In tonight’s bedtime story for kids, we meet Moe the Sloth. Moe dreams of being a soccer player, but there's a problem. He's a little slow. Hear how he gets on at the tryouts for the Sleepy Forest team- I think he may reveal a hidden talent! Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Elisha Ainsley
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
00:00:20
Speaker 1: a dream. Before we get going, here's a big cheery
00:00:25
Speaker 1: wave and a hello to today's special Cocoa Club members.
00:00:29
Speaker 1: That's you, Eleanor, Kaisley McKenna, Theo, Mary, David Oliver, and Ava.
00:00:39
Speaker 1: Tonight's story stars an animal that has always intrigued me.
00:00:44
Speaker 1: They are known for moving very slowly on land and
00:00:47
Speaker 1: sleeping in trees, but they are also wonderfully elegant swimmers.
00:00:54
Speaker 1: They sleep a lot, although slightly less than Koala's, and
00:00:59
Speaker 1: they seem to always have an enigmatic smile on their
00:01:02
Speaker 1: little faces, like they've just thought of something really mischievous.
00:01:07
Speaker 1: Do you ever wonder what sloths are thinking about? Well, soon,
00:01:12
Speaker 1: I think we're going to learn a lot about what
00:01:15
Speaker 1: one particular sloth has on his mind. Tonight's story is
00:01:20
Speaker 1: inspired by a listener. Now I'm not sure if I'm
00:01:24
Speaker 1: saying this right, Skeeddy Ive Skedy Eve, who suggested we
00:01:30
Speaker 1: write a story about a sloth who really wants to
00:01:33
Speaker 1: play soccer but everyone says he's too slow. Well, Eddie,
00:01:39
Speaker 1: I'm going to hazard a guess from looking at your
00:01:42
Speaker 1: username that you might be called Eddie. We thought that
00:01:46
Speaker 1: your idea was so brilliant. Alicia has worked her magic
00:01:50
Speaker 1: on it to bring it to life. I really hope
00:01:52
Speaker 1: you enjoy it. Now before I start, let's fully relax
00:01:57
Speaker 1: to wind down your busy body and charge up your imagination.
00:02:02
Speaker 1: Take a few deep breaths in and out. While you're
00:02:08
Speaker 1: doing that, wiggle your fingers and toes and roll your
00:02:11
Speaker 1: neck around. Just loosen up now, snuggle down under your
00:02:16
Speaker 1: blanket or douvet and nestle your head into your pillow.
00:02:20
Speaker 1: As you imagine a forest full of trees, tall trees.
00:02:26
Speaker 1: It's sleepy forest in fact, And at the very top
00:02:30
Speaker 1: of one of those trees, amongst the branches, here's a small, brown,
00:02:36
Speaker 1: furry animal. We're about to meet him. He's a sloth
00:02:42
Speaker 1: called Mow, and he dreams of making it onto the
00:02:46
Speaker 1: sleepy forest soccer team. But can he impress the coach
00:02:52
Speaker 1: and beat all the faster animals to achieve his big dream.
00:02:57
Speaker 1: Let's find out. This is slow Mo the Soccer Sloth
00:03:02
Speaker 1: by Alicia Ainslie and Eddie. Deep and sleepy forest, relaxing.
00:03:15
Speaker 1: At the top of the leafy trees lived a peaceful,
00:03:19
Speaker 1: sweet animal called Mow. Moe led a simple, quiet life, eating, sleeping,
00:03:27
Speaker 1: and hanging from the branches with his strong, long arms.
