# Sneezy Unicorn

An episode of [Animal Tales: The Kids' Story Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1644596989), 5 Nov 2025, 18 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/68239219/at441_sneezyunicorn_mixdown.mp3

A unicorn with a cold proves to be a very big problem! Written especially for this podcast by Simon. If you enjoyed this story, please do leave us a review. And, if you'd like to suggest an animal for a future Animal Tales story, you can do so by emailing podcast@animaltales.uk. We would love to hear from you. Animal Tales Books! Collections of Animal Tales children’s stories are available to buy exclusively at Amazon. Simply search for Animal Tales Short Stories or follow this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLJQZ9C9?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi Become a PREMIUM Subscriber You can now enjoy Animal Tales by becoming a Premium Subscriber. This gets you: • All episodes in our catalogue advert free • Bonus Premium-only episodes (one per week) which will never be used on the main podcast • We guarantee to use one of your animal suggestions in a story You can sign up through Apple Podcasts or through Supercast and there are both monthly and yearly plans available. Discover a brand new story every Monday, Wednesday and Friday – just for you! You can find more Animal Tales at www.animaltales.uk A Note About The Adverts In order to allow us to make these stories we offer a premium subscription and run adverts. The adverts are not chosen by us, but played automatically depending on the platform you listen through (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc) and the country you live in. The adverts may even be different if you listen to the story twice. We have had a handful of instances where an advert has played that is not suitable for a family audience, despite the podcast clearly being labelled for children. If you’re concerned about an advert you hear, please contact the platform you are listening to directly. Spotify, in particular, has proven problematic in the past, for both inappropriate adverts and the volume at which the adverts play. If you find this happening, please let Spotify know via their Facebook customer care page. As creators, we want your child’s experience to be a pleasurable one. Running adverts is necessary to allow us to operate, but please do consider the premium subscription service as an alternative – it’s advert free.

## Transcript

[0:12] Speaker 1: Yea. Hello everyone, and welcome to the Animal Tales podcast.
[0:18] Speaker 1: We you suggest the animals for us to write a
[0:20] Speaker 1: story about. My name's Josephine, and I've got a brand
[0:24] Speaker 1: new animal story here just for you. Ellie is a
[0:29] Speaker 1: Premium subscriber from South Carolina, USA, and she would like
[0:33] Speaker 1: a story with a unicorn and a giraffe. You can
[0:37] Speaker 1: learn more about these creatures in the animal facts after
[0:40] Speaker 1: the story. Now settle back, relax, and I'll begin. Sneezy
[0:48] Speaker 1: unicorn Ellie had a cold. This was unusual for a unicorn.
[0:55] Speaker 1: They almost never got sick. But somehow Ellie wasn't feeling
[0:59] Speaker 1: very good at all. She was feeling shivery, had a
[1:03] Speaker 1: runny nose, and all she wanted to do was sleep.
[1:08] Speaker 1: The unicorn found a nice quiet spot among some bushes
[1:12] Speaker 1: to curl up on the ground and rest. With luck,
[1:16] Speaker 1: she would feel better soon. Unfortunately, because Ellie wasn't feeling
[1:21] Speaker 1: quite herself, she hadn't paid enough attention to where she was. Um,
[1:28] Speaker 1: excuse me, said a well to do voice. What are
[1:32] Speaker 1: you doing in my paddock? Ellie opened one eye to
[1:38] Speaker 1: see four very long legs before her. She tilted her
[1:43] Speaker 1: head back to discover that she was looking at a giraffe.
[1:48] Speaker 1: I'm sorry, said Ellie with a sniffle. I just needed
[1:52] Speaker 1: a quiet spot to sleep. Quiet spot, hurrumphed the giraffe.
