Children, what if I told you that a baby lark, born without wings, ended up saving the lives of all forest animals, would you believe me? Well, if you are curious to find out what happened, just sit comfortably and listen to the story of little Hop. Once upon a time there was a big and beautiful forest. This was a forest where people had not started to cut trees and where all the animals and birds lived happily. A lark had made its nest by the side of a clearing. Do you know what a lark is? Yes, it’s that little bird that sings so beautifully that the forest stops its hum to listen to it sing. Every morning the lark would fly up high, close to the sun, and sing. This made the sun so happy that it shined over the forest and hugged the animals with its warm rays. The lark sang even more beautifully when she was happy. What was she most happy about? Well, in her nest she had laid six eggs. She loved them and protected them fiercely, excited to meet her future babies. The miracle happened one morning, just after she had sung, as usual, for the sun. The little baby larks had started to hatch, one by one, and they peeped joyfully and stretched their little beaks for food. But only five of them. The sixth egg wouldn’t crack and just moved around the nest as if the little baby was trying hard to break the shell but wasn’t strong enough to do it. The lark watched it with concern until she finally decided to help the little one come to light. So, she hit the shell of the egg with her beak, to break it. A piece of it broke loose and the lark saw her baby girl peek her little head out. But still, she was trapped inside the egg, so the mother started to break the shell, piece by piece, until the baby girl was finally free. At that moment, all the joy turned to pain. Although the little baby lark peeped joyfully just like her brothers, her mother saw that she had no wings and her legs were too short. All her brothers and sisters jumped around the nest, while she could barely move. Like a good loving mother, the lark took care of all her babies, even if the five did a lot of running around while the baby girl just sat in the nest. Every morning their mother brought seeds and fed them equally so that none of them would starve. At night, she would sing them to sleep. The little baby girl was the first to welcome their mother. She strived so hard to jump with her short legs that her mom called her Hop. One day, Hop asked: „Mom, do you sing to the Sun every morning?” „Yes Hop, every morning.” „But why?” „As thanks for the light and heat given to us, because we are together in a new day and because we managed to pass the night without being attacked by the Hoot of the forest.” „What is …. the Hoot of the forest?” „The Hoot is a terrifying shadow, big and black, with round eyes that throw flames into the dark. It has long claws and a sharp beak. Every night the Hoot of the forest gets out of its cave and goes around the forest eating all the small animals and birds who are not in their nests.” „Did you see it with your own eyes mom?” „Grrr, if I saw it I wouldn’t be here anymore. No, I haven’t seen it, but everybody in the forest knows it. So watch out for Hoot of the forest!” Hop and her brothers were listening with fear. They were so happy to have their mother to protect them and tell them when to hide and when to go out to play. But the lark saw it was getting harder and harder to take care of all her babies. Those with wings had started to play outside the nest more and more, to drink drops of dew and to chase ants. Hop could barely get to the edge of the nest where her mother gathered dew for her in a broken acorn. With her heart broken, the lark started to realize she won’t be able to protect all her babies. If she were to stay with the helpless one, she wouldn’t be able to be with the others, who were also babies and would very soon encounter danger. She had to choose between saving one life, that of Hop, or five. One morning, the lark forgot to fly high and didn’t sing to the sun. She was so sad, like never before. She had decided to go with the five strong babies and leave Hop in the nest. She felt her heart breaking but hoped that a bird without a nest would find Hop there and would raise and love her. So, just before sunrise she left. Hop was still asleep. Hop woke up pretty late. The sun was already shining bright, but not as bright as before. The sun seemed…sad. Hop saw she was alone in the nest. But she thought her brothers were somewhere close by, playing with mom. She was a little hungry and thirsty, so she went to the edge of the nest; she knew there was always some dew in her acorn. But, guess what? The acorn was empty. Hop started to get anxious: “where is my mother? Where are my brothers and sisters? What if the Hoot of the forest got them? Something definitely had happened. Mother would have brought me dew and seeds by now if not. She wouldn’t let me starve,” Hop thought. A little scared she decided to go and look for them. She jumped over the edge of the nest and from there, down to the ground. Then, with a couple of small jumps, she got to the clearing. She had never been there before. She looked around. Nothing. Nobody. Just a strange creature who was long and fluffy with two long things on its head, with eyes on the ends. It moved slowly. Very slowly. Maybe because it carried with it, on its back, something round and hard, that looked like a huge acorn. Hop hopped to it and said: „Hello, strange creature! My name is Hop.” The creature slowly turned its head towards her, stared and said: „Oh dear, how you scared me! Look, you made me turn my head in such a hurry that I almost twisted it. Don’t you ever do that again! And by the way, how dare you call me strange creature? It is obvious that I am a snail, but I have no idea what you are. I would have thought you are a baby lark, but you would have wings and longer legs if you were one. But looking like that, i don’t know what you are…And anyway, I don’t have time to waste talking to you because I am in a hurry to get…somewhere. Didn’t you see me running? Why did you stop me?” Hop had no idea what to answer the snail. She didn’t think it was either running or twisting its head to look at her. Still, she dared to ask: „Have you happened to see, on your way, a lark and five baby larks? I can’t find my mother and brothers and sisters.” The snail thought for a second then said in a mild voice: „Little one. I haven’t seen any larks: not big ones nor small ones. And it seems strange that I haven’t even heard one. Every morning I hear one sing somewhere high above. Today, nothing. I think even the sun is a bit upset because look how cold it got… Brrrr. Luckily, I’m running all the time and I get hot. Now excuse me, I need to run somewhere.” And so, it started to move away, slowly, very … very slowly. Hop was left in the middle of the clearing, not knowing what to do. She got hungrier and hungrier and thirstier and thirstier and she started to miss her mother and little brothers and sisters. She was alone and scared for the first time in her life. She had no idea what to eat and where to find water. With her eyes filled with tears she jumped back to the nest. There she found a feather that belonged to her mother. She laid her head on it, closed her eyes and cried: “Come back mommy, don’t leave me alone!” Then she sang to herself the song her mother used to sing to get them to sleep. Soon she fell asleep. She was exhausted. Then a terrifying noise woke her up. Hoot hoot, hoot hoot! Her feathers rippled with fear and she started to shake. It was very dark outside. She had slept the entire day. The wind was blowing, the branches were squeaking and the whoosh of the leaves was terrifying. Hoot hoot, hoot hoot! She heard it again, much closer. Then she saw two red eyes watching her from a branch just above the nest. Her little heart was petrified with fear. It was the Hoot of the forest, for sure! The two eyes came closer and from the dark a big beak appeared. It opened just in front of Hop… Hop had no idea what happened next. She had passed out because of fear. When she woke up, she didn’t open her eyes. She thought she had died, that the Hoot of the forest had eaten her. And, if she was dead, why would she open her eyes? Maybe just a peek to see if the Hoot had eaten her legs? But her legs were already very short! “By the way… my legs! I wonder if I can move them?” she thought and she moved one of them. The left one. It was moving! “Oh…i still have it”. Then she moved the right one. It was moving as well. “I’m not dead, I’m not dead, I’m not dead!” and her heart began to race. She wanted to know where she was, but she was scared. However, she knew that she had to do it…so she opened her eyes slowly. In front of her something big and dark was standing. She closed them back and held her breath. “Open your eyes,” said a hoarse voice. “I know you are not sleeping, I saw you moving your legs.” But Hop wouldn’t answer, wouldn’t move or breathe. „If you won’t open your eyes now, I’ll eat you!” Said the voice in a very low voice. Hop opened her eyes so quickly and so wide, like never before in her life. And there, just in front of her was a huge creature, maybe 100 times bigger than her. It had big orange eyes, with a black dot in the middle. The eyes were so big and round that they looked like a pair of glasses. Its body was covered in feathers, so it was definitely a bird. It even had wings, unlike Hop, but it kept them folded. It also had a big beak which sprung out of the middle of its face and went down to its chest, where some feathers made it look like a tie. „I am an owl and I won’t eat you. You were lucky enough to be found by the only vegetarian owl in the entire forest… and probably in the world. In any case, I wouldn’t have eaten you. It is a terrible thing to harm a small and defenseless creature like you. But who are you? Why were you alone in the nest and why don’t you have wings?” „If you eat me, you’ll get poisoned, because I am a poisonous bird, and you are going to die!” Hop lied, trying to make sure she wouldn’t be eaten. „If I said I won’t eat you, I won’t. And it’s very unpleasant to lie, so you shouldn’t do it anymore. I took you from your nest to save you. If I would have left you there, you would have died from cold or hunger. Or another animal would have eaten you. Now, stop being afraid and answer my questions.” „But before you said you would eat me if I didn’t open my eyes. Then you said you won’t eat me because you are a vegetarian. What should I believe?” The owl smiled. „You are smart, little one. You are right. If you lie to someone and they catch you lying, you won’t believe them the second time. Even if they tell the truth. So, let’s say that I …fooled you, even if that wasn’t very fair either. But I was sure you wouldn’t have opened your eyes otherwise. Now keep calm, I won’t harm you. I am the Hoot of the forest, and everyone is so afraid of me, even though I have no idea why. I have never ever eaten a fly in my entire life. I have never hurt anyone. It is true that during the night I get close to the animals in the forest, but just to see if I can be of any help. That’s how I found you and brought you here. You were lucky…Although…I think the lucky one was me… It’s so long since I last spoke to anyone…” Hop was calm now. If the Hoot of the forest wanted to harm her, it would have done it by now. She wasn’t used to trusting a stranger, but somehow, deep inside she felt the owl was really trying to help. Maybe it would even help her find her mother and brothers. „My name is Hop, I don’t have wings because I was born like this and I was alone in the nest because my mother and brothers are missing. Please don’t eat me and please help me find my family.” „Stop thinking I will eat you! Maybe you are hungry….When did you last eat?” „Before my mother disappeared. Because of my little wings and feet, it’s hard for me to move…so she always helped me.” Without any other word, the Hoot of the forest went to a drawer behind the pink armchair and came back with a nutshell filled with seeds. „I don’t have any flies. I know you children need some protein, but I already told you I am a vegetarian. Now, eat! Bon appetite!” Hop was so hungry she started to eat extremely fast. Patting its beak with a wing, the Hoot of the forest said: „So, your mom is gone and you can’t take care of yourself. We have two problems. I will help you look for your mother and teach you how to survive alone in the forest. The fact that you don’t have wings shouldn’t stop you from doing anything. You are special and the whole world will see that. Hmm…awkward. Yesterday morning the lark didn’t sing so the sun didn’t shine. So, the legend is true…” Hop stopped for a second. „What legend?” „They say that the sun shines brightly only if the lark sings at dawn. During autumn and winter, it is cold because the larks leave the country. The sun is left alone and sad until the spring, when the larks come back. Your mother was the only lark in this forest. Without her, the sun will stop shining and winter might return, even though it’s spring now. That would be terrible and all the animals would starve. Now go to sleep. In the morning we have a lot of work to do.” Hop ate a couple of more seeds and then went to bed. She thought about her family, she sang her mother’s sleeping song and fell asleep. Hoot put her carefully on the pink armchair and then covered her with a big, soft feather. Then stood there watching the little lark and thinking about what to do. „Goood mooorning!!” …Hop heard in her dreams. When she opened her eyes, the Hoot of the forest was standing just in front of her with half a nutshell filled with seeds, and the other half with dew. „Before you woke up I flew through the forest trying to find your family, but I wasn’t successful. However, I won’t give up. Remember Hop,” said the Hoot of the forest, “never ever give up on something that is really really important to you. Never. Now, please eat; you need some strength. You will learn how to catch flies.” „Catch flies??? But I can barely walk. I have no wings and my feet are so short.” „If they are short, we will make sure that they are strong. Does a flea have long legs? No, but have you seen it jump?” „Well, no…I haven’t.” „You will, I promise. Even more…you will catch one!” „Who? Me? But I can’t” „Don’t ever say that again. And most important, don’t even think it. You can’t if you don’t want to. Don’t you let anything stand in your way. You were born without wings and with short legs and you have to learn to live with what you’ve