00:03:31
Speaker 1: For you see, Moe was a sloth, and sloths don't
00:03:36
Speaker 1: tend to do my shelse. Have you seen a sloth before? Well,
00:03:42
Speaker 1: Moe had a fuzzy white face with a friendly smile
00:03:45
Speaker 1: permanently plastered on it. He had a brown, furry body
00:03:50
Speaker 1: and four extremely long arms and legs, perfect for hugging
00:03:54
Speaker 1: the trees with. Ever since Moe was a young child,
00:03:59
Speaker 1: he was different from other animals. As Moe's arms and
00:04:03
Speaker 1: legs grew longer and his eyebrows bushier, he watched as
00:04:07
Speaker 1: his fellow animals grew up too, into bigger, faster animals. However,
00:04:14
Speaker 1: no matter how hard he tried to keep up with
00:04:17
Speaker 1: the others, Moe couldn't help but find that he was
00:04:20
Speaker 1: different to the rest. While the tiger's tails became lengthier,
00:04:26
Speaker 1: their stripes more pronounced, and their feet able to run
00:04:30
Speaker 1: quicker and quicker, Moe continued to move at the same
00:04:35
Speaker 1: unhurried pace. While the kangaroo's feet became clumpier and their
00:04:42
Speaker 1: hops progressed higher and higher, Moe remained just as easy
00:04:47
Speaker 1: going as he had ever been. While the other animals
00:04:52
Speaker 1: chased one another around the Sleepy Forest playground, Moe could
00:04:57
Speaker 1: barely keep up with the snails. Moe was very slow.
00:05:04
Speaker 1: In fact, everything he did was very slow. When Mo
00:05:09
Speaker 1: spoke in his low, breathy voice, he talked at such
00:05:14
Speaker 1: a gentle pace that it could take him minutes just
00:05:17
Speaker 1: to utter a single sentence. And Mo moved just as
00:05:24
Speaker 1: slowly as he spoke. He moved his body so sluggishly
00:05:29
Speaker 1: that it appeared as though he was moving in slow motion.
00:05:34
Speaker 1: This is why everyone in Sleepy Forest affectionately nicknamed him
00:05:41
Speaker 1: Slow Mo. Sloths are known for being the slowest, laziest
00:05:48
Speaker 1: animals in the whole world, but Mo was different. Moe
00:05:55
Speaker 1: had bigger dreams than the average sloth. From his his
00:06:00
Speaker 1: prime position up in the tall trees, Moe could see
00:06:04
Speaker 1: most things happening in Sleepy Forest. His favorite thing to
00:06:08
Speaker 1: watch from his resting place in the trees was the
00:06:11
Speaker 1: Sleepy Forest Soccer League. Every year, the forest's most agile,
00:06:18
Speaker 1: sprightly soccer loving animals came together to try out for
00:06:22
Speaker 1: the Sleepy Forest Soccer team, led by the infamous coach Chase.
00:06:28
Speaker 1: The Cheetah. Every animal was welcome to try out for
00:06:33
Speaker 1: the team, and coach Chase would put the contenders through
00:06:37
Speaker 1: their paces with activities and tests to see who was
00:06:41
Speaker 1: best for that year's team. Moe loved watching the other
00:06:47
Speaker 1: animals play soccer, and he never missed a match. He
00:06:52
Speaker 1: always had the best seat in the house from his
00:06:55
Speaker 1: prized position up in the trees. But this year, Moe
00:07:00
Speaker 1: was tired of watching and dreaming from afar. This year,
00:07:06
Speaker 1: Moe wanted to try out for the soccer team himself.
00:07:12
Speaker 1: The night before soccer tryouts, Moe put on his favorite
00:07:17
Speaker 1: purple sweat band and his soccer jersey and set off
00:07:21
Speaker 1: early to ensure he arrived on time. But even though
00:07:26
Speaker 1: he had set off the night before tryouts, he still
00:07:29
Speaker 1: was a little bit late to the soccer pitch the
00:07:32
Speaker 1: next day on account of all the naps he had
00:07:35
Speaker 1: to take along the way. But nevertheless, Moe had arrived
00:07:40
Speaker 1: and he was raring to go for soccer tryouts, well
00:07:45
Speaker 1: as rearing as possible for an animal as chilled out
00:07:48
Speaker 1: as a sloth. Moe joined the line of animals cueuing
00:07:53
Speaker 1: to add their names to the tryouts list and waited
00:07:56
Speaker 1: patiently for his turn. When he made it to the front,
00:08:01
Speaker 1: he laboriously wrote his name on the list and felt
00:08:05
Speaker 1: his fuzzy tommy bubble with excitement. He was ecstatic to
00:08:11
Speaker 1: finally have his chance to try out for the soccer team.
