# Maple and the Mountain Song

An episode of [Kid’s Bedtime Stories Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1780176346), 6 Jul 2026, 12 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72833990/ep010_maple_and_the_mountain_song.mp3

Join Maple, a brave little red squirrel, and her nervous best friend Nutmeg the dormouse on an epic climb up a mysterious mountain! When a beautiful song drifts down from the snowy peak, the two friends set out to find its source. Along the way, they meet a mountain goat with amazing hooves, busy pikas who store hay for winter, and a soaring golden eagle. Children learn about tectonic plates, mountain ecosystems, altitude zones, and how animals adapt to cold environments. A heartwarming bedtime story for kids ages 5 to 10 about friendship, teamwork, and discovering that the bravest adventures are the ones you share. CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Opening 1:12 - Maple and Nutmeg Hear the Song 3:01 - The Climb Begins 6:03 - Meeting Granite, the Pikas, and the Eagle 9:26 - Reaching the Peak 10:53 - The Mountain Song and Goodnight TOPICS: mountains, tectonic plates, mountain ecosystems, altitude zones, friendship, teamwork, animals, nature, science, bedtime story Age Range: 5-10 years #kids #bedtime #stories #educational #children #podcast #mountains #nature #science #friendship #bedtimestory #storytime

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Her best friend in all the world was Nutmeg, a
[0:03] Speaker 1: dormouse with velvety brown fur and enormous dark eyes. Nutmeg
[0:08] Speaker 1: was clever, cleverer than any one Maple knew, but he
[0:12] Speaker 1: was also nervous. Loud noises made him jump, steep paths
[0:17] Speaker 1: made his whiskers tremble, and the thought of climbing a
[0:20] Speaker 1: mountain well that made him curl into a tiny, trembling
[0:24] Speaker 1: ball and bury his nose in his paws. It's too high,
[0:30] Speaker 1: Nutmeg would say, too far, too mountainish. But one summer evening,
[0:37] Speaker 1: just as the sun painted the sky in shades of
[0:40] Speaker 1: pink and gold, something extraordinary happened. A sound drifted down
[0:46] Speaker 1: from the mountain peak, soft and beautiful, like a melody
[0:50] Speaker 1: made of silver bells and deep humming cellos. It swirled
[0:54] Speaker 1: through the pine trees and floated over the meadow grass,
[0:57] Speaker 1: and when it reached Maple and Nutmeg, they both sat
[1:00] Speaker 1: perfectly still, their ears turned upward. What is that, Mapel whispered,
[1:07] Speaker 1: her tail curling with wonder. Nutmeg's big eyes grew even bigger.
[1:13] Speaker 1: I think it's a song. The mountain is singing. They
[1:17] Speaker 1: listened until the last note faded into the evening air,
[1:21] Speaker 1: and then Maple looked at her friend with a sparkle
[1:23] Speaker 1: in her eye. We have to find out where it
[1:26] Speaker 1: comes from. Nutmeg swallowed hard. Up there, he stared at
[1:32] Speaker 1: the towering peak, which seemed to touch the clouds themselves. Maple,
[1:37] Speaker 1: that mountain is enormous. Do you know how it even
[1:40] Speaker 1: got so tall? Maple shook her head. My grandmother told
[1:45] Speaker 1: me once, Nutmeg said, sitting up a little straighter, because
[1:49] Speaker 1: when Nutmeg had a fact to share, his nerves quieted
[1:52] Speaker 1: just a bit. She said. The earth is covered in
[1:55] Speaker 1: huge pieces called tecconic plates, like giant puzzle pieces, floating
[2:00] Speaker 1: on hot melted rock deep below. And over millions and
[2:04] Speaker 1: millions of years, two of those plates pushed against each other,
[2:08] Speaker 1: and the land buckled and folded upward, higher and higher,
[2:12] Speaker 1: until crack mountains were born. Maple's jaw dropped. You mean
[2:20] Speaker 1: this whole mountain was once flat, ground, flat as a pancake.
[2:26] Speaker 1: Nutmeg confirmed, It just took a very very long time
[2:30] Speaker 1: to rise. Then it's waited long enough for us to
[2:33] Speaker 1: climb it. Maple declared, Come on, Nutmeg, we'll go together.
[2:39] Speaker 1: Nutmeg looked at Maple's brave, bright face and though his
[2:43] Speaker 1: whiskers trembled, he nodded together, he agreed softly. They set
[2:49] Speaker 1: off at dawn, when dew still glittered on the grass
[2:52] Speaker 1: like tiny diamonds. The trail wound through a forest of
[2:56] Speaker 1: tall pine and fir trees, where the air was cool
[2:59] Speaker 1: and smelt of earth and needles. This was the first
[3:03] Speaker 1: zone of the mountain, Nutmet explained, the forest zone, where
[3:08] Speaker 1: plenty of rain falls and the soil is rich. Squirrels
[3:11] Speaker 1: and deer and songbirds all lived here happily. As they
[3:15] Speaker 1: climbed higher, the trees began to change. The tall pines
[3:20] Speaker 1: gave way to shorter, hardier trees, and soon they found
[3:23] Speaker 1: themselves in a stretch of low, twisted shrubs hugging the ground.
