In tonight’s bedtime story for kids, we have a specially selected Koko Rewind, where we'll meet Prickles the hedgehog who loves going to parties and having a wonderful time with his friends. He loves seeing balloons at parties and thinks there’s something quite magical about them. But there’s a problem - no matter how hard he tries, Prickles always manages to accidentally pop the balloons with his spikes! His friends see how upset this makes their kind friend, so they come up with a clever way to help him. Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Gillian Rogerson
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to Coco's Sleep. I hope you're
00:00:14
Speaker 1: enjoying this podcast of original children's bedtime stories and sleep
00:00:18
Speaker 1: meditations designed to make bedtime a dream just talking to
00:00:25
Speaker 1: your adult for one second. If this podcast helps your
00:00:29
Speaker 1: little one sleep, please find the time to leave us
00:00:32
Speaker 1: a short review. It will help our stories reach more
00:00:35
Speaker 1: people and will be so grateful that you did. In
00:00:40
Speaker 1: tonight's story, we meet Prickles the hedgehog, who loves going
00:00:44
Speaker 1: to parties and having a wonderful time with his friends.
00:00:48
Speaker 1: He loves seeing balloons at parties and thinks there's something
00:00:51
Speaker 1: quite magical about them. But there's a problem. No matter
00:00:57
Speaker 1: how hard he tries, Prickles always manages to accidentally pop
00:01:02
Speaker 1: the balloons with his spikes. His friends see how upset
00:01:07
Speaker 1: this makes their kind friend, so they come up with
00:01:10
Speaker 1: a clever way to help him. This is Prickles the
00:01:14
Speaker 1: Hedgehog by Gillian Rogerson. One afternoon in Sleepy Forest, a
00:01:26
Speaker 1: little hedgehog called Prickles was on his way to a
00:01:29
Speaker 1: friend's party. He absolutely loved going to parties. He loved
00:01:36
Speaker 1: having a dance with his friends and playing fun games
00:01:39
Speaker 1: like musical chairs and past the parcel The food was
00:01:43
Speaker 1: always delicious, and he especially liked the cucumber sandwiches and
00:01:48
Speaker 1: the strawberry trifles. He always had the most wonderful time
00:01:52
Speaker 1: at parties. But the thing he loved most of all
00:01:56
Speaker 1: was the balloons. There was something so mad about them.
00:02:01
Speaker 1: They came in such an amazing variety of colors and
00:02:05
Speaker 1: looked so big and bright. He'd even seen some that
00:02:09
Speaker 1: had silver glitter inside them. It wasn't only round balloons
00:02:13
Speaker 1: that he'd seen at parties. He had seen long balloons too,
00:02:17
Speaker 1: and one shaped like numbers. Prickles smiled as he remembered
00:02:22
Speaker 1: a special party he'd been too recently. It was the
00:02:27
Speaker 1: one he'd never forget. A magician had been at the party,
00:02:32
Speaker 1: and he had made long balloons into lots of different animals,
00:02:37
Speaker 1: including a hedgehog who looked very much like Prickles. But
00:02:42
Speaker 1: even though Prickles loved balloons, there was a problem. No
00:02:47
Speaker 1: matter how hard he tried, Prickles always managed to pop
00:02:52
Speaker 1: the balloons. He didn't mean to, it just happened accidentally.
00:02:58
Speaker 1: One minute, he would be mine his own business and
00:03:01
Speaker 1: having a good time at the party, and somehow a big,
00:03:06
Speaker 1: bright balloon would come his way and land on his
00:03:09
Speaker 1: spikes and then pop. And it was never just one balloon.
00:03:15
Speaker 1: Others would find their way to him too, and then pop, pop, pop.
00:03:23
Speaker 1: He just didn't know how it happened. None of his
00:03:27
Speaker 1: friends ever minded. They cheered when the balloons popped, and
00:03:31
Speaker 1: then they started to pop them too, until all the
00:03:34
Speaker 1: balloons had burst. It was good fun, but Prickles preferred
00:03:39
Speaker 1: the balloons when they were big, bright and beautiful. As
00:03:45
Speaker 1: he walked closer to the house where the party was
00:03:48
Speaker 1: being held that day, Prickles hummed happily to himself. He
00:03:54
Speaker 1: wasn't going to accidentally pop any balloons at the party,
00:03:58
Speaker 1: not even. He had a plan, a very clever plan,
00:04:05
Speaker 1: and he was absolutely certain it was going to work.
