Return to the town in the tower block, where Imogen has been settling in and making friends- tonight, she'll even go to her first tower block party! This bedtime story is designed to help kids sleep.
It’s the night of the Mid-Autumn festival, and she is invited to a party on the rooftop to celebrate, by Mr & Mrs Chan at number 46A. It turns out to be one of the most beautiful and magic nights she has ever, ever, experienced. This bedtime story will help kids sleep, and make their dreams more wonderful.
If you love our Bedtime Story to Help Kids Sleep, please tap subscribe 💜 & leave us a five star review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narrator: Abbe Opher
Author: Jane Thomas
Story Themes: Holidays, China, The Mid-autumn Festival, Moving House, Bedtime Story To Help Kids Sleep
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About Koala Moon 🐨🌕
Koala Moon is the beloved kids podcast that has become a treasured part of bedtime for families around the world. With over 50 million listens, it’s more than just a show, it’s a nightly ritual filled with wonder, calm, and connection.
Each week, host Abbe Opher gently guides listeners through a new bedtime story, combining soothing narration, original storytelling, and tranquil soundscapes that support healthy sleep routines. These aren’t ordinary kids bedtime stories; they're immersive journeys into a cozy world of imagination, designed to help little ones relax, unwind, and fall asleep peacefully.
Inside Sleepy Forest and beyond, you’ll meet familiar friends like Koko the Koala, his adventurous sister Kira, the time-traveling pups Hector and Sunny, and many more. Whether it’s a short tale for busy evenings or a longer weekend wind-down, every episode is crafted to soothe and delight. And with gentle themes woven from nature, kindness, and curiosity, there’s always something new to spark joy. That’s why our bedtime stories for kids continue to be loved by families who rely on them for calm, connection, and consistent bedtime routines.
All of our bedtime stories for kids are written in-house and narrated with love, helping turn bedtime into something families look forward to. You’ll find kids sleep stories that inspire imagination and calm, while also supporting emotional growth and rest.
Need help settling an energetic child? Or looking for a bedtime story that the whole family can enjoy together? Koala Moon delivers a weekly mix of cozy tales, quiet adventure, and familiar characters that make falling asleep feel easy. It’s no wonder so many parents call it their favorite kids podcast for evening calm.
With its unique blend of storytelling and mindfulness, Koala Moon brings a sense of peace into your home, one tale at a time. Every episode includes moments of quiet reflection and even the occasional sleep meditation for kids, gently encouraging little minds to slow down.
So, curl up with a story, snuggle in tight, and join Koko and friends under the magical Koala Moon. These kids bedtime stories are more than entertainment, they’re a soft landing at the end of every day. Sleep tight, and sweet dreams. 🌙
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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
00:00:19
Speaker 1: a dream. Welcome new Cocoa Club crew. Today we're giving
00:00:24
Speaker 1: big welcome hugs out all over the world over to
00:00:27
Speaker 1: you Teller from New York City, Jannie and Ainslie and
00:00:31
Speaker 1: Mum Jade from New Zealand, Maddie who's seven years old,
00:00:35
Speaker 1: Finn who just turned nine, Evelyn or Evelyn from Baker's Hill,
00:00:40
Speaker 1: and Benjamin and Emma from Texas. Wooh, you guys are
00:00:45
Speaker 1: all over the place. It's brilliant. I so appreciate you
00:00:48
Speaker 1: joining up and supporting me, the writers and the production
00:00:51
Speaker 1: team and sleep HQ to make the show better and better.
