0:08

Hello, friends, and welcome to sleep

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Tight Stories. Every

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week we celebrate our supporters

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through shout outs and personal birthday

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messages. We think this is

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also a fun way for us to hear about

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all the amazing places that you

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our listeners come from. I'd

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like to say hello to Myles in Bethesda,

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from mommy and Daddy, who love you so

0:35

much. Hello to Evie

0:37

June in Wellsville, Pennsylvania,

0:39

Love Mommy, Daddy, Cantina, and

0:42

Disco. They are so proud of you

0:44

for swimming in the deep end of the pool. Hello

0:48

to Warren in Vero Beach, Florida,

0:50

who is three and rockin'

0:53

his new glasses. Lookin good

0:55

Warren. And Hello

0:57

to Everly in Vero Beach, Florida,

1:00

who is five and in kindergarten.

1:03

Remember each day is a new day, Everly,

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don't forget to smile. Happy

1:10

belated birthday to Maggie, Love

1:12

mommy and Daddy who love watching you

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grow and are amazed at how awesome

1:17

of a girl you are and have always

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been. Happy

1:22

belated birthday to Addie in Seattle,

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who turned eight on April seventeenth.

1:27

Happy belated birthday to Emery in

1:29

Montana, who turned eleven on

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April fourteenth. Love Mom,

1:34

Dad, David and Nolan. You

1:36

are their bright star and they love

1:38

watching you come alive on stage. And

1:42

Happy belated birthday to Ezra

1:45

from Blissfield, Michigan, who turned

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seven on April twenty first. From

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Mama, Dad, Landon,

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Isaiah and Sibby, who are

1:54

so grateful for you and love

1:56

you so much. Happy

1:59

six birthday to Oliver in Bozeman,

2:02

Montana from his mom, Dad,

2:04

Sawyer and Eliza. Happy

2:07

birthday to Georgia from glen Carbon,

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Illinois, who was turning seven on

2:12

April twenty sixth. Mommy,

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Daddy, Benny, Bubby and Sissy

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love you so much. Happy

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seventh birthday to Malik from Egypt.

2:22

You fill everyone's life with so much

2:24

joy. Stay awesome.

2:26

We love you.

2:27

From Dahlia, Yusev and Bowser.

2:31

And Happy birthday to Claire Elizabeth,

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who is turning seven on April twenty

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seventh. Mommy loves you and

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your night times together, Claire Bear, Happy

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birthday to you all. To

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reserve your special shout out, please

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visit sleeptightstories dot org slash

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support. We can't wait to

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celebrate with you. Now

2:56

on to our story.

3:04

Bernice is excited about going

3:07

to Gertrude's party. She

3:09

and Ethan talk about it as they walk home.

3:13

Ethan says that he heard that Gertrude's

3:16

mom is ordering a lot of pizza,

3:19

and they think it must be because Bobby

3:21

is coming and he loves

3:24

pizza.

3:28

Bernice loves pizza too.

3:34

Are you excited about Gertrude's party

3:36

this weekend, Ethan asked

3:38

as they walked towards Bernice's house

3:41

from the school bus stop. I

3:44

hear that her mom is going to order like

3:46

a hundred pizzas or something. Maybe

3:50

she is ordering so many because

3:52

Bobby is coming and he loves

3:55

pizza. Bernice said,

3:57

with a chuckle. I'm excited

3:59

too. It should be lots of fun.

4:02

She told me she has many games we

4:04

could play, and if it is sunny outside,

4:07

maybe we could have fun in her backyard. Yeah,

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she has a big backyard, I think.

4:14

But whether it's inside or

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out is okay with me. As

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long as Bobby saves me some pizza,

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especially Hawaiian That's my

4:24

absolute favorite, Ethan said,

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excited about the thought of eating

4:28

pizza.

4:31

I like Hawaiian too.

4:33

Pineapple on pizza is the

4:35

best, but sometimes

4:38

just cheese is good, or pepperoni,

4:41

or maybe even mushrooms.

4:43

Ha ha, I think I might love

4:45

all pizza, Bernice laughed

4:48

as they arrived at her house. Haha,

4:51

it's fun anyway, Bernice.