got. Are you done eating yet?” „Yes…” „Now wash your beak and face with dew.” „But I don’t have any wings, how will I wash myself?” „You do have a head, right? If you have a head, you must have brains inside. Use it. You have inside special forces and together we will get you doing anything, Now, come on, use to dew to freshen up. And don’t forget to always look for solutions to any problem you might find. If you don’t struggle to help yourself, nobody else will.” Hop was staring at the Hoot of the forest. Behind the grave voice and the harsh look, you could feel the kindness. „Hop, now get out of my hole.” „How? Where will I go?” „At the entrance is a thick branch. Walk on it. Slowly…until you reach its end.” „But I am afraid!” „Don’t be. Trust yourself. You are stronger than you think.” „I will trip!” ”I will be there to help you.” „I will fall!” „I will help you get up and go on.” Hop got out of the hole but froze at the beginning of the branch. „Now move on.” „A little bit, right?” „A little bit more, yeah.” Hop took the first step. Then the second. Her heart was beating like a drum. Then another step, and another one. She was floating. She felt she could do it. Walk all alone, without any help, on a high branch. Her joy gave her the wings she never had. More and more confident, she was getting to the end of the branch. But as the branch was getting thinner and Hop was getting closer to the tip, she started to be fearful again. „You can do it, Hop! You can do it! She heard the Hoot of the forest say. Look towards the end of the branch and go on. You are strong, don’t give up!” The cheering of the owl gave her strength and she managed to reach the tip of the branch. She was so happy. Happy like only a lark could be. The Hoot of the forest was crying with pride because the little baby lark had shown such strength and determination! „Now come back to the hole.” When Hop turned around, she felt sick. It seemed like Hoot and the hole were extremely far away. She thought she could never go back on that long and thin branch. „Come on, you can do it!” „No, I can’t. Not anymore!” „But you already did it once.” „But i am tired. My little legs are hurting me. I’m afraid.” Hoot was quiet for a second. Then she said: „Hop, imagine that at the end of the branch there is something that you really really desire. Fight for it and you will be successful!” Then something miraculous happened to Hop. She started walking on the thin branch, without fear, without stopping for a second. She got back safe and sound by Hoot’s side, who held her tight in her wings. „What did you imagine, Hop?” „I thought that my mother and brothers and sisters are waiting for me here”, said Hop almost crying. Hoot sighed and hugged her one more time. „Come inside. It is getting colder. I am afraid winter will come early if no lark will sing to the sun soon.” Late at night, Hop was thinking about her mother and wondering if she would have been proud of her, “I hope to see you again mummy, I miss you so much”. Thinking about her family she started singing to herself until she fell asleep. She opened her eyes feeling that something was not right. As if she had over slept. How come the Hoot of the forest hadn’t woken her up to start another day of training? She looked outside and it was still pretty dark. “Ah, it is still early and Hoot probably didn’t return”. But that wasn’t so. Hoot was sitting on his pink sofa looking very very worried. „Good morning! Is everything ok?” Hop asked? „This is not a good morning, dear Hop. And it’s not even morning, it’s almost noon.” „Noon? But it is dark outside. What happened?” „It is dark and cold. I’m afraid I was right. Your mother isn’t back so no lark sang to the sun. And I didn’t manage to find your family either, although I looked for them the entire night. We are lost. Soon everything will freeze, it will snow, and animals won’t survive such an early winter.” Hop was worried. „Hoot, why do you say that? Didn’t you teach me I should never give up? Now you are telling me we are lost? There must be a solution.” „There isn’t. Without the song of a lark we are doomed. The sun isn’t coming back.” „…I know a lark.” „What lark?! Where? Tell me! Quick! We need to call it immediately! If it doesn’t sing to the sun today, tomorrow might be too late…” „…the lark is here…. It is me.” Hoot was shocked. Staring at Hop his orange eyes became bigger with surprise. „Aaaah…yeah, it’s true…you are a lark… YOU ARE A LARK! But…do you know how to sing?” „I know a little bit. My mom used to sing to us every night before bed.” „Could you sing to the sun?” „I could definitely try. You said I should fight for everything that is important to me.” „And I was right. But the sun can’t see you unless you get above the trees somehow.” „Well, isn’t this hole in the tallest oak in the entire forest?” „…yes…” „Then I will go up to its top, on the highest branch and sing from there.” „You are incredibly brave. Will you be able to do it? It’s one thing to walk on a branch and a totally different one to get to the top of the oak.” „If I trip, you will help me, if I fall you will help me get up and go on.”, said Hop smiling. Hoot of the forest got so emotional she almost cried. But those were good tears, tears of joy and admiration for the little baby lark who proved to be braver than an eagle. „Come on Hop. Go save the world and I will be by your side no matter what.” Hop got out of the hole. It was so cold outside. She started carefully on the first branch. Taking small steps, trying hard not to fall. But the branch was frozen and slippery. Hoot was around, but couldn’t stay too close because of the oak leaves. When she got to the end of that branch Hop jumped on another one. She almost fell, but used her beak to catch a leaf and then got back on track. The wind was blowing violently. But Hop was determined to make it. She had to do it, to sing to the sun and save the forest from winter. She jumped from branch to branch until she got to the top of the tree. She had the entire forest at her feet and her head was very close to the snowy clouds. “This is it” she said and started to sing. At first very silently, just like she used to sing for herself before bed. Then she started singing louder and louder. Hoot, who was very close, couldn’t believe her ears. Hop was singing incredibly beautifully, just like her mother. And then the miracle happened! The snowflakes stopped and the wind stood still. From behind the clouds the sun appeared. Hop then sang even louder, as loud as she could. The light became stronger and seemed to be getting closer to the forest. Then something terrible happened. Hop felt that she would lose her voice. She felt a strong pain in her neck. No matter how much she tried, the song stopped getting out of her chest and the light started to vanish. Everything seemed lost… But then … another lark started to be heard from far, far away. It was a song Hop knew very well, for she had heard it before bed. But no, it couldn’t have been her mother. Maybe she was deceived by the wind. Hoot was also looking towards the east. Then the wind stopped again and the sun started shining for the first time in a while. The clouds disappeared and a strong light invaded the whole forest. Then Hop saw her mother. At first like a dot in the