00:00:55
Speaker 1: As a thanks, you now have loads of bonus stories
00:00:58
Speaker 1: to catch up on, as well as the complete ad
00:01:01
Speaker 1: free experience. I hope you enjoy it. Tonight, we're returning
00:01:05
Speaker 1: to the town in the White House. Well, not the
00:01:09
Speaker 1: White House in Washington, DC, USA, but the tower block
00:01:14
Speaker 1: called the White House that Imogen and her family moved
00:01:17
Speaker 1: into recently. Do you remember. Well. I'm happy to report
00:01:20
Speaker 1: that Imogen or Emmy as we know her, has been
00:01:23
Speaker 1: settling in well and making friends we're joining her on
00:01:28
Speaker 1: the evening of the mid Autumn Festival, and happily she's
00:01:32
Speaker 1: been invited to a party on the rooftop to celebrate
00:01:35
Speaker 1: by mister and missus Chan at number forty six A. Well,
00:01:40
Speaker 1: this night turns out to be one of the most
00:01:43
Speaker 1: beautiful and magic nights she has ever ever experienced. Lie
00:01:50
Speaker 1: back in bed, imagine you're wearing a pair of lucky
00:01:54
Speaker 1: red pajamas, and breathe in and out slowly and steadily,
00:02:00
Speaker 1: close your eyes gently, and snuggle into your mattress as
00:02:04
Speaker 1: I begin. Immy and the Mooncake Festival by Jane Thomas.
00:02:16
Speaker 1: Imogen had been living in the White House for just
00:02:19
Speaker 1: over two months. She sometimes thought back to twenty three
00:02:22
Speaker 1: Buttercup Drive and the garden she would play in, and
00:02:26
Speaker 1: all the huge rooms of the house and the private driveway.
00:02:30
Speaker 1: There might be a moment when she would miss it,
00:02:33
Speaker 1: but just for a moment, because then she would head
00:02:35
Speaker 1: out onto the balcony of the White House and think
00:02:38
Speaker 1: how very, very lucky she was. The White House is
00:02:42
Speaker 1: the first of four towering blocks of apartments, the others
00:02:46
Speaker 1: being the Pink House, the Blue House, and finally the Greenhouse.
00:02:50
Speaker 1: That Imogen was still disappointed wasn't made entirely of glass
00:02:54
Speaker 1: and filled with flowers and butterflies. Imogen and her parents
00:02:59
Speaker 1: live in forty six B. They're almost at the top
00:03:03
Speaker 1: of the tower block, almost but not quite, with just
00:03:08
Speaker 1: four more floors above them. It's now September, and the long,
00:03:13
Speaker 1: sticky nights of the summer are slowly beginning to change.
00:03:18
Speaker 1: The days are a little shorter, the nights come a
00:03:21
Speaker 1: little earlier, and there are cool breezes that sweep through
00:03:25
Speaker 1: the wind chimes that hang from their balcony. For the
00:03:29
Speaker 1: last few weeks, Imagen has watched the farmers in the
00:03:33
Speaker 1: distant fields far far away. They're tractors trundling back and
00:03:38
Speaker 1: forth as they harvest and prepare for the winter months.
00:03:43
Speaker 1: If she sleeps with her window open, the sounds of
00:03:46
Speaker 1: the tractors and the harvesters somehow reach all the way
00:03:49
Speaker 1: to her room, floating across the stillness of the night,
00:03:54
Speaker 1: along with the hoots of owls and the twinkling of starlight.
00:04:00
Speaker 1: On the very first day of moving into the White House,
00:04:03
Speaker 1: Imogen had made a friend, Naya, the tiny lady all
00:04:07
Speaker 1: the way from India, who cooked Imogen curries and cakes
00:04:11
Speaker 1: and puddings bursting with flavors and scents she'd never known before.
00:04:17
Speaker 1: Imogen's father had a new job since they moved home,
00:04:21
Speaker 1: and he now worked late into the night driving people
00:04:24
Speaker 1: from one place to another in his taxi. He would
00:04:28
Speaker 1: tell Imogen all about it when she came home from school,
00:04:32
Speaker 1: and she wasn't quite sure that his stories were entirely true,
00:04:35
Speaker 1: but she loved hearing them anyway. Did frogs really take taxis,
00:04:41
Speaker 1: she wondered? And could a kiss from a beautiful lady
00:04:45
Speaker 1: really transform the frog into a prince? Her father promised
00:04:50
Speaker 1: her so earnestly that it was true, holding up his
00:04:54
Speaker 1: hand and solemnly promising that he had seen it with
00:04:57
Speaker 1: his own eyes, that Imogen almost sort of sometimes believed it.
