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Speaker 1: Hell yeah, Hello. My name's Josephine and this is the

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Animal Tales podcast, where you suggest the animals featured in

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our stories. There are new tales to enjoy every Monday

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and Wednesday, with a third premium only story every Friday.

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If you've enjoyed an animal Tale story, then please do

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let your friends know so they can enjoy it too.

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Francesca lives in Sydney, Australia, and she would like a

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story featuring an otter and a dragon. You can learn

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more about these creatures in the animal facts after the story. Okay,

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are you ready? That's good, then I'll begin The Otter

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and the Dragon. The water lapped gently over Francheska's paws

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as she waded through the river's shallows. Something shiny had

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caught the otter's eye, so she bent down to pick

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it up. Holding it up to the light, she saw

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a pretty blue stone, perfectly round and flecked with white speckles.

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Otters love pretty stones. Francesca had quite a collection hidden

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away in her burrow. She couldn't wait to add this

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one to her growing pile. Satisfied, she slipped the pebble

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into her bag alongside a handful of other stones that

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she'd found that day. Another ten minutes, Francesca said to

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herself as she continued her search, This was a good spot,

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But as she stared downwards into the water, everything darkened.

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Thinking a cloud had passed in front of the sun,

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the little otter looked up just in time to see

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a dark shape gliding over Hercheska couldn't believe what she

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was seeing. She'd heard stories, but never seen one for

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real before. A dragon? But what was it doing and

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where was it going? Without giving it a second thought,

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Francesca took off after the creature, The stones forgotten. She

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left the river behind her, stumbling through the trees as

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she struggled to stay in a straight line. The trees

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ended at a rocky hillside, and there, lounging on the

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rocks was an enormous green dragon. Francesca bit back a

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squeal of excitement. She'd begun to think she'd imagined it,

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but there it was. She'd always loved the idea of dragons,

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with their giant wings, powerful claws, and breath of fire.

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She'd read so many stories about them, even pretending to

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be one when she was a young otter pup, spending

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many an afternoon, pretending to fly along the river side,

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and now here was a real one, only a short

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distance away. He was magnificent, a body as big as

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an elephant, with a long tail and emerald scales that

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shimmered in the sunlight. Most animals would have run at

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the sight of such a huge predator, but any fear

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Francesca had was nothing compared to her excitement. Hello, Francesca

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called out, stepping out from the trees. Good morning. The

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dragon's head whipped around, but relaxed immediately at the sight

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of the little otter. It was barely bigger than one

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of his sharp teeth. What do you want, mammal asked

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the dragon. I just wanted to say hi. Francesca replied,

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I've always wanted to meet a dragon. This is so cool.

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The dragon wasn't used to being approached. Are you not

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scared of me, he asked, Most animals are. Oh no, well,

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maybe a little, the otter admitted, But I've always thought

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how wonderful it would be to be friends with a dragon.

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The dragon let out a low, rumbling laugh. Dragons don't

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make friends with non dragons, he said, You're far too small,

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and you could never keep up with me. Besides, we

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have nothing in common. Oh I'm sure we would if

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we got to know each other, Francesca said eagerly. I

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know lots about dragons. You see. If I were a dragon,

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i'd be a really good one. You, the dragon laughed.

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Dragons are powerful, strong, and brave. You're just a li otter.

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I can be powerful, strong and brave, insisted Francesca. If

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I could show you, could we be friends? Maybe? The

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dragon replied, looking amused. But I don't see how you're

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going to manage it. Francesca smiled. Don't go anywhere, she said,

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I'll be right back. She turned tail, running back into

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the trees, leaving the amused dragon to return to his nap.

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Francesca ran all the way home, only stopping to gather

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up some items she needed along the way. She dumped

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her fines upon the table, then held out her little

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fuzzy arms to give them a couple of flaps. If

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I could fly, then i'd be much more like a dragon,

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she smiled. But she didn't have flaps of skin like

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a dragon or a bat, and she didn't have feathers

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like a bird. Luckily, Francesca was a very creative otter,

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so she got to work, cutting, sewing, and gluing. Look,

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she cried out to the dragon as she reappeared on

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the rocky hill side. I have wings now too, I'm

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just like a dragon. The otter had made herself a

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pair of wings out of leaves, vines, and random feathers.

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They were strapped to her arms and were large enough

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to drag along the ground behind her. The dragon snorted,

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although he was secretly impressed. Interesting, he said, but do

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they work? Of course, Francesca replied a little nervously. I'll

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show you. With great effort. She clambered up on to

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one of the larger rocks, looking over their edge. Francesca

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gulped go on, then prompted the dragon fly. Francesca took

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a deep breath and began flapping her home made wings.

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Her arms began to ache almost at once. She was

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going to have to get this over with and quickly,

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so she jumped for a second or two. The otter

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hung in the air, flapping furiously. Then she dropped like

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a stone. She'd have surely hurt herself if not for

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a clawed hand catching her before she hit the ground.

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Nice try, said the dragon, placing Francesca carefully on the grass.

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Any friend of mine has to be able to fly

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with me. If you can't do that, you can't be

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my friend. Francesca sighed as her leafy wings fell from

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her arms. All right, she said, let me try something else.

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Don't go anywhere. The dragon shrugged as the otter disappeared

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once again, leaving her broken wings behind her. Francesca was

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saddened that the wings hadn't worked. She'd been so proud

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of them. But there had to be something else she

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could do to be more dragon like. The answer, it

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turned out, was just a short distance away. Overhearing voices,

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the otter peeked around a tree to find a group

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of humans camping in the woods. Two were tending to

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their horses, another was looking for something in a bag,

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But it was the fourth that caught Francesca's attention. This

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human was striking two stones together, two pieces of flint.

