Hector & Sunny Visit The Dimple Dumpling Cafe 🐶 ☕️ Bedtime Stories For Kids

[00:00:11] Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime a dream. We are starting off with a big lovely shout outs. We're going to Nate who is in Windsor in Ontario, Canada. We're saying thank you to Nate and also to Aurora and Isabel who are also in Canada but moving to Australia. We've got Owen and Luke who are from the Texas Panhandle.

[00:00:40] And we've got Baxter and Opal King who are in Peterborough in New Hampshire. And finally happy birthday to Arjun who's in Seven Kings and is turning seven today. Now then before we get started on tonight's story, I have a little reminder for you. Something very strange is coming to the Koala Kingdom this October.

[00:01:01] Shadow Baddies is launching exclusively on Koala Shine for Koala Kids Plus subscribers. Koala Shines our daytime story podcast and if you already subscribe to Koala Moon on Apple Podcasts or the Koala Kids Plus bundle on Supercast, you'll be able to listen to these exclusive new episodes as soon as they launch. And if you're not subscribed yet, now's the perfect time to join the adventure.

[00:01:27] With mystery, magic and some very mischievous new baddies. The details are all there in the show notes. Now I am thrilled to say that we are back tonight with Hector and Sunny and they are heading to one of my favourite places. In fact, I wish I could find it on my local high street. It's the Dimple Dumpling Cafe run by the creative baker and supreme storyteller Uma.

[00:01:54] Lately, she's started serving puppuccinos and Hector and Sunny decide it's time to try them. There's just one problem. The magic ingredient has disappeared. With ingredients turning up in all the wrong places, the doggy detective duo set out to uncover who or what is behind this storeroom strangeness. Hey, Koala Kids, it's Kelly here from Koala Shine.

[00:02:22] Did you know that if you're a Koala Kids Plus subscriber through Supercast or Apple Podcasts, you have full ad-free access to every episode of my daytime story show, Koala Shine? That's alongside all your exclusive Koala Moon bedtime stories. And now, there's something brand new coming to Koala Shine. Shadow baddies. Something strange is sweeping across the Koala Kingdom. Shadowy versions of familiar faces are appearing. And they're not quite as cuddly as their Sleepy Forest counterparts.

[00:02:52] They're darker. They're naughtier. And they're causing trouble wherever they go. The characters you know and love are about to be seen in a way you've never seen them before. And stopping the shadow baddies will mean turning to the last person anyone ever expected. Packed with mystery, magic, excitement and cliffhangers, Shadow Baddies is a brand new series with exciting multi-part episodes landing every month. And if you're not yet a subscriber, but you want to follow the story from the start,

[00:03:22] now's the time to join Koala Kids Plus. Tap subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Or follow the link in our show notes to listen through Spotify, Yoto and other podcast players. Shadow Baddies. Coming October 6th. Exclusive to Koala Kids Plus and only on Koala Shine. This is Hector and Sunny Visit the Dimpled Dumpling Cafe by Luke Prendergast.

[00:03:53] It was the cats next door who first told Hector and Sunny about the delicious new item on the menu at the Dimpled Dumpling Cafe. There were two of them. Cats, I mean. Snowy and Ginger were their names. Snowy, as you might expect, had fur as white as snow with ice blue eyes. While Ginger, well, Ginger was orange. The same colour as the leaves on the trees and on the ground that cool autumn evening.

[00:04:22] Which meant that he was quite difficult for Hector and Sunny to spot, sitting up on a branch of the cherry tree in Hector's back garden. They had to squint up. And then they could only really see his amber eyes gleaming like diamonds. What's that you said? Hector called up. You're going to have to come down. We can't quite hear you. We won't fall for that. Snowy called back down.

[00:04:51] You only want us to come down so you can chase us. We know what you pooches are like. Hector and Sunny exchanged a grin. All right, they did only want the cats to come down so they could chase them. But who could blame them? Chasing cats was one of life's pleasures, like digging up bones and solving mysteries.

