Speaker 1: He yo. Hello everyone, and welcome to the Animal Tales podcast,
where you suggest the animal for us to write a
story about. My name's Josephine and I've got a brand
new animal story here just for you. Animal Tales Premium
members get an extra story every Friday. Find out how
to listen to them by visiting Animaltales dot uk and remember,
for a tiny fee, all our stories are advert free.
Alicia is from England and she would like a story
with a unicorn, a dragon, a clownfish and an axe lottle.
You can learn more about some of these creatures in
the animal facts after the story. Now settle back, relax,
and I'll begin The teeny tiny Dragon. The great blue
Dragon stomped and roared, bearing his long, sharp teeth. Afraid
of his mighty claws, the animals on the beach fled,
crushing a palm tree beneath his foot. The dragon laughed. Oh,
how he enjoyed being the biggest, scariest animal in the
whole land. Nobody was as powerful as him, nobody as
large or as terrifying. He could create hurricanes with his wings,
sliced through mountains with his claws, burn entire forests with
his fiery breath. Every animal in the world feared him.
And yet while the animals ran from the beach in terror,
one creature simply stood and watched. It was a unicorn,
and it had grown tired of the dragon's havoc, and
the dragon had noticed it. You, the dragon roared at
the unicorn. Are you not afraid? Run before I gobble
you up or stomp you flat. The unicorn looked up
at the beast and replied, I've been waiting for our
paths to cross. Is that so? Sneered the dragon, his
eyes narrowing, You must be very foolish to wish to
meet me. It is you who is foolish. The unicorn answered,
you care for no one but yourself. You believe that
you are so strong and mighty that nobody could ever
challenge you. Well that ends today. It's time you were
taught a lesson. The dragon wasn't going to stand for this,
so he roared, lunging towards the union. But before the
beast's jaws could close around her, the unicorn's horn lit
up with magic, and the dragon disappeared in a puff
of smoke. While this was happening, somewhere out to sea,
the fish of the coral reef were hiding. There was
complete silence, not a movement nor a sound, until a
little limpet cried out, it's safe to come out. Immediately
the reef erupted into noise and motion. Now that the
danger had passed, Colorful fish, crustaceans, and mollusks swam out
to continue with their day. From one hiding place emerged
two friends, Alicia, an axe alottle and Rosy, a clownfish.
That's the third time this week that we've had to hide,
Alicia said, Well, keep an eye on the open water,
just in case it comes back. Rosy replied. They were
close to the reef's edge. It was quieter here, with
the bright coral on one side and the vast sands
of the ocean floor on the other. I can't see anything,
the axe Loottle said, but I can hear something. Hear what,
Rosy replied. It's coming from that clam shell, Alicia answered,
swimming away from the reef for a closer look. It
was half a shell, creating a curved lump in the sand.
There's definitely something under there, nodded Rosy. Whatever it is,
it can't be very big. Some one must be trapped underneath,
Alicia said, pushing her axe lottle fingers under the edge
of the shell. As she lifted the clown fish, pushed
upwards with her nose, and out crawled a very small
blue dragon. He wasn't even as big as Rosy, with
tiny wings, tiny claws, and even tinier teeth. Finally, the
dragon snapped crossly. Couldn't you hear me shouting? It took
you long enough? Um, You're welcome, said Rosy. Were you
hiding from the danger too? Hiding? What nonsense? Snarled the dragon.
I don't hide from anyone. And what were you doing
beneath the shell, asked Alicia. The dragon huffed, thinking of
his encounter with the unicorn. I've no wish to talk
about it, thank you. Now, how do I get back
to land? It's that way, Alicia said, pointing across the
ocean floor. But it's a dangerous journey for a little
seahorse like you. I'm not a little sea horse, the
dragon cried. I'm a mighty dragon, devourer of beasts, destroyer
of mountains, and terror of the skies. Of course you are,
said Rosy, not believing a word. Nice to meet you, Rosy,
don't tease, Alicia said, trying to hide her own grin.
Stand aside. The dragon demanded, I'm leaving, But before he
could swim away, Alicia and Rosy grabbed him by the tail.
Unhand me, you bother some sea life, the dragon squeaked.
But you can't swim out into open water, Alicia insisted,
you'll be eaten by the the the barra cooder, Rosy
finished in a whisper. The what the dragon asked, never
having heard of such a thing. The barracuda, Alicia repeated.
He's a large, hungry fish who eats any one who
gets in his way. He was right here on the
reef just a short time ago. Well I'm not bothered
about that, said the dragon, tugging his tail free. I
have to get home. I've got a unicorn I need
to gobble up. And with that he swam away from
the reef across the empty sea bed. That poor little
dragon is going to get eaten, for sure, Alicia said,
as they watched him leave. And there's more out there
than just the barracuda, Rosy added quietly. The dragon wasn't
used to being small, and was carrying on as if
he were still the colossal creature from before his encounter
with the unicorn. He was completely focused on finding that
rotten horned horse to make her turn him back, and
when she did, he'd eat her up in one bite.
So distracted was he that he fell to notice a
claw poking from the sand. As he swam past, the
claw snapped down onto his leg. Unhand me, the dragon
snarled as he wriggled and tugged the claw's owner. A
large crab emerged from the sand, looking pleased with himself.
Not likely, chuckled the crab. You may be small, but
you'll make a lovely snack. I'm not small, screeched the
dragon as he fought to be free, But it was
no use. The crab had him, and the tiny dragon
wasn't strong enough to get away. For the very first
time in his life, the dragon felt a twinge of fear.
