In tonight’s bedtime story for kids, we meet a little girl named Leilani and her big brother Kalei on a trip to the butterfly garden, where Leilani overhears a flutter of butterflies chatting about what they're called in their home countries. Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Jane Thomas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Coco Sleep, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:19
Speaker 1: a dream. Hmm, what's in a name? There's so much
00:00:26
Speaker 1: more meaningful than just words, aren't they? We tend to
00:00:30
Speaker 1: only name precious people and pets or important toys than
00:00:35
Speaker 1: objects we hold deer. Tonight's story is all about butterflies
00:00:39
Speaker 1: and how they got their names. But first I want
00:00:43
Speaker 1: to read out my special list of names that Coco
00:00:45
Speaker 1: has just given me to welcome our newest members of
00:00:48
Speaker 1: the Coco Club. Hello, and welcome to Kian, Ellie, Piper, Cohen, Sophie, Nathan, Elliott, Matteo, Malia, Charlie, Kay,
00:01:04
Speaker 1: Will Addison and Jackson. We hope you all enjoyed the
00:01:09
Speaker 1: extra bonus episodes and hours of ad free listening coming away,
00:01:14
Speaker 1: But a lovely list of names. But back to tonight's story,
00:01:18
Speaker 1: where we're going to join a little girl named Lelani
00:01:21
Speaker 1: who's waiting for her wonderful big brother to collect her
00:01:24
Speaker 1: from school to take her on her weekly trip to
00:01:27
Speaker 1: the butterfly Garden. This particular evening, she overhears an interesting
00:01:32
Speaker 1: conversation between some of the butterflies discussing what they were
00:01:37
Speaker 1: called in their home countries and why we're soon headed
00:01:42
Speaker 1: to a butterfly garden. But first, lie back and relax
00:01:46
Speaker 1: with your eyes gently closed and breathing steady. See if
00:01:51
Speaker 1: you can imagine silent, fluttering butterfly wings, fleeting flaps of colors,
00:01:58
Speaker 1: and all shapes and sizes of flowers and plants. This
00:02:04
Speaker 1: is how the butterfly got its name. By Jane Thomas
00:02:16
Speaker 1: Leylani found it almost impossible to go to sleep on
00:02:20
Speaker 1: Wednesday evening because Wednesday evening, you see, comes right before
00:02:26
Speaker 1: Thursday morning. And Thursdays are Leilanie's favorite day by far.
00:02:33
Speaker 1: Everyone else she knew like weekends the best, and they
00:02:37
Speaker 1: all couldn't wait for the week to tumble by so
00:02:40
Speaker 1: they could wrap themselves up in long Saturdays and Sundays,
00:02:44
Speaker 1: staying in bed that little bit longer in the morning
00:02:47
Speaker 1: and having all that time to do exactly what they wanted.
00:02:51
Speaker 1: But Leilani would like to bet that if they had
00:02:55
Speaker 1: the same Thursdays as her, then Thursdays would be their
00:02:59
Speaker 1: favorite day two for as long as she could remember,
00:03:04
Speaker 1: and even longer than that. Looking at the photographs on
00:03:07
Speaker 1: Grannie's mantelpiece, Leilani had gone to the butterfly House every
00:03:12
Speaker 1: single Thursday. Every Thursday morning, Leilani was told who would
00:03:18
Speaker 1: pick her up from school that day and whisk her
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Speaker 1: away to the butterfly House. Sometimes it was Granny, sometimes
00:03:26
Speaker 1: it was Auntie Sue, sometimes it was her neighbor Robert,
00:03:31
Speaker 1: and sometimes it was her big brother, Calais. Lelanie's big
00:03:36
Speaker 1: brother Calais was she thought absolutely wonderful. He would carry
00:03:42
Speaker 1: her high up on his shoulders so her fingers could
00:03:45
Speaker 1: brush against leaves nobody else could reach. He would let
00:03:49
Speaker 1: her stay up at night just a little bit later
00:03:52
Speaker 1: when she went to visit, curled up on the sofa
