Mia, a girl with sunshine hair and eyes like the sky, had a secret wish. "Ich möchte ein buch schreiben!" she'd whisper to her guinea pigs, Teddy and Puschel.

Teddy, a fluffy ball of brown and white, would wiggle his nose. "Wheek!" he'd squeak, which Mia knew meant, "A book about adventure?"

"Ja!" Mia would giggle, scooping Puschel, a puff of black and white fur, into her arms. "An adventure about bravery!"

Puschel, always the braver one, would puff out his chest. "Squeak squeak squeak!" he'd declare, which in guinea pig language meant, "We can be brave!"

Now, Mia wasn't always sure about being brave. Sometimes, shadows seemed scary and new things made her tummy do flip-flops.

But Teddy and Puschel? They were fearless! Or at least, they were very good at pretending to be.

One day, a loud CRASH! from the backyard made Mia jump. Even Teddy jumped, landing right on top of Puschel!

"What was that?" Mia squeaked, her voice much quieter than Puschel's usual squeaks.

"Adventure time!" chirped a voice. A little bluebird, perched on the windowsill, winked at Mia.

Mia, Teddy, and Puschel peeked out the window. A giant...THING...covered in colorful patches lay sprawled in the garden.

It had a basket and ropes and looked like a giant, deflated balloon. "It's...it's...a GIZMO!" exclaimed Mia.

"A what-mo?" squeaked Teddy, scrambling off Puschel, who was busy fluffing his ruffled fur.

"A Gizmo!" Mia repeated. "And we have to fix it before it floats away!"