Hello, hello and welcome to story nori.
You're listening to jana and i am back with a birdie story with an interesting twist jake's spell of bad luck.
This story is dedicated to nicole, nico and nathan, who generously support story nori.
One evening, Jake was sprawled out on the sofa.
He was happily absorbed in his Robin Hood book, The Tales of the Merryman, when he noticed a small shadow flitting across the doorway.
He knew his peace was over.
It wasn't his best friend Birdie.
In fact, a bird-shaped shadow would have been more than welcome.
No.
The shadow belonged to his little sister, Elle.
Jakey! came her sing-song voice.
I want to meet Birdie.
You said he talks to you and I want him to talk to me too.
Jake sighed, keeping his eyes on the book.
Oh, Elle!
Birdie isn't just any crow.
He's a magical bird.
He doesn't like being shown off to everyone.
Elle crossed her arms, frowning.
I'm not everyone.
I'm your sister, she insisted, creeping closer.
What's the big deal, Jake?
You're always saying how smart he is.
If he can talk, can't I just say hello?
Birdie chooses who he talks to, Jake replied.
He's a very busy bird and hasn't got time to talk to you.
Elle pinched him.
You're so mean.
Jake shook his head and tried to read his book, even as Elle tugged at his hair, trying to force his attention.
But he was adamant.
Birdie had no interest in meeting her, especially as she'd probably pull his feathers.
A few days went by, and Jake forgot about the incident.
Then the weekend arrived, bringing a new annoyance.
Elle had two friends over for a sleepover.
For Jake.
This wasn't L times 3.
It was maybe L times 20.
He had to contend with non-stop shrieks, laughter, singing and dancing to bubblegum pop.
He tried to stay out of their way.
When he went looking for his ipad, he had to walk into the sitting room where the girls were hanging out.
L pointed at him and whispered that's my brother jake.
His best friend is a talking bird, but i've never heard him speak.
He won't let anyone near his magic friend.
Paulina, One of Elle's friends, got up and rummaged through her overnight bag.
She said, Do not worry, Elle.
Look what I've got.
As she pulled out a little black book, My babushka from back home gave me her old spell book.
Little Witch's Book of Spells.
She grinned wickedly.
Oh, that's just a story book, said Jake. it's got a real spells in it she fired the other girl maya leaned over and whispered something to polina oh i know let's put a spell on jake jake heard this loud and clear putting spells on people even pretend spells is not okay said jake And he turned to his sister.
Elle, that's why I don't let you talk to Birdie.
You'd probably ask him to do a bad spell and that would be so embarrassing.
As he turned to leave, he heard three little girls sniggering behind his back.
That night, Jake waited for his best friend.
But Birdie did not arrive.
This was nothing unusual.
Birdie was often away on some sort of important mission.
His attempts to fall asleep were constantly interrupted by the sound of giggles from Elle's room across the corridor.
The laughter grew louder and louder and then it went quiet.
He thought he could hear whispering.
They're plotting something, he thought.
He got up and opened his door.
He could see the glow of a flashlight flickering under his sister's door.
Bad luck to Jake.
Curse him into the night with stumbles and tumbles and trips full of fright.
Jake's eyes widened.
It sounded like some ridiculous curse.
The kind only seven-year-olds would think up.
That was probably because Elle and her friends were actually seven years old.
Polina, your spell book is so much fun, Jake heard Elle say.
There was a rustling of pages, then Polina whispered.
It's got spells for bad dreams, itchy noses, even losing things.
Not very nice, thought Jake.
Doing bad magic is wrong.
The chant began again.
Bad luck to Jake.
Curse him into the night with stumbles and tumbles and trips full of fright.
May Birdie the Crow lose feathers galore.
Imagine him all scruffy.
He'd look like a plucked chicken.
Once the laughter settled, Elle continued with wicked glee in her voice.
Whenever he calls, let Birdie forget and make Jake feel silly with every regret.
The other girl, Maya, added, And maybe make Jake grow feathers instead of hair.
Oh, yes!