00:05:05
Speaker 1: And now. Imogen's mother sometimes had to work in evenings,
00:05:09
Speaker 1: disappearing for an hour here and there to help people
00:05:13
Speaker 1: with cleaning and cooking and climbing into their pajamas ready
00:05:17
Speaker 1: for bed. So visiting Nia was something Imogen did more
00:05:21
Speaker 1: and more. I'm so sorry, Nia, her mother would say.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: When the tiny lady opened the marigold covered door to
00:05:30
Speaker 1: forty six Sea, would you mind? She would begin, her
00:05:35
Speaker 1: hands resting lightly on Imogen's shoulders. Nia always smiled and
00:05:42
Speaker 1: ushered Imogen inside, saying that she had secretly hoped this
00:05:46
Speaker 1: would be one of the evenings she visited, as she
00:05:50
Speaker 1: just so happened to have made a particularly delicious batch
00:05:54
Speaker 1: of biscuits and she needed some one to help her
00:05:58
Speaker 1: eat them. Imogen wasn't entirely sure that was completely true, either,
00:06:05
Speaker 1: but she loved listening to Nia's stories, and she was
00:06:09
Speaker 1: learning how to wrap the long reams of beautifully colored
00:06:13
Speaker 1: material about herself to wear as asary. And there always
00:06:18
Speaker 1: did happen to be delicious biscuits on a plate on
00:06:21
Speaker 1: the counter. Of course, Imogen had made other friends too.
00:06:28
Speaker 1: Sometimes she didn't take the elevator and she would walk
00:06:32
Speaker 1: up the forty six flights of stairs to home. She
00:06:36
Speaker 1: loved all the different doors and imagining what was behind them.
00:06:42
Speaker 1: Some floors were almost covered entirely in plants, where the
00:06:47
Speaker 1: four families who lived behind the four doors had got
00:06:51
Speaker 1: together and created little gardens. In the hallway. An artist
00:06:57
Speaker 1: lived on the thirty third floor, and he had murals
00:07:01
Speaker 1: all around the hallway showing elephants lounging in fountains and
00:07:06
Speaker 1: zebras trying on bow ties and whales in waistcoats, watching
00:07:12
Speaker 1: a seal in a shimmering silver ball gown, singing on
00:07:16
Speaker 1: a stage. Many people lived in the White House without
00:07:22
Speaker 1: knowing most of the other people, disappearing behind their doors
00:07:26
Speaker 1: and keeping themselves to themselves. But still everyone knew Imaging.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: They knew her because she hopped, skipped, and jumped her
00:07:37
Speaker 1: way along the staircases, happily humming to herself, and she
00:07:43
Speaker 1: gave the biggest waves and the smiightiest hellos to each
00:07:48
Speaker 1: and every one of them. Sometimes she was with a
00:07:52
Speaker 1: small boy who came over from the pink house next
00:07:55
Speaker 1: door to walk up and down, up and down the
00:07:59
Speaker 1: stone with her, and he would clap his heels together
00:08:03
Speaker 1: and say howdy whenever he met them. He liked to
00:08:08
Speaker 1: wear a cowboy hat and talked endlessly about horses. He'd
00:08:14
Speaker 1: never met a horse. Imogin knew that much, but he
00:08:17
Speaker 1: knew absolutely everything about them. He almost met too. That
00:08:23
Speaker 1: one time. They were both on their balconies, each in
00:08:26
Speaker 1: forty six b in their own buildings and talking to
00:08:29
Speaker 1: each other about what they could see in the park
00:08:32
Speaker 1: far below. Two people had come riding along the very
00:08:37
Speaker 1: edge of the park. One on a black horse and
00:08:40
Speaker 1: one on a dappled gray, and with barely a word
00:08:43
Speaker 1: to their parents, both the small boy and Imagin had
00:08:48
Speaker 1: bolted through their living rooms, out their front doors and
00:08:52
Speaker 1: raced down forty six flights of stairs to get to
00:08:55
Speaker 1: the bottom. Only by the time they reached the park,
00:09:00
