1066 All Stars

Once upon a time in the deep blue sea

Swam a little blue whale who was naughty as could be

Mummy whale said, ‘Don’t swim too far away’

But the little whale wanted to explore and play

So one summer morning while mummy whale slept

The little whale swam to where the old wreck was kept

‘Don’t go near,’ mummy whale always said

But the naughty little whale had other plans instead

She swam down deep until the wreck was near

Until she was very far away, it was dark down here

She swam into the wreck but then started to get scared

And then she saw the face with its big teeth bared!

‘Don’t be scared,’ said the big white teeth

‘I'm just a friendly shark out playing on the reef’

‘Why not come closer and we can have a proper chat?’

But when the whale got close the teeth went SNAP!

The whale tried to swim away as fast as she could flee

But the hungry shark followed, he would eat her for his tea!

SNAP! Went his teeth and the shark said, ‘Yum!’

And the little whale cried, ‘I should have listened to my mum.’

The shark got close and tried to take a bite

But the whale moved in time and swam with all her might

And just when she thought the shark would get too close

Mummy whale swam over and hit him on the nose

The shark swam away to the wreck to hide

The little whale swam to her mummy and cried

And from that moment on the little whale knew

She would listen to her mummy when she told her what to do

So the little blue whale, once naughty as could be

Was now the best behaved whale in the deep blue sea.

The Eager Beaver scurried into the wood, sniffing the air before him. They had told him that he was here.

Depression!

He caught the scent of someone in the air and darted off to his left. In a clearing, sat on a tree stump, he found a lion, dancing and laughing.

'Hi, I'm Eager Beaver,' he announced.

The lion stopped dancing and smiled down at the Eager Beaver.

'Well hello to you good sir,' said the lion. 'Welcome to our wood. I am Happy Dappy, the laughing lion and I am so HAPPY!' And is if to prove the point, he leapt into the air with a shriek of delight before breaking into another dance, humming a happy song.

Eager Beaver thought there was something strange looking about the lion. 'Say, are you wearing a m...'

'Happy, happy happy!' interrupted the lion. 'Let me see your happy face!'

Eager Beaver smiled. 'Say friend, maybe you can help. I heard that Depression lives down here somewhere. Do you know where he is?'

Happy Dappy stopped dancing. 'Depression? Well he's certainly not here. I'm far too happy for depression! Maybe try over there,' he said, pointing further into the wood.

'Okay, thanks,' said the Eager Beaver, trotting off.

A short while later, he came across another clearing. There was a small pond in the middle and a Frog sat on a stone. The frog was crying.

'Hey there, why are you crying?' asked the Eager Beaver.

The Frog looked up, sniffing. 'Oh, hello. I'm Sally and I'm so sad. My favourite lily pad sank into the pond and now I have to sit on this cold, jagged rock and, and...' Sally started sobbing uncontrollably.

'There, there,' said Eager Beaver. But Sally was inconsolable. Eager Beaver looked around and suddenly spotted something. He picked it up and brought it to Sally, dropping it into the pond.

'Sniff. What is that?' asked Sally, her crying stopped.

'It's a big leaf. It fell off that giant tree over there,' said Eager Beaver.

'But it's not a lily pad,' said Sad Sally, tears welling up.

'Perhaps not, 'said Eager Beaver. 'But I bet it would float and be more comfortable that that rock.'

Sally thought about it for a moment then tentatively reached out a foot to the leaf, then another and then finally put her whole weight on the leaf.

'Oh thank you, thank you!' said Sally. 'This is so wonderful and soft. Oh however may I repay you?'

'Well,' said the Eager Beaver. 'I'm looking for Depression. Have you seen him?'

'Oh, him,' said Sally. 'Last time I saw him he was down by the lake. But I wouldn't go near him if I were you, he isn't very friendly.'

'Okay, thanks,' said Eager Beaver, running off towards the lake.

At the lake, he found an alligator. He was snapping and shouting to himself.

'Excuse me, are you Depression?' asked the Eager Beaver.

'No I am not,' said the alligator. 'I am Alan and I am angry. Someone has stolen my cheese and I am very hungry.'

'Oh,' said Eager Beaver. He was beginning to think he would never find depression. 'Are you sure someone stole it? Perhaps you misplaced it?'

'Of course someone stole it!' snapped the alligator angrily. 'I bet it was that lion, he's always down here bouncing around telling me how happy he is. Why just last week I was wading through the lake, snuffling in my favourite reeds when...'

The alligator stopped. He snuffled in the reeds with his mouth and came out with a large lump of cheese.

'Well, what do you know?' he said, smiling. 'It wasn't stolen at all! I must have left it here. Ho, ho, what a silly alligator I am.' And with that, he began munching happily to himself.

Eager Beaver trudged off. What a waste of time this had been! He sat down glumly next to a tree but all of a sudden, he heard a rustling in the bushes. He looked over and a great big lion jumped out.

'Cheer up, grumpy pants,' shouted the lion. 'Happy Harry is here!'

Eager Beaver was confused. 'Wait, I already met a happy lion. He said his name was Dappy.'

The lion laughed, a big booming laugh. 'Ho, ho ho! There is only one happy lion in this wood and that's me, Happy Harry the Laughing Lion!' And with that he bounded off, singing a song to himself.

What a strange day this had been. He had met happy lions, sad frogs, angry alligators but no-one who was depressed.

He hadn't been watching where he was walking and before he knew it, he had come right back to where he started. He saw Dappy sat on the tree stump again but this time he looked different. Eager Beaver walked up to him. Dappy saw him coming and quickly reached for something at his feet but it was too late. Eager Beaver had seen it.

