In tonight's story, we head to Harmony Cove where a turtle named Michel runs a lost property, aiming to return all left-behind objects to their owners. This time, he's found at a strange kind of metal object that has him totally perplexed. Let's see if he can find its owner. Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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The No1 kids bedtime stories & sleep meditations podcast that helps children sleep like a dream. Hosted by the world's biggest fan of bedtime stories, Abbe Opher! All episodes are safe for babies, children and really big kids 0 to 100, so settle down tonight and get sleepy with the world's greatest bedtime stories & sleep meditations for kids.
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Jane Thomas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:20
Speaker 1: a dream. Coco and I would like to thank you
00:00:23
Speaker 1: for your continued support. You're making a big difference in
00:00:27
Speaker 1: helping us improve our little podcast and help make many
00:00:31
Speaker 1: more bedtimes a dream. We're getting ready to head back
00:00:36
Speaker 1: to Harmony Cove tonight and help reunite some precious lost
00:00:40
Speaker 1: property with its owner. But before we do, let's warmly
00:00:44
Speaker 1: welcome our newest freshest recruits to Coco's Club. Hello, and
00:00:48
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us. Amos and Isaiah from Massachusetts,
00:00:52
Speaker 1: Lucy aged eight, Eleanora and Emilia from Henderson, Texas, Orion
00:00:58
Speaker 1: from Maryland and Addison and Cassidy sisters from Glasgow, Scotland.
00:01:03
Speaker 1: We're delighted you join the club and hope you enjoy
00:01:06
Speaker 1: all the bonus episodes and add free stories coming your way.
00:01:10
Speaker 1: So I wonder whether you remember Harmony Cove. It's where
00:01:14
Speaker 1: our friend Echo the Turtle lives now quite happily after
00:01:18
Speaker 1: his encounter with Confidence of the Bear. We'll be staying
00:01:22
Speaker 1: on the beach for this story and hanging out with
00:01:25
Speaker 1: a very special sea turtle who has an important and
00:01:28
Speaker 1: very busy job running the Lost Property Office. Why is
00:01:32
Speaker 1: it so busy and important, Well, it's pretty easy for
00:01:36
Speaker 1: visitors to lose track of their things amongst millions and
00:01:39
Speaker 1: billions of grains of golden sand. It seems every day
00:01:44
Speaker 1: more and more items are lost and end up at
00:01:46
Speaker 1: the office. And tonight our friend is trying to reunite
00:01:50
Speaker 1: a very mysterious object with its owner. Only problem is
00:01:55
Speaker 1: he has no idea what it is. Soon see how
00:02:00
Speaker 1: he muddles through and finds out who it belongs to.
00:02:03
Speaker 1: But first, lie back in bed and get comfy. Find
00:02:09
Speaker 1: your fingers and toes and give them a little gentle
00:02:12
Speaker 1: wiggle and squeeze.
00:02:15
Speaker 2: Perhaps, roll back.
00:02:16
Speaker 1: Your shoulders and move around in bed a bit until
00:02:19
Speaker 1: you're in your most relaxing spot. Now close your eyes
00:02:25
Speaker 1: and breathe in and out steadily and quietly. Perfect, It's
00:02:32
Speaker 1: time to begin. The Lost Property Turtle by Jane Thomas.
00:02:44
Speaker 1: There's a beach not far from Sleepy Forest that, even
00:02:48
Speaker 1: if you were to sail up and down the entire coastline,
00:02:52
Speaker 1: you would be unlikely to find.
00:02:54
Speaker 3: It.
00:02:54
Speaker 2: Is tucked into a hidden.