Speaker 1: very much out of breath, the horses had long gone,
00:09:04
Speaker 1: and they stood panting by the trees, hands on knees,
00:09:09
Speaker 1: listening to the ducks, whom Imogen would swear were laughing
00:09:13
Speaker 1: at them. Have you ever noticed that ducks often sound
00:09:18
Speaker 1: as if they're having a very good laugh. They must
00:09:21
Speaker 1: be brilliant at telling jokes. The other person Imogen really
00:09:27
Speaker 1: loved spending time with was missus Chan. Missus Chan was
00:09:34
Speaker 1: almost as tiny as nigh. She lived behind door forty
00:09:39
Speaker 1: six A, along with her husband and a ginger cat
00:09:42
Speaker 1: called Mao for ages. Imogen thought this was meant to
00:09:47
Speaker 1: sound a bit like me, how but now she'd learned
00:09:51
Speaker 1: that actually it was just cat. In Chinese, it was
00:09:56
Speaker 1: essentially a cat called cat, and Imogen secretly referred to
00:10:02
Speaker 1: her as missus Snugglewamp because she thought that was a
00:10:06
Speaker 1: far more proper name. But of course, in front of
00:10:09
Speaker 1: mister and missus Chan. She called the cat maw. It
00:10:13
Speaker 1: was only polite. The Chance had lived in forty six
00:10:18
Speaker 1: a for far longer than Imogen had been alive. For years,
00:10:24
Speaker 1: they'd worked in the post office on the far side
00:10:26
Speaker 1: of the park, helping people send packages and parcels all
00:10:31
Speaker 1: over the world and selling them pretty stamps to stick
00:10:35
Speaker 1: on to envelopes and pop into post boxes. Now their
00:10:40
Speaker 1: son and his wife ran the post office, and the
00:10:43
Speaker 1: Chance spent their days watching old movies, watching the news,
00:10:48
Speaker 1: and arguing. Imogen had never known people who could argue
00:10:53
Speaker 1: so much and also enjoy it. Just going to exercise
00:10:59
Speaker 1: my brain, missus Chan would say with a wink to Imogen,
00:11:04
Speaker 1: and then the tiny lady would tap her husband on
00:11:08
Speaker 1: the shoulder and deliberately say something like Augustus Caesar was
00:11:14
Speaker 1: a far better emperor than Julius Caesar, and the equally
00:11:19
Speaker 1: tiny missed Chan would explode off the sofa and throw
00:11:24
Speaker 1: himself into the battle. Imogen had never known people who
00:11:29
Speaker 1: could argue for so long about so many different subjects,
00:11:35
Speaker 1: but she learned an awful lot by listening to them.
00:11:39
Speaker 1: It was always funny when something came up in a
00:11:42
Speaker 1: class at school, and she could immediately raise her hand
00:11:46
Speaker 1: and give two solid sides to the argument, just because
00:11:51
Speaker 1: she had heard what mister and missus Chan had said.
00:11:56
Speaker 1: One of Imogen's teachers, who knew she had moved from
00:11:59
Speaker 1: twenty three Buttercup Drive to forty six B the White House,
00:12:04
Speaker 1: said to Imogen's mother that she had certainly started reading
00:12:09
Speaker 1: a lot since they had changed addresses, and what's Imogen
00:12:14
Speaker 1: getting out and about? Enough. Imogen's mother had no idea
00:12:20
Speaker 1: what she was on about, and it was only when
00:12:23
Speaker 1: she happened to pass the open door of forty six
00:12:26
Speaker 1: A one day and heard the chance really going at
00:12:30
Speaker 1: it about whether the buildings in France were more beautiful
00:12:34
Speaker 1: than those in Italy, with Imogen standing to the side
00:12:37
Speaker 1: and obviously listening in that Imogen's mother realized what was happening.
00:12:44
Speaker 1: Imogen didn't need to read mountains of books to find
00:12:47
Speaker 1: out about the world. She just listened to the people
00:12:51
Speaker 1: around her. Imogen was beyond excited when a small red
00:12:58
Speaker 1: envelope was slipped under the door of forty six B
00:13:01
Speaker 1: one day with her name in glorious gold letters across it.
