- [albatross cawing]
- [Ester and Tubarina grunting as they climb up a mountain]
- Tubarina: How much further?
- Ester: Too much further.
- Tubarina: Polvina’s been doing this every day?
- Ester: That’s what she says.
- Tubarina: [sighs] Once’ll be enough for me.
- Ester: [nearly slips on a rock] Whoa! The way we’re going, we won’t even make it once.
- [Ester and Tubarina grunting as they finally finish climbing]
- Ester: We did it!
- Tubarina: [pant] We climbed the Thumb.
- Ester: Look at that view! [gasp] It’s beautiful!
- Tubarina: [uneasy] And high.
- Ester: It’s amazing.
- Tubarina: And high.
- Ester: Let’s find Polvina.
- Tubarina: It’s so high.
- Ester: I’ll be right here beside you.
- Tubarina: Uh, oh, right, okay then.
- Ester: Polvina!
- Polvina: Shh! Get down. What are you doing here?
- Tubarina: We want to know why you’ve been coming here.
- Ester: Yeah, what’s the big secret?
- Polvina: [points] There’s why.
- [albatross cawing]
- Ester: [gasp] That’s fantastic!
- [albatross cawing]
- Polvina: Shh!
- Ester: Sorry. [whispering excitedly] That’s fantastic!
- Tubarina: Won’t we scare them?
- Polvina: We’re okay if we don’t get any closer. I can look at them for hours. Uh, now that I think of it, I do.
- [albatross cawing]
- Ester: Look at him go!
- Tubarina: What’s that?
- Polvina: [gasp] I-It’s nothing.
- Tubarina: It’s not nothing, it’s something.
- Ester: But what?
- Tubarina: What’s it mean?
- Ester: It looks like some sort of science.
- Polvina: It’s nothing!
- Ester: Polvina, why are you studying birds?
- Polvina: I’m not.
- Tubarina: And making notes about their wings?
- Polvina: I’m certainly not trying to work out how to fly through the air. [gasp as she realises]
- Tubarina: Fly? You want to fly in the air?
- Ester: You are! That’s what you’re doing!
- Tubarina: We can fly underwater, but no Salacian has ever flown through the air.
- Polvina: But that doesn’t mean one of us can’t.
- [aeroplane noises, girls yelp]
- Ester: Drylanders!
- Tubarina: Oh, did they see us?
- Polvina: Did they upset the birds?
- [albatross cawing]
- Polvina: Oh, I think they’re alright.
- Ester: Let’s go. The Drylanders could come back.
- Tubarina: And I’ve had enough of heights for one day.
- Polvina: Why oh why, if Drylanders can fly, why can’t… we?
- Ester: How can we, Polvina?
- Tubarina: It’s impossible.
- Polvina: Nothing’s impossible if you put your mind to it.
- Ester: Flying is.
- Tubarina: Flying is definitely impossible. Don’t even think about it, Polvina.
- Polvina: Why is it impossible? I know a way we could try and do it, but I need the help of my friends.
- Tentie: [gurgling]
- Polvina: You think so?
- Tentie: [gurgling]
- Polvina: You really think so?
- Tentie: [gurgling]
- Polvina: Oh, I’ll try it! Thank you, Tentie, you’re a very clever octopus.
- Tentie: [gurgling]
- Ester: Polvina, we thought we told you to give up the idea.
- Tubarina: If we were supposed to fly, we would’ve been born with wings, right?
- Polvina: I guess you’re right. I guess the idea is too scary.
- Ester: Too scary? No one said anything about that. Heh, we’re not scared to fly.
- Tubarina: Oh, no way.
- Polvina: And if everyone says you can’t do something, then I guess you can’t.
- Tubarina: I didn’t mean that. We can do whatever we like.
- Ester: And we are definitely not scared.
- Polvina: So, what is your problem with flying?
- Ester and Tubarina: [mumbling “Uh, oh, well…”]
- Ester: We don’t know a way to fly.
- Polvina: I know a way.
- Polvina: [opens plans] Here’s the way. We can’t make wings and fly like birds do, but our size and weight, we need wings longer than the palace.
- Tubarina: So what’s this?
- Polvina: I’ve been watching my albatross friends. They do a lot of floating in the air.
- Ester: You think we can float?
- Tubarina: In the air?
- Polvina: I know we can! With this, a big air kite, we’ll float in the air, just like our sea kites float on the ocean currents.
- Tubarina: So we make it with lots of old sea kites?
- Polvina: That’s right.
- Ester: We were wondering why you had so many of them.
- [Ester hammering, Polvina threading]
- Tubarina: Aww, these sea flowers are so pretty.
- Polvina and Ester: Tubarina!
- Tubarina: Okay, I’m working, [hammers] I’m working. [hammers]
- Polvina: It’s just like my plan!
- Ester: Is it strong enough?
- Tubarina: Is it big enough?
- Polvina: We’ll know after its first test. To the Thumb!
- [girls grunting as they pull the big air kite up]
- Ester: Almost there!
- Polvina: Take it slowly! We don’t wanna damage it.
- Tubarina: Not after all this.