[1:59] Speaker 1: Theiss a zoo. The guests will be arriving any moment,
[2:05] Speaker 1: But Ellie was feeling too rotten to move, and she
[2:08] Speaker 1: didn't think any humans would be able to see her
[2:11] Speaker 1: here amongst the bushes. Can't I just stay until I'm
[2:15] Speaker 1: feeling better, she asked. The giraffe lowered her neck so
[2:20] Speaker 1: she could take a closer look at the unicorn. What
[2:24] Speaker 1: sort of animal are you anyway, snorted the giraffe. Some
[2:29] Speaker 1: sort of zebra. At that moment, quite accidentally, Ellie sneezed
[2:37] Speaker 1: right into the giraffe's face. I'm so sorry, she blurted out.
[2:43] Speaker 1: It's this horrible cold, how yucky, complained the giraffe, lifting
[2:50] Speaker 1: her head away from further sneezes. Stay in my paddock
[2:55] Speaker 1: if you must, but as soon as you're well, I
[2:58] Speaker 1: expect you to be gone. With that, said, the giraffe
[3:03] Speaker 1: stomped away. Oh dear, sighed Elly and closed her eyes
[3:09] Speaker 1: to sleep. Soon the zoo was filled with voices as
[3:14] Speaker 1: the first visitors arrived. Fortunately, for elly. She was too
[3:19] Speaker 1: well hidden to be seen, and the giraffe kept well
[3:23] Speaker 1: away from her, preferring to stick to the far side
[3:26] Speaker 1: of her paddock. Good morning, Tammy, said an elephant on
[3:32] Speaker 1: the other side of the fence. Why are you looking
[3:35] Speaker 1: so glum? I have an unwonted guest, griped the giraffe,
[3:42] Speaker 1: and to make matters worse, suddenly I'm not feeling very good, oh,
[3:48] Speaker 1: said the elephant. How So, instead of answering, the giraffe
[3:55] Speaker 1: did a tremendous spluttering sneeze all over the elephant. Ah,
[4:02] Speaker 1: that's charming, that is, complained the elephant. So sorry, I
[4:08] Speaker 1: didn't mean to, insisted the giraffe. I think I'd best
[4:13] Speaker 1: head back to the giraffe house and close my eyes
[4:16] Speaker 1: for a bit. The elephant watched her go before walking
[4:21] Speaker 1: away himself. Poor thing, he said with sympathy. Hey, Eric,
[4:28] Speaker 1: called a tiger from the opposite side of the enclosure.
[4:32] Speaker 1: What's with Tammy? She doesn't look herself to day. The
[4:37] Speaker 1: elephant approached the fence as a tickle began in his
[4:40] Speaker 1: long trunk. She's not feeling very well, he explained, What
[4:47] Speaker 1: a pity, said the tiger. Did she say? What the
[4:50] Speaker 1: matter was. As if to demonstrate, the elephant did an explosive,
[4:56] Speaker 1: trumpeting sneeze, blasting it for from his trunk to blow
[5:01] Speaker 1: all over the tiger. I don't feel so good either,
[5:07] Speaker 1: groaned the elephant. No kidding, said the tiger, who stalked
[5:13] Speaker 1: off in disgust. She found a patch of grass and
[5:17] Speaker 1: attempted to rub the sneeze from her fur. Hey there, tricksie,
[5:22] Speaker 1: how's it going, asked the rhinoceros from next door. You
[5:28] Speaker 1: won't believe what that rotten elephant just did to me,
[5:32] Speaker 1: grumbled the tiger as she got to her feet. What's
[5:36] Speaker 1: that you say, asked the rhino, who was a little
[5:39] Speaker 1: hard of hearing. The tiger moved closer so she could
[5:44] Speaker 1: be heard. I said, she began, but rather than repeat
[5:49] Speaker 1: her words, she did a gigantic sneeze instead, straight into
[5:55] Speaker 1: the face of the rhinoceros. Oh oh, how horrible, snorted
