Nina and the Grumpy-Grumble Tower

In the land of Sparkle-Spire Castle, where towers tickled the clouds and friendly dragons snoozed on sunbeams, lived a girl named Nina. Nina’s special talent wasn't magic; it was making everyone laugh! She could tell a joke that made the stone gargoyles giggle and do a dance so silly that the royal chef would snort frosting out of his nose. Her best friend, a little dragon named Flicker, would puff out happy clouds of glitter whenever Nina was near.

One morning, a trumpet tootled a happy tune! It was time for the Great Royal Building Contest. The prize was a trophy made of a giant, sparkly Gummy Gem. Nina gasped with delight. She would build the tallest, wiggliest, most wonderful tower the castle had ever seen! She gathered the enchanted blocks, which hummed with tiny songs, and imagined how good that Gummy Gem would taste.

But the blocks were slippery. Nina stacked them high, but just as she placed the last one, the tower went... 'Wobble, wobble, CRASH!' She tried again, but the same thing happened. 'Wobble, wobble, CRASH!' A hot, tight feeling started to bubble in her tummy. It wasn't a funny feeling. It was a grumpy-grumble. When Flicker tried to help by puffing glitter, Nina stomped her foot. "Stop it! You're not helping!" she grumbled, and her voice sounded stormy.

Nina flopped onto the grass, her face cloudy. Just then, Professor Shelly, a wise old tortoise, ambled over. He didn't tell a joke. He just said softly, "A grumpy-grumble feeling is like a wobbly tower, Nina. It just needs a steady breath." He showed her how to breathe in deep like she was smelling a royal rose, and breathe out slow like a sleepy dragon's sigh. Nina tried it. In... and out. The tight feeling loosened. She looked at Flicker's sticky glitter puffs and had an idea! She asked her friend for help, and together, they used the glitter as magical, sparkly glue.

With a puff of glitter between each block, the tower grew tall and strong, wiggling perfectly without ever falling. Nina placed a silly sock puppet on the very top. She won the Gummy Gem! But sharing it with Flicker felt even better. Nina learned that making people laugh was wonderful, but knowing how to take a deep breath when a grumpy-grumble came to visit was a pretty special trick, too.