# Nora and the Cloud Garden

An episode of [Kid’s Bedtime Stories Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1780176346), 23 Oct 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75936231/ep07_ship.mp3

Nora climbs the mossy steps to her grandma's cloud garden with a tiny silver thimble and finds one droopy moonflower bud waiting for water and patience. Grandpa Ellis hosts while Maya tells her very first tale — of Hazel the hedgehog, drifting morning mist, and a bloom that glows like a small moon — perfect for drifting off to sleep. Chapters: 0:05 — Grandpa Ellis Welcomes a New Voice 2:06 — Maya Tells of Nora and the Cloud Garden 10:13 — Grandpa Ellis Tucks the Night In Sweet dreams, little listener. A new bedtime tale every night. Grown-ups: more bedtime tales wait on our supporters' feed: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/kid-s-bedtime-stories-podcast--6408070/support Want every episode before everyone else? Join us on Patreon for early access to all episodes, exclusive supporter-only stories, and extended editions across every Hustle Studios show. Join here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hustlestudios Follow Kid's Bedtime Stories for a new tale every night. By Hustle Studios.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: A Colored Juice Podcast Studio Production presents... Well, hello there,
[0:06] Speaker 1: little one. Grandpa Ellis is back with his cardigan buttoned
[0:13] Speaker 1: up and his storytelling chair pulled close to your bed.
[0:21] Speaker 1: Grandma Rose is resting tonight after lighting the sleepy lighthouse
[0:26] Speaker 1: with you last night. Jasper climbed the one hundred steps,
[0:30] Speaker 1: you remember. Pippa the puffin she had got home safe
[0:34] Speaker 1: to her burrow, and the golden beam kept watch over
[0:38] Speaker 1: the cove, and far away Willa is still safe in
[0:42] Speaker 1: her own warm bed, with her tiny brass bell hung
[0:46] Speaker 1: by her pillow. Tonight we have a new friend waiting,
[0:52] Speaker 1: and the new voice to tell her tale. Her name
[0:56] Speaker 1: is Nora. She is nine years old, and she is
[1:01] Speaker 1: staying in a stone cottage on top of Bluebell Hill
[1:06] Speaker 1: where the morning clouds drift right through the garden. Maya
[1:12] Speaker 1: is here to tell the tale, her very first tale
[1:17] Speaker 1: on our show. So fluff your pillow, pull your blanket
[1:24] Speaker 1: up to your chin, And off we go. And before
[1:30] Speaker 1: Maya begins, a gentle word for the grown-ups sharing this bedtime.
[1:35] Speaker 1: These nightly tales stay free because listeners help carry them.
[1:40] Speaker 1: You can join the Spreaker Supporter Club for bonus tales
[1:43] Speaker 1: tucked right into your podcast app, or join Patreon for
[1:47] Speaker 1: early access to every Tale Plus supporter-only stories and longer
[1:52] Speaker 1: editions from the whole family of shows. Both links rest
[1:55] Speaker 1: in the show notes. Now, Maya, the clouds are drifting
[1:59] Speaker 1: until it's soft and slow.
[2:06] Speaker 2: Nora was nine years old, and she loved three things
[2:11] Speaker 2: more than anything. Morn honey milk, soft, misty mornings, and
[2:18] Speaker 2: flowers that open at night. For one whole week, Nora
[2:24] Speaker 2: was staying with her grandma in a stone cottage on
[2:27] Speaker 2: top of Bluebell Hill. Its door was green as a leaf,
[2:32] Speaker 2: and all round it spread the cloud garden, where every
[2:36] Speaker 2: morning the soft white mist came drifting down and settled
[2:40] Speaker 2: among the flowers like slow rivers. To reach the garden gate,
[2:46] Speaker 2: you walk down twelve stone steps. Twelve. mossy stone steps.
[2:55] Speaker 2: Past the rain barrel, past the birdbath, all the way
[3:01] Speaker 2: down to the white picket gate. Every morning, Nora ran
[3:08] Speaker 2: down those steps in her bare feet to see what
[3:11] Speaker 2: the mist had brought. Spiderwebs hung with silver drops, the
[3:17] Speaker 2: smell of wet grass and wild mint. and always a hush,
[3:23] Speaker 2: soft as a held breath. On this morning, the morning
[3:28] Speaker 2: of our story, Nora found something sad by the garden gate.
[3:33] Speaker 2: The moonflower vine had grown one round green bud. big
[3:39] Speaker 2: as a marble, but the bud hung its head, droopy
[3:45] Speaker 2: and pale, and its stem curled like a tired finger.