00:04:10
Speaker 1: Prickles arrived at the house where Scamper the Squirrel lived.
00:04:14
Speaker 1: It was her birthday party and she was one of
00:04:17
Speaker 1: his best friends. Prickles knocked on the door. It was
00:04:23
Speaker 1: opened by Scamper's mother. She smiled at him and said, hello,
00:04:29
Speaker 1: they're Prickles, who look different today. Have you done something
00:04:35
Speaker 1: different with your spikes? Prickles nodded, I've put some hair
00:04:41
Speaker 1: gel on to smooth them down. I'm not gonna pop
00:04:45
Speaker 1: any bloons today. He gave her a big smile and
00:04:50
Speaker 1: handed her the present he'd bought for Scamper. Scamper's mom
00:04:56
Speaker 1: put the present on the hall table with some others.
00:05:00
Speaker 1: Then she led to the room where the party was
00:05:02
Speaker 1: being held. To Prickles delight, there were balloons everywhere, resting
00:05:10
Speaker 1: on tables, piled up beneath chairs, and fixed to the
00:05:15
Speaker 1: bottom of the windows. Bright reds and blues and vibrant
00:05:21
Speaker 1: yellows and greens. There were even silver ones, and they
00:05:27
Speaker 1: were much bigger than the other ones, and they had
00:05:30
Speaker 1: gold glitter inside them. They looked so magical to the
00:05:35
Speaker 1: little hedgehog like planets in the sky. Scamper ran towards
00:05:41
Speaker 1: him higher. Prickles, thanks for coming. She gave him a
00:05:46
Speaker 1: closer look. What have you done to your spikes? Prickles
00:05:53
Speaker 1: lifted his chin proudly. I'll put hair gel on them,
00:05:59
Speaker 1: and now I won't pop any balloons by accident. What
00:06:02
Speaker 1: do you think? Scamper told Prickles to turn around. Prickles
00:06:10
Speaker 1: did so, and then waited for his friend's response. Scamper said,
00:06:17
Speaker 1: you looked different, but I like your new look. You
00:06:20
Speaker 1: still want to play some games. We're just about to
00:06:23
Speaker 1: start musical chairs, Oh my favorite, yes please. Prickles ran
00:06:31
Speaker 1: after Scamper and joined his other friends who were jogging
00:06:35
Speaker 1: around a line of chairs. Joyful music was being played.
00:06:41
Speaker 1: Prickles waved to his friends. They made room for him
00:06:45
Speaker 1: in the line, and soon the little hedgehog was dancing
00:06:48
Speaker 1: in time to the music. Because he jigged around the chairs,
00:06:53
Speaker 1: the music stopped and everyone jostled happily with each other
00:06:59
Speaker 1: as they rushed forward to find an empty chair. Prickles
00:07:04
Speaker 1: was lucky to find one, and seconds later the music
00:07:08
Speaker 1: started again and the game continued. Everyone had a wonderful
00:07:13
Speaker 1: time jogging around the chairs and the game was soon
00:07:18
Speaker 1: over the birthday girl one which everyone was pleased about.
00:07:24
Speaker 1: More games were played, and Prickles had an amazing time.
00:07:28
Speaker 1: He got warmer and warmer, and his cheeks glowed with joy.
00:07:34
Speaker 1: He was having such a wonderful time that he didn't
00:07:38
Speaker 1: notice his hair gell was slowly drying out until one
00:07:45
Speaker 1: of the large silver balloons that had glitter inside was
00:07:50
Speaker 1: lifted on a gentle breeze from an open window. It
00:07:55
Speaker 1: somehow found its way over to the little hedgehole and
00:08:01
Speaker 1: landed gently on his spikes, and then pop. It was
00:08:09
Speaker 1: so unexpected that Prickles didn't realize it was him who
00:08:13
Speaker 1: had popped the balloon. He looked around and said, who
00:08:18
Speaker 1: did that? You did? His friends replied, They pointed to
00:08:25
Speaker 1: his spikes and told him they were standing up again.