00:03:56
Speaker 1: with mugs of cocoa and warm hugs while he told
00:03:59
Speaker 1: her stories about all the flowers he knew. Leilani's big brother,
00:04:04
Speaker 1: Klay knew a lot about flowers because he worked for
00:04:08
Speaker 1: one of the biggest gardens in the country, helping create
00:04:12
Speaker 1: displays that one awards year after year. He always said
00:04:18
Speaker 1: there was nothing more relaxing than working with the earth.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: He showed Lelani how to grow flowers from the tiniest seeds,
00:04:28
Speaker 1: keeping them safe and warm on the window sill and
00:04:31
Speaker 1: adding just enough water to the earth so it was
00:04:34
Speaker 1: damp but not dripping, and when the first tiny green
00:04:39
Speaker 1: shoot started to show themselves bright against the brown, she
00:04:44
Speaker 1: would turn the pots this way and that, so they
00:04:47
Speaker 1: never grew sideways towards the warmth of the sun, but
00:04:51
Speaker 1: learned to grow tall and straight. Calais showed her how
00:04:56
Speaker 1: to gently lift the little plants and put them in
00:04:59
Speaker 1: bigger pot, and then to start putting them outside as
00:05:03
Speaker 1: the days became longer than the warmth from the sun grew,
00:05:08
Speaker 1: and he showed her how to bring them inside at
00:05:11
Speaker 1: night to keep them safe and warm against any cold
00:05:14
Speaker 1: or frost. And finally he showed her how to choose
00:05:20
Speaker 1: the perfect spot in the flower bed for each and
00:05:23
Speaker 1: every plant she grew. The ones that would grow taller
00:05:28
Speaker 1: were planted along the back, and the little ones were
00:05:32
Speaker 1: planted along the front, and she tried to learn how
00:05:36
Speaker 1: to match the colors so they would look absolutely perfect.
00:05:41
Speaker 1: Calais loved the different greens of different leaves, and this
00:05:46
Speaker 1: was where his real skill lay. But Leilani was all
00:05:51
Speaker 1: about the flowers, always looking out for new, even prettier
00:05:56
Speaker 1: ones when she was out and about, and then dragging
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Calay to see them and tell her just what they
00:06:03
Speaker 1: were and how she could grow them too. Le'ilanie also
00:06:08
Speaker 1: thought Calay was absolutely wonderful because whenever it was his
00:06:12
Speaker 1: turn to take her to the butterfly House on Thursday,
00:06:16
Speaker 1: he always made sure to take her to the cake
00:06:19
Speaker 1: shop first. Le' Lanie was a little surprised to wake
00:06:25
Speaker 1: up this Thursday morning because she'd been so excited the
00:06:28
Speaker 1: night before. She was sure she wouldn't get any sleep
00:06:31
Speaker 1: at all, But it turned out the bed had been
00:06:35
Speaker 1: so warm and cozy, earned the blankets so snugly, and
00:06:40
Speaker 1: the pillows so soft, that she had fallen asleep. After all.
00:06:46
Speaker 1: She had guessed it would be Calai's turn to take
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Speaker 1: her to the butterfly House because she hadn't seen him
00:06:51
Speaker 1: for weeks and surely it was time. She was absolutely right,
00:06:58
Speaker 1: and all through school Le'ilani thought about the cake and
00:07:02
Speaker 1: the butterflies and being lifted high onto Calais's shoulders. He
00:07:08
Speaker 1: would think that when the bell went and announced it
00:07:11
Speaker 1: was time for everyone to go home, that Le'ilani would
00:07:15
Speaker 1: be the first out of the door. But Le'ilani liked
00:07:19
Speaker 1: to linger and savor this moment. She packed her school
00:07:23
Speaker 1: bag very very slowly, each pencil placed carefully into her
00:07:30
Speaker 1: butterfly covered pencil case, and each book closed with slow
00:07:37
Speaker 1: precision before being lined up just so in her bag.