[3:51] Speaker 2: Oh dear, said Nora, kneeling down in the damp grass.
[3:56] Speaker 2: What is wrong, little bud? Her grandma came down the
[4:00] Speaker 2: steps with a folded cloth over her arm. She looked
[4:05] Speaker 2: at the bud for a long moment. Then she smiled
[4:09] Speaker 2: her slow smile. She is thirsty, Nora, and she is shy.
[4:16] Speaker 2: She needs water and patience and someone who will sit
[4:21] Speaker 2: with her a while. Then I will be that someone,
[4:25] Speaker 2: said Nora. I can carry water and I can sit
[4:30] Speaker 2: very still. Her grandma gave her a tiny silver thimble.
[4:36] Speaker 2: For small flowers, small cups, she said. Drop by drop,
[4:42] Speaker 2: Nora watered the vine. One drop for the roots, one
[4:47] Speaker 2: drop for the stem, one drop for the droopy bud itself,
[4:51] Speaker 2: which shivered a little as the cool water touched it.
[4:56] Speaker 2: And for it she went, thimble after thimble, while the
[5:01] Speaker 2: mist curled round her ankles. She did not count her trips.
[5:08] Speaker 2: She only watched the little bud, waiting for it to
[5:12] Speaker 2: lift its head. At midday, she sat beside the vine
[5:17] Speaker 2: with a slice of honey bread, and something rustled in
[5:21] Speaker 2: the leaves. Snuffle. Snuffle, soft as a brushed sleeve. Out
[5:29] Speaker 2: from under the broadest leaf came the roundest, prickliest hedgehog
[5:34] Speaker 2: Nora had ever seen. His spines were brown and cream,
[5:39] Speaker 2: his nose was black as a berry, and his eyes
[5:43] Speaker 2: blinked up at her, round and bright. Well, hello there,
[5:48] Speaker 2: small one, said Nora, very soft, breaking off a crumb.
[5:54] Speaker 2: Are you hungry? Snuffle, said the hedgehog, which Nora took
[5:59] Speaker 2: to mean, yes, please. I am Hazel, said Nora for him,
[6:07] Speaker 2: because every garden friend needs a name pleased to meet you, Hazel.
[6:14] Speaker 2: Hazel ate the crumb in three nibbles. Then he curled
[6:18] Speaker 2: into a prickly ball beside the vine and went still.
[6:22] Speaker 2: Keeping watch with me, said Nora. Good, the bud likes company. Now,
[6:29] Speaker 2: while Hazel keeps watch and the bud sips its water,
[6:33] Speaker 2: Here is a small whisper for the grown-ups. If these
[6:36] Speaker 2: tales are part of your bedtime too, there are two
[6:39] Speaker 2: gentle ways to keep them coming. The Supporter Club on
[6:43] Speaker 2: Spreaker adds bonus tales inside the app you are using now,
[6:47] Speaker 2: and Patreon shares each tale early, with extra stories and
[6:51] Speaker 2: extended editions from every show in the family. The links
[6:55] Speaker 2: wait in the show notes.
[6:57] Speaker 3: Shh, now!
[7:00] Speaker 2: All afternoon the clouds drifted lower till the whole garden
[7:06] Speaker 2: swam in soft gray. What if the sun never comes back, Grandma?
[7:13] Speaker 2: called Nora up the steps. What if the bud never
[7:17] Speaker 2: lifts its head? Her grandma leaned on the garden gate
[7:21] Speaker 2: and laughed her warm honey laugh. Oh, little love. The
[7:26] Speaker 2: clouds are not the end of the sun. They are
[7:30] Speaker 2: the sky tucking the garden in. Watch what the dusk brings,
[7:35] Speaker 2: and you will see. So Nora sat with Hazel in
[7:40] Speaker 2: the cloudy hush and waited. She hummed a low hum
[7:45] Speaker 2: with no words at all. And slowly the gray began
[7:51] Speaker 2: to thin. and pale gold light spilled down the hill
[7:56] Speaker 2: like poured honey. Dusk came, pink and amber, and Nora
[8:02] Speaker 2: saw it. The little bud was lifting. Up went its head,
[8:10] Speaker 2: one inch, then one more, till it stood straight and proud.
[8:18] Speaker 2: On its stem, in the fading light. She did it,
[8:22] Speaker 2: breathed Nora. Oh, Hazel, she really did it. Our grandma
[8:28] Speaker 2: carried down two cups of warm honey milk. They drank
[8:33] Speaker 2: it on the steps, watching the garden turn dusky blue,
[8:37] Speaker 2: while Hazel curled up closer, as if he knew something
[8:41] Speaker 2: was about to happen. Then the moon rose over Bluebell Hill.
