In tonight's bedtime story for kids, we return to Sleepy Forest Airport, where a tortoise named Marshall is preparing the runway and Captain Feathers is training up the newest recruits to become Albatross Airways pilots! Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin.
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The No1 kids bedtime stories & sleep meditations podcast that helps children sleep like a dream. Hosted by the world's biggest fan of bedtime stories, Abbe Opher! All episodes are safe for babies, children and really big kids 0 to 100, so settle down tonight and get sleepy with the world's greatest bedtime stories & sleep meditations for kids.
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Jane Thomas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:20
Speaker 1: a dream. Have any of you ever tried to one
00:00:25
Speaker 1: dive into a swimming pool, or two do the long jump,
00:00:31
Speaker 1: or three perhaps attempt a tricky flip on the trampoline.
00:00:35
Speaker 1: If so, you'll have a good idea of how the
00:00:38
Speaker 1: Albatross is in tonight's story. Are feeling for tonight? We
00:00:42
Speaker 1: have front row seats on the runway at Albatross Airport
00:00:46
Speaker 1: where the newest recruits are learning some essential skills. It
00:00:51
Speaker 1: is a real hoot. So settle down into bed and
00:00:55
Speaker 1: shake off the day. It's time to give your body
00:00:58
Speaker 1: and mind a good rest. Breathe in through your nose
00:01:04
Speaker 1: and then now slowly and do that a few more
00:01:08
Speaker 1: times until you feel like you want to be still
00:01:11
Speaker 1: and listen. Whilst you do that, I'm going to remind
00:01:15
Speaker 1: you that Albatross Airways is based in Sleepy Forest and Coco,
00:01:20
Speaker 1: the Koala Peanut, the armadillo and the tooth fairies are
00:01:24
Speaker 1: all big fans of their impeccable flying skills. Today it's
00:01:29
Speaker 1: a crucial day when the new recruits come in to
00:01:32
Speaker 1: start to learn how to be a pilot for Albatross Airways.
00:01:36
Speaker 1: So if you're ready, snuggle down and let's begin. Captain
00:01:40
Speaker 1: Feathers New Recruits by Jane Thomas. Perhaps you've heard of
00:01:52
Speaker 1: Albatross Airways, the airline that's based in the heart of
00:01:55
Speaker 1: Sleepy Forest. It's where all the animals go when it's
00:01:59
Speaker 1: time to dissaber on holiday, whether that's to the highest,
00:02:03
Speaker 1: snowiest slopes of the mountains or the softest, sandiest beaches
00:02:08
Speaker 1: of the coast. Albatross Airways flies to all corners of
00:02:13
Speaker 1: the world, taking in the greatest cities, the tiniest villages,
00:02:18
Speaker 1: the most remote, duel like gems of islands, and a
00:02:23
Speaker 1: million more places than a single creature can visit in
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Speaker 1: their lifetime. In England, there's a teeny tiny village called
00:02:33
Speaker 1: Great Snoring. It's one of Albatross airways most popular routes,
00:02:38
Speaker 1: along with Eggs and Bacon Bay in Tasmonia, Go Go
00:02:42
Speaker 1: Go in Madagascar, and of course Monkey's Eyebrow in Kentucky.
00:02:47
Speaker 1: It turns out, though, when there's so much world to see,
00:02:50
Speaker 1: it's hard to chew sometimes, so often the animals of
00:02:54
Speaker 1: Sleepy Forests just pick a place name that tickles them
00:02:57
Speaker 1: silly and go.
00:02:58
Speaker 2: There are the.
