Welcome to Story Quest, a weekly podcast where we bring your stories to life!
In this episode we bring Max’s story – Lemurs and Werewolves – to life.
If you have a story idea, you could be like Max and have it turned into a Story Quest. All you have to do is send us your story idea here. We know you have the best imaginations and together we can create the most brilliant stories!
That’s just what Max did. You can watch the story she suggested come to life below, plus she tells us all about the inspiration behind the story at the end.
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Read along to Lemurs and Werewolves!
You can read along to the story while you listen. Just follow the text below. Don’t worry if you find a word tricky – you can pause the video whenever to give yourself more time.
Lemurs And The Werewolves
CRASH!!
âMy vase. My irreplaceable, beautiful vaseâ. The president was beside herself. Her amazing family vase that had been landed down twenty generations of Lemurs, was in pieces on the ground.
âThis is just the last straw Celeste. You are the clumsiest Lemur in all of the Exotic Exclusive Lemur Land of Madagascar. You are to be banished from this place.â
Celeste knew there was no point in arguing with the President. Her clumsiness had cost her once again. It was bad enough that she looked a bit messy having spilled half her lunch down her fur, but here she was, about to leave the place where she grew up.
Madagascar had just entered its hot, rainy season and as the first droplets coming from the sky turned into a torrential downpour, Celeste took her belongings, and started to leave the village.
âBye everyoneâ she shouted.
One of her friends shouted back âOh, bye Celeste. Donât drop yourâŚâ
CLANG
It was too late. Celeste had dropped her backpack while waving. This was going to be a long journey.
The rain came down hard that night and Celeste found shelter under a rock, on her ownâŚ. Or so she thoughtâŚ
âExcuse me. Youâre squishing me!â – came a little voice from under the rock.
âSquishing who?â, asked Celeste
âMEâ – and with that, Celise suddenly saw a chameleon reveal himself. You see, chameleons can hide almost anywhere because they can change colour. They blend in. And Celeste hadnât seen this little creature at all. And sheâs sat on the poor guy.
âI donât mind you sheltering from the rain but please donât sit on meâ he said.
âWhatâs your name? Iâm Celeste and I used to live in the Exclusive Lemur Landâ
âOooh arenât you fancy?â Said the Chameleon. âWell my name is Charlie and I live in the exclusive exotic land of this rock. Itâs not much of a rock, but itâs my rock and it shelters me and all my tricksâ
Celeste was intrigued. Tricks? What sort of tricks does a Chameleon need to keep when they can change colour whenever they want to. Is that not enough of a trick? Well, not for Charlie it wasnât.
âI am an entertainer. I travel from place to place singing songs, doing magic and jugglingâ
Celeste was very impressed because to do magic you need very steady hands, and Celeste did not possess this skill.
âIâm so clumsy. I could never juggleâ said Celeste, almost falling over her own words.
âNonsense!â, said Charlie. And with that, Charlie got out a set of juggling balls and began teaching Celeste how to juggle. It is fair to say Celeste had a lot more fun learning to juggle that night than her fellow Lemurs had.
As darkness fell over the Exotic Exclusive Lemur Land, there was a terrifying noiseâŚ.
âAwooooooooâ!!!
It was the call of a pack of Werewolves. Scary creatures that only come out at night. You wouldnât want to meet one after dark. Or ever!
The Exotic Exclusive Lemur Land was about to be invaded and its sleeping president had no idea how bad things were going to get.
âSound the alarmâ said one of the Presidentâs guards.
WOOOWOOOW WOOO WOOOO
The alarm woke the whole of Lemur Land but the whole place was unprepared. The Land was about to get a lot less exotic.
The doors of the presidents palace were broken down and the werewolves with their big teeth and loud howls burst in. They broke more than just a vase this time. Pots, statues, chairs, tables⌠everything was destroyed.
âThis is our place nowâ said one of the werewolves.
The President and her guards were outnumbers. There were loads of them. Big, furry, scary werewolves. They were in charge now. This was no longer Lemur Land and it most certainly wasnât exotic or exclusive.
