Clink the Cricket, Who Links Them Together

Clink is a tiny, cheerful cricket with a round green body, gentle antennae, and a little chirpy smile. And Clink has the most important job at the very moment two carts meet: Clink links them together.

You see, in the Bump Lab, when Hefty’s big cart and Nippy’s little cart roll toward each other and bump - they don’t just bounce apart. They COUPLE. They join, nose to nose. And that is Clink’s moment. He hops right to the spot where they touch and - clink! - he links them, snug and safe.

And now something wonderful happens. The two carts stop being two carts. They become one. They roll on together, side by side, as a single joined-up thing. And here is Clink’s secret:

“When they clink together, they roll as ONE - and they carry BOTH their pushes, added up!”

So which way does the joined pair roll? Whoever had the bigger push wins the direction, and they roll off together that way - carrying the pushes added up. Big heavy Hefty pushing one way, little fast Nippy pushing the other, and when they clink - Clink adds it all together, and off they roll as one.

That is Clink’s whole clever idea.

When two carts bump and stick, they roll on as ONE - carrying both their pushes added up.

A grown-up can play too! Get two things that roll and can bump and stay touching - two toy cars, or two blocks on a smooth floor. Roll them gently toward each other so they meet and move on TOGETHER, touching, as one joined thing. Say it as they join: “clink! - now they roll as one!” Which way do they go? The one with the bigger push decides.

When Hefty and Nippy clink together and roll off happily as one joined pair, Clink gives a bright little chirp and a happy hop, and feels a warm, tickly gladness - the joy of a tiny fellow who brings friends together. “Two become one,” he chirps. “Clink! - and their pushes add right up.”

And he rides along on top, chirping his happy song, as the joined carts roll gently down the track together.