Yes, and if Jake keeps Birdie all to himself, may he trip over every time he opens his mouth.
As the giggles turned into hushed whispers, Jake sighed, shaking his head.
This is ridiculous.
Ridiculous, he muttered, trying to brush it off.
That night he had bad dreams about all sorts of things going wrong.
Jake was about to save a goal when he tripped over a daisy and all the team were angry with him.
Then he got into trouble at school for leaving chewing gum on the teacher's register.
And when he got home...
Birdie was bald because all his feathers had fallen off.
He woke up feeling very strange, half wondering if his dreams were true.
At breakfast, he complained to Mum that Elle's friends were witches and had put a spell on him.
Jake, don't call girls witches.
That's so rude, scolded his mum.
So Jake didn't say anything more.
But although he knew the girl's bad luck spell was all nonsense, he felt uneasy.
He had to admit the spell was bothering him.
Oh, how he wished Birdie was around.
He'd know what to do.
And right on cue, the following week brought nothing but bad luck for poor Jake.
And this time he wasn't dreaming.
The whole week was like a waking nightmare.
On Monday, he forgot his lunchbox and was hungry all day at school.
Tuesday went fine during the day, but in the evening he spilled juice on his homework.
Wednesday brought more disasters.
He actually did trip over a daisy and missed a save at his football match, just like in the dream.
And worse than the dream, when he went back to the changing rooms, he couldn't find his school tie.
And just as he thought things couldn't get any worse, Thursday came along and was even more of a calamity.
He was late for school due to lack of sleep.
And he was duly embarrassed when the headteacher told him off during assembly for not wearing his tie and being late for registration.
He was put in double detention.
And Friday, well, Friday was truly the worst yet.
His teacher said that his mum had forgotten to pay for the school trip to the adventure camp so he couldn't go because it was now fully booked.
What a miserable week Jake had.
That evening, Jake finally heard a welcome sound.
Tap, tap, tap on his window pane.
Birdie, where have you been?
He called out.
Here and there, Birdie replied in his raspy voice.
And all around the world a couple of times.
Well, it's all been happening here, said Jake.
Elle's witchy friends came over for a sleepover and they bought a magic book.
They put a bad luck spell on me and it's been the worst week of my life.
Goodness knows what they're planning next.
What went wrong? asked Birdie.
Oh, tons of things like not saving an easy goal at football and being put in detention for forgetting my tie the teacher told me of in front of the whole school Birdie.
And I didn't get to go on the school trip, said Jake, almost in tears.
That is terrible, said Birdie sympathetically.
But don't blame the girls.
They can't do proper magic.
They were probably just larking around like kids do.
But I had such bad luck.
I couldn't even get a proper night's sleep.
Maybe you were expecting bad luck and that's what made it happen.
Luck, more than anything else, is all about what's going on in your little mind and absolutely nothing to do with magic.
Elle's now saying she's got some really bad news for me.
That's going to be just horrible and I'll only hear about it tomorrow.
She's going to laugh because it's good news for her.
I'm scared birdie.
What could be worse than what's already happened?
Plenty of things could happen, plenty worse oh, but don't worry, because they probably won't.
Whatever news comes tomorrow, don't despair.
Just think How you can turn it to your advantage.
Whatever you do, don't let Elle see that you're unhappy about anything.
Greet the news with a big smile and say, Great, just what I always wanted.
Say that after me.
Jake shook his head.
Go on, urged Birdie, these are the proper magic words that you're going to say when you hear the news.
All right, mumbled jake great, just what i've always wanted.
And the next day, when the news came, It was worse than anything he could possibly have imagined.
Mum announced that his cousin Poppy had invited them to her wedding and Jake had to go, like it or not.
And, even worse, Jake was going to be a groom at the wedding and would have to dress up in a suit, tie and shiny new shoes.
And, worse still, he had been chosen to go up to the front of the church and read a soppy love poem written by Poppy.
This was the most terrible news ever.
It took Jake all his strength to look at Elle, who was sniggering away, and say the magic words.
Great!
That's just what I've always wanted.