00:07:43
Speaker 1: While everyone else rushed towards the door, bags being dragged
00:07:47
Speaker 1: behind them and spilling out a tennis shoe here and
00:07:50
Speaker 1: a hairband there, Leilani made sure she straightened her skirt,
00:07:57
Speaker 1: pulled her socks up to just below her knee, checked
00:08:01
Speaker 1: the bow in her hair was absolutely level, and then
00:08:06
Speaker 1: only then did she pick up her backpack and put
00:08:10
Speaker 1: it evenly across both her shoulders. Then she would push
00:08:16
Speaker 1: her chair under her desk, turned to smile at the
00:08:20
Speaker 1: teacher and wish her a lovely evening. Then slowly, solemnly,
00:08:27
Speaker 1: doing her best to stop her beaming grin from breaking
00:08:31
Speaker 1: out across her face, she walked out to the playground
00:08:36
Speaker 1: where Calais would be waiting. Calais knew the game she played,
00:08:41
Speaker 1: and knew she liked to take time over everything, and
00:08:45
Speaker 1: he quietly joined in too. He would stand there with
00:08:50
Speaker 1: his hands in his pockets, smiling as she walked slowly
00:08:54
Speaker 1: across to him, then bending down to take her backpack
00:08:59
Speaker 1: from her shoulder. Hello, le' lani, he said, and Le'lani
00:09:05
Speaker 1: beamed up at him. It was impossible to keep her
00:09:09
Speaker 1: grin trapped inside. Well, well, well, said Calais slowly. It
00:09:18
Speaker 1: looks like it's my turn this week. I suppose you'll
00:09:24
Speaker 1: be wanting to go to the butterfly house. Le'lani looked
00:09:29
Speaker 1: down at her shoes, taking up her part of the
00:09:33
Speaker 1: game they played. I suppose that might be nice, she said,
00:09:39
Speaker 1: swelling her shoe in the dirt. I mean, only if
00:09:44
Speaker 1: you've got nothing else to do. And I suppose you'll
00:09:50
Speaker 1: want feeding first, said Calais. You'll be wanting some cake.
00:09:57
Speaker 1: It was always at this point in the game that
00:10:00
Speaker 1: Lelani gave up and giggled out loud. And it was
00:10:04
Speaker 1: at this point that Calais let out his gorgeous, glorious
00:10:08
Speaker 1: laugh and scooped Lelani up with one hand and tucked
00:10:12
Speaker 1: her under his arm, walking her towards the gleaming red
00:10:16
Speaker 1: car parked just a few strides away. Lelanni loved going
00:10:22
Speaker 1: in Calai's car. He always played music that no one
00:10:26
Speaker 1: else ever played, and he always made up funny dance
00:10:30
Speaker 1: moves and journeys in the car took no time at all.
00:10:34
Speaker 1: When she was with Calais. She sometimes wished she could
00:10:38
Speaker 1: spend a whole day in the car with her wonderful
00:10:41
Speaker 1: big brother, dancing to music and driving along the lanes,
00:10:45
Speaker 1: with the wind in her hair and the smell of
00:10:48
Speaker 1: a thousand flowers floating in the air. The kate shop
00:10:54
Speaker 1: they always visited was a beautiful little tea room set
00:10:58
Speaker 1: beside a stream. In the summer, they sat outside on
00:11:03
Speaker 1: little blue chairs and tables, throwing crumbs of banana bread
00:11:08
Speaker 1: and pineapple upside down cake and soft nilla sponge, daring
00:11:13
Speaker 1: the sparrows to come closer and closer until they were
00:11:17
Speaker 1: almost eating right out of her hand. To day, Lilani
00:11:23
Speaker 1: chose a huge slice of delicious, zingy lemon merangue pie.
00:11:28
Speaker 1: The meringue was so soft it floated on top of
00:11:33
Speaker 1: the sunshine yellow sauce, like a little white cloud. The
00:11:38
Speaker 1: sun was warm and shone brightly over them, and if
00:11:42
Speaker 1: it hadn't been for the leaves on the trees waving
00:11:46
Speaker 1: gently in the breeze above them, it might have almost
00:11:50
Speaker 1: been too warm. Calais looked longingly at the weeping willows
00:11:55
Speaker 1: that poured themselves over the little stream. They must be
00:12:00
Speaker 1: over fifty years old, he'd once told le'lani, and he
00:12:05
Speaker 1: couldn't imagine waiting fifty years for the ones he had
00:12:09
Speaker 1: planted to get as glorious. But that was the thing
00:12:14
Speaker 1: about gardening, he explained. You needed patience, and you needed
00:12:21
Speaker 1: to be able to imagine just what something would be
00:12:24
Speaker 1: like in five and ten and fifty years time, and
00:12:31
Speaker 1: you needed to fill in the spaces with flowers that
00:12:34
Speaker 1: didn't mind being moved on as others grew bigger and
00:12:38
Speaker 1: spread their branches further and wider than ever before. Leilani
00:12:44
