Finn's Balancing Game

The trail climbed higher than Finn had ever been.

The wind felt jumpy today. One moment it pushed from the left, then from behind. Leaves floated all over the trail.

Finn didn't mind. He had something to prove.

“I can balance on every rock,” he said, mostly to himself. Then louder, “Watch me!”

He stomped onto a big rock.

Clomp.

Then another.

Thud!

One more.

Thunk!

Behind him, Maple the Squirrel popped up, talking a mile a minute.

“Finn! Did you see that twisty tree? I think I found a mushroom. Wait—was that a squirrel-sized tunnel?!”

She darted past and back again, her tail flipping like a flag.

But Finn wasn't listening. He had his eyes on something else.

A log. A long one, stretched over a dip in the trail.

It looked… wobbly.

“Easy,” he said. “I'll cross it in three steps. Big ones.”

He climbed on.

Creeeeak…

“One… two—”

WOBBLE!

His arms flailed.

WHUMP!

Straight into a pile of leaves.

Maple gasped. “Whoa! Are you okay? That was a HUGE splat!”

Finn didn't answer right away. His ears drooped. “I was trying to go fast,” he muttered. “I thought I could do it.”

Just then, something soft brushed past him.

Flit… flit…

Willow the Butterfly hovered nearby, light as a whisper.

“I almost fell, too,” she said. “The wind pushed me sideways earlier. I had to flap slow and steady to stay on track.”

Finn looked at her. Then at the log.

He stood up, quieter now.

This time, he climbed carefully.

One step.

Another.

And one more.

No wobble. No splat. Just a quiet moment… and then a smile.

“I'm the best slow balancer in the forest,” he said.

Maple clapped. Pat-pat-pat!

Willow twirled in the air without saying a word.

And off they went again, three friends walking one careful step at a time.