Ready, Wobble, GO!

Starring Ella

Ella and her best friend Emily discover the biggest playground either of them has ever seen, but their giant disagreement over slides versus monkey bars almost wrecks the whole visit. After trying to play apart and finding it flat and lonely, the two girls invent a chant to take turns and share every climb, swing, and swoosh. Together they conquer the monkey bars, race the tower, and finally fly down the rainbow slide side by side.

The gate creaks open and Ella's sneakers hit the wood chips running, arms out like rocket wings. "Captain Ella, reporting for slide duty!" she shouts, because someday she is going to be an astronaut doctor, and astronaut doctors always go first. Emily laughs and grabs the strap of her overalls to slow her down.

"Slide first!" Ella says, tugging Emily's sleeve. "Monkey bars first," Emily says, planting her sneakers in the wood chips and not moving one inch. They stand nose to nose, both certain they are exactly right.

So they split up. Ella climbs the slide tower alone, and Emily swings across the bars by herself. At the top, Ella looks down and there is nobody to wave to. The slide feels cold and quiet under her hands.

Ella zooms down anyway, alone, and lands with a thump in the wood chips. No one cheers. No one claps. Across the yard, Emily's fingers slip off a bar and she tumbles into the dirt, elbow stinging, and nobody rushes over to check if she is okay.

Ella runs over and sees the scrape on Emily's elbow. "I'm sorry I didn't come with you," she says, quiet now. "I'm sorry too," Emily says, rubbing the scrape. "Turns aren't so bad. We could just... take them?" Ella grins. "Ready, wobble, GO!"

They climb the monkey bars together, hand over hand. When Ella's arms wobble, Emily grabs her wrist and holds tight. "Ready, wobble, GO!" they shout, and Ella swings all the way to the end without falling once.

"Ready, wobble, GO!" they yell, and race up the climbing tower two steps at a time, elbows bumping, giggling the whole way. At the top, they grab hands and drop into the giant rainbow slide together, spinning and shrieking all the way down.

They land in the wood chips in a tangled, giggling heap. Ella pushes herself up first and reaches down her hand. "Captain Ella, reporting for duty," she says, "with my copilot." "Ready, wobble, GO!" Emily whispers, and takes her hand.