The Owl That Yawned Til Dawn 🦉🥱 Best Kids Bedtime Stories

[00:00:10] Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, your podcast of original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime a dream.

[00:00:21] Welcome to our long-time listener Zara from Australia and welcome back to Adelaide. We love having you both in the Coco Club and want you to know that no matter what, you'll always find a cozy, soothing bedtime here with us.

[00:00:36] Now, before we start, Kelly from Koala Shine has popped in to tell me that Hector and Sunny have been on a huge adventure. You won't believe it, but Sunny ran for president. Incredible, I know, but 100% true. Search Koala Shine and save the episode to listen to tomorrow and find out whether she won.

[00:00:59] Before we begin, a quick message for the grown-ups. If you'd like to support our podcast, enjoy ad-free listening, unlock four bonus stories per month and much, much more, you can join Coco Club. Subscribe in just two taps via the link in the show notes. But now here's a quick word from our sponsors.

[00:01:20] Hey, Koala Moon listeners, especially all the families and parents tuning in. As a mum, I talk to a lot of parents, but I've never heard them talk about a new kids' product the way they talk about this.

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[00:03:07] Hello, Koala Moon listeners.

[00:03:09] If you have babies and toddlers in your family, then this announcement is for you.

[00:03:13] I'd like to tell you about my other sleep show, Koala Tots.

[00:03:17] It's got all the magic of Koala Moon, but it's made especially for the littlest of listeners, babies and toddlers.

[00:03:24] Koala Tots is packed with soothing stories and calming rhymes, perfect for helping babies and toddlers sleep like a dream.

[00:03:32] Not only are the stories incredibly relaxing, but they have easy-to-understand language and gentle repetition designed to help with babies' cognitive development as they drift off to sleep.

[00:03:44] There's even appearances from some of the Koala Moon star favourites alongside the cutest episodes like How to Hug a Hedgehog and Nugget's Cozy Night.

[00:03:54] So search Koala Tots on your favourite podcast player and hit follow so you can find it easily night after night.

[00:04:05] I'm guessing some of you have been listening for a while to Koala Moon, and I have a question for you.

[00:04:11] How do you like the idea of going to sleep?

[00:04:14] Honestly, are you a fan or not of going to bed?

[00:04:17] Tonight we're going to meet a little creature who certainly doesn't see the point in closing his eyes and missing out on the fun of being up and awake.

[00:04:26] The only problem is, he won't stop yawning.

[00:04:31] He never gets the rest he needs, because all day and all night he's out and about.

[00:04:36] So, to try and encourage him to slow down, his friends decide to point out to him all the amazing things that occur when you sleep, like dreams.

[00:04:47] I think listening to this may well give you some dream inspo too.

[00:04:52] Let's see.

[00:04:54] Firstly, lie back in bed and see if you can make yourself yawn.

[00:05:00] Breathe in and out a few times.

[00:05:02] And then, after a lovely deep in-breath, and when you're ready, open your mouth really wide and see if you can make a lovely big yawny sound as you breathe out.

[00:05:17] Wonderful.

[00:05:18] I think it is the perfect time to meet our little friend now.

[00:05:24] This is The Owl That Yawned Till Dawn by Jane Thomas

[00:05:38] Barnabas Carruthers Wingaloft III is a very small owl with a very big name.

[00:05:45] It's a bit of a mouthful, to be honest, so we'll call him the name all his friends use, and that's Sparky.

[00:05:53] He's little more than a tiny bundle of golden fluff and feathers that stick out at funny angles from his head and his wings and his soft downy belly, which is why he got the name Sparky.

[00:06:05] That, and because he's so very, very, very lively.

[00:06:12] Sparky is interested in a thousand different things.

[00:06:16] This little owl likes football and basketball as much as he likes ping pong and pogo sticks.

[00:06:23] He likes fishing and singing, walking and talking, flying and floating and dancing and boating.

[00:06:32] He loves all this so much, however, that there's a problem.

[00:06:38] Sparky never sleeps.

[00:06:41] As I'm sure you know, owls generally sleep through the day and come out at night.

[00:06:47] Nighttime is usually the time they love the most, soaring through dark skies, following the lights of twinkling stars,

[00:06:55] white wings spread wide across inky black backdrops.