[00:05:18] And there were few cats more fun to chase than Snowy and Ginger. It was one of their favourite games to play all together. They could chase them around all day. Fine, said Sunny. Just drop down one branch so we can hear you. Have this magical way of moving like water. Not like dogs who are more like elephants in a candy store.

[00:05:45] Or, banging into this and that and causing quite a mess. Snowy and Ginger slipped off their branch and flowed down to the one beneath it. What we were saying, Ginger said, is that Uma's got a new drink on the menu at the Dimple Dumpling Cafe. A puppuccino. Hector raised an eyebrow. A puppuccino? That's nothing new.

[00:06:15] We've had tons of puppuccinos, haven't we, Sunny? We sure have, Heck, she said. Still, both of their mouths started watering a little bit, just at the thought of those delicious pup-sized cups full of delicious whipped cream. Snowy let out a little kitty chuckle. Oh, it's no ordinary puppuccino, she said, licking a paw and daintily grooming one eyebrow.

[00:06:46] Uma's developed a unique recipe with a top-secret mix of spices. Delilah, the cat who lives at the Dimple Dumpling Cafe, says that everyone's calling it the most scrumptious puppuccino on the planet. All of the other cafe owners are desperate to find out what Uma puts in her secret spice mix, but she's keeping it guarded under lock and key.

[00:07:13] Now Hector and Sunny's mouths began to water even more. Uma was the greatest baker in town, perhaps in the whole world. And if she'd invented a secret recipe for a puppuccino, why, it was bound to be spectacular. They just had to have one. You'd better be quick, Ginger purred. Puppuccinos that good are bound to run out.

[00:07:43] Hector's eyes went wide with the thought of not getting his paws on one of Uma's famous puppuccinos. He turned around, went to run for the back garden gate, and instead walked straight into a huge mound of fallen leaves. For a few moments, he disappeared entirely. Then his head popped out of the mound, his tongue lolling out as he tried to spit out little fragments of leaf.

[00:08:12] Up in the tree, Snowy and Ginger fell into a fit of giggles. Someone really needs to clean up all those leaves, Ginger said. Hector grinned. I have to agree, he said. Sunny, put it on the list. Roger that, Sunny said. But right now, there's only one thing at the top of the list. Puppuccinos. Bye, pussycats.

[00:08:41] Hector and Sunny trotted out through the garden gate and through the winding roads of the cosy town where they lived, lower starry skies. Evening was settling in early. The sky was a dark mauve with orange streaks of clouds that looked as though they'd been painted on. The windows of the cottages they passed were lit and through the glass they saw families and friends gathered in the kitchens preparing for dinner.

[00:09:11] As they walked, their breath came out in little cloudy balls, a sign that the freshness of winter wasn't far around the corner. Soon, they reached the cobbled high street with its tumble of familiar village buildings. The library, Mr. Time Love's Rise and Chime clock shop, Miss Dewdrop's sweet shop, and there, at the end, Uma's Dimpled Dumpling Cafe.

[00:09:42] The windows were all steamed up, and when they opened the door, they were met with a warm rush of sweet autumn scents. Pumpkin spiced lattes, and cinnamon buns, and ginger snap biscuits. Cakes and surprises of all shapes and sizes. That was the Dimpled Dumpling's motto. And just then, the owner, Uma, wrapped in a bright red scarf,

[00:10:12] was settling a huge frosted cake on a stand on the counter. Already, a couple of visitors seated snugly in the cafe's cushion-lined nooks and crannies were eyeing this new cake hungrily, weighing up whether they should get a slice. But while the cake looked delicious, Hector and Sunny had something else on their mind. There it was, written in looping writing on the big chalkboard.

[00:10:42] The Dimpled Dumpling's special puppuccino. They padded up to the far end of the counter, where a wise-looking tabby cat lay with her tail hanging down in a curl.

[00:11:04] This was Delilah, who had lived at the Dimpled Dumpling cafe ever since she'd adopted Uma a few years before. She gave Hector and Sunny a wave with her tail and asked them what brought them to the cafe that evening. Were they looking to try one of the nutmeg-spiced pup tarts Uma had baked just the evening before? Or had they come to listen to one of the cafe?

