WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.070 --> 00:00:05.049 Dot and the Missing Leaf Lunch Dot saved the biggest 2 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.800 leaf for lunch. It was green, flat, and wide enough 3 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:11.980 to shade her whole head. She left it beside a 4 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.720 red flower and went to invite her friend Pip. When 5 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:20.070 Dot returned, one corner was missing. Did you eat my leaf? 6 00:00:20.510 --> 00:00:24.109 she asked Pip. Pip was a beetle. He preferred old bark. 7 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:28.710 Too floppy, he said. Dot went to fetch a drop 8 00:00:28.769 --> 00:00:32.369 of water. When she came back, another corner was gone. 9 00:00:32.990 --> 00:00:36.899 She looked above the leaf. No bird. She looked below it. 10 00:00:37.570 --> 00:00:41.799 No snail. She looked behind the flower and found Pip 11 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:46.380 eating bark exactly as promised. Dot drew a line in 12 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:49.840 the dirt around her lunch. If anyone crosses this line, 13 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:54.369 we will see footprints. They waited beneath a mushroom. A 14 00:00:54.490 --> 00:00:58.509 breeze lifted the leaf. It slid across the dirt, crossed 15 00:00:58.590 --> 00:01:03.250 Dot's line, and caught on a thorn. The thorn tore 16 00:01:03.329 --> 00:01:06.549 off a piece. The wind is eating it, Pip said. 17 00:01:06.849 --> 00:01:10.700 Wind does not eat. It is still taking bites. Dot 18 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:14.540 moved the leaf behind a stone. A second gust spun 19 00:01:14.579 --> 00:01:17.359 it around the stone and into a puddle. She and 20 00:01:17.420 --> 00:01:20.359 Pip pulled together. The leaf came free, but now it 21 00:01:20.420 --> 00:01:24.069 was wet and muddy. Dot stared at her ruined lunch. 22 00:01:24.930 --> 00:01:30.450 Pip tasted one edge. Still floppy. They carried it into 23 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:33.500 the sunshine. Dot used two twigs to hold it down. 24 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:37.780 While it dried, she found smaller leaves beneath the plant. 25 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:41.799 None was as impressive, but all stayed where she put them. 26 00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:47.700 Pip suggested building a tiny wall around lunch. Dot tried 27 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.920 six pebbles. The next breeze hopped the leaf over all 28 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:55.920 six and dropped it on Pip's head. The wall needs work, 29 00:01:56.379 --> 00:02:00.150 he said from underneath. Dot ate one. Pip found fresh 30 00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:04.859 bark on a fallen branch. Then they heard tiny chewing sounds. 31 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:09.979 Three younger caterpillars had found the big muddy leaf. They 32 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.919 sat along its edge taking neat bites. Dot almost shouted 33 00:02:13.979 --> 00:02:17.580 that it was hers. Then she looked at the torn corners, 34 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:23.300 the puddle stain, and the twigs holding it flat. You 35 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:26.539 may finish it, she said, but watch out for the wind. 36 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:31.939 It has terrible table manners. The little caterpillars moved closer 37 00:02:31.979 --> 00:02:36.370 to the stone. Weeks later, Dot became very still. She 38 00:02:36.469 --> 00:02:40.389 formed a chrysalis beneath a branch. When she finally emerged, 39 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:45.030 her wings were orange with green spots. Pip inspected them. 40 00:02:45.870 --> 00:02:49.710 Not floppy, he said. You were waiting to say that, 41 00:02:50.289 --> 00:02:55.139 Dot replied. Dot opened her wings. A breeze lifted her 42 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:59.539 over the red flower. For once, the wind carried something 43 00:03:00.139 --> 00:03:06.270 without taking a bite. The end, as always. Visit us 44 00:03:06.370 --> 00:03:09.939 at redthetale.com for all your favorite tales and stories.