[00:06:59] You may be very lucky and see an owl in the early light of dawn sometimes,

[00:07:04] when they're heading home from whatever adventures they've just been on.

[00:07:09] Perhaps you've heard them just as the sky starts to get dark,

[00:07:13] when the sun sinks over the horizon.

[00:07:16] An echoing hoot that travels through the trees and out into the open,

[00:07:22] letting the others know they're awake, they're up, and they're heading out.

[00:07:27] Sparky loves the night.

[00:07:30] He and his closest owl friends play flying games,

[00:07:34] racing from the great oak across to the mighty pine,

[00:07:38] dashing past branches with barely a feather's breadth between wings and wood.

[00:07:44] And then there are his bat friends,

[00:07:46] the squeaking gossips of the night sky,

[00:07:49] who chitter-chatter from dusk till dawn,

[00:07:52] and can flash through the night faster than a will-o'-the-wisp.

[00:07:57] Moths are always up for races too,

[00:08:00] and although they're small,

[00:08:02] they have the advantage that they can fit into teeny tiny spaces

[00:08:07] and take sneaky shortcuts through the trees.

[00:08:10] The thing is, Sparky also loves the day.

[00:08:16] The colours are so much brighter.

[00:08:18] He can see for miles and miles,

[00:08:22] and you can't see rainbows at night.

[00:08:25] If Sparky slept all day,

[00:08:27] he would have no idea that rainbows existed.

[00:08:30] And being a little blob of gold himself,

[00:08:34] he loves hanging out at the end of them.

[00:08:37] During the day, Sparky gets to spend his time

[00:08:40] with a load of different creatures,

[00:08:42] and some of his best friends are cats and dogs

[00:08:45] who get to tell him all about the insides of homes where they live.

[00:08:51] He's all sorts of fascinated by houses and cottages

[00:08:56] and high-rises and garden sheds,

[00:08:59] anywhere really that people like to sleep.

[00:09:02] He flew into a house once and was so giddy with excitement,

[00:09:07] he raced into the back of a wardrobe.

[00:09:10] The door closed behind him,

[00:09:12] and he accidentally spent an entire night in there.

[00:09:16] It's hard to know who was more surprised,

[00:09:19] the little old lady who opened the wardrobe door who let him out,

[00:09:24] or his mother when he finally made it back home.

[00:09:27] He promised his mother he would never disappear like that again,

[00:09:32] and has stuck to his word,

[00:09:34] getting stories of these inner worlds from the cats

[00:09:37] who hang out beneath lavender bushes,

[00:09:40] and the dogs who lounge about on tartan rugs in the sunshine.

[00:09:45] At this point, Sparky has given up on sleep entirely.

[00:09:49] It means he yawns an awful lot,

[00:09:53] but it also means he doesn't have to miss out on a single thing.

[00:10:00] Little Sparky, asks his grandmother with a smile.

[00:10:04] Why don't you want to go to sleep?

[00:10:09] I don't want to miss a single thing, says Sparky.

[00:10:15] Dear Sparky, asks his auntie, taking him under her wing.

[00:10:20] Why don't you want to go to sleep?

[00:10:24] I have too much energy.

[00:10:26] I don't want to be still, says Sparky.

[00:10:31] Darling Sparky, says his mother, polishing Sparky's beak before bed.

[00:10:36] Why don't you want to go to sleep?

[00:10:41] There's too much world to see, says Sparky.

[00:10:46] The three owls sigh as they watch Sparky head out into the early light of dawn.

[00:10:54] They gather some of the little owl's closest friends,

[00:10:57] and together they hatch a plan.

[00:11:01] They've watched Sparky yawn from night till morn.

[00:11:05] They've seen him yawn from dusk till dawn.

[00:11:10] And they've decided enough is enough.

[00:11:14] Sparky, who wants to know everything,

[00:11:17] must learn how wonderful sleep can be.

[00:11:21] He must be shown how peaceful it is to lie safely curled up in a warm and cosy bed,

[00:11:30] blanket pulled up to his beak,

[00:11:32] and head resting on the softest of pillows.

[00:11:37] He must realize how amazing dreams can be,

[00:11:42] taking us to places on the other side of the world,

[00:11:45] in the space of a few breaths.

