In tonight’s bedtime story for kids, we meet a fuzzy little kiwi bird called Tia, who lives in a forest in New Zealand. Tia wants to see what the other birds see from high in the sky, but Kiwis can't fly! So, she sets out on an adventure to see the world another way. Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
This episode was inspired by Koko Clubbers Jessica and Mateo! Thank you for the wonderful idea, you two.
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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.
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Suzanna Mcloughlin
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 begin, I'd like to welcome some
00:00:25
Speaker 1: new members of the Cocoa Club. Drum roll, please welcome
00:00:29
Speaker 1: Lily Rose, Logan, Elliott, Fiachra, Harriet Quinn, Alison and Harold.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: We're so happy that you all enjoy our little podcast
00:00:41
Speaker 1: so much you decided to subscribe, and we have a
00:00:45
Speaker 1: special one for all of you tomorrow. Hector and Sonny
00:00:49
Speaker 1: are visiting the Land of Nod, a dreamy land where
00:00:53
Speaker 1: snoozel woozles roam. I think you'll all love it, especially
00:00:57
Speaker 1: you Logan. A little Birdie tells me Hector and Sonny
00:01:01
Speaker 1: are your favorite. Now back to to night. I wonder
00:01:06
Speaker 1: how many of you have seen the title of this
00:01:08
Speaker 1: episode and are now expecting a story about a fruit. Well,
00:01:12
Speaker 1: you're in for a surprise. The word kiwi is a
00:01:15
Speaker 1: homonym which means it's a word with two meanings. And
00:01:19
Speaker 1: whilst I love a kiwi fruit, we're actually going to
00:01:23
Speaker 1: be hearing all about a very special and unusual bird
00:01:27
Speaker 1: called the kiwi, who is small, flightless, has a great
00:01:32
Speaker 1: sense of smell, and lives in a burrow. This tale
00:01:37
Speaker 1: has in fact been inspired by some lovely Cocoa Club
00:01:41
Speaker 1: members living in New Zealand who reached out to us
00:01:44
Speaker 1: to request a story specifically about a Kiwi bird. Jessica
00:01:51
Speaker 1: Mateo and Marla and Rosie two. Thank you for your support.
00:01:55
Speaker 1: I really hope you enjoy this little story all about Tia,
00:02:00
Speaker 1: a fuzzy little Kiwi living in a forest in your homeland.
00:02:05
Speaker 1: Tia has always wondered what it would be like to fly.
00:02:10
Speaker 1: With some help from the birds and animals around her,
00:02:14
Speaker 1: she embarks on an exciting adventure to see the world
00:02:17
Speaker 1: from up high. This is the Kiwi who dreamed of
00:02:22
Speaker 1: the Sky by Susannah McLaughlin. In a vast green forest,
00:02:35
Speaker 1: on a little island far away in a shining ocean,
00:02:39
Speaker 1: lived a little bird named Tia. Tia wasn't just any bird.
00:02:45
Speaker 1: She was a keiwek Kiwis were about the size of
00:02:49
Speaker 1: a small chicken, with plump, pear shaped bodies covered in fuzzy, tofty,
00:02:55
Speaker 1: gray speckled fur. They're very cuddly little things that look
00:02:59
Speaker 1: like pompoms, perched atop two little stilt light legs. They
00:03:04
Speaker 1: have long, thin beaks perfect for poking in holes and
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Speaker 1: nibbling seeds. But what makes the kiwi bird the most
00:03:13
Speaker 1: unusual is that they don't have any wings. They don't fly,
00:03:18
Speaker 1: you see, preferring to toddle around in the underbrush finding
00:03:23
Speaker 1: the nuts and fruits that tumble from the tallest trees.
00:03:28
Speaker 1: Tea was an exceptionally feathery kiwi, which is really saying something.
00:03:34
Speaker 1: She was like a ball of fluff, with two kind
00:03:38
Speaker 1: brown eyes and a smiling beak, and exceptionally large feet.
