# 🐭 ⭐️ The Mouse, the Star, and the Railway in the Sky 🚂

An episode of [Snuggle: Kids bedtime stories](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1714672018), 10 Nov 2024, 28 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/62477640/prod_snuggle_054_final.mp3

After Sophie has a bad day, she meets a new friend who takes her on an adventure into the sky. Narrated by: Chloe de Burgh Written by: Lottie Finklaire Welcome to Snuggle! The best kid's story-telling podcast. Enter a cozy world of imagination perfect for bedtime, quiet time, or any time you want to embark on an enchanting adventure. Learn more at slumberstudios.com/snuggle To enjoy ad-free listening, start your 7-day free trial of Snuggle Premium: https://snuggle.supercast.com/ November only: try Premium free for 90 days. Ad-free listening and more at slumber.supercast.com

## Transcript

[0:03] Speaker 1: Welcome to Snuggle Cozy Stories for kids. This episode is
[0:10] Speaker 1: called The Mouse, the Star and the Railway in the Sky.
[0:17] Speaker 1: Snuggle is a production of Slumber Studios. To listen ad
[0:21] Speaker 1: free and support the show, sign up for our premium feed.
[0:28] Speaker 1: Hey friend, it's Tom here, and I'm so glad you've
[0:32] Speaker 1: joined me for story time. Whether it's for a nap,
[0:37] Speaker 1: for bedtime, or just for fun, story time is my
[0:41] Speaker 1: favorite part of the day, and I hope you love
[0:44] Speaker 1: it just as much as I do. We have a
[0:48] Speaker 1: lovely new friend joining us for the first time on
[0:51] Speaker 1: Snuggle today. Her name is Chloe, and she's so excited
[0:57] Speaker 1: to read our story for you. It's a fantastic one,
[1:03] Speaker 1: all about a little girl who meets a sweet, friendly
[1:06] Speaker 1: mouse and discovers a magical railway in the sky that
[1:11] Speaker 1: leads her to a star. I know you're going to
[1:16] Speaker 1: love it. Of course, this story will require us to
[1:22] Speaker 1: use our imaginations, so let's prepare to do that by
[1:27] Speaker 1: making ourselves as comfy as can be, finding a cozy
[1:32] Speaker 1: spot where we can rest while Chloe reads to us.
[1:39] Speaker 1: Once you're ready, take a nice breath in through your
[1:44] Speaker 1: nose and let it back out softly and slowly. Now
[1:56] Speaker 1: we're all set, it's time for to tell you the
[2:01] Speaker 1: story about the mouse, the star, and the magical railway
[2:08] Speaker 1: in the sky. I hope you enjoy, my friends.
[2:27] Speaker 2: Our story begins on a rather rainy Tuesday evening. Sophie
[2:38] Speaker 2: was hurrying home from dance class, but she had forgotten
[2:43] Speaker 2: her umbrella. The gold raindrops splashed all over her arms, face,
[2:54] Speaker 2: and through her dance leggings. Her silky brown hair was soaked,
[3:02] Speaker 2: and her thin denim jacket had become heavy with rain.
[3:11] Speaker 2: She hurried faster, but the wet sidewalk beneath her was
[3:16] Speaker 2: full of puddles. Every time she stepped into one, a
[3:23] Speaker 2: wave of water sloshed into her shoes. She wasn't surprised
[3:33] Speaker 2: to day had been a disappointing day. Everything in it
[3:40] Speaker 2: seemed to go wrong. Her morning alarm hadn't gone off,
[3:49] Speaker 2: they'd run out of cereal for breakfast, and her bag
[3:54] Speaker 2: had ripped on the way to school. She'd made a
[3:59] Speaker 2: mistake on her masspaper the week before, and her best
[4:05] Speaker 2: friend hadn't turned up to class. Her lunch time had
[4:11] Speaker 2: been disappointing too. She'd had to take the left over
[4:16] Speaker 2: lunch option because her teacher had kept her behind for
[4:21] Speaker 2: so long. Even dance class had been hard. She'd forgotten
[4:31] Speaker 2: all of last week's steps, and now mum was working
[4:39] Speaker 2: the night shift, so it was up to Sophie to
[4:45] Speaker 2: walk home, which usually would be fine, but today, without
[4:53] Speaker 2: an umbrella, it was very, very wet. Sophie was good
[5:03] Speaker 2: at staying positive all through the day. She had smiled
[5:11] Speaker 2: and tried her best to be her usual happy self,
[5:19] Speaker 2: but now that she was alone in the rain, she
[5:24] Speaker 2: wished that she could just escape everything and disappear. Almost
[5:34] Speaker 2: as soon as she had made the wish, an extra
[5:40] Speaker 2: large raindrop landed on her forehead. Sophie turned into her
[5:47] Speaker 2: street and saw her house head of her. The windows
[5:55] Speaker 2: were lit up from the inside. It looked warm and inviting.