00:02:56
Speaker 1: Cove where the cliffs rise from the sea and fold
00:03:01
Speaker 1: this way and that in such a way as to
00:03:04
Speaker 1: disguise the entrance from even the most nosy, curious and
00:03:08
Speaker 1: inquisitive eyes. And yet on hot summer days, when the
00:03:14
Speaker 1: sun beats down and the only escape is to dive
00:03:18
Speaker 1: into the cooling waves, this hidden beach is one of
00:03:22
Speaker 1: the busiest beaches anywhere in the world. It's known by
00:03:28
Speaker 1: locals as Harmony Cove, as it's so very peaceful. As
00:03:35
Speaker 1: soon as the sun starts to rise and sunbeams reach
00:03:40
Speaker 1: around the corners of the cliffs, the beach shines and
00:03:44
Speaker 1: shimmers as if it is covered in diamonds. And by locals,
00:03:52
Speaker 1: I mean all the sea turtles and hermit crabs, or
00:03:56
Speaker 1: the sea lions and dolphins, or the starfi should see
00:04:00
Speaker 1: an enemies, an octopus and fiddler crabs. Sometimes koalas and
00:04:07
Speaker 1: kangaroos even turn up there, taking the long paths that
00:04:12
Speaker 1: zigzag their way down the steep cliffs and running towards
00:04:18
Speaker 1: the gentle waves that ease themselves up up and down
00:04:23
Speaker 1: the shifting sands. Because Harmony Cove gets so very busy,
00:04:30
Speaker 1: there is of course a lost property office.
00:04:35
Speaker 2: There are piles and piles.
00:04:38
Speaker 1: Of strange items in there, most of which Michele has
00:04:43
Speaker 1: no real understanding of, but he keeps them safe and
00:04:48
Speaker 1: sound until the owners come along and reclaim them. Michelle
00:04:54
Speaker 1: is a sea turtle, and he's been working in the
00:04:57
Speaker 1: Lost Property office for nearly four months now. He's learned
00:05:03
Speaker 1: about plastic buckets and spades and inflatable unicorns, and been
00:05:10
Speaker 1: temporarily terrified by an inflatable crocodile.
00:05:15
Speaker 2: He now knows that.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: A single washed up flip flop makes an excellent surfboard
00:05:22
Speaker 1: if you happen to be starfish sized, and that if
00:05:27
Speaker 1: you blow into the tops of empty drinks bottles you
00:05:31
Speaker 1: can make music. Michelle takes great pride in working out
00:05:37
Speaker 1: what a particular item does and ensuring it gets back
00:05:41
Speaker 1: to its rightful owner. If a young octopus comes up
00:05:47
Speaker 1: and says they've lost their favorite bucket, Michelle makes sure
00:05:52
Speaker 1: the octopus describes it absolutely perfectly before he searches under
00:05:58
Speaker 1: his table and through the boxes of bits and bobs,
00:06:03
Speaker 1: pulling out exactly the right one. Would you say it's
00:06:09
Speaker 1: yellow like the sun or yellow like the sand, He'll ask?
00:06:18
Speaker 1: Or when you say it's big, would you say as
00:06:25
Speaker 1: big as the shell on my back, or as big
00:06:29
Speaker 1: as a castle. He has boxes of left flip flops
00:06:35
Speaker 1: and right flip flops, and these are divided further into
00:06:40
Speaker 1: flip flops made from foam and plastic and leather and cork.
00:06:48
Speaker 1: He has boxes of swimming shorts, ranging from the tiniest
00:06:54
Speaker 1: scraps of material used by shrimps to those so enormous
00:07:00
Speaker 1: they can be worn by a whale. He has sunglasses
00:07:05
Speaker 1: and sun hats, towels and tents, books and lunch boxes,
00:07:13
Speaker 1: all the stuff creatures take to the beach Michelle has
00:07:17
Speaker 1: tucked away under his table, waiting to be reunited with
00:07:22
Speaker 1: its owner.
00:07:25
Speaker 2: There's a special section.
00:07:27
Speaker 1: For things that have been left for a very long time.
00:07:31
Speaker 1: Michelle will hand these out in those emergency moments when
00:07:36
Speaker 1: a special little something makes someone feel a whole lot better,
00:07:43
Speaker 1: like the time a seal fell on her bucket and
00:07:46
Speaker 1: spade and broke them, or when a seagul forgot to
00:07:51
Speaker 1: bring his sunscreen along, And now he's going to help
00:07:56
Speaker 1: a little hermit crab who has turned up at his stall.
