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Speaker 1: Hello friends, and welcome to sleep Tight Stories. A short

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Speaker 1: message for grown ups. If you get value from our stories,

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Speaker 1: guided meditations, music for sleep and more. Visit sleep Typepremium

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Speaker 1: dot com to subscribe. A link can also be found

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Speaker 1: in our show notes Thank you. Have you ever tried

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Speaker 1: to tell somebody something but they just did believe you.

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Speaker 1: Maybe they told you you were too small, or that

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Speaker 1: you just couldn't know what you were talking about. Well

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Speaker 1: that's what happens to Monia in this episode The Elephant Bird.

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Speaker 1: Mounia knew that the giant, one feathered elephant bird had

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Speaker 1: not swallowed the horse. Yes, he was big enough to

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Speaker 1: swallow a horse, but that didn't mean he had. The

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Speaker 1: village had only one horse cart pulled by two horses,

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Speaker 1: Via and Droot, and Viya had gone missing near the

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Speaker 1: lake in the jungle where the bird lived. The villagers

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Speaker 1: had known about the elephant bird four generations. He was

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Speaker 1: the last of his race, which was considered extinct for

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Speaker 1: hundreds of years. The world did not know that the

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Speaker 1: living relic of that race, who had lost all his feathers,

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Speaker 1: but one still roamed these jungles. The bird and the

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Speaker 1: villagers kept a safe distance from each other, but not Mounia.

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Speaker 1: Although she walked with a limp, she was brave of heart.

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Speaker 1: She often slipped into the jungle to watch the elephant bird.

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Speaker 1: The elephant bird came near the lake in the daytime

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Speaker 1: to bask in the sun or play in the lake alone,

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Speaker 1: splashing water. Sometimes he sat half submerged in water. At

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Speaker 1: other times there was no trace of him, perhaps he

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Speaker 1: just rested in some corner of the dense jungle. He

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Speaker 1: stood as tall as a tree. He had a long,

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Speaker 1: strong neck, huge legs with claws, and a heavy spear

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Speaker 1: like Headmunia soon realized he was a shy her bevorous bird.

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Speaker 1: He just munched on leaves by the lakeside. Monia felt

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Speaker 1: she had something in common with him. The elephant bird

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Speaker 1: could not fly, and Mounia could not run. The other

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Speaker 1: village children sometimes made fun of her and did not

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Speaker 1: include her in their games. That was why she liked

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Speaker 1: staying alone. Every morning, Munia helped fetch three pitchers of

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Speaker 1: water from the village well and collected wood so that

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Speaker 1: Alma could light the stove, and then she would be

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Speaker 1: out for a long time. Ama believed she went out

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Speaker 1: to play with the kids. Little did she know that

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Speaker 1: Monia went into the jungle to the lake where the

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Speaker 1: elephant bird lived. One day. Gathering her courage, Mounia stepped

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Speaker 1: in the open near the lake. Without turning his head,

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Speaker 1: the elephant bird rolled his eyes towards Munia and then

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Speaker 1: closed them, uninterested by her advance, getting no more attention

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Speaker 1: than the flies buzzing over his head, Moonia stomped her feet. Suddenly,

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Speaker 1: the elephant bird lifted one of its claws. Mounia cried

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Speaker 1: and fell headlong into the shallow waters of the lake.

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Speaker 1: She came out drenched to see him, shaking all over.

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Speaker 1: He was laughing. That's funny, huh, she asked angrily, and

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Speaker 1: turned to leave. Before Moonia had walked away from the clearing,

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Speaker 1: something hit her feet. It was a fruit that the

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Speaker 1: elephant bird had thrown at her. The elephant bird wanted

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Speaker 1: to play. Hesitantlymunia threw it at him. He trotted sideways

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Speaker 1: and caught the fruit in his beak. Thus, Munia's friendship

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Speaker 1: with the elephant bird had begun, and just when she

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Speaker 1: had finally found a friend. Via had gone missing, and

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Speaker 1: everyone's suspicion had turned towards the elephant bird. After searching

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Speaker 1: for Via high and low, the villagers gathered under the

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Speaker 1: old Banyan tree. Everyone agreed that there could be no

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Speaker 1: thief in their village. They all trusted one another. The

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Speaker 1: milkman swore that he had seen Via gallop away towards

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Speaker 1: the lake. There is no sign of Via anywheres. It

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Speaker 1: must be something in this the jungle that got him. A

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Speaker 1: villager addressed the headman. Who else could it be but

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Speaker 1: the giant one feathered elephant bird? He must be gotten

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Speaker 1: rid of, said the milkman. For years he has been lying,

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Speaker 1: silent waiting. The crowd agreed. Moonia watched the proceedings quietly.

