The Broken Music Box

By the little river stood a crooked wooden cottage.

Strange colors of smoke puffed out of its chimney all the time.

A little raccoon lived there, and her name was Ding-Ding.

Wherever Ding-Ding went, she carried a great big red toolbox.

The toolbox was even bigger than she was!

It was stuffed with screwdrivers, tape, springs, and some very mysterious things.

Ding-Ding's favorite thing in the whole world was—fixing stuff.

One day, a little bunny named Fluffy came running, hugging something tight.

"Ding-Ding! Ding-Ding! My music box is broken!"

The music box was Fluffy's most treasured thing.

Every night, she needed its little song to fall asleep.

But now the lid was cracked, and the gears had tumbled out.

Ding-Ding took the music box and turned it over, and over again.

Her eyes lit up.

"Broken? Awesome!"

Fluffy jumped. "A-awesome?"

"Broken things are the fun ones! Let me try fixing it!"

Ding-Ding opened her toolbox.

She took the music box apart, piece by careful piece.

She lined the parts up in a row.

Gears, a spring, a tiny wooden hammer, and one thin little strip of metal.

"Okay, I've got it. Time to fix!"

Ding-Ding put the gears back in.

Twist a screw, tape the lid.

"Done! Let's wind it up!"

Ding-Ding turned the little crank.

"BOING—!!!"

The music box burst open!

Parts flew everywhere!

A spring wrapped around Ding-Ding's ear, and a gear hung off her tail.

Her face was gray with dust, like she'd been puffed by the chimney.

Fluffy was so worried. "Ding-Ding! Are you okay?"

Ding-Ding blinked.

She clapped the dust off her paws.

"Hmm... the first try never works anyway."

She gathered up every single part.

"One more time!"

This time, Ding-Ding looked, and looked, and looked.

"Hmm... this spring is too old. Let's use a new one."

She took a brand-new spring out of her toolbox.

Then she picked up a tiny seashell from the riverbank.

"Oh! And let's add this!"

Ding-Ding twisted the screws, glued the lid, set the new spring.

Last of all, she stuck the little seashell on top.

The music box looked different from before.

"Done! Wind it up again!"

Ding-Ding slowly turned the crank.

Ting~ ling~ ting~ ling~

The music played!

And—

the little seashell caught the light and scattered tiny sparkles across the ceiling.

Like so, so many little stars.

"Whoa—!" Fluffy and Ding-Ding cried out together.

"It sounds even better than before! And there are stars!" Fluffy jumped for joy.

"When you fix a broken thing, sometimes it comes back even better," said Ding-Ding, patting her red toolbox.

"But what if it breaks again someday?"

"Then we fix it again! Every fix brings a brand-new surprise."

Fluffy carried her sparkly music box home.

Ding-Ding watched her go, and wiped the dust off her face.

She put her toolbox away and looked up at her crooked roof.

"Hmm... I really should fix that roof tomorrow."

But she had said that many, many times before.