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The Dormouse Family Wakes Up · Little Stories for Tiny People: Anytime and bedtime stories for kids

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: This is Ria. Welcome to Little Stories for Tiny People.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: It's a little cold outside, which makes me want to
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: curl up with a steaming cup of tea. So that's
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: what I have with me here in my little studio.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: A nice extra large cup of black tea with a
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: drop of honey. Now, I usually don't bring a drink
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: into my studio because, well, I am a bit clumsy
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: and I would never want to... Spill it.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Well, I was all set to tell you a story
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: featuring a snail named Mr. Shelby, who joins the circus
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: as a trapeze artist, but then has to solve a
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: missing cricket case. But I just spilled my tea all
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: over the papers. This would have been fine, had I
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: not written the story in a shade of pencil... That
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: is apparently a perfect match for the color of my tea.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: So now, I cannot read it.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Looks like I'm in a bit of a pickle. Oh,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: I know. I'll just look in my extra story cabinet.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Every now and then, I stash a story in here
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: for times like this. You know, for when I accidentally
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: leave a story on a fishing boat. Or for when
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: a story gets eaten by a hungry goat.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: So.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: extra story cabinet. Let's see what's in here. I don't
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: know if I'm in the mood for a story about
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: a dog who becomes a bank teller. Oh, this one
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: is about a squirrel who goes camping. Aren't squirrels kind
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: of always camping? Oh, this is perfect. This is so
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: much better than the snail story. All right, I've got
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: my sweater, my microphone, I'm seated on my hard metal stool,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: and I've got a story to share with.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: All of you.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: It's called The Dormouse Family Wakes Up. Take it away, Avery.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Remember, there are no pictures. You have to imagine the
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: pictures in your mind. You have to imagine them however
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: you want. Okay, here we go.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: It was early October when a chilly wind swept through
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: the woods. The temperature plunged and the leaves seemed to
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: fall all at once from the trees above the Dormouse
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: family's gourd. They'd been living in it a week, Mr. Dormouse, Mrs. Dormouse,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: and their 23 children. It was not the nicest home
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: they'd ever had, That title went to an enormous squash
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: they often reminisced about over dinner. Remember how good that
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: squash smelled? For eight days. But those were the best
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: eight days. That had been ages ago. The family had
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: been through plenty more homes since then. There was the
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Hubbard squash, into the side of which Mr. Dormouse cut
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: a few too many windows. What can I say? I
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: got carried away. which resulted in a hasty move three
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: days later when rain came pouring in during a storm. Children,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: grab your go bags. There was the long, skinny, spiral-shaped
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: gourd with a slope so steep that small dormice kept
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: rolling from the kitchen to the bedroom, catching others as
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: they went.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Oof! Oof! Watch out!
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: And landing in clumps at the bottom. The biggest miscalculation
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: might have been the time they dragged a new home
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: back to the fig tree, believing it to be a squash,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: only to discover it was a gigantic hot chili pepper.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: Mama, my eyes is burning.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Now, now, your eyes are burning, my dear. There had
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: been mishaps here and there, But pumpkins and the like
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: made lovely homes, and there was nothing like the glow
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: of a candle against their golden interiors. Mrs. Dormouse got
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: a certain satisfaction from decorating anew every week or two,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: but occasionally there were moments when she imagined a more
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: settled existence, a permanent underground home for her family, where
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: they could put down roots where they could, but any
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: such reverie was swiftly interrupted.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Mama, Byron said I have squirrel feet, but I don't
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: want to have squirrel feet.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Nonsense. You have lovely little Dormouse feet.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: But I don't want to have Dormouse feet. I want
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: to have chipmunk feet.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Ah, meantime, Mr. Dormouse relished the thrill of moving house
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: several times per month. Each new residence required new areas
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: of expertise, new challenges, new emergency plans. Now listen up,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: he'd say, as he tacked an evacuation map on the
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: wall of a freshly cleaned pumpkin. See these marks? Those
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: are the six exits we've got in this place. Those
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: are the two doors. Those are the four windows. I've
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: looped ropes on hooks by the two highest windows. The
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: others are low enough for us to jump. Now let's
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: review the code words. Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Dormouse had
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: long ago made peace with the fact that they preferred
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: the adventure of above-ground living. But there came a time
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: every year when they had no choice but to scramble
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: beneath the earth. No fruit or vegetable would ever last
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: long enough to serve as a proper home during the
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Dormouse family's annual hibernation. So after that early October chill
