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Hello, this is Jana and

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welcome back to Story Nori. I'm

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here with a Christmassy Birdie story.

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Birdies Christmas Puzzles It

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was a chilly evening. Mum

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had turned down the heating to save money

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because these days the price

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of everything is so high. Jake

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was hunched over his desk in his room. He

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held a hot water bottle against his tummy to

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keep him from freezing. His

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homework was sprawled out in front of him,

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but his mind was far from the maths

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problems. He was

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thinking about their Christmas holiday in Lapland.

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Staying in an igloo hotel, meeting

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Santa and seeing real life magical

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reindeer prancing in the snow. Dad

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had promised to take the family on this once

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in a lifetime trip to

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Santa's homeland. Well,

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he had sort of promised. He

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said it depended on the money, on

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him receiving a nice Christmas bonus. If

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the bonus came through, they would

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be packing their bags for Lapland. That

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little if loomed over the

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plan like a miserly cloud. Oh,

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please Santa, please

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give Dad his bonus for Christmas. He's

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been a good dad all year and

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we'd rather see you in Lapland than

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down our chimney, murmured Jake.

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At that moment, he heard

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a raspy voice from the direction

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of the window. Open

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up! Birdie! Jake

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called out. His feathered

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friend, perched at the window, always

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brightened his mood. He

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welcomed Birdie in. who shook

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off the snow with a dramatic flare. "'How's

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the homework going?" Birdie

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inquired, casting an eye over the papers.

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"'Stop!' Jake admitted. "'Mass

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isn't my best subject.' "'How

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about you, Birdie? Any good

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with numbers?' Birdie ruffled

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his feathers proudly. "'I

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might surprise you. Let's

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see what you've got.' Jake

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pointed to the first problem. "'Okay,

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here's one. If Santa's

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elves can wrap one parcel in

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thirty seconds, how long

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will it take them to wrap eleven

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parcels?' "'A

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long time. This

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year the elves have gone on strike

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for higher wages, so

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the reindeer will be wrapping the parcels,'

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said Birdie. "'That's bad

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news,' replied Jake.

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"'But I can't really write that down

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as my answer.' "'Well,

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let's use your little brain,

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shall we? According

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to the question, how many

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parcels can one elf wrap

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in one minute?' "'Uh,

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two.' "'So,

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how many can they wrap in

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eleven minutes?' "'Twenty-two.'

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"'Caw! You're

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not so dim after all. What

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you got next?' "'This one,' said

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Jake. If Santa

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takes twenty minutes to visit

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ten chimneys, how

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many chimneys can he visit in one

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hour?' Birdie

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flapped his wings in amazement. "'What

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a silly question! If

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Santa worked that slowly, he

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could do deliveries all year

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and still only deliver

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a tiny fraction of the parcels.

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He does million dollars.' of

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parcels in one minute. Doesn't

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your teacher know that?" My

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teacher doesn't know anything much about real

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life. But what's the answer?

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"'Oh well,' said Birdie. "'First

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you have to think, how many minutes

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are there in one hour?' "'60,'

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replied Jake. "'And what's twenty

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into sixty?' "'Ahh,'

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is a clue. "'It's

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the same as two into six.'

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"'I know three.' "'Yes,

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clever boy.' "'So

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if he visits ten chimneys

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in twenty minutes, "'he

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will visit three times as

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many chimneys in one hour,'

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the old slow coach. "'Oh,

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I know. "'The

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answer is thirty.' "'Correct.'

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Said Birdie. "'Sant as much

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swifter in real life, but

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it's the right answer to

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this silly homework question.' Jake

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filled in the answer. "'Thank

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you, Birdie. Mass is

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much more fun with you around.' Birdie

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nodded sagely. "'Always

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happy to help.' "'Birdie,

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can you help Dad get his

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Christmas bonus?' "'Yeah,

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sorry. Times are old. Even

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my wings can't make bonuses

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fly this year.' Birdie replied.

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"'Aww. Then

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we won't be going to Lapland for our

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Christmas holiday. We'll

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be stuck here in boring

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old Britain.' Later

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on, Mum came by to see how

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Jake was getting on with his homework. "'All

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done.' "'Is it? I

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hope you did it quickly.' Oh

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what fun it is

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to ride on Santa's

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open sleigh, hey! But

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then Mum had a light bulb

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moment. The

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Lottery She'd

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read about a mystery, 100

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million pound jackpot winner

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in the UK. What

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if Lady Luck smiled at us? I

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think I remember picking those numbers. Jake

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watched eagerly as she attempted to log

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into her lottery account. Now,

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what's my password? She

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muttered, fingers poised over the keyboard.

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A hint popped up. A

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throwback to their honeymoon. The

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island of spices. Ah,

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Zanzibar! 2010! She

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exclaimed. She logged

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in and held her breath. The

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numbers loaded on the screen and

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Mum's face fell. Well,

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two numbers matched. We've

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won a grand total of £2.50. Enough

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to show a Christmas cracker! piped

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up Jake. So, it

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looked like they weren't going to see Santa

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and his reindeer in Lapland after all. But

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wait a minute, said Mum.

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There's one last chance. I

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think Dad's got some Bitcoin

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stashed away. Bitcoin?

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What's that? Well, it's like

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digital money. But I bet

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he can't remember the password. And

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of course, she was right. Dad's

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memory wasn't the best. He

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always forgot where he left his phone,

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his glasses, his woolly hat.