00:03:00
Speaker 1: Wonderful way of choosing a holiday, don't you think. Marshal
00:03:05
Speaker 1: the Tortoise is heading to his job at Albatross Airways
00:03:08
Speaker 1: this morning. He's always one of the first to arrive,
00:03:12
Speaker 1: leaving home before the sun has peered across the horizon,
00:03:16
Speaker 1: and when the sky is a mass of dark blues
00:03:20
Speaker 1: and glorious purples, and is still dotted with speckles of
00:03:25
Speaker 1: silver stars. Marshall moves slowly through the fields and along
00:03:30
Speaker 1: the paths that lead to the airport, taking his time
00:03:34
Speaker 1: to nod a good morning and a hello to all
00:03:38
Speaker 1: the other animals who are just heading out into the
00:03:41
Speaker 1: new day. And he says sweet dreams to all the
00:03:45
Speaker 1: animals who are disappearing into their dens, the moles and
00:03:48
Speaker 1: badgers and hedgehogs who sleep during the day and head
00:03:52
Speaker 1: out into the world at night. For it's only polite
00:03:56
Speaker 1: to give others the appropriate greeting. Dew still glistens on
00:04:02
Speaker 1: the grass, perfect silver drops that glimmer and shine, And
00:04:08
Speaker 1: as the sun slowly rises and sunbeams stretch across the land,
00:04:14
Speaker 1: those silver drops each suddenly contain.
00:04:18
Speaker 2: A perfect rainbow.
00:04:20
Speaker 1: This magic trick of nature always makes Marshall smile, and
00:04:24
Speaker 1: he keeps an eye out for the spiders webs that
00:04:26
Speaker 1: have appeared overnight, because they will for sure be extraordinary,
00:04:31
Speaker 1: exquisite patterns and shapes dotted with the teeniest rainbows of all.
00:04:38
Speaker 1: Marshall waves cheerfully to the owl behind the information desk. However,
00:04:43
Speaker 1: early Marshal gets up to go to work, however much
00:04:46
Speaker 1: he tries to hurry his way through the fields, the
00:04:50
Speaker 1: owl is always there before him. Marshall secretly thinks she
00:04:55
Speaker 1: never leaves. He trots slowly past the vast hor where
00:05:00
Speaker 1: the flamingo has just arrived and is busy unrolling a
00:05:05
Speaker 1: series of sky blue yoga mats, ready for the arrival
00:05:09
Speaker 1: of the albatrosses who will visit her for their daily
00:05:13
Speaker 1: walmarp session. Marshall tried to join in once, but kept
00:05:18
Speaker 1: finding himself rolling onto his back and needing to be
00:05:21
Speaker 1: rescued by one of the others. So now he leaves
00:05:24
Speaker 1: the complicated wing stretches and neck rolls and leg bends
00:05:28
Speaker 1: to the experts. Marshall's job at the airport is perhaps
00:05:33
Speaker 1: one of the most important. It is a job that
00:05:37
Speaker 1: his family has done for generations. They've passed down their
00:05:41
Speaker 1: skills from father to son, from mother to daughter for
00:05:46
Speaker 1: thousands of years, and it is something tortoises do the
00:05:50
Speaker 1: world over. They first realized they had this particular skill
00:05:54
Speaker 1: over in the Galapagos, a remote clutch of islands that
00:05:58
Speaker 1: drift around in the Pacific oak and where some of
00:06:02
Speaker 1: the strangest, most ancient, most peculiar wildlife lives. That skill
00:06:10
Speaker 1: just happens to be clearing runways. Runways for albatrosses. Just
00:06:17
Speaker 1: like the Galapagus sleepy forest is full of trees and
00:06:21
Speaker 1: flowers and shrubs that like to sprawl about the place.