distance, flying towards her. She was flying and singing a beautiful song. A song filled with love and emotion. The lark came and sat on the branch where her little baby was sitting and hugged her. With tears in her eyes, she said: „Hop, how did you manage to get here, on the top of the oak? Forgive me for leaving you! I was terrified I couldn’t take care of you all. But then I soon realized I could not live without any of you. I have been looking for you for two days, I went back to the nest but you were not there. Today I heard your song and came to you in a heartbeat. I will never ever leave you again.” Hop was crying with joy and her mother too, and Hoot too. „Mom, I don’t need to forgive you because I know you didn’t do it to hurt me. I know you love me. I was very lucky. Hoot of the forest found me and took great care of me. Hoot is not bad mom, not bad at all, but kind and good. He took care of me, taught me to be strong and thanks to him I got here and so you heard me. He is my good Hoot.” Mother wiped Hop’s tears and then, in the light of the sun, they left for their nest with Hoot following closely. Her five brothers and sister were waiting there and there’s no point in telling you how happy they were to see Hop again. From that moment on, Hoot was part of their lives and family. He became the teacher of all the baby larks but of course his favorite was always Hop. Children, if you ever see a little boy or girl who seem different, don’t ignore them. There is as much kindness and love in them as in all of you. And who knows, maybe with your help, that little boy or girl will get to save the world.
Asculta Povestea
At the end of the Flat Screen City, right next to the forest, in a yellow house with red dots and a green roof, lived Amelia with her parents. Their house was the only one that looked that way in the whole city. That was probably why it was placed at the edge of the city. Amelia was five years old, with dark, wavy hair and big, violet eyes. She loved to run and jump and sing all kinds of happy songs. Her best friend was a clumsy cat named Roni. Her favorite fruit was…guess what? Apples. That was the strangest thing of all, because in all of Flat Screen City there was no other kid who liked apples. And, even more, there was no other kid who would play the way Amelia did: jumping and running around outside and singing and dancing and laughing out aloud. All the other kids played on their tablets, and when they got bored with them, they simply watched TV. Maybe now you understand why Amelia’s best friend was a cat and not another little girl or boy. She simply couldn’t find any other children to play with as they all lived indoors, too busy on their tablets to go out to meet anybody or make new friends. Oh, I totally forgot to tell you that Flat Screen City only had grey houses with brown roofs, no yards or gardens. All except one: the yellow house with red dots and a green roof on the edge of the city. Now that you have the general idea of the situation, let me tell you about a special, sunny summer’s day when Amelia was in her garden playing with Roni. Remember how I told you that Roni was really clumsy? She always managed to get into mischief, and on this particular day she climbed up the apple tree in their garden, having decided on a particular course of action in regards to Ms Robin, who was high on top of the tree singing her delightful morning chorus. Seeing Roni high above, Amelia shouted to him to come down this instant as she wanted a playmate to chase the ball, which was a favourite game she often played with Roni. But the Roni was less interested in chasing a ball this morning and pretended she didn’t hear. She was sprawled out across a branch in the warm sun, having missed her chance to enjoy Ms Robin’s chorus close up. Amelia thought to herself for a while: “What to do, what to do? If I shake the tree, perhaps she will come down? There simply must be a way.” She had read somewhere that cats always landed on their feet and can jump from a tremendous height, so she knew if she could shake Roni free she would not come to any harm. So Amelia started shaking the tree with all her might. As the tree became to rock and sway back and forth, Roni became scared and decided it would be much safer on the ground, so with little effort and barely a raised eyebrow she leapt nimbly to the base of the tree, darting for cover as the apples rained down around them. “Look what you did Roni!” Amelia cried out, feeling agitated at the sight of all the rosy red apples lying on the ground around her. “Because of you, all these apples are now going to go to waste. I can’t possibly eat them all, even if they are my absolute favorite fruit. What are we going to do with them?” It was at that exact moment an idea appeared. “I know,” Amelia called out excitedly. “We’ll go to go to the city and give them to all the other children. They don’t have gardens, or apple trees. I bet they will love these delicious, red apples!” Amelia had no idea that the other children did not eat apples… She ran to the house and told her mom her great idea. Her Mum, however, knew the other child in the city didn’t eat apples, but didn’t want to spoil Amelia’s enthusiasm. So she just smiled and went outside to help Amelia fill her basket of apples, smiled, gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her to be home in time for supper. So off Amelia went, basket in hand, ready to deliver her fresh apples to the children across the city. But everywhere they went, at every door, she came across a pale child who simply smiled shyly and said in a timid voice, “No thank you” before closing the door and returning to the tablet which awaited impatiently. Amelia was very upset. She was so upset in fact she almost returned home to give her mum the basket of apples to bake a huge apple pie. She decided however to try one last door. She knocked and a few moments later a pale little boy appeared. He was Amelia’s age with reddened eyes from playing too much on a tablet. “I brought you a little gift,” said Amelia full of hope. But the boy simply shook his head and turned to go back inside. “But they are so sweet and juicy…” Amelia continued with tears in her eyes. She just couldn’t understand why none of the other children liked apples. “But what are those?” Asked the little boy, looking into the basket. “What do you mean what are these?” Amelia wondered. “They are apples!” The little boy was watching her with confusion. It was then Amelia finally understood why no other child in Flat Screen City liked apples: it was because they had never tried one before! Amelia left the basket on the boy’s doorstep and ran home. She had an idea! “I know how I can help all the children in Flat Screen City.” When she arrived at the yellow house with red dots and a green roof, she raced inside and grabbed her tablet – yes, she had a tablet too, but was still free of its hypnotic glare that had enslaved the children of the town. Yes, she played on it from time to time, but never when it was sunny outside and she could be free to run and play with Roni. She sent a message to all the children in Flat Screen City. The message read: VERY IMPORTANT MEETING FOR ALL CHILDREN IN FLAT SCREEN CITY. SEE YOU TOMORROW MORNING IN FRONT OF THE YELLOW HOUSE WITH RED DOTS, AT THE