Tessa and the Wobbly Wagon

Tessa was a little red cart with four wooden wheels. Every morning, she carried tools around the Busy Workshop: a hammer, a paintbrush, and a box of shiny screws. She loved the clatter-clatter of her wheels on the floorboards.

One windy day, a gust rushed through the open door. Bright paper scraps swirled across the room. “Oh!” cried Mr. Finch, the toymaker. “That paper is for the children’s pinwheels. The school fair is tomorrow!”

Tessa rolled after the scraps. But she turned too fast, and one wheel bumped over a knot in the floor. Clonk! Her box of screws tipped over. Screws rolled under the table, under the shelf, and into a sleepy cat’s basket.

Tessa’s handle drooped. “I cannot carry things safely,” she said.

Mr. Finch knelt beside her. “Let’s look closely.” He tipped Tessa on her side. One wheel sat lower than the other three. Its little wooden peg was worn smooth.

Dot, a bluebird, fluttered down from the window. “Could a new peg help?” she asked.

Mr. Finch found a short round dowel and fitted it into place. Tessa rolled forward. Wobble, wobble. “Too skinny,” she said, swaying from side to side.

Dot brought a flat washer from the button jar. Mr. Finch slid it between the wheel and Tessa’s wooden side. Then he chose a thicker peg. “Time for a test,” he said.

First, Tessa carried three paint pots across the floor. Clatter-clatter. No wobble. Then she carried the hammer and paintbrush. Still no wobble! At last, Mr. Finch set the box of screws inside. Tessa rolled over the floor knot without spilling a single one.

“Steady!” chirped Dot. Tessa gave a proud little clatter.

Together, they gathered the paper scraps. Tessa carried them to the long worktable, where Mr. Finch and Dot made pinwheels in red, yellow, and blue.

The next day, a breeze spun the pinwheels at the school fair. Tessa waited nearby with extra paper and tools in her tidy cart. Whenever a child needed a new stick or a tighter screw, Tessa was ready—steady on all four wheels.