Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to a special taster of our new
premium only story. We hope you like it. Hell Yale, Hello,
I'm Josephine and this is the Animal Tales podcast, home
to over four hundred and fifty stories written just for you.
Our Friday story is especially for our Premium subscribers only.
Elliot is a Premium member from Cardiff in Wales, and
he would like a story with a green phoenix, a
great blue heron and a wilderbeast. Don't forget to listen
to the animal facts after the story to learn more
about these creatures. For now, it's time to sit back
and get comfy, because it's time to begin Phoenix Fire
a wilderbysts. Life can at times be a little boring.
Apart from being chased by the occasional lion or having
to avoid crocodiles at the watering hole, most days involve
eating grass, walking for a while, and then eating more
grass again. Not terribly exciting. I'm sure you would agree.
There's got to be more than just this, said Eliot.
One particularly dull day on the Serengetti grass Lands. Nothing ever, happens.
Those African wild dogs gave us some trouble yesterday, said
a near by wilderbeast, and last week those hyaenas caused
a stir when they ran amongst the herd, added a
zebra being chased by animals that want to eat us.
Isn't the kind of excitement I want, complained Eliot. I
want something different, something unusual. You're weird, Eliot, said another wilderbeast.
We've got everything we'll ever need right here, the finest
grass in all of Africa. You don't need anything more
than that, but Eliot disagreed. That night, while the other
wilderbeast and zebras slept and the great band of stars
rolled across the sky, Eliot stood staring into the darkness,
wide awake. He felt as if his life needed something,
something new, but he just didn't know what it could
be or where he would find it. Everything he knew
and understood about the world was right here with the herd.
As he stood thinking, something bright green rose up into
the sky and circled amongst the stars. It left a
blazing trail of pale green light behind it as it
gently weaved and swooped. So fascinated was Eliot by the
sight that he found himself drawn towards it, walking away
from the herd in order to see more. Drawing closer,
he realized he was looking at a magnificent bird surrounded
by long streamers of emerald fire. Hello, called up Eliot
from the ground. What are you? I'm a green phoenix,
laughed the exotic bird as she circled overhead. But what
are you doing? Asked Eliot, unable to take his eyes
from her doing, repeated the phoenix. Why I'm being free.
I'll spend some time gliding beneath the shimmering stars. Then
I'll light up the mountain peaks to the east with
my dazzling fire, before heading west to race like a
comet across Lake Victoria. That sounds wonderful, agreed Elliot. I
wish I could do that. But you're just a wilder beast,
laughed the green phoenix. You could never do what I can.
Considering the conversation over, the green Phoenix rocketed into our
high arc until she was just a speck of light
lost amongst the blanket of stars. Over the next few days,
all Elliot could think about was the green Phoenix. He
thought about the graceful way she flew, how the bright
fire illuminated all around her, and how happy and free
she seemed. And here he was stuck amongst the grunting, chewing,
wilder beast and zebra's He was so lost in his
thoughts that he failed to notice the herd arriving at
a narrow river to drink. Feeling thirsty, he took his
turn at the water's edge, and as he did so,
he noticed a small hut of grass and sticks on
the opposite bank. If you'd like to hear more, please
join our premium service. You can find out how in
the description. The premium service means. You can listen to
all animal tale stories advert free, get bonus stories, and
we guarantee to turn your animal suggestion into a future tale.
I look forward to seeing you there.