A Song Made of Home: story transcript
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A Song Made of Home
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Christmas was coming. Tula, a blue penguin in a yellow scarf, sat beside a little tree. What could she give her friend Otis? A pebble? He had plenty. A warm scarf? His whiskers were already tucked beneath one.
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Tula stepped outside. Squeak went the snow under her orange feet. Shush went the waves along the shore. Squeak, shush. Squeak, shush. Tula stood still to listen. These were the sounds Otis heard every day. They sounded like home.
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She hurried to Otis. "Close your eyes," Tula said. Otis closed them, and Tula began. She stamped too fast, waved both flippers, and sang all at once. "Squeak-shush-SQUAWK!" It came out like a hiccup with boots on. Otis opened one eye.
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"Was that the whole song?" Otis asked gently. "Not yet," said Tula. She tried stamping more softly. Squeak. Squeak. Then she let her flippers brush her scarf. Swish. Swish. Otis closed his eye again and listened without a word.
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Tula tried a high note. It leaped over the squeaks. She tried a low note. It hid under the swishes. "Where do you belong?" she whispered to her voice. She listened to the waves, then sang between the two sounds.
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Squeak went her feet. Swish went her scarf. Shush sang Tula, soft as the shore. Squeak, swish, shush. She stopped to breathe. In the little pause, the waves answered. Shush. Tula smiled and began once more, slowly this time.
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Otis opened his eyes. "That sounds like our walk home," he said. Tula felt her scarf tickle her chin. "It’s your Christmas present," she said. Otis listened to the waves for a moment. "May I hear it again? I could join in."
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Tula began with her feet. Squeak, squeak. Her scarf followed. Swish, swish. She sang the shore’s quiet shush. Otis added a deep, round hum beneath it all. The sounds fit so snugly that Tula nearly forgot to stop. When she did, Otis kept humming.
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Inside, they sat beside their little Christmas tree. Tula hummed the tune once more while Otis’s eyes grew heavy. Squeak, swish, shush, hum. Then she grew quiet. Otis fell asleep. His soft, rumbling snore supplied the last note.