[6:01] Speaker 1: the rhino in astonishment. Unsurprisingly, this continued throughout the day,
[6:09] Speaker 1: with innocent animals getting covered in sneezes, only to end
[6:13] Speaker 1: up sneezing on someone else. Slowly, but surely, the illness
[6:18] Speaker 1: spread right across the zoo. By the time the humans
[6:22] Speaker 1: went home that evening. Just about every creature in the
[6:26] Speaker 1: place had retired to bed feeling utterly awful. And it
[6:31] Speaker 1: wasn't a quiet night either. The air was filled with
[6:35] Speaker 1: coughs and sniffles and sneezes, a sound that didn't die
[6:39] Speaker 1: away until the sun began to rise. Ellie the Unicorn
[6:45] Speaker 1: opened her eyes and for the first time in a while,
[6:48] Speaker 1: felt better. No runny nose, no aching body, and best
[6:54] Speaker 1: of all, no sneezes. About time, she said, happily getting
[7:00] Speaker 1: to her feet, I'd best be getting on my way
[7:04] Speaker 1: so I can be far away by the time the
[7:06] Speaker 1: visitors arrive. But before she departed, she decided she should
[7:12] Speaker 1: say thank you to the giraffe who had let her
[7:15] Speaker 1: rest in the corner of her paddock. Ellie found her
[7:19] Speaker 1: in her house, her long neck sagging from feeling so poorly. Um,
[7:25] Speaker 1: I'm going now, called Ellie. Thank you so much for
[7:29] Speaker 1: letting me stay. What's that, asked the sorry looking giraffe,
[7:35] Speaker 1: lifting her head. It was only at that moment that
[7:39] Speaker 1: Ellie realized that something was dreadfully wrong. In the center
[7:44] Speaker 1: of the giraffe's head was a long, spiraling horn. Oh
[7:50] Speaker 1: my goodness, shrieked Ellie in surprise. You've got a horn
[7:56] Speaker 1: just like mine. What do you mean, mumbled the giraffe,
[8:02] Speaker 1: with a dopey sounding voice. On your head, It shouldn't
[8:07] Speaker 1: be there, said Ellie. The visitors will be here in
[8:11] Speaker 1: a couple of hours. They can't see you like this.
[8:16] Speaker 1: There's a horn on my head, said the giraffe, finally
[8:20] Speaker 1: catching on. I must have caught it from you when
[8:24] Speaker 1: you sneezed on me. Of course, screeched Ellie. My magic
[8:30] Speaker 1: must have got mixed up in my sneeze. We'll have
[8:34] Speaker 1: to keep you hidden in here to stop you from
[8:36] Speaker 1: sneezing on any one else. Too late, groaned the giraffe.
[8:43] Speaker 1: She explained what had happened yesterday. Oh no, oh no,
[8:50] Speaker 1: whimpered Ellie as she galloped from the giraffe house. With
[8:54] Speaker 1: a little unicorn magic, she was able to leap over
[8:58] Speaker 1: the fence and into the elephant enclosure, where she found
[9:02] Speaker 1: the elephant slumped against the trunk of a broad oak tree.
[9:06] Speaker 1: Upon its forehead was a long, spiraling horn. Don't get
[9:12] Speaker 1: too close, warned the elephant. I think I've got a cold.
[9:18] Speaker 1: I've already sneezed on the tiger oh no, oh no,
[9:24] Speaker 1: whimpered Ellie again, this time leaping into the tiger's pen,
[9:29] Speaker 1: Considering this was the home of a predator. This was
[9:32] Speaker 1: a brave thing to do, but she need not have worried.
[9:37] Speaker 1: The tiger was sprawled out beside a pool of water,
[9:40] Speaker 1: looking quite awful. Sticking out of her forehead was a long,
[9:46] Speaker 1: spiraling horn. You're lucky, I'm feeling so ill, muttered the tiger.