'Hey!' said Eager Beaver. 'You're not a lion at all. That's just a mask!'

'Why I don't know what you're talking about,' said Dappy uncertainly. 'I'm Dappy and I'm so ha...' He stopped mid sentence and lowered the mask. 'You're right. I'm not a lion at all. I'm just a monkey. And I'm not happy, I'm depressed.'

'You're depressed?' shouted Eager Beaver. 'Fantastic!'

'What do you mean,' asked Dappy.

'Oh, sorry,' said Eager Beaver. 'It's just that I've been looking for you everywhere.

'You have?'

'Yes sir. No one knew what you looked like so I wanted to find out.' Eager Beaver looked him up and down. 'You don't look like I thought you would.'

'How so?' asked Dappy.

'Well for one thing, you're not crying,' said Eager Beaver.

'I don't cry. That's Sad Sally. And I don't get angry either, that's Angry Alan.'

'But you are happy,' said Eager Beaver. 'I saw you laughing and smiling earlier.'

'Oh, that,' said Dappy. 'I was just pretending. It makes others feel better if they think I am happy.'

'So if you're not sad and you're not angry and you're not happy, what are you?' asked Eager Beaver confused.

'Nothing,' said Dappy. 'Being depressed isn't about feeling sad or angry. I don't feel anything. I just pretend.' And with that, he let out a big yawn.

'You tired, fella?' asked Eager Beaver.

'I'm always tired,' said Depressed Dappy.

'I'm not surprised,' said Eager Beaver. 'It must be exhausting always trying to pretend to be something you're not.'

Dappy looked at Eager Beaver and smiled. 'You know what, it really is.'

They sat in silence together for a long moment.

'So, why are you depressed?' asked Eager Beaver.

'It's a long story,' said Dappy 'And I'm not even sure I can remember it all.'

Eager Beaver smiled kindly. 'Let's go get an ice cream.'

The caterpillar crawled across the leaf, looking for a fresh patch to munch. It had been a long day.

The Wise Owl had settled on his favourite perch and the caterpillar made his way over to him. He let out a long sigh.

'What's the matter, young caterpillar?' asked the Wise Owl.

'I'm bored,' said the caterpillar. 'Every day is the same. Wake up, munch a leaf, go to bed.'

'And that is not enough for you?' asked the Wise Owl.'

'No!' said the caterpillar. I want to... I want to...'

'Yes?'

'I want to...fly!'

'Fly?'

'Yes! Like the birds. Look at them! Look how free they are, how happy they must be. They get to go anywhere, do anything. I can't even get off of this stupid tree.'

The owl looked closely at the caterpillar. 'It will not always be this way, young caterpillar. Things will change with time. You must be patient.'

'I don't want to be patient,' said the young caterpillar, sulkily. 'I want things to change right now.'

The owl smiled knowingly. 'As you wish. Good day to you young caterpillar.' And with that, the Wise Owl fluttered away.

That night, the young caterpillar went to sleep dreaming of the skies. He dreamt that he was flying, swooping amongst the leaves.

When he woke up, something felt different. He opened his eyes but he couldn't see.

He seemed to be stuck in a strange casing. Panicking now, he tried to twist his head,using his teeth to bite through. It started to give, he was able to pull himself out, bit by bit, inch by inch until finally he was free, he could feel the breeze on his...

'I have wings?' he said. 'Where did these come from? Look at them. They're beautiful'

He waved a wing around, taking in the beautiful array of colours as they glinted in the sun.'

'I'm a butterfly. I can fly!'

Barely able to contain himself, he sprinted towards the edge of the leaf, ready to launch himself off the edge, to spring into flight, to soar into the sky, and...

He stopped, almost toppling over the edge. He peered over. On the leaf below, he could see a family of caterpillars, munching their way slowly across the leaf.

The Wise Owl came swooping out of the sky and sat on his favourite perch.

'Why young caterpillar, is that you? All grown up, just like you wanted?'

'Y-yes Wise Owl. It's me.'

'Look at your beautiful wings. You will be able to fly.'

'I guess,' said the butterfly, dejectedly.'

'What's wrong?' asked the Wise Owl. 'Is this not what you wanted? To fly? To be free?'

'Yes, but...' started the Butterfly. 'It's just that...'

'Yes?'

'I'm scared,' said the Butterfly.

'Scared?' asked the Wise Owl.

'Yes. I don't know how to fly. I'm scared that I won't be able to do it and I'll just fall flat on my face.'

'I see,' said the Owl.

The butterfly turned away. 'I don't want to be a butterfly,'

'You don't?' asked the Owl.

'No! I want to be a caterpillar again. I don't want to fly, I just want my nice safe leaf. I want things to go back to how they were before.'

'Young butterfly, everybody falls. That is how we learn. The secret is to get back up again.'

The butterfly looked over the edge of the leaf, then back towards the owl. 'You really think I can do it?' he asked.

The owl smiled. 'I know you can. but you must believe in yourself.'

And so the little butterfly took one last look then leapt off the edge of the leaf...

Before falling flat on his face on the leaf below. The owl fluttered down to him.

'Did you see that, did you see?' asked the butterfly excitedly. I was flying, I was really flying!'

But before the owl could answer, the butterfly was off again and leaped off of the leaf. But his time he didn't fall. He flapped his wings and soared, high into the sky,swooping between the trees.

The owl smiled. 'Yes young butterfly. You really can fly.'