[8:46] Speaker 2: Round and white as a china plate, its light touched
[8:51] Speaker 2: the bud, and the bud trembled and quivered and opened.
[8:57] Speaker 2: Open it bloomed, petal by petal, white as fresh milk,
[9:02] Speaker 2: white as a teacup, glowing soft in the moonlight like
[9:07] Speaker 2: a small moon of its own. Its sweet scent drifted
[9:12] Speaker 2: over the garden, over the gate, over Nora, where she
[9:15] Speaker 2: sat with her empty cup forgotten in her hands. Said Nora,
[9:20] Speaker 2: with no other words at all, for some lovely things
[9:23] Speaker 2: leave no room for talking. That night Nora fell asleep
[9:28] Speaker 2: by her open window, with the moonflower glowing below and
[9:33] Speaker 2: Hazel snoring tiny snores in the leaves, and her grandma
[9:38] Speaker 2: whispered up the stairs, Small care, big bloom, little love.
[9:43] Speaker 2: That is how gardens grow. That is how hearts grow, too.
[9:47] Speaker 2: That is the tale of the cloud garden, my friends.
[9:52] Speaker 2: Nora helped something small bloom bright. Maybe tomorrow you can
[9:56] Speaker 2: care for something small, too. Now, Grandpa Ellis is back
[10:00] Speaker 2: to tuck the night in. Listen for his soft, warm voice.
[10:05] Speaker 2: Good night, moon bloom. Good night.
[10:13] Speaker 3: Was that not a lovely tale, little one? Thank you, Maya.
[10:19] Speaker 3: for telling your very first tale, so gentle. And thank you, Nora,
[10:26] Speaker 3: wherever you are, for showing us how good it feels
[10:31] Speaker 3: to care for something small till it blooms. Now it
[10:36] Speaker 3: is your turn to rest. The tale is told. The
[10:43] Speaker 3: moon flower is open. Your bed is warm. Everything is
[10:49] Speaker 3: exactly as it should be. Let us get sleepy together.
[10:59] Speaker 3: Stay exactly as you are. Only listen to my voice. First,
[11:13] Speaker 3: pretend your bed is a soft patch of moss in
[11:16] Speaker 3: the cloud garden. Your pillow's cool and smooth as a
[11:21] Speaker 3: broad leaf. Your blanket is a drifting cloud settling over you,
[11:27] Speaker 3: soft then softer, then softest of all. Now breathe with me.
[11:36] Speaker 3: Breathe in through your nose, slow and deep. And breathe
[11:44] Speaker 3: out through your mouth, long and slow. Let all the
[11:50] Speaker 3: day drift away over Bluebell Hill. One more time, breathe
[11:57] Speaker 3: in soft and slow and breathe out softer still. Feel
[12:03] Speaker 3: yourself sink one inch deeper into your cloud blanket. Good.
[12:10] Speaker 3: So good. Let your toes be still. Let your legs
[12:16] Speaker 3: be heavy and warm. Let your tummy rise and fall,
[12:23] Speaker 3: easy as miscurling round the flowers. Let your hands lie
[12:29] Speaker 3: open and soft, and let your eyes stay closed, for
[12:35] Speaker 3: they have worked hard all day, and now they can rest.
[12:41] Speaker 3: And before you drift off, one last drowsy note for
[12:45] Speaker 3: the grown-ups. If these bedtime tales matter in your house,
[12:50] Speaker 3: the show grows because listeners pitch in. The Spreaker Supporter
[12:55] Speaker 3: Club brings bonus tales straight into your podcast app. Our
[13:00] Speaker 3: Patreon brings every tale early, plus exclusive supporter stories and
[13:05] Speaker 3: extended editions from each show and the family. Both links
[13:09] Speaker 3: live in the show notes whenever you're ready. Now back
[13:13] Speaker 3: to Sleepy C. Tomorrow night there will be another story
[13:18] Speaker 3: waiting for you. A new friend, a new voyage, every
[13:24] Speaker 3: single night. So ask your grown-up to follow kids' bedtime
[13:29] Speaker 3: stories so you never miss a single tale. But that
[13:35] Speaker 3: is tomorrow. Tonight is for sleeping. So pull your cloud
[13:43] Speaker 3: blanket tight. Little moon bloom, the moon flower is your
[13:49] Speaker 3: night light. The clouds are watching over you, and someone
[13:55] Speaker 3: loves you more than all the hedgehogs on the whole
[13:59] Speaker 3: wide hill. Good night, little one. Good night. Sleep tight.
[14:08] Speaker 3: I will see you in your dreams.

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