00:08:17
Speaker 1: Once his name was on the list, Moe made his
00:08:20
Speaker 1: way over to the other animals who were stretching their
00:08:22
Speaker 1: muscles and warming up ready to begin a majestic ostriche
00:08:31
Speaker 1: wearing white sneakers, noticed Moe approaching and trotted towards him
00:08:37
Speaker 1: with recognition. Moe recognized the ostriche immediately too, Good morning, Ozzy,
00:08:47
Speaker 1: Moe greeted the tall Ostrich in his slow drawl. Moe
00:08:52
Speaker 1: had known Ozzy the Ostrich since they were small children.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: Ozzi the ostriche wrapped his fluffy, giant wing around Moe
00:09:02
Speaker 1: and greeting and said, slow, Mo, what are you doing here?
00:09:10
Speaker 1: Moe informed him that he was trying out for the
00:09:13
Speaker 1: soccer team. Ozzie blinked three times as he processed what
00:09:19
Speaker 1: Moe had said, and then a confused expression spread across
00:09:25
Speaker 1: his beaked face. Ozzi replied with concern, but aren't you
00:09:32
Speaker 1: going to find it a bit hard to keep up?
00:09:36
Speaker 1: After all, you can only move slowly. That's why we
00:09:39
Speaker 1: all call you slow mow. Moe smiled and shrugged his
00:09:45
Speaker 1: shoulders as gracefully as if he were moving through water.
00:09:50
Speaker 1: He told his friend not to worry about him. He
00:09:54
Speaker 1: was going to give it his best shot anyway. He
00:09:57
Speaker 1: was just happy to be there. All of a sudden,
00:10:02
Speaker 1: everyone else around them snapped to attention, and their chatter
00:10:07
Speaker 1: died down. Ozzie and Moe looked to see what was
00:10:11
Speaker 1: going on. Moe turned to see his hero, Coach Chase
00:10:17
Speaker 1: the Cheetah, striding towards the group of recruits. Coach Chase
00:10:24
Speaker 1: wore a striped purple and white T shirt with a
00:10:28
Speaker 1: matching cap on his head and a whistle dangled on
00:10:31
Speaker 1: a string around his neck. He carried a clipboard tucked
00:10:36
Speaker 1: under his left armpit and held a timer in his
00:10:40
Speaker 1: right hand. The crowd of animals fell silent with anticipation
00:10:46
Speaker 1: as he approached, and Moe craned his neck to get
00:10:50
Speaker 1: a better look at his idol. Coach Chase surveyed the
00:10:56
Speaker 1: crowd of animals with keen eyes. As he spoke to
00:11:00
Speaker 1: the sleepy forest animals who had turned up for tryouts,
00:11:04
Speaker 1: He radiated an air of importance. Everybody who wanted to
00:11:10
Speaker 1: impress Coach Chase. Coach Chase welcomed everybody to the soccer
00:11:18
Speaker 1: tryouts with his deep, commanding voice and thanked them all
00:11:23
Speaker 1: for taking time out of their day to come along.
00:11:28
Speaker 1: He declared that the tests would be tough and would
00:11:32
Speaker 1: require great stamina and skill to complete. There would be
00:11:37
Speaker 1: several rounds of activities to get through before Coach Chase
00:11:42
Speaker 1: would make his decision on who had made it onto
00:11:45
Speaker 1: the soccer team. But the Cheetah claimed that above all else,
00:11:52
Speaker 1: he would be looking for who the best team players were.
00:11:58
Speaker 1: Every member of his soccer squad needed to work together
00:12:02
Speaker 1: to be a successful team. As Moe listened to Coach
00:12:08
Speaker 1: Chase's speech, he felt even more motivated to impress him.
00:12:15
Speaker 1: He wanted Coach Chase to pick him for his soccer
00:12:19
Speaker 1: team more than anything else in the world. When his
00:12:25
Speaker 1: speech was through, Coach Chase handed the clipboard of names
00:12:29
Speaker 1: to his monkey assistant called Bennett, and ushered everyone to
00:12:34
Speaker 1: get into a long straight line. All the animals hustled
00:12:40
Speaker 1: and bustled to create a line for Coach Chase, but
00:12:45
Speaker 1: Moe stayed put right where he was, and he naturally
00:12:51
Speaker 1: fell into place as the other animals formed a line
00:12:55
Speaker 1: on either side of him. Coach Chases as assistant. Bennett,
00:13:02
Speaker 1: started to place little orange cones on the grass, creating
00:13:06
Speaker 1: several long lines beginning at the animals trying out for
00:13:10
Speaker 1: the team or the way to the center point on
00:13:14
Speaker 1: the soccer pitch. As Bennett laid out the obstacle course,
00:13:20
Speaker 1: Coach Chase explained that he wanted to see who had
00:13:24
Speaker 1: the fastest feet in the forest. Every animal had to
00:13:30
Speaker 1: take turns tiptoeing as fast as they could in and
00:13:34
Speaker 1: out of the orange cones to reach the other end.