EDGE OF THE FOREST! THERE’S A SURPRISE FOR YOU ALL! All the children received the message. They didn’t want to leave their tablets, but the word ‘surprise’ had done the trick. They were very curious to discover what they would find waiting for them at the house with dots, whose existence was unknown to them until now. The next day, when they arrived, they were very surprised to see Amelia had a real yard with a real garden with big trees and grass greener than what they had ever seen in their games. Not to mention the beautiful smell. For the first time they experienced the perfume of real flowers, touched a leaf…AND a cat! Yes, I’m talking about Roni, who that day became the happiest cat on Earth! Never before had she been caressed by so many children. After playing and seeing everybody flushed with joy, Amelia offered each child an apple. She asked them to taste it, saying it was her favorite fruit in all the world. All of the children bit into their apple, and I don’t have to tell you how much they loved them. After another hour of games and play, Amelia’s mother brought out a huge apple pie, offering a slice to every child. Even Roni got a slice. No, don’t be surprised! There are indeed cats who eat apple pie. Roni is living proof of this! From that day on, everything changed in Flat Screen City. All the children now wanted to play with their new friends outside, so the parents all had to build yards and gardens. The tablets ended up in the drawers, almost forgotten except on rainy days. In fact, they didn’t have time for their tablets now because there was always someone knocking at their door asking them to come outside to play. A couple of years later, all the houses in the city had yards, apple trees, green grass, coloured roofs and walls with dots. Even the name of the city changed; it was no longer called Flat Screen City, but became known as the City of Apples and can you guess who the mayor is? Oh, I’ll let you guess! I’ll only tell you this: she had a lots of friends and a cat named Roni!
Asculta Povestea
Leia was a giraffe unlike any other. Her neck was longer and she had more spots than any of her peers. Moreover, it was common knowledge whenever she set her mind on something she’d go through with it and succeed. That was why when the animals heard that Leia the Giraffe wanted to go into space: they knew it was going to happen! Leia set her mind on going to outer space after she had seen the stars and the planets in a photograph. She was so curious to see them up close, to set a hoof on the Moon, get closer to the Sun, go out on a stroll on the Milky Way and hop from cloud to cloud. But what she yearned to see is whether or not in space there were giraffes just like her. For a while she kept searching for a travelling companion amongst the animals, however since none of them seemed to have enough courage to go into outer space, she decided to go alone on her great adventure. There was one more issue she had to solve before going: she had no clue what she would use as a means of transport…She had heard of rocketships, but she had no idea where she would find one! After searching and searching, Leia discovered that giraffes simply cannot go into space. She had to be accompanied by a human who goes into outer space, called an astronaut. And so she had to look far and wide for such a human. She also discovered that no astronaut had ever gone into space with a giraffe. As I had mentioned before, Leia was no quitter and did not give her dreams up easily. Even if it seemed impossible to go into outer space, she was determined to find a solution. And so, no one was shocked when, after a few days, the Giraffe announced: – I’ve found a solution and I’ll be going to outer space! I’ll return and tell you all about it. Farewell, friends! And with that, she left. After a few days no one had seen Leia in the forest and everyone was talking about her going into space. Nobody knew how she had managed to leave, but they were all convinced she had made it. When Leia finally turned up in the forest again, she seemed changed. Her eyes were…sparkly. Everyone welcomed her and cheered, eager to hear her stories. Leia sat down and and told her friends about the Moon which has mountains, about astronauts and their strange suits, about objects floating in space and about all the planets she had seen. The animals were listening to her every word, in utmost awe. They liked the story so much that some of them wanted to accompany her next time she went into outer space. “Of course!,” said Leia, “I will leave again tomorrow morning. Those of you who want to join me, please be ready and meet me at the edge of the forest.” “But how will we travel? How did you get there? Is it dangerous?,” the animals asked. “Weeeeell, I do have something to confess. I didn’t literally travel into outer space. But know all about the things there. It’s just as if I had actually been!” “How?,” the animals asked astonished. “I promise you’ll understand everything tomorrow morning. All I can tell you now is that it’s not a dangerous place, on the contrary, it’s fun. I will be waiting for you at the edge of the forest!” said Leia and then she went to bed. Despite the fact that they were afraid, the next morning all the animals, small and large, were at the edge of the forest, prepared for an incredible adventure. None of them wanted to miss out on a trip into outer space. Or at least, nearly a trip to space… After a while, Leia appeared and asked them to pair up and they all started towards the city. When they arrived there, the animals were surprised to see that the Giraffe had stopped in front of a building, with the word “LIBRARY” written on it. “What is this building? Is this where we can go on our trip into outer space?,” they asked. “Yes, precisely.” said Leia. “You’ll see that once we enter here we’ll be able to go wherever we want.” They all entered, hearts pounding in their chest, and saw very large rooms filled with shelves with neatly arranged books. Leia showed them a book with wonderful pictures and drawings of space, and a lot of stories about it – all the stories seemed surreal. Leia told them all: “When you read, you can go to any place you want, even places where a giraffe could never ever really go.” The animals flipped through the pages of the book and realised Leia was right: they found out everything they needed to know about space, and saw pictures of planets. It was, indeed, as if they had really been there! The next day they went back and read about castles. The following day about unicorns, about brave kings, valiant princes and beautiful princesses. They discovered many things about the lives of the dinosaurs and their world long gone. They also learned about pirates and their treasures, and about mermaids and their mesmerising songs with which they charmed sailors to come to them, beneath the blue waters. And in the evenings, before going sleep, the animals closed their eyes and remembered what they had read about at the library. They dreamt about travelling to wonderful worlds, full of charm. In the morning, they would wake up smiling, remembering what they had dreamt. Try it, children! Read as much as you can! Books have the power to take you to amazing places, places where giraffes and sometimes humans can not get to!
