Bedtime Stories

The berry

The berry
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Once upon a time there was a big blackberry, who lived on a branch of a blackberry bush. Other berries on the bush all around it were disappearing. They were being picked and eaten by birds and little girls with blonde curly hair and by their daddies, too. But not this berry. This berry was hidden in the middle of the bush and so stayed safely on the branch, feeling grateful, as the other berries went away.

One day, the berry fell from the branch and landed on the ground. It bounced up and down, then started to roll down the hill. Down it rolled: rolling, rolling, rolling, down, down, down the hill, until it finally met a river, and dropped into the water with a gentle splash. It floated to the top of the water and then followed the water down, down, down the river.

Past the fish in the water. Past the plants, past the tadpoles, and the frogs, and the starfish, and the dolphins. And then, all of a sudden, a turtle swam to the surface and grabbed the berry. He grabbed the berry with his mouth, and then put the berry on his head to wear as a hat. As Mr. Turtle swam back down, all of the creatures that saw him complimented him on his berry hat. "What a fantastic purple hat", said the octopus. "It suits you, perfectly", said the catfish. "I want one!" said Mrs Seahorse.

"Well, you're in luck", said Mr. Turtle, "because I'm about to open a shop selling berry jewellery. Turtle Berry Wear Emporium".

"Perfect", said the Mrs. Seahorse. "I'd like to buy a necklace made with small red berries, please".

Mr. Turtle didn't have any red berries, but agreed that he would sell one to Mrs. Seahorse the following day. Mr. Turtle swam to the surface, and shouted out to get help from his friend, Mrs. Owl.

"Mrs. Owl, Mrs. Owl", said Mr. Turtle, "I need your help, please. I need some little red berries but I don't have any. Would you be able to find some for me?"

Mrs. Owl thought about it and then said, "Twit twooooo, I will help youuuu". She flapped her wings, jumped up into the air and started to fly around the woods, looking for small red berries. She flew over the roots, under the branches, and around the tree trunks, looking for small red berries, but she couldn't find any anywhere.

Then, all of a sudden, she spotted a small bush full of small red berries on it. But she couldn't reach it! There were two big trees blocking the way. So Mrs. Owl had to ask her friend, Mrs. Bear, for help.

"Mrs. Bear, Mrs. Bear, will you help me? I'm trying to reach these berries but these trees are in the way. Can you move them for me?"

Mrs. Bear agreed, took a step back, then took one step forward, and another, then another, and then she started to run forwards until, CRASH, Mrs. Bear ran into one of the trees and it fell down, because she was so strong and heavy.

"Yippeeee!" said Mrs. Owl. "Now I can reach the little red berries". She flew to the bush and started to pick some berries, putting them one by one into her bag. One berry, two berries......... up to 15 berries. Then she finally picked one berry to eat herself. Mmmmm, she thought, tasty.

She gave one berry to bear to say thank you, and then she flew all the way back to her nest where she had three baby owls waiting. She gave them a berry each, and the little owls ate them happily, jumping up and down and saying, "tweet tweet tweet, chirp chirp chirp". Then Mrs. Owl flew all the way back to the river, over the roots, under the branches, around the tree trunks. And then she dropped the rest of the small red berries into the water, one by one, where they landed with a gentle splash, splash, splash, splash.

Mrs. Turtle was very happy to get the small red berries and he took them back underwater and he made two magnificent necklaces. He sold one to Mrs. Seahorse, and gave one to Mrs. Owl to say thank you.