00:13:07
Speaker 1: She found it when she came home from school and
00:13:10
Speaker 1: she opened it with her mother and father watching across
00:13:13
Speaker 1: the kitchen table. Dear Imagen, she read aloud, My husband
00:13:21
Speaker 1: and I would be delighted if you would join us
00:13:25
Speaker 1: for the mid Autumn Festival tomorrow evening. Of course your
00:13:30
Speaker 1: parents are very welcome too. Meet us on the roof
00:13:35
Speaker 1: at eight o'clock. Very best wishes, missus. Chan. Can I go,
00:13:43
Speaker 1: she asked her mother. Can I can I? Can I?
00:13:48
Speaker 1: She thought for a second and added please. Of course
00:13:54
Speaker 1: her parents agreed, even though none of them had any
00:13:58
Speaker 1: idea what a mid autumn festival involved. Later that day,
00:14:03
Speaker 1: when Imogen was sitting with Nya and working her way
00:14:07
Speaker 1: through a particularly delicious slice of cardamom cake, she discovered
00:14:12
Speaker 1: that Nia had also been invited to join the Chans
00:14:16
Speaker 1: on the rooftop. Nia was a little sad that Billy
00:14:21
Speaker 1: and Sarah from forty six d were still away. They
00:14:25
Speaker 1: had gone off on an adventure the week before Imogen
00:14:28
Speaker 1: had moved in, so Imogen had never met them, but
00:14:31
Speaker 1: she'd heard an awful lot about the couple who worked
00:14:35
Speaker 1: and saved, worked and saved, and then went off on
00:14:39
Speaker 1: trips to the far side of the world for months
00:14:41
Speaker 1: at a time. One day she would meet them and
00:14:46
Speaker 1: get to see behind forty six d Nia explained a
00:14:52
Speaker 1: little about the festival. She said that it happened every
00:14:56
Speaker 1: year some time between September and October, and it was
00:15:01
Speaker 1: on the brightest, fullest full moon of the year. It's
00:15:05
Speaker 1: a festival that's been held for over three thousand years
00:15:09
Speaker 1: all across Asia, and each year mister and missus Chan
00:15:14
Speaker 1: gather people together on the roof of the White House
00:15:17
Speaker 1: to celebrate. Now, Imogen had only been to the roof once.
00:15:23
Speaker 1: It was a strange sort of place that she hadn't
00:15:26
Speaker 1: liked very much, if she was being honest. You had
00:15:30
Speaker 1: to go through a door with a big green exit
00:15:34
Speaker 1: sign above it, and the door always creaked in the
00:15:37
Speaker 1: wind and slammed loudly. The roof was a huge, bare
00:15:44
Speaker 1: flat space, identical to the ones on top of the
00:15:48
Speaker 1: other three tower blocks alongside, at least as far as
00:15:53
Speaker 1: Imogen could see, there were railings all around the edges
00:15:58
Speaker 1: and puddles from the recess rain, and pigeons hung out
00:16:02
Speaker 1: in the corner and gossiped. Imogen thought about the apartment
00:16:08
Speaker 1: the Chans lived in, filled with cozy chairs and endless
00:16:12
Speaker 1: photos of their son and grandchildren, and couldn't understand why
00:16:17
Speaker 1: they would choose to have a party on the rooftop
00:16:20
Speaker 1: rather than cozy and warm inside. On Naya's advice, Imogen
00:16:28
Speaker 1: wore a red dress the next evening. She tied her
00:16:32
Speaker 1: hair up in a red bow and polished her black
00:16:35
Speaker 1: school shoes until she could almost see her face in them.