Speaker 1: loved the weeping willows too, but more because she always
00:12:49
Speaker 1: secretly hoped she would see Ratty appear in his little
00:12:54
Speaker 1: striped jacket, rowing his wooden boat across the waters towards
00:12:59
Speaker 1: a knee sighted mole on the river bank, waiting with
00:13:03
Speaker 1: a picnic basket. It was a beautiful flash of orange
00:13:08
Speaker 1: fringed with black that made her hurry along, eating the
00:13:12
Speaker 1: lemon merangue pie, a monarch butterfly, a reminder of the
00:13:18
Speaker 1: real reason she was sitting here next to Calais, and
00:13:23
Speaker 1: with every last morsel scraped from the plate, Calais pretending
00:13:29
Speaker 1: not to notice as she surreptitiously dragged her finger across
00:13:34
Speaker 1: and licked the final moments of sweet lemon tang. They
00:13:38
Speaker 1: set off hand in hand to the butterfly House. Inside
00:13:44
Speaker 1: it was always so wonderfully warm, a giant green house
00:13:50
Speaker 1: with plants that reached to the highest points, where a
00:13:54
Speaker 1: little stream trickled around the edges. It had been there
00:13:59
Speaker 1: for nearly two hundred years, and le'lani loved imagining all
00:14:04
Speaker 1: the people before who had walked in this same warmth
00:14:08
Speaker 1: and looked out for fluttering, billowing butterflies. Every time Lelani
00:14:14
Speaker 1: visited the butterfly house, she walked around with whoever was
00:14:19
Speaker 1: that Thursday's companion, and together they would look out for
00:14:24
Speaker 1: the butterflies and see who could count the most swallowtails
00:14:28
Speaker 1: and monarchs and skippers and heaths and coppers and painted ladies.
00:14:35
Speaker 1: But today, just as they were going in, Calais bumped
00:14:39
Speaker 1: into a friend of his he hadn't seen for years.
00:14:44
Speaker 1: Calais quite forgot Lelani for a moment, so she stood there,
00:14:49
Speaker 1: trying to look as patient as possible, but secretly terribly
00:14:54
Speaker 1: terribly impatient, waiting for him to take her hand and
00:14:59
Speaker 1: go round with her. Listen, lovely, Lilani Calais said to her,
00:15:06
Speaker 1: for that is what he called her when he was
00:15:08
Speaker 1: being especially sweet. Why don't you go and see if
00:15:12
Speaker 1: you can find a glass winged butterfly? And I'm just
00:15:16
Speaker 1: going to have a chat for a few minutes. For
00:15:19
Speaker 1: a moment, m'laney was a little put out that Calais
00:15:23
Speaker 1: would rather talk to his friend, but then she thought
00:15:27
Speaker 1: how wonderful it would be if she really did find
00:15:30
Speaker 1: a glass winged butterfly. So she smiled at him and
00:15:34
Speaker 1: said she'd see him later, and she trotted off to
00:15:37
Speaker 1: be folded away among the broad leaves of the elephant
00:15:41
Speaker 1: ear plants. Le'lani took herself to the furthest corner of
00:15:48
Speaker 1: the butterfly house, the place where not many people bothered
00:15:52
Speaker 1: to visit, because you really didn't need to go so
00:15:55
Speaker 1: very far at all to be surrounded by and covered
00:15:59
Speaker 1: by beauty to full fluttering butterflies. And she thought she
00:16:04
Speaker 1: was really quite alone until she heard voices coming from
00:16:10
Speaker 1: behind where the banana leaves draped and the bright red
00:16:14
Speaker 1: stem gingers stood importantly in the corner, announcing the very
00:16:19
Speaker 1: edge of the butterfly house. She poked her head past
00:16:24
Speaker 1: the bananas, but couldn't see anybody. Butterflies gathered and rested
00:16:30
Speaker 1: on the long, gently waving leaves, and the voices grew
00:16:35
Speaker 1: louder and louder. It sounded exactly like the chattering in
00:16:41
Speaker 1: a theater before the play started, a sort of mumble
00:16:45
Speaker 1: of shared ideas and excitement, and exactly as it suddenly
00:16:52
Speaker 1: stopped in a theater when the lights dimmed and the
00:16:55
Speaker 1: curtain rose, So the chattering voices stopped when a huge
00:17:02
Speaker 1: green and yellow butterfly appeared and perched atop the bright
00:17:07
Speaker 1: red ginger. All the butterflies looked towards this new one,
00:17:13
Speaker 1: and La Lani swore she heard a gasp from one
00:17:17
Speaker 1: and a squeak of excitement from another. She couldn't believe it,
00:17:23
Speaker 1: because right before her, thousands of miles from its home
00:17:28
Speaker 1: deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, was a
00:17:32
Speaker 1: Queen Alexandria's bird winged butterfly, the largest rarest of them all.