[9:53] Speaker 1: But if I caught you, I'd only sneeze all over you,
[9:58] Speaker 1: just like I did with the rhinoceros next door. Oh no,
[10:03] Speaker 1: oh no, whimpered Ellie yet again. Bounding across the fence
[10:08] Speaker 1: to where the rhino lived, she found him in his house,
[10:12] Speaker 1: looking miserable upon a bed of straw. You two, yelped
[10:19] Speaker 1: the unicorn. Pardon, asked the rhino. You've got a horn,
[10:26] Speaker 1: wailed Ellie. Of course I've got a horn, said the
[10:31] Speaker 1: sick rhino. I'm a rhinoceros. Ellie didn't have the heart
[10:37] Speaker 1: to tell him he now had two. She carried on
[10:42] Speaker 1: making her way around the zoo, finding spiraling horns upon gorillas,
[10:47] Speaker 1: tape ears, crocodiles, frogs, sloths, and penguins. There wasn't a
[10:54] Speaker 1: single animal without one. Oh what do I do? Sobbed elly.
[11:02] Speaker 1: Unicorns were supposed to be secretive animals that hid their
[11:06] Speaker 1: presents from humans. How on earth was she going to hide? All? This? Time?
[11:12] Speaker 1: Was running out when she arrived back at the giraffe house.
[11:16] Speaker 1: The zoo would be opening shortly. If she couldn't think
[11:20] Speaker 1: of something quickly, then the humans would be seeing unicorn
[11:23] Speaker 1: horns everywhere. Back again, asked the sickly giraffe, I've caused
[11:31] Speaker 1: such a dreadful mess, sobbed the unicorn. I didn't mean to,
[11:37] Speaker 1: but somehow I've infected the entire zoo with a magically
[11:41] Speaker 1: mixed up cold. It's not your fault, said the giraffe kindly.
[11:48] Speaker 1: You didn't mean to sneeze on me, just like I
[11:52] Speaker 1: didn't mean to sneeze on Eric. Even so, it's still happened,
[11:58] Speaker 1: and if I don't undo it, the humans will start
[12:01] Speaker 1: asking questions, said Ellie. I have to do something. Can't
[12:08] Speaker 1: you just use your unicorn magic and cure everyone's cold,
[12:13] Speaker 1: wondered the giraffe. I don't think so, said Ellie. I
[12:18] Speaker 1: couldn't cure myself, so I doubt I can cure any
[12:21] Speaker 1: one else. At least you got better, quickly, pointed out
[12:27] Speaker 1: the giraffe, in just a day, said the unicorn. That's it.
[12:33] Speaker 1: I just need to stop anyone from noticing the horns
[12:37] Speaker 1: on the animals to day, with luck, by to morrow
[12:40] Speaker 1: morning there be better again. But will that mean the
[12:45] Speaker 1: horns will go away too, asked the giraffe. I don't know,
[12:51] Speaker 1: admitted Ellie, but at least I can buy myself some
[12:54] Speaker 1: time until then. How will you stop anyone from noticing
[12:59] Speaker 1: or awn on my head? Asked the giraffe. Come with me,
[13:05] Speaker 1: said Elly, I have an idea. When the first visitors
[13:11] Speaker 1: arrived outside the giraffe paddock a short time later, they
[13:15] Speaker 1: were able to spot the giraffe straight away under a
[13:18] Speaker 1: tall tree well most of the giraffe, somewhat frustratingly, her
[13:25] Speaker 1: head was lost somewhere up amongst the leaves and branches,
[13:29] Speaker 1: and there she remained the entire day. When the visitors
[13:34] Speaker 1: went to the neighboring enclosure, they found an elephant in
[13:38] Speaker 1: a most unusual position. He was stood side on to
[13:42] Speaker 1: the fence, his trunk raised to touch his forehead, with
[13:47] Speaker 1: the trunk's tip pointing outwards. Not once all day did
[13:52] Speaker 1: he lower the trunk to the ground. When the visitors
[13:56] Speaker 1: found the tiger, they were somewhat disappointed to own find
[14:00] Speaker 1: her bottom. Her head was poking away from view into
[14:05] Speaker 1: the long grass, and there it stayed for some reason.
