Daksh Shrivastav woke up feeling... strange. Not the normal “I forgot to do my homework” strange, but the kind of strange where your bed feels like it’s made of jelly and every time you try to sit up, you bounce like a basketball.
“Whoa! What’s happening?” Daksh shouted, bouncing higher and higher on what definitely was not his usual bed. He grabbed the edge of something soft and bouncy and pulled himself upright — only to fall over again, landing in a pile of what felt like squishy, wiggly pillows.
Blinking his eyes open, Daksh realized he wasn’t in his room anymore. Around him was a world made entirely of candy and jelly! The ground beneath his feet wobbled like jelly, the trees were colorful gummy worms twisting up to the sky, and the sky itself was a bright purple with clouds that looked like fluffy cotton candy.
“Uh... hello?” Daksh called out, trying to stay still but accidentally bouncing a little anyway.
From behind a squishy bush hopped a small, round creature with big googly eyes. It was pink, shiny, and looked like a walking jellybean with tiny legs.
“Hiya! Welcome to Wobbleville!” the jellybean said, bouncing excitedly. “I’m Jiggly! Looks like you’re new here.”
“New is one word for it,” Daksh said, rubbing his head where some sticky candy corn had stuck to his hair. “Where am I? And why am I on a giant marshmallow bed?”
“You’re in Wobbleville, the bounciest, squishiest place in the whole sweet universe!” Jiggly said with a grin. “Everything here wiggles, jiggles, and bounces — that’s the Wobbleville wobble!”
Daksh tried to stand up without bouncing, but he only managed to hop twice before landing face-first in a puddle of purple jelly.
“Okay, maybe not the best idea,” he muttered, wiping jelly off his nose.
Jiggly giggled. “You gotta learn to bounce with it, not fight it! Here, try these.”
From behind a candy cane tree, Jiggly pulled out the biggest, fluffiest shoes Daksh had ever seen. They looked like giant marshmallows with springs on the bottom.
“Put these on,” Jiggly said, handing over the shoes.
Daksh slipped on the marshmallow shoes, and instantly he bounced up like a pogo stick — higher and higher!
“Whoa! These are crazy!” Daksh shouted, bouncing into a bush of candy floss and getting tangled in sticky pink threads.
“Perfect! Now you’re a true Wobbler!” Jiggly cheered.
As Daksh bounced and wiggled his way through Wobbleville, he discovered the world was full of hilarious surprises.
He saw a family of chocolate chip cookie people waving hello, a river that flowed with sparkling soda instead of water, and jellybean birds that sang silly songs like “Do the Wiggle Waggle” and “Bounce Around Town.”
At one point, Daksh tried to catch a flying gummy bear, but every time he got close, it bounced away on a trampoline made of licorice ropes.
“Hey! Come back!” Daksh laughed, hopping after it.
Jiggly joined in, giggling so hard he almost rolled into a giant marshmallow mound.
Suddenly, a slippery, sock-shaped creature zoomed past them. It was dripping with mud and laughing wildly.
“Watch out for the Soggy Socks!” Jiggly shouted. “They make the ground super slippery.”
Daksh tried to dodge, but he slipped anyway, sliding on the marshmallow grass and doing a silly spin before landing in a pile of rainbow jellybeans.
“Wheee!” he shouted, laughing.
Just then, a talking pineapple wearing sunglasses rolled by with a smooth, cool voice.
“Looking for directions, cool kid?” it said.
Daksh, still sticky with jellybeans, nodded. “Yeah, I want to get home. Can you help?”
“I’m Piney,” said the pineapple. “I’m the coolest fruit in Wobbleville, and I know all the best spots.”
“Cool!” Daksh said, wiping jelly from his face.
“Follow me. But be careful — the Great Gummy Bear doesn’t like to be disturbed. He might help you get home... but only if you don’t wake him up too early.”
“Sounds like my dad,” Daksh joked, making Jiggly laugh.
Piney rolled ahead, and Daksh and Jiggly bounced after him, slipping on jelly puddles and dodging flying licorice sticks.
They finally arrived at a cave made of giant gummy bears stacked on top of each other. The biggest gummy bear was snoring loudly inside.
Daksh tiptoed in but accidentally stepped on a crunchy candy cane, making a loud snap!
“GRRRR!” the gummy bear growled, waking up and yawning so wide Daksh almost fell inside his mouth.
“Sorry!” Daksh said quickly, trying not to laugh.
The bear blinked and then laughed heartily. “You’re funny, kid. I like that.”
The bear explained that he could send Daksh home — but only if Daksh could make him laugh three more times.
So Daksh got to work telling the silliest jokes he knew:
“Why did the banana go to the doctor? Because it wasn’t peeling well!”
The gummy bear chuckled.
“Why don’t potatoes make good dancers? Because they have two left feet!”
The bear laughed harder.
“Why did the cookie go to the hospital? Because he felt crummy!”
The bear roared with laughter, bouncing on his gummy legs.
“All right! You win,” the bear said, smiling. “Here’s the portal back home.”
He pointed to a glowing jelly ring swirling with colors.
Daksh hugged the bear. “Thanks! You’re the best.”
“Don’t forget to visit Wobbleville again,” the bear said as Daksh stepped into the glowing ring.
The world spun and twirled, and Daksh suddenly landed — right back in his bed. His room was normal, except... on the floor were the giant marshmallow shoes, still bouncing gently.
Daksh grinned and slipped them on.
“Maybe Wobbleville isn’t so far away after all,” he said with a bounce.
Thank you!!!
Daksh Shrivastav
Class 3
Air Force School Gandhinagar