Pip lifted a damp fern frond and gasped. A tiny blue chick waddled in circles, bumping against the cave wall. *Peep!* it cried, scrambling toward Pip's fuzzy leg.
The chick tugged an ear hair. *Achoo!* Pip sneezed and slid backward into a patch of soft clover.
Pip brushed clover from his paws and tiptoed forward. *Snap!* He froze. A dandelion puff floated past his nose and tickled his whiskers.
Pip giggled and kept walking until a shimmering creek gurgled across the path. A smooth flat stone waited in the middle.
Pip hopped the chick onto the stone, then jumped on after it. He pushed with his back feet, sliding the stone across the water.
The stone bumped against the far bank. Pip hopped off onto sunny grass and looked up at the tall oak tree.
Something fluttered from the oak branches. A small bluebird dropped a shiny blue feather right at Pip's paws.
Pip held the feather up to the light. His ears perked high. He marched back toward the cave with a happy *thump-thump-thump*.
Behind him, the bluebird landed beside the chick. The two little birds chirped together, wings tucked close.
Pip disappeared into the cave with the blue feather, his happy thumping fading into the cool dark.