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You'll never know. You lose your own head one day,

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mum used to say, but

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he got off to a promising start. He

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remembered that his stash of Bitcoin was

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on his old laptop. He

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retrieved it from the attic and to his

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surprise, it easily booted up

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and he could log on. But

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he couldn't remember the password to his

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Bitcoin wallet for love or money. Oh,

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never mind, he said. Bitcoin

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crashed and it's probably worth

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no more than 25 pence. But

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I read in the paper that it's bouncing back,

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mum counted, her optimism

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undimmed. Oh,

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hang on, he's a memory

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jogger, said dad. The

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hint for his password read, a number,

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a spice. And

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a musical star. Mum's

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eyes lit up with inspiration. A

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spice? And

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a musical star? That's

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posh spice from the Spice Girls. And

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the number? Our

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wedding year. Dad

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nodded, recalling it had something to

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do with their honeymoon in Zanzibon.

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But all their attempts to log on were

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in vain. That

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evening, Jake was grappling with geography

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when Birdie dropped by, offering

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homework help. Jake,

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however, was preoccupied with a bigger

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puzzle. He shared

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the story of mum's lottery

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win of £2.50 and

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dad's elusive Bitcoin password, hinting

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it might be related to mum and

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dad's honeymoon in Zanzibon. Fetch

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the photo album, Birdie

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suggested. Jake sneaked downstairs,

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retrieving the album under the

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guise of geography homework research.

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Guess what? We're

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learning about Zanzibar at school,

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he said. Ah,

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yes, sighed Mum,

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remembering her honeymoon. Upstairs

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Jake flipped through the pages of

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Mum and Dad's honeymoon photo album,

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with pictures from the East African

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island of Zanzibar. Birdie

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perched on the back of his chair

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and scrutinised the pictures with his beady

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eyes. One photo

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showed Dad surrounded by mounds of

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vibrant spices at a local market.

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His face was scrunched up in

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surprise, a cloud of bright yellow

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dust around him after an accidental

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sneeze. I know

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what that yellow spice is! exclaimed

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Jake. Mum likes to chuck

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it into her stews. It's called

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turmeric, and it's supposed to be ever

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so good for you. You're

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right, said Birdie. You

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make a detective. You've

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solved one of the clues. Another

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snapshot showed the happy couple on a

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traditional Dal sailing boat. Dad,

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looking like a makeshift sailor, was

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at the helm with an over-exaggerated

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expression of concentration. Mum

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sat nearby, playfully rolling her

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eyes, as if questioning his

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navigational skills. Cool! Just

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look at your mum! Her

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expression's light. Should I

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swim back to the shore? said

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Birdie. Is it a clue?

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asked Jake. Nah, but it's a

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funny picture. Then

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Jake turned over the page. Seeing

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the vibrant photos, there was a shot

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of Mum standing outside the door to

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their hotel. And

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it was no ordinary door. It

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was a masterpiece. With

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intricate carvings of vines, lions

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and peacocks. Next

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to it was a brass letterbox,

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which bore the building number, one

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hundred and forty-two. That's

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our number! squawked

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Birdie. Yay!

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said Jake. I see it too.

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One hundred and forty-two is the number we're looking

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for. But what about

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the musical star? Jake pondered.

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Mum was going on about somebody called

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Posh Spice, who married

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a footballer. Nah!

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said Birdie. Posh Spice

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isn't connected to Zanzibore.

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But there's a true

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musical star who is Freddie

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Mercury was born there. Wow!

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That's it! exclaimed Jake.

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Queen is Dad's favourite band.

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So Jake ran down the stairs declaring,

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We've got it! We've got

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it! We've got the password!

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We're going to lap one

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for Christmas! In

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the living room, the family huddled around

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the ancient laptop. The photo album

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opened to the crucial pages. Jake

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noticed that Dad's hands trembled

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slightly as he typed in the

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password. One for two,

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turmeric queen. They

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held their breath as the

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cursor blinked, waiting for

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the verdict. But

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the screen flashed red with

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a familiar, Access denied!

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Disappointment washed over them, the

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solution seemingly just out of reach.

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Then Dad's face lit

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up with a sudden burst of

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memory. Oh, hold

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on! he exclaimed. It's

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not just Queen, it's a

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specific song. Killer

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Queen! It was my

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favourite back in the day. Energised

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by this revelation, Dad swiftly

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adjusted the password. 142.

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Tumeric Killer Queen. They

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watched, hearts pounding as

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the cursor blinked once more.

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This time the screen changed.

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Moving them into the account, a

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collective gasp filled the room as

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they saw the Bitcoin balance. It

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had indeed rebounded, and

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then some. There was more

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than enough money to cover their

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trip to Lapland. Mum

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jumped up with a whoop whoop of

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delight and wrapped her arms around

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him. So, Santa's

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reindeer, here we come.

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Dad cheered. And

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we don't mean the carol singing deer at

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the garden centre either. Replied

16:58

Mum. And you know who

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we can thank for cracking that passcode?

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Proclaimed Jake. Birdie! There

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we go again! sighed Mum.

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Birdie, birdie, birdie. You

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should give yourself credit, Jake. You

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cracked Dad's password. Mind

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you, don't go hacking into

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any top secret accounts. Nah!

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said Jake. Don't worry!

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Birdie wouldn't let me do

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anything like that. He just wanted

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to help us, you know, to go on holiday for

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Christmas. It's

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an amazing Christmas in

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the land of snow, ice

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and real life sledge pulling Rudolph.

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And the best part for Jake was

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sleeping under the stars in the glass

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igloo beneath the northern

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skyline. When

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his family were fast asleep, Jake

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with his mug of hot chocolate sat

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up to admire another light show. The

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beautiful starry night filled up

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with an array of magical

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colours of Finland, and a

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familiar outline of a

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crow's blue palm. Thank

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you for the best Christmas holiday

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party! score,High and high. And

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that was Birdie's

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Christmas Puzzle Written by

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Birdie and read by me, Jana Happy

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Christmas everyone and bye for now Thanks

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for watching!