00:06:26
Speaker 1: Without Marshall and his coworkers' efforts munching and chewing the
00:06:30
Speaker 1: leaves away from the runway, the albatrosses wouldn't be able
00:06:35
Speaker 1: to take off without tripping up on vines and banging
00:06:37
Speaker 1: their wings on the trees. There are very few jobs
00:06:41
Speaker 1: in the world where you are paid to eat your
00:06:44
Speaker 1: favorite foods all day, every day. But Marshall the Tortoise
00:06:49
Speaker 1: has one of them here at the Albatross Airways Airport,
00:06:53
Speaker 1: and there isn't a chance he will give it up
00:06:55
Speaker 1: for anything. Today just so happens to be the day
00:07:00
Speaker 1: when new albatrosses are brought to the airport and for
00:07:04
Speaker 1: the very first time they start learning how to be
00:07:08
Speaker 1: pilots able to fly animals to all corners of the world.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: This is another part of the job that Marshall loves
00:07:17
Speaker 1: because it is so very, very very funny. Albatrosses, you see,
00:07:25
Speaker 1: are famously bad at taking off and landing. Flying is
00:07:30
Speaker 1: not a problem at all, and in fact, they can
00:07:33
Speaker 1: fly for days at a time with their wings spread
00:07:35
Speaker 1: wide and floating high on the air currents. But taking
00:07:40
Speaker 1: off and landing, oh dear. Since taking off and landing
00:07:48
Speaker 1: are both pretty important parts of providing an aeroplane service,
00:07:52
Speaker 1: the training is taken very seriously. Indeed, new recruits are
00:07:58
Speaker 1: brought in once a year. Marshall leads the team in
00:08:01
Speaker 1: creating an entirely separate runway just for their training, in
00:08:06
Speaker 1: order to ensure that the running of the usual airport
00:08:09
Speaker 1: services isn't interrupted at all. For the past few weeks,
00:08:15
Speaker 1: Marshall has overseen the creation of a three hundred meter
00:08:19
Speaker 1: long strip of clear land. Once he had cleared the plants,
00:08:24
Speaker 1: the earth needed to be stamped down as hard as
00:08:27
Speaker 1: possible to make the runway nice and solid, and for
00:08:31
Speaker 1: this they always brought in a team of elephants. The
00:08:35
Speaker 1: elephants slowly pace up and down, their giant feet, sending
00:08:40
Speaker 1: out vibrations into the land around, and for three whole
00:08:45
Speaker 1: days they will walk solemnly up and down the new runway,
00:08:51
Speaker 1: their trunks swinging gently as they go, and giant ears
00:08:56
Speaker 1: flapping the flies away either end of the runway. Marshall
00:09:02
Speaker 1: and his team leave huge troughs filled with bunches of
00:09:06
Speaker 1: bananas and watermelons and papayas and all the sweet treats
00:09:11
Speaker 1: elephants love to eat. And if they're working on particularly
00:09:16
Speaker 1: hot days, he employs groups of monkeys to run alongside
00:09:21
Speaker 1: and throw cooling water over the elephants as they stamp
00:09:25
Speaker 1: and sway, stamp and sway. It is the turn of
00:09:31
Speaker 1: Captain Feathers to guide the new albatrosses this time. And
00:09:36
Speaker 1: here she comes walking out onto the new runway, her
00:09:40
Speaker 1: shiny black pilot's cap in place, carrying out an inspection.
00:09:47
Speaker 1: One loose stone or one mistweed could spell disaster, and
00:09:52
Speaker 1: she walks along, wings behind her back, peering closely at
00:09:58
Speaker 1: the ground. He covers every inch of that runway, big feet,
00:10:04
Speaker 1: padding across the dirt, and Marshall waits, holding his breath
00:10:09
Speaker 1: for her final word of approval. Captain Feathers approaches him
00:10:14
Speaker 1: and issues a salute with her wing.
00:10:17
Speaker 2: Top work, she tells him.
00:10:20
Speaker 1: And then adds with a wink, as always, Marshall, as always,
00:10:26
Speaker 1: and the tatos grins and salutes back. Captain Feathers leans
00:10:32
Speaker 1: back her head and calls loudly the shriek, heading far away,
00:10:38
Speaker 1: up into the clouds, but more importantly, as far as
00:10:42
Speaker 1: the giant hanger, back where the new recruits have been
00:10:45
Speaker 1: limbering up under the watchful eye of the flamingo. Three
00:10:50
Speaker 1: albatrosses emerge, all blushing and giggling and excited, trying to
00:10:57
Speaker 1: march together in time for far to excited to get
00:11:01
Speaker 1: it quite right.
00:11:03
Speaker 2: They have name badges.
00:11:04
Speaker 1: Hanging around their necks, and as always, Marshall picks his
00:11:09
Speaker 1: winner and whispers it to Captain Feathers. Sheila, he says,
00:11:15
Speaker 1: gesturing towards the albatross on the far right, who is
00:11:19
Speaker 1: wandering off to look at a burble flower. She will
00:11:23
Speaker 1: outshine the others. You mark my words. Captain Feathers raises
00:11:31
Speaker 1: an eyebrow and looks at Marshall, thinking to herself he's
00:11:35
Speaker 1: lost his touch. Sheila, she repeats, fine, not on a
00:11:43
Speaker 1: whole letters to you if she's the best, and a
00:11:47
Speaker 1: handful of seed to me if she isn't. It's a deal.