[00:11:49] He will have more energy, says his grandmother wisely.

[00:11:56] He will feel happier, says his auntie, assured.

[00:12:01] He will still be our Sparky, says his mother with a smile.

[00:12:09] Just a Sparky with a lot less yawn.

[00:12:15] You would think Sparky might have thought it strange what happened as he went about his day.

[00:12:22] The first friend he came across was a rabbit named Twitch,

[00:12:26] on account of her little pink nose always twitching and sniffing the air.

[00:12:32] You never knew, after all, where someone might have hidden a carrot.

[00:12:36] Hey, Twitch, said Sparky.

[00:12:40] Do you want to play log balancing?

[00:12:43] Let's see who can stay on a log the longest.

[00:12:47] We could, answered Twitch.

[00:12:51] Or I could tell you about my dream last night.

[00:12:55] Twitch told Sparky all about how she had climbed into her bed

[00:13:00] and pulled her little blue blanket right up to her nose,

[00:13:04] how she had shuffled her head this way and that on the pillow

[00:13:09] and put her ears in just the right places.

[00:13:13] Then, how she had drawn her legs up so she was curled up

[00:13:18] in a teeny tiny ball as she fell fast asleep.

[00:13:22] Her mother had sung her a lullaby the way she always did,

[00:13:27] her gentle voice rising and falling

[00:13:31] in a soft lilt that told the tale of a rabbit long before,

[00:13:37] who had run through the fields by day

[00:13:40] and slept safe in his burrow at night.

[00:13:44] And then, Twitch had disappeared into a dream

[00:13:47] where she and her brothers had burrowed and burrowed,

[00:13:52] digging through soft soil

[00:13:54] and going deeper than they ever had dared before.

[00:14:00] The colour of the earth had changed,

[00:14:03] going from dark brown to the red of burnished copper.

[00:14:08] And then, all of a sudden,

[00:14:11] they had emerged into a field where the grass was dry

[00:14:15] and the sky stretched above was the brightest blue.

[00:14:20] And in the distance,

[00:14:23] there had been elephants and zebras

[00:14:25] and a leopard lazing on a lilo

[00:14:29] and a hippo twirling in a tutu.

[00:14:32] A giraffe in a scarf had strode slowly by

[00:14:36] and the tiniest, blackest, shiniest, smartest dung beetle

[00:14:43] had rolled past with a perfect ball of dung being pushed by his hind legs.

[00:14:51] And Twitch had danced with flamingos

[00:14:54] who swooped and bowed and curtsied and swayed,

[00:14:59] a thousand together in a lake that shimmered as if filled with diamonds and stars.

[00:15:08] And when Sparky had heard the dream,

[00:15:11] he couldn't believe that it was possible to disappear to such magical places

[00:15:16] while you were fast asleep.

[00:15:19] He had always longed to go to Africa

[00:15:22] and wondered however it might be possible,

[00:15:25] and here was the answer.

[00:15:27] He just had to fall asleep.

[00:15:31] But then he remembered the fun of standing on a log that bobbed

[00:15:36] and rolled as it rested in a lake.

[00:15:39] And he thought, well,

[00:15:41] it wasn't possible to do that and fall asleep.

[00:15:45] And maybe he should stay awake after all.

[00:15:50] Twitch's mother was calling her in for lunch,

[00:15:53] so Sparky went on his way.

[00:15:56] He flew across one of his favourite fields,

[00:16:00] the one dotted with sunflowers that turned their faces to the sky

[00:16:05] and basked in the warmth of the sun,

[00:16:08] and went to the village of Lower Botherington.

[00:16:12] His friend Hank lived there,

[00:16:15] a huge bull who lived in the back garden of an old man's cottage,

[00:16:19] and the pair enjoyed grumping about their day to each other.

[00:16:24] Not enough mud,

[00:16:26] Hank would grumble,

[00:16:28] thrusting his hooves into barely squelching ground as if to prove his point.

[00:16:34] Too much mud,

[00:16:37] the old man would mumble back,

[00:16:39] pointing out the line of black-brown footsteps

[00:16:42] that now led through his living room

[00:16:45] and straight to the bottoms of his welly-wearing feet.