00:08:03
Speaker 1: I'm Cloudier, she announces, please to meet you. Cloudia is
00:08:09
Speaker 1: being very formal and proper because she has something very
00:08:14
Speaker 1: important to ask. Please to meet you, too, says Michel,
00:08:21
Speaker 1: And how can I help you?
00:08:23
Speaker 2: Little one?
00:08:25
Speaker 1: Well, I was surfing in the waves. I was doing
00:08:30
Speaker 1: so well, and then I made a bit of a mistake,
00:08:35
Speaker 1: and I humbled.
00:08:37
Speaker 3: And and and.
00:08:42
Speaker 1: The hermaid crab suddenly looked very sad. Indeed, Michele came
00:08:47
Speaker 1: out from behind his table and put his flipper around her.
00:08:52
Speaker 1: Come on, I'm here to help, he assured her. What
00:08:58
Speaker 1: happened in the waves? I lost my shell, she wailed.
00:09:04
Speaker 3: See I can't go back and see Mam and Dad
00:09:10
Speaker 3: without my shell, and my brothers for never stop teasing
00:09:16
Speaker 3: me about it.
00:09:18
Speaker 2: What am I going to do?
00:09:22
Speaker 1: Michel knew there had been something odd about the little
00:09:26
Speaker 1: creature standing in front of him, but he hadn't quite
00:09:31
Speaker 1: been able to put his flipper on it. As soon
00:09:35
Speaker 1: as she said it, it was obvious a missing shell. Goodness,
00:09:44
Speaker 1: Fortunately for you, Michel said, with a smile.
00:09:50
Speaker 2: I have a lot of shells back here. We'll find
00:09:55
Speaker 2: a perfect one for you.
00:09:58
Speaker 1: Claudia snif you can help, she said, definitely, said Michel,
00:10:08
Speaker 1: We'll find you the best shell you've ever seen. Just
00:10:13
Speaker 1: you wait, Cloudia managed to smile even better than my brothers.
00:10:23
Speaker 1: I promise even better than your brothers. Cloudier grinned, but said, Michel,
00:10:34
Speaker 1: you need to pretend you're someone else for a moment.
00:10:39
Speaker 1: Can you do that for me? Cloudia was all wide
00:10:44
Speaker 1: eyes and wondering. You're going to have to pretend your Goldilocks.
00:10:53
Speaker 1: We don't want to shell that's too small, and we
00:10:57
Speaker 1: definitely don't want to shell that's too big. We want
00:11:04
Speaker 1: a shell that's just right. Okay, so you be sure
00:11:11
Speaker 1: to tell me if it's too tight or too loose,
00:11:16
Speaker 1: and we'll keep going until we found the perfect shell
00:11:21
Speaker 1: for you. Cloudia giggled. She liked the idea of being Goldilocks.
00:11:30
Speaker 1: She curved her back and waited for mi shell to
00:11:33
Speaker 1: come out. With the first shell, Cloudier wiggled and wobbled
00:11:41
Speaker 1: and pushed and heaved her way into the shell, and finally.
00:11:46
Speaker 2: Said, with a gasp, it's too small.
00:11:53
Speaker 1: Michelle helped pull her out, heaving Cloudier's little crab claws
00:11:59
Speaker 1: until she's suddenly flew out of.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: The shell like a cork out of a bottle.
00:12:06
Speaker 1: She fell onto the sand with a thump and a bump.
00:12:12
Speaker 1: Michelle searched under his table and came out with a
00:12:17
Speaker 1: larger shell and handed that over Cloudier backed into the shell,
00:12:24
Speaker 1: almost disappearing entirely inside. Only her eyes poked out, and
00:12:32
Speaker 1: then they were gone too. It's too pig, came a
00:12:39
Speaker 1: voice echoing from inside the shell. Michelle saw it shake
00:12:46
Speaker 1: and jiggle, and realized Cloudier was trying to get out,
00:12:52
Speaker 1: so he leaned over and helped lift it from her.
