6 exciting stories of brave animals, such as Otto the penguin, Toffee the wolf pup, and Lauren the Lion Cub. Discover friendships, love, persistence and strength. Humans are animals, and animals are humans. We live as one on this planet, share the s...
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Long ago, in the north coast of Antarctica, there lived a small, determined penguin called Otto.
Otto was a little strange. Not because he was the last one to hatch. Nor that he was extremely small. Otto was different because he wanted to fly.
When the penguins where told to say what job they wanted to have, Otto said: "A balloonist".
The emperor penguins exploded with laughter.
"You can't be a BALLOONIST!" The penguins teased. "Why, only humans can do that!"
Otto curled into a ball and sobbed.
"Why not!?!" he cried.
"I will someday," Otto thought as he stared at the starry night sky at his bedtime. "I will someday."
This 'someday' was soon.
The next day, when the penguins were munching on cod, there was a loud BANG!
The penguins went absolutely MANIAC.
Well, almost all the penguins except for Greedy, because he was munching on squid, and Otto.
Otto ran forward to what looked like a deflated hot air balloon. He cautiously stepped forwards then...Pop! A ragged man hopped out of the broken air balloon. This man was the fearless French explorer Gabriel Richard, who was the first to go to Antarctica by hot air balloon. The man, being French, had never seen a penguin before. "Bonjour petit oiseau?" Gabriel said in his deep, gruff voice. "Voulez-vous voler, petit oiseau?'' The man asked, which means : Would you like to fly, little bird? Otto squawked excitedly. Gabriel assumed he meant yes.
"Entrez, petit oiseau." Gabriel whispered. "We shall set sail tonight."
Otto nodded, and Gabriel winked. "Meet me by the mountains a twelve, my petit oiseau."
At midnight, as promised, Otto awoke. He tiptoed past the herd of snoring penguins, being careful not to wake the babies. He followed the snow tracked footsteps marked in the snow until he reached Penguin Peak, the tallest mountain.
There causally, leaning against the snow coated rocks, was Gabriel Richard.
"Bonjour." Gabriel said, like it was absolutely normal to be letting a random penguin fly on your balloon at 12:00 pm at night.
"Behold, oiseau, my balloon."
And with that, Gabriel lit the match.
The balloon roared like a steam engine. It's beautiful, vibrant colours filled the star dotted night sky.
"Come on, petit oiseau." Gabriel whispered. "Adventure awaits us."
The pair climbed upon the balloon. As the beautiful balloon began to take sail, the pair embraced each over.
"You see that star, there oiseau?" Gabriel whispered to Otto. "You shine as brightly as that star." "But when joined with its own other, it shines even brighter.""There are many others stars out there, waiting to find another star."
"And together," thought Otto. "They can achieve anything."
The pair soared through the sky, ready for their next adventure.
And what happened to the penguins, you ask?
When the penguins woke up, they assumed Otto had been eaten by the tribe of nearby polar bears.
A year later, on the north coast of Antarctica, a small egg hatched open. Her name was Olivia.
"Olivia, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