00:03:45
Speaker 1: She used these to run whizzing around the forest at night,
00:03:50
Speaker 1: singing as she went. She was a little explorer, running
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Speaker 1: from bush to bush seeking other birds and creatures to
00:03:57
Speaker 1: play with. She had been raised under a tall fern
00:04:02
Speaker 1: tree in the heart of the forest, and once she
00:04:05
Speaker 1: became fully grown and left the burrow, she'd begun to
00:04:09
Speaker 1: explore further. She would tootle about the clearing, at first nervously,
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Speaker 1: darting from behind her mom's legs and smelling all the
00:04:18
Speaker 1: new smells of the rainforest. Little by little, with support
00:04:24
Speaker 1: from her mum, Tia became braver and more adventurous, and
00:04:29
Speaker 1: soon she was old enough to put on her sun
00:04:31
Speaker 1: hat and head out on her own explorations. Now Tia
00:04:37
Speaker 1: had gotten to know every inch of the forest. She
00:04:40
Speaker 1: would dig a new burrow every day with her strong feet,
00:04:44
Speaker 1: Snoozing through the sunlight hours. She would emerge at dusk
00:04:49
Speaker 1: to explore new clearings, marveling at the growth of the saplings,
00:04:54
Speaker 1: nibbling at the offerings of the towering trees, watching the stars,
00:05:00
Speaker 1: or dancing her splish splash dance in the rain. The
00:05:05
Speaker 1: stars were amazing in the forest. You could see so
00:05:09
Speaker 1: many of them between the trees that the whole sky
00:05:13
Speaker 1: glowed misty white. Sometimes Tear would PLoP down on her
00:05:19
Speaker 1: round bottom and look for shapes in the constellations at
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Speaker 1: forest school. When she was a child, she had been
00:05:30
Speaker 1: too busy learning about the trees, flowers, and delicious foods
00:05:34
Speaker 1: of the rainforest to learn about the constellations all the
00:05:39
Speaker 1: way up in the sky. So she'd made up her
00:05:41
Speaker 1: own spotting patterns in the stars for herself. There was
00:05:47
Speaker 1: a crescent shaped cluster to the east that she thought
00:05:50
Speaker 1: looked like a dolphin jumping from the water, one to
00:05:55
Speaker 1: the south that she thought twisted into the twirly whirly
00:05:59
Speaker 1: shape over fern's new leaf, and one right overhead that
00:06:05
Speaker 1: was round and friendly looking that she thought was a
00:06:08
Speaker 1: kiwi just like her. The forest offered tear endless opportunities
00:06:15
Speaker 1: to play. The ground was covered with spongy moss to
00:06:20
Speaker 1: bounce on, and crisscrossed with rocky paths which made perfect racetracks.
00:06:27
Speaker 1: There were sparkling waterfalls to swim in and birds to
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Speaker 1: chatter with. She loved talking to all kinds of birds,
00:06:37
Speaker 1: even the tooes, who she could barely understand. The tes
00:06:43
Speaker 1: have gleaming dark feathers that shimmer in beautiful jeweled tones
00:06:48
Speaker 1: in the moonlight, and the smartest little ball of white
00:06:52
Speaker 1: feathers tucked under their chins. They are very sophisticated looking birds,
00:06:59
Speaker 1: but they talk in the most unusual robotic voices, babbling
00:07:05
Speaker 1: and burbling to each other, with whistles and crackles between
00:07:09
Speaker 1: their words. Tea barely knew what they were talking about,
00:07:16
Speaker 1: but she would giggle along with them anyway, enjoying their
00:07:19
Speaker 1: funny company. The forest was so big it seemed endless
00:07:25
Speaker 1: to Tia, especially since the trees were so very tall.
00:07:32
Speaker 1: The tallest palm trees and fan like ferns seemed to
00:07:37
Speaker 1: tower so far above her head that Tea felt tiny.
00:07:42
Speaker 1: Tucked up in her little burrow, she would zoom around
00:07:46
Speaker 1: from clearing to clearing all night and spend her days
00:07:51
Speaker 1: snoozing underground, enjoying the warm sun that trickled into her
00:07:57
Speaker 1: cozy spot in the undergrowth. One day, Tia awoke with
00:08:05
Speaker 1: a yawn, opening her beak wide and stretching her feathers.
00:08:11
Speaker 1: She blinked a few times and emerged into the dusk
00:08:16
Speaker 1: whilst the rest of the forest was winding down for bedtime.
