0:00 Dot pressed her paws flat against her ears.0:04 It was just one of those days.0:07 Even the soft flutter of her friend Luna the Ladybug's wings, which we heard about last time, would have felt too loud.0:18 The meadow was having a party.0:21 A very, VERY loud party.0:23 The bees buzzed a buzzy song.0:26 The crickets chirped a chirpy tune.0:29 The birds sang their biggest, brightest notes from the treetops.0:36 Everyone seemed so happy with the noise.0:39 Everyone except Dot the dormouse.0:43 For Dot, the sounds weren't a song.0:46 They were a jumble.0:48 A big, messy pile of noise that made her feel wobbly inside.0:54 A big green grasshopper leaped by, its legs making a loud thwump-thwump-thwump on the ground.1:03 A family of squirrels chattered in the branches above, dropping acorn shells that went tink, tink, tink on the leaves near her head.1:15 Her little whiskers trembled with every new sound.1:20 She tried to hide inside the bell of a foxglove flower, hoping for peace.1:27 But a bumblebee followed her in, his buzz so deep it vibrated right through her tiny bones.1:36 BZZZZZZZZZ.1:37 It was TOO much.1:39 She scurried out and tucked herself under a wide dock leaf.1:44 But a cricket was already there, practicing his loudest song.1:50 CHIRP-CHIRP-CHIRP!1:52 It was like a tiny alarm bell ringing right in her ear.1:57 Her heart started beating fast, a little drum inside her chest.2:03 pat-pat-pat-pat.2:05 The world felt so big.2:07 And she felt so very, very small.2:10 All she wanted was a little bit of quiet.2:14 A moment to just… be.2:16 Just then, a slow, gentle movement caught her eye.2:21 It was Silas the snail, making his way over a smooth grey stone.2:27 Silas was never in a hurry.2:30 He saw Dot, with her paws over her ears and her eyes squeezed shut.2:36 He didn't say a word.2:38 He just glided closer...2:41 and closer...2:42 until he could gently tap her shoulder with one soft, wiggly antenna.2:49 It was the quietest touch.2:51 Dot opened one eye.2:53 Silas gave a slow blink and then, just as slowly, turned and began to slide away.3:01 He was asking her to follow.3:03 Dot trusted Silas.3:05 She scampered after his shimmering trail.3:09 He led her past the buzzing bees and the chirping crickets.3:15 He led her toward the old oak tree at the edge of the meadow.3:21 Behind a curtain of soft green moss, there was a little hollow.3:27 A perfect, dormouse-sized nook in the wood.3:31 Silas pointed with his antenna, and Dot peeked inside.3:36 The moment she slipped in, the world changed.3:40 The loud party of the meadow became a soft, distant hum.3:46 The sharp sounds were all smoothed away.3:50 It wasn't silent.3:51 It was just… peaceful.3:53 Silas slid in beside her.3:56 He saw the calm return to Dot's face.3:59 He waited a moment, then whispered in a voice as soft as moss.4:05 "Quiet isn't a place with no sound at all." "It's a place where the sounds feel kind." Dot let her paws drop from her ears.4:17 She could still hear the world outside.4:21 But here, in their little mossy room, it was a gentle lullaby.4:27 Her fast little heart slowed down to a soft, steady rhythm.4:33 She took a deep, calm breath that filled her all the way to her toes.4:39 She didn't need the whole world to be quiet.4:44 She just needed a small, quiet place that was HERS.4:49 A place to feel safe and calm again.4:52 And sometimes, you just need a kind friend to show you where it is.
