In tonight's bedtime story we'll meet Isla at her new school, in her classroom with Miss Fudge. Some days, Isla feels a bit more nervous than others and today is one of those days. Luckily, Isla has her special toy dragon that she carries in her bag to help her whenever she feels nervous. This really is the perfect children's bedtime story! So settle down, and lets begin.
Upgrade to Koko Club Today! 🔓👑
Remove the ads, enjoy bonus episodes every Wednesday and go Yearly to get a shout out from Abbe!
Start your 7-day free trial now on Spotify, Castbox & more 🤩👉https://kokoclub.supercast.com
Join via Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/joinkokoclubonapple
Follow For More Fun 🥳🪄
Check out our YouTube: @koalamoonfm
Instagram: @koalakids.fm
Tiktok: @koalakids.fm
About Koala Moon 🐨🌕
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.
How are we doing with the show? Let us know ✍️
Upgrade to Koko Club 🔓👑
- Bonus episodes every Wednesday.
- 100% Ad-free listening, for quicker bedtimes.
- Go YEARLY for a shout-out from Abbe.
- Exclusive 12-Hour Compilation episodes.
- The entire back catalogue of 200+ episodes.
- The full series of favourites like Hector & Sunny & Jupiter Twins.
Start your 7-day free trial now 🤩👉 https://kokoclub.supercast.com
Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Elisha Ainsley
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Kuala 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 tree. Tonight's unique and very special little Tale is
00:00:25
Speaker 1: inspired by Islah, a real life little seven year old
00:00:29
Speaker 1: girl who goes to Pohutakawa Preschool in New Zealand. Her mum,
00:00:34
Speaker 1: a teacher, wrote to us a while ago telling us
00:00:37
Speaker 1: that her Isla had donated one of her toys to
00:00:40
Speaker 1: her preschool class, especially for the other children to hold
00:00:44
Speaker 1: or take home if they were feeling like they needed
00:00:46
Speaker 1: some reassurance. Can you guess what animal this little toy is? Well,
00:00:53
Speaker 1: he's part unicorn, but mostly he's a dragon. So tonight
00:00:58
Speaker 1: we will revisit our at her new school in her
00:01:02
Speaker 1: classroom with Miss Fudge. Some days Isla feels a bit
00:01:07
Speaker 1: more nervous than others, and today is one of those days.
00:01:12
Speaker 1: But luckily, Isla has her special toy dragon that she
00:01:16
Speaker 1: carries in her bag to help her whenever she feels nervous.
00:01:21
Speaker 1: So before we start and find out what her special
00:01:24
Speaker 1: dragon helps her with today, I'd like to say a
00:01:28
Speaker 1: huge thank you to Eila, her mum, and to all
00:01:32
Speaker 1: you wonderful listeners for your stories, your character names, and
00:01:36
Speaker 1: your incredible ideas. You inspire us all the time. Now
00:01:43
Speaker 1: lie back and relax with some lovely deep breaths as
00:01:47
Speaker 1: I begin. Eila and the Bravery Dragon by Alicia Ainslie.
00:02:00
Speaker 1: Ila had been attending her new school for almost six
00:02:03
Speaker 1: weeks and the half term holidays were just around the corner.
00:02:07
Speaker 1: She'd made several friends that she played with at break times,
00:02:10
Speaker 1: and she'd got to know everyone in her class. She
00:02:13
Speaker 1: had taken a turn looking after the class pet and
00:02:16
Speaker 1: taking it home for the weekend, and she'd bonded with
00:02:20
Speaker 1: her lovely teacher, Miss Fudge. By all accounts, Isla had
00:02:25
Speaker 1: settled in really well at her new school. She skipped
00:02:28
Speaker 1: into the playground every morning looking forward to the day ahead,
00:02:33
Speaker 1: and she greeted her parents with a smile every afternoon
00:02:36
Speaker 1: when she was collected to go home. Her first parents
00:02:42
Speaker 1: evening had been a positive one, and she'd received wonderful
00:02:45
Speaker 1: words of praise from Miss Fudge. Her parents had been
00:02:49
Speaker 1: so impressed with ELA's report from Miss Fudge that they
00:02:53
Speaker 1: had taken Ela out for dinner to celebrate. They had
00:02:56
Speaker 1: gone to her favorite pizza restaurant and let her get
00:03:00
Speaker 1: a big chocolate fudge Sunday for dessert as a treat.