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: whispered through the forest and the family's gourd was blanketed
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: in a thick layer of leaves, Mr. and Mrs. Dormouse
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: put their noses to the air, sniffed, turned to one another, nodded,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and said, It's time. When the family first moved to
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the area several years back, Mr. Dormouse chose a spot
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: on a hill beneath a fig tree as the site
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: for the family's ever-swapped-out homes, and he had chosen another
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: spot nearby, hidden beneath a broad shrub, As the site
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: for the family's underground hibernation burrow, the entire family spent
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: several nights digging it out. But over the years, as Mr.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Dormouse accumulated expertise in different areas— wood carving, furniture design, basket construction,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: rope weaving— there are too many things to list, really— As
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: he accumulated skills, he also accumulated tools and equipment and
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: materials and gear. He needed somewhere to put all of it.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: It was impractical to keep them in whatever pumpkin they
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: happened to be living in. Instead, he decided to keep
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: them in the hibernation burrow. which meant the night before
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: they scurried underground for their big sleep, Mr. Dormouse had
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: to clear everything out. He took half the children to
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: help him. Papa, this hammer looks just like the other ones.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Why do you have so many? That's not even a hammer.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: That's a mallet. Now take it to the tarp. Meantime, Mrs.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Dormouse had the rest of the children help her with
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: other preparations. like sorting and packing. Now, if any of
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: your pajamas are very snug, give them to the next
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: smallest dormouse. When you wake up in spring, you'll have
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: grown out of them.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: But what about me, Mama? There is no smaller dormouse
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: to give mine to.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: Well then, Winslow, you're not allowed to grow out of
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: your pajamas. You have to stay my littlest dormouse forever.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Oh, Mama. Mama, can we discuss our birthday party? We
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: have so many plans. We already handed out invitations.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: It was the triplets who always fretted over their birthday party.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: You already gave out invitations. Your birthday is not until summer. Now, now.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: We'll have plenty of time to worry about that when
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: we wake up. It is impressive what a big family
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: can do in a single night. By sundown the following evening,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: the hibernation burrow was empty. The family's belongings were packed
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: in a rolled-up tarp that Mr. Dormouse buried nearby. The
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: gourd was cleaned out, and they were ready to go.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Mrs.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Dormouse led the family. out of the gourd and oversaw
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: a head count.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: One, two, three, four, five, and on and on until twenty-three.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: Then the dormice went below ground for the winter. And
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: what a long winter it was. It stayed cold much
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: later than usual, snowing well into the spring months. The
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: trees were confused, the flowers hesitant to bloom. The temperature
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: suddenly rose one afternoon, becoming sweltering by sunset. All the
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: dormice were fast asleep in their burrow. Except For three,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: the triplets, they woke up all at once. They did
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: most everything together and went scampering to their parents.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Mama, Mama, our birthday is tomorrow. Mrs.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Dormouse was still three quarters asleep when she replied, But
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: your birthday isn't till summer.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: But it is summer, Mama. Mrs.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Dormouse and Mr. Dormouse beside her bolted up in their
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: sleeping sacks, turned to one another, and cried, We overslept.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: So much to do. So very much to do. Breakfast was,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: in a word, chaotic. Mr. and Mrs. Dormouse rushed to
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: retrieve some items from the stores of food they had
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: prepared before the big sleep. As they worked, The children
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: tested out their long, dormant lungs.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: Mama, do we have any bugs to eat?
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: No bugs yet, darlings. We'll have to collect some this evening.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Mama, Billy flicked a seed at me.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Billy, we do not flick seeds at dormice.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: Mama, Papa, what about our birthday party?
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: We'll worry about that tomorrow. Mr. and Mrs. Dormouse distributed
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: porridge with dried berries and seeds to each little dormouse,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: and as they ate, quietly, as they were terribly hungry
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: after not eating for nine months, the two elder dormice
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: formulated plans. First on the list, finding a place to live.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Once breakfast was done, the family clambered up from the
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: underground burrow into the moonlit forest. Mrs. Dormouse led a
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: head count.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: One, two, three, four.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: When all 25 dormice were accounted for, off they went
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: to find a new home. Summer is a tricky time
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: to find the type of home for which the Dormouse
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: family were in the market. Pumpkins were not in stock anywhere.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Summer squash were plentiful, but tended to last only a
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: day or two, and the family was looking for something
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: that would keep for at least a week. At length,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: they came upon a small farm at the south end
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: of the woods. Hard to scrape out, but will last
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: you up to nine days, I reckon. Nine days. Darling,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: did you hear that? And look at the shape, will you?
