Speaker 1: Welcome back, friends to short stories for kids.
Speaker 2: The Great Seagull Snack Squad. Every morning, just as the
Speaker 2: sun rose over sea Breeze Beach, a flock of seagulls
Speaker 2: gathered on top of the old lighthouse. To everyone else,
Speaker 2: they looked like ordinary seagulls, but they weren't. They were
Speaker 2: the Great Seagull Snack Squad, the finest food stealing team
Speaker 2: ever to flap their wings. Their fearless leader was Captain Gull.
Speaker 2: He was bigger than the others, had one scruffy feather
Speaker 2: sticking out of the top of his head, and like
Speaker 2: to bark orders as though he were running the world's
Speaker 2: most important military operation, roll Gall. Captain Gull squawked Present,
Speaker 2: shouted Spike present, called Beakie present, said swoop Nigel. Captain
Speaker 2: Gull asked. There was silence. Captain Gull sighed. A few
Speaker 2: seconds later, Nigel came wobbling across the roof carrying a
Speaker 2: half eaten French fry. Sorry, Nigel said, with his beak
Speaker 2: full breakfast. Captain Gull shook his head. You can't eat
Speaker 2: before the briefing. I was testing it, you know, just
Speaker 2: in case, Nigel replied. Captain Gull ignored him. Today's first mission,
Speaker 2: he announced, is Operation Donut. The entire flock gasped a donut.
Speaker 2: Spike whispered with sprinkles. Beaky asked excitedly. Captain Gull nodded.
Speaker 2: Rainbow spring goles. Every gull stood a little taller. Their
Speaker 2: beady eyes grew big. Captain Gull spread one wing dramatically.
Speaker 2: Our target is sitting on the bench by the pier.
Speaker 2: The gulls peeked over the edge of the lighthouse. Sure enough,
Speaker 2: an elderly man was happily drinking coffee while holding the
Speaker 2: biggest pink doughnut any of them had ever seen. Captain
Speaker 2: Gull pointed his wing. Remember your training. It's time for
Speaker 2: the old surprise attack. The gulls launched into the sky.
Speaker 2: Spike swooped low over the man's newspaper, Gow Gow. The
Speaker 2: man looked up. What in the world. Beki landed on
Speaker 2: a nearby trash can and began flapping wildly. My feathers,
Speaker 2: my feathers, Baky cried dramatically in seagull language. Swoop folded
Speaker 2: his wings and yelled dive, dive, dive. He rocketed toward
Speaker 2: the doughnut snatch the doughnut disappeared. My donut, the man shouted.
Speaker 2: Swoop climbed into the sky, laughing. Captain Gull caught the
Speaker 2: doughnut in mid air. Mission successful. Below them, the man
Speaker 2: waved his fist, you come back here. By lunchtime, the
Speaker 2: snack squad had stolen three bags of potato chips, two
Speaker 2: hot dogs, one hamburger, and three entire hot dogs. They
Speaker 2: were having an excellent day. Then Captain Gull spotted another target.
Speaker 2: Twelve o'clock. He shouted. The flock looked down. A little
Speaker 2: girl skipped happily out of an ice cream shop. She
Speaker 2: smiled from ear to ear as she carefully unwrapped the
Speaker 2: biggest chocolate ice cream she had ever seen. Gee, it's hot.
Speaker 2: I've wanted this all day, she said happily. Captain Gull
Speaker 2: grinned operation ice cream. The gulls rubbed their wings together.
Speaker 2: Spike counted down three, two, one dive Wush. The flock
Speaker 2: dropped from the sky like feathery rockets. The little girl
Speaker 2: gasped in horror. What was soap? Her ice cream vanished.
Speaker 2: She stared at her empty cone and began to cry.
Speaker 2: The seagulls circled overhead laughing that chocolate swirl was delicious.
Speaker 2: Nigel called the little girl stamped her foot. Oh you
Speaker 2: dirty seagulls. She shouted, whyayata. Captain Gull laughed and yelled retreat.
Speaker 2: The gulls disappeared over the sea, while the little girl
Speaker 2: folded her arms and glared at the sky. I hope
Speaker 2: you all get tummy aches. All the gulls did was
Speaker 2: laugh and laugh in that loud, rude way seagulls do.
Speaker 2: For weeks, the snack squad ruled the beach. No burger
Speaker 2: was safe, no sandwich survived. Even popcorn disappeared before it
Speaker 2: reached people's mouths. The townsfolk became desperate. We've got to
Speaker 2: stop those seagulls. One man said, they stole my fish
Speaker 2: and chips, said another, they stole my muffin. Another woman complained.