00:13:38
Speaker 1: It would not only be a test of their speed,
00:13:42
Speaker 1: but also a test of their agility. Three at a time,
00:13:49
Speaker 1: the animals took turns racing around the orange cones as
00:13:54
Speaker 1: fast and skillfully as they could to reach the other side.
00:14:00
Speaker 1: Rattlesnake expertly weaved around each and every cone, and the
00:14:05
Speaker 1: penguins surprised everyone with the speed of his flappy feet. Surprisingly,
00:14:13
Speaker 1: the wilderbeast, who was well known for their impressive speed,
00:14:17
Speaker 1: struggled to maneuver the tight corners around the orange cones
00:14:22
Speaker 1: and tripped and knocked over several as they ran. Meanwhile,
00:14:27
Speaker 1: as expected, the likes of Ozzy, the Ostrich, the kangaroo
00:14:32
Speaker 1: Moe had come to learn was called Kylie, and the
00:14:35
Speaker 1: gazelle successfully whizzed their way in and out of the
00:14:40
Speaker 1: cones to reach the other side. Bennett the Monkey made
00:14:45
Speaker 1: notes on the clipboard as each animal tackled the task,
00:14:50
Speaker 1: while Coach Chase watched every animal tryout. After everyone had
00:14:58
Speaker 1: taken their turn setting off from the start line, Bennett
00:15:03
Speaker 1: the Monkey looked up from his clipboard, expecting everyone to
00:15:07
Speaker 1: be finished, but paused with surprise as his eyes fell
00:15:12
Speaker 1: on what everyone else was staring at. While every other
00:15:18
Speaker 1: animal had made it to the other side, successfully or not,
00:15:23
Speaker 1: slow Mow was still working his way across the pitch.
00:15:29
Speaker 1: Despite his exceedingly slow speed, Moe was going as fast
00:15:34
Speaker 1: as he could. He crept his way around every orange
00:15:40
Speaker 1: cone without knocking a single one over. He may not
00:15:46
Speaker 1: have been the quickest, but he was performing the task
00:15:50
Speaker 1: with the most care. Coach Chase and all the other
00:15:56
Speaker 1: animals watched on with a mixture of humor and impatience.
00:16:03
Speaker 1: By the time Moe made it to the other end,
00:16:06
Speaker 1: everyone else had been finished for at least a good
00:16:10
Speaker 1: five minutes. Moe stopped at the finish line and panted
00:16:16
Speaker 1: with exhaustion. He had never moved so fast in his life.
00:16:25
Speaker 1: His friend Ozzie the Ostrich patted him on the back
00:16:29
Speaker 1: and congratulated him on persevering. Kylie the Kangaroo hopped over
00:16:36
Speaker 1: to Moe and giggled, you certainly live up to your nickname,
00:16:42
Speaker 1: Slow Mo. Moe smiled sleepily and wearily wiped his brow.
00:16:51
Speaker 1: He could use a nap right about now. He had
00:16:56
Speaker 1: never traveled so far so quickly before. But there was
00:17:01
Speaker 1: no time to rest. The soccer tryouts had only just begun.
00:17:09
Speaker 1: Coach Chase led everyone to the next test. He wanted
00:17:14
Speaker 1: to see how well they dribbled the ball and passed
00:17:18
Speaker 1: to one another. Coach Chase split everyone up into teams
00:17:23
Speaker 1: of four, and Bennett the Monkey handed out a ball
00:17:27
Speaker 1: to each group. Moe was put in a group with
00:17:32
Speaker 1: his friend Ozzy the Ostrich, a leima named Lionel, whom
00:17:37
Speaker 1: he hadn't met before, and a beautiful gazelle named Gigi.