- [once they finally pull it up, they sigh in relief]
- Ester: Are you sure this is going to work?
- Tubarina: It looks a little flimsy.
- Ester: It looks a lot flimsy.
- [albatross cawing “uh oh” and stuff]
- Tubarina: Even our bird friend thinks we shouldn’t fly in it.
- Polvina: Did I say anything about one of us flying in it?
- Ester: But if it’s not one of us…
- Tubarina: …then who’s going to test it out?
- Polvina: Rocks.
- Polvina: One more should do it. [grunts as she puts the rock into the basket] Okay [breath], these rocks should weigh about as much as one of us.
- Ester: What now?
- Polvina: You each take an end, and I’ll take the middle. [they do so] Lift! [they grunt as they do so] Now, we run to the edge and let it go.
- Tubarina: Are you sure about this?
- Polvina: Trust me.
- Ester: Ready when you are.
- Polvina: One, two, go! [they run to the edge] Now! [they let go, the kite flies]
- Ester: Looking good! [it does some loop-the-loops] Still looking good!
- Tubarina: [it loops faster] Oh, looking bad. Looking badder. [it stops right back in front of them and falls to the ground, breaking on the rocks]
- Ester: Looking totally bad.
- [albatross cawing]
- Ester: The birds agree too.
- Tubarina: Sorry Polvina, it was a good try.
- Ester: Don’t feel too bad.
- Polvina: [opens notebook] Fantastic!
- Tubarina: Fantastic?
- Ester: How is that fantastic?
- Polvina: Well, you didn’t expect it to work the first time. That was only the start. Next time it’ll be much better.
- Tubarina: Next time?
- Polvina: Things like flying don’t happen overnight, you know. We take what we’ve learnt and we make another sky kite.
- Ester: Another?
- Polvina: And another, until we get it right.
- [aeroplane noises, girls yelp]
- [albatross cawing]
- Ester: The Drylanders again?
- Tubarina: [gasp] Look, they can fly and glide on the sea too.
- Polvina: If they can do it, so can we!
- Ester: They must want to look at all the birds.
- Tubarina: We should get out of here.
- Ester: We’ll talk about making another sky kite when we get home, Polvina.
- Tubarina: Polvina?
- Ester: Where is she?
- Tubarina: Polvina!
- [albatross cawing, points down]
- Ester: Down there! [Polvina goes towards the aeroplane]
- Polvina: How do the Drylanders fly? It can’t just be their machine, it must be the wings too. The shape of the wings, [gasp] that’s what we have to work on. The wings of our sky kite. [the aeroplane turns on, Polvina yells] No! I’m not ready to fly! Not yet!
- Ester: Oh no!
- Tubarina: What has she done?
- Ester: How is she going to get down?
- Tubarina: She can’t!
- [albatross cawing, flies off]
- Polvina: [opens eyes] I’m… I’m flying! I’m flying! This is what a bird sees. I’m a bird! This is totally the best moment of my life! [gasp] How am I going to get down? Where is this Drylander thing going? I might never get home! This is the worst moment of my life!
- Ester: It’s going!
- Tubarina: And Polvina with it!
- Ester: It’s gone!
- Tubarina: And Polvina too!
- Polvina: Why did I have to get so close? What have I done?
- [albatross cawing]
- Polvina: It’s you! The bird from the Thumb.
- [albatross cawing]
- Polvina: You want me to jump on you? But what if I fall?
- [albatross cawing]
- Polvina: Please don’t get angry! Okay, I’ll do it. [gasp] I can’t!
- [albatross cawing]
- Polvina: I know! I have to! I will! I’ll do it! Don’t miss, don’t miss. [jumps] Whoa! I missed! [yelps as albatross grabs her and takes her back to the Thumb]
- Ester: [upset] This is terrible. We’ll never see Polvina again!
- Tubarina: [also upset] What do we tell her mother and father?
- Ester: They’ll never believe us.
- [albatross drops Polvina back onto the Thumb, cawing]
- Ester: Polvina! You’re back!
- Tubarina: You’re safe!
- Ester: Are you okay?
- Polvina: [struggles] I’m… uh… I’m alright.
- Ester: [angry] Why did you ride that Drylander thing?
- Tubarina: You put yourself in real danger!
- Polvina: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.
- Ester: Oh, I’m so glad you’re back!
- Tubarina: Don’t ever leave us again!
- Ester: And don’t ever try that again.
- Tubarina: Because it was so stupid!
- Ester: Do you promise?
- Polvina: I promise.
- Tubarina: You are so lucky that big sea bird saved you.
- [albatross cawing]
- Polvina: Thank you. I’ll always remember your help.
- [albatross cawing]
- Polvina: It was scary, but fantastic at the same time. And I learnt that the secret is in the wings.
- Ester: What about the wings?
- Polvina: You’ve got to get the shape of the wings right. And I learnt something else too.
- Tubarina: Which was?
- Polvina: That from now on, all my flying will be under water. Flying through the air is strictly for the birds.
- Ester: You’ll get no argument from us on that one, Polvina.
- Tubarina: None whatsoever.
- Girls: [laughing]