Episode 8
Forty Stories - "Great Blue Heron"
I'm doing a little survey to find out more about ALE listeners. There are just four tiny questions. It will only take a minute or two, and will help me a LOT! Please check it out. Thanks, Cooper
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Season 3 Episode 8Thank you for downloading this episode.
👉The story begins at 01:50 and the tiny lessons begin at 11:22
👉You can find the transcript after the Credits!
👉Visit our website to download the Podcast User's Manual and find out more! https://alittleenglish.com/
A Little English is written, produced, recorded, edited, mixed, mastered and scored by Edward Cooper Howland.
All stories are either in the public domain, or written by me.
Copyright 2024 Edward Cooper Howland
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hi. My name is Cooper, and this is…A Little English. Every episode, I read a short story. After the story, there are three tiny lessons.
This story is really important to me, because this is the first story I ever wrote for this project. I actually started writing it in December 2021, and I was saving it for a special time. This is that time. I’m in the middle of moving and starting my dream job, and my life is totally crazy, so I thought now is a good time to share the story that started the whole project. I hope you enjoy!
One thing, you might want to pause before we start and look at a picture of a Great Blue Heron, if you don’t know what that is. They’re pretty beautiful birds, and it will probably help you understand the story a little better if you have a picture of one in your head.
Great Blue Heron
Sarah sat by the river and wondered how to get more likes. Maybe she could take a selfie at sunset? Everyone likes sunset photos. She took her phone out of her bag and held it in front of her. She moved around on the park bench until she found a nice angle, and posed for the selfie.
It was a good photo. The river was flowing off towards the sun as it set behind her. The sky was red and pink, and the few fluffy clouds made it even prettier. She flipped through the filters for a while, trying to find the best one, but it just didn’t look right. She breathed out heavily, deleted it, and started to pose again.
The sun was almost behind the mountains by the time she got a photo that she really liked. She chose a good filter, and thought about which hashtags would get the most attention. #sunset #naturelife #river
Behind her, an enormous heron landed in the river without a splash or a sound. It looked around cautiously, standing on one leg in the rushing water, searching for a fish for dinner.
Sarah knew what she had to do. She had to get a selfie with the heron. She tried to take one from the bench, but it was much too far away. The bird looked like a little gray bug in the background, blurry and out of focus. She would have to get closer. She got off the bench and crawled sideways like a crab down the steep hill until she reached the bank of the river. She crept through the tall grass, trying to get as close as she could.
The heron stood perfectly still, staring down into the rushing water, pretending to ignore Sarah. As soon as Sarah put one of her feet into the freezing cold water, balancing on the slippery rocks, the heron raised its head and stared directly at her.
Sarah froze. The heron froze. They stared at each other for a few seconds, neither one moving. Sarah was holding her dress out of the water with one hand. With the other she reached into her bag, trying to look like she wasn’t moving at all. The heron stared right at her. It put its other foot down into the water, getting ready to fly away.
It was impossibly beautiful, blue and gray, with a white head and neck. A black streak like a halloween mask stretched from its eyes to a little cap of feathers on the back of its head. Its wings were just barely open, its long legs bent at the knee as it stared at Sarah, trying to decide whether or not she was a threat.
Her hand came out of the bag now, holding her phone. She unlocked it with her finger and raised it above her head, twisting around to get herself, the heron, the river, and the setting sun into the photo. This one would get hundreds of likes. #sunset, #river, #naturelife.
Her movement startled the heron and it bent its knees a bit more, worrying that she was going to attack it. Sarah stopped moving, her body stuck in a very uncomfortable position. She didn’t even breathe. The heron didn’t either. They stayed there, frozen, the heron staring at Sarah and Sarah staring at her phone’s screen.
The setting sun reflected off the glass and she couldn’t tell if the shot was any good at all. She knew that she only had one chance, that the sound of the phone taking the photo would scare the bird away. She was starting to lose the feeling in her feet, and her legs and backhurt from crouching and twisting for so long.
Three things happened then, all at the same time. A little fish, searching for his own dinner, jumped out of the rushing water. Sarah, startled by the sound of the jumping fish, slipped on a rock. The heron, afraid that Sarah had finally decided to attack her, spread its enormous wings and took off into the sky.
Sarah reached her left arm behind her, trying to stay out of the water. Both of her feet slipped on the slimy rocks, one sandal flew straight up into the air, and her whole body collapsed into the river. Except, of course, for her right hand, which held her phone straight up, keeping it safe and dry while the rest of her got soaked. The shock of the icy water stole the breath from her body.