00:17:43
Speaker 1: They took turns dribbling the ball with their feet and
00:17:46
Speaker 1: passing it to one another with a light kick. Ozzie
00:17:50
Speaker 1: was a pro. He was excellent at dribbling the ball
00:17:54
Speaker 1: with his feet, and his passes were perfect. Lionel the
00:18:00
Speaker 1: Lima did all right, but the ball was almost as
00:18:03
Speaker 1: big as him, so he struggled to kick it very
00:18:06
Speaker 1: far with his dainty feet. Gigi Gazelle did well, keeping
00:18:11
Speaker 1: the ball between her four long legs as she moved,
00:18:14
Speaker 1: but whenever she tried to kick the ball, it bounced
00:18:18
Speaker 1: off one of the other of her four legs and
00:18:21
Speaker 1: rarely made it to its target. Every animal all around
00:18:27
Speaker 1: seemed to have their strong points and their weaknesses, no
00:18:31
Speaker 1: matter how big or small they were, no matter how
00:18:35
Speaker 1: fast or steady they were. When it came to Moe's
00:18:40
Speaker 1: turn to dribble the ball, it was quite a sight
00:18:43
Speaker 1: to see. It took him five slow counts to pull
00:18:50
Speaker 1: his leg back to prepare for the kick one two, three,
00:18:59
Speaker 1: or five. Then it took him five more slow counts
00:19:07
Speaker 1: to propel his leg forwards to strike the ball one two, three,
00:19:17
Speaker 1: four five. By the time his leg had completed the
00:19:24
Speaker 1: full motion, there was simply no speed or power in
00:19:29
Speaker 1: his kick to move the ball forward very far. In fact,
00:19:35
Speaker 1: the ball hardly rolled an inch. Moe's teammates Ossie, Lionel
00:19:43
Speaker 1: the Lemur, and Gigi Gazelle waited patiently while Mo took
00:19:50
Speaker 1: several slow minutes to dribble the ball a few paces. Finally,
00:19:58
Speaker 1: as he went to pass the ball to Ozzy, he
00:20:01
Speaker 1: tried with all his might to kick it to his friend,
00:20:06
Speaker 1: but the ball hardly made it halfway and stopped still
00:20:12
Speaker 1: in between the two of them. Moe's sighed and noticed
00:20:18
Speaker 1: Coach Chase watching their group intently. His assistant Bennett struck
00:20:26
Speaker 1: a name off the list on his clipboard, and Moe's
00:20:31
Speaker 1: shoulders sagged. Maybe that was his name taken off the list. Finally,
00:20:41
Speaker 1: Coach Chase announced that the last test of the day
00:20:45
Speaker 1: would be a penalty shootout. Every animal would have a
00:20:51
Speaker 1: go at kicking the ball into the net and take
00:20:54
Speaker 1: turns defending the goal too. Moe knew it was important
00:21:00
Speaker 1: to get a strike in the penalty shootout if he
00:21:03
Speaker 1: wanted any chance of being on the soccer team. One
00:21:08
Speaker 1: by one, the animals lined up to take their shot.
00:21:14
Speaker 1: Moe watched in awe as a lioness stepped up and
00:21:19
Speaker 1: hit a clean, powerful strike into the net. Half of
00:21:25
Speaker 1: the animals, including Mo, applauded her success, while half of
00:21:31
Speaker 1: them sulked with jealousy. Next up, Gigi gazelle took her
00:21:38
Speaker 1: turn and finally managed to kick the ball straight without
00:21:43
Speaker 1: getting her legs or tangled up. The ball hit the
00:21:47
Speaker 1: back of the net with ease, and Mo cheered for
00:21:51
Speaker 1: her good fortune. The animals kept on going, some succeeded
00:21:57
Speaker 1: in getting a strike and some missed the goal. Ozzie
00:22:01
Speaker 1: the ostrich had a stroke of bad luck and kicked
00:22:05
Speaker 1: the ball too high. The ball flew over the top
00:22:09
Speaker 1: of the net and Ozzy bowed his head in disappointment.