00:03:05
Speaker 1: Ila's favorite subjects were English and pee. She loved running
00:03:11
Speaker 1: and playing games on the school field, and she really
00:03:15
Speaker 1: enjoyed writing poems. Ela had written a poem all about
00:03:20
Speaker 1: her baby brother Freddie that impressed Misfudge so much that
00:03:24
Speaker 1: she pinned it up on the classroom wall. Elah had
00:03:28
Speaker 1: beamed with pride as she received her gold star sticker
00:03:32
Speaker 1: and watched her classmates read her poem from the war.
00:03:39
Speaker 1: Ila's new best friends were called Charlie, Jadda, and Kara.
00:03:45
Speaker 1: Every break time they would all sit together to eat
00:03:48
Speaker 1: their packed lunches and then head out to the playground
00:03:52
Speaker 1: to play games of Mate Believe, practice their skipping chants,
00:03:56
Speaker 1: and perfect their handstands and cartwheels. One lunchtime, they even
00:04:02
Speaker 1: formed their own girl band and rehearsed several songs and
00:04:06
Speaker 1: dances all lunch long. Things weren't just great at school,
00:04:12
Speaker 1: but Isla also loved her new house. Her mummy and
00:04:16
Speaker 1: daddy had let her paint her room in the lilac
00:04:19
Speaker 1: color she wanted and allowed her to pick out her
00:04:22
Speaker 1: flowery pink bed sheets. Their garden was twice the size
00:04:27
Speaker 1: of the one they had at their old house. Ila
00:04:31
Speaker 1: was very happy in their new town, their new house,
00:04:35
Speaker 1: and her new school. But even though Ila was very
00:04:39
Speaker 1: happy and content, some days she woke up and just
00:04:43
Speaker 1: felt a bit more wobbly than usual. Sometimes, if there
00:04:48
Speaker 1: was something worrying her a little bit, she would become
00:04:51
Speaker 1: quieter and not feel very energetic or in the mood
00:04:55
Speaker 1: to join in with things. Once felt a bit wobbly
00:05:01
Speaker 1: before she had a spelling test that she felt unprepared for.
00:05:05
Speaker 1: There were some tricky words on the list of spellings
00:05:08
Speaker 1: they had to prepare, and Isla wasn't sure that she
00:05:11
Speaker 1: would get all of them right. She had practiced her
00:05:15
Speaker 1: spellings several times with her daddy, but she still didn't
00:05:19
Speaker 1: feel very confident about a couple of the words. When
00:05:24
Speaker 1: the day of the spelling test came around, Eila didn't
00:05:28
Speaker 1: want to go to school. She thought that she would
00:05:31
Speaker 1: spell the words wrong and disappoint her teacher, Miss Fudge.
00:05:36
Speaker 1: With a lot of persuasion, her parents managed to convince
00:05:40
Speaker 1: Eila to go to school. Eyler and her mummy walked
00:05:44
Speaker 1: up to the classroom door, and Miss Fudge could see
00:05:48
Speaker 1: that Eila looked a little worried and was carrying a
00:05:51
Speaker 1: small toy dragon to comfort herself. Good morning, Eila. Miss
00:05:57
Speaker 1: Fudge greeted her in her usual cheering manner. Who is
00:06:02
Speaker 1: this little friend you've bought with you to school today?
00:06:06
Speaker 1: Eila quietly explained that the green toy dragon was called Bravo.
00:06:14
Speaker 1: Bravo made her feel better when she felt sad. Miss
00:06:19
Speaker 1: Fudge looked concerned and asked Elah why she felt sad today.
00:06:25
Speaker 1: Isla admitted that she was nervous about the spelling test.
00:06:30
Speaker 1: She'd tried really hard to practice her spellings, but there
00:06:34
Speaker 1: were some words that she kept getting wrong. She kept
00:06:38
Speaker 1: getting the letters all muddled up. Miss Fudge smiled kindly
00:06:44
Speaker 1: and reassured Eila that it didn't matter if she got
00:06:47
Speaker 1: some other spellings wrong. That's why she came to school.