00:16:40
Speaker 1: Her mother was going too, and when she came out
00:16:43
Speaker 1: of her bedroom wearing a lemon yellow jumper, Imogen pushed
00:16:47
Speaker 1: her back inside and went through her wardrobe until she
00:16:51
Speaker 1: found a long red shirt. Naya says, it's lucky to
00:16:56
Speaker 1: wear red, and I'm not taking any chances, she told
00:17:00
Speaker 1: her mother. They met Nia in the hallway, wrapped up
00:17:05
Speaker 1: in a red sary that sparkled with gold and silver stars,
00:17:10
Speaker 1: and stood waiting at the elevator for one to arrive.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: It felt strange to be going to a party and
00:17:18
Speaker 1: not taking anything, but missus Chan had insisted they'd just
00:17:23
Speaker 1: bring themselves and that would be enough. As the elevator
00:17:29
Speaker 1: doors opened on the very last floor, at the very
00:17:33
Speaker 1: top of the building, Imagenes smelled the incense. On each
00:17:39
Speaker 1: step was a piece of wood, and on them angled
00:17:43
Speaker 1: so the ash would fall onto the wood. Red sticks
00:17:47
Speaker 1: of incense burned. The glowing green exit sign out onto
00:17:53
Speaker 1: the roof had been covered by a string of paper
00:17:56
Speaker 1: lanterns in all the colors of the rainbow. The space
00:18:00
Speaker 1: was somehow enchanting in a way that Imogen could never
00:18:04
Speaker 1: have imagined. Music drifted in from the roof terrace, accompanied
00:18:10
Speaker 1: by the sound of people talking and laughing. Imogen suddenly
00:18:16
Speaker 1: felt terribly shy, but Naya took one of her hands,
00:18:21
Speaker 1: and her mother took the other, and the three of
00:18:24
Speaker 1: them approached the door together. It opened out onto a
00:18:30
Speaker 1: magical scene. Poles had been tied all around the railings,
00:18:36
Speaker 1: and hanging from them were paper lanterns of all colours
00:18:40
Speaker 1: and all shapes and all sizes, moving gently in the
00:18:45
Speaker 1: warm evening breeze. There were small tables here and there,
00:18:51
Speaker 1: all covered in piles of cakes and dishes, filled with
00:18:56
Speaker 1: watermelon and pomegranates and peaches and oranges. In the very
00:19:04
Speaker 1: center of the roofed terrace stood a small temple that
00:19:08
Speaker 1: Imogen recognized from the Chan's apartment. It was about three
00:19:13
Speaker 1: feet high, all red and gold, with a roof that
00:19:18
Speaker 1: had corners that swept up towards the sky. Incense sticks
00:19:25
Speaker 1: were burning all around the temple, and Imogen saw offerings
00:19:30
Speaker 1: of lotus petals and cups of tea piled up beside it.
00:19:37
Speaker 1: Imogen's mother watched, surprised as everyone on the rooftop greeted
00:19:43
Speaker 1: her daughter as an old friend. They were all from
00:19:47
Speaker 1: the White House, all had received the slips of red
00:19:51
Speaker 1: paper beneath their door, and they all came back year
00:19:56
Speaker 1: after year. Mister and missus Chan and stood to one
00:20:01
Speaker 1: side with their son and his wife, each holding one
00:20:05
Speaker 1: of their grandchildren, and they smiled and waved at Imogen
00:20:10
Speaker 1: and beckoned her to join them. Isn't the moon beautiful tonight,
00:20:18
Speaker 1: missus Chan whispered to her, pointing at the sky where
00:20:23
Speaker 1: the moon hung, huge and heavy and more wonderful than
00:20:28
Speaker 1: ever here. She said, have a mooncake. Imogen took the
00:20:36
Speaker 1: little round cake that was passed to her. It was
00:20:40
Speaker 1: filled with a paste made from red beans, and then
00:20:44
Speaker 1: right in the center was a whole egg yolk that
00:20:48
Speaker 1: looked for all the world like a tiny orange moon.
00:20:54
Speaker 1: Then missus Chan guided her across to one of the tables,
00:20:59
Speaker 1: her family following behind, and she made a great ceremony
00:21:04
Speaker 1: of pouring out cups of tea for them all. Now,
00:21:10
Speaker 1: she said, we wait. Imogen wasn't quite sure what she
00:21:17
Speaker 1: was waiting for, but the others seemed happy to stand
00:21:21
Speaker 1: and chat. The two grandchildren were passed from person to person,
00:21:28
Speaker 1: little sleeping bundles wrapped up warmly in blankets. Imogen tried
00:21:35
Speaker 1: to listen to the conversations, but there were so many
00:21:38
Speaker 1: people talking so loudly and so quickly, she found it
00:21:44
Speaker 1: hard to concentrate, so instead she looked up at the
00:21:48
Speaker 1: moon and the stars. The moon seemed to hang low
00:21:55
Speaker 1: and heavy in the sky. The stars were doing their
00:21:59
Speaker 1: best to shine as brightly as possible. Imogen looked across
00:22:06
Speaker 1: and at the far end of the row of tower blocks.