00:17:42
Speaker 1: She was beyond beautiful, her delicate wings emerald and turquoise
00:17:49
Speaker 1: and yellow, all at once in a glorious shimmering stained
00:17:55
Speaker 1: glass window effect, and lit up by the sunshine pouring
00:17:59
Speaker 1: thing through the grass. I called to order this first
00:18:06
Speaker 1: meeting of butterflies. The emerald bird wing announced, and all
00:18:12
Speaker 1: the butterflies, by way of clapping, opened and closed their
00:18:16
Speaker 1: wings in rapid succession, such that for a moment a
00:18:22
Speaker 1: soft breeze was created that pushed Lelani's hair into dancing swirls.
00:18:29
Speaker 1: The bird wing looked as though she was about to continue,
00:18:34
Speaker 1: when a little butterfly in the crowd rose from its
00:18:37
Speaker 1: place on the leaves and cleared its throat. We have
00:18:44
Speaker 1: a problem, he said, in a strong Scottish accent, for
00:18:50
Speaker 1: I am not a butterfly. The crowd gasped and turned
00:18:57
Speaker 1: to look at the creature, and le'lani was very confused
00:19:01
Speaker 1: for a moment, because, whether he wanted to believe it
00:19:04
Speaker 1: or not, he was very obviously a butterfly. He had
00:19:09
Speaker 1: bright flame red wings and delicate orange fringed the edges.
00:19:15
Speaker 1: She wondered for a moment if he could be a moth. Oh,
00:19:21
Speaker 1: said the bird wing, a worried look crossing her face.
00:19:26
Speaker 1: Then what are you, dear fellow? Do you suddenly think
00:19:31
Speaker 1: you're a bird or even a plane? The butterflies laughed nervously,
00:19:40
Speaker 1: but the one with the Scottish accent just sniffed the
00:19:43
Speaker 1: air a little. Where did I come from? I am
00:19:48
Speaker 1: called a jelan jay, he said, I'm not butterfly. I
00:19:54
Speaker 1: am jellan jay, and that means God's fire. Le'lany gasped,
00:20:02
Speaker 1: what a wonderful name for a butterfly. She thought she
00:20:06
Speaker 1: could imagine a whole host of butterflies gathered on a
00:20:10
Speaker 1: bush together, dancing around in the sunlight and looking exactly
00:20:15
Speaker 1: like a little fire made brave by the words of
00:20:20
Speaker 1: the gelan jay. Another butterfly flew up from the leaf,
00:20:25
Speaker 1: and I am a summer fogel, he said, strong and
00:20:30
Speaker 1: clear in your language, that's a summer bird. Even though
00:20:38
Speaker 1: Lelani could visit the butterflies at any time of year
00:20:41
Speaker 1: in the butterfly house, she knew that really they only
00:20:45
Speaker 1: flew in the outside world in the summer time, when
00:20:49
Speaker 1: the sun shone and the weather was warm and the
00:20:51
Speaker 1: flowers opened themselves up. Le'lany thought summer bird was the
00:20:57
Speaker 1: perfect name for a butterfly, and she crossed her fingers
00:21:01
Speaker 1: and wished with everything she had that other butterflies would
00:21:05
Speaker 1: fly up and say their names too. She learned that
00:21:10
Speaker 1: in ancient Greece, a butterfly was called psyche, which meant
00:21:16
Speaker 1: the soul, and she learned that many other countries had
00:21:20
Speaker 1: also named their butterflies after souls, too, which is perhaps
00:21:25
Speaker 1: because butterflies are so beautiful and calming, and when they
00:21:30
Speaker 1: rest on your finger for a moment, it does feel
00:21:34
Speaker 1: like a little piece of magic is with you. A
00:21:38
Speaker 1: Persian butterfly, all purple and gold and very regal looking,
00:21:44
Speaker 1: told the group that in his language he was known
00:21:48
Speaker 1: as a pavani, which meant the same as a guide
00:21:52
Speaker 1: or a leader. Leilani thought about all the time she
00:21:56
Speaker 1: had visited the butterfly house and followed one of them
00:22:00
Speaker 1: from flower to flower, and they really were such easy
00:22:04
Speaker 1: things to follow, until you got quite lost among the
00:22:08
Speaker 1: high leaves, and then they'd lead you out into an
00:22:12
Speaker 1: opening and you'd know exactly where you were. Once again.
