The Little Stone Bird. Short audio story narrated in American English.

Once upon a time, there was a bird made of stone. She was a beautiful creature, and she was also magic. She lived near the entrance to a picturesque forest between two mountains. The bird was so heavy that she had to walk along the ground.

Despite this, though, she enjoyed looking up at the trees every day, dreaming of one day being able to fly and enjoy viewing the beautiful countryside from up high.

But that dream disappeared after the great fire.

All that was left of the trees were charred stumps, and any plants and animals that lived there had gone. The stone bird was the only form of life able to survive the fire, but when she saw what had become of the forest, she was overcome with sadness, and couldn't stop crying. She cried and cried for hours, then days. She cried with such feeling that her tears were wearing away her stone body. Finally the body was completely worn away and the bird had turned into a puddle of water.

But when the sun came out, that puddle of tears evaporated into the sky and became a happy little cloud which could fly over the trees and see everything below.

Since then, the little cloud has travelled all over the world, enjoying the views of all the forests and beautiful countryside. And remembering what destruction fire brought to its own forest, the cloud is now very careful to pour its rain down on any tree it sees burning.