00:22:09
Speaker 1: The rooftop of the greenhouse was also decorated with the
00:22:14
Speaker 1: same colorful paper lanterns that swung to and fro, and
00:22:20
Speaker 1: the space was filled with people spilling laughter out into
00:22:25
Speaker 1: the night. She looked down towards the park and there
00:22:32
Speaker 1: was another group gathered together. Lanterns hung between trees, and
00:22:38
Speaker 1: the white waves of incense drifting into the sky were
00:22:43
Speaker 1: bright against the dark of the shadows. Imogen tried to
00:22:49
Speaker 1: imagine people all around the world gathering together now in
00:22:56
Speaker 1: parks and on rooftops, all of them celebrating the moon,
00:23:02
Speaker 1: all of them surrounded by colorful lanterns, and eating these
00:23:08
Speaker 1: round cakes with the moon tucked away inside, and standing
00:23:14
Speaker 1: by cups filled with tea, and waiting for She wasn't
00:23:19
Speaker 1: quite sure what, but then missus Chan nudged her elbow
00:23:24
Speaker 1: and pointed towards the tea, and Imogen looked at the
00:23:29
Speaker 1: cup and saw how the moon, now perfectly overhead, was
00:23:35
Speaker 1: reflected in the tea. And everyone reached forwards and drank
00:23:41
Speaker 1: the tea and drank the moon. And they clinked their
00:23:46
Speaker 1: tea cups and smiled and wished good fortune and health
00:23:51
Speaker 1: and happiness. And Imogen felt the tea and the moon
00:23:57
Speaker 1: warming her against the chill of the night. Missus Chan
00:24:03
Speaker 1: told her how in years before, they would all have
00:24:07
Speaker 1: been given a lantern, and they would have set them
00:24:10
Speaker 1: off into the sky, so that for miles around you
00:24:15
Speaker 1: could see lanterns released, floating golden lights, drifting off into
00:24:22
Speaker 1: the black of the night. She seemed a little sad
00:24:27
Speaker 1: as she said, no, this could no longer be done,
00:24:31
Speaker 1: But instead she produced a box of little golden bottles
00:24:36
Speaker 1: and handed them around to everyone on the roof and
00:24:39
Speaker 1: Imagen joined the others in standing there, incense swirling around them,
00:24:46
Speaker 1: and the moon smiling down above and blowing streams of silvery, sparkling,
00:24:53
Speaker 1: dancing bubbles into the night. She looked across the greenhouse
00:25:00
Speaker 1: and down to the gathering in the park, and there, too,
00:25:05
Speaker 1: people were blowing bubbles that shone silver in the starlight
00:25:09
Speaker 1: and golden with the moon, and masses and masses, hundreds
00:25:15
Speaker 1: and thousands of bubbles reached up into the sky and
00:25:20
Speaker 1: flew far far away, towards the distant stars. And just
00:25:27
Speaker 1: as Imogen was reaching into her bottle to blow the
00:25:31
Speaker 1: last stream of bubbles, she smiled a familiar smell that
00:25:36
Speaker 1: somehow reached above the incense, and she turned to see
00:25:41
Speaker 1: her father. I wouldn't have missed this for the world,
00:25:47
Speaker 1: he said, Come show me how it's done. So Imogin
00:25:53
Speaker 1: poured out the wand and together they blew into it,
00:25:57
Speaker 1: and more bubbles joined the stream of those that danced
00:26:02
Speaker 1: and flew and drifted. I gave a lift to a
00:26:08
Speaker 1: man who was heading to a middle autumn festival, too,
00:26:12
Speaker 1: Imogen's father explained to her. And he told me it's
00:26:17
Speaker 1: all about family and coming together and completeness well, I
00:26:25
Speaker 1: couldn't let you and your mother have all the fun,
00:26:28
Speaker 1: could I. He then went on to tell another story
00:26:33
Speaker 1: about how the man had stepped from the taxi and
00:26:36
Speaker 1: on to a golden carpet that was whisked away on
00:26:40
Speaker 1: the back of swans high above the trees. And Imogen
00:26:45
Speaker 1: was about to ask, then, why did he need a
00:26:48
Speaker 1: taxi if he could so easily have gone on a
00:26:51
Speaker 1: golden carpet, but she let the story hang in the
00:26:55
Speaker 1: air and add a little more magic to the night.
