Written by Stefan Karlsson
1 The whole wide world awaits outside!
Leap to line 4 to take a nice stroll,
or skip to line 7 to go have a ball!
4 Oof! Looks like you fell down a hole.
Bummer! Reach for line 23 to climb out
or press on to line 10 to dig deeper…
7 Ouch! Looks like you ran into a wall!
That stinks! Try line 23 to take a new route
or slide to line 17 to have a good cry!
10 Aaaah! It’s the Squirmy-Wormy Worry-Creature:
“Tunnel to my lair in line 13…if you dare!
Or worm your way out to line 7…and crawl!”
13 Eek! You’re going in there?! But aren’t you scared?
It’s dark. And deadly! But if you’re sure…
You burrow and find…buried treasure!
Woohoo! Race to line 7 to spend it all!
17 Welp! You gave this quest a good try.
WAAAH! Waaah! Boohoo. Sniff.
Now what to do? Bored! But what if…
What if you let mistakes be your guide?
Why not try again? Take it in stride.
Return to line 1, throw the doors open wide!
23 Yikes! It’s the Giant Dragon DOUBT!
Doubt’s fiery breath makes you sweat…
Flee to line 17 and tell Doubt goodbye!
Or brave line 27 to face you-know-who…
27 Wow! Doubt steps down. What can’t you do?
You beat the big boss! But this isn’t the end.
You choose what’s next. Pick up a pen.
Go write your own quest. Ready? Begin.
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Stefan Karlsson is a poet and artist based in Portland, Oregon. He received his MFA in Poetry from the University of California-Irvine. His poems (for children) have appeared in The Dirigible Balloon, Little Thoughts Press, Tyger Tyger Magazine, and more. His paper marbling artwork can be found on Instagram @nautiluspaper, and his poetry for kids can be found on Twitter @stefkidlit, Bluesky @stefankarlsson.bsky.social, and on YouTube @StefanKidsPoetry. For more poems and info, visit his website: https://stefankarlssonwrites.wixsite.com/author.