00:11:53
Speaker 1: Marshall potters off to check if the chinchillas need anything.
00:11:58
Speaker 1: They're the baggage experts airport and make sure all luggage
00:12:02
Speaker 1: is safely stowed away on the right albatross at the
00:12:05
Speaker 1: right time, and leaves Captain Feathers to the lesson. Sheila
00:12:10
Speaker 1: and the other two recruits line up at the end
00:12:13
Speaker 1: of the runway. All right, says Captain Feathers. Show me
00:12:20
Speaker 1: what you've got. I want a take off, a clean
00:12:24
Speaker 1: swooping arc in the air, and a landing. The first
00:12:30
Speaker 1: albatross fixes on a point at the far end of
00:12:33
Speaker 1: the runway. He spreads his wings. He starts running on
00:12:38
Speaker 1: the spot and stays there for a moment, and another
00:12:41
Speaker 1: moment and another, before he shuts his eyes and launches
00:12:47
Speaker 1: himself forwards. His great wingtips reach to the very edges
00:12:52
Speaker 1: of the runway and he flaps the giant wings. Ah
00:12:56
Speaker 1: burn down, ah burn down, his legs jumping furiously as
00:13:01
Speaker 1: he builds up speed. He opens his eyes just before
00:13:06
Speaker 1: he crashes unceremoniously into the mango tree, her little puff
00:13:12
Speaker 1: of feathers going.
00:13:13
Speaker 2: Up in the air.
00:13:15
Speaker 1: He walks slowly back to captain feathers, feeling a little
00:13:20
Speaker 1: sorry for himself. Don't worry, she says soothingly. Let me
00:13:28
Speaker 1: guess who closed your eyes, didn't you? The albatross nods sadly,
00:13:35
Speaker 1: picking bits of mango out of his feathers. She tells
00:13:40
Speaker 1: him this is a standard mistake that they all make
00:13:43
Speaker 1: when they first start. And let me tell you, she
00:13:47
Speaker 1: says with a smile, landing in a mango tree is
00:13:52
Speaker 1: a lot more comfortable than the cactus I crashed into.
00:13:56
Speaker 1: That raises a giggle, and the embarrassed Albertras smiles. Maybe
00:14:02
Speaker 1: he'll figure this out after all. The second albatross lines
00:14:08
Speaker 1: up to have her go. She also spreads her wings
00:14:11
Speaker 1: as wide as she can and fixes on a point
00:14:14
Speaker 1: at the far end of the runway. She pumps her
00:14:19
Speaker 1: feet up and down, up and down, and then launches
00:14:24
Speaker 1: herself forwards. She wants to close her eyes for she
00:14:28
Speaker 1: remembers the lesson and fixates on the point ahead, running
00:14:33
Speaker 1: towards it for all she is worth Everything is going
00:14:37
Speaker 1: so very well, until suddenly she's rolling over herself, her
00:14:43
Speaker 1: mad jumble of wings and beak and feet and feathers
00:14:48
Speaker 1: in a giant white ball, charging towards the edge of
00:14:52
Speaker 1: the runway.
00:14:54
Speaker 2: With a huge.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: Splash and a crash, she rolls into a pond, sending
00:15:00
Speaker 1: and water boatmen charging to the sides. She sits up
00:15:05
Speaker 1: and spits out a goldfish, pouring herself out of the
00:15:09
Speaker 1: water and squelching back towards the others. Captain Feathers is
00:15:16
Speaker 1: there waiting for her, with a soft smile upon her face.
00:15:22
Speaker 1: Don't worry, she says, calmly.
00:15:26
Speaker 2: Do you know what happened there?
00:15:30
Speaker 1: You were doing terribly well, but then you forgot to
00:15:34
Speaker 1: lift off, didn't you. Your feathers were going faster than
00:15:38
Speaker 1: your feet. She tells them all that this is another
00:15:43
Speaker 1: standard mistake, and that yes, she too, visited the pond
00:15:49
Speaker 1: on many occasions back in her early days of training.