00:12:58
Speaker 1: She blinked, her eyes dazzled by the sun again after
00:13:02
Speaker 1: the dark of the shell. They tried ten more shells,
00:13:09
Speaker 1: each one a little bit too small or a little
00:13:13
Speaker 1: bit too big, before Michele remembered that sometimes he stored
00:13:19
Speaker 1: the shells with the buckets. He rattled around under his
00:13:25
Speaker 1: table and emerged carrying a beautiful, shining shell. Inside it gleamed,
00:13:35
Speaker 1: streaked with rainbows on the shiny interior. On the outside,
00:13:43
Speaker 1: it curled and whirled to a single, glorious point with
00:13:48
Speaker 1: patterns that made it look like it should belong to
00:13:52
Speaker 1: a leopard. Cloudier's eyes opened wide. She had never in
00:14:00
Speaker 1: all her life seeing anything as beautiful as that shell.
00:14:08
Speaker 1: She crossed her claws and hoped and hoped that it
00:14:12
Speaker 1: would fit her. Michel placed it beside her, and Cloudier
00:14:19
Speaker 1: backed in, feeling how her sides just.
00:14:23
Speaker 2: Touched the shell.
00:14:26
Speaker 1: She stood up and felt its weight around her, and
00:14:31
Speaker 1: curled up inside to check she could sleep in there,
00:14:36
Speaker 1: and pulled out her claws and walked across the sand
00:14:40
Speaker 1: a little. It's the Goldilocks shell, she declared, eyes shining.
00:14:50
Speaker 1: Can I really have it?
00:14:52
Speaker 2: Can I? Michel was delighted.
00:14:57
Speaker 1: He watched as the little permit.
00:15:00
Speaker 2: Crabs scuttled off across.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: The sand, back to where her family waited on a
00:15:06
Speaker 1: picnic rug. Even from a distance, Michele could see how
00:15:13
Speaker 1: big Cloudier's brother's eyes became when he looked at the shell.
00:15:19
Speaker 1: Cloudier turned slowly and proudly, showing off her new home.
00:15:27
Speaker 1: He really did have a wonderful job, Michelle thought to himself,
00:15:34
Speaker 1: and smiled extra widely for the rest of the day
00:15:39
Speaker 1: as he reunited creatures with their missing spades and flip
00:15:44
Speaker 1: flops and sombreros and umbrellas. As the sun started to
00:15:52
Speaker 1: go down, the creatures began packing up their bags and
00:15:57
Speaker 1: disappearing home, swimming out to sea to their apartments in
00:16:03
Speaker 1: their coral reefs, or heading up the path to their
00:16:08
Speaker 1: penthouses high up on the cliffs. He was smiled at
00:16:14
Speaker 1: and thanked by all the animals who had been reunited
00:16:19
Speaker 1: with their belongings, and Cloudier even rushed over to give
00:16:25
Speaker 1: him a quick hug before she left. Michele lives down
00:16:31
Speaker 1: at Harmony Cove. So after he had taken an evening swim,
00:16:38
Speaker 1: floating in the sea and letting the waves push him
00:16:42
Speaker 1: this way and that, he came back to the beach
00:16:47
Speaker 1: and settled down next to his lost Property stand to
00:16:50
Speaker 1: dry his shell. He was almost completely content, except for
00:16:59
Speaker 1: one thing niggling at his mind. Have you ever had
00:17:04
Speaker 1: that You've been trying to fall asleep and there is
00:17:08
Speaker 1: one thing, It could be a tiny something and nothing,
00:17:14
Speaker 1: worrying away right at the back of your mind, and
00:17:20
Speaker 1: it means you can't fall asleep. The more you try
00:17:25
Speaker 1: to ignore it, the bigger it gets, until suddenly your
00:17:32
Speaker 1: entire mind is filled with this one small thing. That's
00:17:38
Speaker 1: what Michel was going through right now, and the reason
00:17:44
Speaker 1: he couldn't fall asleep. There was an item in his
00:17:49
Speaker 1: lost property box that had been there ever since he started,
00:17:55
Speaker 1: and he still had no idea what it was. He
00:18:02
Speaker 1: had been thinking about it for weeks, and somehow it
00:18:07
Speaker 1: had become a bigger and bigger and bigger problem.