[6:05] Speaker 2: A small tingle of relief spread through her. She quickened
[6:12] Speaker 2: her pace, thinking of what her mum might have left
[6:17] Speaker 2: for dinner. Sophie let herself into her house. It was
[6:25] Speaker 2: nice and dry. She breathed a grateful sigh of relief
[6:34] Speaker 2: and noticed the comforting smell of buttery mashed potatoes coming
[6:41] Speaker 2: from the kitchen. She could hear her sister playing upstairs
[6:48] Speaker 2: and the sound of the TV in the other room.
[6:55] Speaker 2: Sophie called out to the house that she was home.
[7:00] Speaker 2: Then she peeled off her denim jacket and grabbed a
[7:06] Speaker 2: fresh towel from the closet. She changed out of her
[7:13] Speaker 2: soaking wet clothes and wrapped herself in the towel. It
[7:20] Speaker 2: was very soft. She padded upstairs to her room. Sophie
[7:30] Speaker 2: loved her room. It was like a safe, little nest,
[7:39] Speaker 2: hidden away from the rest of the world. She put
[7:45] Speaker 2: on her comfiest pajamas and flopped down on her bed,
[7:52] Speaker 2: letting out a big sigh. She felt exhausted. Sophie was
[8:02] Speaker 2: just gazing into space, staring at the gap between her
[8:09] Speaker 2: door and her wardrobe, when she saw something. She rubbed
[8:16] Speaker 2: her eyes and looked again. There under the wardrobe was
[8:25] Speaker 2: a mouse that seemed to be made out of diamonds.
[8:31] Speaker 2: He was small and glittering, and right at that moment,
[8:39] Speaker 2: he was staring at Sophie, his white whiskers quivering. Sophie
[8:48] Speaker 2: sat up, but the mouse seemed to know what she
[8:53] Speaker 2: was thinking. He came out from under the wardrobe and
[9:01] Speaker 2: squeaked as if to say, I am real. Then he
[9:08] Speaker 2: motioned with his tail for her to follow him. Sophie
[9:15] Speaker 2: stared at the mouse. She was already eight years old
[9:23] Speaker 2: and wasn't sure she believed what she was seeing. But
[9:29] Speaker 2: still there was a tiny diamond mouse that seemed to
[9:36] Speaker 2: be telling her to follow him. The mouse squeaked again.
[9:44] Speaker 2: Sophie blinked a few times, but then she thought about
[9:51] Speaker 2: her day and decided that it couldn't hurt to follow
[9:56] Speaker 2: the mouse. At least this was exciting. She slipped off
[10:06] Speaker 2: the bed and went towards the mouse. Suddenly, the mouse
[10:13] Speaker 2: darted out from underneath the wardrobe and placed his bow
[10:20] Speaker 2: on the bare strip of war opposite Sophie's bed. A
[10:27] Speaker 2: very thin blue outline of a door appeared. It was
[10:34] Speaker 2: as if it had always been there, but somehow Sophie
[10:41] Speaker 2: had never seen it. She went over to it and
[10:48] Speaker 2: opened it. Inside there was a beam of blue glowing
[10:57] Speaker 2: light and little platform with railings kind of like a lift.
[11:07] Speaker 2: The mouse hopped on to the lift and wiggled his
[11:12] Speaker 2: nose slowly. Sophie stepped onto the platform. As soon as
[11:24] Speaker 2: her body entered the shaft of blue light, she felt
[11:29] Speaker 2: totally safe and relaxed. It was as if it was
[11:37] Speaker 2: washing away all her doubts and worries. Then the lift
[11:47] Speaker 2: started to move upwards smoothly. At first, it went slowly,
[11:58] Speaker 2: then it gathered speed until everything outside was a blur.