00:15:55
Speaker 1: There's a babble of activity behind them, and they all
00:15:59
Speaker 1: turn to see a line of animals walking out towards
00:16:03
Speaker 1: a waiting albatross. The chinchillers are working in a long line,
00:16:09
Speaker 1: passing the suitcases and packages from one to the next,
00:16:14
Speaker 1: and then throwing them up to one who waits right
00:16:17
Speaker 1: on the tail of the albatross. He safely stows the bags,
00:16:22
Speaker 1: securing them in place with long looping bungee cords. The
00:16:27
Speaker 1: animals are getting into place on the wings of the albatross,
00:16:31
Speaker 1: strapping themselves into their seats and leaning forwards to pick
00:16:35
Speaker 1: up the leaflets about the in flight service. The three
00:16:40
Speaker 1: training albatrosses watch with wide eyes as two tigadees work
00:16:45
Speaker 1: their way along the rods, tightening a seat out here
00:16:49
Speaker 1: and handing out a blanket there, and then taking seats
00:16:53
Speaker 1: for themselves. In readiness for takeoff, The albatross pops his
00:16:59
Speaker 1: goggle in place and follows the instructions of a rabbit,
00:17:04
Speaker 1: who directs him to the correct place on the runway,
00:17:07
Speaker 1: waving and pointing with two large carrots. Once in place,
00:17:14
Speaker 1: the rabbit hops off and quickly eats the carrots. He'll
00:17:18
Speaker 1: pretend later that he's lost them and needs to get
00:17:21
Speaker 1: another two for the next job. These airport rabbits are
00:17:25
Speaker 1: like that, you know, very cheerful, very good at their job,
00:17:29
Speaker 1: but very very cheeky. The albatross flaps his wings slowly
00:17:36
Speaker 1: and evenly, and starts running down the runway. It almost
00:17:41
Speaker 1: seems as though he isn't going to take off in time,
00:17:44
Speaker 1: but then he gives one mighty flap and swoops up
00:17:49
Speaker 1: into the air, heading towards the puffs of drifting white clouds.
00:17:56
Speaker 1: The trainees watch until he is only a speck, and
00:18:01
Speaker 1: then just like that, he has disappeared into a marshmallow
00:18:06
Speaker 1: cloud to whisk all the animals away on their adventure.
00:18:12
Speaker 1: Captain Feathers turns to her recruits, and that's how it's done,
00:18:19
Speaker 1: she says.
00:18:21
Speaker 2: But even he.
00:18:23
Speaker 1: Started his flying days in the pond, and he knows
00:18:28
Speaker 1: that mango tree better than anyone else here. Don't worry,
00:18:33
Speaker 1: you'll all get there in the end. Okay, Sheila, show
00:18:38
Speaker 1: me what you've got. Marshall moves across so he can
00:18:44
Speaker 1: see the trainee's runway. He settles down with his lunch
00:18:48
Speaker 1: of cucumber sticks and waits to see if he has
00:18:52
Speaker 1: backed the right albatross. He watches as Sheila walks nervously
00:18:57
Speaker 1: to the end of the runway. Sheila looks up and
00:19:01
Speaker 1: finds a distant point to aim for. She stretches out
00:19:06
Speaker 1: her wings first, her left as far as it will go,
00:19:11
Speaker 1: and then her right, as far as that one will go.
00:19:15
Speaker 1: She flexes her legs, she checks her tail feathers. She
00:19:21
Speaker 1: starts a mantra inside her head. I must not close
00:19:26
Speaker 1: my eyes. I must not close my eyes. I must
00:19:31
Speaker 1: not close my eyes, she tells herself. Slowly, she starts
00:19:38
Speaker 1: to flap the great wings up and down, and slowly
00:19:44
Speaker 1: she starts to walk forwards. Then this turns into a jog,
00:19:50
Speaker 1: before finally it is a full on sprint. Her eyes
00:19:55
Speaker 1: are fixated on the final point, and she feels the
00:20:00
Speaker 1: wind rushing against her face. Her wings flap faster and faster,
00:20:07
Speaker 1: and just before she thinks she's going to become a
00:20:11
Speaker 1: giant ball of feathers and wings and beak and feet,
00:20:15
Speaker 1: she launches into the air. She flies for a few meters,
00:20:22
Speaker 1: and then her feet touched the ground again. She paddles quickly,
00:20:26
Speaker 1: pushing off once more from the hard red earth and
00:20:29
Speaker 1: flapping harder and harder, and off she goes once more.