[3:28] Speaker 1: We're leaving the forest zone, Nutmeg said, breathing a little
[3:32] Speaker 1: harder up here. It's colder and windier, so trees can't
[3:36] Speaker 1: grow very big. These shrubs are tough. They grow close
[3:39] Speaker 1: to the earth to protect themselves from the wind. Maple
[3:43] Speaker 1: was about to reply when a sharp voice called out
[3:45] Speaker 1: from behind a boulder, who's climbing my mountain? A magnificent
[3:50] Speaker 1: mountain goat appeared, his thick white coat gleaming and his
[3:54] Speaker 1: curved horns like crescent moons. He stood on a ledge
[3:58] Speaker 1: so narrow it seems and impossible, his split hoofs gripping
[4:02] Speaker 1: the rock as easily as Maple gripped a branch. We are,
[4:07] Speaker 1: Maple said boldly. I'm Maple, and this is nutmeg. We're
[4:12] Speaker 1: following a beautiful song. The goat regarded them with calm,
[4:16] Speaker 1: golden eyes. I am Granite. I've lived on these slopes
[4:20] Speaker 1: my whole life. My hooves are made for steep, rocky ground.
[4:24] Speaker 1: See how the edges grip like rubber, and my wool
[4:28] Speaker 1: is thick enough to keep me warm in the fiercest blizzard.
[4:32] Speaker 1: He paused, then added more gently, the song you hear
[4:36] Speaker 1: it comes from the very top. But the trail gets
[4:39] Speaker 1: harder from here. The air will get thinner. You'll need
[4:43] Speaker 1: to be brave and smart. That's why we have each other,
[4:47] Speaker 1: Maple said, glancing at nutmeg. Granite smiled a fine reason.
[4:52] Speaker 1: Climb on, little ones. They continued upward, past the shrubs
[4:57] Speaker 1: and into a rocky, wind swept meadow dotted with tin
[5:00] Speaker 1: any tough flowers that clung to cracks in the stone. Here,
[5:04] Speaker 1: little round creatures with no tails pikas scampered among the rocks,
[5:09] Speaker 1: collecting armfuls of dried grass and flowers. What are you doing,
[5:15] Speaker 1: Nutmeg asked one pica, who was nearly as round as
[5:18] Speaker 1: the stone she sat on harvesting, she chirped. We pikas
[5:23] Speaker 1: gather plants in summer and dry them in the sun
[5:25] Speaker 1: to make little hay piles. When winter comes and everything
[5:28] Speaker 1: is buried in snow, we eat our stored food. You
[5:32] Speaker 1: have to prepare when you live this high up. It's
[5:34] Speaker 1: too cold and snowy for much to grow in winter.
[5:38] Speaker 1: That's so clever, Nutmeg exclaimed, his eyes bright with admiration.
[5:43] Speaker 1: The pika beamed. We also stay close to the rocks.
[5:47] Speaker 1: The sun warms the stone during the day, and at
[5:50] Speaker 1: night we snuggle between them to stay warm. Every creature
[5:54] Speaker 1: up here has a special trick to survive. Maple thought
[5:59] Speaker 1: about that, how each animal had something unique that helped
[6:03] Speaker 1: it thrive. The goat's grippy hoofs, the pika's hay piles,
[6:09] Speaker 1: the shrubs low growing roots. Even she and Nutmeg were different.
[6:14] Speaker 1: She was brave and bold, and he was cautious and clever.
[6:19] Speaker 1: Maybe that was exactly why they made such a good team.
[6:23] Speaker 1: Higher and higher they climbed until the meadow gave way
[6:26] Speaker 1: to bare rock and patches of snow. The wind grew
[6:30] Speaker 1: strong and cold, and Nutmeg pressed close to Maple for warmth.
[6:35] Speaker 1: They were above the tree line, now above even the
[6:38] Speaker 1: shrubs and pikas. Nothing grew here except lichen, those strange,
[6:44] Speaker 1: crusty patches of green and orange that clung to stone.
[6:48] Speaker 1: Lichen is one of the toughest living things on earth,
[6:51] Speaker 1: Nutmeg said, through chattering teeth. It can survive freezing cold
[6:55] Speaker 1: and blazing heat, and barely any water. It even helps
[6:59] Speaker 1: break walk into soil very slowly, so that someday other
[7:03] Speaker 1: plants can grow. You're doing great, Nutmeg, Maple said, nuzzling
[7:09] Speaker 1: his ear. I don't feel great, he admitted, but I
[7:13] Speaker 1: feel less scared when I'm with you. Just then, a
[7:17] Speaker 1: tremendous shadow swept over them. Maple looked up and gasped
[7:22] Speaker 1: a golden eagle soared on enormous wings, riding the wind
[7:26] Speaker 1: as if it were a river. She circled gracefully and
[7:29] Speaker 1: landed on a rocky outcrop above them, soaring, the eagle said, proudly,
[7:35] Speaker 1: spreading her wings so they could see. These wings are
[7:38] Speaker 1: wide enough to catch rising currents of warm air called
[7:43] Speaker 1: thermals that push me up, up, up, without even flapping.
