Speaker 1: Yo. Hello. My name's Josephine and this is the Animal
Tales podcast, where you suggest the animals featured in our stories.
There are new tales to enjoy every Monday and Wednesday,
with a third premium only story every Friday. Please continue
to share Animal Tales with your friends and leave us
reviews where you can. Revan, Mace and Nea are from
Nantucket in the U. S A. And they've asked for
a story featuring a tigon, an elephant, a unicorn, and
a peacock. You can learn more about these creatures in
the animal facts after the story. Okay, are you ready?
That's good, then I'll begin. Board game Beasties. Nea was
sat at the table, her favorite board game open in
front of her. It was a simple game. You had
to move your peace around the board while completing any
tasks that you landed on. Completed tasks were rewarded with
an animal token, which had to be taken to the unicorn,
who sat at the middle of the board. Nea and
her brothers had been playing it every day. That was
until school had restarted. Now her brothers didn't have time
to play, so she had to play by herself without
Revern and Mace to compete against the game wasn't nearly
as much fun. Nea heard her mum calling her to bed.
She stared down at the cute faces on the animal
tokens and said, I wish they'd play with me again.
At that moment, unseen by Nie, a shooting star flew
across the Nantucket night sky. Nea awoke to several loud
thuds not long after midnight. Had she imagined it a
quick look would answer that question. She sneaked out from
under the covers, and moments later found the kitchen door
wide open. Was that you making the noise, asked Mace,
appearing behind her. Why have you opened the door, yawned Reven.
I didn't open it, protested Nea. That doesn't make sense,
said Mace, pushing past the board game Nea had been
playing with lay unnoticed on the table a short distance away.
The board was still there, but the animal tokens had
all disappeared. Just close the door, then we can go
back to bed, said Reven sleepily. Nea, though, took a
moment to poke her head out into the night air
and was confronted by an unexpected sight. About time, said
the unicorn. I've been waiting for some brave explorers to
come along. You're from the game, Nea said, with astonishment.
Correct nodded the unicorn, And now three of my animal
friends have become lost in the jungle. Can you find
them all and bring them home? It's exactly like the game,
Mace mumbled. Those are the words written on the game's box.
Grinned Nea, the board game has come to life. Reven
was wide awake now, trying to make sense of what
was happening. You mean we've got to play the game,
but like in real life, except with real animals in
instead of tokens, Mace said, if this unicorn is anything
to go by. But how do we know what animals
to look for? Reven asked, You all know, said the unicorn.
Now best be quick, you need to find them before morning.
The children hurriedly pulled on their shoes, found their bikes,
then peddled away into the dark. Nantucket night. We live
on an island, so the animals can't have gone far.
Reven pointed out. This was true, but there were still
plenty of places for a creature to hide. Fortunately they
had luck on their side. Cycling alongside a golf course,
they realized the security lights were illuminating one of the greens.
Stood in the middle of it was a large peacock
with a long trailing tail. That's my favorite one, Reven shouted,
as the three of them halted their bikes. But how
do we catch him? Nea asked. We'll have to work
that out as we go, suggested Mace. They clambered onto
the golf course, approaching slowly so not to frighten the bird.
At once, the ground beneath their feet shimmered in the
shape of a square. It's just like the space is
on the board, Nea said in delight. Look there are
words sink five balls before the peacock sinks ten, Reven
read out loud, as three more holes appeared on the green,
alongside golf clubs and balls. Well this should be easy,
Reven said, confidently. Er will it, Mace wondered, nodding towards
the peacock. The bird struck a golf ball with its beak,
which rolled straight to the nearest hole and dropped inside.
He's already scored one, reven yelped quick grab a club.
The three siblings began putting, which was trickier than it looked,
while the peacock patiently tapped balls beside them. Reven sank two. Quickly.
Come on, he urged his brother and sister. We can
do this. Feeling encouraged, Mace managed to get his next
ball into the hole. Keep going, Reven said, as Nea
managed to sink her first put. Unfortunately, the peacock had
already scored nine. We need one more, Mace cried. Reven
had already lined up the put and was doing his
best not to be distracted by the peacock. He needed
to remain focused. He drew back the club and gave
the ball a gentle tap just as the peacock nudged
his last ball. Everyone held their breath as the two
balls rolled forward. It was going to be close. Clunk.
Reven's ball dropped into the hole barely a second before
the peacocks. Reven let out a sigh of relief as
Near and Mace cheered Instantly, the peacocks spun around in
a shower of glitter, dropping to the grass as the
familiar coin sized animal token One down, Reven said with
a grin as he pocketed the peacock token two to go.
As they returned to their bikes, Mace said, it seems
the game wants to help us discover where the animals are.
It was hard to miss the peacock under those bright lights.
There's another light up ahead, pointed out near. I know
what that is, said Mace. That's the lighthouse. It was
worth checking out, and sure enough, another of the game's
animals could be seen crouched by the lighthouse's wall, a tigon,
a large striped big cat and Mace's favorite token from
the game. The bright light at the lighthouse's top spun slowly,
meaning the tigon could be seen clearly for a moment,
then it was lost in shadow. The next Mace stepped forward, eagerly,
triggering another square to light up beneath his feet. The
instruction this time was much shorter. Catch the tigon, he
read as nets rope and a large pile of fish
materialized beside them. Ah, this is going to be hard,
Reven groaned. The tigon was on the move. With the
light only shining on the ground every few seconds, it
was hard to keep track of it. Let's try different tactics,
suggested Mace. I'm going to try throwing the net. I
want to set a trap with the fish, announced Nea.
