Barnabé was a very big dinosaur. When he walked, the puddles rippled and the little pebbles jumped. He was afraid of nothing at all. Except one single thing.
ThunderThe big rumbling noise that rolls across the sky during a storm.. The moment the sky went BOOM, Barnabé hid behind the biggest rock he could find. Which was tricky, because he was bigger than most rocks.
That evening the stormA time when the sky turns dark, with wind, rain and thunder. arrived just before bedtime. First the wind. Then a great white light in the sky. Then, a few seconds later: BOOM.
Barnabé rushed off to hide behind the nearest rock, but his tail stuck out on one side, his feet stuck out underneath, and his big nose stuck out on the other side. Mummy Dinosaur came and sat down beside him, quite calmly, as though nothing at all were happening.
“Do you know what thunderThe big rumbling noise that rolls across the sky during a storm. is?” she asked. “It's a monster,” said Barnabé, eyes shut tight. “No. It is only the sound the lightningThe great white light that zigzags across the sky before the thunder. makes. Light travels very fast, sound travels slower. The sound is running along behind, that is all.”
She taught him a game. “When you see the lightningThe great white light that zigzags across the sky before the thunder., you count. One, two, three. When you hear the BOOM, you stop. The bigger the number, the further away the stormA time when the sky turns dark, with wind, rain and thunder. is.”
So they counted together. The first time: one, two. The second time: one, two, three, four. Then one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
“It's leaving!” cried Barnabé, delighted to have won. He fell asleep before the tenth flash. The thunderThe big rumbling noise that rolls across the sky during a storm. had not changed one bit: it was Barnabé who now had something to do while it rumbled.
The end, sweet dreams.
