Measuring My Waddles

I nudged a tightly coiled yellow cloth tape measure resting near the edge of the woven craft basket. The little brass tip caught against the floor, and the ribbon suddenly spiraled out, unrolling across the polished oak floorboards in a long stripe of black numbers. Curious, I marched right along the yellow path, lining up my orange feet against each line to see how far my steps reached. Five full waddles took me from the zero mark all the way to eighteen! A neat little speech bubble floated up above my head showing a golden ruler beside a shining star as I tapped the finish mark with my flipper.