The wedding was happening soon.
Mum had known about it for ages, but hadn't told Jake until the last minute because she knew he would hate it.
She gave him the poem and told him to practice it.
It was awful.
The soppiest thing you ever heard.
But all the same, Birdie persuaded him to learn it word for word.
If you want to survive this ordeal, it's far better that you do it well rather than badly.
And if you look like you're enjoying it, you might end up the star of the show.
Apart from the bride and groom, of course.
But I don't want to be the star of the show, protested Jake.
Trust me, if you're able to speak well in front of an audience, good luck will come to you.
Doing this sort of thing is proper magic, not some silly spell, kind of magic that you find in silly story books.
The wedding day came crisp and bright, a beautiful winter's day, but jake felt like he was on the verge of facing a dinosaur.
Only this time it was a fancy suit, a poem and an entire church full of relatives and their friends staring at him.
His mum was fussing with his collar as they reached the old country church, chirping about how handsome he looked.
Jake tried to keep his scowl to himself. although every bit of him wanted to bolt.
And then there was Elle swishing around in her bridesmaid dress, sneering playfully whenever she thought he wasn't looking.
She hadn't forgotten about her curse and still whispered to her cousins that the poem would be a disaster.
Finally, they were inside the church.
His cousin Poppy walked up the aisle looking like a princess in a fairy tale.
Even Jake felt it.
There was a kind of magic.
When the time came, Jake stood up to read.
He glanced around the room full of beaming relatives and took a deep breath.
He tried to remember Birdie's advice from the night before.
Pack up your troubles, keep smiling and carry on.
And so with a nice clear voice he began.
Love is a flower, tender and bright.
It grows with care and blossoms with light.
He paused to let his nerves settle, then pressed on, willing himself to sound steady.
Somehow, the more he read, the easier it got.
He even managed a small smile by the end.
People don't usually clap in a wedding ceremony, but as he walked back to his seat he noticed approving smiles and glances.
After the ceremony and photographs, They all climbed aboard a double-decker bus to travel to a big country house where the reception was taking place.
Jake thought his duties were over, but then he felt a tap on his shoulder.
His uncle was grinning down at him.
Jake, could you spare an hour to help us?
Well, yeah, I suppose so.
Well, that's really good, because Roddy and I...
Roddy was his older cousin.
We're heading off to the airdrome to pick up the helicopter.
We thought you might like to join us for a short flight.
Oh, yeah, cool, said Jake, still a bit confused.
His mum smiled from ear to ear and said Jake, see what a lucky boy you are.
Which was annoying, but not so annoying as to spoil his excitement.
On the way to the airdrome, Jake's uncle explained that he'd hired a helicopter to fly the bride and groom to their honeymoon, but he had always wanted to go up in one himself.
So he'd arranged to fly in it on the way to the reception.
There were three passenger seats, one for Uncle, one for Roddy and one for Jake.
Jake could hardly believe his ears.
This was going to be the coolest trip ever.
It began in his uncle's flashy German car.
And when they got to the airdrome, a bright red helicopter was waiting for them.
They clambered aboard and the rotors began to whirl.
It was incredibly noisy.
The pilot was holding what looked like a gear stick that was shaking all over the place.
And then with a jolt, they lifted off the ground.
Now that was magic.
The views of the countryside, the church and the estate of the country house was stunning.
They landed on the lawn and hopped out.
Everyone was watching from the ballroom where the reception was taking place.
Jake felt like a film star or a billionaire or a secret agent.
He looked over to the house, his gaze drifting up to the roof.
Sure enough, perched on top of a chimney pot was the figure he was looking for.
The shape of a black crow.
The wisest bird you could ever imagine.
And that was Jake's spell of bad luck.
I hope you enjoyed our birdie story.
There were a few unexpected twists and turns.
As in real life, You never know what's just around the corner.
And I'd like to thank Nicole, Nico and Nathan, who very generously support Story Nori.
And if you would like to support us, the easiest way is via PayPal.
Please visit StoryNori.com for details.
From me, Jana...
See you next time.