00:08:21
Speaker 1: Above her, a tooy bird was perched on a branch,
00:08:25
Speaker 1: singing his funny song. Tia called up a cheery hello
00:08:32
Speaker 1: the Too. He looked down at her and wished her
00:08:35
Speaker 1: a good evening. He said she had caught him just
00:08:39
Speaker 1: as he was about to take his nighttime flight before
00:08:43
Speaker 1: he settled down in his nest for sleep. At least
00:08:48
Speaker 1: Tia thought that was what he said. Tia beamed up
00:08:51
Speaker 1: at him. The stars must look amazing from up there.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: Can you say hello to the constellations for me? There's
00:09:02
Speaker 1: a key we up there who I sometimes talked to,
00:09:05
Speaker 1: but I'm not sure she can hear little me chattering
00:09:09
Speaker 1: from all the way down here. The too. He giggled
00:09:14
Speaker 1: and said he would, spreading his gleaming wings and soaring
00:09:19
Speaker 1: into the sky until all Tear could see was the
00:09:23
Speaker 1: little white tuft on his neck, disappearing amongst the stars.
00:09:31
Speaker 1: Tiar sank down onto the soil and wondered what the
00:09:35
Speaker 1: too he must see from up there. He could probably
00:09:39
Speaker 1: see the whole forest stretched far and wide over the
00:09:43
Speaker 1: hills towards the sea. Maybe he could see the town
00:09:50
Speaker 1: where the people live, and the sea and mountains beyond.
00:09:56
Speaker 1: Tear closed her eyes and imagined it if only she
00:10:02
Speaker 1: could take a flight too and see the world from
00:10:05
Speaker 1: the sky. Even humans could fly in a little metal
00:10:11
Speaker 1: contraptions she saw soaring overhead from time to time. Why
00:10:16
Speaker 1: couldn't the kiwi Tia knew who she could ask? She
00:10:21
Speaker 1: called out for her friend Niko, who lived at the
00:10:24
Speaker 1: foot of a tall and spindly palm tree in the
00:10:27
Speaker 1: next clearing to the one she found herself in. She
00:10:32
Speaker 1: let out a calling of Kiwi Kiwi and soon heard
00:10:39
Speaker 1: heavy little feet padding through the undergrowth towards her. Niko
00:10:45
Speaker 1: was an old Kiwi who had lived in the forest
00:10:49
Speaker 1: since long before Tea was born. She often came to
00:10:53
Speaker 1: him with questions such as this one Niko had the
00:10:58
Speaker 1: sparkle of wisdom in his arm, and his fur was
00:11:01
Speaker 1: grayer than most, so Tia knew his answers were always right.
00:11:09
Speaker 1: Why can't Kiwi's fly, she asked Niko. Niko explained to
00:11:17
Speaker 1: Tia that many many years ago, her very brave and
00:11:23
Speaker 1: honorable Kiwi had given up his right to fly in
00:11:27
Speaker 1: order to look after the forest floor, and this is
00:11:31
Speaker 1: why Kiwi's had no wings. Tia puffed her chest in pride.
00:11:38
Speaker 1: She was very good at looking after the forest floor.
00:11:42
Speaker 1: She was proud of having no wings. Besides, who needed
00:11:47
Speaker 1: wings when you could run as fast as her? But
00:11:51
Speaker 1: she would love to see what the other birds could
00:11:54
Speaker 1: see from the sky. Niko smiled wisely, you don't need
00:12:02
Speaker 1: wings to see the world from the sky tier, he said,
00:12:08
Speaker 1: Think of the parrots who live in the mountains. Yes,
00:12:12
Speaker 1: they can soar on the wind, but their very favorite
00:12:17
Speaker 1: view of the world is from the comfort of their
00:12:20
Speaker 1: nests on the mountain tops, where your feet could be
00:12:25
Speaker 1: firmly on the ground as you look out at the
00:12:28
Speaker 1: world below you. Tia thought for a moment, but how
00:12:36
Speaker 1: would I get up the mountains without wings? She asked Niko.
00:12:43
Speaker 1: Nko chuckled with your sturdy, speedy feet, of course, he
00:12:51
Speaker 1: told her. He told Tia to wait for a moment,
00:12:56
Speaker 1: and retreated to his burrow. Nestled behind a cower cowbush.