00:08:30
Speaker 1: Prickles shook his head. It couldn't have been me. As
00:08:35
Speaker 1: he spoke, sprinkles of gold glitter fluttered down from his
00:08:41
Speaker 1: spikes and landed on his nose. It was the glitter
00:08:47
Speaker 1: that had been inside the silver balloon. Prickles sighed, I'm
00:08:53
Speaker 1: so sorry everyone. I thought my hair gel idea would work.
00:09:00
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter, Scamper said kindly. She gently wiped the
00:09:06
Speaker 1: glitter off his nose and gave him a big grin.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: Now that one balloon has popped, let's pop them all.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: Her friends cheered and then grabbed the nearest balloon and
00:09:21
Speaker 1: began to pop them. Prickles joined in, but he couldn't
00:09:27
Speaker 1: stop thinking about how to solve his bloon problem. There
00:09:32
Speaker 1: must be away, surely. Prickles came up with another idea
00:09:40
Speaker 1: the very next day, which was lucky because he was
00:09:44
Speaker 1: going to another party that afternoon. This time, it was
00:09:49
Speaker 1: his friend Whiskers the Rabbit, who was celebrating his birthday
00:09:54
Speaker 1: and the party was going to be held in the
00:09:56
Speaker 1: village hall. Prickles on his best bow tie and headed
00:10:03
Speaker 1: to the party. His plan was perfect. He wouldn't pop
00:10:09
Speaker 1: a single balloon. He was absolutely certain of it. The
00:10:16
Speaker 1: party was in full swing when the Little Hedgehog arrived,
00:10:20
Speaker 1: and to his delight, there were balloons everywhere. Some were
00:10:25
Speaker 1: even in the shape of animals. His friends cheered when
00:10:30
Speaker 1: they saw him. Hi your, Prickles, Whiskers said, we're going
00:10:36
Speaker 1: to play past the parcel. I know how much you
00:10:39
Speaker 1: love that one. Follow me. It was time for the
00:10:44
Speaker 1: Little Hedgehog to put his plan into action. Now, thank you,
00:10:51
Speaker 1: Prickles said, I'm going to play another game. It's a
00:10:56
Speaker 1: special game and it means I won't pop any balloons.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: Whiskers was curious, really tell me how to play it?
00:11:09
Speaker 1: Is it fun? I'm not sure yet, but it could be.
00:11:14
Speaker 1: Brickles said, I'm going to pretend I'm a statue and
00:11:20
Speaker 1: I won't move, not even a tiny bit. And if
00:11:25
Speaker 1: I don't move, then I won't pop any balloons. Oh,
00:11:30
Speaker 1: I like that game. Can I play too? Of course
00:11:35
Speaker 1: you can. It's very simple. Just stand still, Prickles moved
00:11:42
Speaker 1: to the side of the room, made himself comfortable, took
00:11:47
Speaker 1: a deep breath, and then stood as still as he
00:11:52
Speaker 1: possibly could. A second later, he had an it she knows,
00:11:58
Speaker 1: so he gave it a little scratch. Then he took
00:12:02
Speaker 1: another deep breath and stood as still as he possibly could. Again,
00:12:08
Speaker 1: Whiskers stood next to Prickles and took a deep breath,
00:12:13
Speaker 1: just like his friend had done. Then the little rabbit
00:12:19
Speaker 1: stood as still as a statue to their other friends
00:12:25
Speaker 1: noticed Prickles and Whiskers standing still and went over to
00:12:31
Speaker 1: ask what they were doing. Out of the corner of
00:12:35
Speaker 1: his mouth, Prickles said, we're pretending to be statues. If
00:12:43
Speaker 1: I don't move, then I won't pop only bloomed scamper.
00:12:51
Speaker 1: The squirrel said, oh, that sounds like fun. Can we
00:12:57
Speaker 1: play too? Of caw? Prickles replied, trying his very best
00:13:05
Speaker 1: not to move his mouth too much. His nose twitched.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: It was itching again, but he didn't scratch it. The
00:13:16
Speaker 1: other animals formed a line next to Prickles and Whiskers.
00:13:22
Speaker 1: They shuffled about a bit first, but then took deep
00:13:26
Speaker 1: breaths and kept themselves as still as possible. The mums
00:13:33
Speaker 1: and dads looked confused when they saw how still their
00:13:38
Speaker 1: children were, but they didn't ask what they were doing. Instead,
00:13:44
Speaker 1: they made themselves a cup of tea and sat down
00:13:47
Speaker 1: for a while. Prickles gazed around the room and saw
00:13:53
Speaker 1: lots of big, beautiful balloons resting under tables and chairs.