After she had crawled out of the river and collapsed, shivering, on the shore for a few moments, Sarah checked her phone. On the screen was a six-second-long video. It was perfect. The heron, the setting sun, the rushing river and her smiling face were all in the frame. She pushed “play.” She watched her eyes go wide as she slipped. She listened to her tiny scream get lost in a loud splash as she fell into the river. She watched the heron avoid her flying sandal as it flew away. The bird didn’t seem scared, or rushed, or even annoyed. It just flew off into the pink sunset, searching for a safer spot to go fishing.
Sarah shared the video to her page. #naturelife #river #heron. Then she stood up and walked back to her parents’ house, soaking wet, freezing cold, one sandal lost forever, and smiling.
—------------------
So, that’s Sarah. We’ve actually met her before, but she didn’t get a name in that story. I’m not gonna tell you which story it was, though. You’ll have to search around yourself. But don’t worry, I have a lot of stuff to say about Sarah and her family and friends. We’ll see her again.
And just a reminder, the next episode will come out in two weeks, because my studio and I are not living in the same part of Japan right now. Thanks for understanding.
Now, let’s do some tiny lessons.
The Big Picture is…a selfie?
Why is it so important for Sarah to get a picture with the Heron? If you’re not sure, pause now and go back and listen or read the transcript. It’s because Sarah is totally obsessed with social media. Probably Instagram. She literally thinks in hashtags!
Do you think we can get into the Dictionary Disco with only one shoe on?
The first vocabulary word is - Collapse - It’s just a fancy way to say “fall down.” You can use it for a building, like in an earthquake, or a person who is sick or hurt. Or who just fell in a river in March.
The second word this week is - shiver - that’s when your body shakes, but you have no control over it. Like when you’re extremely cold, or frightened, or, um, excited. There’s a pretty awesome Ed Sheerhan song about that last one that uses it as a noun. He’s got….the shivers.
And finally, let’s slow down for a melody moment.
I’d like to talk for a while about intonation. Intonation is actually not that important in English. I know. Don’t get angry. But, for example, in Japanese, intonation affects the meaning of a word. So HAshi in Japanese is chopsticks. But haSHI is a bridge. Intonation affects meaning. But in English, we use intonation for emotion. You I could say the same phrase with two different intonations and it would show that I have different feelings each time. So like “hashtag naturelife” is showing how much I love nature and sharing it on insta! But “hashtag naturelife” is showing that I hate social media and think it’s kind of stupid. Going up is usually more positive and going down is usually more negative. I’ll talk more about intonation soon.
Let’s do the credits.
Thank you for listening to Season 3 Episode 8 of A Little English.
Every episode is produced entirely by me, Edward Cooper Howland, here in Hiroshima, Japan. At least for now.
If you like the show, tell someone about it! A recommendation from a friend is the best way to get someone to listen, and I would really appreciate it.
This season, all the stories are written by…me! I use chatGPT by Openai.com as an editor because I can’t afford to hire a human. It’s an amazing, free piece of software, and you should check it out.
Again, thank you so much for listening.
For now, be kind to yourselves, and to each other.
Transcript
Hi. My name is Cooper, and this is…A Little English. Every episode, I read a short story. After the story, there are three tiny lessons.
tarted writing it in December:One thing, you might want to pause before we start and look at a picture of a Great Blue Heron, if you don’t know what that is. They’re pretty beautiful birds, and it will probably help you understand the story a little better if you have a picture of one in your head.
Great Blue Heron
Sarah sat by the river and wondered how to get more likes. Maybe she could take a selfie at sunset? Everyone likes sunset photos. She took her phone out of her bag and held it in front of her. She moved around on the park bench until she found a nice angle, and posed for the selfie.
It was a good photo. The river was flowing off towards the sun as it set behind her. The sky was red and pink, and the few fluffy clouds made it even prettier. She flipped through the filters for a while, trying to find the best one, but it just didn’t look right. She breathed out heavily, deleted it, and started to pose again.
The sun was almost behind the mountains by the time she got a photo that she really liked. She chose a good filter, and thought about which hashtags would get the most attention. #sunset #naturelife #river
Behind her, an enormous heron landed in the river without a splash or a sound. It looked around cautiously, standing on one leg in the rushing water, searching for a fish for dinner.
Sarah knew what she had to do. She had to get a selfie with the heron. She tried to take one from the bench, but it was much too far away. The bird looked like a little gray bug in the background, blurry and out of focus. She would have to get closer. She got off the bench and crawled sideways like a crab down the steep hill until she reached the bank of the river. She crept through the tall grass, trying to get as close as she could.
The heron stood perfectly still, staring down into the rushing water, pretending to ignore Sarah. As soon as Sarah put one of her feet into the freezing cold water, balancing on the slippery rocks, the heron raised its head and stared directly at her.
Sarah froze. The heron froze. They stared at each other for a few seconds, neither one moving. Sarah was holding her dress out of the water with one hand. With the other she reached into her bag, trying to look like she wasn’t moving at all. The heron stared right at her. It put its other foot down into the water, getting ready to fly away.