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: So symmetrical. We'll take it. All righty. Yes, indeedy. This
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: will make you a nice percussion instrument. I know it's
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: real popular these days. Oh. Oh. Mr. and Mrs. Dormouse laughed.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: We're not going to use it as an instrument. We're
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: going to live in it. Well, now. You see something
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: new every day. That is how the family ended up
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: rolling an unripe watermelon back to their preferred resting spot
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: on the crest of a hill beneath a fig tree
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: that was just beginning to bear fruit. The kindly squirrel
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: who had sold them the watermelon had not been exaggerating.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: It was terribly difficult to scrape out as the inside
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: had not yet softened with time and sun. The family
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: spent hours scooping out the interior. They finished near dawn,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: yawning as they went. But still, there was more to
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: be done. Mr. Dormouse insisted on moving all his equipment
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: and gear and supplies out of the storage tarp and
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: back into the hibernation burrow.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Papa, do we have to do this now? Can't it wait?
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Come now, stop your belly aching. Thankfully, we won't have
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: to do it again until autumn. It took another hour,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: but soon, every last tool and tinkering device was underground.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: The family snuggled in for bed in their new watermelon,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: just as the sun lifted above the forest. The children
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: drifted off almost instantly, drained from the night of work.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: But neither Mr. nor Mrs. Dormouse could sleep. Mrs. Dormouse's
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: mind flitted through the checklist of to-dos. Oh, the birthday
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: party for the triplets. Must remember the cakes, the drinks. Oh,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: and must tell Dorothy to stop gnawing on twigs. Her teeth,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: her poor little teeth. Mr. Dormouse twitched awake every few
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: seconds at the unfamiliar set of sounds in the family's
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: brand new home. The hibernation burrow had been so quiet,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: the sounds of the daytime forest so dampened by the
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: earth surrounding it. But here, above ground, everything was so
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: incredibly loud and close. The summer wind whistled against the watermelon.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: The birds in the trees seemed to be shouting all day.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Footsteps of lumbering creatures shook the land. Finally, at dusk,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: the watermelon hushed along with the forest. Every dormouse was asleep.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: It was utter peace in the cozy, round home. for
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: approximately 37 minutes, until three sets of little feet made
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: their way, pitter-patter, to Mrs. Dormouse. She was sound asleep,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: and the triplets' voices had to travel miles, fathoms, to
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: reach her.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Mama, it's our birthday. Mama, who's making our cakes? Please
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: don't say, Belly. He told us if he made our case,
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: he would put a frog in one of them, and
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: we wouldn't know which one, and it would jump out
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: at us. Mama, will we go to the pond like always?
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Will we stay until dawn like always?
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: All this chatter blended nicely into Mrs. Dormouse's dream, until
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: they shook her, saying, It's.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Our birthday, Mama. You cannot sleep through our birthday.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: She sat up in bed, with her head feeling far away.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: but with her heart in the right place. Oh yes,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: my darlings, yes. Your birthday it is. Everyone knows the
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: dangers of not getting enough sleep. It makes one much
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: more likely to fall out of a tree while gathering
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: pine cones. Ouch. If one nods off in the middle
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: of pouring tea, Cups can be quickly overfilled.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: Oh dear.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: Pants may be put on backwards, which can prove embarrassing,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: especially at job interviews.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: Uh, is there somewhere I can change?
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Shoes may end up on the wrong feet.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: How did I do this again?
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Not enough is said of the dangers of oversleeping. And certainly,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: nothing is said... about the combination of oversleeping and undersleeping,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: which is precisely what Mr. and Mrs. Dormouse were experiencing
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: that evening upon being awakened by their triplets. After such
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: a long hibernation, then the rush of finding a new
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: home and moving in, then the sleepless day thereafter, they
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: were thoroughly out of sorts. and would have preferred to
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: have a lazy night at home to organize the watermelon
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: and settle in. But there was no possibility of such
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: a thing on the triplets' birthday.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Mama, whose turn is it to make the cakes?
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: And the drinks?
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: Whose job is it?
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Hold on, let me see. Mrs. Dormouse rummaged through some
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: boxes to locate her birthday binder. With so many children...