[00:16:48] Hey, Hank,

[00:16:50] called Sparky.

[00:16:52] Care to race me across the field?

[00:16:55] Oh, I would.

[00:16:57] I absolutely would,

[00:17:00] said Hank.

[00:17:01] But, you see,

[00:17:03] it's time for my afternoon nap.

[00:17:06] Nothing better than an afternoon nap, you know.

[00:17:10] I have the most wonderful dreams.

[00:17:15] Do you know what I dreamed about yesterday?

[00:17:19] And Hank started to tell Sparky

[00:17:22] all about how he'd lain down in the shade of his favourite horse chestnut tree.

[00:17:28] The grass had been just perfect.

[00:17:31] Not too wet,

[00:17:33] and not too dry.

[00:17:35] Not too firm,

[00:17:37] and not too soft.

[00:17:39] Exactly as he liked it.

[00:17:42] The sun rippled through the leaves of the tree,

[00:17:46] enough to keep him warm,

[00:17:48] but not too warm.

[00:17:50] And the breeze rustled against the grass,

[00:17:54] enough to keep him cool,

[00:17:56] but not too cool.

[00:17:58] Oh, and he had dreamed the most wonderful dream.

[00:18:02] A butterfly had landed right on the end of his nose,

[00:18:07] pink and golden wings opening and closing gently in time to his breathing.

[00:18:15] When he breathed in,

[00:18:16] the wings would open,

[00:18:18] and when he breathed out,

[00:18:21] the wings would close.

[00:18:24] Then the butterfly had taken flight,

[00:18:28] and Hank had followed as she led him to a silver stream,

[00:18:32] where the water sparkled and sang as it rolled over the pebbles.

[00:18:38] And she had shown him a cave,

[00:18:41] hidden behind a waterfall,

[00:18:43] and he had followed her inside.

[00:18:47] And there,

[00:18:48] inside,

[00:18:49] the walls were lit by fallen stars,

[00:18:53] their glow as golden as the sun,

[00:18:56] and a frog wearing a beret sat waiting on a log,

[00:19:01] a paintbrush held in his hand,

[00:19:03] and a faraway look in his eyes.

[00:19:07] The butterfly led Hank to a clearing in the cave,

[00:19:11] where light shone down from an opening far above in the ground,

[00:19:16] and lit him in a single beam of sunshine.

[00:19:19] Then,

[00:19:21] a thousand fireflies came,

[00:19:24] and placed flowers on his horns,

[00:19:27] and polished the ring he wore in his nose,

[00:19:30] so it dazzled and danced.

[00:19:33] Then,

[00:19:34] the frog had reached for his paints,

[00:19:36] and stood before his easel,

[00:19:39] looking back and forth between the canvas and the bull,

[00:19:42] capturing the moment when Hank was perfectly lit,

[00:19:47] and dressed with a thousand flowers.

[00:19:51] And when the frog was finished,

[00:19:54] and the canvas dried,

[00:19:56] the pink and golden butterfly,

[00:19:59] led him to a cave,

[00:20:01] that opened up as if it were a cathedral beneath the ground,

[00:20:06] and the painting was hung on a wall,

[00:20:09] with the other masterpieces of the frog.

[00:20:13] A pea-green duck sailed a boat across the seas,

[00:20:19] and a snail slid on skis down the side of a snow-dress mountain.

[00:20:25] Here,

[00:20:26] a chipmunk feasted on golden cherries and chocolate,

[00:20:31] and there,

[00:20:32] a caterpillar did cartwheels in a flowing silver dress.

[00:20:38] Sparky blinked a little,

[00:20:40] as Hank finished his story,

[00:20:43] and thought,

[00:20:44] what a wonderful dream that must have been to disappear into.

[00:20:49] His feathers felt a little heavy,

[00:20:53] and he felt a yawn pressing against the inside of his beak,

[00:20:57] but he pushed aside the feeling,

[00:20:59] and instead waved goodbye to Hank,

[00:21:03] and wished him sweet afternoon dreams.

[00:21:07] If Twitch didn't want to play with a log,

[00:21:10] and Hank didn't want to race across a field,

[00:21:14] perhaps his friend,

[00:21:15] Fergus,

[00:21:17] the great ginger cat,

[00:21:18] would join him for an hour of tail chasing,

[00:21:21] before the sun started to set.