Reven shrugged his shoulders. I guess I could try to
make a lassou out of this rope, he said. Despite
all these methods, the tigon kept slipping through their fingers.
This is hopeless, Reven panted, after another feld attempt. We'll
be here all night, and we still have one more
animal to catch. After this, Nea pointed out, if the
tactics aren't working, said Mace, then change tactics. He gathered
up the remaining fish and made a line outwards from
the lighthouse wall. What are we doing, Nea asked, Remember
when that cat got stuck on the roof. Mace said,
we couldn't go up and get it, so we had
to persuade it to come to us. Trusting their brother,
the other two sat back and watched. The circling light
lit up the ground for a moment, revealing the tigon
at the lighthouse wall sniffing a fish. Then there was
darkness as the light moved on. When it reappeared, the
tigon was closer, having already gobbled down two of the fish.
Each passing of the light showed the tigon getting closer,
until there it was right before Mace, a fishtail hanging
from its jaws. Mace reached up and scratched the tigon
behind the ear. Hello, he said with a grin. The
big cat purred, sinking to the floor to enjoy the scratches.
Just a big kitten, Mace laughed. The children were all
petting the tigon when it began to shimmer before becoming
another token. This time it was Mace that slipped it
into his pocket. That leaves one, he said. But where
do we look? Asked Nea. She was answered by a
distant trumpeting sound. They grabbed their bikes and followed the sound,
which led them to a very familiar place, school, whispered Nea.
The sound appeared to be coming from inside. The door
to the school was open, outlined by the same light
that had marked out the task tiles with the peacock
and the tygon, but no task appeared as they passed through,
so instead they went in search of the source of
the noise. Nea was overjoyed to see an elephant in
a class room, taking up much of the front of
the class. Still no task, pointed out Mace, what are
we supposed to do? The elephant is stood where a
teacher would stand, said Nea, So maybe we're the students.
One by one they slipped into a seat, and as
they did so the whiteboard lit up with their final
task complete, the elephant's test no cheating, read Reven as
a piece of paper appeared before Nea. Hey where's our paper,
complained her brothers. I can't take a test, panicked Nea.
I haven't started school yet. We'll have to tell you
the answers, reven reassured her. But the elephant gave a
short snort, then tapped on the whiteboard with its trunk.
It was pointing at the no cheating part. It's down
to you, Nea, said Mace. But I don't know, Nea
whimpered as she took in what was on the paper.
To her surprise, there was no writing at all, just
a series of simple line drawings of animals. I know animals,
she whispered to herself. I mean I'd love animals. I
can do this. She pointed to the first animal, which
was an easy one, peacock, she said. The peacock drawing
filled in with color. The next was one of her favorites,
mere cat, she said, and again the drawing became colorful.
The next one was trickier. Lots of people mistook apes
for monkeys, but Nea wasn't about to make that mistake. Chimpanzee,
she said. The drawing changed again. There were ten in all,
and Nea rattled through the first nine without any trouble.
The tenth was a little more difficult. It was the
head of a dinosaur, the one with the three horns.
Was that a stegosaurus? Ah, no, you're a triceratops, She
smiled and tapped the page. Now all ten drawings were
in vibrant color. The elephant sparkled and shimmered straight away,
dropping to the floor as a token. You did an
amazing job, near grinned Reven. But look at the time,
said Mace, pointing to the clock on the wall. It
will be morning soon. We need to get back to
the unicorn. The unicorn was right where they'd left her.
Each child presented their animal token to her, and the
unicorn bowed to acknowledge each one. Congratulations, explorers, the unicorn said, happily,
you've found all my friends, and within time too. I
hope we can play again soon. And with that, the
unicorn herself began to glimmer and change, becoming the little
plastic figure that sat in the middle of the game board.
Is that it, Mace asked? I think so, said Nea,
as she collected the unicorn piece. You know we should
play the board game more often, suggested Reven. We've hardly
touched it since school started. Yeah, you're right, admitted Mace.
I hoped you both say that. Nea smiled. Reven gave
her a hug as they headed inside. I guess we
just kind of forgot about you too, didn't we near
We'll do better. Just as they were returning the unicorn
and tokens to the table, their mum appeared in the
kitchen doorway. Oh you're up already, she said in surprise.
This is most unlike you all. Uh we were going
to play a board game with Nea before school, said
Reven weakly. That's very sweet of you, replied their mum.
You start playing and I'll get your breakfast. Animals fat
tigons are the offspring of a male tiger and a
female lion. They will have some stripes, and if male,
may have a mane, although it will be short. Elephants
have extremely tough scars, something they need in order to
support their long tusks and to provide somewhere for all
the muscles of their trunk to attach to. Peacocks are
male pea hens and are considerably more colorful than the females.
Peacocks carry all those amazing feathers in an attempt to
impress females into breeding with them, but it comes at
a price. It's harder to escape predators with such a long,
heavy tail. Thank you for your suggestions, Reven, Mace and Nea.
We hope you enjoyed the tale, and thank you to
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another great animal tale. Good Bye,