00:18:12
Speaker 2: In his mind. Until now.
00:18:16
Speaker 1: He just knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until
00:18:21
Speaker 1: he knew exactly what it was. Michele sighed and stood up,
00:18:29
Speaker 1: wandering around to root about in the box and find
00:18:33
Speaker 1: the mysterious item. He pulled it out and set it
00:18:38
Speaker 1: on the table in front of him, eyeing it up
00:18:42
Speaker 1: for what felt like the millionth time. It was a
00:18:47
Speaker 1: small silver bar, about as long as his flipper, and
00:18:54
Speaker 1: there were lots and lots of holes in it.
00:19:00
Speaker 2: For a while he thought it might be a sea creature.
00:19:04
Speaker 1: Sleeping off a long swim, but he checked, and this
00:19:10
Speaker 1: silver bar didn't breathe or show any sign that it
00:19:15
Speaker 1: had ever been alive. Michelle wandered with it down to
00:19:22
Speaker 1: the sea, now quite calm since the moon had risen.
00:19:28
Speaker 1: The sea does that, you know, It calms down at
00:19:33
Speaker 1: the end of the day. However much the waves crash
00:19:38
Speaker 1: and churn against the cliffs during the day, it always.
00:19:44
Speaker 2: Seems to go calm at night.
00:19:48
Speaker 1: Michelle looked at the almost perfect reflection of the night
00:19:53
Speaker 1: sky in the waves, seeing the constellations in the shape
00:20:00
Speaker 1: the big whale and the swordfish and the running starfish.
00:20:07
Speaker 1: He placed the silver bar as gently as he could
00:20:11
Speaker 1: on the surface of the sea and then let go,
00:20:17
Speaker 1: waiting to see if it would float. For a moment,
00:20:21
Speaker 1: it did, and then it slipped into the dark water,
00:20:27
Speaker 1: heading down to the sandy seafloor, with a stream of
00:20:32
Speaker 1: bubbles rising to the surface as it fell. Michele quickly
00:20:40
Speaker 1: grabbed it and pulled it out again, heading back to
00:20:44
Speaker 1: the shore. So it doesn't float, he said to himself.
00:20:52
Speaker 1: That means it isn't a boat, and it isn't a
00:20:56
Speaker 1: sort of surfboard. Michele thought about all the sand castles
00:21:04
Speaker 1: he'd seen creatures build with the help of the buckets
00:21:08
Speaker 1: and spades, and he wondered if the silver bar was
00:21:13
Speaker 1: meant to help with that. He tried scooping sand into
00:21:18
Speaker 1: a bucket with it and didn't get very far at all.
00:21:22
Speaker 2: In fact, it was useless for that.
00:21:27
Speaker 1: Then he tried scooping sand into it, packing it into
00:21:31
Speaker 1: the small holes, but they were so small that when
00:21:35
Speaker 1: he dipped it up to pour out the castle, nothing
00:21:39
Speaker 1: really happened at all. He supposed it could be a
00:21:45
Speaker 1: very odd sort of lunch box, although he wasn't sure
00:21:50
Speaker 1: what you might cram into each of those tiny holes.