00:22:14
Speaker 1: Moe offered his friend a slow pat on the back
00:22:17
Speaker 1: and tried to reassure him that he had done well
00:22:20
Speaker 1: all day, so just because he had missed the goal
00:22:24
Speaker 1: this time didn't mean he was out of the running
00:22:27
Speaker 1: for the team. Ozzie appreciated his friend's kind words. Kylie
00:22:34
Speaker 1: the Kangaroo hopped forward with swagger, and using her big feet,
00:22:40
Speaker 1: she flipped the ball up into the air and head
00:22:43
Speaker 1: butted the ball into the net. It was a dazzling goal,
00:22:49
Speaker 1: and coach Chase looked very impressed as he watched on. Eventually,
00:22:55
Speaker 1: it was Moe's turn. Moe plodded up to the penalty
00:23:00
Speaker 1: mark and Bennett the Monkey placed the ball at his feet.
00:23:05
Speaker 1: Mode took a deep breath and gazed at the goal.
00:23:11
Speaker 1: He steadily lined up his foot with the ball and
00:23:15
Speaker 1: began his slow procedure to kick it. He bent his
00:23:21
Speaker 1: leg backwards one two three four five and swung it
00:23:34
Speaker 1: forwards one two three four I. He attempted to kick
00:23:49
Speaker 1: the ball with as much force as possible, but due
00:23:53
Speaker 1: to his lack of speed, he practically tapped it. The
00:23:59
Speaker 1: ball rolled forward a few centimeters and stopped in its tracks.
00:24:07
Speaker 1: Moe felt a little embarrassed and looked back at the
00:24:11
Speaker 1: other animals watching, expecting them to laugh. However, to his surprise,
00:24:19
Speaker 1: they clapped for him and smiled with encouragement. Even heard
00:24:24
Speaker 1: Kylie the kangaroo say good effort, Slow Mo. Mo may
00:24:32
Speaker 1: not have got the strike he wanted, but he had
00:24:35
Speaker 1: done his best and that was all he could ask for.
00:24:40
Speaker 1: The remaining animals stepped up to take their shots, and
00:24:45
Speaker 1: when it was lion Or the lemurs, go Mo took
00:24:48
Speaker 1: his turn defending the goal. Moe smiled at his new
00:24:53
Speaker 1: friend across the pitch and gave him a little thumbs up.
00:24:59
Speaker 1: He hoped that Lionel would do well. Moe watched Lionel
00:25:04
Speaker 1: back up run on the spot to build up momentum
00:25:09
Speaker 1: and then rush forwards at the ball with an energetic kick.
00:25:14
Speaker 1: The ball flew through the air directly at the goal.
00:25:19
Speaker 1: It looked like a sure strike, but before Moe hardly
00:25:25
Speaker 1: realized what was happening, he flung out one of his
00:25:28
Speaker 1: long arms out into the corner of the net, and
00:25:33
Speaker 1: Lionel's ball ricocheted off Moe's outstretched hand. The crowd gasped.
00:25:41
Speaker 1: Moe had saved Lionel's impressive goal from hitting the net.
00:25:46
Speaker 1: Nobody could believe it, least of all Moe. Moe felt
00:25:52
Speaker 1: bad for stopping Lionel's ball from going into the goal
00:25:56
Speaker 1: and crept towards him to apologize. I'm sorry, Lionel, he said,
00:26:05
Speaker 1: in his slow, low voice. I didn't mean to stop
00:26:11
Speaker 1: your ball going in. It was a very good kick,
00:26:19
Speaker 1: the best you've done all day, and I ruined it.
00:26:27
Speaker 1: Lioneld chuckled, then replied, don't worry about it, Mo. It
00:26:34
Speaker 1: was a good kick, and I'm sure that coach Chase
00:26:37
Speaker 1: could see that too, But you certainly shouldn't be sorry.
