Not far from the giant mirrors of Mirrorland lived a tiny creature named Grillo.
Grillo was only three feet tall. He had fluffy green fur, huge golden eyes, oversized ears, and a long striped tail that never stopped wagging. He loved shiny things, especially mirrors, but he was also incredibly clumsy.
Whenever Grillo walked, he somehow tripped over his own feet.
Whenever he climbed a tree, he got stuck.
Whenever he tried to look serious, something silly happened.
The creatures of Mirrorland laughed every time they saw him.
Grillo didn't mind.
"If I make someone smile," he would say, "then today was a good day!" One morning, Grillo found a tiny mirror lying on the ground.
"I wonder what story is inside this one," he said.
He picked it up...
POP!
Suddenly, fifty little Grillos appeared.
"Oh no," Grillo shouted. "Which one is me?"
Every Grillo began talking at once.
"I'm the real one!"
"No, I'm the real one!"
One started dancing.
Another started singing.
One fell into a bush.
Another ran straight into a tree.
When the magic finally wore off, all the copies disappeared, leaving only the real Grillo sitting upside down with his feet in the air.
"Well..." he laughed. "That could have gone better." While searching for food, Flora heard someone laughing.
She followed the sound until she saw Grillo hanging upside down from a tree branch by his tail.
"Are you stuck?" Flora asked.
"No," Grillo answered.
A moment later he sighed.
"...Okay, yes."
Flora gently lifted him down.
Grillo smiled.
"Thank you! I'm Grillo, the funniest creature in Mirrorland!"
Flora tilted her head.
"What is funny?"
Grillo blinked.
"You don't know what funny means?"
Flora shook her head.
"I don't understand laughter."
Grillo gasped dramatically.
"Well... that's about to change!" Grillo spent the entire afternoon trying to make Flora laugh.
He pretended to be a giant fish.
He wore leaves as a fancy hat.
He balanced on one foot.
He tried to juggle shiny rocks.
Everything was going perfectly...
...until one rock bounced off his head.
He spun in circles.
His ears flopped over his eyes.
Then he accidentally rolled down a grassy hill and landed headfirst inside a hollow log.
Only his little feet were sticking out.
Flora stared at him.
She felt something strange inside her.
The corners of her mouth slowly lifted.
A tiny sound escaped.
"...Ha."
Grillo pulled himself out of the log.
"Did you just laugh?"
Flora touched her face.
"What was that?"
Grillo smiled.
"That... was happiness." As the sun set over Mirrorland, Flora and Grillo sat beside the mirror lake.
Grillo skipped stones across the water while Flora watched the mirrors tell their endless stories.
"You know," Grillo said, "you don't have to understand every feeling today."
Flora looked at him.
"I don't?"
"Nope."
"You just keep learning... one feeling at a time."
Flora nodded.
"I think... I like having a friend."
Grillo grinned from ear to ear.
"And I think Mirrorland just got a lot less lonely."
The two friends watched the mirrors together as thousands of stories continued to shine across the magical world.
And for the very first time...
Flora smiled.