Barnaby Bumblehop's Baffling Balance

Barnaby Bumblehop was the funniest man in the Giggle-Go-Round Circus, though he didn't always mean to be. Today, he was trying to juggle five shiny red apples under the big top. "Watch me, everyone!" he cried to Pip the Puffin. But as soon as the apples left his hands, they tumbled right back down, landing with a series of soft thumps on his big yellow shoes. Barnaby scratched his curly orange head in confusion. "Why do they always go down, Pip? Why don't they ever fly up to visit the clouds?" Pip let out a soft squawk and pointed a wing toward the dusty floor. It was the start of a very curious afternoon.