[12:09] Speaker 2: Gradually the lift began to slow down. Sophie saw that
[12:16] Speaker 2: the world outside was deep blue and twinkling. The lift
[12:24] Speaker 2: shuddered to a stop, and right in front of Sophie
[12:29] Speaker 2: was what looked like an old fashioned railway station. Its
[12:37] Speaker 2: platform was long and made out of large, smooth stone tiles.
[12:45] Speaker 2: The roof was held up with beautiful wrought iron pillars,
[12:52] Speaker 2: and every few meters sat a bench that had iron
[12:57] Speaker 2: lilies and roses embedded in its arm rests. The only
[13:04] Speaker 2: thing missing was the ground, because this was a railway station.
[13:14] Speaker 2: In the sky. Beyond the platform, two railway tracks stretched
[13:23] Speaker 2: out into the wide sky beyond. But it wasn't like
[13:31] Speaker 2: the sky Sophie had seen before. This was the deep,
[13:39] Speaker 2: inky blue night sky. Sophie wondered for a moment if
[13:47] Speaker 2: she had reached outer space. The little mouse hopped onto
[13:54] Speaker 2: the platform and squeaked for Sophie to follow him. She
[14:01] Speaker 2: stepped on to the stone tiles. Looking around, she breathed
[14:09] Speaker 2: in a deep breath to help her take in the
[14:13] Speaker 2: beauty and strangeness of this place. Then behind her came
[14:23] Speaker 2: the rushing sound of a train. Sophie turned around. Moving
[14:33] Speaker 2: steadily towards her was a small steam train that was
[14:39] Speaker 2: exactly the same color as the sky. If Sophie wasn't
[14:46] Speaker 2: so close to it, she never would have noticed it.
[14:53] Speaker 2: The train blended in so perfectly it pulled into the
[14:58] Speaker 2: station and went quiet. Sophie looked up to see the driver.
[15:08] Speaker 2: He was an old, friendly looking man wearing overalls in
[15:14] Speaker 2: the same color as the train. Printed over his left
[15:20] Speaker 2: chest in silver writing was the word caretaker. The caretaker
[15:30] Speaker 2: looked at Sophie with a big, bright smile. He invited
[15:39] Speaker 2: her to climb on board, and she did. Together they
[15:45] Speaker 2: stood in the driver's booth. Sophie looked at all the
[15:52] Speaker 2: buttons and levers and felt a rush of curiosity. The
[16:00] Speaker 2: caretaker started the train with a soft pur It whirred
[16:08] Speaker 2: into life. A plume of violet steam rushed out of
[16:14] Speaker 2: the top, and the wheels began to move. Soon they
[16:24] Speaker 2: were riding off into the night. All around the sky
[16:31] Speaker 2: was deep and inky, stars shone and sparkled, and far
[16:41] Speaker 2: down below, the earth was turning. Sophie gave a gasp
[16:50] Speaker 2: of surprise. They really were in space together. They snaked
[17:02] Speaker 2: through the sky along the iron railway. The caretaker asked questions,
[17:12] Speaker 2: and soon Sophie was telling him all about her day.
[17:20] Speaker 2: She stopped when she noticed a very large object ahead
[17:25] Speaker 2: of them. It was close to the railway track and
[17:31] Speaker 2: it looked like a giant, dirty marble. It must have
[17:37] Speaker 2: been the same size as a small house. The train
[17:44] Speaker 2: slowed down and the caretaker smiled. Sophie stared at the object,
[17:53] Speaker 2: confused and curious. The caretaker explained that it was a
[18:02] Speaker 2: star that had become dirty and it was time to
[18:07] Speaker 2: clean it. He brought out a huge mop with a
[18:13] Speaker 2: very long, extendable handle. Sophie asked how a star gets
[18:23] Speaker 2: dirty in the first place. The caretaker laughed as he
[18:29] Speaker 2: pressed a button behind them. The top of the train
[18:36] Speaker 2: carriage opened to reveal a giant bath of warm, soapy water.
