Once upon a time, in a land filled with sparkly rivers and lollipop trees, lived a little fluffy creature. This creature loved to play! He loved bouncing on bouncy clouds, sliding down rainbow slides, and splashing in the sparkly rivers. He had a best friend, a tiny, brightly colored creature who loved to collect shiny pebbles.

One sunny morning, they decided to have a pebble-collecting competition. The little fluffy creature was so excited! He scooped up pebbles, big and small, shiny and dull, filling his little basket overflowing. His friend, however, carefully chose only the prettiest, smoothest pebbles, filling their basket slowly but beautifully.

"Look at my basket!" exclaimed the little fluffy creature, his voice bouncing with pride. It was so full it was about to spill over!

"Mine is smaller," said his friend, "but I chose only the best ones."

The little fluffy creature, still brimming with excitement, didn't think about his friend's feelings. He wanted to win! He noticed a really, really shiny pebble, the biggest and brightest one he had ever seen, nestled near a beautiful flower. He really, really wanted that pebble to make his collection even better.

He looked around. His friend was busy carefully cleaning a particularly beautiful, swirling pebble. He decided to take the shiny pebble without telling his friend. He quickly snatched it and put it in his basket.

As he ran back to his friend, a funny feeling started in his tummy. It wasn't a hungry feeling, or a sick feeling. It was a different kind of feeling. It felt…heavy. His chest felt tight, and his smile felt forced.

He showed his friend his overflowing basket, bragging about how many pebbles he had. His friend looked at the giant, shiny pebble and then at the little fluffy creature. A little tear rolled down their cheek.

"That's my favourite pebble," they whispered, their voice barely above a breath. "I was going to put it on my special necklace."

The little fluffy creature's tummy felt even heavier now. The shiny pebble, which had seemed so wonderful just moments before, now felt…wrong. He knew he hadn't done the right thing. He hadn't been fair to his friend.

He looked at his friend's sad face, and his heart felt sad too. The happy, bouncy feeling he had had earlier was completely gone. He wanted to make his friend feel better, but he didn't know how.

He finally confessed, "I...I took your pebble. I'm sorry."

His friend sniffled. "It was my favourite," they repeated softly.

The little fluffy creature felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He understood now. The heavy feeling in his tummy was guilt. It was a feeling that told him he had done something wrong, something that hurt his friend.

His friend, being kind and understanding, hugged him. "It's okay," they said, "but next time, please ask before you take something that belongs to someone else."

They spent the rest of the day sharing pebbles, building a beautiful pebble castle together. The little fluffy creature felt much better. The heavy feeling in his tummy started to fade as he made his friend happy again. He learned that sharing and being honest felt much better than the fleeting joy of winning unfairly.

He realized that guilt wasn’t a punishment, but a feeling that helped him understand when he'd made a mistake. It was a signal from his heart telling him to make things right. And making things right—apologizing, sharing, being kind—made him feel so much better than having that extra shiny pebble ever could.

From that day on, the little fluffy creature remembered what it felt like to have that heavy, guilty feeling. He learned to be more mindful of others' feelings and to think about how his actions might affect them. He learned that being kind and honest, even when it’s difficult, is always the best choice. And even though he still loved collecting pebbles, he valued his friendship even more, realizing that true happiness comes from sharing and caring, not just winning. And that understanding the feeling of guilt was a very important lesson that helped him grow into a happy and kind creature. The shiny pebble, though lovely, paled in comparison to the warmth and joy of a true friendship.