Look Out!
Another day was ending over the old story tree in
Buttenhauser's Meadow. As the sun set, the forest creatures of
both the night and day gathered at the tree to watch the full moon
rise. Full-moon nights were always exciting, because that's when
Grandpa Owl would read a new story from his book of twilight tales.
Silvery
rays of light fell onto the thick branches of the old tree as Grandpa
Owl emerged from his nest. Carrying the big book of stories in his
giant, gray-feathered wings, he perched on his favorite branch.
Everyone grew quiet, wondering what tonight's story could be.
The sound of wildly flapping wings filled the
air. "Look out," cried Nelly. "Nosedive is coming!"
The little squirrel scampered to the ground in a flash of red-brown
fur. Nosedive's arrival always caused alarm. Although the young bat
could fly, landing was still a problem.
Nosedive came speeding in and tried to catch a
branch. Turning too late, he crashed into Red, who had just found a
good spot above Grandpa Owl. The woodpecker let out a loud squawk as
he fell into the open storybook and landed on Grandpa Owl's wing.
Before hitting the ground, the heavy book clipped one of Hopper the
rabbit's long ears. "Ow," yelped hopper and covered the
wound with a paw. The other animals scattered in surprise.
After he had returned Red to his perch, Grandpa
Owl flew down to get his book and dusted it off. He made sure no
pages were torn before taking his place on the branch. All the
creatures scurried back to the tree, angry and complaining. Nosedive
tried to apologize, but no one listened.
"Why don't you watch where you're going,"
yelled Red. "Someone's going to get hurt one day!"
"Someone already did," Hopper
complained, still holding his ear.
"I didn't mean to--" began Nosedive,
but Red interrupted him.
"You should stay away until you can land.
You're too dangerous!"
"But--" Nosedive began again.
"Ow, my ear! I think there's a hole in it,"
said Hopper.
"Don't be such a baby, it's not that bad,"
said Nelly.
"I'm sorry, Hopper," Nosedive said
again.
Without a word, Hopper turned away and hastened
into his burrow. Nosedive curled up at the bottom of the tree and hid
his face in the folds of his wings while everyone continued to
protest. He wished he could make himself invisible. Grandpa Owl then
called over the squawking, chirping, barking and howling to get
everyone's attention.
"I know everyone is angry," began
Grandpa Owl, "but our friend Basil is new to flying and hasn't
yet learned the art of landing." Hearing Grandpa Owl call him by
his proper name, Basil, Nosedive lifted his head and looked into the
branches of the tree. "Now, there are quite a few of us here who
have also had problems while learning to fly," Grandpa owl
continued, looking up at Red. "Rather than complaining, we
should help our friend solve his problem. Practice makes perfect,
after all."
Everyone apologized to Nosedive. His friends,
Nelly and Ollie Owl, then came up with an idea. They could help
Nosedive practice landing! Nosedive thought it was a great idea, too,
and wanted to start right away. Nelly looked up at Nosedive's older
brother Belfry, hanging from a branch in the middle of the tree. "You
can help, too, Belfry."
"Me? No way, I've got better things to do
than teach Nosedive," Belfry replied.
"But you're a bat and we need somebody who
can show Nosedive, uh, Basil what to do," said Ollie.
Belfry turned away, wrapping his leathery wings
around his body, "Well, not me!"
Disappointed, Nelly, Ollie and Nosedive searched
the branches for anyone else who could help. Red went into his nest
and pretended to sleep so no one would ask him.
"Wouldn't anyone else like to lend a wing?"
asked Grandpa Owl. "I would," Ellis declared. The young
magpie flew around the old tree and landed next to Nosedive, showing
off his skill. "I'm a landing expert!"
Nosedive smiled, "Aces! Thanks, Ellis."
"Bravo," Grandpa Owl said, clapping his
wings. "You can start practicing tomorrow night. Right now, it's
story time."
The Big News
After the story, Belfry and Nosedive flew home to
meet their parents. Back in their cave, Nosedive almost crashed
into the TV before his father caught him.
"Whoa there, buddy. We need to work on your
approach," he joked.
"Guess what, Dad?" Nosedive asked.
"What?" his father replied.
"Tomorrow,
Ellis, Ollie and Nelly are going to help me practice landing,"
Nosedive reported.
"That's great," his father exclaimed.
"But I thought we were going to practice together."
"If it's ok, I'd rather practice with my
friends," Nosedive said.
"That's fine," said Papa Bat. "They'll
be an enormous help, I'm sure."