00:13:02
Speaker 1: She heard the ruffling of paper and a couple of
00:13:06
Speaker 1: thuds from within his burrow. His Nko searched through his belongings.
00:13:12
Speaker 1: He was muttering to himself as he searched. Eventually, Tia
00:13:17
Speaker 1: heard the ah ha, which meant Nko had found what
00:13:22
Speaker 1: he was looking for. Tia saw Niko's long beak emerge
00:13:27
Speaker 1: from the bushes, followed by his furry body. He was
00:13:32
Speaker 1: clutching a roll of parchment between his toes. He rolled
00:13:38
Speaker 1: it out and Tia took in the markings. She pointed
00:13:43
Speaker 1: to a sketch of trees. That's the forest, she said,
00:13:50
Speaker 1: and a swathe of blue that's the ocean. She pointed
00:13:56
Speaker 1: to a collection of houses that's the town on and
00:14:01
Speaker 1: a big jagged mountain range there they are. Niko nodded.
00:14:10
Speaker 1: Follow the map, he said, and you'll be able to
00:14:14
Speaker 1: see the view from the sky too. And do say
00:14:19
Speaker 1: hello to the friends you meet along the way. There's
00:14:22
Speaker 1: a lot of friendly feathery folk out there, and so
00:14:26
Speaker 1: I'm not so feathery too, Tia smiled. She was no
00:14:33
Speaker 1: stranger to missions and quests, but this would be the
00:14:37
Speaker 1: first to lead her out of the forest. Tea stretched
00:14:43
Speaker 1: her legs, put on her beige bucket hat, and packed
00:14:47
Speaker 1: some berries and the map into her adventure bag. She
00:14:51
Speaker 1: strapped her bag across her body and wished Niko a
00:14:56
Speaker 1: good evening as she headed off on her adventure. For
00:15:00
Speaker 1: a long while, Tia ambled through the quiet of the forest,
00:15:06
Speaker 1: passed the trickling creek, and through the greenest moss. It
00:15:11
Speaker 1: was a warm, calm evening, and she smiled and whistled
00:15:15
Speaker 1: to herself as she went. She hopped across the waterful
00:15:21
Speaker 1: pool from stone to stone, and weaved between the prehistoric
00:15:27
Speaker 1: looking ferns and the wide, smooth trunks of cowry trees.
00:15:35
Speaker 1: She took a couple of detours, following funny sounds and
00:15:39
Speaker 1: friendly birds, and stopping for a quick bite to eat
00:15:44
Speaker 1: with a fluffy little bat. But after a long night,
00:15:49
Speaker 1: a day's nap, and another evening, Tea reached the edge
00:15:54
Speaker 1: of the forest. Before her stretched hilly fields and a
00:16:00
Speaker 1: long winding country road. She walked through the long grass
00:16:06
Speaker 1: beside the road pausing to chat with some friendly cows.
00:16:11
Speaker 1: They had curly fur in dark amber and black, with
00:16:16
Speaker 1: stripes of white across their bellies, and they blinked their
00:16:20
Speaker 1: long eyelashes and munched sleepily on the grass below their feet.
