Lea loved art class more than anything. Her little heart bounced with joy every Tuesday, knowing she'd get to mix bright paints and squish soft clay.

This week, their teacher, Miss Lily, gave them a special project: to create a 'Dream Garden' using any materials they liked. Lea imagined a garden with sparkling flowers and a rainbow path.

"You have until tomorrow, darlings," Miss Lily chirped, "to finish your first sketch and gather your special bits and bobs!" Lea felt a happy flutter, ready to start.

After school, Lea carefully laid out her big drawing paper and her favourite crayons. She started sketching a giant, friendly sunflower.

Just then, her best friend, Tom, peeked in. "Lea! My mum's set up a super bouncy castle in the backyard! Want to come jump?"

Lea's eyes widened. A bouncy castle! She looked at her half-drawn sunflower, then back at Tom's excited face. Jumping sounded much more fun than drawing.

"Oh, alright!" Lea giggled, quickly putting her crayons away. "The garden can wait! Bouncy castles don't!" She skipped off with Tom, forgetting all about her Dream Garden project.

They bounced and laughed, soaring high and tumbling soft. Lea pretended to be a superhero flying through the clouds, completely happy and forgetting her homework.

The afternoon zipped by in a blur of joyful shouts and wobbly landings. When Lea finally got home, tired but happy, it was already time for dinner and bed. Her drawing paper lay untouched.

The next morning, Lea woke up with a sleepy stretch. She remembered art class! "Oh no!" she gasped, looking at her bare drawing paper. Her heart thumped a little faster.

In class, Miss Lily asked everyone to show their Dream Garden sketches. Lea's tummy did a nervous flip-flop. All her friends had wonderful, colourful drawings.

Little Ben next to her looked sad. His colours had smudged, and a tear was threatening to fall. "My cloud looks like a muddy puddle," he sniffed.