I wonder what bit of you I shall nibble first,
grinned the crab, just as something bounced off the top
of his shell. Oy, what's that? What's going on? Bits
of shell and small pebbles rained down on the crab,
making it twitch and flinch. It didn't like it. One
bit so scuttled away to safety, letting go of its
prize in the process. The dragon sank to the sea floor,
only to realize who had been hurling the missiles. Are
you okay, Alicia asked, You helped me, said the dragon,
looking quite puzzled. Of course we did, The axe Alottle
replied us. Smaller creatures need to stick together, otherwise crab
claws like those would make our lives a misery. The
dragon glanced at his own sharp claws. He'd always enjoyed
scaring other animals with them, but after his encounter with
the crab, he was getting to see the other side
of it. Just so we all know, the dragon said,
as he began to swim away again. I didn't ask
for any help, even so, said Rosy. Maybe we should
keep you company. It's dangerous down here for a little
creature like you. The dragon was about to object to
being described that way when he finally admitted to himself
that it was true. He was little, so reluctantly he
swam on with the axe Loottel and the clownfish right
behind him. It was just sand as far as the
eye could see, with not even a rock in sight.
Watch out, said Alicia. Suddenly, something's coming. She feared it
was the barracuda, but the dark shape broke up to
reveal a large shoal of swimming mackerel. Most of the
mackerel didn't even notice them, they were so tiny, until
one of them shouted, hey, get a load of the
little pip squeaks down there. The dragon bristled, come down
here and say that, he roared, to which the mackerel
just laughed. They were much bigger than the three travelers.
The dragon pouted angrily, feeling helpless, Just ignore them, Rosy said, kindly.
Bullies don't deserve your attention. They like to stir things up.
The dragon sniffed, it was true. When he was big,
he'd always enjoyed making smaller creatures run or hide. Quite abruptly,
the mackerel turned sharply in a flurry of fins and hails.
None of them were laughing or teasing now, as they
swam on at speed. Something had spooked them. Oh no,
Rosy whispered, it's a bigger bully. A large, lone fish
zigzagged through the water at speed. It was long and thin,
and several sharp teeth were poking out of its mouth.
The barracuda has it seen us, fretted Alicia. There's nowhere
to hide. Rosy hissed, looking around for coral or even
a small rock. Quickly urged Alicia, bury yourself in the sand.
The three animals slipped under the fine grains, hoping they
had been fast enough. Ooh, where did they go? Mocked
the voice of the barracuda. It's like they just disappeared.
Alicia and Rosy trembled at the thought of the big
fish right above their heads, with no little morsels to eat,
I'll just have to eat sand instead. The barracuda chuckled,
great big mouthfuls of sand scooped up right about here.
Don't yelped Rosy, bursting out of the sand. Please let
us go, pleaded Alicia, as she too emerged. No chance,
said the barracuda, as it swam a little closer. Not now,
I've got you. The clownfish and the axe Loottle thought
it was the end of them, until quite unexpectedly, the
barracuda pulled a very strange face. What's that, he asked,
something's on my back. It was at that moment that
the dragon bit the large fish. He may be little,
but he could still bite. Yow, screamed the barracuda as
he thrashed about. But the dragon just held on with
his claws and bit and bit again. Get off, Get off.
If you think that's bad, wait until you get a
load of this, said the dragon. It wasn't so much
fiery breath as superheated water, but it was enough to
give one of the barracuda's fins a nasty singe. The
barracuder screamed and bolted, jetting away as fast as it
could swim, leaving the dragon spinning in the water. The
barracuder it's gone, cheered Rosy. And I'm not so sure
he'll be coming back, added Alicia. Rosy turned to the
dragon with a look of admiration on her face. You've
saved us, she said. Of course I did, answered the
little blue dragon. US. Smaller creatures need to stick together,
otherwise big creatures would make our lives a misery. And
he meant it too. It wasn't much further to the beach,
and soon the clown fish, the axe a lottle, and
the dragon were in the shallow water. Now that you've
found the land, what will you do now, Alicia asked,
I have some one to find, said the dragon, a unicorn.
Although I no longer think I'm going to do what
I thought I was going to do. I think that
if I want to ever be a big dragon again,
I need to show that I've changed my ways. So
you really are a big, mighty dragon, Rosy asked, until
recently smiled the dragon. But finding the unicorn isn't going
to be easy at this size. It may take me
some time, and this time we can't come with you,
pointed out Alicia. That's okay, nodded the dragon. You've done
more than enough already. Because now I know to stick
together with the smaller creatures. I'll work it out. That's
the spirit, smiled Rosy. You may not have a mighty
body at the moment, but you have the mightiest of hearts.
Then the tiny dragon walked out of the sea and
onto the beach and went in search of a unicorn.
Animal fact. As our story contains unicorns and dragons, we
thought it would be okay to continue the fantasy by
having an axe a lot or live on a coral reef.
In reality, axelottles don't live in sea water in the wild.
They are only found in one freshwater lake in Mexico. Clownfish, though,
do live on reefs. They have developed a relationship with
sea anenemies, where the clownfish gets shelter and somewhere to
hide in return for protecting and cleaning the annemy. We
call this kind of relationship between two different types of
animals symbiotic. Thank you for your suggestions, Alicia. We hope
that you all enjoyed the story. Wherever you're listening in
the world, discover our Animal Tales books at animaltales dot uk.
Great bedtime reading, especially if you've discovered the joy of
reading for yourself. Make sure you join us next time
for another great animal tale. Goodbye,