[00:11:40] Delilah, Sunny told the cat. Delilah, Sunny told the cat. Which she told while sitting on a little stool in the middle of the cafe.

[00:12:02] Very pleased to hear that her puppuccino recipe is receiving such sparkling reviews, she said. But I'm sorry to say that we're not able to make any puppuccinos today. Both dog's ears, which had been pointing upward and perky, dropped. What do you mean? Said Hector. Were Snowy and Ginger right? Are we too late?

[00:12:32] Did all of the puppuccinos run out? Oh no, Sunny sighed. We were looking forward to trying them ever so much. I'm sorry, said Delilah. But it's not that we've run out. It's something, well, more mysterious than that. The word mysterious made the dog's ears give a little twitch.

[00:13:01] After all, they liked a mystery almost as much as a puppuccino. What do you mean, mysterious? Sunny asked. And Delilah told them that something rather curious had been happening in Uma's storeroom out back.

[00:13:19] Ingredients that were usually stored neatly in their labelled boxes, pouches or jars were turning up in the wrong containers or disappearing altogether. It was proving to be quite the nightmare. It was no use opening the cinnamon stick box to find sliced courgette when you were hoping to make a new batch of spiced lattes.

[00:13:44] And gummy bears were no use when what you needed was a slab of milky chocolate to bake a new tray of brownies. While some items had been located, there were a number of puppuccino ingredients that they just couldn't find. Including the most crucial ingredient. Uma's puppuccino secret spice mix. The jar was empty. They couldn't find it anywhere.

[00:14:14] Which means that, unfortunately, puppuccinos are off the menu, Delilah said. Until we find the ingredients or solve the mystery of why they're all going missing. Hector and Sunny exchanged a sparkly eyed look. They had just had the same idea. Say, Delilah, Sunny said.

[00:14:44] Would you like us to take a look around the storeroom and see if we can work out what might be going on? After all, they don't call us the doggy detective duo for nothing. Delilah raised a bushy eye. They call you that? She asked. Oh yes. Hector said, nodding enthusiastically. We've solved all kinds of mysteries.

[00:15:12] Like when we helped our friend Eliana the Elephant find her missing straw hat. Or when my human shoes started mysteriously disappearing. And we discovered that they were being taken to a magical world run by dogs who built everything out of shoes. Delilah's eyebrow rose even higher. Built out of shoes? She repeated. How peculiar.

[00:15:41] And rather smelly sounding too. Well, I suppose that dogs will forever be something of a mystery to us cats. But yes, thanks Hector and Sunny. We'd really appreciate it if you could have a look around the storeroom. Any clues you can find to explain the mix up. Well, that would be very helpful indeed.

[00:16:11] Delilah slipped off the counter and padded gently to a wooden door at the very rear of the shop. She nudged it open with her nose. Hector and Sunny followed her in. The storeroom was cool and quiet and looked like your average sort of storeroom. The stairwells lined the walls with jars and containers on them.

[00:16:37] Barrels and buckets of vegetables and flour stood in the corner. Boxes and crates were stacked in teetering towers, full of leafy herbs or stacks of chocolate. But there was some feeling in the air Like if you squinted, the air would shimmer That gave the storeroom a mystical quality But then it had always seemed that there was a fine line

[00:17:06] Between Uma's sweet bakes and drinks And the magical powers of potions Was Uma a simple baker or some kind of magician? No one really knew Delilah lifted the lid of a nearby jar With a label reading Honey But when Hector and Sunny peered inside it Was actually filled with hundreds and hundreds of sunflower seeds

[00:17:34] See, she said It's the same everywhere And look, the top secret spice mix jar Is now completely empty Hmm, sighed Hector Curious Curious indeed And the most curious thing is Sunny added

[00:18:01] It's not as though ingredients are simply being taken They're being moved around So I'm not sure we're dealing with a thief No, I think we're dealing with something altogether more strange The two of them crept slowly around the storeroom Keeping their eyes peeled for any clues

[00:18:28] They put their paws on the shelves to peer behind boxes Sunny sniffed around in the corners To see if she could pick up a scent All at once Hector let out a little yip When Sunny looked up He stood with a little green shoe in his mouth This was in the crate of carrots He said Do you recognize it, Delilah? Delilah shook her head