[00:21:25] Sparky found Fergus,

[00:21:27] curled up in the conservatory,

[00:21:29] at the back of the cottage he shared with Mrs. Hazelberry.

[00:21:34] Theirs was the last of the homes in Lower Botherington,

[00:21:38] before you reached the lane that led to the sea,

[00:21:41] and Sparky and Fergus often walked together.

[00:21:45] Well,

[00:21:46] Fergus walked and Sparky flew,

[00:21:48] down to the beach at this time of day.

[00:21:52] Tail chasing in the final hours of daylight,

[00:21:55] was something they both loved to do,

[00:21:58] twirling round and round on the sand,

[00:22:01] before falling with a splish and a splash into the emerald sea.

[00:22:07] Hey,

[00:22:08] Fergus,

[00:22:09] called Sparky,

[00:22:11] knocking with his beak on the glass of the conservatory.

[00:22:14] Fancy coming out for a bit of tail chasing?

[00:22:18] The large ginger cat stretched and yawned.

[00:22:23] The sun had come at just the right angle onto the comfiest of the chairs,

[00:22:29] and he had been indulging in a little bonus catnap,

[00:22:34] while Mrs. Hazelberry was off visiting her sister for the day.

[00:22:39] When she was home,

[00:22:40] there was so often something to disturb him.

[00:22:43] The clanging of pans in the kitchen,

[00:22:47] the rush of the washing machine,

[00:22:49] the hum of the hoover,

[00:22:51] and he liked to take advantage of every moment when she slipped away for a while.

[00:22:58] Of course,

[00:22:59] when she was home and it was evening,

[00:23:02] he would curl up on her knee,

[00:23:04] and together,

[00:23:05] they would have a cheeky bit of boneless shut eye.

[00:23:08] But during the day,

[00:23:10] it was a rare treat to squeeze in asleep.

[00:23:13] I'm sorry,

[00:23:16] said Fergus,

[00:23:17] swishing his tail by way of apology.

[00:23:21] You know I would.

[00:23:23] I love a bit of tail chasing.

[00:23:26] But I've just emerged from the most wonderful dream,

[00:23:33] and I'm hoping I can slip back into it.

[00:23:37] And for the third time that day,

[00:23:42] Sparky found himself listening to the story of a dream.

[00:23:47] It didn't cross his mind at all

[00:23:50] that it was perhaps terribly strange

[00:23:53] that all his friends were telling him about their most wonderful dreams.

[00:23:58] Maybe because he was getting awfully wrapped up in the stories,

[00:24:04] and rather beginning to wonder if he could conjure up something as magical as them.

[00:24:12] Fergus explained that he had climbed onto the couch and settled his head against his favourite cushion,

[00:24:21] rolling onto his back,

[00:24:24] and spreading his paws to take full advantage of the warmth of the late afternoon sun shining through the window.

[00:24:34] He had done his usual trick of counting imaginary stars to fall asleep,

[00:24:40] and was barely halfway around the outline of a weeping willow done in silver sparkles when he disappeared into a dream.

[00:24:49] The cat had found himself floating on a flying carpet,

[00:24:57] one so soft he sunk right into it as he watched the golden tassels flap and flail in the wind.

[00:25:08] Higher and higher he'd flown into the sky,

[00:25:12] drifting over trees and forests and far away to the mountains.

[00:25:20] The carpet had floated down until it landed on a bed of purple heather,

[00:25:26] and Fergus had stepped off and followed the lilting sound of a lute

[00:25:31] to the very top of the snow-capped mountain.

[00:25:34] And there, on a rock, green with moss and as soft as the snow,

[00:25:41] sat a llama with a little guitar,

[00:25:43] strumming a song he'd learned ten thousand miles away.

[00:25:48] The llama hummed,

[00:25:51] a sweet melody lifting into the sky

[00:25:55] and taking flight with a hundred bluebirds that rose on the notes of the song

[00:26:00] and spread it to all the corners of the land.

[00:26:04] And then he was back on the carpet

[00:26:07] and flying away from the mountain and heading over the sea,

[00:26:11] and he looked down to see a dozen dolphins dancing in the twilight,

[00:26:18] silver waves rushing over them.