00:06:51
Speaker 1: She was here to learn. Some things take a little
00:06:55
Speaker 1: longer to learn and get right than others, and that's okay.
00:07:01
Speaker 1: Islah let out a little shy smile and hugged her
00:07:05
Speaker 1: toy dragon closer to her chest for reassurance. Miss Fudge
00:07:11
Speaker 1: noticed how much she was clinging on to the toy
00:07:14
Speaker 1: and asked her if she would like to bring Bravo
00:07:17
Speaker 1: into class to day. He could sit by her while
00:07:21
Speaker 1: she did her spelling test and help her be brave
00:07:25
Speaker 1: even when she wasn't sure of the correct spellings. Isler's
00:07:30
Speaker 1: mommy thought that was a great idea, and so did Elah.
00:07:36
Speaker 1: Isla walked inside the class room with Bravo in her arms,
00:07:41
Speaker 1: hung up her bag on her peg, and prepared to
00:07:44
Speaker 1: take on the day with more optimism. Miss Fudge suggested
00:07:50
Speaker 1: that Isla keep Bravo in her book tray to keep
00:07:53
Speaker 1: him safe, and she could get him out any time
00:07:57
Speaker 1: she felt like she needed his help. When the spelling
00:08:02
Speaker 1: test came around just before break time, Islah felt butterflies
00:08:07
Speaker 1: beginning to flutter in her tummy. She looked at Miss
00:08:11
Speaker 1: Fudge and she caught her eye. Miss Fudge whispered to
00:08:17
Speaker 1: Eilah across the classroom, you can get out your bravery
00:08:22
Speaker 1: dragon if you want. Islah slid out of her chair
00:08:27
Speaker 1: and over to her book tray. She opened it up
00:08:31
Speaker 1: and poured out little Bravo. She placed him on her desk,
00:08:36
Speaker 1: looking right at her, and left him there as she
00:08:39
Speaker 1: took part in the spelling test. Everything was going well,
00:08:45
Speaker 1: and Isla remembered how to spell almost all of the words.
00:08:50
Speaker 1: But when she got to the ninth and tenth words,
00:08:54
Speaker 1: Eila couldn't work out how to spell them. She started
00:08:58
Speaker 1: to get a little frush straighted and her brain felt boggled.
00:09:05
Speaker 1: She was about to give up and throw down her
00:09:08
Speaker 1: pen in exasperation when she looked at Bravo, her bravery dragon,
00:09:13
Speaker 1: sitting on her desk. His beady black eyes gazed back
00:09:19
Speaker 1: at her. Ayolah picked up Bravo and held him to
00:09:24
Speaker 1: her chin. She inhaled his familiar scent, felt his soft,
00:09:31
Speaker 1: fuzzy material, and rustled the beans within his belly between
00:09:36
Speaker 1: her fingers. She took a deep breath in and slowly
00:09:43
Speaker 1: breathed out again. She closed her eyes and breathed in again,
00:09:49
Speaker 1: smelling Bravos comforting aroma, and breathed out. She felt calmer already.
00:10:00
Speaker 1: Ela opened her eyes and looked back at the piece
00:10:04
Speaker 1: of paper in front of her. She took in the
00:10:08
Speaker 1: sight of the last two words she had struggled to
00:10:12
Speaker 1: spell and inspected them. They didn't quite look right, but
00:10:18
Speaker 1: they didn't look too far from the correct spelling either.
00:10:23
Speaker 1: She liked what Miss Fudge had called Bravo a bravery dragon.
00:10:29
Speaker 1: It was a good name because he did make her
00:10:31
Speaker 1: feel better and a bit braver. Elah imagined that she
00:10:38
Speaker 1: was as brave as Bravo and picked up her pen.