[00:18:57] It wasn't hers or Uma's And she couldn't think of any visitor to the cafe Who it might belong to either Ever more curious Whispered Hector Just then There came a strange noise From a shelf in the corner of the storeroom A jingling and jangling Hector and Sunny looked at it And a moment later They saw a large ceramic jar on the shelf wobble

[00:19:27] The jingling noise came again It was clear Something was stuck in the jar It might just be a mouse who's been trapped Said Sunny Or a doe that's risen a bit too much And is trying to escape the jar Agreed Hector But they both had that sneaky detective suspicion That they'd stumbled upon an answer to their riddle

[00:19:55] They approached the jiggling jar Gave each other one long encouraging look And lifted off the lid And the most unexpected creature Blinked up out of the jar at them He had big blue eyes Bright pink cheeks And a short curly beard That was as white as snow He wore green trousers And a yellow felt shirt

[00:20:23] With a pointy red hat on his head And on his feet He wore little green shoes Or at least He wore one little green shoe Thanks for letting me out The creature said Clambering out of the jar I thought I was going to be stuck in there forever And Oh, you found my other shoe Thank you kindly He took the shoe Out of Hector's mouth And put it on A little damp

[00:20:53] He said But pretty much as good as new Then He stood beaming at them all They stared at him With their eyes wide What you looking at me like that for? The little fellow asked Well Said Sunny Do you mind us asking What exactly you are And What are you doing in the storeroom? Why

[00:21:22] I'm a gnome Said the gnome The name Is Mossy And Well I wandered in here One evening And I've been stuck in here Ever since Not that I'm complaining Very cosy place This storeroom Much to rearrange And tidy So Is you That's been moving All the ingredients Around? Hector asked Now Mossy blushed

[00:21:52] Well Yes That was me He said But Let me explain Us gnomes Just need To tidy a place up Just like dogs Sometimes Need to dig holes Or chase cats And just like cats Need to Well Purr And there wasn't much To tidy up in here So I guess I got a little Carried away I understand I understand

[00:22:21] Said Hector You're right Dogs do need To dig holes And sometimes My human Gets a little Upset for me When I get Carried away Doing that

[00:23:00] But you see Ingredients In the fridge They put the Butter Back in the fridge They returned The chocolate Chips To their Rightful Box And They retrieved The parsnips From the box Labelled Cookies At last The gnome Opened a Plain Unlabeled Jar There's some Sort of Weird dust Or mix In here He said But I've not Got the Foggiest What it

[00:23:30] Could be Delilah Peeped Into the Jar And then Let out A meow Of delight It's Uma's Top Secret Spice Mix She Announced Now You two Can Finally Have Your Pappuccinos Hector And Sunny Grinned At each Other Pappuccinos Certainly Seemed Like the Best Kind Of Reward For

[00:24:00] Having Solved A Strange Mystery And so Just Five Minutes Later They Were Snuggled Up In a Comfy Corner Of The Dimpled Dumpling Cafe With Their New Gnome Friend Out of The Window The Stars Shimmered In the Sky And Pools Of Golden Light From The Street Lamps Gathered On

[00:24:30] The Jacket Wrapped Tightly Around Them Soon Uma And Delilah Appeared At The Table With A Tray Bearing Two Pup Cucks A Pair Of Puppuccinos Uma Said Which From All Of Delilah's Mewing I Understood Was What Was Wanted She Placed The Two Pup Cucks On The Table Tall Cucks Decorated With A

[00:25:00] Pawprint With Whipped Cream Poking Out Of The Top Hector And Sunny Let Out Little Barks Of Thanks Uma Closed Her Eyes And Nodded Appreciatively Then Wrapped Her Red Scarf Around Her Shoulders And Returned To The Cafe Counter I Wonder Whether These Truly Are The Best Puppuccinos In The World Hector Said

