When the whole forest is dark and the moon and stars appear in the sky, night falls. All the animals in the forest snuggle into their dens and go to sleep. They must regain their strength for the day ahead. But there are some animals that begin to live at night. They sleep during the day. When dusk approaches, they wake up. They open their little eyes and begin their night life.
They live in caves, sleep hanging upside down and can fly. There are always many of them side by side. When it starts to get dark, that’s their signal to wake up and fly into the forest. They’re bats. Even though they fly fast and at night, they never hit anything or get scared.
Once there was a group of bats living in a cave. In the evening, they would always fly around the forest and roam all night. whizzing through the air and having a good time. But one of them stayed in the cave. A little bat who was very scared. He was scared that he’d bump into something, get lost in the dark and not make it back. So he preferred to stay in the cave, all alone.
His bat friend would always wake him up in the evening and say, “Dude, wake up. It’s evening. We’ll be leaving soon. Come with us and don’t be afraid. I’ll be there with you. You don’t have to be scared. We make noises that only we can hear, and they help us not to get lost or bump into anything.” But the little bat always replied, “But I can’t hear them. I don’t know how and I’m afraid. I’d rather stay home.” He curled up on one side and was sad.
But one day, something happened that got him out of the cave. That evening, when the whole group had gone into the woods and the little bat stayed in the cave, he thought he heard something. A strange sound. He listened, but he didn’t recognize the sound. But an inner voice told him that something had happened and that the sound was for him. He stood on the edge of the cave and pricked up his ears. He heard the sound again. Something kept telling him that he had to find out what it was.
He gathered all his courage and tried to follow the sound. It led him to a large tree where a huge net was hung. All his friends were caught in the net. His friend was lying on the edge of the net, calling out: “I knew you’d come! I trusted you. See, I told you that only we make those sounds and that they would lead you where you needed to go. Now, come on. You’ve got to get us out. We’re all trapped.”
The bat circled the net, wondering how to help them. Then it dawned on him that the squirrels had sharp teeth, woke them up and begged for help. The squirrels didn’t hesitate and quickly ran to chew through the net. In a few minutes, the bats were free. They thanked the squirrels very much.
They were also proud of their youngest bat. Thanks to his courage, they were all saved.
Since then, the little bat has been going on night journeys with his friends and has not stayed alone in the cave. He is not afraid and trusts his instincts.
