Bramble and the Apple Hill

00:00Snuggle down

Hello, you. Are your toes warm? Wiggle them once. [pause] Good. Tonight we're going to a hill at the edge of a wood, where a young hedgehog called Bramble lives at the very top. And at the bottom of that hill, there's an apple. A big red one. And it's going to take a little bit of help to get it home.

00:34The best apple

It was the end of autumn, and Bramble was getting ready for his long winter sleep. He needed one more good thing to eat, and that afternoon, he found it. [pause] At the bottom of the hill, under the old tree, lay the biggest, reddest, shiniest apple he had ever seen. It was nearly as big as he was. "I'll take it home," said Bramble. "All by myself. I'm big now." [pause] He put his nose against the apple, and he pushed. The apple rolled. Up the hill it went, a little way, and a little more, and then, about halfway, it stopped, and wobbled, and rolled all the way back down to the bottom. Bump. [pause] Bramble looked at it. "Again," he said.

01:31Want a hand?

He pushed it up again. Halfway, wobble, roll, bump. He pushed it up a third time. Halfway, wobble, roll, bump. His nose was sore, and his legs were trembly, and the sun was starting to go down. [pause] A mouse called Pip was sitting on a stone, eating a seed and watching. "That's a lot of apple," said Pip. "Want a hand?" Bramble's face went hot. "No thank you," he said, very politely and very quickly. "I can do it myself." "Okay," said Pip, and she went back to her seed. But she kept watching, just in case. [pause] Then a squirrel came hopping down the tree. "Ooh, that's a big one," said the squirrel. "Need a push?" "No thank you," said Bramble. "I can do it myself." And a little while later a rabbit came by, and said, "Shall I take the other side?" and Bramble said, "No thank you. I can do it myself." [pause] And every time he said it, the apple seemed to get a little bit heavier, and the hill seemed to get a little bit steeper.

02:51A knock at dusk

By the time the moon came up, the apple was still at the bottom of the hill, and Bramble was at the top, curled up in a grumpy little ball by his door. [pause] Then, there was a knock. Not at his door. It was coming from next door, from the big round door of Old Moss the badger. Knock, knock. And then a deep, slow voice. "Hello? Is anybody about? I could use a little help." [pause] Bramble uncurled. Old Moss was the biggest animal on the whole hill. He was strong enough to dig through tree roots. What could he possibly need help with?

03:38Old Moss asks

Bramble trotted over. Old Moss was standing in his doorway, holding a lantern, and looking a bit embarrassed. "Ah, Bramble," he said. "Thank goodness. I've dropped my reading glasses down behind the woodpile, and my paws are far too big to reach them. Would you mind? Your paws are just the right size." [pause] Bramble squeezed in behind the woodpile. It was dusty, and tickly, and there, right at the back, was a pair of tiny round glasses. He wriggled out and held them up. "Oh, wonderful," said Old Moss, putting them on his nose. "Thank you, Bramble. I couldn't have done that by myself." [pause] And Bramble felt something warm and bright light up in his chest, like the lantern.

04:34Something to ask back

Old Moss looked at him over his glasses. "You look tired, young Bramble. Busy day?" [pause] And out it all came. The apple, the hill, the halfway, the wobble, the bump. "Pip asked if I wanted a hand," said Bramble, "but I said no." "Hmm," said Old Moss. "Why's that?" Bramble looked at his feet. "Because I'm big now. And big animals do things by themselves." [pause] Old Moss laughed, a low rumbly laugh, like a cart going over a bridge. "Bramble," he said. "I'm the biggest animal on this hill. And I just knocked on your door." [pause] Bramble thought about that for a long moment. Then he looked down the hill, at the apple, shining red in the moonlight. And then he looked over at a small stone, where a small mouse was pretending very hard not to listen.

05:40Three noses

"Pip?" said Bramble. "Mr. Moss? [pause] Would you help me, please?" "Oh, I thought you'd never ask," said Pip, jumping off her stone. [pause] So down the hill they went, all three of them, in the moonlight. Bramble pushed with his nose. Pip pushed with her two front paws. And Old Moss walked behind, holding the lantern, and every time the apple started to wobble, he gave it one gentle nudge with his big striped nose. [pause] Up it went. Pip puffed. Bramble huffed. Old Moss hummed a slow, tuneless sort of song, one step, and another step, and another. Past the halfway place, where it had always stopped. No wobble. No roll. No bump. All the way up, and all the way to Bramble's door. [pause] Old Moss cut it into three with his claw. A piece for Bramble, a piece for Pip, and a piece for himself. And it was the sweetest apple any of them had ever tasted.

06:52Goodnight, hill

Pip went home to her nest under the stone. Old Moss went home to his round door, and his glasses, and his book. And Bramble went inside, and curled up in his bed of dry leaves, with apple juice still on his chin. [pause] Outside, the moon sat on the top of the hill. The wind went shush through the old tree. [pause] Bramble closed his eyes. His legs felt heavy. His nose felt warm. [pause] He was thinking that tomorrow, maybe, he'd go and knock on Pip's door, and see if she needed a hand with anything. [pause] Goodnight, Bramble. Goodnight, Pip. Goodnight, Old Moss. [pause] And goodnight to you. Sleep well.