00:21:56
Speaker 1: The silver bar looked a bit of a mess, all
00:21:59
Speaker 1: covered with sand, and he thought he should probably look
00:22:03
Speaker 1: after it in case whoever owned it came back to
00:22:07
Speaker 1: find it someday. So he wandered back down to the
00:22:11
Speaker 1: sea and shook it around in the water until all
00:22:16
Speaker 1: the sand had come loose, and then he took it
00:22:20
Speaker 1: back to the beach with him. Droplets of water gleamed
00:22:25
Speaker 1: in the holes, and he shook the silver bar to
00:22:29
Speaker 1: get them out, and as he shook it, air rushed
00:22:35
Speaker 1: in and out of the holes, and the silver bar
00:22:40
Speaker 1: made a noise. In fact, it made lots of noises.
00:22:48
Speaker 1: Michelle stopped. He peered inside to see if something was
00:22:54
Speaker 1: living in there, but all he could see was black.
00:23:00
Speaker 1: He shook the silver bar again and it made another
00:23:04
Speaker 1: series of odd noises. How strange, he thought to himself.
00:23:13
Speaker 1: Then he remembered how he could blow across the tops
00:23:17
Speaker 1: of the empty drink's bottles, and how they all made
00:23:22
Speaker 1: a different sound. Slowly, he lifted the silver bar to
00:23:28
Speaker 1: his mouth and he blew. The noise and sounds that
00:23:35
Speaker 1: came out of it startled him so much he dropped
00:23:39
Speaker 1: it on the sand, and then he had to go
00:23:43
Speaker 1: through the process of washing and drying it all over again.
00:23:50
Speaker 1: This time he was ready. Michel lifted it to his
00:23:56
Speaker 1: mouth and blew. He moved his mouth along the silver
00:24:01
Speaker 1: bar and blew into some different holes, and they made
00:24:06
Speaker 1: different noises. After a while, he worked out that each
00:24:13
Speaker 1: of the holes made a different noise. Michelle started at
00:24:19
Speaker 1: one end of the silver bar and breathed out hard,
00:24:24
Speaker 1: working his way up to the other end. The notes
00:24:29
Speaker 1: got higher and higher in pitch with each hole. It
00:24:35
Speaker 1: was almost as if he thought each hole had been
00:24:40
Speaker 1: carefully crafted to make a very particular noise. Just as
00:24:48
Speaker 1: he was beginning to think this odd little silver bar
00:24:53
Speaker 1: might be some sort of musical instrument, a seagull poked
00:24:59
Speaker 1: his head around the cliff edge.
00:25:02
Speaker 2: Hi.
00:25:03
Speaker 1: The sea girl called Michelle turned hello, he answered back,
00:25:11
Speaker 1: a little uncertainly. You didn't get many visitors at night.
00:25:17
Speaker 1: In fact, harmony cove was entirely his when it was dark,
00:25:22
Speaker 1: and you rather like that if truth be told, I say,
00:25:29
Speaker 1: said the sea girl, I think you've got my friend's harmonica. There,
00:25:36
Speaker 1: I've got your friends, what asked Michelle. The sea girl
00:25:42
Speaker 1: flew over and landed next to the sea turtle. He's harmonica,
00:25:49
Speaker 1: sure as feathers is feathers that's Pete's harmonica. He leaned
00:25:55
Speaker 1: over as if to take it from the sea turtle.
00:26:00
Speaker 1: Michelle held it back. If it really does belong to Pete,
00:26:07
Speaker 1: this harmonica, then I should be the one to return
00:26:12
Speaker 1: it to him. I am, after all, in charge of
00:26:18
Speaker 1: lost property, he said. The seagull shrugged, fine by me,
00:26:26
Speaker 1: Come he lives around here, and the seagull disappeared back
00:26:31
Speaker 1: where he had come from. Michelle shuffled after him, the
00:26:36
Speaker 1: harmonica in his mouth. As he climbed across knobbly rocks
00:26:41
Speaker 1: and slithered across sheets of seaweed. He kept panting hard
00:26:47
Speaker 1: into the harmonica, and he gave out little puffs of
00:26:51
Speaker 1: music each time he breathed out.
00:26:57
Speaker 2: The seagull hopped.
