Birdie and the storm

Transcript

This is Birdie. Birdie is a happy bird who likes to sing. She lives in a nest in a tall tree near a forest. Birdie feels cosy and safe in her nest.

Birdie likes to catch worms and talk with her friend, Mr. Frog.

Mr. Frog lives in a pond with green lily pads.

One day, Birdie noticed dark clouds in the sky. A wind began to blow.

That looks like a storm coming, said Mr. Frog. We should put away everything that might blow around and get broken.

A flash of lightning lit up the clouds. Thunder, boomed. Mr. Frog said we need to stay in the safest part of our home and wait for the storm to end.

Birdie was surprised to see white balls bouncing on the grass. Those are hailstones. Mr. Frog explained. They're like frozen raindrops. Sometimes they're small and sometimes they're big. But they're all just bits of ice.

The hail sounded very loud in the branches. Birdie felt worried the hailstones might break her tree.

It got very dark rain, drummed and thrummed on the pond. Wind whooshed and whirled through the branches. Thunder roared and rumble in the sky.

Let's count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder said, Mr. Frog. More seconds mean the lightning is further away. One second, two seconds. Boom.

The lightning's right on top of this Birdie wailed. I'm scared.

All this noise does feel scary, Mr. Frog agreed. But we're safe here. And the storm will be over soon.

Click. Mr. Frog turned on a torch. He made a shape with his hands and a shadow friend appeared on the wall. Birdie laughed. She didn't feel so scared anymore.

Soon the storm was over. The rain and wind stopped. The thunder and lightning stopped. White hailstones lay all over the ground. Birdie picked up a cold, hard little hailstone. It melted into a puddle in her hand.

Oh, no. Part of Birdie's nest had been broken in the storm. Birdie felt angry and sad. She started to cry.

We're here, Birdie, her friend said. We'll mend your nest. And you can stay with us until it's fixed.

Other helpers came. They cleaned up all the broken branches.

Birdie's friends brought sticks to mend her nest and feathers to make it soft inside.

It looked a bit different now, but it was strong and cosy.

Birdie and Mr. Frog were safe and happy again.