00:14:00
Speaker 1: Some were as blue as the sea and others as
00:14:04
Speaker 1: red as strawberries. He would have smiled in happiness, but
00:14:09
Speaker 1: he was a statue, and statues didn't suddenly start smiling.
00:14:15
Speaker 1: The itch on his nose came back. He wriggled it
00:14:20
Speaker 1: ever so slightly as he tried to make it go away.
00:14:27
Speaker 1: His friends were doing a wonderful job, but standing very still.
00:14:32
Speaker 1: Fudge the sloth was lying on the floor and looked
00:14:38
Speaker 1: like she'd actually fallen asleep, but she usually fell asleep
00:14:43
Speaker 1: at parties. The room had been decorated with twisting streamers
00:14:50
Speaker 1: and birthday banners, but Prickors didn't even notice, because all
00:14:56
Speaker 1: he could think about was the itch on his nose,
00:15:00
Speaker 1: the itch that wouldn't go away. But he would not
00:15:06
Speaker 1: scratch it, no way, not him. He was a statue
00:15:13
Speaker 1: and he absolutely would not move. And then something happened.
00:15:21
Speaker 1: Prickles suddenly sneezed. It wasn't a quiet, gentle sneeze. It
00:15:29
Speaker 1: was an extremely loud sneeze, as if all the sneezes
00:15:35
Speaker 1: he would ever sneeze came out all at once. They
00:15:39
Speaker 1: were so loud and so sudden. The Scamper the squirrel
00:15:44
Speaker 1: fell over, and Whiskers the rabbit got hiccups. Fudge the
00:15:51
Speaker 1: sloth woke up and asked, what was that noise? She
00:15:58
Speaker 1: blinked tiredly and then went back to sleep. Bobble the
00:16:05
Speaker 1: badger put her hand over her mouth and started to giggle.
00:16:11
Speaker 1: Her lovely chuckle caused the other animals to start laughing too,
00:16:17
Speaker 1: and then merry laughter filled the room, causing the parents
00:16:22
Speaker 1: to start chuckling as well. Brickles began to laugh. He
00:16:27
Speaker 1: couldn't help it. And then something else happened. Out of nowhere,
00:16:35
Speaker 1: A blue balloon somehow found its way over to the
00:16:39
Speaker 1: little hedgehog and landed gently on his spikes and then
00:16:47
Speaker 1: pop yay. The animals cheered, let's pop all the balloons.
00:16:55
Speaker 1: Prickles sighed gently. His plan had worked, but he would
00:17:02
Speaker 1: think of a better one next time, and he did
00:17:07
Speaker 1: think of a better plan. A week later. It was
00:17:12
Speaker 1: Bobble the Badger's birthday, and as Prickles walked to her house,
00:17:18
Speaker 1: he couldn't help but smile proudly. His latest plan was
00:17:24
Speaker 1: a good one, a very good one when he knew
00:17:29
Speaker 1: it would work. He arrived at the house and Bobble's
00:17:34
Speaker 1: grandma opened the door. Prickles said hello and gave her
00:17:40
Speaker 1: the present he'd brought. Thank you, Bobble's grandma said, she frowned.
00:17:49
Speaker 1: Is it cold outside? Prickles shook his head. No, it's warm.
00:18:00
Speaker 1: Oh right. She frowned some more, but didn't ask about
00:18:06
Speaker 1: the weather again. Follow me, the party is this way.
00:18:13
Speaker 1: Prickles entered the party room. His friends saw him and
00:18:18
Speaker 1: waved hello. Some gave him curious looks but didn't say anything.
00:18:27
Speaker 1: Bobble came running over. Hi, Prickles, Hi, Bobble, happy birthday. Thanks.
