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Humphrey was a very nervous hamster who loved to hike. He loved the fresh air, the feeling of adventure, but he absolutely despised the idea of getting his whiskers wet. It was an irrational fear, but a powerful one.

One sunny Saturday, Humphrey was hiking along the bank of the winding River Glimmer. He was trying to jump across a particularly wide, muddy section when he slipped.

"Oh, calamity!" squeaked Humphrey, teetering precariously on the edge. He was moments away from a full, horrifying, whisker-soaking sploosh!

Just then, a long, gray shadow fell over him. A tall, elegant heron named Harriet landed silently on the bank. Harriet looked down at the panicking hamster.

"Trouble, little one?" Harriet asked, her voice calm and surprisingly deep.

"My whiskers!" Humphrey wailed. "They will be soggy! I will be disgraced! I cannot be a wet-whiskered adventurer!"

Harriet considered this. She bent her long neck and picked up a large, dry lily pad that was lying nearby. She gently placed it in the middle of the mud puddle.

"There," she said. "Use that as a stepping stone."

Humphrey looked at the lily pad. It was a good idea, but it was still very close to the mud.

Harriet sighed. She then bent down again and very carefully placed her own enormous, flat foot right next to the lily pad. "Here," she said. "Now you have a dry-foot bridge."

Humphrey hesitated. He took a giant leap and landed safely on the heron's foot. He then took another tiny hop and landed on the lily pad. He then scurried the rest of the way across the dry bank, entirely mud-free.

He turned back. "Harriet, you saved my whiskers! Thank you!"

Harriet smiled, but then she looked down at her foot. She had completely forgotten that her foot was still in the mud. She lifted it up.

"Oh dear," she said, looking at the large, perfectly-formed, muddy footprint. "It seems I have traded a soggy hamster for a muddy heron."

Humphrey, safe and dry, burst into laughter. "Don't worry, Harriet!" he chirped. "I'll fetch you the best, driest, most whiskery-safe piece of moss I can find to wipe that off!"

Harriet chuckled, shaking her head. From that day on, Humphrey hiked with a small, dry piece of lily pad on his back, and Harriet occasionally stopped by to trade a little help for a good, clean joke.