4:54

See you tomorrow and thank you for the cookie

4:56

today, Ethan said, as he

4:58

ran towards his ground mother's house down

5:01

the street. Bye,

5:03

Ethan, Bernice said as she waved

5:06

goodbye.

5:10

Bernice closed the door quietly

5:12

as she entered her small house and

5:15

was greeted not only by the

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most amazing smell in the whole wide

5:19

world, but also by Cookie,

5:22

who was sitting patiently at the entryway.

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Hi. Cookie, you are so nice.

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I knew you would be here waiting for

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me when I came home. I felt

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it in my bones. Do

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you like that phrase? It sounds

5:38

old fashioned, so I think I will

5:40

use it. I think I heard Mama

5:42

use it once. Bernice

5:46

sat down to take off her sneakers, a

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habit she started because of her stubborn

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snow boots, which always seemed

5:53

impossible to take off. Do

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you see this, Cookie, Bernice said,

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pointing to where her finger was sticking

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out of the front of her sneaker. My

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absolute favorite sneakers

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in the universe have a hole

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in them. There is no way

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I'm going to get a new pair, even

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if Mama and Papa say I can. These

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are just the best.

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Cookie replied by purring and rubbing

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up against her. I think

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you understand, Bernice

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added, while giving Cookie some pets.

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You understand everything, right. Do

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you know how lucky you are that you don't

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have to wear sneakers. When

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I was just a kid, I would simply go in

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my bare feet and they never got.

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Holes in them.

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I had to start wearing shoes in winter

6:47

because walking in snow in your bare

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feet is not so comfortable.

6:52

Is that your voice I hear, little Bear.

6:55

Papa Bear said from the kitchen in

6:57

his super deep voice. I'll

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never guess what I made for this afternoon's

7:02

treat. Oh yes,

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I will, Papa Bernice said,

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as she put her sneakers away in the closet

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and hung up her jacket. Walking

7:12

into the kitchen, she said, it's a

7:15

super nice day out there, Papa. I

7:17

think the grass has gotten greener today,

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and it's so sunny outside that

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I think the birds are wearing sunglasses

7:25

so they don't bump into trees. That's

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pretty sunny, Little Bear, it

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is a beautiful day. It

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is just about time for you and me to start

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working on our garden. Yeah,

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we should start that soon, and then

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I get to wear my rubber boots. Something

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sure smells super yummy delicious,

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Bernice said, as she washed her hands

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in the sink.

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What is it.

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You are supposed to guess, little bear, Papa

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Bear said with a smile. Well,

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I know it isn't Brussels sprouts, and

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I hope it's not egg planned though

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I would eat them if you said I should.

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I think it must be cookies. You

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are correct, it is cookies.

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Was it a difficult guess? Papa

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Bear asked with a laugh. But

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they are special cookies because

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these are almond cookies. I

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love almond cookies, Papa. In

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fact, I think I love all

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cookies and all pizza too.

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Ethan told me that Gertrude may be ordering

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like a hundred pizzas for her

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party this weekend. I can't

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wait to eat some pizza, Bernice

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said as she sat at the table. One

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hundred might be a lot, though

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Bobby's parents told us he has

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had an appetite lately, so

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maybe Gertrude's parents are preparing

8:57

Papa said with a laugh. Yesh,

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he's turned from a little eater to

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a big eater, or from

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a microraptor to a brachiosaurus.

9:09

Except for carrots, of course, Bobby

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still won't eat those.

9:14

Do they make carrot pizza? Papa?

9:16

That would be funny if all Gertrude

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had to eat at her party was carrot

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pizza. Bernice said, after

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taking a great big drink of milk. I

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haven't heard of carrot pizza before,

9:30

but you never know. So

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tell me about your day, little bear. How

9:37

do you feel your test went today? After

9:41

taking a big bite of a cookie, she

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replied, Okay, I guess

9:47

I did well on all my tests because

9:49

I had been studying. Bobby

9:51

felt good about it too, and when he

9:53

finished he yelled out yay, which

9:57

I think means he felt he did well. The

10:00

teacher got a bit upset and he had

10:02

to sit down and be quiet. He

10:05

finished his tests faster than most

10:07

of us. But Papa, you

10:10

won't guess what happened in English class.