[14:10] Speaker 1: The rhino had a traffic cone perched on his head,
[14:14] Speaker 1: and the camel wore a pile of straw like a wig.
[14:19] Speaker 1: The mere cats appeared to be balancing apples on their heads,
[14:23] Speaker 1: but not once did one roll off, even when they
[14:26] Speaker 1: ran about, and the lion oddly had his head in
[14:31] Speaker 1: a box. A lot of visitors went home with mixed
[14:35] Speaker 1: feelings that night. Sure they'd seen a lot of animals,
[14:40] Speaker 1: but they hadn't necessarily seen all of the animals in
[14:45] Speaker 1: the giraffe house. At the end of the day, Ellie asked,
[14:49] Speaker 1: how are you feeling better, admitted the giraffe. I'm sure.
[14:55] Speaker 1: All I need now is a good night's sleep. Then
[14:59] Speaker 1: I'll leave you to it, said the unicorn. That night
[15:04] Speaker 1: was a peaceful one, without a single cough, sniffle, or sneeze.
[15:10] Speaker 1: When dawn arrived at last, Ellie stood at the giraffe
[15:13] Speaker 1: house door, waiting hopefully Hello. She called, May I come in? Sure,
[15:22] Speaker 1: said the giraffe, Come take a look. Ellie crept in, slowly,
[15:28] Speaker 1: holding her breath. To her delight, the giraffe's head was
[15:33] Speaker 1: horn free. Thank goodness, grinned Ellie. You're back to normal.
[15:40] Speaker 1: I feel so much better too, said the giraffe. It
[15:45] Speaker 1: looks like the crisis is over. I hope, so, said Ellie.
[15:51] Speaker 1: I'd still best go and check. She dashed around the
[15:55] Speaker 1: zoo and was relieved to find all the animals were
[15:59] Speaker 1: free of their cold and there were no spiraling horns
[16:03] Speaker 1: to be seen. The rhino was still wearing the traffic cone,
[16:07] Speaker 1: though insisting it was the nearest he'd ever come to
[16:11] Speaker 1: owning a hat. The zoo will be open soon, so
[16:15] Speaker 1: it's best I be on my way, said Elly as
[16:18] Speaker 1: she returned to the giraffe. Before you go, said the giraffe.
[16:24] Speaker 1: I thought you might like this, just in case one
[16:28] Speaker 1: of the keepers dropped it, and she tossed the unicorn
[16:32] Speaker 1: a neatly folded, clean white handkerchief. Animal's fat. Unicorn horns
[16:44] Speaker 1: were once thought to be able to make dirty water
[16:47] Speaker 1: clean and be able to heal the sick. Because unicorns
[16:51] Speaker 1: are creatures for myths and stories, nobody could actually own
[16:56] Speaker 1: a horn, so tricksters would sell narwal tusks instead. Giraffes
[17:02] Speaker 1: already have horn like structures on their heads covered by
[17:06] Speaker 1: skin and fur, called ossi cones. Only giraffes and their cousins,
[17:12] Speaker 1: the okapi, have them. Male giraffes use their ossy cones
[17:17] Speaker 1: in battle, using them as a club to bash a
[17:20] Speaker 1: rival giraffe. It's also possible that giraffes use them to
[17:25] Speaker 1: help keep their bodies cool. Thank you for your suggestions, Ellie,
[17:30] Speaker 1: We hope that you all enjoyed the story. Wherever you're
[17:33] Speaker 1: listening in the world, there are over four hundred animal
[17:37] Speaker 1: tales now and all are available on our premium service,
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[17:46] Speaker 1: They are all advert free. Make sure you join us
[17:50] Speaker 1: next time for another great animal tail. Good Bye,

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