"You'll be landing in no time," his
mother encouraged.
Nosedive beamed at his parents' approval, but
Belfry quickly dampened his brother's spirits.
"Nosedive
will never learn to land," he said, peering over his
moon-glasses.
"That is not
your brother's name, Belfry," their father said in his sternest
voice.
Belfry knew that his brother didn't like that
nickname. He'd started calling Basil Nosedive after his very first
crash and the name stuck.
"You could always help you know," Papa
Bat continued. "It would be the big-brother thing to do."
"No way! My friends would laugh," Belfry
replied. "And besides, he's too scared. He's more a chicken
than a bat," Belfry laughed.
Nosedive looked at Belfry, whose grin angered him
even more. "Who needs you anyway! You couldn't teach a fish to
swim!" Nosedive stormed off to bed. "I'll show you," he
muttered.
Belfry looked over to find his parents glaring at
him. "What?"
Let's Get Going!
In the cooler temperatures of early evening,
Ellis, Ollie, Nelly and Hopper arrived at Nosedive's home. Ellis made
bugle sounds, while the others called for Nosedive to wake up. As he
emerged from the cave, Nosedive yawned and greeted his friends.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"It's time for landing practice," said
Ellis.
"So early?" asked Nosedive.
"You need to practice if you want to land by
story time," explained Ollie.
"Yeah, c'mon, sleepyhead," said Nelly.
"Let's get going!"
"Quiet down out there. Some of us still want
to sleep!" Belfry yelled from inside the cave.
The friends ignored Belfry and continued talking.
Nosedive went back inside to change out of his PJs then returned with
a long sigh. "Ready."
"You don't sound very ready," said
Nelly.
"No worries, I'm a landing expert, remember,"
said Ellis. "With my
help, you'll be able to land in no time!"
Hopper handed Nosedive a gift wrapped with wrinkly
paper and a crumpled red bow. "Here, you should wear this."
As Nosedive took the package, he noticed the band-aid on Hopper's
injured ear.
"Sorry again about your ear," he said.
"Don't worry about it," said Hopper.
"It's not bad. Go on, open your gift."
Nosedive tore into the wrapping, "Whoa! A
helmet!" He strapped the red and white striped helmet onto his
head and pulled the sky-blue goggles over his eyes. Nosedive felt
like a superhero.
"Aces! Thanks, Hopper," Nosedive said.
"No problem," said Hopper and started
off for home.
"You're not coming with us?" asked
Nosedive.
"No, I don't want to run into old Barnabas,"
explained Hopper.
"Oh, he never comes out this early,"
said Ollie.
"Anyway, I want to get back early enough to
find a good spot," Hopper replied.
Hopper said goodbye to his friends and hurried
back to the old story tree. Ollie, Ellis, Nelly and Nosedive set off
to the meadow to find a place for Nosedive to practice landing. They
were sure that by story time, Nosedive would be landing like a pro.
If at First You Don't Succeed ...
At the edge of the meadow, Ollie, Nellie, Ellis
and Nosedive found the perfect tree to practice in. It was just the
right height, and between the branches there was enough space for
Nosedive to avoid crashing.
Ellis took charge and began explaining his landing
technique, but Ollie quickly interrupted him. "Nosedive flies at
night like me, so I should show him how to land," he insisted.
Ollie took off and flew a circle above the tree before he swooped
down to land on one of the lower branches. "See, just like
that!"
"I can do it better," said Ellis.
Determined to prove he was the expert, Ellis flew up then came back
down, flapping his wings to gently lower himself onto the branch next
to Ollie. "That's how you land."
"Bats don't land on
branches," said Nelly. "They catch
them like I do when I jump to a new tree." Nelly climbed the
tree and jumped from one branch to another, showing Nosedive how to
grab onto them.
Nosedive tried each method, but none of them
worked. "This is going to take longer than I thought," said
Ellis. Nelly could see that Nosedive was getting tired.
"Let's take a break and try again tomorrow,"
she suggested. The friends agreed and Nosedive went home to get some
rest before story time.
#
Though practice didn't go as he'd hoped,
Nosedive was determined to surprise everyone at story time with a
perfect landing. He fell back to sleep. Nosedive awoke soon after to
the sounds of his family preparing to leave for their nightly
routines.
"Up and at 'em sleepyhead," he heard his
dad call. "You don't want to miss Grandpa Owl's story, do you?"
Nosedive sprang out of bed and rushed from the cave.
"We'll see you at the meadow later," his
mother called after him.