00:20:35
Speaker 1: This time she's made it. She tucks her feet in
00:20:39
Speaker 1: neatly and soars up into the sky, smiling to herself
00:20:45
Speaker 1: and daring to look down on sleepy forest as it
00:20:49
Speaker 1: spreads out beneath her. Sheila lets herself fly for a
00:20:54
Speaker 1: full minute before she tilts her right wing and turns
00:21:00
Speaker 1: in a slow, graceful arc. She swoops back towards the runway,
00:21:07
Speaker 1: lowering her feet just in time. And suddenly she's a
00:21:11
Speaker 1: ball of feathers and wings and beak and feet after all,
00:21:15
Speaker 1: and she's rolling past the others, and there's nothing she
00:21:19
Speaker 1: can do to stop herself barreling into Marshall's shell. Sheila
00:21:25
Speaker 1: looks up, unbelievably embarrassed to see a kindly tortoise smiling
00:21:31
Speaker 1: at her and offering a cucumber stick. So very nearly perfect.
00:21:38
Speaker 1: He says to her, you know, I think you just
00:21:44
Speaker 1: need to tilt those wings of yours a little bit
00:21:47
Speaker 1: as you come into land, get the brakes on earlier,
00:21:51
Speaker 1: and you'll be fine, just fine. Of course he's right,
00:21:58
Speaker 1: and Sheila realizes it a moment he says it. It's
00:22:02
Speaker 1: a perfectly timed lesson, because she turns to see an
00:22:05
Speaker 1: albatross swooping into land, watching how he curves his wings
00:22:11
Speaker 1: to slow his descent. There is no jolting, jarring, awkward landing,
00:22:17
Speaker 1: but a smooth, easy glide towards the ground, the feet
00:22:22
Speaker 1: barely doing any of the work, and the wings doing everything.
00:22:28
Speaker 1: The albatross comes to a halt alongside her, and Sheila
00:22:32
Speaker 1: watches as the rabbit rushes out, grabbing two carrots from
00:22:36
Speaker 1: a pile and shrugging as if to say he has
00:22:40
Speaker 1: no idea where the others went. The rabbit guides the
00:22:44
Speaker 1: albatross slowly forwards to the perfect spot, where a team
00:22:49
Speaker 1: of chinchillas waits to start unloading the luggage. Sheila sees
00:22:55
Speaker 1: sparrows and skylarks, and field mice and koalas and all
00:23:00
Speaker 1: manner of animals comes sliding down the giant wings and
00:23:04
Speaker 1: on to the runway, all of them wearing giant straw
00:23:09
Speaker 1: hats and clutching books and bottles of sunscreen. She hears
00:23:14
Speaker 1: a pair of doves chattering excitedly about how beautiful Mexico
00:23:19
Speaker 1: is at this time of year, and Sheila instantly disappears
00:23:25
Speaker 1: into a day dream filled with golden beeches and Mayan
00:23:30
Speaker 1: ruins buried deep in the jungle, and hopes that one day,
00:23:35
Speaker 1: maybe this could be one of her flying roots. Walking
00:23:41
Speaker 1: back towards Captain Feathers and the others, Sheila is glowing.
00:23:47
Speaker 1: You did very well, says Captain Feathers, Marshal explained to
00:23:52
Speaker 1: you about the wing tilt, didn't he. Sheila nods, and
00:23:56
Speaker 1: the Captain smiles. You could do a lot worse than
00:24:01
Speaker 1: ask Marshall for tips, all of you. He's been around
00:24:05
Speaker 1: here for years and years, probably knows more about flying
00:24:10
Speaker 1: than I do, if truth be told. They'll come back
00:24:14
Speaker 1: tomorrow for another go at, taking off and landing under
00:24:18
Speaker 1: the watchful eye of Captain Feathers, But for now, the
00:24:23
Speaker 1: four of them head back towards the main building. Marshall
00:24:28
Speaker 1: smiles and waves, raising his eyebrows at the albatross in
00:24:33
Speaker 1: the peaked black pilot's cap, who nods and mouths that yes,
00:24:39
Speaker 1: she'll get the lettuce delivered to his home that very evening.
