The Cloud Monster Who Had the Hiccups

Once upon a time, there was a fluffy blue cloud monster named Barnaby. He lived way up high in the sky where the birds fly. Barnaby was not a scary monster. He was a happy monster who loved to eat shiny yellow sunbeams for breakfast.One sunny Tuesday, Barnaby ate his sunbeams too fast. Gulp, gulp, gulp! Suddenly, his belly went BOOM! 'Oh no,' Barnaby whispered. 'I have the hiccups!' Every time he hiccuped, a big lightning bolt popped out of his nose! ZAP! It tickled the birds and made the trees wiggle down on the ground.Barnaby needed help fast. He flew over to his best friend, a pink rocket ship named Zoomy. 'Hiccup! ZAP!' went Barnaby. 'Can you help me stop my hiccups?' Zoomy thought hard. 'You should try upside-down flying!' so Barnaby flipped his tail up and his horns down. But 'Hiccup! ZAP!' a lightning bolt almost hit a lonely satellite!Next, they went to see Mr. Owl, who lived on the silver moon. Mr. Owl held his chin. 'To cure the hiccups, you must drink a whole bucket of cold marshmallow rain while holding your breath!' Barnaby found a rainy marshmallow cloud. He took a giant breath, held his nose, and drank the whole thing. It tasted like sweet winter time.Everyone waited. Zoomy watched. Mr. Owl watched. Barnaby held his breath until his blue cheeks turned purple. Then... he let it out. No lightning! No boom! His hiccups were totally gone!Barnaby was so happy he did a loop-de-loop loop in the air. To say thank you, he made a giant rainbow bridge from the moon all the way down to the earth so everyone could slide on it. And he promised to always chew his sunbeams twenty times before swallowing!