10:13

It was kind of silly. What

10:17

happened, little bear? Well,

10:20

one of the new boys in class didn't

10:22

do the group assignment we were supposed to

10:24

do. He seemed a bit nervous

10:27

when the teacher asked us to continue working

10:29

together.

10:30

And when the teacher.

10:31

Came by and asked nicely where

10:33

his part of the assignment was, he

10:36

took a deep breath and said, well,

10:40

you see, there was this

10:42

boa constrictor. I

10:45

almost giggled, Papa. I think

10:47

he was trying to make a joke, because

10:50

he went on to say that a huge, gigantic

10:53

boa constrictor slithered

10:55

into his room last night, right

10:58

through the window. It was

11:00

so hungry that it ate his assignment.

11:04

We all giggled a bit, but when

11:06

the teacher started to look serious,

11:09

he apologized and said he

11:11

had finished it but had forgotten

11:13

it at home. He's

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nice, Papa, and I think we can all

11:17

be friends. But I don't think

11:19

he has found his sense of humor yet. Papa

11:23

Bear let out a big sigh.

11:28

Papa. In science class, one

11:30

of the new kids did a presentation on

11:33

raccoons, which was pretty cool.

11:36

She said that where she used to live, raccoons

11:39

would visit them every night. And

11:42

Papa, did you know that raccoons

11:45

have hands that can open jars,

11:48

unlock cages, and even turn

11:50

doorknobs. Isn't that cool?

11:53

Why don't we have any raccoons, Papa.

11:55

They seem so cute.

11:59

I think we might have had some raccoons

12:01

at one time, little Bear, but I

12:03

suspect they found a better place to live

12:06

that had more food, and

12:09

they don't always get along with those.

12:11

Who live in the city.

12:13

They are a very interesting animal

12:16

and very smart. Yeah,

12:20

I think so. At

12:23

lunchtime, some of the kids did

12:25

a lunch swap and Bobby

12:27

swapped lunches with Gertrude. But

12:29

her lunch was full of carrots.

12:32

She loves carrots, but Bobby

12:34

doesn't, so they switched back.

12:38

I had some of Bobby's lunch today. He

12:41

had some kind of chicken with a sour

12:43

sauce or something.

12:45

It was okay. And

12:47

I shared one of my.

12:48

Cookies with Ethan because his

12:50

parents gave him a pudding or something, and

12:52

he said he would like to trade.

12:56

Sounds like you had a fun and full

12:59

day, Papa Bear said, as he

13:01

rinsed his teacup in the sink. I

13:04

need to work on my English assignment before

13:07

dinner.

13:07

Papa.

13:08

Can you answer questions if I have any?

13:11

I would love to answer your questions as

13:13

best I can. I'll be right

13:15

here starting dinner. Thank

13:18

you, Papa.

13:24

It's that time, Papa, said Bernice.

13:26

And what time is that, little Bear replied,

13:29

Papa, the time you tell me

13:31

a story, silly. Did

13:34

you do all the things you need to do before

13:36

bed?

13:38

I think so.

13:39

I had a soapy bath, put on

13:41

clean pajamas, brushed my teeth,

13:44

and did some stretches. Are

13:47

you comfy and warm, yes,

13:50

Papa. How about Twiggle,

13:52

Wolfy and Madeline? Are they ready for

13:54

a story too? I think

13:56

they are.

13:58

What about you Cookie? Are you ready

14:01

for a story? And arrest?

14:03

I think she might be asleep already, Papa.

14:06

She might even be snoring, Papa

14:09

Bear said with a laugh. Give

14:11

me a big hug and a kiss, and I'll

14:13

tell you a short story.

14:16

Thank you, Papa.

14:21

Once upon a time, in a world

14:24

full of magic and fun, there

14:26

lived a brave little bear named Booboo.

14:30

She lived in a large castle at

14:32

the edge of a mystical forest.

14:34

And in this forest there.

14:36

Were unicorns, fairies,

14:38

gnomes, and all manner

14:41

of insects, birds and animals.

