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Episode
5 min
Lissin
· May 24, 2026
Tiny Tales of Heart
Willow the Worm Waits: A Gentle Tale of Patience and Wonder
Softly narrated bedtime stories about friendship, kindness, and big feelings for little listeners
Willow the Worm Waits: A Gentle Tale of Patience and Wonder
Lissin
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-4:48
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About this episode
Softly narrated bedtime stories about friendship, kindness, and big feelings for little listeners
0:00
The patch of earth beneath the strawberry plant was perfectly still.
0:07
Last time, we talked about how it feels to be small in a big, wondrous world.
0:16
Willow the worm knew that feeling very, very well.
0:22
She was waiting.
0:24
Waiting was a strange kind of quiet.
0:28
It felt like holding your breath for a very long time.
0:35
Willow wiggled her tiny body in the soft, dark soil.
0:41
She was waiting for the big green strawberry hanging just above her to turn red.
0:50
The waiting felt like forever.
0:54
A fuzzy bumblebee buzzed by, its legs heavy with yellow pollen.
1:01
It visited one flower, then another, busy busy busy.
1:07
A ladybug with seven perfect spots crawled slowly up a long blade of grass, on a very important ladybug journey.
1:20
Everyone seemed to have something to do.
1:25
But Willow’s job was just to wait.
1:29
She poked her head out of the soil.
1:33
The strawberry was still green.
1:37
Not even a hint of pink.
1:39
She wriggled with impatience.
1:43
"Why does waiting take sooooo long?" she whispered to a pebble.
1:50
The pebble, of course, did not answer.
1:55
Just then, a slow, silvery trail appeared nearby.
2:00
It was Silas the snail, carrying his swirly house on his back.
2:08
He moved with a calm that Willow couldn't understand.
2:14
"What has you in such a wiggle, little one?" Silas asked, his voice soft like moss.
2:24
"I'm waiting!" Willow said.
2:27
"And it's the most boring thing in the whole garden." Silas blinked his long eyestalks.
2:37
"Waiting is not just about doing nothing," he said gently.
2:44
"It is a quiet time for noticing." He continued on his slow, steady way, leaving his thought hanging in the air like a dandelion seed.
2:59
A quiet time for noticing?
3:02
Willow stopped wiggling.
3:05
She decided to try.
3:07
She noticed the way the sun felt, warm on the soil above her.
3:15
She noticed the sweet smell of damp earth and clover.
3:21
She listened.
3:22
She could hear the tiny rustle of a leaf in the breeze.
3:29
She could feel the gentle rumble of a beetle walking somewhere far away.
3:37
The world wasn't empty while she waited.
3:42
It was full of tiny, secret happenings.
3:46
She felt a deep sense of peace settle over her.
3:52
The waiting wasn't boring anymore.
3:56
It was...
3:57
interesting.
3:58
And then, she smelled it.
4:01
A new smell.
4:03
Sweet and warm and wonderful.
4:06
Willow poked her head out of the soil one more time.
4:12
The strawberry wasn't green anymore.
4:16
It was a brilliant, shining red, glowing like a jewel in the sunshine.
4:24
It was ready.
4:26
She took a tiny, happy bite.
4:29
It was the sweetest, most delicious strawberry she had ever tasted.
4:37
And she knew, deep in her small worm heart, that it was made all the sweeter by the wait.