00:10:43
Speaker 1: She crossed out the last two words on her list
00:10:46
Speaker 1: and had another go at spelling them out. When she
00:10:51
Speaker 1: was satisfied that she had given it a good go,
00:10:55
Speaker 1: she placed down her pen and waited for Miss Fudge
00:10:59
Speaker 1: to collect her piece of paper. It was break time,
00:11:03
Speaker 1: so Eiler and all her fellow classmates headed out to
00:11:07
Speaker 1: the playground to play. She felt a little bit better
00:11:13
Speaker 1: now that the spelling test was over, and she left
00:11:16
Speaker 1: Bravo behind in her book tray so that she wouldn't
00:11:20
Speaker 1: misplace him outside. During the children's break time, Miss Fudge
00:11:27
Speaker 1: marked everyone's spelling tests, ready to hand out the results
00:11:31
Speaker 1: when they came back to class. Upon her return to
00:11:36
Speaker 1: the classroom, Islah picked Bravo back out from her book
00:11:41
Speaker 1: tray as she waited to receive her spelling test results.
00:11:46
Speaker 1: She wanted to get all of the words right, but
00:11:50
Speaker 1: she had really struggled with the last two words. She
00:11:54
Speaker 1: clutched Bravo the Bravery Dragon tightly as Miss Fudge approached
00:12:00
Speaker 1: her table and took a deep breath in imagining herself
00:12:05
Speaker 1: to be as brave as a dragon. Pretending to be
00:12:10
Speaker 1: brave was proving to be helpful for Ela. She found
00:12:14
Speaker 1: that the more she practiced and pretended, the braver she
00:12:19
Speaker 1: actually felt. Miss Fudge placed Eila's spelling test results on
00:12:26
Speaker 1: her desk and whispered, well done, Iler, great job. Eler
00:12:35
Speaker 1: inspected her test results and was amazed to see that
00:12:40
Speaker 1: she had got nine out of ten spellings right. Taking
00:12:46
Speaker 1: the time to retry spelling the last two words had
00:12:50
Speaker 1: paid off. Iler had got one of the difficult spellings
00:12:54
Speaker 1: right on her second attempt. The word that she had
00:12:58
Speaker 1: misspelled was only a little mistake. She had only put
00:13:02
Speaker 1: one letter l instead of two. It was a simple
00:13:07
Speaker 1: mistake that she could rectify in future. Ila felt so
00:13:13
Speaker 1: much better. The spelling test hadn't gone as badly as
00:13:17
Speaker 1: she had anticipated. She had actually done very well. Ida
00:13:24
Speaker 1: squeezed Bravo, her toy dragon, tightly with thanks for his support,
00:13:30
Speaker 1: and placed him back in her book tray. She didn't
00:13:34
Speaker 1: think she would need his help the rest of the day.
00:13:39
Speaker 1: Ilo was beginning to notice that with Bravo, the Bravery
00:13:43
Speaker 1: Dragon by her side, she could get through almost anything
00:13:48
Speaker 1: that made her nervous. All she had to do was
00:13:53
Speaker 1: imagined she was as brave as a dragon and feel
00:13:57
Speaker 1: it too. Bravo helped Eyla get through several tricky situations.
00:14:05
Speaker 1: One instance was when Ila went to the park and
00:14:08
Speaker 1: fell over, scraping her knee. She had been afraid that
00:14:13
Speaker 1: her mother's anti bacterial wet wipe might sting the cut,
00:14:18
Speaker 1: so she held on to Bravo tightly and closed her eyes.
00:14:24
Speaker 1: To her surprise, the wet wipe didn't hurt at all.
00:14:27
Speaker 1: An Isla's mummy stuck a big plaster over her gray's
00:14:31
Speaker 1: knee and applauded her for being such a brave girl.
