and she mimes lifting off the headphones for a moment. He pauses, and then lifts the one off his left ear. Show Coco and Kira the rings you can blow, she says with a smile. And Buttons untucks his mouth from his scarf and sends a perfect stream of rings out towards the little rowing boat. He gets a round of applause from them

[00:17:54] and cheerful waves before they row off to see who else they know along the lake shore. With all the muffins, the air smells of cinnamon. Tammy pulls out the green flask and five mugs, passing them one by one down the line. She pours thick, rich, creamy hot chocolate into each of the mugs, and then counts out five tiny white marshmallows each, and three pink ones each.

[00:18:24] And to finish it off, she places a final tiny wafer of chocolate on top of the marshmallows, so it melts all over them with the heat. Tammy and Harry, Buttons, Cuddle and Kevin, all sit there in a line, sipping the hot chocolate and slurping up the marshmallows, rolling their sweet softness around and around on their tongues. They each have their way of eating the pumpkin and cinnamon muffins,

[00:18:55] some of them scooping up all the buttercream first, and others trying to make it so each bite of muffin comes with a dab of buttercream too. Cuddle forgot about the applesauce inside, and it dribbles down her chin when she bites into it. She desperately tries to lick it with her tongue, then has to reach for her hand, forgetting the big pink mittens she has in place, and instead getting them covered in the sauce.

[00:19:25] Everything becomes terribly sticky and messy for a moment, before she decides it doesn't matter that much. It really does, and the mess on her mittens drives her mad, but she's trying to convince herself it doesn't. Fritz the little frog hops across lily pads on the lake, a box of toffee apples hanging around his neck. Kevin waves to him, and Fritz bounces over,

[00:19:54] handing out a toffee apple each. It makes Cuddle's mittens even messier than they already were, and she screws up her little face to concentrate on not getting anything else sticky on them, but it's hopeless. A huge mound of candy floss glides towards them through the crowds, and it seems for a moment as if it's a cloud floating completely by itself.

[00:20:23] That is, until the candy floss stops in front of them, and Cuddle can just about make out Winnie the warthog from Heavenly Hats. She has created herself her giant hat of candy floss. And then there comes Patrick the peacock, hurrying along in Winnie's wake, armed with a bundle of sticks and scooping great sweeps of the candy floss with an expert flick of his beak. They all get one of these too,

[00:20:53] so now Cuddle's mittens are covered in the buttercream and bits of hot chocolate and applesauce and sticky toffee and melting candy floss. And finally she can stand it no longer and has to take the mittens off. Buttons lent into her. You should have said that they were bothering you, he says softly. Here, take my spare gloves.

[00:21:21] I never leave the house without a spare. After all, he says with a meaningful look at the very sticky mittens, now sitting on the frosty grass next to the rug. After all, you just never know what might happen, do you? Cuddle bursts out laughing and gratefully squeezes her hands into the new gloves. From nowhere comes the sound of a bugle

[00:21:51] calling long and low across the lake. A hush descends on the group. The rowing boats stop moving and everyone stops talking and chattering. The bugle is the sign that the fireworks will shortly begin. This, this is the moment they've been waiting for. The call of the bugle drifts off into the night,

[00:22:20] reaching the ears of Willow the slumberjack. She stops rocking her chair and puts her feet on the ground, leaning forwards with her chin resting in her hands as she looks out towards the trees of sleepy forest. Aunt Tilly and Bo sit up a little in their deck chairs. Bo keeps his eyes on the tree line as he takes a final sip of the sweet tea.

[00:22:49] Then, eyes forwards, he reaches out to put the cup back onto the tray that rests on the upturned plant pot. Aunt Tilly pauses her knitting. Mr. Featherman plumps up his pillows and sits a little more upright in bed. He reaches out and turns off the bedside light so he can be sure of getting the best possible view of the fireworks.

[00:23:17] Monster and Wally shift slightly in their sleep but stay where they are, keeping his feet extra warm. Outside in the pansy patch, the good luck gnomes hop from one foot to the other, craning their necks to get to be the first who sees a firework. The sound of the bugle reaches to Uma of the Dimple Dumpling and Mr. Time Love of Rise and Chime and when the bugle stops,

[00:23:46] you could hear a pin drop in lower starry skies. Everyone is poised, their life paused, eyes fixed on the silhouette of the trees that are dark against a sky lit up by the sparkles of a thousand stars. Cuddle realises she's holding her breath and reaches out to Kevin. He takes her hand

[00:24:13] and they glance quickly at each other and smile, then turn back towards the trees. A shiver of excitement runs down Cuddle's back and then the fireworks start. There is a huge spray of gold that dances across the entire sky, golden droplets falling, it seems, across the entire world and then another spray explodes even higher in the sky,

[00:24:43] this time silver and another and another and it feels as if the whole world is wrapped in light as the fireworks shine in the sky and dance as a reflection in the perfectly still lake. Each new explosion is met by an ooh or an ah from all the creatures.

[00:25:12] Cuddle glances across at her friends and sees the fireworks reflected in Harry's glasses too and then she sees Buttons, his hands clasped to his headphones and she leans over and taps him on the shoulder. Buttons looks to her and she gives him a thumbs up then mimes removing the headphones. She should have told him, she realises, that the fireworks

[00:25:41] they use in Sleepy Forest make no sound because of course there are creatures who are asleep at this time of night and creatures who don't want to hear loud bangs and Buttons, a confused look on his face decides to trust Cuddle and slowly so slowly remove his headphones. He feels in that moment as if the fireworks display

[00:26:11] is just for him as if someone has created a show of light and colour made perfectly for his senses. He pulls his knees up to his chest and hugs them wrapped up in himself with his head thrown back and looking back at the colours in the sky. There are red sparkles this way and blue sparkles that way and sparkles that whirl and twirl

[00:26:40] and others that weave their way higher, higher, higher in the sky before launching themselves to all corners of the earth. and then the really incredible things start to show because the fireworks are sent up so they explode to form a huge red heart in the sky that drifts slowly, slowly down towards the lake. It seems

[00:27:09] as if it may wrap itself around Coco and Kira's rowing boat it comes so low and then letters start to form one by one so everyone reads an L then an O and a V and finally an E and the golden letters fall gently through the sky the word love settling above sleepy forest for moments

[00:27:39] that feel like minutes. Willow the slumberjack goes and sits on her grandpa's knee snuggling her head under his chin as she tells him she loves him and Aunt Tilly reaches across and brushes Bo's hair from his eyes kissing him gently on the forehead as she tells him she loves him. Mr. Featherman alone in his room leans forwards

[00:28:09] and strokes both Monster and Wally whispering that he loves his fluffy furry friends. The good luck gnomes say one by one in a ripple effect that spreads through the pansy patch I love you all I love you all I love you all The final fireworks of the night form one last word in the sky

[00:28:39] it is one that cuddles remembers as she climbs into bed and pulls the blankets up to her chin and snuggles her head down into the pillow she curls up and thinks about sitting there by the lake and about the sticky mitten that is now soaking in the sink downstairs and the gloves she borrowed from Buttons her lovely new friend peace

[00:29:08] was the word that lit up the sky peace was the thought that sat in everyone's hearts as they went to bed in sleepy forest that night and of course in lower starry skies too and so cuddle fell into cinnamon scented dreams where an owl guided her out across a lake and then up up over the trees

[00:29:37] up above the silhouette that sat against the skyline up towards the stars where she watched them turn and twinkle in perfect silence in the perfect still of the sky in perfect gentle peace to have be to to