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Speaker 1: She wanted to speak, but she was scared of being

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Speaker 1: punished for speaking up. But even if she did speak,

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Speaker 1: who would believe her? Yes, all these years of aimless

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Speaker 1: living has made the giant dangerous, said Munia's father. Today

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Speaker 1: it is a horse tomorrow who knows? The headman spoke

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Speaker 1: over the villager's angry shouts. Brothers, even though we are

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Speaker 1: facing a giant, we have the strength of numbers, so

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Speaker 1: let's go out together. A cheer of approval went up.

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Speaker 1: The elephant bird did not eat the horse, Munya said,

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Speaker 1: softly but firmly, limping forward. I was with him when

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Speaker 1: Vaya went missing. A heavy silence fell on the gathering.

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Speaker 1: What does this mean, roared the headman. That the elephant

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Speaker 1: bird is my friend, and he has not done this.

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Speaker 1: This girl has lost her mind, shouted someone from the back.

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Speaker 1: The other children laughed. He only eats leaves. How could

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Speaker 1: eat Vaya? Munya shouted, not moving from her place. You

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Speaker 1: can't even braid your hair, and you are giving us advice.

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Speaker 1: Munya's father fumed and came towards her. Go play with

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Speaker 1: your friends. This elephant bird is the only friend I have,

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Speaker 1: said Munya. Her father glared at her, but she didn't

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Speaker 1: cry and stood there facing the villagers. Forget about the girl.

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Speaker 1: We will go after the elephant bird in the morning,

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Speaker 1: said the headman. Munia had only one night to prove

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Speaker 1: the elephant bird's innocence. Think, Munya, think, she whispered to herself.

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Speaker 1: The milkman saw Va. You gallop away on the road

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Speaker 1: that goes to the lake. But the road takes a

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Speaker 1: turn before it reaches the lake and goes towards the village.

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Speaker 1: What if Vayu had gone that way. Munya's parents were

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Speaker 1: angry with her and had sent her to bed, But

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Speaker 1: once they were asleep, she got out of bed, took

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Speaker 1: the hanging lamp and stepped out of the house. She

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Speaker 1: crossed the village and came to the jungle path leading

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Speaker 1: to the neighboring village. Oooooooooo rang the call of an

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Speaker 1: owl in the jungle air. The shadows of the trees

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Speaker 1: moved like long, dark fingers. She hesitated for a moment,

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Speaker 1: but then thought of the elephant bird sleeping peacefully in

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Speaker 1: the jungle. If she didn't do something to solve the mystery,

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Speaker 1: the elephant bird may not be there to see the

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Speaker 1: next night. She took a deep breath and limped alone

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Speaker 1: on the jungle path in the dark of the night.

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Speaker 1: The next morning, the villagers gathered near the lake. The

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Speaker 1: elephant bird was resting When the crowd approached him. The

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Speaker 1: sun shone on his featherless back. He got up slowly

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Speaker 1: and stared at the crowd, looking at his size. The

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Speaker 1: villager stopped at some distance. After a moment's hesitation, the

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Speaker 1: headman cried, be ready. The mob roared, ready to run

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Speaker 1: down the giant one feathered elephant bird. Stop. Munya's thin

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Speaker 1: voice cut through the noise. She limped between the mob

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Speaker 1: and the giant. Munya come back at once. Her father

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Speaker 1: ordered grab her, cried some one else. Munya's father and

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Speaker 1: another villager rushed towards her. The elephant bird advanced a

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Speaker 1: couple of steps, and they stopped. O k if this

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Speaker 1: is how you want it, yelled the man. What's going on?

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Speaker 1: Someone shouted from behind the crowd. A slightly hunched man

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Speaker 1: with a long beard came in holding a horse's rein.

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Speaker 1: The headman asked, with a surprised look, Sartie, what are

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Speaker 1: you doing here? And why is Via with you? Oh?

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Speaker 1: As you know, I had sold Via to you some

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Speaker 1: years back. Yesterday, I was passing by your village early

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Speaker 1: in the morning in my buggy, and I don't know how,

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Speaker 1: but Via got loose and followed us back to the town.

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Speaker 1: I couldn't recognize him and didn't know what to do

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Speaker 1: with him until this morning, when I saw this little

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Speaker 1: girl going from hut to hut asking about a lost horse.

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Speaker 1: But what is going on? He asked again. The villagers

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Speaker 1: did not answer him. They hung their heads in shame.

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Speaker 1: Munya's father went to her, lifted her in his arms,

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Speaker 1: and took her back to the village. From that day forward,

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Speaker 1: no child has ever laughed at Munia. They all want

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Speaker 1: to be friends with her, and they all want to

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Speaker 1: be friends with the elephant bird. Munia's tale reached many villages,

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Speaker 1: and the villagers in faraway hamlets whispered to each other.

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Speaker 1: Mounia knew that the giant, one feathered elephant bird had

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Speaker 1: not swallowed the horse, if only they had listened