00:16:28
Speaker 1: The cows moved low helloes to Tear and plodded over
00:16:32
Speaker 1: to the fence to greet her. They thought it was
00:16:37
Speaker 1: unusual to see a Kiwi outside of the forest. The
00:16:42
Speaker 1: cows lowered their big heads and pricked their wide furry
00:16:47
Speaker 1: ears as Tear explained to them her mission. Many of
00:16:53
Speaker 1: the cows had visited the foothills of the mountains, spending
00:16:57
Speaker 1: sleepy summer days grazing on the long, dry mountain grass,
00:17:03
Speaker 1: but they'd never been in the forest. The grass there
00:17:08
Speaker 1: wasn't so green and delicious, and this was what cows
00:17:12
Speaker 1: valued above all else. Tia explained the variety of nuts
00:17:19
Speaker 1: and seeds they had in the forest, and she offered
00:17:22
Speaker 1: the cows some to try, but they kindly shook their
00:17:26
Speaker 1: big heads, insisting nothing could be more delicious to them
00:17:31
Speaker 1: than fresh, dewy grass. They wished Tia a happy journey
00:17:37
Speaker 1: and watched her with their big brown eyes as she
00:17:41
Speaker 1: scuttled away, heading towards the mountain. Before long, Tea reached
00:17:48
Speaker 1: the town. It was quiet and dark, and Tia stopped
00:17:53
Speaker 1: her whistling, enjoying the sleepy air and not wanting to
00:17:58
Speaker 1: wake anyone snoop nearby. All the humans would be asleep
00:18:04
Speaker 1: by now, tucked up tight in their beds. As she
00:18:10
Speaker 1: wandered through the town, she met a little fantail who
00:18:15
Speaker 1: just couldn't sleep. The tiny fairylike bird with the fanning
00:18:20
Speaker 1: peacock like tails was flitting from left to right, twirling
00:18:27
Speaker 1: and fluttering from hedge to hedge, branch to branch. She
00:18:33
Speaker 1: danced on the breeze around Tyar's head, inviting her to
00:18:38
Speaker 1: play chase through the gardens. Tear whizzed after the little bird,
00:18:44
Speaker 1: giggling and chuckling as she continuously evaded her grasp. Tear
00:18:51
Speaker 1: jumped into the air, trying to tag the little bird,
00:18:56
Speaker 1: but she always expertly flitted out of reach at the
00:19:00
Speaker 1: very last minute. Soon the two collapsed into the grass,
00:19:07
Speaker 1: grinning at one another. Once she'd caught her breath, the
00:19:12
Speaker 1: fantail said good night to Tia and flew away to
00:19:16
Speaker 1: her nest. Tea continued on her journey, weaving from garden
00:19:23
Speaker 1: to garden, Rustling through the bushes, smelling sweet tropical flowers
00:19:29
Speaker 1: here and there. She paused on the lawn at one house,
00:19:34
Speaker 1: looking up at a particularly tasty smelling bird feeder. As
00:19:40
Speaker 1: she stood there, gazing up at the delicious seeds hanging
00:19:44
Speaker 1: way overhead, a light clicked on. She stood in the grass,
00:19:50
Speaker 1: enjoying its warm glow, and before long two children came
00:19:56
Speaker 1: to the window, peeking out at her with excited smile.
00:20:01
Speaker 1: Two dogs soon followed, pressing their noses against the glass tier.
00:20:08
Speaker 1: Gave them a friendly smile and squeaked a kiwi, and
00:20:13
Speaker 1: they waved back happily. A few gardens down, Tiar noticed
00:20:21
Speaker 1: some fruit hanging from a trellis. Overhead. It grew on
00:20:26
Speaker 1: a twisting vine, and as she watched, one fell and
00:20:31
Speaker 1: rolled to her feet. Tia inspected the fruit with wonder.
00:20:37
Speaker 1: It was brown and fuzzy and looked rather familiar. In fact,
00:20:44
Speaker 1: it looked just like her. She gave it a nibble
00:20:49
Speaker 1: with her beak and found bright green, tangy flesh dotted
00:20:54
Speaker 1: with sour black seeds. It was delicious, and she savored
00:20:59
Speaker 1: the fruit, saying thank you into the air, intended for
00:21:03
Speaker 1: their gardener. She ate half of the slightly squashed fruit
00:21:09
Speaker 1: and put the rest in her satchel for later. After
00:21:14
Speaker 1: the delicious snack, she laid out on her back for
00:21:19
Speaker 1: a short while and poked her feet in the air,
00:21:23
Speaker 1: giving them a rest after they'd carried her so far.
00:21:28
Speaker 1: She looked at the map as she lay there. She
00:21:31
Speaker 1: wasn't far from the mountains now. As the sun began
00:21:36
Speaker 1: to rise, she could see them glistening in the distance.
00:21:41
Speaker 1: This made her too excited for her usual nap, and
00:21:45
Speaker 1: she put her sun hat on her head and set
00:21:48
Speaker 1: off on the path towards the sky. As she left
00:21:54
Speaker 1: the town, she crossed a creek. On the bank, enjoying
00:21:59
Speaker 1: them all wawning rays, laid a dragon. At least Tear
00:22:04
Speaker 1: thought it was a dragon. The creature had leathery green
00:22:10
Speaker 1: skin and gleaming eyes and a wide smile. It was
00:22:16
Speaker 1: a toothless, friendly smile. Small white spikes went down the
00:22:22
Speaker 1: ridge of his back and along his wide pointed tail.