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: She needed a system. Bernadette, it's your turn to bake
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: the cakes and carry them in the basket.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, me? It's me.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Billy, you're on drinks. And please no snails in the
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: lemonade this time. Esther, you'll bring the cups and plates.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Everyone else, make your beds and brush your teeth and
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: be ready to go when the cakes are ready. The
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: cakes were not normal cakes, the kind you and I
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: would have. They were Dormouse cakes, which you don't bake.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: If Dormice saw you bake a cake, they would laugh
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: and laugh and wonder why anyone would do such a
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: silly thing. Bernadette had the cakes finished in 22 minutes,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: despite yawning the whole time. She'd hardly slept either. Mr.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Dormouse had yet to cut a door into the watermelon.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: He'd only had time to carve out a single window,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: So down they went on a length of twine, out
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: the window and into the dark forest. They had to
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: be quiet out there, especially after hearing an owl not
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: too far away. They went ahead with their usual head count,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: but they had to whisper.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: One, two, five. Bristle, you're three. I'm not three. I
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: am one years old. Your number is three. Oh, okay. Three, four, five.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Then off they went into the woods.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: Mr.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Dormouse led the way, followed by 23 little Dormice, with Mrs.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: Dormouse serving as the caboose. It was a beautiful evening,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: warm with plenty of moonlight to guide them. It was
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the family's first stretch of peace since waking from hibernation.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: All was quiet. except for the sound of little feet
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: patting against the soft ground. After a lengthy walk, they
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: arrived at the pond where they always held their birthday parties.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: They chose a small hill on which to set everything up.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: I've never noticed this hill before. Me neither. It was
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: then that little Winslow... who spent a great many of
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: his waking hours daydreaming of cake, even when there was
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: no cake around, said, Hey, Mama, where are the cakes?
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: which prompted Bernadette to burst into tears and.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Cry, I forgot the cakes. Mrs.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Dormouse went to her daughter. There, there, it's all right. Mr.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Dormouse crouched down to Bernadette. Where did you leave them?
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Inside the watermelon?
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: I left them outside. Ah, Mr.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: And Mrs. Dormouse shared a meaningful look and a silent conversation.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: She left them outside. That's not good. The children were
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: all thinking the same thing.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: I bet a gopher ate the cakes. Or a crow.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: Or a seagull. What about a.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Children, hush now. We have birthdays to celebrate. Let us
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: not think of the cakes.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Mama, Chip is eating pebbles again.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: Chip, dear, stop eating pebbles. That was when the little
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: hill on which they'd set up their party began to move.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Papa, the earth is shaking. I didn't know hills could move.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: This, Mr. Dormouse said with authority, is not a hill.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: It's a tortoise. There were gasps all around. No need
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: to panic, Mr. Dormouse went on. I've got my rope.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Come now, children, follow me. And he headed down the
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: tortoise's shell. Upon reaching its tail, he looped it with
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: the rope, whipping his head around to see if the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: tortoise reacted. It did not. It continued its lumbering footsteps.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: All right, oldest to youngest. Darcy went first, shimmying down
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: the rope to the ground, followed by the rest of
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: the Dormice, one by one. Little Winslow was the last
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: of the siblings to be sent, caught at the bottom
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: by an older brother. Mrs. Dormouse shimmied down next, She
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: had become used to such situations over the years and
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: landed gracefully. Mr. Dormouse hesitated before he descended, as he
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: did not want to lose his rope. He could not
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: come up with a way to climb down it, and
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: also to keep it, and with the rest of the
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: family calling to him.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Papa, come down. Papa, we need you. What are you
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: waiting for, Papa?
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Dear, please come. He thought of all his other ropes
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: back at the watermelon, albeit different kinds for different use cases,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: accepted the loss, and shimmied down to safety. The guests arrived.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Uncle Whiskerly and Aunt Honeycake came first with their twelve children,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: including the new baby, Edmund, who in the birth announcement said,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: had been said to have a cry like that of
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: a baby hawk, which turned out to be true. It
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: was rather jarring for the dormice.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: Take cover!
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Oh, that was just baby Edmund. The cousins all ran
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: off to play, splashing in the pond, tossing mud at
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: one another. Uncle Albert showed up. Albert, how've you been?
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: I've been in a bit of a pickle. Really?
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: What kind of pickle? A dill pickle. I found it
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: on the ground beneath a picnic table. Perfect condition. No bites. Well,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: one bite. Otherwise pristine. I couldn't believe anyone would leave
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: it there. Found it two days ago. Aiming to get
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: a full week in it, at least. It's perfect for
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: one dormouse. And when I need to store it, I
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: just roll it under a shrub and off I go.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: There may have been no cakes to eat. We shall
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: not think of the cakes. But the dormice still sang
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: to the triplets, who soaked up the attention and gave
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: them homemade cards, as was the tradition.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Winslow, thank you for this card. Is this the three
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: of us? Mm-hmm. We look so fancy. Billy, what is
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: this in your card? It's a drawing of a worm
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: throwing a spear. It's hunting an apple. Billy!