00:18:37
Speaker 1: She frowned at him and looked just like a smaller
00:18:41
Speaker 1: version of her grandma. Is it cold outside? No? And
00:18:49
Speaker 1: why are you wearing a wooly hat? Prickles gave her
00:18:55
Speaker 1: a big grin. This is my latest plan. If any
00:19:03
Speaker 1: balloons land on my head, they won't pop. It's a
00:19:07
Speaker 1: thick hat, and none of my spikes can stick through
00:19:11
Speaker 1: it have a feel. Bob All reached up and touched
00:19:17
Speaker 1: the hat. Yes, it is very thick. Aren't you warm
00:19:24
Speaker 1: a bit? But I'll be okay. Are we going to
00:19:28
Speaker 1: play some party games? Bob All said yes, We're just
00:19:35
Speaker 1: about to start. It's musical chairs first. Prickles said, great,
00:19:43
Speaker 1: my favorite. He lined up with his friends around a
00:19:48
Speaker 1: row of chairs. The music began and they started to
00:19:54
Speaker 1: move around the chairs. Prickles pulled at his hat. It
00:20:01
Speaker 1: felt heavy on his head, but he wasn't going to
00:20:04
Speaker 1: take it off. There were dozens and dozens of beautiful
00:20:09
Speaker 1: balloons around the room, and he wasn't going to pop
00:20:14
Speaker 1: any of them. Round and round the chairs everyone went.
00:20:20
Speaker 1: The wooly hat felt heavier and heavier on Prickles's head,
00:20:27
Speaker 1: and it made him slower. When the music stopped, everyone
00:20:34
Speaker 1: moved forward. Prickles wasn't as quick as the others and
00:20:40
Speaker 1: he had to leave the game, but he didn't mind
00:20:45
Speaker 1: because he didn't have much energy left to finish the game.
00:20:50
Speaker 1: Wearing such a thick hat whilst jogging around the chairs
00:20:56
Speaker 1: was hard work. The little hedgehog took a seat at
00:21:02
Speaker 1: the side of the room and cheered his friends on
00:21:06
Speaker 1: as they finished the game the birthday girl one, and
00:21:11
Speaker 1: Prickles cheered the loudest for her. The young animals played
00:21:18
Speaker 1: other games, and Prickles joined in for a while, but
00:21:23
Speaker 1: the hat was making it difficult for him to do much,
00:21:28
Speaker 1: and he had to keep sitting down. But at least
00:21:33
Speaker 1: he hadn't accidentally popped any balloons. Three had already landed
00:21:40
Speaker 1: on his head, but they had bounced lightly on the
00:21:44
Speaker 1: hat and then moved away. His plan was working. His
00:21:51
Speaker 1: friends noticed him sitting down and so decided to sit
00:21:57
Speaker 1: with him. Have the games finished, the little hedgehog asked no.
00:22:05
Speaker 1: Bobo replied, but we wanted to sit with you. Why
00:22:10
Speaker 1: don't you take your hat off for a while. I can't.
00:22:15
Speaker 1: My plan is working. I haven't popped one single balloom,
00:22:21
Speaker 1: he smiled tiredly. I am feeling a bit sleepy though.
00:22:28
Speaker 1: I think I'll go home now, if you don't mind.
00:22:32
Speaker 1: His friends asked him to stay, but Prickles kept yawning
00:22:39
Speaker 1: and yawning. He said goodbye to his friends and left
00:22:44
Speaker 1: the house. As soon as he was outside, he took
00:22:50
Speaker 1: off his heavy hat and gave his prickles a good scratch.
00:22:56
Speaker 1: He walked home slowly, yawning all all the time. Who
00:23:02
Speaker 1: knew that wearing such a heavy hat could make him
00:23:07
Speaker 1: so tired. As soon as he reached home, he took
00:23:12
Speaker 1: himself to bed and was fast asleep in minutes. Back
00:23:19
Speaker 1: at the party, his friends were still sitting together. Bobo said,
00:23:27
Speaker 1: poor Prickles, I think we should stop having balloons at
00:23:32
Speaker 1: our parties. Scamper the squirrel, shook her head. But he
00:23:39
Speaker 1: loves bloons. You've seen how he looks at them, and
00:23:43
Speaker 1: he might feel bad if we don't have them anymore,
00:23:47
Speaker 1: just because he accidentally pops them sometimes. The others agreed
00:23:53
Speaker 1: with Scamper. Bobo sighed, there must be something we can do.
00:24:00
Speaker 1: I love Brickles, and I love having him at our parties.
