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Speaker 1: Yo. Hello. My name's Josephine and this is the Animal

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Tales podcast, where you suggest the animals featured in our stories.

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There are new tales to enjoy every Monday and Wednesday,

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with a third premium only story every Friday. Please continue

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to share Animal Tales with your friends and leave us

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reviews where you can. Revan, Mace and Nea are from

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Nantucket in the U. S A. And they've asked for

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a story featuring a tigon, an elephant, a unicorn, and

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a peacock. You can learn more about these creatures in

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the animal facts after the story. Okay, are you ready?

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That's good, then I'll begin. Board game Beasties. Nea was

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sat at the table, her favorite board game open in

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front of her. It was a simple game. You had

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to move your peace around the board while completing any

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tasks that you landed on. Completed tasks were rewarded with

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an animal token, which had to be taken to the unicorn,

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who sat at the middle of the board. Nea and

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her brothers had been playing it every day. That was

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until school had restarted. Now her brothers didn't have time

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to play, so she had to play by herself without

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Revern and Mace to compete against the game wasn't nearly

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as much fun. Nea heard her mum calling her to bed.

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She stared down at the cute faces on the animal

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tokens and said, I wish they'd play with me again.

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At that moment, unseen by Nie, a shooting star flew

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across the Nantucket night sky. Nea awoke to several loud

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thuds not long after midnight. Had she imagined it a

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quick look would answer that question. She sneaked out from

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under the covers, and moments later found the kitchen door

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wide open. Was that you making the noise, asked Mace,

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appearing behind her. Why have you opened the door, yawned Reven.

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I didn't open it, protested Nea. That doesn't make sense,

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said Mace, pushing past the board game Nea had been

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playing with lay unnoticed on the table a short distance away.

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The board was still there, but the animal tokens had

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all disappeared. Just close the door, then we can go

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back to bed, said Reven sleepily. Nea, though, took a

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moment to poke her head out into the night air

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and was confronted by an unexpected sight. About time, said

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the unicorn. I've been waiting for some brave explorers to

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come along. You're from the game, Nea said, with astonishment.

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Correct nodded the unicorn, And now three of my animal

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friends have become lost in the jungle. Can you find

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them all and bring them home? It's exactly like the game,

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Mace mumbled. Those are the words written on the game's box.

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Grinned Nea, the board game has come to life. Reven

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was wide awake now, trying to make sense of what

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was happening. You mean we've got to play the game,

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but like in real life, except with real animals in

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instead of tokens, Mace said, if this unicorn is anything

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to go by. But how do we know what animals

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to look for? Reven asked, You all know, said the unicorn.

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Now best be quick, you need to find them before morning.

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The children hurriedly pulled on their shoes, found their bikes,

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then peddled away into the dark. Nantucket night. We live

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on an island, so the animals can't have gone far.

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Reven pointed out. This was true, but there were still

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plenty of places for a creature to hide. Fortunately they

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had luck on their side. Cycling alongside a golf course,

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they realized the security lights were illuminating one of the greens.

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Stood in the middle of it was a large peacock

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with a long trailing tail. That's my favorite one, Reven shouted,

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as the three of them halted their bikes. But how

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do we catch him? Nea asked. We'll have to work

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that out as we go, suggested Mace. They clambered onto

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the golf course, approaching slowly so not to frighten the bird.

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At once, the ground beneath their feet shimmered in the

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shape of a square. It's just like the space is

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on the board, Nea said in delight. Look there are

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words sink five balls before the peacock sinks ten, Reven

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read out loud, as three more holes appeared on the green,

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alongside golf clubs and balls. Well this should be easy,

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Reven said, confidently. Er will it, Mace wondered, nodding towards

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the peacock. The bird struck a golf ball with its beak,

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which rolled straight to the nearest hole and dropped inside.

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He's already scored one, reven yelped quick grab a club.

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The three siblings began putting, which was trickier than it looked,

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while the peacock patiently tapped balls beside them. Reven sank two. Quickly.

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Come on, he urged his brother and sister. We can

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do this. Feeling encouraged, Mace managed to get his next

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ball into the hole. Keep going, Reven said, as Nea

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managed to sink her first put. Unfortunately, the peacock had

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already scored nine. We need one more, Mace cried. Reven

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had already lined up the put and was doing his

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best not to be distracted by the peacock. He needed

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to remain focused. He drew back the club and gave

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the ball a gentle tap just as the peacock nudged

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his last ball. Everyone held their breath as the two

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balls rolled forward. It was going to be close. Clunk.

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Reven's ball dropped into the hole barely a second before

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the peacocks. Reven let out a sigh of relief as

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Near and Mace cheered Instantly, the peacocks spun around in

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a shower of glitter, dropping to the grass as the

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familiar coin sized animal token One down, Reven said with

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a grin as he pocketed the peacock token two to go.

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As they returned to their bikes, Mace said, it seems

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the game wants to help us discover where the animals are.

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It was hard to miss the peacock under those bright lights.

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There's another light up ahead, pointed out near. I know

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what that is, said Mace. That's the lighthouse. It was

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worth checking out, and sure enough, another of the game's

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animals could be seen crouched by the lighthouse's wall, a tigon,

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a large striped big cat and Mace's favorite token from

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the game. The bright light at the lighthouse's top spun slowly,

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meaning the tigon could be seen clearly for a moment,

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then it was lost in shadow. The next Mace stepped forward, eagerly,

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triggering another square to light up beneath his feet. The

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instruction this time was much shorter. Catch the tigon, he

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read as nets rope and a large pile of fish

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materialized beside them. Ah, this is going to be hard,

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Reven groaned. The tigon was on the move. With the

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light only shining on the ground every few seconds, it

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was hard to keep track of it. Let's try different tactics,

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suggested Mace. I'm going to try throwing the net. I

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want to set a trap with the fish, announced Nea.