[18:45] Speaker 2: The caretaker dipped the mop into the water and started
[18:50] Speaker 2: to clean the star with it. As he cleaned, he explained,
[18:58] Speaker 2: you see, sometimes stars forget that they are stars. They
[19:07] Speaker 2: forget that they are wonderful and twinkly, and that people
[19:13] Speaker 2: down on earth look up at them in amazement. When
[19:20] Speaker 2: that happens, space dust starts to stick to them, and
[19:27] Speaker 2: the star stops shining and wishes it could just disappear.
[19:36] Speaker 2: Sophie listened and thought about her day and how she
[19:41] Speaker 2: also wished she could disappear when everything was going wrong.
[19:49] Speaker 2: The caretaker gave her another big mop. She dipped it
[19:56] Speaker 2: into the water and started wash the star. The caretaker
[20:04] Speaker 2: kept explaining it was his job to clean the dusty stars, because,
[20:12] Speaker 2: just like humans, stars sometimes need help to remember that
[20:20] Speaker 2: they are brilliant. Sophie swished the mop over the surface
[20:28] Speaker 2: of the star. It was glassy and smooth, but the
[20:36] Speaker 2: dust felt like sand or grited. She mopped harder until
[20:43] Speaker 2: a clean part of the star appeared. Inside it was
[20:50] Speaker 2: like a bright, beautiful parl, and its light shone so powerfully.
[20:59] Speaker 2: The caretaker gave Sophie some sunglasses and put a pair
[21:04] Speaker 2: on himself. Together they cleaned the whole star until finally
[21:13] Speaker 2: it was free from space dust. It glowed a bright,
[21:21] Speaker 2: brilliant white. Suddenly, the star began to sing. It let
[21:33] Speaker 2: out a faint, soft song that was so beautiful it
[21:40] Speaker 2: brought tears to the caretaker's eyes. When she heard it,
[21:47] Speaker 2: Sophie was filled with a wonderful, warm feeling of hope.
[21:54] Speaker 2: Their job done, they stepped back into the train. The
[22:01] Speaker 2: star shone brighter than it had before. Its light burst
[22:08] Speaker 2: through the sky and lit up everything around it. The
[22:15] Speaker 2: caretaker smiled, and so did Sophie. Then she realized it
[22:25] Speaker 2: was okay to have bad days. The important thing was
[22:31] Speaker 2: to remember that when bad days happened, it didn't mean
[22:38] Speaker 2: she'd done anything wrong. Sophie was just like the star.
[22:47] Speaker 2: She mustn't forget that she can still shine brightly. Probably,
[22:56] Speaker 2: Sophie thought everyone is like a star. As soon as
[23:04] Speaker 2: she thought that, her whole body relaxed, she found herself
[23:12] Speaker 2: feeling sleepy. The sky moved by very quickly. She felt
[23:23] Speaker 2: the train swaying beneath her. It was as if she
[23:31] Speaker 2: was being gently rocked to sleep. Her eyes were heavy,
[23:39] Speaker 2: and before she knew it, she was back at the
[23:43] Speaker 2: train station. The caretaker helped Sophie down onto the platform.
[23:55] Speaker 2: The little diamond mouse scurried towards her and guided her
[24:01] Speaker 2: back to the lift. Sophie yawned again and stepped into
[24:10] Speaker 2: the blue light. Once again, she felt the warm, comforting
[24:20] Speaker 2: feeling wash over her. She waved good bye to the caretaker,
[24:29] Speaker 2: and then the lift began to descend. She was so
[24:38] Speaker 2: tired and cozy that she barely noticed the blurred sky
[24:47] Speaker 2: passing by. The diamond mouse sat on her shoulder until
[24:56] Speaker 2: the lift came to a smooth stop right inside Sophie's bedroom.
[25:07] Speaker 2: She stepped out. It was dark now behind the windows.
[25:19] Speaker 2: Night had settled. Sophie climbed into bed, her head rested
[25:31] Speaker 2: on her soft pillow. The diamond mouse tucked her in,
[25:42] Speaker 2: Then he said his good byes and hurried away. Sophie
[25:53] Speaker 2: lay in her bed and looked up at the night sky.
[26:02] Speaker 2: Far in the distance, she could see a brilliant, bright
[26:08] Speaker 2: white star. She smiled. Then she closed her eyes and
[26:23] Speaker 2: drifted into the deepest sleep that she had ever had.
[27:01] Speaker 1: The muses us what was working The body w

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