Speaker 2: One day, exciting news spread across town. A huge summer
Speaker 2: banquet was being held in the park beside the beach.
Speaker 2: There would be roast chicken, steaks, corn on the cob, pies, cakes, cookies,
Speaker 2: ice cream, and mountains of mashed potatoes. Captain gall nearly fainted.
Speaker 2: Every gull report to headquarters immediately. Within minutes, the lighthouse,
Speaker 2: roof was packed. Captain Gull paced back and forth. This,
Speaker 2: he said, seriously, is the greatest mission of our careers.
Speaker 2: Everyone nodded. Nigel wiped away a tear. I'm so proud.
Speaker 2: Captain Gull pointed to a map he had drawn in
Speaker 2: the sand. Our attack begins at precisely food o'clock. Beaky
Speaker 2: interrupted exactly. Captain Gull cried. The flock took off as
Speaker 2: they approached the park. Captain Gull smiled, I can all
Speaker 2: already smell the gravy. Then every gull slammed on the
Speaker 2: air brakes. The gulls all gasped, frozen in mid air.
Speaker 2: Below them stood dozens and dozens of squirrels. Seagulls just
Speaker 2: hated squirrels. Captain Gull's eyes grew wide. He gad Spike
Speaker 2: gulped squirrels. Nigel pointed nervously, they're everywhere. Squirrels stole food
Speaker 2: even faster than seagulls. They were the ultimate competition. Captain
Speaker 2: Gulls swallowed divert mission abort retreat. Nobody moved. I don't
Speaker 2: think those squirrels are moving, Spike said, squinting suspiciously. They aren't,
Speaker 2: Binkie said, tilting his head. Captain Gull flew a little
Speaker 2: lower than he smiled. There, fake, they are plastic squirrels.
Speaker 2: The gulls gasped. Captain Gull burst out laughing. The humans
Speaker 2: knew we'd come. They tried to scare us away. Nigel grinned,
Speaker 2: that's actually quite clever. Captain Gull folded his wings. Oh
Speaker 2: they think they're clever. The flock leaned closer, and Captain
Speaker 2: Gull whispered his plan. Slowly, every seagull began smiling. Ten
Speaker 2: minutes later, the gulls quietly flew away below. The people
Speaker 2: watched them disappear in the distance. It worked. One woman cheered,
Speaker 2: the squirrels scared them off. Another said, with a loud laugh.
Speaker 2: Everyone relaxed, and the big banquet began. People piled steaks
Speaker 2: onto plates, helped themselves to roast chicken, buttery corn, giant
Speaker 2: baked potatoes, juicy burgers, and thick slices of chocolate cake.
Speaker 2: And then the best food came out last, exactly as
Speaker 2: Captain Gull had predicted. High above, hidden in the clouds,
Speaker 2: Captain Gull smiled. Ready, he called attack. They cried back.
Speaker 2: The sky exploded with feathers hundreds of wings beat through
Speaker 2: the air, fast and furious, flapping and flying down to
Speaker 2: the food. People looked up screamed, Oh no, they're back.
Speaker 2: The snack squad struck with perfect precision. Spike grabbed an
Speaker 2: entire steak. Beaky stole four chicken wings at once, Swoop
Speaker 2: carried away two hamburgers. Nigel swooped past one surprised man
Speaker 2: just as he lifted a forkful of mashed potatoes, snatch gulp.
Speaker 2: The mashed potatoes vanished off the fork. The man blinked,
Speaker 2: shook his head. He scooped up another fork full, snatch gulp,
Speaker 2: gone again. Captain Goll flew straight through the dessert table.
Speaker 2: Cookies disappeared, cupcakes vanished. A whole pie lifted into the
Speaker 2: air like a flying saucer. People pointed and shouted, catch them,
Speaker 2: you come back here, that's my lunch. Within moments, the
Speaker 2: banquet tables were almost empty, stripped of every last morsel.
Speaker 2: The flock soared triumphantly over the beach, carrying enough food
Speaker 2: for a week. Captain Gall laughed until his feathers shook. Haha.
Speaker 2: Captain Gull said proudly. The moral of the story is
Speaker 2: never fool of seagull on an empty stomach. For one second,
Speaker 2: there was silence. Then every gull burst into loud, screeching laughter.
Speaker 2: Caw caw caw. They flew back toward the lighthouse with steaks, burgers,
Speaker 2: chicken wings, mashed potatoes, pies, and enough leftovers to feed
Speaker 2: the whole flock for days. The end