00:14:37
Speaker 1: Another time Bravo helped Eyla be brave was when she
00:14:41
Speaker 1: had just started at her new school. She was still
00:14:45
Speaker 1: getting used to her new surroundings and attempting to make
00:14:49
Speaker 1: new friends, but sometimes she could feel a little lonely
00:14:54
Speaker 1: and missed her old school and classmates. One day, when
00:15:01
Speaker 1: she was feeling particularly homesick for her old school, she
00:15:06
Speaker 1: brought Bravo, the toy dragon, out with her at playtime
00:15:10
Speaker 1: to keep her company. Ila watched the other children play
00:15:16
Speaker 1: and run around together while she sat on a bench
00:15:20
Speaker 1: and cuddled Bravo. After a few minutes, Isla was approached
00:15:26
Speaker 1: by a couple of girls from another class who'd spotted
00:15:30
Speaker 1: her across the playground. They started asking her questions about
00:15:36
Speaker 1: her dragon toy and either plucked up the courage to
00:15:41
Speaker 1: return their conversation. After a few minutes, the girls invited
00:15:48
Speaker 1: Eila to play with them, and Isla felt a surge
00:15:52
Speaker 1: of excitement and relief flood through her. She hopped up
00:15:58
Speaker 1: instantly from the bench and followed the girls to the
00:16:02
Speaker 1: other side of the playground with Bravo the dragon in toe.
00:16:08
Speaker 1: But Bravo the Dragon's bravery powers were about to be
00:16:13
Speaker 1: pushed to the limit. Every week, a different class would
00:16:18
Speaker 1: take turns performing a presentation to the rest of the
00:16:21
Speaker 1: students in the school. They would put on a presentation
00:16:26
Speaker 1: all about a topic they had been studying that term.
00:16:31
Speaker 1: This week, Elis class were due to perform in assembly.
00:16:37
Speaker 1: Their presentation, led by Misfudge, was all about the ancient
00:16:42
Speaker 1: Romans they had been studying in history. They had been
00:16:47
Speaker 1: preparing every afternoon all week long. They had all learned
00:16:53
Speaker 1: a song to sing together, complete with memorable actions, and
00:16:58
Speaker 1: everyone had a solo spoken line to say. Ela had
00:17:05
Speaker 1: been practicing her solo line at home with her parents
00:17:09
Speaker 1: and was feeling confident that she knew it well. She
00:17:15
Speaker 1: had practiced saying it in her big, loud voice, just
00:17:20
Speaker 1: like her drama teacher had taught her, and every time
00:17:24
Speaker 1: they practiced their presentation in class, she spoke very well.
00:17:30
Speaker 1: Islah was looking forward to their presentation in the end
00:17:34
Speaker 1: of weak assembly. However, when Friday rolled around, Isla felt
00:17:42
Speaker 1: the butterflies returned to her tummy. Her mummy had styled
00:17:48
Speaker 1: her curly hair into plaits, and she looked very smart
00:17:53
Speaker 1: for the presentation. The warrior's shield she had made in
00:17:57
Speaker 1: class was ready to sh go off in the assembly,
00:18:02
Speaker 1: and when she rehearsed her line, it was still firmly
00:18:06
Speaker 1: in her head. She knew it perfectly. As Isla's mommy
00:18:13
Speaker 1: dropped her off at school, Ilah turned to her and confessed,
00:18:19
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit nervous about speaking in front of
00:18:22
Speaker 1: the whole school in assembly. Isla's mummy promised she would
00:18:29
Speaker 1: be absolutely fine. She had practiced and practiced all week,
00:18:37
Speaker 1: and she knew her line so well that she could
00:18:40
Speaker 1: say it in her sleep. Besides, if she was feeling
00:18:45
Speaker 1: especially nervous, she always had Bravo, the bravery dragon to
00:18:50
Speaker 1: turn to for help. Islah smiled happily and hugged her
00:18:55
Speaker 1: mother goodbye. Then she headed inside her classroom to get
00:19:01
Speaker 1: ready for the presentation. Everyone in her class was so
00:19:07
Speaker 1: excited for the assembly. Everybody's mummy had styled their hair
00:19:13
Speaker 1: especially for the occasion, and everyone's uniform was particularly neat today.
00:19:22
Speaker 1: Miss Fudge ushered them all to line up by the
00:19:25
Speaker 1: classroom door so that they could walk into the hall
00:19:29
Speaker 1: and practice before the assembly began with the whole school.