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: And, as was tradition, they stayed at the pond until dawn.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: The triplets, jumping excitedly, exclaimed, It's time for our gift!
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: The family hugged their guests and waved goodbye.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Goodbye, Aunt Honeycake. Goodbye, Uncle Wizardly. Goodbye, Uncle Albert. Goodbye, cousins.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Goodbye, everyone. Thank you for coming. And off they went.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: The morning woods were quiet. The night creatures had gone home,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: and the day creatures were still stretching their paws and
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: setting pots of tea to boil. The dormice felt pleasantly
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: alone as they scampered home. Their time since awakening from
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: hibernation had been so filled with activity, such a blur
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: of change, that they'd hardly noticed the blossoms on the
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: trees and bushes, the wildflowers growing here and there amidst
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: all the green. The woods were bursting with life in
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: the summer. Dormice, as you may have figured out, are
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: night creatures. They sleep all day and wake up at sundown.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: But long ago, when the eldest Dormouse children were mere babies,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: they had clamored to see the morning forest.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Can't we stay up and see the flowers, Mama? I
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: heard the sky turns blue in the morning. Is that true, Papa?
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: When can we see the birds and not just hear them? Mr.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: And Mrs. Dormouse asked. had looked at each other one
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: day after a particularly heartfelt request.
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: To See the butterflies. Can't we see the butterflies just once?
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: And together, they had said, Yes, on your birthday. The
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: tradition stuck, and as the family scampered home through the
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: vivid forest, the triplets, and everyone else, marveled at the
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: birthday gift of a walk through the morning forest.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: Look, a butterfly. A bird, do you see? Look at
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: those clouds. They're pink.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: And when they arrived back to their usual spot, there
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: was another thing at which to marvel.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: The cakes! Look, the cakes is still here!
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: The cakes are still here, darling. So they were All
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: three cakes sat on the ground. It was so surprising,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: and at that point everyone was so tired, that it
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: took a moment for Mr. and Mrs. Dormouse to notice
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: something else at the very same time. Our watermelon is gone.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: There were gasps all around.
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: Mr.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Dormouse sighed. Mrs. Dormouse shrugged. The children ran to the cakes,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: which were unharmed, save for some nibbles from an inchworm
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: who was still on one of the decorative leaves.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: Um, excuse me, inchworm?
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Asked one of the triplets.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: Yes. We left these cakes outside all night. and thought
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: they'd be gone by now. Do you know why no
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: one ate them? Well, the inchworm looked up at the trees.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: There was a skunk choir that came through here in
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: the middle of the night. They must have cleared everyone out.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: They were terribly off-key. One of them took your watermelon,
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: said it would make a good percussive instrument. Oh, oh,
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: oh my. It's a good thing you left the cakes
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: outside the watermelon, Bernadette.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Everyone agreed. Yes, thank you, Bernadette. Bernadette smiled shyly. The
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: children were very much focused on the cakes, which they
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: ate as they sat watching squirrels run through tree branches.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Mr.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: And Mrs. Dormouse were very much focused on their lack
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: of a home. As the little Dormice ate cake, they
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: emptied the underground hibernation burrow. Do you really need sixteen hammers?
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: They all have different uses. That one you're holding is
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: a mallet. Once it was clear and the cake platters
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: were licked clean by Billy, always by Billy, they did
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: a final head count. One, two, three, seven, I mean four.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Then ushered their children below the earth. The children fell
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: asleep instantly, utterly exhausted by the long day of excitement. Mr.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: and Mrs. Dormouse tossed and turned a bit, then fell
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: asleep too, feeling as though they could sleep for another
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: nine months. But of course, they couldn't, because they'd have
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: to go searching for a new home. Watermelon, honeydew, squash,
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: maybe even a pickle, tomorrow. They would search for it, tomorrow.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: I hope you loved the story. Little Stories for Tiny
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: People is written, performed, and produced by me, Rhea Pector.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: My in-house tech director, Peter Kay, runs my website and
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: puts my stories on the internet for all of you
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: to enjoy. Thank you to Avery for the super important
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: reminder message at the beginning. And thank you, as always,
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: for listening in.