[00:26:22] Whales wallowed in the waters,

[00:26:25] warmed by the rays of the sun,

[00:26:28] and seagulls spread their wings and soared,

[00:26:32] eyes closed,

[00:26:34] towards the distant horizon.

[00:26:36] And the skies turned pink

[00:26:39] as the sun started to sink lower and lower in the sky.

[00:26:45] On the backs of the seagulls were oysters,

[00:26:49] open to the air and pearls shining and gleaming,

[00:26:53] polished to perfection.

[00:26:55] And the oysters rocked back on the feathers of the birds

[00:27:00] and felt the sun

[00:27:01] and saw the first stars appear in the sky overhead.

[00:27:05] As Fergus finished his story,

[00:27:11] Sparky found he could do nothing to stop his yawn.

[00:27:15] His beak stretched wide

[00:27:18] and he rushed to cover it with his wing,

[00:27:22] just as his mother had taught him to do.

[00:27:25] And with his eyes closed,

[00:27:27] he missed seeing Fergus sneak a smile to himself.

[00:27:32] He missed that Hank was standing

[00:27:35] and looking over the garden wall,

[00:27:38] and he missed that Twitch was hiding in the rose bushes.

[00:27:43] He missed that his friends were all there,

[00:27:48] watching and waiting,

[00:27:50] seeing if they'd managed to work a little magic

[00:27:54] and convince Sparky that sleep was a wonderful thing.

[00:27:59] Because much as the real world is full of marvels,

[00:28:04] there is magic buried in our imagination

[00:28:07] that only comes out in dreams.

[00:28:13] Sparky was a very sleepy owl

[00:28:17] as he flew back to his bed that night.

[00:28:20] His mother and auntie and grandmother

[00:28:24] had all stayed awake during the day,

[00:28:29] hoping against hope

[00:28:30] that he would return home ready to slip into his bed

[00:28:35] and disappear into a dream.

[00:28:39] On this night, they hoped,

[00:28:43] the tiny owl would not yawn until dawn,

[00:28:47] but instead would snuffle and sniffle

[00:28:51] and rustle and smile

[00:28:54] as he slept the sleep of a thousand nights.

[00:29:00] It was a very sleepy Sparky

[00:29:03] who returned to the nest,

[00:29:06] and he didn't argue

[00:29:07] as his mother helped him polish his beak before bed.

[00:29:12] And he didn't argue

[00:29:14] when his grandmother

[00:29:15] pulled on his bright red bed socks

[00:29:19] and his long, woolly nightcap.

[00:29:23] And he didn't argue

[00:29:25] when his auntie said she would sit by his side

[00:29:29] and sing him a lullaby.

[00:29:32] Yes, he mumbled.

[00:29:35] Twitch's mother sings lullabies to her.

[00:29:39] I think I'd like that.

[00:29:44] The three owls gathered around Sparky

[00:29:47] and tucked his blanket

[00:29:49] right up to his beak

[00:29:51] and close around his wings

[00:29:54] and safely over his feet.

[00:29:57] And they plumped his pillow

[00:30:00] and asked the glowworms

[00:30:03] to turn down their glow.

[00:30:06] Then Sparky's auntie

[00:30:09] sat on the stool beside his bed

[00:30:11] and lilted a lullaby,

[00:30:15] letting it take flight

[00:30:16] in the small room

[00:30:18] and drift out into the darkness.

[00:30:23] She sang the song

[00:30:24] her mother had sung to her

[00:30:26] when she was a little owl too.

[00:30:30] The one about flying high

[00:30:32] to paint the stars

[00:30:34] and dance on the moon.

[00:30:37] And the one

[00:30:38] where they rode back to earth

[00:30:40] on a single moonbeam

[00:30:42] and then drifted on a lake

[00:30:46] on a lily leaf.

[00:30:49] And for the first time

[00:30:51] in a long time,

[00:30:53] Sparky didn't worry

[00:30:55] that he was missing out

[00:30:57] on anything.

[00:30:59] He didn't feel

[00:31:01] that he needed to keep moving

[00:31:03] and rushing

[00:31:04] from one place

[00:31:06] to the next.

