Transcript for Parent Storytellers
One warm evening, Oni Pepperoni was taking a walk along a sandy path in Mexico. The sun was setting, painting the sky with beautiful orange and pink colors. Oni was on vacation with his family, and he loved exploring new places.
“What a perfect night for a walk!” Oni said to himself, skipping happily down the path that led toward the beach.
As the daylight faded, Oni noticed something buzzing around his head. It was a mosquito! Before he could swat it away, the mosquito landed on his arm and gave him a little bite.
“Ouch!” Oni said, rubbing the itchy spot on his arm. “That’s not very nice, mosquito!”
Just then, something zipped through the air so fast that Oni could barely see it. Whatever it was, it caught the mosquito that had just bitten him!
Oni squinted to get a better look. Hovering in front of him was a dragonfly with shimmering blue and green wings that caught the last rays of sunlight.
“Hello there!” said the dragonfly in a friendly voice. “I’m Scout! Sorry about that mosquito. I just had it for dinner!”
Oni’s eyes grew wide. “You eat mosquitoes?”
“That’s right!” Scout the dragonfly buzzed proudly. “Mosquitoes are my favorite food. And it looks like there are plenty more around here.”
Oni looked around and noticed at least fifteen more mosquitoes circling nearby, all seeming interested in having Oni for their dinner.
“Would you like me to take care of those for you?” asked Scout, his wings fluttering eagerly.
“Yes, please!” Oni replied, very relieved to have made such a helpful new friend.
Scout zoomed around Oni in circles, gobbling up mosquitoes left and right. He was so quick that Oni could barely keep track of him. The dragonfly darted up, down, sideways, and even did loop-de-loops as he caught one mosquito after another.
“Wow! You’re amazing at catching mosquitoes, Scout!” Oni cheered, clapping his hands.
Scout did a final loop in the air and landed on a nearby leaf. “Thanks! It’s what I do best. All fifteen mosquitoes are gone now, so you can enjoy your walk without any more bites.”
“Thank you so much for protecting me,” said Oni gratefully. “Would you like to join me on my walk to the beach?”
“I’d love to!” Scout replied, fluttering down to land on Oni’s shoulder.
As they continued walking together, Scout told Oni all about life as a dragonfly – how he started as a little nymph living underwater, and how he could fly backward, forward, up, down, and even hover like a helicopter.
Suddenly, there was a small rumbling sound, followed by a surprisingly loud “PFFFFFFFFFFT!”
Oni looked around, confused. “What was that?”
Scout’s wings drooped slightly in embarrassment. “Excuse me,” he said sheepishly. “Sometimes after eating so many mosquitoes, I get a little… gassy.”
“You mean that was a bug fart?” Oni asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Well, yes,” admitted Scout. “Even bugs fart sometimes.”
Oni burst out laughing. “I had no idea bugs could fart too! And it was so loud for such a small bug!”
Scout joined in the laughter. “The smaller the bug, the bigger the fart, that’s what my grandma always says!”
As they approached the beach, the wind picked up, blowing away any remaining mosquitoes. Oni and Scout walked onto the soft sand, their laughter carried away by the sea breeze.
Suddenly, Oni stopped walking. “Look over there!” he whispered, pointing toward a small tidal pool.
Near the edge of the water was a bright orange crab with one claw much bigger than the other. The crab was picking up something tiny and green and putting it into its mouth.
“That crab is eating an aphid!” Scout explained. “Crabs eat all sorts of small creatures they find on the beach.”
“I’ve never seen a crab eat before,” said Oni, fascinated as he watched the crab’s mouth parts moving quickly.
The crab noticed them watching and scuttled sideways, disappearing into a small hole in the sand.
“Crabs are shy,” Scout explained. “They don’t like being watched while they eat.”
Oni and Scout continued walking along the shoreline, feeling the cool water wash over their feet (or in Scout’s case, landing on Oni’s head to stay dry). The moon was starting to rise, casting a silver path across the water.
As they rounded a bend in the beach, Oni suddenly bumped into something large and white.
“Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!” Oni apologized, looking up to see who he had bumped into.
To his surprise, it was Sparkle the Unicorn! Her rainbow-colored mane was tied back with a pretty seashell clip, and she had tiny seashells braided into her tail.
“Oni Pepperoni!” Sparkle exclaimed happily. “What a wonderful surprise! What are you doing in Mexico?”
“I’m on vacation with my family,” Oni explained. “And I made a new friend! This is Scout the dragonfly. He saved me from lots of mosquitoes!”
“Nice to meet you, Scout,” said Sparkle, bowing her head politely to the tiny dragonfly. “Any friend of Oni’s is a friend of mine!”
“Are you on vacation too?” Oni asked Sparkle.
“Yes! I’m collecting seashells for my unicorn palace back home,” Sparkle explained. “Would you both like to help me? I’ve found some beautiful ones just around that rock.”
“We’d love to!” Oni and Scout replied together.
So Oni Pepperoni, Sparkle the Unicorn, and Scout the dragonfly spent the rest of the evening collecting colorful seashells by the light of the moon. They talked about all their past adventures and planned new ones for the future.
As the stars twinkled overhead and the waves gently lapped against the shore, Oni thought about how wonderful it was to make new friends in unexpected places – even if those friends sometimes had very loud farts!
And that’s exactly what he told his family when he returned to their vacation house later that night, a pocketful of seashells and a head full of stories about his Mexican beach adventure.