00:24:06
Speaker 1: The animals sat quietly and thought about how they might
00:24:11
Speaker 1: help their lovely friend. It was Luna, the little white
00:24:17
Speaker 1: owl who came up with a solution. She flapped her
00:24:22
Speaker 1: wings excitedly and said, Oh, I've got an idea. I
00:24:29
Speaker 1: read something recently in one of my science books, and
00:24:33
Speaker 1: I think it might help. The animals smiled fondly at
00:24:40
Speaker 1: their owl friend. Luna loved reading, and she knew lots
00:24:46
Speaker 1: of interesting facts. Luna said, we should fill the balloons
00:24:55
Speaker 1: with a special gas called helium. It makes the balloons
00:25:02
Speaker 1: lighter than air and they float high in the sky.
00:25:08
Speaker 1: If we had those special balloons, they'd be so high
00:25:13
Speaker 1: above Prickles that they wouldn't touch his spikes. Luna poured
00:25:20
Speaker 1: out a small book from beneath her wings. She always
00:25:26
Speaker 1: had a book or two tucked there, just in case
00:25:30
Speaker 1: she wanted something to read. Luna opened the book and
00:25:36
Speaker 1: showed them a picture of some helium filled balloons. There
00:25:43
Speaker 1: was also a photograph of a smiling bear who was
00:25:48
Speaker 1: looking up at some balloons as they floated high above
00:25:53
Speaker 1: his head. It's like magic, Bobo said, where can we
00:26:01
Speaker 1: get that special gas. Luna didn't know, but she called
00:26:08
Speaker 1: her dad over to see if he could help. When
00:26:13
Speaker 1: Luna told him about Prickles and her idea, her father said,
00:26:20
Speaker 1: I know where to get some from. Mister Bumble has
00:26:25
Speaker 1: bottles of helium in his shop, and he's got lots
00:26:30
Speaker 1: of balloons too. If you like, I can go there
00:26:34
Speaker 1: now and get some. The little animals cheered and said
00:26:41
Speaker 1: thank you. Some of the other parents heard what was
00:26:46
Speaker 1: going on, and they went to mister Bumble's shop with
00:26:51
Speaker 1: Luna's father to help him carry everything. Meanwhile, Bubble and
00:27:00
Speaker 1: the others came up with a wonderful idea for Prickles.
00:27:05
Speaker 1: They agreed it was the best idea in the whole
00:27:10
Speaker 1: world and knew their friend would like it. Not too
00:27:16
Speaker 1: long later, Prickles his friends gathered outside his home. Some
00:27:23
Speaker 1: of their parents were there too. Bobble the Badger knocked
00:27:29
Speaker 1: on the door and waited for Prickles to answer it.
00:27:34
Speaker 1: She grinned over her shoulder at her friends. The knock
00:27:39
Speaker 1: woke Prickles from his nap. He yawned and stretched his
00:27:45
Speaker 1: arms above his head. He wondered who was at the door.
00:27:50
Speaker 1: Maybe it was Boble to tell him about the wonderful
00:27:55
Speaker 1: birthday party she'd had. He smiled. He hoped she'd had
00:28:01
Speaker 1: an amazing time, and his friends too. Still smiling, Prickles
00:28:09
Speaker 1: opened the door. Boble was there, so were all his
00:28:15
Speaker 1: other friends too, and her parents were there as well.
00:28:21
Speaker 1: Prickles wasn't sure why they were all there, but he
00:28:26
Speaker 1: opened his door wider and invited them in. His house
00:28:32
Speaker 1: was only little, but he would find room for them all.
00:28:37
Speaker 1: Boble said, thank you, but we don't want to go
00:28:42
Speaker 1: inside your home. We want you to come out and
00:28:48
Speaker 1: join a special party. Prickles scratched his head in confusion.
