Lara is a llama. She’s a curly-wurly llama. She has a lovely thick coat of wool to keep her warm. Lara lives high up in a vast range of mountains. It can get really cold and windy there, especially at night.

Lara is a very intelligent llama. She’s also really smart. She loves learning new things and using her knowledge to help solve problems.

Lara has a friend. Her name is Lea. Lea is a llama too. Lara and Lea live on a hillside on the edge of a large city. They spend lots of time roaming along the dirt paths on the hillside. From there, they can stare down at the city in awe. Lara and Lea can’t believe how many people live there. The roofs of the houses spread out as far as the eye can see. In fact, as more and more houses are being built, the city seems to get closer and closer to where Lara and Lea live.

One warm summer’s day, Lara is walking along a dirt trail with Lea. They see their dads, Lenny and Leon, walking slowly towards them. Lenny and Leon’s heads are hanging down and they look really tired. Each of them is carrying the empty load packs from their day’s work.

“Hey Dad!” Lara calls out. She isn’t sure her dad has even seen her. “Is everything OK?”

Lenny looks up as he walks towards his daughter and Lea. He starts to shake his head slowly from side to side.

“Not really,” Lenny explains, yawning. “We haven’t slept for weeks and we’re so tired!”

“Really? But why haven’t you been sleeping?” Lara asks.

“It’s because of all the noise pollution from the construction site,” Lea’s dad Leon replies. “It’s so loud. They never stop and they even work through the night. They need us llamas to help carry loads during the day. But we’re exhausted because we can’t get any sleep.”

Lara and Lea are really worried when they hear this. They know how heavy the packs their dads carry can be. They can’t work properly if they don’t get any rest.

“You can’t keep staying awake all night long,” says Lara. “You could get ill!”

Lara really wants to help, so she stops to have a think. As she does, she scrapes her hoof along the dirt trail. Something suddenly flies up into the air, along with lots of dried mud and dust. It nearly hits Lea on the head! It lands on the ground between them all and they look down to see what it is. It’s the cork from the top of a bottle.

“That’s out of one of the bottles the workers drink from when they are enjoying themselves. There are so many of them lying around here,” says Lenny.

As Lara stares down at the cork bottle top, she notices its shape and size. Lara is a really intelligent llama so an idea begins to take shape.

“Wait, what if we look for more of them? They’re just right for using as ear plugs. You could use them to block out the noise from the construction site so you can sleep!”

Lea, Lenny and Leon all look at Lara surprised. And then they look at each other, grinning. Lara’s idea is a really smart one!

“You go and get some rest, Dad,” says Lara. “But can you leave us your pack saddle? We’ll find more corks and bring them home with us.”

So, as their dads slowly saunter off, Lara and Lea start to scrape their hooves along the dirt trail. As they do, up pops a cork. And another one. And then a few more. POP! POP! POP! They put them all in the saddle pack and soon they have filled both sides of it.

Lara helps Lea put the saddle pack on and they slowly head for home.

When Lara and Lea arrive back with their parents they show them all the corks they have collected.

“Here, Dad,” says Lara, “try them.”

Lara helps her dad put a cork into each of his ears. He places them there lightly. He’s very careful not to push them in so far that they get stuck.

“How’s that?” she asks her dad.

“What?” replies Leon.

“I guess they work then,” says Lara, smiling at Lea.

That night, Lara’s and Lea’s fathers sleep better than they have in weeks. They can’t hear any of the noise from the construction works. The next day they have much more energy for the work they need to do.

Lara and Lea feel really happy because they’ve helped protect their fathers from noise pollution.

“We should celebrate,” says Lea.

“I’d love to,” replies Lara. But I think we’ve probably popped all the corks there are around here for a while!”

Questions for discussion

Is noise pollution caused by loud or quiet sounds?

Can you think of one type of sound that causes noise pollution?

Is there anything you can do yourself to help reduce noise pollution in your home or the area where you live?