14:44

It was a wonderful place. Her

14:48

best friend was a young dragon called

14:50

Kai Kai, and they liked to

14:52

play as much as they could. The

14:55

kingdom. They lived in was full of people

14:57

who lived in the meadows, those

15:00

who lived in the hills, and those

15:02

that lived in the forest, and

15:04

they all lived in harmony.

15:09

On this day, Bubu and Kai Kai

15:12

were walking towards Bixi's cottage

15:14

to give him some treats.

15:16

Bubu had been.

15:17

Learning how to bake, and instead

15:19

of eating them all herself, she

15:22

decided to share it with their teacher. Of

15:25

course, keeping sweet treats

15:27

away from Kai Kai was always

15:30

a challenge.

15:32

As they approached Bixi's home in the

15:35

forest, they noticed Sparkles,

15:37

the unicorn, shimmering brightly,

15:39

her mane full of colors, playing

15:42

with some of the other forest friends. Hello,

15:45

Sparkles, shouted Boboo and

15:47

Kai Kai in unison. Hi,

15:50

guys, Sparkle's neid, I

15:52

can smell some delicious treats.

15:55

It can't be from Kai Kai, most

15:58

certainly not. He's been

16:00

leaving a trail of drool all

16:03

the way here. If he could

16:05

bake, he would have eaten them by now.

16:08

Booboo laughed. Seeing

16:12

some of his students had come for a visit.

16:14

Bixi gathered everyone around a

16:16

cozy, moss covered log.

16:20

Before we share these delicious treats

16:22

that Booboo brought. I want to

16:24

tell you all a story, he began.

16:27

Bixi had a story for every

16:29

occasion, a

16:31

story from when I was just a little

16:33

sprout, not much bigger than a pine

16:35

cone. As

16:38

Booboo shared some treats with all

16:40

the forest friends present, Bixi

16:42

shared tales of his younger days, filled

16:45

with blunders and misadventures.

16:49

I once tried to use a lily pad

16:51

as a trampoline, he confessed,

16:53

a giggle escaping his lips.

16:56

Let's just say I ended up

16:58

taking an unexpect did swim.

17:01

Booboo, Kaikai and Sparkles laughed.

17:06

But the most important part, Bixy

17:09

continued, is that I learned

17:11

something new with each mistake.

17:14

I learned that it's okay to

17:16

fall as long as you get back up.

17:20

What was the best thing you learned,

17:22

Bixi asked, Kai Kai, his

17:24

mouth covered in crumbs,

17:27

Bixy smiled warmly. I

17:30

learned that it's not about

17:32

being the best student right

17:34

away, but about growing and

17:37

getting better over time. My

17:40

mistakes were like the seeds of my success.

17:43

They needed time, patience,

17:46

and lots of sunshine to grow. Sparkle

17:52

shared, I once thought my horn

17:54

was just for show, but then I learned

17:56

it could light up the darkest paths.

18:01

Booboo chimed in, Yeah,

18:03

I once thought I couldn't climb trees or

18:05

run races, but.

18:07

Then I did. I just needed

18:09

to keep trying.

18:11

Kai Kai laughed, and I

18:14

remember being scared of the dark

18:16

until I discovered how beautiful

18:18

the stars are at night. How

18:22

could a dragon be afraid of anything,

18:24

Sparkles asked, I

18:27

think he is afraid that he will miss out on

18:29

treats.

18:30

Booboo laughed.

18:33

As it started to get dark outside,

18:36

everyone knew it was time to go. I

18:39

have one more suggestion before you go home

18:42

and leave me with all these treats, and

18:45

no, I don't need your help eating

18:47

them, Kai Kai Bixi started.

18:51

I ask that you all

18:53

never stop asking questions,

18:56

never shy away from the mistakes

18:58

you're bound to make, and

19:00

always lend a hand to one another

19:03

in getting better bit by

19:06

bit?

19:07

Can you do that?

19:10

Everyone agreed to try their best,

19:16

and with that, Papa Bear

19:18

gave Bernice a kiss on her forehead,

19:21

adjusted her blanket, turned

19:23

off her lamp, and quietly whispered,

19:26

I love you, little bear, and

19:32

that is the end.

19:33

Of our story. Good

19:36

Night, sleep tight,

20:01

b

20:03

Bup.