00:28:57
Speaker 1: Party whose party? His friends called out, your party, Prickles,
00:29:07
Speaker 1: it's a surprise party. The little hedgehog was too stunned
00:29:14
Speaker 1: to speak. He came out of his home and looked
00:29:19
Speaker 1: around his garden. There were balloons everywhere, but there was
00:29:27
Speaker 1: something different about them. The big, beautiful balloons were bobbing
00:29:35
Speaker 1: gently in the air, and each one was tied by
00:29:40
Speaker 1: a long string to something in his garden. Prickles pointed
00:29:47
Speaker 1: to a gold colored balloon and said, why is it
00:29:52
Speaker 1: floating like that? Is it magic? Almost, Bobo said. She
00:30:01
Speaker 1: told him about the special gas and how it made
00:30:05
Speaker 1: the balloons float in the air. She said it was
00:30:10
Speaker 1: Luna's idea, but tying the balloons to strings had been hers,
00:30:16
Speaker 1: because she didn't want the lovely balloons to float away
00:30:20
Speaker 1: to the sky when no one could see them. Prickles
00:30:26
Speaker 1: slowly turned around and took in the amazing sight. Beautiful
00:30:34
Speaker 1: balloons were absolutely everywhere, tied to the fence and his
00:30:42
Speaker 1: garden furniture, his shed, and his swing set. Heaven On
00:30:50
Speaker 1: top of the slide, a beautiful rainbow arch of balloons
00:30:56
Speaker 1: had been tied between two trees. It looked like a
00:31:01
Speaker 1: rainbow whod drifted from the sky and come to rest
00:31:07
Speaker 1: in his garden. Prickles's heart was so full of love
00:31:13
Speaker 1: that he didn't know what to say for a whole minute.
00:31:18
Speaker 1: A big smile broke out on his face, and he said,
00:31:23
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you so much. This is so kind
00:31:28
Speaker 1: of you. But it isn't my birthday for months yet.
00:31:34
Speaker 1: Scamper the squirrel put her arm carefully around his spiky shoulders.
00:31:43
Speaker 1: This isn't a birthday party. It's a party to say
00:31:49
Speaker 1: how much we love you. We know how much you
00:31:53
Speaker 1: like blooms and how you've tried so hard not to
00:31:57
Speaker 1: pop them. But we don't think you should have to
00:32:02
Speaker 1: change to fit in at parties. We love you just
00:32:06
Speaker 1: the way you are, with all your wonderful prickles, and
00:32:11
Speaker 1: from now on we'll all have these special balloons at
00:32:15
Speaker 1: our parties. Prickles smiled at his friends and said thank
00:32:22
Speaker 1: you again. He couldn't take his eyes off the beautiful
00:32:27
Speaker 1: balloons as they bobbed gently in the breeze. Not only
00:32:34
Speaker 1: had his friends brought the balloons, they had also brought
00:32:39
Speaker 1: lots of party food with them too. They had set
00:32:43
Speaker 1: the food out on picnic blankets at the bottom of
00:32:48
Speaker 1: Prickles's garden. He'd been too busy gazing at the bloons,
00:32:55
Speaker 1: and he hadn't even noticed the food until Scamper took
00:33:01
Speaker 1: him by the poor and led him over to it.
00:33:06
Speaker 1: Prickles and his friends had a wonderful time at the
00:33:10
Speaker 1: surprise party. They enjoyed the delicious party food and played
00:33:17
Speaker 1: lots of fun games. They stayed for hours, and not
00:33:23
Speaker 1: one single balloon popped. The sky grew dark and stars
00:33:33
Speaker 1: began to twinkle. The full moon appeared and shone down
00:33:39
Speaker 1: on the little animals, many of whom were yawning. The
00:33:46
Speaker 1: parents said it was time to go home. Prickles his
00:33:52
Speaker 1: friends say goodbye and went on their way. A little
00:33:59
Speaker 1: hedgehog stayed in the garden, looking at the balloons in wonder.
00:34:07
Speaker 1: More stars appeared in the night sky. Prickles yawned and
00:34:16
Speaker 1: yawned again. He was tired and ready for his bed.
00:34:25
Speaker 1: He'd had a wonderful day with his kind friends. Moonbeams
00:34:31
Speaker 1: shone down from the night sky and danced over the
00:34:36
Speaker 1: glistening balloons. Prickles smiled sleepily. He felt like he was
00:34:46
Speaker 1: in a balloon. Dream land. He moved over to a
00:34:51
Speaker 1: tree and untied a silver balloon. He held it high
00:35:00
Speaker 1: and then released it. The silver balloon floated upwards and
00:35:06
Speaker 1: towards the Moon, its string waving goodbye to the little hedgehog.
00:35:15
Speaker 1: Prickles waved back. He whispered to the Moon that balloons
00:35:23
Speaker 1: for you. Good night, Prickles. The hedgehog went into his
00:35:32
Speaker 1: home and snuggled down in his cozy, warm bed. And
00:35:40
Speaker 1: just as the silver balloon had drifted gently to the Moon,
00:35:47
Speaker 1: the little hedgehog drifted gently to sleep.