Ordinary Oscar CBeebies Bedtime Stories

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Just imagine wearing a beautiful glittery dress

and having cameras take pictures of you all the time.

Oh, hello! I'm Shobna.

Have you ever dreamed of being famous? I have.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be anyone you could be?

Hmm, I have.

But I'm just me. Shobna.

The snail in tonight's Bedtime Story has very big dreams,

as he wants to be extraordinary.

This story is by Laura Adkins and Sam Hearn

and it's called Ordinary Oscar.

In the moonlit garden of number six Crinkley Close, the snails are busy.

Slowly, they munch and crunch the tasty tender leaves

of the potted plants and juicy lettuces.

"We're all happy snails." Well, nearly all of them.

Oscar Slimeglider was not happy.

"I'm tired of sleeping all day," he said.

"I'm fed up with eating all night.

"I'm bored with being greenish greyish brownish.

"I want other snails to look and say 'Wow! There's Oscar Slimeglider!

"'I want to be different. I want to be famous.'"

"'Oh, Oscar. Slime my autograph. Ooh, he just oozes charm.

"'He's really come out of his shell.'"

"Nonsense," frowned Oscar's dad. "What's wrong with sleeping all day

"and eating all night?

"And what's wrong with being greenish greyish brownish?" said Oscar's mum.

"Your 25 brothers and sisters never complain."

But Oscar was determined.

"The wise old snail will know what to do," he declared. So off he went.

"What do you want to be famous for?" asked the wise old snail.

"Can you paint? Can you dance? Can you play the guitar?"

Oscar shook his head. "Being famous isn't always easy, you know,"

grumbled the wise old snail. "Are you sure about this?"

Oscar nodded. "Very well then," sighed the wise old snail.

"You're going to need a bit of magic."

And he told Oscar what to do.

Oscar waited patiently for the sun to rise.

Then he turned around three times and cried,

"Slime, slime, slither, slither

"Fairy Godsnail, please come hither."

The Fairy Godsnail appeared. "So, you want to be famous," she smiled.

"Yes, please," Oscar wriggled eagerly.

"Then, I shall grant you three wishes," replied the Fairy Godsnail.

"But choose carefully," she warned.

Then she waved her magic wand and disappeared.

Oscar closed his eyes tightly and made a wish.

Slowly, Oscar opened his eyes. "Look at me," he gasped.

"I'll be famous for being the most marvellous mollusc.

"I'm a stunning, stupendous, spectacular snail.

"Everyone will admire me."

And sure enough, someone was admiring Oscar.

Up above, a hungry bird smiled to himself.

"That snail looks like a tasty treat," he thought, plunging down.

"Help! Help! Get your greedy beak off me!" Oscar wailed.

"I wish I was bigger than you. Much, much bigger!"

Oscar landed in town.

He was bigger than a bus, bigger than six buses glued together.

"Call the police! Call the fire brigade! Call the army!"

All around him, tiny people were screaming and running away.

"It's horrible!" they cried.

As the sun began to sink,

Oscar slithered into the woods to hide.

"Now I'm famous for being frightening," he sniffed.

"And I have no friends."

Oscar began to cry.

"I want to go home to mum and dad and my 25 brothers and sisters.

"I wish I was just Ordinary Oscar again."

And just like that, he was home.

"Where have you been, Oscar?" asked his dad.

"We've been awfully worried about you."

"We thought you might have been squashed," said his mum.

"It's dinner time. I've got some tasty tender leaves just for you."

"Mmm, my favourite," smiled Oscar.

"Perhaps being ordinary isn't so bad after all."

But sometimes, just sometimes,

even an ordinary snail can do extraordinary things.

Six weeks later, the Daily Snail - "That's My Boy!"

by Mike Mollusc, garden correspondent.

'When Mrs Gertrude Slimeglider fell into some shifting soil,

'she was overcome by panic.

'For Gertrude, who is expecting 60 eggs next week, was trapped,

'while her 26 children, Agnes, Bernard, Cornelius, Destiny,

'Electra, Fi-Fi, Georgina, Heathcliff, Ingrid, Jethro,

'Keanu, Lavender, Mozart, Nolbert, Oscar, Pandora,

'Quentin, Rupert, Sigmund, Thomas, Ursula, Veronica, Wilma,

'Xavier, Yeats and Zebedee roamed the flower bed.

'"I told Agnes to go and fetch her dad because he was so far away,

'"I knew he would take a long time."

'With her husband on the other side of the garden,

'Gertrude was desperate until clever Oscar came to the rescue.

'Oscar, a St Mollusc pupil, had gathered all his siblings together.

'Under his direction, they began to eat the surrounding plants.

'The brave youngster kept his cool and soon the soil began to shift,

'allowing Gertrude to escape.

'"He's a very sensible, caring snail. He knew I was expecting eggs

'"and I think that made him more aware of the situation. I'm proud,"

'said Gertrude. "When my husband gets here, I know he'll be proud too,"

'she added.'

And that story was called Ordinary Oscar.

Oscar wasn't so ordinary after all, was he?

It just goes to show that dreams can come true, after all.

I wonder what you'll dream about tonight.

Well, have sweet dreams and I'll see you soon for another story.

Night-night.

I wonder...whether one day, I'll be famous too.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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