00:19:34
Speaker 1: Ilah sneakily tucked Bravo the Dragon under her jumper and
00:19:40
Speaker 1: carried him with her into the school hall. They all
00:19:44
Speaker 1: sat down on the benches at the front of the
00:19:47
Speaker 1: hall and Miss Fudge set up the picture slide show
00:19:51
Speaker 1: on the screen behind them. Ailah noticed that her nerves
00:19:56
Speaker 1: felt different today. She was still a little nervous about
00:20:02
Speaker 1: speaking in front of everyone in the school, but she
00:20:06
Speaker 1: felt the butterflies fluttering in her stomach turn into more
00:20:11
Speaker 1: of a buzz, like a buzzy bee vibrating in her belly.
00:20:16
Speaker 1: She actually felt pretty excited. She tapped Bravo the Dragon,
00:20:23
Speaker 1: who was still secretly tucked under her jumper, and felt
00:20:27
Speaker 1: his bravery passing through into her tummy. His magic was
00:20:34
Speaker 1: working already. Miss Fudge allowed them all to practice their
00:20:40
Speaker 1: lines one more time before the other students would start
00:20:44
Speaker 1: filing into the hall for assembly. Everybody spoke their lines
00:20:51
Speaker 1: confidently and proudly, and Miss Fudge said she was pleased
00:20:56
Speaker 1: as punch that they all sounded so brilliant. But Ila
00:21:02
Speaker 1: noticed that there was one person in the class who
00:21:07
Speaker 1: wasn't speaking as loudly as normal, Essie. A boy that
00:21:12
Speaker 1: sat at her table in class had spoken very quietly,
00:21:17
Speaker 1: so quietly that it was almost a whisper. Eila leaned
00:21:23
Speaker 1: forward on her bench and caught Essie's attention. Are you
00:21:29
Speaker 1: all right, Essie, Aila asked him gently. Essie looked at
00:21:35
Speaker 1: Ailah with big, cheerless eyes. Not really, he mumbled, I'm
00:21:43
Speaker 1: feeling very nervous. I keep forgetting my words, and I'm
00:21:49
Speaker 1: worried I'll forget them in front of the whole school.
00:21:54
Speaker 1: Alah smiled encouragingly and replied, you won't forget your lines, Essie.
00:22:02
Speaker 1: Just say them as confidently as you have in all
00:22:06
Speaker 1: our lessons. You've always got them right so far. Isler
00:22:12
Speaker 1: thought Essie could use a dose of confidence, like what
00:22:16
Speaker 1: Eiler got from Bravo her bravery dragon. She placed her
00:22:21
Speaker 1: hand on the beanie toy beneath her jumper and paused,
00:22:27
Speaker 1: maybe Essie needed a bravery dragon more than she did today.
00:22:35
Speaker 1: Isla slipped the toy out from underneath her jumper and
00:22:40
Speaker 1: passed it to Essie. Use my bravery dragon for the assembly,
00:22:47
Speaker 1: Isla suggested, thoughtfully. He's called Bravo, and I use him
00:22:53
Speaker 1: whenever I feel nervous or scared. All you have to
00:22:59
Speaker 1: do is hold him close. When you feel worried, close
00:23:04
Speaker 1: your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine you are
00:23:10
Speaker 1: as brave as a dragon. Then Brapho will give you
00:23:16
Speaker 1: some of his bravery for you to use. Asie took
00:23:22
Speaker 1: the green beanie toy from Eiler and held it carefully
00:23:27
Speaker 1: in his hands. Don't you need it, as he asked
00:23:32
Speaker 1: with confusion. Elah smiled and calmly replied, I don't think
00:23:41
Speaker 1: I need it today. I think I already have a
00:23:45
Speaker 1: lot of bravery within me. Eessie tucked the dragon toy
00:23:51
Speaker 1: under his jumper just like Eila did, and practiced closing
00:23:57
Speaker 1: his eyes, breathing deep, and picturing himself as a brave dragon.