[00:31:08] He didn't sit

[00:31:10] and imagine

[00:31:10] the size of the world

[00:31:12] and how much

[00:31:14] there was to see.

[00:31:16] As he lay in the bed,

[00:31:19] warm and cosy,

[00:31:21] he felt his wings

[00:31:23] relax at his sides.

[00:31:26] He listened

[00:31:28] to the sound

[00:31:29] of his breathing,

[00:31:31] slowing it down,

[00:31:32] down.

[00:31:33] So he drew in

[00:31:35] one long breath

[00:31:37] and held it

[00:31:39] for one,

[00:31:40] two,

[00:31:42] three,

[00:31:43] and then slowly,

[00:31:46] slowly

[00:31:46] let out the breath,

[00:31:49] counting for one,

[00:31:51] two,

[00:31:52] three.

[00:31:53] He felt the rise

[00:31:56] and fall of his chest,

[00:31:59] felt everything inside

[00:32:01] slowing down.

[00:32:03] He tried again,

[00:32:06] drawing in one

[00:32:08] long breath

[00:32:09] and holding it

[00:32:12] for one,

[00:32:14] two,

[00:32:16] three,

[00:32:17] and slowly,

[00:32:20] ever so slowly,

[00:32:21] letting it out

[00:32:23] for one,

[00:32:25] two,

[00:32:27] three.

[00:32:30] That

[00:32:30] is all it took

[00:32:32] for Sparky

[00:32:34] to fall asleep.

[00:32:37] He didn't see

[00:32:38] the smiles

[00:32:39] that went

[00:32:40] between his mother

[00:32:41] and his grandmother

[00:32:42] and his auntie.

[00:32:45] He didn't see

[00:32:47] because

[00:32:48] he was fast asleep,

[00:32:50] disappearing

[00:32:52] into a dream

[00:32:53] where

[00:32:54] he was somehow,

[00:32:57] in that magical way,

[00:32:59] we can get places

[00:33:00] in dreams

[00:33:01] in a single moment,

[00:33:04] far away,

[00:33:05] on the other side

[00:33:07] of the world.

[00:33:09] And he was seeing

[00:33:11] creatures

[00:33:11] he had never

[00:33:13] seen before.

[00:33:15] and there

[00:33:16] were flowers

[00:33:17] nodding up

[00:33:18] at him

[00:33:19] that he'd

[00:33:19] never known.

[00:33:21] And the way

[00:33:22] the fields

[00:33:23] poured

[00:33:24] and rolled

[00:33:25] into the sea

[00:33:26] was so different

[00:33:28] to all

[00:33:29] he had seen.

[00:33:30] And the colour

[00:33:31] of the ocean

[00:33:32] was new.

[00:33:34] It was bluer

[00:33:35] and brighter

[00:33:36] and larger

[00:33:38] than he'd

[00:33:39] ever thought

[00:33:40] possible.

[00:33:42] Then

[00:33:43] he was

[00:33:44] on an island

[00:33:44] and a million

[00:33:46] stars

[00:33:47] glistened

[00:33:49] and glittered

[00:33:50] in the sky.

[00:33:52] And he was

[00:33:53] on the sand

[00:33:54] with his friends,

[00:33:55] with the animals

[00:33:57] of the day

[00:33:58] and the creatures

[00:34:00] of the night.

[00:34:02] And they were

[00:34:03] lying

[00:34:04] on their backs

[00:34:05] and gazing

[00:34:07] up at the sky

[00:34:08] and watching

[00:34:10] as moonbeams

[00:34:12] made words

[00:34:14] and wrote

[00:34:15] swirling stories

[00:34:17] in the darkness.

[00:34:19] And then

[00:34:20] across

[00:34:22] the black

[00:34:23] of the night sky

[00:34:24] a rainbow

[00:34:26] stretched

[00:34:27] from one

[00:34:29] side of the world

[00:34:30] to the other

[00:34:31] and Sparky

[00:34:33] smiled

[00:34:34] in his sleep

[00:34:36] mesmerised

[00:34:37] by how

[00:34:39] the impossible

[00:34:40] had become

[00:34:42] possible

[00:34:42] because

[00:34:44] he had dared

[00:34:46] to disappear

[00:34:48] into a dream.