00:26:42
Speaker 1: What you just did was amazing. Nobody else has defended
00:26:47
Speaker 1: the goal like that. You're unnatural. Moe was surprised. He
00:26:55
Speaker 1: hadn't thought of what he'd done as being anything particularly special,
00:27:01
Speaker 1: but as he looked at the faces of all the
00:27:04
Speaker 1: other animals gazing at him, he noticed the astonishment on
00:27:09
Speaker 1: their faces. Coach Chase blew his whistle gently, and all
00:27:17
Speaker 1: the animals gathered around. Coach Chase thanked everyone for their
00:27:24
Speaker 1: time and congratulated them on their efforts. But only eleven
00:27:30
Speaker 1: animals could make it onto the team this season. As Bennett,
00:27:36
Speaker 1: the coach's monkey assistant, read out the names of the
00:27:40
Speaker 1: successful animals who had made it onto the team, everyone
00:27:46
Speaker 1: held their breath with hope. Despite his missed penalty shot,
00:27:52
Speaker 1: Ozzie the Ostrich made it onto the team, as did
00:27:56
Speaker 1: Lionel the lemur, regardless of Moe saving him his goal.
00:28:01
Speaker 1: Kylie the kangaroo had unsurprisingly made the team, along with
00:28:07
Speaker 1: the lioness with the powerful kick. As the last of
00:28:12
Speaker 1: the successful names were called out, Moe's chances grew slimmer
00:28:18
Speaker 1: and slimmer, until finally Bennett lowered his clipboard and announced
00:28:26
Speaker 1: no further names. The animals who were successful celebrated humbly,
00:28:34
Speaker 1: and the others congratulated them in good spirits. Moe was
00:28:40
Speaker 1: happy for his friend Ozzie making the team, but he
00:28:45
Speaker 1: was a little disappointed that he hadn't. As he prepared
00:28:51
Speaker 1: to make the long, laborious journey home, Moe fell to
00:28:57
Speaker 1: tap on his fuzzy shoulder. He turned around to see
00:29:03
Speaker 1: Coach Chase the Cheetah standing behind him. Moe star struck.
00:29:11
Speaker 1: Coach Chase was face to face with him. Coach Chase
00:29:19
Speaker 1: smiled and said, I believe your name is slow Mo,
00:29:26
Speaker 1: is it not. Moe gulped and nodded his head unhurriedly.
00:29:35
Speaker 1: Coach Chase beckoned his assistant Bennett to bring the ball
00:29:40
Speaker 1: over to him. Then Coach Chase continued, MO, I want
00:29:46
Speaker 1: to put you to the test. The goal you saved
00:29:51
Speaker 1: earlier was impressive, but I want to know whether it
00:29:55
Speaker 1: was just a fluke or if you have a surprising
00:29:59
Speaker 1: t talent. Coach Chase directed Moe to stand back in
00:30:06
Speaker 1: front of the goal while he made his way to
00:30:09
Speaker 1: the penalty kickpoint. Coach Chase placed the ball down at
00:30:15
Speaker 1: his feet and instructed Moe to try to stop the
00:30:19
Speaker 1: ball from going into the net. Moe was nervous. Coach
00:30:26
Speaker 1: Chase the Cheetah was famous for his perfect penalty kicks.
00:30:32
Speaker 1: He had never missed in his whole career. Moe didn't
00:30:39
Speaker 1: think there was any way that he could possibly stop
00:30:43
Speaker 1: the ball from hitting the back of the net. Coach
00:30:48
Speaker 1: Chase took a few steps backwards, then began running on
00:30:54
Speaker 1: the spot and rushed forward to swipe at the ball
00:30:59
Speaker 1: with his foot. The ball flew through the air at
00:31:04
Speaker 1: incredible speed, and Moe watched with his slow motion vision
00:31:09
Speaker 1: as the ball hurtled towards him. Following the ball with
00:31:15
Speaker 1: his eyes, Moe threw his left arm out to the
00:31:20
Speaker 1: side and reached for the ball as it approached the net.
00:31:25
Speaker 1: Moe stretched his long fingers and brushed the edge of
00:31:30
Speaker 1: Coach Chase's ball and flicked it with all his might.
00:31:35
Speaker 1: To his own amazement, Moe's flick managed to throw the
00:31:40
Speaker 1: ball off course, and it ricocheted off his fingers and
00:31:45
Speaker 1: away from the net, hitting the goalpost with a clang
00:31:50
Speaker 1: and dropping to the floor. Everybody watching gasped with shock,
00:31:58
Speaker 1: and Coach Chase softly growled with a mixture of annoyance
00:32:06
Speaker 1: and pleasure. Nobody had ever managed to defend one of
00:32:12
Speaker 1: his strikes before. Moe stood sheepishly as Coach Chase approached him.