00:26:58
Speaker 1: Along, easily, flying over the awkward bits and waiting patiently
00:27:04
Speaker 1: for Michele to catch up. When Michele thought they'd gone
00:27:10
Speaker 1: so far they would surely be in a new country soon,
00:27:14
Speaker 1: he saw the shapes of a hundred sea lions silhouetted
00:27:19
Speaker 1: against the sky. The sea gull flew over and landed
00:27:26
Speaker 1: on one, whispering something into his ear, and the sea
00:27:31
Speaker 1: lion turned and waddled over to Michel Listen or chap
00:27:39
Speaker 1: squawky here says you have my harmonica?
00:27:46
Speaker 3: Is that so?
00:27:49
Speaker 1: Michel was as cautious as ever. He'd hidden the silver
00:27:54
Speaker 1: bar beneath his flipper. I might have it, he said,
00:28:01
Speaker 1: Describe it to me please, Oh, certainly, certainly, said the
00:28:08
Speaker 1: sea lion. I'd say. It's about as long as your flipper. Silver,
00:28:17
Speaker 1: ten little holes in it, says blues on the top
00:28:22
Speaker 1: of it in swirling twirling letters. Few scratches on the undercarriage.
00:28:30
Speaker 1: I'm afraid it's a bit hard to keep a harmonica
00:28:34
Speaker 1: in tiptop shape out on these rocks. Michele turned and
00:28:40
Speaker 1: checked the silver bar, ten holes, blues written in swirling
00:28:47
Speaker 1: twirling letters, and yes, he was right, a few little
00:28:54
Speaker 1: scratches on the underside, turned back to the sea li
00:29:00
Speaker 1: iron and held it out. The sea Lion's eyes lit up,
00:29:05
Speaker 1: and he clapped his flippers together in delight. By jove,
00:29:12
Speaker 1: that's it, You, sir, are a gentleman, he said happily.
00:29:20
Speaker 1: Michele handed it over and was about to leave when
00:29:24
Speaker 1: he had a thought. Excuse me, he said, a little shyly. Pete,
00:29:33
Speaker 1: isn't it The sea lion nodded. Do you know how
00:29:39
Speaker 1: to make real music. With that, Pete, some of the
00:29:44
Speaker 1: nearby sea lions laughed a little. Pete glared at them
00:29:49
Speaker 1: to be quiet. I do play a little Would you
00:29:54
Speaker 1: like to hear something? Michelle nodded eagerly for you any time,
00:30:03
Speaker 1: Eh need time, And with that, the sea lion drew
00:30:10
Speaker 1: the harmonica to his mouth and breathed out. At first,
00:30:18
Speaker 1: he played a song so lively and busy that Michel
00:30:23
Speaker 1: couldn't help but tap his flippers in time to the music,
00:30:29
Speaker 1: watching as the sea lions twirled around to the sounds
00:30:35
Speaker 1: of the sea shanty. When Pete finished, they all sat
00:30:41
Speaker 1: back and clapped their flippers loudly, barking their approval and
00:30:48
Speaker 1: calling for an encore. And Pete leaned back against a
00:30:56
Speaker 1: rock and closed his eyes once more, putting the harmonica
00:31:02
Speaker 1: to his lips. This time, he played a slow and
00:31:09
Speaker 1: beautiful tune. It sounded like the sea and the waves
00:31:16
Speaker 1: all at once. Michele closed his eyes and as he listened,
00:31:24
Speaker 1: he saw mermaids float through his mind. He saw dolphins
00:31:31
Speaker 1: drifting through the tides and wails leaning into the waves.
00:31:40
Speaker 1: He saw sea gulls floating high up on the thermals,
00:31:46
Speaker 1: and starfish sleeping on the sands, and that night and
00:31:53
Speaker 1: for many nights after, Michelee didn't sleep by himself in
00:32:00
Speaker 1: Harmony Cove. He slept beside the sea lions and fell
00:32:07
Speaker 1: asleep to the music of the harmonica, drifting away on
00:32:15
Speaker 1: dreams of long summer days and starry moonlight nights