Counting Clouds with Coco

High above the park, white puffy clouds floated across the blue sky. Down on her favorite branch, Coco the squirrel sat with cheeks puffed and tail in a knot. She was grumpy. Extra super duper grumpy. Earlier that day, her morning acorns rolled down the hill, the wind tangled her tail, and her whiskers would not stay flat. Coco scrunched her nose and glared at the sky.

"Everything is blah today. Worst day ever," Coco said.

She plopped down, crossed her arms, and stared up. The clouds floated overhead. One looked like a squishy marshmallow llama. Another looked like a cow balancing on roller skates. She took a big breath in and blew it out slowly, pretending her puff pushed the clouds along.

"One, big breath in and hold. Big breath out and hold. Bye, squishy llama. Two, big breath in and hold. Big breath out and hold. Bye-bye, cow on roller skates. Huh, that feels kinda nice," Coco said.

Just like that, her chest felt lighter. A little grumpiness drifted away. Toby the chipmunk, Maya the bluebird, and Lila the rabbit spotted Coco blowing toward the sky. Toby scurried up, cheeks so full of acorns he could barely talk.

"Coco, you look like you're blowing birthday candles. What are you doing?" Toby said.

"Oh, hey, come look. I just learned this cool trick. So I was super grumpy, but counting clouds and blowing them away is making me feel way better. Watch," Coco said.

Coco pointed at a big lumpy shape in the sky.

"Okay, number three. See that T-Rex cloud with the giant crown on its head? Ready? Big breath in and hold. One, two, three, four. Now let it out, blow it away. One, two, three, four," Coco said.

The T-Rex cloud drifted along with the day's gentle breeze. Everyone giggled. Lila the rabbit spots another silly cloud and continues the count.

"Four, a mermaid holding a fork about to brush her hair. Now blow," Lila said.

Then Maya the bluebird points to the sky and says...

"Five, a banana with wings. Quick, everyone, blow it away before it turns into a runny smoothie," Mya said.

"Ooh, so if my acorns roll away, instead of letting the grumpies take over, I can just," Toby said.

"Take a deep breath and blow it away," Mya said.

"And when I sing my best song and everyone plugs their ears?" Lila said.

"Take a deep breath and blow it away," Toby said.

They kept counting and blowing, steering clouds away with silly breaths. Each whoosh made their grumpies float farther away. After a dozen deep breaths and a sky full of funny shapes, the friends flopped onto the meadow grass, breathing slow and easy. "Ah."