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She thought. Each strike created sparks, which showered on to

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a small pile of twigs and dry moss. As the

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otter watched, the kindling flared brightly as the human began

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to place small sticks on top. In no time, he'd

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built a small, blazing fire. Francesca stared at the flames

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dancing before her eyes. This, she realized, could work. What

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are you doing, the dragon asked patiently. A short while later,

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Francesca was building a small pile of twigs and dry grass,

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the one thing that only dragons and I suppose humans

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can do. Francesca declared, I give you fire. She produced

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two pieces of flint from her bag, striking them together.

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A single spark fell, but the kindling didn't catch light.

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I'll try again, said Francesca, wriggling sir. She struck the

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stones together again. I give you fire again. The tiny

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pile refused to ignite. Francesca struck a third, fourth, and

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fifth time, growing more and more frustrated. I don't think

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it's going to work, the dragon said, somewhat amused. But

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the otter shook her head, refusing to give up. It

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will work, she insisted, I'll make fire, just like you do.

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The dragon rolled his eyes, then blew a tiny flicker

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of flame. The kindling caught immediately, burning hot and red.

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Dragons don't need sticks or stones to create fire, he said,

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It burns within us. There is no faking it. If

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you can't produce fire whenever you need it, then you

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can't be my friend, Francesca sighed, dropping the flint to

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the ground. Fine, she said, admitting defeat. But I've not

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given up yet. The dragon chuckled as the otter raced

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back into the woods. She may not have fire, but

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she had passion, he had to admit. Francesca wasn't sure

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what else to try. Wings hadn't worked, and neither had fire.

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Surely there was something to make her more dragon like.

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Her hurried footsteps took her back towards home. Coming out

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from under the trees beside the river, she was surprised

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to see a stranger here, but no ordinary stranger. He

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wore shining armor, had a sword hanging from his hip,

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and was stood beside a large, powerful looking horse that

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was bending to drink from the water. A knight, declared Francesca,

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a dragon's sworn enemy. Dragons were always defeating knights. If

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she could scare this night away from her river, then

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surely that would be enough to impress the dragon. Emboldened,

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Francesca slipped quietly into the river, swimming quietly towards the

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unsuspecting night. She lurked in the shadowy depths like a crocodile,

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before racing upwards and bursting from the water, bellowing the

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loudest cry she could muster. That's a funny noise for

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an otter to make, said the unterrified knight, even his

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horse had barely twitched. I'm not just any otter, snapped Francesca.

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I'm the fiercest, bravest, most dangerous otter you'll ever meet.

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You'd better leave my river before I er before I

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eat you. The horse snickered with amusement. The dangerous otter,

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you say, repeated the knight, as he drew his sword.

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Well I'm not the greatest knight there's ever been, but

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even I can defeat an otter, even if it is fierce,

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brave and dangerous. Francesca gulped with fright, stumbling backwards. What

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had she been thinking? What was she going to do? Now?

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Before I chop you into pieces? Said the knight. Let's

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hear that scary roar of yours again. Francesca could barely

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gather enough breath to speak, but she did her best.

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This time. The roar was so great that the trees

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rustled and the ground itself shook. The night squeaked like

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a mouse, jumped on his horse and galloped away as

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fast as he could. Only then did the dragon show himself.

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I was doing just fine, Francesca protested, I was going

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to scare him off, just like you would have done.

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The dragon glared down at her. I rather think I

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just did, and you're lucky that I did. That was

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extremely dangerous, said the dragon. Now enough is enough. This

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has to stop. Dragons and otters are nothing alike. We

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could never be friends. We don't have a single thing

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in common. Francesca hung her head and sighed, I suppose

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I'll just go back to collecting my rocks. What was that,

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asked the dragon, suddenly alert. Did you say you collect rocks? Yes,

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I have loads, said Francesca, and she tipped the contents

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of her bag onto the grass. Today I found some

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smooth ones and bumpy ones, and patterned ones and colorful ones.

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The dragon stared down at the stones in wonder. You

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have a horde of rocks, he exclaimed, I suppose so, yes,

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the otter replied. The dragon grinned at her broadly. But

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so do I, he said. I have rocks of gold,

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and rocks of silver, said the dragon, and emeralds and

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rubies and sapphires. Do you have many, Francesca asked, hundreds,

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laughed the dragon, thousands even, But I have nothing that

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looks like the treasure you've found today. Would you like

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to swap some, suggested Francesca as she scooped her fines

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back into her bag. I most certainly would, agreed. The

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dragon hop on my back and I'll take you to

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my hoarde, and just like that, the otter and the

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dragon became the best of friends. Animals fat otters live

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in burrows built into the river bank called holts. They

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have multiple ways in and out, but one is always

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above the water level to allow them to escape in

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case of flooding. Their territory will include up to thirty

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kilometers that's about eighteen miles of river, and they'll have

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several holts along that length. They will also rest amongst

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thick vegetation called a couch. Dragons are often shown in

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stories with hordes of gold and precious gems. This possibly

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comes from ancient myths and legends where gods would use

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a dragon as a guardian to protect something precious. Thank

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you for your suggestions, Francesca. We hope you enjoyed the story,

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and thank you to all of you across the world

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for listening to it. Remember if you prefer your stories

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advert free, then please consider our premium service through Apple

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or Supercast for a tiny fee. The stories are advert free.

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Join us next time for another great animal tale. Good Bye,