00:24:06
Speaker 1: The hall filled up with all the other students in school,
00:24:11
Speaker 1: and the young audience sat cross legged on the shiny
00:24:16
Speaker 1: wooden floor awaiting Miss Fudge's class presentation. Miss Fudge led
00:24:24
Speaker 1: and directed the children to perform the presentation they had
00:24:28
Speaker 1: been practicing all week. They began with their song and
00:24:34
Speaker 1: then moved onto the lines. One by one, each student
00:24:41
Speaker 1: in the class stood up from the bench and recited
00:24:45
Speaker 1: their solo speeches. They taught the other kids in school
00:24:51
Speaker 1: how they had learned that the ancient Romans were a
00:24:54
Speaker 1: very intelligent civilization who built many impressive roads, some of
00:25:01
Speaker 1: which even still exist today. They also described how the
00:25:07
Speaker 1: Romans enjoyed watching chariot races for fun and gladiator fights
00:25:13
Speaker 1: in a giant arena called the Colosseum. When it was
00:25:19
Speaker 1: ELA's turn to say her line, she stood up tall
00:25:24
Speaker 1: and recited it loudly, clearly, and confidently. Her face was
00:25:32
Speaker 1: glowing with delight as she finished her line, and she
00:25:37
Speaker 1: felt proud of herself for being so brave without the
00:25:42
Speaker 1: help of her Bravery Dragon, maybe she didn't need Bravo
00:25:47
Speaker 1: very much anymore. When it came to Ezsie's turn to speak,
00:25:53
Speaker 1: everybody looked at him expectantly, Isilah could see a zee.
00:26:00
Speaker 1: He sitting with his eyes closed inhaling deeply while clutching
00:26:06
Speaker 1: the toy beneath his jumper. There were a few moments
00:26:12
Speaker 1: of silence as everybody waited for him to speak. Miss
00:26:18
Speaker 1: Fudge whispered as his name to catch his attention, and
00:26:22
Speaker 1: the boy sat next to him nudged him gently to
00:26:26
Speaker 1: remind him to speak. Suddenly, as he stood up and
00:26:33
Speaker 1: opened his eyes, looking out to the back wall of
00:26:37
Speaker 1: the hall, and delivered his line with a roar. He
00:26:42
Speaker 1: spoke so loudly and clearly that everyone was blown away
00:26:49
Speaker 1: by his confident performance. Once his line was over, he
00:26:55
Speaker 1: sat back down on the bench and either saw his
00:26:59
Speaker 1: shots relaxed and his whole body deflate with relief. As
00:27:07
Speaker 1: he sighed and looked at Eilah, who was staring at
00:27:11
Speaker 1: him from down the bench, he grinned and gave her
00:27:16
Speaker 1: two big thumbs up before whispering excitedly. It worked, It worked,
00:27:24
Speaker 1: I can't believe it worked. The class presentation ran perfectly,
00:27:31
Speaker 1: and when they finished, the whole school gave them a
00:27:35
Speaker 1: big round of applause, including a few cheers. Miss Fudge
00:27:41
Speaker 1: led the students back to the classroom and they all
00:27:45
Speaker 1: celebrated a successful assembly together with a tin of cookies
00:27:51
Speaker 1: that Miss Fudge had baked herself. Everyone couldn't stop talking
00:27:58
Speaker 1: about how loud as he had spoken, and Miss Fudge
00:28:03
Speaker 1: gave him a gold star sticker for his terrific performance too.
00:28:09
Speaker 1: Essie was beaming from ear to ear all the rest
00:28:13
Speaker 1: of the morning, and Eiler couldn't wipe the smile from
00:28:18
Speaker 1: her face either. It had been so nice to see
00:28:22
Speaker 1: her toy help someone else in the same way it
00:28:26
Speaker 1: had helped her for so long. At great time, Essie
00:28:32
Speaker 1: returned Bravo the Dragon to Eila and thanked her for
00:28:37
Speaker 1: letting him borrow the toy. Now you can use the
00:28:42
Speaker 1: dragon to help you when you're feeling nervous again, Essie stated,
00:28:48
Speaker 1: with a smile. Eiler took her toy back and smiled,
00:28:55
Speaker 1: but she had a feeling that she wouldn't be needing
00:28:58
Speaker 1: Bravo's help anymore. Now that she knew how to find
00:29:05
Speaker 1: her own dragon courage within herself, she didn't need to
00:29:10
Speaker 1: rely on her toy any longer. Perhaps Smiths Fudge could
00:29:17
Speaker 1: find a use for the toy instead, whenever there were
00:29:22
Speaker 1: other children who needed help, finding the bravery that was
00:29:27
Speaker 1: already inside of them, U