00:22:18
Speaker 1: A butterfly with a strong French accent announced that he
00:22:22
Speaker 1: was called a papillon, and that meant the same as
00:22:27
Speaker 1: ancient words for touch and feel. Theylani thought of the
00:22:32
Speaker 1: softness of the butterfly, how delicate and light they are,
00:22:38
Speaker 1: and she understood that word too. Another butterfly said it
00:22:43
Speaker 1: came all the way from a place called Cornwall in
00:22:47
Speaker 1: the far south of England, and it had been given
00:22:51
Speaker 1: a name that meant God's pretty thing. One that had
00:22:55
Speaker 1: come all the way from Eastern Africa said that its
00:22:58
Speaker 1: name in Swahithi meant a fan, and as if to
00:23:03
Speaker 1: prove its point, it came and hovered just in front
00:23:07
Speaker 1: of Lilani's nose, fluttering its wings for all it was worth,
00:23:12
Speaker 1: and creating a gentle breeze, just as a fan would do.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: The bird wing perched up on her red ginger smiled
00:23:22
Speaker 1: down at the other butterflies. When she opened her emerald wings,
00:23:28
Speaker 1: they were so wide they could have spread across both
00:23:31
Speaker 1: of Lilani's hands. She herself had been brought to the
00:23:36
Speaker 1: butterfly house from the far side of the world, and
00:23:40
Speaker 1: she was delighted that here in front of her were
00:23:44
Speaker 1: butterflies from every other corner of the earth, each beautiful
00:23:51
Speaker 1: in their own extraordinary fluttering way, and each given a
00:23:57
Speaker 1: name that shared and honored something of that beauty. L'lani
00:24:04
Speaker 1: hoped she would remember all the names she had heard.
00:24:08
Speaker 1: She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to see the
00:24:12
Speaker 1: words written in her mind's eye. Seeing Mariposa and Farfalla
00:24:19
Speaker 1: and papillon spread out in colored letters, as bright and
00:24:25
Speaker 1: beautiful as the butterflies themselves. She sat in the corner
00:24:30
Speaker 1: of the greenhouse with her eyes shut, and imagined traveling
00:24:36
Speaker 1: to all the places these butterflies came from, and she
00:24:41
Speaker 1: imagined all the flowers that must be in the gardens
00:24:44
Speaker 1: of those countries. She saw herself in an English country garden,
00:24:51
Speaker 1: just as she had seen in her brother's photographs, with
00:24:55
Speaker 1: endless pink roses pouring over little white fences, and delicate
00:25:01
Speaker 1: blue lavender and yellow honeysuckle and purple wisteria draped around doorways.
00:25:09
Speaker 1: And before long Elani was quite asleep, breathing slowly in
00:25:16
Speaker 1: and breathing slowly out a pile of leaves, the softest
00:25:21
Speaker 1: pillow beneath her head. She didn't notice that Calais came
00:25:27
Speaker 1: and scooped her carefully into his arms and held her
00:25:32
Speaker 1: close to him, carrying her back to the car and
00:25:36
Speaker 1: driving slowly home, taking the road that wound along the
00:25:42
Speaker 1: shore line, so the soft sound of waves easing themselves
00:25:49
Speaker 1: back and forth across the sand would be sure to
00:25:54
Speaker 1: keep his little sister safely wrapped up in her dream,
00:26:01
Speaker 1: she turned and smiled as He carried her to bed,
00:26:05
Speaker 1: tucking her in beneath the blanket and wondering what it
00:26:10
Speaker 1: was she might have meant when she mumbled words in
00:26:13
Speaker 1: languages he had never heard, and talked of soft leaves
00:26:19
Speaker 1: fluttering and summer birds. May your dreams come to you
00:26:27
Speaker 1: on the wings of the poo lay laya. He whispered
00:26:32
Speaker 1: softly into her ear, using the Hawaiian word for butterfly
00:26:38
Speaker 1: that he knew to mean blown on the air, and
00:26:42
Speaker 1: Le'lani smiled and snuggled a little further under her blankets
00:26:49
Speaker 1: and whispered back poo lay lay hua and sighed the deepest,
00:26:57
Speaker 1: happiest sigh calay I had ever heard. He wished for
00:27:03
Speaker 1: a lifetime of thursdays of dancing in the car and
00:27:08
Speaker 1: cakes by the stream, and butterflies balanced on the tips
00:27:15
Speaker 1: of noses, and the soft, safe happiness that comes with
00:27:22
Speaker 1: the most wonderful days.