Bounce's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Bounce squinted up through the leaves and counted seven bounces to the lowest branch. The golden fruit grew somewhere far above that, past the tangled oaks and maples of the flowering grove. Bounce was a small purple blob, translucent as jelly, and every hop sent light rippling through their body. They had been trying to reach the top of the Canopy Upstairs for three days. They still had no idea how high the top actually was. The problem was simple and awful. Bounce could jump hard or jump smart, but not both forever. Guess too low and they'd stall in open air. Guess too high and they'd burn out halfway and drop like a wet stone. Yesterday's crash had left a purple smear on a root. Bounce did not want a second smear. A flicker of green light darted between two blossoms. A small fairy landed on a pink petal, folding her sparkling wings. Her leaf dress rustled as she crossed her arms and studied Bounce like a puzzle she'd already solved. "You keep aiming at nothing," she said. "That's why you keep falling." Bounce wobbled. "I can't see the top. The branches hide it." "Then stop guessing the top." She pointed at a knot high on the oak. "Aim there. Grab it. Look up. Aim again." Bounce had been trying to solve the whole climb in one leap. The fairy was offering a ladder made of guesses they could actually check. Bounce squished low, gathered every ounce of spring, and fired straight up. Leaves whipped past. The knot rushed at them. Bounce slapped against the bark and stuck, quivering, halfway up the trunk. From here the grove opened. Bounce could see the next branch, and the one above that, and a slice of sky through the canopy. No gold yet. But now Bounce could measure. Trunk to branch, one hard bounce. Branch to branch, one soft bounce. The tree gave them a ruler. "Again," the fairy called from below. Bounce peeled off the bark and bounced. Branch. Bounce. Branch. Each landing told them how much spring the next jump needed. Bounce's body glowed brighter with every hop, warming from the work. At the eighth branch Bounce stopped. Their sides heaved like a bellows. Above, the leaves thinned. Bounce could finally see it: a single gold fruit hanging from a thin twig, higher than any branch they'd touched. Between here and there was a long, empty gap with nothing to land on. The fairy caught up, hovering level with Bounce's eyes. Her grin was small and sharp. "Now you know how high," she said. "Do you know how you're crossing that?" Bounce looked at the gap. Bounce looked at the fruit. The guessing was over. The real problem had just shown its face.