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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to a special taster of our new

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premium only story. We hope you like it. He yo. Hello,

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I'm Josephine and this is the Animal Tales podcast, home

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to over four hundred stories written just for you. Our

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Friday story is especially for our Premium subscribers only. Maava

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is a Premium member from Auckland, New Zealand, and she

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would like a story with a towy bird and a bunny.

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Don't forget to listen to the animal facts after the

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story to learn more about these creatures. For now, it's

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time to sit back and get comfy, because it's time

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to begin bunny pursuit. In a hutch in a garden,

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two pet bunnies were napping in the mid morning sun. Maeva,

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the older bunny, had fluffy, pale brown fur, while her

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little brother Matteo had fuzzy, dark gray fur. They were

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snuggled up enjoying a snooze after eating their morning carrots

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when Mateo suddenly sat up, his ears alert. I can

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hear that strange noise again, he said. Maeva listened carefully,

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ignoring the sounds of the near by traffic, talking humans

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and singing birds. Sure enough, coming from the woods behind

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their house, she heard the unusual call. It sounded like

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a long, drawn out whistle, followed by some clicks and grunts.

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It repeated a couple of times before falling silent. What

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do you think it is, Mateo asked, I've never heard

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anything like it. I'm not sure. Ma Ava admitted, it

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certainly doesn't sound like any creature that I know, But

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then maybe it's not. Matteo's eyes grew wide. You mean

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it's something new, he asked, exactly, Mayeva replied, And what

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if nobody's ever heard of it? What if it's an

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entirely new creature. Matteo began to hop about excitedly. A

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new animal never seen before, he cried. We should go

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and discover it before anybody else does. That would be

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so cool. Maeva agreed, we'd be famous. Making sure the

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coast was clear, the little bunny reached through the mesh

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of their hutch, pulling back the latch. The door swung open,

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and they bolted down the garden to the fence. Now

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we have to be careful, Mayeva said. Our humans will

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weary if they find us gone. We must be back

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before nightfall, okay, Matteo agreed, I don't want to be

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out in those woods with strange animals after dark anyway.

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With their plans set, the two bunnies squeezed through the

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gap in the fence, Popping out on the other side,

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the New Zealand wilderness stretched out before them, a thick,

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dense forest full of creatures they'd only ever dreamed of.

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Let's go, Mayeva said, and the two bunnies hopped away

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into the undergrowth. The forest was alive with different plants, birds,

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and insects, and the bunnies were careful not to make

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too much noise. Keep your ears open for the creature,

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Mayeva said, It can't have gone far. They crept forward,

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listening out for any grunting, clicking, or whistling sounds. As

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they walked, Mayeva tried to imagine what the creature would

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look like. Was it going to be smaller than them

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or bigger? Would it be a mammal or a bird

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or something entirely different, and most importantly, would it be friendly? There,

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Matteo said in a hushed voice. Somewhere ahead of them,

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the creature was calling, its whistles and clicks echoing through

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the trees. They raced forward to investigate springing through ferns

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and jumping over tree roots. But as they skidded to

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a halt in a small clearing, the noise stopped. The

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bunnies looked around desperately, but there was no animal in sight.

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your animal suggestion into a future tale. I look forward

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to seeing you there