Batty stood at the very edge of the Great Oak Branch, tightening the strap of his lucky red goggles. Tonight was the big night; he was finally going to learn to fly, even if his knees were shaking like jelly. "I am a fierce creature of the night," he squeaked, trying to sound brave.
Batty didn't trust just flapping his wings, so he had come up with a 'better' plan. He had taped two giant maple leaves to his arms using sticky tree sap. "Science is better than flapping," he declared, looking like a very confused salad.
He took a running leap, shouting, "Tally-ho!" immediately followed by a loud, "Uh oh!" The leaves instantly snapped off in the wind, and Batty dropped like a fuzzy stone toward the forest floor.
Boing! He bounced off a giant, glowing blue mushroom and landed right in front of Professor Hoot. The old owl looked down over his monocle. "Is that a new style of falling, young Barnaby?" the owl asked dryly.
"I was just... testing gravity," Batty lied, dusting off his fur. Just then, a fuzzy moth tickled his nose, and a massive sneeze built up inside him. "Ah... ah... CHOO!"
The force of the sneeze was so strong it launched Batty backward into the air like a rocket! He zipped past the fireflies, doing a perfect, unintentional loop-de-loop while screaming with delight.
He grabbed a high branch with his toes, swinging to a stop upside down, panting but grinning. He hadn't flapped exactly right, but he was definitely flying. "I meant to do that," Batty whispered, watching the world spin.
