Booboo’s toes wiggled in the warm sand, sending tiny grains skittering like sugar spilled from a giant’s spoon. The air smelled of ripe mangoes—sweet and sticky, with a hint of salt from the turquoise waves that went swoosh-swoosh against the shore. His fingers brushed against a coconut shell, rough as a dragon’s back, and he grinned. Flavor Island was the best place ever, even if his tummy rumbled like a sleepy lion.

"I’ll find the juiciest fruit for breakfast!" Booboo declared, hopping over a puddle that went splosh under his sandals. He skipped past the banana trees, their leaves rustling like crinkly paper, and the pineapple bushes that tickled his knees. But then—CRACK!—his foot landed on something squishy. A rotten papaya. Splat! His shorts were now decorated with orange goop, and the smell? Like a sock left in the sun too long.

"Oh, yuck!" Booboo wrinkled his nose and tried to wipe it off, but his hand just made it worse. Squelch. Now his fingers were sticky too. He sighed, his shoulders drooping like a wilted flower. Maybe he wasn’t the best fruit hunter after all.

That’s when he heard it—a giggle. Not the tee-hee of a bird or the ha-ha of the wind, but a real, bubbly laugh. Booboo spun around. Behind a bush, two eyes peeked out, shiny as marbles. Then—whoosh!—a small figure darted behind a tree. A stranger!

Booboo’s heart went thump-thump-thump like a drum. His mom always said, "Don’t talk to strangers." But this stranger smelled like cinnamon and honey, and their giggle was as warm as a hug. He took a tiny step forward. "H-hello?"

The bush rustled. Out popped a girl with hair as wild as a bird’s nest and a grin as wide as a banana peel. She held a coconut in her hands, its shell smooth as a pebble. "You’ve got papaya on your butt," she said, pointing.

Booboo’s face burned hotter than a pepper. "Oh. Uh. Thanks." He rubbed his shorts, but it was no use. The girl giggled again and tossed the coconut to him. Plop! It landed in his hands. "Here. This’ll help."

Booboo turned the coconut over. It was heavy, and when he shook it, something sloshed inside. "What is it?"

"Coconut water! The best drink on the island. But you gotta open it." She pulled a sharp rock from her pocket—it glinted like a tiny sword. "Want me to show you?"

Booboo hesitated. The rock looked scary, and the girl was still a stranger. But her smile was as bright as the sun on the waves, and the coconut smelled like a tropical dream. He nodded. "Okay."

With a tap-tap-tap, the girl carved a hole in the coconut. Booboo’s eyes widened as she handed it back. "Drink!" she said. He took a sip—glug-glug—and the sweet, cool water trickled down his throat. It tasted like sunshine and rain mixed together. "Wow!"

The girl plopped down beside him, her knees covered in sand that sparkled like tiny stars. "I’m Lulu. I live in the big tree over there." She pointed to a giant tree with branches like arms stretching over the beach. "You’re new here, right?"

Booboo nodded, wiping his mouth. "I’m Booboo. I just got here yesterday."

Lulu’s eyes lit up. "Then you *have* to try the jellyfish berries! They wiggle when you eat them!" She jumped up and grabbed his hand. Her fingers were warm and a little sandy, like holding a handful of sunshine.

Booboo’s tummy did a flip. He’d never had a friend on Flavor Island before. But Lulu’s laugh was as catching as a yawn, and the jellyfish berries sounded too fun to miss. He took a deep breath and grinned. "Race you there!"

And off they went, their feet kicking up sand like fireworks, the sound of their laughter mixing with the swoosh of the waves. The papaya on Booboo’s shorts didn’t matter anymore. Neither did the stranger rule. Because sometimes, the best adventures start with a giggle and a coconut.