Crow Takes the Stage Jolly Phonics · Step 3, Unit 4: /ai/ mixed

Crow flies all day. His wings feel like wet rags. But Crow is not sad. He has a plan. A big, grand plan. 'I aim to get some mates,' he says to himself. 'And then I aim to wow them with my singing voice.'

Crow spots them from the sky. A rabbit, a rooster and a lizard, under a big tree. 'Yay,' Crow says low. He dives down with his best grin. 'Hello! I am Crow! I came to sing a grand song!' Rabbit jumps. Rooster blinks. Lizard just grins on a hot rock. No one says no. And to Crow, that means yes.

Crow opens his beak and sings. It is not grand. It is a big, loud wail. Rabbit makes a face. Rooster gasps. Even Lizard, all smiles just now, looks like she bit a lime.

Crow hops up to the top branch and really lets it rip. Wings out. Beak up. What a loud wail it is! Way up here, Crow can not make out a thing but his own voice. That is fine by Crow. He sounds grand. Or so he tells himself.

Down under the tree, the animals run. Rabbit bolts up the hill fast. Rooster dashes off with a loud cluck. And Lizard? Off in a blink, like a magic trick. Crow ends his big note and looks down. 'Hmm,' he says. 'My mates did not make out my song. Next time, I must sing louder.'

His new mates are not there. Not one. Crow stands under the big tree by himself. The sunshine feels less hot now. 'They just had to go some place,' he says, low. Then he puffs up his chest. 'I will train! I will get so good that next time, they will stay.' Off he hops to get the perfect spot.

Crow tries one branch. Not safe. He tries the next. Too leafy. On the third branch, bonk! A nut drops on his beak. 'Not a fan, I take it,' says Crow. He keeps looking. Some place out there is the perfect spot for the perfect song.

Crow lands way up in the treetop and gazes down. There, in the sunshine, he spots a thing. A little wood thing, all by itself. Just sitting there, as if it waits for some one. Crow blinks. 'Wait a bit...'

Down there sits a bench. 'That is not a bench,' Crow gasps. 'That is a stage!' He can see it all. Lights! Tunes! Fans that chant his name! Then a new plan pops up. A plan Crow never had before. What if he does not just sing at his mates? What if they sing too?

Crow gets a mic. Do not ask where. He sets it up on the little wood stage. One by one, the animals peek down the path. 'What is that thing?' asks Rabbit. 'It may bite,' says Rooster. 'It looks fun,' says Lizard. Crow grins. 'Who wants to go first?'

'Rooster,' says Crow, 'step up here.' 'No, no, no,' says Rooster. 'I do not sing.' 'Just try,' says Crow. So Rooster steps up to the mic and opens his beak. Out comes a grand, happy sound. A nice, nice sound! Rooster gasps. 'Was that me?'

'My turn!' Lizard hops up on the stage. She starts soft. Just a peep. 'More!' yells Crow. She sings louder. Then louder still. Then Lizard lays down a beat so fun that Rabbit's foot thumps and thumps. 'I can not stop it!' yells Rabbit, hopping in place. 'My feet will not quit!'

Then Rabbit spots the drums. 'Ooh,' she says. 'Ooh, yes.' She takes the drumsticks and lets it rip. Boom, tap, boom, boom, tap! She sings and drums at the same time, like a star. 'How can she do that?' yells Rooster. Rabbit grins. 'No clue!'

Then all three turn to Crow. 'Crow's turn,' says Lizard. Crow blinks. For the first time, he feels shy. What if his mates run off, like before? 'Sing!' they all yell. So Crow steps up. The spotlight is on him now. Rabbit taps her drum. Rooster flaps his wings. And Crow opens his beak and lets it all out. No one runs. Not even a bit.

And that is the way the band starts. Rooster sings. Lizard strums. Rabbit smashes the drums as if she is mad at them. And Crow? Crow dances. Wings out, feet flying, notes all round him. Crow's wail never gets nice. But his mates are not sad, not one bit. Because Crow does not get mates by being the best singer. He gets them by giving them the mic.