00:32:23
Speaker 1: He hadn't wanted to upset his idol. Coach Chase towered
00:32:30
Speaker 1: over Mow. The sloth grinned and said, slow, Mow, I
00:32:41
Speaker 1: have been impressed with your efforts to day. You weren't
00:32:46
Speaker 1: the fastest by far, and you're not a great striker,
00:32:51
Speaker 1: but you have special skills that others don't. I want
00:32:59
Speaker 1: you on my team. Moe gasped, and his beady eyes
00:33:06
Speaker 1: grew wide. How could Coach Chase possibly want him on
00:33:13
Speaker 1: his team amongst so many speedy, strong animals like ostriches, lions,
00:33:21
Speaker 1: and kangaroos. Coach Chase handed moa T shirt and added,
00:33:31
Speaker 1: no team is complete without their goalkeeper, and I want
00:33:37
Speaker 1: you to be ours this season. If Moe could leap
00:33:44
Speaker 1: for joy, then he would have. But since he couldn't,
00:33:49
Speaker 1: he mustered up a slow raise of his gangly arms
00:33:52
Speaker 1: in delight and wrapped them around Coach Chase in a
00:33:57
Speaker 1: thankful hug. Moe had never been happier he had made
00:34:04
Speaker 1: the soccer team, despite the odds. On the first day
00:34:10
Speaker 1: of the Sleepy Forest soccer season, Coach Chase's team played
00:34:16
Speaker 1: to an excited crowd of supporters. All the animals of
00:34:21
Speaker 1: Sleepy Forest came to cheer the team on as they
00:34:26
Speaker 1: faced off against the team of Yettes from the Mountains.
00:34:31
Speaker 1: While Ossie the Ostrich and Lionel the Lemur dribbled the
00:34:35
Speaker 1: ball around the pitch and passed to their strikers Kylie
00:34:40
Speaker 1: the Kangaroo and Leanna the Lioness, Moe stuck to his
00:34:46
Speaker 1: important place in the goal. Whenever a ball came his way,
00:34:53
Speaker 1: he watched intently with his slow motion vision and blocked
00:34:59
Speaker 1: every so single ball with his long, strong arms. As
00:35:05
Speaker 1: the first game of the season came to an end,
00:35:09
Speaker 1: the Sleepy Forest squad won. While every member of the
00:35:15
Speaker 1: squad played excellently and they all worked well together as
00:35:20
Speaker 1: a team, everybody knew that it was Moe who had
00:35:25
Speaker 1: won the match for them. Without his impressive goalkeeping, the
00:35:30
Speaker 1: other team would have scored many goals and perhaps beaten them,
00:35:36
Speaker 1: But Moe didn't let a single one slip past him.
00:35:41
Speaker 1: As Moe took in the view of the crowd cheering
00:35:45
Speaker 1: for his team, he smiled his dozy smile with gratitude,
00:35:51
Speaker 1: and his heart felt like it was growing several times bigger.
00:35:58
Speaker 1: He closed his eyes to listen to the crowd, and
00:36:02
Speaker 1: to his amazement, he realized that they were chanting slow mo,
00:36:10
Speaker 1: slow mo, slow mo, slow mo. All of a sudden,
00:36:19
Speaker 1: Mo felt himself being picked up high, and he opened
00:36:23
Speaker 1: his eyes to see that he had been raised onto
00:36:27
Speaker 1: the tops of his fellow teammate's shoulders. In celebration, the
00:36:33
Speaker 1: team carried Mo across the pitch and they paraded in
00:36:38
Speaker 1: front of the roaring crowd for victory. The crowd didn't
00:36:44
Speaker 1: stop chanting slow mo, slow mo, slow Mo, and even
00:36:55
Speaker 1: his own teammates were joining in. Moe may have just
00:37:01
Speaker 1: been a regular sloth who liked to spend his days, eating, sleeping,
00:37:08
Speaker 1: and hanging from the branches of the trees. But he
00:37:13
Speaker 1: was also a sloth with a dream, a dream that
00:37:19
Speaker 1: had come true against all the odds.