Axel has been given very clear instructions. No heroics today.

Tilly checks her tank every morning before school. Filter. Plant. Castle. Thermometer. Everything must be exactly where it belongs. Then she points through the glass and tells him firmly: no heroics.

Axel nods. Axel understands. Axel means well.

But when the thermometer falls off the wall and lands in the gravel with a soft little thup-plink, what is he supposed to do? Leave it there? Let Tilly come home and find it lying like a dropped sausage? That would be disappointing. And disappointing is much worse than cross.

So Axel decides to fix it. Just a small nudge. Just a helpful push. Just one tiny attempt to put things right before Tilly gets home.

This turns out to be a very bad decision.

What happens next involves things going wrong in exactly the way they should not go wrong. Filters making noises they should not make. Objects ending up in places they definitely should not be. And when Tilly finally walks through that bedroom door, well… The tank is not doing what tanks are supposed to do. And Axel is wearing something on his face that should absolutely not be there.

This is a story about trying to help and making things magnificently worse. About the chaos that happens when nobody is watching. About why some creatures should simply stay very still and do absolutely nothing until help arrives.

For children who have ever tried to fix something and broken it further. For parents who have come home to disaster and the words “I was helping.” For anyone who has ever loved a creature that causes havoc with the very best intentions.

More stories about helpful disasters at MrMortonsBarmyBook.com.

Episode length: approximately 10 minutes
Ages: 4 to 400
Best enjoyed: bedtime, car journeys, quiet moments that need gentle chaos

Press play. The thermometer has just fallen. Axel has just decided to help. You know how this ends.