00:22:28
Speaker 1: He had wide splayed feet, and he barely moved, stretched
00:22:33
Speaker 1: out on his belly, totally relaxed. Tear flopped down beside
00:22:40
Speaker 1: him and wished him a good morning. He wished her
00:22:45
Speaker 1: a good morning. In return. He spoke very slowly, as
00:22:51
Speaker 1: if in slow motion, and moved his head slowly to
00:22:55
Speaker 1: smile at her. He introduced himself as Tour and said
00:23:02
Speaker 1: it was short for Tuatara. Tia introduced herself and complimented
00:23:09
Speaker 1: him on his impressive name. He inquired about her journey,
00:23:16
Speaker 1: when Tia told him that she had come from a
00:23:19
Speaker 1: forest to a smiled So you know Niko, the wise
00:23:26
Speaker 1: old Kiwi of the forest. Tia nodded and told him
00:23:31
Speaker 1: proudly that Niko was a good friend of hers. Tua
00:23:37
Speaker 1: told her that Niko had passed this way many years
00:23:40
Speaker 1: ago on an adventure, wearing a funny hat and a
00:23:45
Speaker 1: little satchel just like her. Tia wasn't surprised Kiwi's were
00:23:51
Speaker 1: an adventurous sword. Tua told her that Niko had been
00:23:57
Speaker 1: coming down the mountain when they met, and that he
00:24:01
Speaker 1: told Tour that he had made friends with an alpine
00:24:05
Speaker 1: parrot who had shown him the way. He told Tia
00:24:11
Speaker 1: that all she needed to do to call the bird
00:24:15
Speaker 1: was cool chia into the air. That was how the
00:24:22
Speaker 1: alpine parrots called to one another. Tia thanked to her
00:24:29
Speaker 1: and gave him the remainder of the tangy green fruit
00:24:33
Speaker 1: from her satchel, which he accepted happily. He told Tia
00:24:39
Speaker 1: that the humans called these Kiwi fruit as they looked
00:24:44
Speaker 1: so much like the little bird. Tia was tickled pink
00:24:49
Speaker 1: to learn that the humans loved Kiwi birds so much
00:24:53
Speaker 1: that they dedicated such a delicious fruit to them. To
00:24:59
Speaker 1: a munched the Kiwi fruit contentedly as he waved tier
00:25:03
Speaker 1: off onto the path that led up the mountain. Before long,
00:25:10
Speaker 1: Tia found herself padding up the path into the clouds.
00:25:15
Speaker 1: She was so excited that she skipped and hopped every
00:25:20
Speaker 1: other step for a while, skipping and hopping more and
00:25:25
Speaker 1: more often, until she eventually burst into a run. She
00:25:32
Speaker 1: looked like a cloud herself, whizzing along the path towards
00:25:36
Speaker 1: the sky. She weaved through the feet of a couple
00:25:41
Speaker 1: of hikers in a blur of feathers. Before long, Tia
00:25:46
Speaker 1: was in the shelter of tall pine trees, hopping over
00:25:51
Speaker 1: rocks and roots and brushing past shrubs. The little Kiwi
00:25:57
Speaker 1: stopped panting in the shade of a fern. She could
00:26:03
Speaker 1: tell that she was high up here, but all she
00:26:08
Speaker 1: could see was trees. She looked this way and that,
00:26:13
Speaker 1: but all she saw was trees. Where was the sky?
00:26:19
Speaker 1: She needed some special help. She threw back her head
00:26:24
Speaker 1: and a whistled a key, and before she knew it,
00:26:30
Speaker 1: a beautiful parrot soared into the clearing. She was feathered
00:26:35
Speaker 1: in gleaming green with flashes of vibrant orange underneath each
00:26:41
Speaker 1: wide wing. She had a hooked beak, the top curling
00:26:47
Speaker 1: around the bottom, which gave her a cute little smile,
00:26:51
Speaker 1: adding to the kindness in her green eyes. She swooped
00:26:57
Speaker 1: down and introduced herself as Kia. I thought you were Nko,
00:27:04
Speaker 1: but you're much fluffier and much less silver head, Kia said.