Next morning, underneath the rock, far away from the chaos, Charlie was still teaching Celeste how to juggle. It was a very slow process. In fact it was so slow, we probably need to forward wind a few months. Itâs coming to the end of the rainy season and Celeste is now getting the hang of juggling. Donât get me wrong, sheâs still clumsy from time to time, but she is getting very good at keeping multiple balls in the air at one time. Plus she can also do amazing card tricks, and can make a pie disappear in less than a minute – although to be fair, so can I, but you wonât ever see it again.
âWell isnât this greatâ, said Charlie the Chameleon. âWe should put on a show. Do you know anywhere we can get an audience?â
Celeste thought for a while. She wanted to suggest her home, but she was worried they would just laugh at her. And besides, she was banished by the President.
âCome onâ said Charlie. I can tell youâre thinking of somewhere.
And with that, Celeste clumsily said âMy, er home?â
âOoooh yeahhhh, the super posh Lemur Place. Letâs go there. I love doing a show for people with a bit of moneyâ said Charlie.
And sooner than you can say âSuper Posh Lemur Palaceâ Charlie had packed up all the tricks and they were on the road to Celesteâs home. Little did they know what they would find.
Now, werewolves only come out at night, so during the day the Lemurs had to work for the werewolves, otherwise they would get very angry at night. The werewolves had made the lemurs live near a big pile of poo. It smelled really bad and what with the smell, and the werewolves holding big parties at night, it was very hard for the lemurs to sleep. They were tired, and desperately wanted to smell something other than poo smells.
As Charlie and Celeste approached what used to be Lemur Land, they realised something wasnât quite right.
âI thought you used to live in that exclusive posh placeâ said Charlie.
âI didâ said Celeste âbut itâs⌠itâs goneâ.
At that point a huge howl was heard by the two of them. And with that, a pack of werewolves appeared and surrounded them. Charlie immediately hid. He could do that. He was a chameleon. Celeste, however, was not.
âWhat are you doing out hereâ said one of the werewolves. âAll the lemurs are finishing their work over there. You arenât supposed to leaveâ
âOh donât mind meâ said Celeste, nervously. âIâm a traveling performer. I do magic.â
The werewolves didnât believe Celeste at all.
âYouâre coming back with usâ and they herded Celeste back into the wolf camp.
âIf you do magic, you wonât mind showing us will youâ said one of the werewolves.
This was not the sort of show Celeste had imagined doing. Just think, after all that rehearsal, this was going to be a very difficult audience to please. But please they she would have to do.
Charlie was still hiding, but he was a clever chameleon and had popped himself on Celesteâs shoulder. All the way through, he was whispering instructions. Celeste juggled brilliantly. The lemurs were amazed at the skills she had picked up since leaving, but the werewolves were not impressed. They scowled, and they howled and they demanded better tricks.
âAnd now, for my most dangerous trick. I will make a pie disappearâ – this was Celesteâs most impressive trick. She had to sprinkle magic dust on a pie and make it disappear in front of the werewolvesâ eyes.
The only problem was, the more angry the werewolves got, the more nervous Celeste got. The whole pack of werewolves gather round Celeste and growled. They were angry. One of them suggested they try eating her if her trick failed.
Celeste took out the magic powder. âRightâ whispered Charlie the chameleon âyouâve got to carefully sprinkle the powder on the pie. The dust will do the rest of the work. Just be careful. Itâs powerful stuff. You must keep a steady handâ.
But Celeste was shaking, and shaking and shaking. And getting worse and worse and worse, untilâŚ.
POOF
Celeste dropped the magic dust. It fell. Slowly. Magically. Silently. And landed on the whole pack of werewolves.
And then there was just silence. The werewolves were gone. Theyâd disappeared. No one knew where.
The Lemurs had their land back. Over the next few days Celeste was treated like a hero, which is the first time in her life people had celebrated how clumsy she can be. The President was so pleased that she invited Celeste to live at the palace.
âNo thanksâ said Celeste. Me and my friend Charlie are going on tour. But Iâll be back with a new show for you one day. And I promise not to make you disappear.
And with that, Celeste the clumsy lemur, and Charlie the magical chameleon packed up their tricks and headed for the next village as heroes.
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