"Ok!" Nosedive said and hurried off to
the old story tree.
Not Again!
Nosedive reached the tree and spotted an empty
branch to make his landing. He felt confident in his brightly colored
helmet and goggles as he dove for his target. "I can do it,"
he said to himself.
As he approached the branch, Nelly, Ollie and
Ellis watched. "Come on N.D., you can do it," they
whispered. But Nosedive bounced off the branch and crashed into
Grandpa Owl again, causing the story book to fly into the air.
Luckily, Nosedive landed in a mound of soft moss at the bottom of the
tree. He sat up, somewhat dazed to find Hopper in front of him. "Good
that you wore the helmet," he said.
In the meantime, Grandpa Owl recovered from his
scare quickly enough to save his book from hitting the ground.
After making sure no one was injured, he
looked at Nosedive with a sigh then began reading. After the story,
Grandpa Owl flew down to have a word with Nosedive.
"That was a good try today. Still, I think it
would be a good idea if you skipped story time until you're able to
land."
"But I practiced!" said Nosedive.
"Yes, and that's good," replied Grandpa
Owl. "But to learn anything, it takes a lot more practice than
just a day," he explained. "I'm sure if you keep trying,
you'll be able to land very soon. Right now, though, it's just too
dangerous."
"Ok," replied Nosedive doing his best to
hide his disappointment.
Ellis, Hopper, Nelly and Ollie could see how sad
he was. They gathered around to cheer him up.
"No worries," said Ellis. "We'll
practice until you get it."
"Right, same time tomorrow," added
Nelly. "Be ready."
His friend's encouragement lifted Nosedive's
spirits. As night fell, Ellis, Nelly and Hopper went off to sleep.
Nosedive didn't feel much like meeting his parents over the meadow,
so he flew home. Ollie kept him company on the way and made Nosedive
laugh with stories of when he had learned to fly. When he got home,
Nosedive was in a much better mood and was looking forward to
practicing again.
Goodbye Meadow
The next day, the friends met at their practice
tree. They were sure this time, Nosedive would get it. Right away,
Ellis told Nosedive what to do. Again, Ollie cut in.
"Your way didn't work last time," said Ollie.
"Yours didn't either," answered Ellis.
"It would have if you hadn't been showing
off," Ollie replied.
"You're both wrong, anyway," said Nelly. She
suggested that Nosedive try to grab hold of a branch instead of
trying to land on it.
"And then you just turn upside down like bats
do," Nelly said.
"That
might work," said Nosedive.
Taking flight, Nosedive spotted a branch he could
grab onto and once again he dove for it. "Got it," he
shouted. But the branch bent like a bow as he seized it, then threw
him back into the air. "Lookout!" cried Ollie. He flew out
of the way just in time. Ellis, angry that no one would listen to
him, forgot to pay attention and was right in Nosedive's path. The
two crashed with a loud thud and fell to the ground. Ellis was
furious!
"You never watch where you're going,"
he yelled.
"I couldn't help it," said Nosedive.
"The branch made me go too fast!"
"I told you to watch out, Ellis," said
Ollie. "You should have been paying attention."
Ellis glared at Ollie. He was about to say
something mean, but Nelly interrupted. "Let's try a branch that
doesn't bend so easily," she suggested. But Ellis was too angry
to listen.
"I quit!" he yelled. "You'll never learn
to land anyway," he told Nosedive before flying away.
Ollie and Nelly were also angry. They felt
Nosedive wasn't trying hard enough and left as well. Alone at the
practice tree, Nosedive decided to leave Buttenhauser's Meadow for
good.
Where's Nosedive?
The next morning at dawn, Nosedive's family
returned to their cave. Since he hadn't met up with them after
story time, his parents worried when they didn't find Nosedive at
home. Belfry didn't worry at all. He was sure that his annoying
little brother was still out practice-landing and wearing that dumb
helmet.
It was getting late. The sun was already peeking
over the horizon and Nosedive still wasn't home. Now Belfry started
worrying, too. The family went out to alert everyone in the meadow
that Nosedive was missing.
Nosedive's friends began searching all their
favorite hiding spots, even Red helped.
"Daytime is so dangerous for bats," said
Nosedive's mother, her voice all trembly. "What if he can't
find a safe place to sleep?"
"He's a smart boy," said Papa Bat. "I'm
sure he'll be ok. Everyone is looking, so we'll find him," he
said.
The bat family returned to their home to rest up
for the search. But Belfry couldn't sleep. He felt bad about being
mean to his brother and for not helping him learn to land.