Asculta Povestea
Once upon a time, somewhere in the world, there was a small country named “the Land of Lazy People”. In that place, nobody was supposed to do anything. As in NEVER. Nobody worked, children didn’t go to school and all the animals just sat lying in the sun. Parents didn’t care about what their children were doing. So the little ones ate when they wanted, did anything they wanted and went to bed late at night. They never cleaned their rooms and rarely washed themselves. And all this, because they were lazy. The people living in the Land of Lazy People weren’t very smart either. They were too lazy to study and anyway they didn’t have any books to learn from, because nobody made the effort to print them. So nobody ever used their brains; they were too lazy to even think. But the laziest and the most stupid of them was, of course, the Emperor himself. He was called Long Hand (ARM?) because he was so lazy he never moved his hands. And because of that, his hands (arms) became so long that they almost touched the ground. When he was crowned Emperor he passed just one law: that there would be no laws in his country. At that time, the people were very happy, thinking doing nothing would make them happy. But it wasn’t like that at all. Let me tell you why: There were no shops as there were no venders and they wouldn’t have anything to sell anyway, because nobody made anything, so there were no products to sell. Everybody ate forest fruits and fish from the river, drank water from the springs and wore some rags as clothes. They lived in caves and at night they slept on the grass. There were no toys in that land, not to mention stories or cartoons. Who could have made them if nobody worked?! People were thin, hungry, bored and dirty. When one of them had a problem, he would go to the Emperor for help. The Emperor was so lazy he would simply yawn and then shrug his shoulders. He was too lazy to even care. The person would then leave and go back to his cave, even more upset and with his problem still unsolved. People were so ignorant they didn’t even realize how unhappy they were. One day, the Emperor got sick. Because there were no doctors in the land, nobody knew how to help him. So the Emperor ordered that someone must find him a doctor or some medicine. For the first time in a long time he cared about someone … himself! But now, the wheel had turned and it was the people’s turn not to care about him. Nobody had ever left the land, so why would they do that now? The Emperor then ordered them to cast the dice and choose someone who would do it. So it was decided that a 10 years old boy had to leave the city in search of a cure. He didn’t want to go, but he had no choice. With a sigh, he packed some fruit for the road and left in search of a cure for the Emperor. Many, many days passed until the boy finally left the Land of the Lazy People. The road was not very long, but the child was so lazy he would stop every 5 minutes because he was too tired. Once he crossed the border he faced a big surprise – a road paved with white stones which took him to a town the boy had never imagined: colourful houses, properly set one next to the other. And each house had a beautiful yard that was properly taken care of. The town had shops of all kinds, schools, hospitals, restaurants and playgrounds. People on the street walked very fast, were dressed neatly and the children played happily with all kinds of colourful toys. The moment he sat foot in that town, the boy knew that he wanted to live there. He didn’t feel tired, lazy or sad anymore. He just felt a great desire to live in such a wonderful place. A couple of good hearted people saw him, thin and poorly dressed. They took him to their home, washed him, fed him hot soup and then put him to bed in the softest, fluffiest bed. Before falling asleep, they even told him a story. The first story he had ever heard in his whole life. That night the little boy slept better than ever and he woke up full of joy and strength. He was very happy to hear that those nice people wanted to send him to a place called “school”, where he would learn a lot of things. At school, not only did he learn a lot of new interesting things, but he also made a friend. After school, the little boy went back to those nice people who were now his family. Days passed by quickly and the little boy was so happy that he totally forgot about the Emperor’s medicine. But he had started to miss his real parents. Meanwhile, in the Land of Lazy People, everybody was waiting for the little boy. The Emperor was feeling worse each day. But since the boy didn’t come back, people started to forget about him. Not his parents though, who really, really missed him, even if they didn’t care about anything else. In the end, they decided to make an effort and to start looking for the little boy. When the Emperor found out that they were about to leave the land, he asked them to return with a cure. When the parents found their little boy, they could hardly recognize him. He was clean, handsome, happy and healthy. He had learned to write, read, sing and dance. They hugged him and decided to never let him go, even if that meant they had to start working. So they moved in town and forgot about the Emperor’s medicine as well. But the Emperor was getting sicker every day. The other people didn’t really care about him, but they were very curious to find out what had happened to the little boy and his parents, who had left the land and didn’t come back. It was like they had awoken from a long, long sleep: “Where could they be? Why aren’t they coming back?” they were wondering. The curiosity started to overcome the laziness, and one by one, they started to leave the land in search of the missing family. And as they arrived in town, one by one they decided to stay there and start a new and better life. After a while, there was nobody but the Emperor living in the Land of Lazy People, he was left all by himself. Surprisingly, he never thought about going to search the others, or at least a doctor. It seemed his laziness would bring him his death. And it would have happened if someone hadn’t remembered him … Guess who that was! Yes, it was the little boy himself, the one who left the first, looking for the cure. He had become one of the smartest children in town. He was very friendly and kind to everybody. He was always there to help anybody who needed his help. The little boy found the medicine and went back to the Land of Lazy People to take it to the Emperor. He entered the palace. It was empty. He went to the throne room and found the emperor there, sitting on the throne. He was lying still, with his eyes almost shut, hardly breathing. The little boy gave him the medicine. The Emperor raised his eyes and looked at the boy wondering: what is happening? What is that boy giving me? The Emperor couldn’t understand what was happening and couldn’t understand that the little boy really cared about him. But the child’s kindness woke him up from his numbness. He barely raised his hand and patted the little boy saying: „Thank you!” That is how the little boy’s kindness saved the Emperor’s life. What happened next? After he was cured, the Emperor also moved in town. There, he was not the Emperor anymore, but a simple, happy and healthy man.