It was impossibly beautiful, blue and gray, with a white head and neck. A black streak like a halloween mask stretched from its eyes to a little cap of feathers on the back of its head. Its wings were just barely open, its long legs bent at the knee as it stared at Sarah, trying to decide whether or not she was a threat.
Her hand came out of the bag now, holding her phone. She unlocked it with her finger and raised it above her head, twisting around to get herself, the heron, the river, and the setting sun into the photo. This one would get hundreds of likes. #sunset, #river, #naturelife.
Her movement startled the heron and it bent its knees a bit more, worrying that she was going to attack it. Sarah stopped moving, her body stuck in a very uncomfortable position. She didn’t even breathe. The heron didn’t either. They stayed there, frozen, the heron staring at Sarah and Sarah staring at her phone’s screen.
The setting sun reflected off the glass and she couldn’t tell if the shot was any good at all. She knew that she only had one chance, that the sound of the phone taking the photo would scare the bird away. She was starting to lose the feeling in her feet, and her legs and backhurt from crouching and twisting for so long.
Three things happened then, all at the same time. A little fish, searching for his own dinner, jumped out of the rushing water. Sarah, startled by the sound of the jumping fish, slipped on a rock. The heron, afraid that Sarah had finally decided to attack her, spread its enormous wings and took off into the sky.
Sarah reached her left arm behind her, trying to stay out of the water. Both of her feet slipped on the slimy rocks, one sandal flew straight up into the air, and her whole body collapsed into the river. Except, of course, for her right hand, which held her phone straight up, keeping it safe and dry while the rest of her got soaked. The shock of the icy water stole the breath from her body.
After she had crawled out of the river and collapsed, shivering, on the shore for a few moments, Sarah checked her phone. On the screen was a six-second-long video. It was perfect. The heron, the setting sun, the rushing river and her smiling face were all in the frame. She pushed “play.” She watched her eyes go wide as she slipped. She listened to her tiny scream get lost in a loud splash as she fell into the river. She watched the heron avoid her flying sandal as it flew away. The bird didn’t seem scared, or rushed, or even annoyed. It just flew off into the pink sunset, searching for a safer spot to go fishing.
Sarah shared the video to her page. #naturelife #river #heron. Then she stood up and walked back to her parents’ house, soaking wet, freezing cold, one sandal lost forever, and smiling.
—------------------
So, that’s Sarah. We’ve actually met her before, but she didn’t get a name in that story. I’m not gonna tell you which story it was, though. You’ll have to search around yourself. But don’t worry, I have a lot of stuff to say about Sarah and her family and friends. We’ll see her again.
And just a reminder, the next episode will come out in two weeks, because my studio and I are not living in the same part of Japan right now. Thanks for understanding.
Now, let’s do some tiny lessons.
The Big Picture is…a selfie?
Why is it so important for Sarah to get a picture with the Heron? If you’re not sure, pause now and go back and listen or read the transcript. It’s because Sarah is totally obsessed with social media. Probably Instagram. She literally thinks in hashtags!
Do you think we can get into the Dictionary Disco with only one shoe on?
The first vocabulary word is - Collapse - It’s just a fancy way to say “fall down.” You can use it for a building, like in an earthquake, or a person who is sick or hurt. Or who just fell in a river in March.
The second word this week is - shiver - that’s when your body shakes, but you have no control over it. Like when you’re extremely cold, or frightened, or, um, excited. There’s a pretty awesome Ed Sheerhan song about that last one that uses it as a noun. He’s got….the shivers.
And finally, let’s slow down for a melody moment.
I’d like to talk for a while about intonation. Intonation is actually not that important in English. I know. Don’t get angry. But, for example, in Japanese, intonation affects the meaning of a word. So HAshi in Japanese is chopsticks. But haSHI is a bridge. Intonation affects meaning. But in English, we use intonation for emotion. You I could say the same phrase with two different intonations and it would show that I have different feelings each time. So like “hashtag naturelife” is showing how much I love nature and sharing it on insta! But “hashtag naturelife” is showing that I hate social media and think it’s kind of stupid. Going up is usually more positive and going down is usually more negative. I’ll talk more about intonation soon.
Let’s do the credits.
Thank you for listening to Season 3 Episode 8 of A Little English.
Every episode is produced entirely by me, Edward Cooper Howland, here in Hiroshima, Japan. At least for now.
If you like the show, tell someone about it! A recommendation from a friend is the best way to get someone to listen, and I would really appreciate it.
This season, all the stories are written by…me! I use chatGPT by Openai.com as an editor because I can’t afford to hire a human. It’s an amazing, free piece of software, and you should check it out.
Again, thank you so much for listening.
For now, be kind to yourselves, and to each other.