The day was ending and there was still no sign of
Nosedive. Eager to find him, Belfry raced out to search as soon as
the sun set.
#
Meanwhile, Nosedive had gotten lost in the forest.
He'd intended to make a new home at the lake where he and his
family had lived in a hollow tree when he was younger. There the
ground was much softer, and he thought it would be the perfect place
for a bat who couldn't land.
As night fell, he peeked out from an old nest in
an oak tree he'd crashed into. Scared and hungry, Nosedive realized
running away was a terrible idea and decided to go home.
Not sure if he was going in the right direction,
Nosedive's colorful helmet caught the eye of a long-eared owl. "Mmm,
breakfast," he thought. "And with such pretty decoration!"
Nosedive was busy searching for something familiar
that could guide him home. He didn't notice the large shadow coming
at him from below, until he looked down. "Barnabas!" he
cried and spun out of there as fast as he could. But Barnabas was not
about to let his snack get away. He flew after Nosedive, looking
forward to a tasty meal.
The Great Escape
With Barnabas close behind, Nosedive twisted and
turned, curved and spun in every direction. He was almost running out
of tricks to avoid Barnabas' sharp talons when he noticed something
familiar. It was Buttenhauser's Meadow--and his practice tree! That
gave him an idea and he dove for it.
Barnabas tried to follow Nosedive but couldn't
keep up. Seeing the tree below, Barnabas was sure that Nosedive would
crash and slowed down to wait for the little bat to hit the ground.
Nosedive stretched out his hands and grabbed onto
the branch that had made him crash into Ellis. The branch bent so far
that Nosedive's feet almost touched the ground before it sent him
shooting back toward the sky.
Aiming his helmet straight at Barnabas, Nosedive
wrapped his wings around his body as tightly as he could. "Oh,
what luck," said Barnabas as he saw Nosedive heading toward
him.
The owl flew down expecting to snare his
breakfast. What he got was a beakful of Nosedive's helmet! Barnabas
spun backward and fell to the ground as Nosedive shot off like a
rocket. When he thought he was high enough, Nosedive raced toward
home without looking back.
On the way, Nosedive met his big brother.
"Belfry," Nosedive called. "Am I glad to see you!"
Belfry had recognized Nosedive's helmet in the moonlight and was
rushing to his aid when he saw Nosedive's escape.
"Nosedive," he called back. "That
was AWESOME! You knocked old Barnabas right out of the sky!"
"We should get out of here before he wakes
up," said Nosedive.
The brothers hurried home, where Belfry told their
parents how Nosedive got away from Barnabas. Happy to have him back,
Nosedive's parents hugged him so tightly he almost couldn't breathe.
"You were really brave, son," said his father. "But
you're grounded--maybe for life!"
Word quickly spread throughout the meadow that
Nosedive was safe at home. They heard how he had stood up to the
scariest creature in the forest. The thought of losing Nosedive made
Belfry realize how much he cared for his brother.
"If you want, Basil, I can help you with your
landing," Belfry said. "After all, to land like a bat you
need a bat to show you how!"
"Aces," said Nosedive. "Thanks!"
After a few seconds, he looked at Belfry in surprise. "Hey, you
just called me by my real name!" Belfry smiled and gave his
brother's ear a tug. "I'm hungry. Let's go get some food!"
Nosedive No More
Later that afternoon, Ollie, Ellis and Nelly paid
Nosedive a visit.
"We're so glad you're home," said Nelly.
"We were really scared!"
"If you still want to, we'd like to help you
practice again," said Ellis.
"Sure," Nosedive said. " We'll
surprise the whole meadow at the next story time!
With Belfry's help and the others cheering him
on, Nosedive soon learned the right way to land. He could hardly wait
to show everyone. Ollie, Ellis and Nelly left for the meadow, but
Belfry lingered.
"C'mon Belfry, they're going to start without
us," Nosedive called.
"Relax, we have plenty of time," Belfry
said.
The brothers reached the old story tree at
moonrise. Everyone watched as Nosedive performed a perfect
bat-landing. They all cheered. Grandpa Owl waited for the applause to
end, then opened his big book of twilight tales. He gave Nosedive a
wink and began a new story.
"Once, there was a young bat who had trouble
landing ..."
Nosedive's eyes opened wide in surprise, and he
beamed with pride.
"Basil, why are you still wearing that
helmet?" Belfry whispered. "You know how to land now."
"Because it looks cool," answered
Nosedive, "and it works great for getting rid of hungry owls!"
#
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