[00:25:28] I Suppose There's Only One Way To Find Out Sunny Added And A Moment Later They'd Both Tucked Their Noses Into The Puppuccinos Oh How Delicious They Were Sweet And Creamy And Unlike Any Puppuccino Either Of Them Had Ever Tasted Uma's Secret Ingredient Truly Was Special

[00:25:57] Being Able To Make A Drink That Tasted That Good Must Mean Uma Had A Bit Of Magic At Least

[00:26:34] In

[00:27:34] Gratitude A Garden To With Flowers And Fallen Leaves To Keep Spick And Spack Hey What You Looking At Me Like That For Mossy Directed This

[00:28:18] Starry Skies Back To Their House There He Stood In The Middle Of The Garden With Its Slightly Bedraggled Looking Flower Beds Its Unkempt Trees And The Huge Piles Of Fallen Autumn Leaves That Just A Couple Of Hours Ago Hector Had Disappeared Into The Gnome Pressed His Little Hands To His Mouth His Bright Pink Cheeks Looked Pinker

[00:28:48] Than Ever Oh He Sighed Perfect He Gazed From Hector To Sunny And Back Again I Mean I'm Allowed To Keep This Place All Spick And Span And Squeaky Clean Clean I Mean Sure Hector Said If That Will Make You

[00:29:18] Happy I'm Sure My Human Won't Mind If The Garden Starts Looking But There Was No Need For Hector To Finish His Sentence Mossy Had Already Wandered Off Down The Garden Muttering To And How He Found The Perfect Space To Mulch Leaves To Use As Compost For The

[00:29:48] New Flowers When Spring Came Around He Was Over The Moon While He Carried Armfuls Of Fallen Leaves Around The Back Garden Hector And Sunny Curled Up On The Grass At The Foot Of The Cherry Tree They Were Tired Yawning And Blinking Their Eyes It Had Been A Long Day And Their Tummies Were Full Of The Warm Deliciousness Of Uma's

[00:30:18] Special Pappuccinos In Fact They Were So Tired That When They Looked Up And Not Snowy And Ginger Both Resting On A Low Branch With Their Tails Hanging Down Low They Just Looked At Each Other And Shrugged They Could Bat At Those Low Hanging Tails But Who Had The Energy Yes That's Right

[00:30:47] Hector And Sunny Were Too Tired To Even Chase The Cats Sunny Laid Her Chin Down On Her Paws And Let Out Another Big Yawn Hector Lay On His Side With His Head Against Sunny's Belly Up Above Them The Stars Twinkled As Though Watching Over Them And Through The Window They Could See Hector's

[00:31:17] Owner Seated Comfortly On His Armchair His Nose In A Book All Of Lower Starry Skies Was At Peace Even Mossy Who Had Found Himself A Now He Was Gazing Around The Garden His Eyes Full Of Plans And Dreams Going To The Dimple Dumpling Cafe Is Always A

[00:31:47] Magical Sort Of Surprise Isn't It Hector Sonny Said Sleepily Hector Nodded It It Sure Is You Go There Thinking You Just Gonna Have A Pappuccino And You End Up Making Friends With A Garden Gnome And Bringing Him Back Home Sonny Chuckled That Pappuccino Was The Best Pappuccino In The World Wasn't It Heck

[00:32:17] She Said Oh Yes Hector Said How Could We Ever Have Doubted It After All It Is Uma's Recipe He Let Out A Big Yawn And Shut His Eyes And He Had A Momentary Vision Of Sonny Padding Around The Cafe With Her Nose Stuck In Her Pop Cup Hey Sonny He Said I've Got An

[00:32:46] Idea What's That Hector Sonny Asked Let's Go Back Tomorrow And Get Another Poppacino Half Asleep Sonny Smiled She Said Good Idea Or At Least She Thought She Had She Might Have Just Dreamed Saying It Beside Her Hector's Breathing Was Getting Long And Slow

[00:33:16] Soon Enough He'd Be Making His Breathing Made Sonny Feel Ever So Safe And Ever So Sleepy Night Hector She Whispered And Closed Her Eyes And Just Like That With The Cats Sleeping In The Tree Above Her And The Autumn Leaves Falling Down

[00:33:45] Around Her Sonny Fell Into