Asculta Povestea
Tobi was a good old mole with a big, kind heart. But one day, his family got lost in the underground tunnels. With every passing day, Tobi’s heart grew harder and harder. For a long while, Tobi waited for them to return. His heart trembled every time he heard a noise, even while sleeping. At night, while digging in the yard in which he had made his home, he kept his ears and nose wide open, hoping desperately to hear a familiar noise or to sense a familiar smell. But there was nothing; just the same old earthworms and bugs, and some upseting screams above the ground. These screams came from the family who owned Tobi’s garden. They got pretty upset every time they discovered the dirt heaps made by the moles. They tried to catch him , and they were very creative about it: they filled the holes with water and flooded his little underground house, they poured toxic substances down the tunnels and even covered his exits with shoes. But Tobi didn’t care at all. He was only concerned about his lost family and kept on digging holes throughout the whole yard, looking for them. After a while, Tobi’s pain turned into sadness, and then resignation. He stopped jumping at all the noises, stopped sniffing for familiar smells and stopped believing that his loved ones would ever return. He didn’t think about anything anymore. Day after day he kept digging tunnels, which criss-crossed all over the yard, creating more and more dirt piles. The screams of the family did not bother him anymore. But one day, something changed. The yelling stopped. The angry people sold the house, and the garden now had new owners. The new owner never yelled. He was a retired teacher and he never seemed to be bothered about the heaps Tobi made. He went out in the garden every evening, had dinner and then read a book. He lived peacefully. One day, a little girl came to visit. She was the old teacher’s granddaughter, she was a small girl with a sweet, gentle voice. “Grandpa, I’d like to catch a butterfly!” Tobi heard her say. “What for?” The old man asked. “I’d like to catch a butterfly, tell him something and then let him fly away again!” “What do you want to tell him?” “It’s a secret,” said the little girl. “Then go look for a butterfly, search the whole garden!” Said the old teacher. “But you must know that the butterflies are not so easy to catch…” “I’m sure I’ll catch one!” Said the little girl and she immediately started looking for a butterfly. After a short while she saw a beautiful one. He was red, orange and purple. He sat on a flower right next to one of the dirt heaps Tobi had made. Singing a happy song, the girl got closer and closer and then whispered to the butterfly: “Butterfly, butterfly, come! Sit in my palm! I’d like to tell you something!” But when she stretched her hand to catch him, the butterfy flew and sat on another flower. The little girl kept singing: “Don’t go away beautiful butterfly, I won’t hurt you! I just want to tell you something and then I’ll let you fly away again! I promise!” And again she stretched her hand to catch him. Tobi, grumpy like he had become, sat right under the ground where the little girl played and he listened to the song she was singing. He was mumbling to himself: “what a stupid thing to do, to chase a butterfly just to speak to him… Everybody knows butterflies are hard to catch” And it was true; the butterfly kept getting further and further away. He flew and sat on a fence, then on a log, and then on the branch of an old walnut tree. The little girl kept chasing him and singing: “Please butterfly, don’t run away from me, I just want to talk to you!” Tobi was following the girl and the butterfly as they moved, running underground. He had no idea why he was doing it. He felt something move in his heart again: “what could this be?”, he was wondering. “Why am I chasing a little girl who thinks she will catch this butterfly to talk to him?”. He didn’t have an answer for his questions but, even if his heart was still hardened, he felt something important was about to happen. All of a sudden, the butterfly flew out of the garden. The girl chased the butterfly, they were too far away for Tobi to hear them. He dug very very fast in order to reach them, but still there was no sound. He decided to go to the surface to see what had happened. Despite being almost blind, just like any other mole, Tobi made a big pile of dirt and stuck his little muzzle outside, into the air. Not very far away from him was the little girl was crying sadly. She was sitting on a patch of grass and had big tears pouring down her cheeks. Tobi felt very sorry for her. He knew what it felt like to suffer. He sighed sadly and said: “I knew this was going to end like this. Butterflies are almost impossible to catch.” He understood her very well. He, too, wanted something very much. He knew how it felt to loose something, something you will miss, something you won’t find again. He also knew what the little girl’s soul would turn into: as time will pass, the pain will dissapear, turning into sadness and then her heart will harden. Just as it had happened to him. He wanted to help the little girl, but he didn’t know how. He was just about to go into the tunnels again when he heard her shout: “You know what, butterfly?! I won’t give up. I will find you no matter what! I have something very important to tell you.” She stood up, wiped her tears and started looking for the butterfly everywhere: on all the flowers, all the trees and every blade of grass. Tobi was watching her shocked: “Such a stubborn little girl”. However, he felt something in his heart once again. He still didn’t realize what…but he had a feeling that he was missing something. His thoughts got interrupted by a loud shout of joy: “Here you are, you lovely butterfly! I’ve found you!” Tobi raised his eyes and saw the little girl leaning over a flower, on which the butterfly sat, as if he was waiting for her. She stretched out her hand and the butterfly miraculously flew into it. Then the girl then leaned over and whispered something. She raised her hand and the butterfly took off and flew into the sky. The little girl was now watching it with a big smile. She looked so happy. Tobi was watching mesmerized. There, in that moment, his heart of stone seemed to have softened a little and he understood what he had to do. He understood he had done something wrong: he cried and suffered but didn’t do what was really important: GO ON! He should have never given up! Now he knew what he had to do. He immediately went underground and vanished. Nobody saw Tobi again for a while. In the big garden, the old man’s days passed quietly. The little girl came to visit very often. She read beautiful stories with her grandpa and they talked a lot. They missed their underground friend who left dirt piles all over the yard. They had never met Tobi, but they knew he was always near and they thought of him as part of the family. They were wondering what happened to him, where he had gone. One summer morning, the little girl shouted: “Grandpa, grandpa, look! Dirt heaps! Our mole is back!” The garden was filled with heaps: big ones and small ones. Yes, you guessed well: Tobi was back, and not alone, with his family! He had found his wife and two little babies. Tobi had searched for a long time in his yard. But watching the girl look for the butterfly on the other side of the fence, he too decided to extend his searches. He dug tunnels everywhere…under the fields, under the forests, under the river bed, everywhere. At long last, he found them! And where do you think they were? They were just across the street! Right there, in the teacher’s neighbour’s garden. They got lost, couldn’t find their way back to Tobi and since the babies were tired and hungry Tobi’s wife decided to make a new home for herself and the babies and look for Tobi when the babies were a bit bigger. Tobi couldn’t believe that they had been so close to him the whole time. But now, he has learned his lesson and he was determined to remember that he should never give up and never stop fighting for the things that mattered to him, for his loved ones. And to never let his heart turn hard ever again. Now Tobi and his family live in the old teacher’s garden and from time to time they go to the surface and watch the little girl chase butterflies and talk to them. I know you are wondering what could she possibly be telling them. I will tell you, because you were good and listened to the story. She tells them this: “Fly high butterfly. Don’t let anyone break your wings; they will take you higher and higher!” If you don’t believe me, dear children, look for a red, orange and purple butterfly. Hold him in your hand and ask him. Then let him go and you will see how high he will fly and how happy he will be.