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Reven shrugged his shoulders. I guess I could try to

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make a lassou out of this rope, he said. Despite

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all these methods, the tigon kept slipping through their fingers.

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This is hopeless, Reven panted, after another feld attempt. We'll

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be here all night, and we still have one more

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animal to catch. After this, Nea pointed out, if the

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tactics aren't working, said Mace, then change tactics. He gathered

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up the remaining fish and made a line outwards from

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the lighthouse wall. What are we doing, Nea asked, Remember

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when that cat got stuck on the roof. Mace said,

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we couldn't go up and get it, so we had

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to persuade it to come to us. Trusting their brother,

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the other two sat back and watched. The circling light

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lit up the ground for a moment, revealing the tigon

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at the lighthouse wall sniffing a fish. Then there was

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darkness as the light moved on. When it reappeared, the

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tigon was closer, having already gobbled down two of the fish.

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Each passing of the light showed the tigon getting closer,

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until there it was right before Mace, a fishtail hanging

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from its jaws. Mace reached up and scratched the tigon

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behind the ear. Hello, he said with a grin. The

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big cat purred, sinking to the floor to enjoy the scratches.

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Just a big kitten, Mace laughed. The children were all

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petting the tigon when it began to shimmer before becoming

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another token. This time it was Mace that slipped it

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into his pocket. That leaves one, he said. But where

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do we look? Asked Nea. She was answered by a

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distant trumpeting sound. They grabbed their bikes and followed the sound,

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which led them to a very familiar place, school, whispered Nea.

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The sound appeared to be coming from inside. The door

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to the school was open, outlined by the same light

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that had marked out the task tiles with the peacock

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and the tygon, but no task appeared as they passed through,

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so instead they went in search of the source of

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the noise. Nea was overjoyed to see an elephant in

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a class room, taking up much of the front of

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the class. Still no task, pointed out Mace, what are

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we supposed to do? The elephant is stood where a

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teacher would stand, said Nea, So maybe we're the students.

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One by one they slipped into a seat, and as

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they did so the whiteboard lit up with their final

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task complete, the elephant's test no cheating, read Reven as

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a piece of paper appeared before Nea. Hey where's our paper,

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complained her brothers. I can't take a test, panicked Nea.

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I haven't started school yet. We'll have to tell you

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the answers, reven reassured her. But the elephant gave a

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short snort, then tapped on the whiteboard with its trunk.

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It was pointing at the no cheating part. It's down

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to you, Nea, said Mace. But I don't know, Nea

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whimpered as she took in what was on the paper.

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To her surprise, there was no writing at all, just

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a series of simple line drawings of animals. I know animals,

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she whispered to herself. I mean I'd love animals. I

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can do this. She pointed to the first animal, which

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was an easy one, peacock, she said. The peacock drawing

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filled in with color. The next was one of her favorites,

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mere cat, she said, and again the drawing became colorful.

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The next one was trickier. Lots of people mistook apes

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for monkeys, but Nea wasn't about to make that mistake. Chimpanzee,

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she said. The drawing changed again. There were ten in all,

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and Nea rattled through the first nine without any trouble.

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The tenth was a little more difficult. It was the

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head of a dinosaur, the one with the three horns.

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Was that a stegosaurus? Ah, no, you're a triceratops, She

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smiled and tapped the page. Now all ten drawings were

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in vibrant color. The elephant sparkled and shimmered straight away,

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dropping to the floor as a token. You did an

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amazing job, near grinned Reven. But look at the time,

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said Mace, pointing to the clock on the wall. It

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will be morning soon. We need to get back to

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the unicorn. The unicorn was right where they'd left her.

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Each child presented their animal token to her, and the

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unicorn bowed to acknowledge each one. Congratulations, explorers, the unicorn said, happily,

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you've found all my friends, and within time too. I

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hope we can play again soon. And with that, the

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unicorn herself began to glimmer and change, becoming the little

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plastic figure that sat in the middle of the game board.

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Is that it, Mace asked? I think so, said Nea,

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as she collected the unicorn piece. You know we should

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play the board game more often, suggested Reven. We've hardly

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touched it since school started. Yeah, you're right, admitted Mace.

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I hoped you both say that. Nea smiled. Reven gave

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her a hug as they headed inside. I guess we

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just kind of forgot about you too, didn't we near

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We'll do better. Just as they were returning the unicorn

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and tokens to the table, their mum appeared in the

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kitchen doorway. Oh you're up already, she said in surprise.

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This is most unlike you all. Uh we were going

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to play a board game with Nea before school, said

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Reven weakly. That's very sweet of you, replied their mum.

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You start playing and I'll get your breakfast. Animals fat

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tigons are the offspring of a male tiger and a

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female lion. They will have some stripes, and if male,

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may have a mane, although it will be short. Elephants

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have extremely tough scars, something they need in order to

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support their long tusks and to provide somewhere for all

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the muscles of their trunk to attach to. Peacocks are

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male pea hens and are considerably more colorful than the females.

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Peacocks carry all those amazing feathers in an attempt to

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impress females into breeding with them, but it comes at

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a price. It's harder to escape predators with such a long,

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heavy tail. Thank you for your suggestions, Reven, Mace and Nea.

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We hope you enjoyed the tale, and thank you to

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all of you across the world for listening to it. Remember,

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if you prefer your stories advert free, then please consider

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our premium service through Apple or Supercast for a tiny fee.

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The stories are advert free. Join us next time for

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another great animal tale. Good Bye,