00:27:01
Speaker 1: So the four of them stood together, Nia and Imogen's
00:27:06
Speaker 1: parents and Imogen in her flowing red dress, and looked
00:27:11
Speaker 1: at the lanterns and the groups of families, and for
00:27:16
Speaker 1: the first time Imogen felt as though she really belonged somewhere.
00:27:23
Speaker 1: The lady from sixteen A gave her a quick hug
00:27:27
Speaker 1: before she disappeared back into the building, and the boy
00:27:31
Speaker 1: from twenty two D, who was in the same class
00:27:35
Speaker 1: at school, gave Imagin a high five as he too
00:27:39
Speaker 1: went downstairs. The couple from thirty one Sea were pulled
00:27:45
Speaker 1: past by their four white poodles that were somehow whiter
00:27:50
Speaker 1: and brighter in the moonlight, calling their farewells to Imagen
00:27:55
Speaker 1: over their shoulders as they were hauled back inside by
00:27:59
Speaker 1: sixteen eager pause. Looking across, Imogen saw the small boy
00:28:08
Speaker 1: who said howdy, was silhouetted against the skyline on the
00:28:13
Speaker 1: roof of the Pink House. She waved at him, and
00:28:18
Speaker 1: he in turn lifted his cowboy hat and saluted her,
00:28:22
Speaker 1: pointing to the moon and giving a double thumbs up,
00:28:27
Speaker 1: before pretending to look at a watch and be horrified
00:28:30
Speaker 1: by the time, and rushing back indoors with a final
00:28:34
Speaker 1: quick wave goodbye. As they stepped out of the lift
00:28:40
Speaker 1: on floor forty six, Missus Snugglewamp wandered over and wound
00:28:45
Speaker 1: her way around Imogen's legs. Because mister and Missus Chan
00:28:51
Speaker 1: were still on the rooftop, Imogen could call her that,
00:28:55
Speaker 1: and the cat purred softly before heading towards the stairs
00:29:01
Speaker 1: and a moon in its stroll in the outside world.
00:29:06
Speaker 1: Imagen climbed into her pajamas and closed the curtains against
00:29:11
Speaker 1: the brightness of the moon and slipped beneath the blankets.
00:29:17
Speaker 1: She remembered the way the moon had reflected perfectly in
00:29:22
Speaker 1: the teacups, and how they had drank the tea and
00:29:27
Speaker 1: the moon, and how there was a moon in the
00:29:30
Speaker 1: center of the cake, and how the lanterns danced in
00:29:36
Speaker 1: the breeze, and how the sky had filled with a
00:29:40
Speaker 1: million bubbles that danced and drifted, And she thought to
00:29:47
Speaker 1: herself how very lucky she was to be living in
00:29:52
Speaker 1: this place and surrounded by these people who shared their
00:29:57
Speaker 1: worlds with her. And as she did every evening, she
00:30:03
Speaker 1: thought again about the door that led to forty six
00:30:08
Speaker 1: B and what she might decorate it with, what she
00:30:13
Speaker 1: might tell the world about herself. Imagen drifted off into
00:30:20
Speaker 1: a dream where she was floating inside a bubble that
00:30:25
Speaker 1: sparkled with starlight and moonbeams, and that drifted alongside the
00:30:33
Speaker 1: brightest stars that told her stories of golden carpets on
00:30:39
Speaker 1: the backs of swans flying far above the highest trees
00:30:46
Speaker 1: in all the landsca