[Lainey was a small blonde girl with bright blue eyes and a brave, adventurous heart. Each morning, she felt the world held a secret just beyond the meadow. At her feet bounced Lenny, the clever kelpie who always seemed to understand. "Come on, Lenny, today feels different, and I think the meadow has a story for us,"

Lainey knelt by the strange prints, brushing a curl from her face as she studied them. They were too big for a rabbit, too neat for a fox, and still fresh in the mud. Lenny sniffed, then barked urgently, making the morning feel suddenly mysterious. "I know you see it too, Lenny, and if something passed this way alone, then maybe it needs help, so let’s follow these tracks and be brave,"

Lainey followed the pawprints through the woods, with Lenny trotting ahead and circling back whenever she fell behind. Soon a faint, frightened cry drifted from beyond a ring of brambles. "Wait, Lenny, someone’s there, and it sounds scared, so we must go gently and help without frightening it more,"

Lainey felt her chest tighten when she saw the tiny foal trapped in the thorny vines. Lenny crept forward gently, then sneezed at a leaf on his nose, making the frightened foal blink. As its trembling eased, Lainey crouched beside the brambles and worked carefully to free it. "Easy now, little one, we won’t leave you here, and if you trust us a little longer, we’ll have you free before the sun goes down,"

The foal was free at last, but thunder muttered and the path home led across the now-rushing stream, which seemed to have chosen that very moment to practice being a dragon. Lainey felt fear prickle down her back, but Lenny stepped into the shallows first, splashed himself straight in the nose, and looked back as if to say courage could be soggy, surprised, and slightly offended. The little foal blinked at him, and even the thunder sounded for a moment like a grumpy giant clearing its throat. "All right, Lenny, I’m scared too, but if you can face the stream after it booped your nose, then we can do this together, move slowly, and help the little foal cross safely,"

The moment the foal heard the mare’s cry, it answered with a bright, eager whinny and bolted forward through the wet grass. Lainey stopped at the fence, smiling as the mare nuzzled her baby over and over, as if trying to make up for every frightened minute they had been apart. Lenny sat proudly beside her, soaked and muddy and looking entirely pleased with himself. "You knew all along, didn’t you, Lenny, that this adventure wasn’t about getting lost at all, but about helping someone else find the way home,"

Back safely tucked in bed, Lainey wrapped in her blankets while Lenny curled on the foot of her bed. The day had begun with a feeling and ended with a rescue, leaving the world kinder and more magical than before. She gazed at the moonlit meadow, certain more trails, mysteries, and brave hearts waited ahead. "Goodnight, Lenny, and thank you for being the sort of friend who runs toward the unknown with me, because every great story feels safer when you’re in it,"