Asculta Povestea
Six little fluffy cloud siblings lived in a big white house made of clouds, up in the clear blue sky. Five of the brothers were grey, but the sixth one was pink. The grey ones were always laughing at the pink one’s expense, making fun of him for being different. Not only was his pink colour all wrong, but he could not produce a single drop of rain, no matter how hard he tried… All the other clouds were mocking him. In the entire blue sky, nobody had ever seen a pink cloud that couldn’t even make rain fall. All other clouds were white or grey and knew perfectly well how to bring about drizzles or downpours, storms or snow… The Little Pink Cloud was very sad and did not understand why he was different. He desperately wished to be white or grey like the others and to be able to make it rain. He kept asking his mom and dad, in vain, why he was born that way. Nobody could answer him. They simply didn’t know. So one day, he decided he had to find out the reason. No matter what! First, he went to see Sun. He thought that being as important as he is, Sun would offer an explanation… alas, it was not to be. He just shrugged and got on with his work: he had to warm up Earth because it was going to be a nice summer morning. Then, the Little Pink Cloud thought of going to visit Moon. But Moon did not know the answer to his question either. She unceremoniously dismissed him, as she had a very important meeting with the stars. They were going to decide how bright they were going to shine the following night. He tried his luck next with Lightning but he didn’t have a clue. Moreover, he was in a rush to get to Thunder’s house for his noisy anniversary party. Lightning and Thunder had some time off and they were partying up a storm. The Little Pink Cloud was so upset that he had not been able to find anything, that he resolved to visit the King of the Sky himself, Rainbow, in search of an answer. Every creature in the sky knew there was none wiser than the mighty Rainbow. “He will surely know,” thought the Little Pink Cloud. When he arrived before Rainbow, he poured out his soul and asked him if he could think of any reason why he was different. Rainbow offered just a few words: “My dearest little cloud! Nothing in this world is by chance. You must not be sad about being different. Everyone has a special purpose on earth, as in heaven. Try to be happy and one day you will understand why you are here.” So it was that the Little Pink Cloud left Rainbow’s palace unsatisfied, without any clear explanation. Yet, trusting in the wisdom of Rainbow, he decided to follow his advice. He tried to be merrier and not dwell on how different he was from the other clouds. Days passed and the Little Pink Cloud slowly forgot his pink colour. He no longer heard the others’ petty jokes and when clouds gathered to bring about rain, he would pass the time by watching airplanes flying through the sky. One day though, something incredible happened. The Slumber Fairy flew into the sky with her helpers. There were thousands of colourful fairies, big and small, all dressed in leaves and blossoms. After respectfully greeting everybody, from Rainbow to Sun, the Slumber Fairy asked for an audience with Moon. “I have great plans,” she told the Moon. “I discovered on Earth there are little children who fear the dark. So I’ve decided to send a sweet little cloud to their room, to watch over their sleep.” “No problem,” said Moon, “I shall transfer a little raincloud to Earth!” “Hmm… that is going to be a problem,” said the Slumber Fairy. “We need a cloud without rain. We wouldn’t want children getting wet when they are sleeping…” “Well… all our clouds are rainclouds. That is what they do!,” said Moon. “Oh, wait!,” she cried, “I have somebody who is perfect for the task!” And she summoned the Little Pink Cloud. As soon as the Little Pink Cloud appeared, the Slumber Fairy and all her helpers jumped for joy. “Aaaaaa, you’re…. pink! How delightful! The most handsome little cloud we have ever seen! The children will adore you!” cried the fairies. And from that moment on, dear children, the Little Pink Cloud found his calling. Every night, he goes from home to home, to the bedrooms of children afraid of the dark, and he watches over them while they sleep. No one in the sky has ever laughed at him since, on the contrary, as he was the only cloud to ever reach the earth, he was much admired. The Little Pink Cloud never carried a grudge against his brothers and friends for all their mean jokes. He was so happy he completely forgot any unpleasant things from his past. He would often tell stories about the beautiful children sleeping peacefully. And how he, the Little Pink Cloud, was the one to closely watch over them. And you, dear children, if you happen to be afraid of the dark, don’t be! Because the Little Pink Cloud visits you every night to make sure you have beautiful dreams… in colour.
Asculta Povestea