Leo’s backpack strap snapped with a loud pop. He tumbled off the moving sidewalk and splashed right into a giant puddle.
Leo lifted his head, water dripping from his shell. The towering skyscrapers blocked out the sky, and the noisy crowd kept rushing past, leaving Leo alone.
A shivering sparrow dropped a crumpled leaf map into Leo’s lap. It pointed a wing toward a dark drainpipe.
Leo pushed his glasses up and crawled into the pipe. Inside, a family of mice waited by a flickering streetlight.
Leo gently unfolded the leaf map for them. The mice chittered happily and scurried up a nearby fire escape.
Leo climbed out and saw a lost kitten stuck on a high window ledge. He stretched his neck as far as it would go.
A delivery drone buzzed by, and Leo grabbed its propeller guard with his teeth. It lifted him up to the kitten!
The kitten nuzzled Leo’s scuffed shell. But when Leo looked around, he didn't know which door was his own anymore.
Leo sat on a warm subway vent, listening to the rumble beneath his feet. The city noise sounded less like roaring now.
He closed his eyes and listened to the familiar pattern of footsteps. Then he heard his mother’s sharp, worried voice.
Leo tapped his shell against the pavement in rhythm. His mother spotted his green shell among the gray concrete and scooped him up.
Leo curled into her arms, safe in the middle of the busy street. The city breathed around them, a giant home.