Ana and the Bouncy Berry

Ana loved her home near the Glimmering Gums Forest. The gum trees had bark that sparkled like fairy dust, and the air smelled sweet like honey and sunshine. Every afternoon, Ana would go for a walkabout, checking on all her friends and collecting shiny gumnuts for the jar on her windowsill. She loved making sure everyone was happy and safe.

But one afternoon, things weren't happy at all. Ana found her best mate, Wobbly the Wombat, sitting under a twisty-turny tree with a very droopy face. A big, juicy, bouncy berry was stuck on a branch high above his head. "I can't reach it," he sniffled. "It's my favourite, and it's stuck forever!"

"Don't you worry," said Ana, who always looked after her friends. She found a mossy log and tried to climb on it to reach the berry. But the log went, "Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble!" and she nearly tumbled off. The berry was still too high. Ana felt a little bit stuck, just like the berry.

Ana hopped off the wobbly log and looked at Wobbly's sad face. She remembered what her mum always said: "Helping hands work best together." She spotted a long, strong vine hanging from another tree. "I've got it!" she cried. "Let's be a team!" Ana and Wobbly grabbed the vine together, pulled it back with a smooth stone, and... WHOOSH! The stone gently tapped the branch, and the bouncy berry plopped right down onto the soft grass.

"You did it!" cheered Wobbly, giving Ana a big, fuzzy hug. He split the bouncy berry in two, and they shared it right there. It tasted like sweet strawberries and happy giggles. Ana knew that being kind and working together was the most magical trick of all. As she walked home, she popped a special, extra-sparkly gumnut in her pocket to remember the day she helped her friend.