00:27:11
Speaker 1: Tia introduced herself and they shook talons. Kea said she
00:27:17
Speaker 1: was very pleased to meet Tia, and Tia agreed. Kia
00:27:22
Speaker 1: and her friends lived in the mountains, swooping from peak
00:27:27
Speaker 1: to peak, playing games with hikers and trying to nibble
00:27:31
Speaker 1: on their snacks when they weren't looking. Kier had the strongest,
00:27:37
Speaker 1: most beautiful wings, which Tia looked at in awe. You're
00:27:44
Speaker 1: so lucky you can fly, Tia said, well, you're lucky
00:27:51
Speaker 1: to have such strong feet. Kia replied, how far you
00:27:58
Speaker 1: must have climbed to get here, and you're lucky to
00:28:02
Speaker 1: be small enough to forage in the undergrowth. You must
00:28:07
Speaker 1: get the most delicious berries of all. Anyway, you're about
00:28:14
Speaker 1: to see the world from on high to It's just
00:28:18
Speaker 1: this way. Kia led Tear through the trees, swooping through
00:28:26
Speaker 1: the air ahead of her, until they reached the very
00:28:31
Speaker 1: peak of the mountain. Just a few steps more, Kia said,
00:28:40
Speaker 1: and you'll reach the tippy top of the mountain. Tea
00:28:45
Speaker 1: thanked Kia with a dazzling smile, and the parrot spread
00:28:51
Speaker 1: her wings and took off to the sky. It was
00:28:58
Speaker 1: breath taking tears. Home lay spread out beneath her, underneath
00:29:06
Speaker 1: wisps of white cloud. Ahead of her was the sky,
00:29:12
Speaker 1: bright blue and vaster than Tear had ever imagined. The
00:29:18
Speaker 1: forests spread out far into the distance, an endless carpet
00:29:24
Speaker 1: of green tree tops and hills rippled in the land beyond.
00:29:31
Speaker 1: The sea sparkled in the distance, and the town looked
00:29:36
Speaker 1: tiny from here, like the little ant villages in the forest.
00:29:43
Speaker 1: Tea now knew why her home was called Land of
00:29:48
Speaker 1: the Long White Cloud. The island expanded in wisps in
00:29:55
Speaker 1: the sky blue of the ocean. Tia the Kiwi didn't
00:30:03
Speaker 1: need to fly. No view could be better than this.
00:30:10
Speaker 1: She plopped down on her bottom and slumped back for
00:30:16
Speaker 1: a nap. You couldn't do that whilst flying. When she awoke,
00:30:25
Speaker 1: it was dusk and the sky had begun to darken
00:30:29
Speaker 1: with smudges of pink and orange. Before long, the stars
00:30:36
Speaker 1: came out to twinkle in the sky. The Dolphin constellation
00:30:42
Speaker 1: was visible first, and then the fern, and then the
00:30:48
Speaker 1: kiwi right overhead. Tea gazed up at her and smiled.
00:30:57
Speaker 1: Maybe she was close enough now for the kiwi in
00:31:01
Speaker 1: the stars to hear her Kiwi. She cooed in greeting,
00:31:10
Speaker 1: and to her surprise, her response was sung out in
00:31:15
Speaker 1: the night, not from above, but from behind her. Tear
00:31:22
Speaker 1: propped herself up and turned just as some one emerged
00:31:28
Speaker 1: from the bush behind her. It was another Kiwi, Feathers,
00:31:35
Speaker 1: all ruffled and messy, with his own adventure hat, which
00:31:40
Speaker 1: was similar to her cowboy hat in style, but made
00:31:44
Speaker 1: in the softest blue felt. He had a satchel slung
00:31:50
Speaker 1: over his shoulder too, with his own map and snacks
00:31:55
Speaker 1: bursting from the pockets. He bounded over to Tear and
00:32:01
Speaker 1: plopped down at her side, who needs to fly, he said, merrily,
00:32:10
Speaker 1: looking out at the view. When your adventurous and strong,
00:32:15
Speaker 1: like Akiwi Tia agreed, our feet can take us anywhere
00:32:24
Speaker 1: and we get to meet everyone who crosses our path.
00:32:30
Speaker 1: Tear and her new friend gaze down on the world,
00:32:35
Speaker 1: pointing out the forest, amazed by how far they had
00:32:41
Speaker 1: come and about how much they had yet to explore.