Shaun Dooley - Scruffy Bear and the Lost Ball CBeebies Bedtime Stories

CBeebies Bedtime Story.

Hello, my name's Sean.

Is this your ball?

No?

Oh.

I wonder who it can belong to.

Well, perhaps tonight's bedtime story will help us find out.

It's called Scruffy Bear And The Lost Ball,

and it's by Chris Wormell.

One day, a red ball came flying

through the air towards Scruffy Bear.

So, he kicked it.

It flew straight up in the air

and disappeared among the branches of an oak tree.

Scruffy Bear waited for the ball to come down.

But it didn't.

Just then, four rabbits appeared.

"Have you seen our ball?" they asked.

"A ball?" exclaimed Scruffy Bear.

"Was it a red one?"

"Yes," said the rabbits, nodding.

"A shiny, new, red one."

"Oh," said Scruffy Bear,

a little guiltily.

"I think it may be up in this tree."

They all looked up, waiting for the ball to come down...

but it didn't.

"Must be caught amongst the branches," suggested Scruffy Bear.

"But I'll soon get it down.

"I'm an excellent tree climber."

Actually, Scruffy Bear had never climbed a tree in his life.

It was much harder than he thought,

and when he'd only gone a little way up,

the ground looked a very long way down.

The rabbits were joined by six white mice,

and they all looked up at Scruffy Bear balancing on a branch.

"What's that?" called one of the rabbits.

"I can see something red among those leaves over there."

Scruffy Bear saw the red thing too,

and inched his way along the branch,

being careful not to look down.

He reached over and was about to grab the red thing, when...

"Oi! What are you doing?!" demanded Squirrel.

"Leave my tail alone!"

Scruffy Bear got such a shock,

he very nearly fell off the branch.

"S-Sorry, I was looking for a ball," he explained.

"I'm not a ball!" snapped Squirrel.

"No, you're nothing like one," agreed Scruffy Bear,

climbing back along the branch.

A little higher up, Scruffy Bear found a hole in the trunk.

"Hmm, the ball must've gone in here," he thought.

"Have you found it yet?" called one of the rabbits from below.

"Nearly!" replied Scruffy Bear.

He was just peering into the hole when...

"Whoo-oo are yoo-ou?!" hooted Owl, crossly.

"Poking your nose into my bedroom in the middle of the day, too!"

Poor Scruffy Bear got such a shock,

he rolled right over backwards and nearly fell off the branch.

"Sorry," he said, quickly climbing further up the tree.

Up and up he climbed,

and now, he was so high,

he could no longer hear the rabbits or the mice,

or even see the ground down below.

He felt a bit giddy.

At the very top of the tree,

he found a great nest of sticks.

"Hmm, that ball must be in here for sure," he thought,

and was just about to peep into the nest, when...

"Thief! Thief!"

squawked a huge bird with a long, sharp beak.

It was a stork. "You're after my eggs, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not!" protested Scruffy Bear. "I'm after a ball."

"A ball? There are no balls here, only eggs."

"Are you sure?" asked Scruffy Bear.

"How many eggs do you have?"

"Why, four, of course. I can count, you know."

"You have five now," said Scruffy Bear.

"And one of them is red."

"Red?" cried The Stork.

"That's not my egg!"

"No, it's my ball," said Scruffy Bear.

He was just picking up the ball,

when one of the stork's eggs began to crack, and...

CRACKING

..out popped a baby stork.

This time, Scruffy Bear did fall.

Down, down, down,

faster and faster and faster,

and when he reached the ground... he bounced.

"I thought I'd come down the quick way," he said,

as he bounced again and again and again.

That afternoon, they all played a game of football.

Scruffy Bear and the six white mice against the rabbits.

The rabbits won,

24 goals to 23.

That story was called Scruffy Bear And The Lost Ball.

I hope you enjoyed it.

So, I think I know who this ball belongs to now. Do you?

I'll give it back in the morning.

Perhaps they'll let me join in a game of football.

It's bedtime now, though.

So, let's say goodnight.

Sleep tight,

I'll see you soon.