[7:49] Speaker 1: That's how I fly over the highest peaks. She tilted
[7:53] Speaker 1: her head, studying the two small creatures below. And my
[7:58] Speaker 1: eyes can spot a mouse from a mountain top. You
[8:01] Speaker 1: must be very brave or very determined to climb this far.
[8:08] Speaker 1: We're following the mountain song, Mapel said. The eagle's eyes softened. Ah, yes,
[8:15] Speaker 1: I know that song well. It sings to me every evening.
[8:20] Speaker 1: I will tell you this. You are almost there, but
[8:24] Speaker 1: the last stretch is the hardest. Only the strongest team
[8:28] Speaker 1: can finish. Maple and Nutmeg looked at each other. Nutmeg's
[8:33] Speaker 1: paws were sore and Maple's legs ached, but neither of
[8:37] Speaker 1: them thought about turning back. Thank you, they said together,
[8:42] Speaker 1: and pressed on. The final climb was steep, and the
[8:45] Speaker 1: air was so thin it made their head spin. Maple
[8:49] Speaker 1: helped Nutmeg over the big rocks, and Nutmeg found the
[8:52] Speaker 1: safest paths with his sharp eyes, reading the mountain's cracks
[8:56] Speaker 1: and ledges like a map. Whenever one faltered, the other
[9:00] Speaker 1: was there, steady and sure. And then at last they
[9:05] Speaker 1: stood at the very top of the world. The peak
[9:08] Speaker 1: was a small, wind swept place of ancient stone, smoothed
[9:12] Speaker 1: and shaped by millions of years of wind and ice.
[9:16] Speaker 1: The rocks were layered in colors gray and red and gold,
[9:21] Speaker 1: each layer representing an age of the earth, stacked like
[9:25] Speaker 1: the pages of a very old book. And as the
[9:28] Speaker 1: wind swept through the cracks and hollows of those ancient stones,
[9:32] Speaker 1: it made the most beautiful sound Maple and Nutmeed had
[9:35] Speaker 1: ever heard. The song. It rose and fell, hummed and
[9:40] Speaker 1: whispered as the wind threaded through rock that had been
[9:43] Speaker 1: borne from the collision of tectonic plates long long ago,
[9:47] Speaker 1: before there were trees, before there were animals, before there
[9:51] Speaker 1: was even snow on the peak. The mountain itself was singing,
[9:55] Speaker 1: and it had been singing for millions of years. It's
[9:59] Speaker 1: the wind, Nutmeg breathed, echoing through the rocks. It's the
[10:05] Speaker 1: mountain's voice, Maple added in wonder. They sat together on
[10:10] Speaker 1: the peak, side by side, wrapped in warmth and friendship,
[10:14] Speaker 1: and listened. The song filled them up the way a
[10:17] Speaker 1: lullaby fills a quiet room. Below them, they could see
[10:21] Speaker 1: the forest zone and the meadow, and the rocky slopes
[10:24] Speaker 1: where the pikas lived, and the ledges where granite stood watch,
[10:28] Speaker 1: and the sky where the eagles soared. Every layer of
[10:32] Speaker 1: the mountain told a story. Every creature had a roll,
[10:36] Speaker 1: and they, two small animals, who had been brave enough
[10:39] Speaker 1: to try and wise enough to help each other, had
[10:42] Speaker 1: climbed all the way to the top. We did it,
[10:46] Speaker 1: Mapel whispered, because of you. Nutmeg said, I never would
[10:51] Speaker 1: have made it alone, and I never would have made
[10:54] Speaker 1: it without you. Mapel replied, you found every path, you
[10:59] Speaker 1: knew every fact. I just run ahead. You kept us
[11:03] Speaker 1: on course. Nutmeg smiled, his big eyes shining in the starlight.
[11:08] Speaker 1: The wind song wrapped around them like a blanket, soft
[11:12] Speaker 1: and deep and endless. The stars came out one by one,
[11:17] Speaker 1: like tiny candles in the sky. Maple's eyelids grew heavy.
[11:21] Speaker 1: Nutmeg yawned so wide his whole small body stretched. They
[11:26] Speaker 1: curled up together on the ancient stone, two small friends
[11:30] Speaker 1: at the top of a very tall mountain that had
[11:33] Speaker 1: been rising from the earth for millions of years. The
[11:37] Speaker 1: wind hummed its quiet melody through the rocks, and the
[11:41] Speaker 1: stars wheeled slowly overhead, and the mountain held them gently
[11:47] Speaker 1: the way mountains do, steady and strong and patient. Good night, nutmeg,
[11:54] Speaker 1: mapel murmured good night, maple, nutmeg whispered back, and together,
[12:01] Speaker 1: listening to the oldest song in the world, they fell asleep.

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