00:24:44
Speaker 1: They pass by the flamingo, who's rolling up the sky
00:24:48
Speaker 1: blue yoga mats and stowing them neatly in the corner
00:24:52
Speaker 1: of the giant hangar. They've all done wonderfully, says Captain Feathers.
00:24:59
Speaker 1: Just one quick visit to the mango tree and another
00:25:03
Speaker 1: to the pond, one encounter with a tortoise's shell.
00:25:08
Speaker 2: Not a bad start at all.
00:25:10
Speaker 1: The flamingo nods in agreement, pink Head bouncing up and down,
00:25:16
Speaker 1: and she high fives each of the three recruits in
00:25:19
Speaker 1: turn as they pass by, pink and white feathers meeting
00:25:24
Speaker 1: in mid air. As the day draws to a close,
00:25:30
Speaker 1: Marshall heads home. A few chinchillas hop on his back.
00:25:35
Speaker 1: He'll drop them off at the night bus stop. On
00:25:38
Speaker 1: his way past. He waves goodbye to the owl at
00:25:42
Speaker 1: the information desk, the one he swears never leaves her post,
00:25:46
Speaker 1: and trundles slowly back along the lanes and through the
00:25:50
Speaker 1: fields that lead him to his home. At one point,
00:25:55
Speaker 1: a shadow looms over his head and he looks up
00:26:00
Speaker 1: Sea Captain feathers flying low in the sky a huge
00:26:04
Speaker 1: lettuce cawed between her feet that she drops gently just
00:26:10
Speaker 1: outside his home. She gives him a wave as she
00:26:14
Speaker 1: sweeps off into the sky, heading to her cozy bed
00:26:18
Speaker 1: in the treehouse she calls home. Marshall opens the blue
00:26:24
Speaker 1: wooden door to his cottage and breathes in the wonderful
00:26:29
Speaker 1: scent of home. He rolls the lettuce into the kitchen
00:26:35
Speaker 1: and peels off a leaf, munching contentedly as he heads
00:26:40
Speaker 1: towards his bed. He climbs the stairs slowly. A sweeping
00:26:46
Speaker 1: spiral of a staircase that leads to his bedroom. Marshall
00:26:51
Speaker 1: climbs into his favorite blue and white striped pajamas and
00:26:56
Speaker 1: tumbles into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin
00:27:01
Speaker 1: and closing his eyes with a happy sigh. To morrow,
00:27:07
Speaker 1: he and his team must head to the northeastern edge
00:27:11
Speaker 1: of the runway. The honeysuckle has started to creep back,
00:27:16
Speaker 1: its long green tendrils and golden sunset colored flowers spilling
00:27:24
Speaker 1: their way on to the earth. It will be the
00:27:28
Speaker 1: day for polishing the floors of the hangar too. When
00:27:32
Speaker 1: he puts one cloth beneath each foot and slides and
00:27:37
Speaker 1: glides slowly from left to right, back and forth across
00:27:43
Speaker 1: the shining wooden space, he knows the floor is finished
00:27:50
Speaker 1: when he can slip from one side to the other
00:27:53
Speaker 1: in a single movement. One of the few times he
00:27:57
Speaker 1: ever feels the wind in his face, and he closes
00:28:01
Speaker 1: his eyes and pretends that he is flying. In his sleep,
00:28:06
Speaker 1: he is flying too. He is on the back of
00:28:10
Speaker 1: a giant albatross, white wings stretched out wide on either
00:28:17
Speaker 1: side of him, moonbeam dancing off the feathers as he
00:28:23
Speaker 1: heads into a sky filled with stars that sparkle and
00:28:28
Speaker 1: shine They are flying far above sleepy forest, far above
00:28:36
Speaker 1: the animals all tucked up in their beds, and heading
00:28:41
Speaker 1: for an adventure in a place he has never known,
00:28:46
Speaker 1: at the other end of the world, known to