In a cozy little cottage, nestled beside a whispering wood, lived a cheerful fellow named Barnaby. One chilly morning, a little spark from Barnaby's fireplace decided to go on an adventure. It hopped right onto a small, fluffy rug!

"Oh my!" cried Barnaby, seeing a tiny flame begin to dance on the rug. "I must put this out!"

He looked around his cottage. His eyes landed on a big, neat stack of firewood he had just chopped. "Aha!" he thought, though not very clearly. "Wood! I have lots of wood!"

So, Barnaby grabbed an armful of nice, dry logs. He carefully placed them... right onto the little dancing flame!

WHOOSH! The little flame didn't go out. It seemed to giggle! It munched on the new wood and grew bigger, and brighter, and much, much hotter!

Barnaby scratched his head. "Hmm," he mumbled. "That didn't work. Maybe it needs even *more* wood to feel... overwhelmed?"

So, he hurried back to his woodpile and brought another, even bigger armful of sticks and logs. He tossed them onto the now quite lively fire.

FOOM! The fire roared with delight! It danced even higher, licking towards the curtains. Barnaby started to feel a bit warm and very worried.

Luckily, his wise neighbor, Mrs. Gable, happened to be walking by with her watering can. She saw the bright orange glow in Barnaby's window and smelled the smoke.

"Barnaby!" she called out, rushing in. "What in the world are you doing with all that firewood?"

Barnaby, looking flustered, pointed at the growing blaze. "I'm trying to put out the fire, Mrs. Gable! But it just keeps getting hungrier!"

Mrs. Gable quickly put down her watering can, grabbed a heavy blanket from Barnaby's bed, and with a swift WHOOMP, smothered the flames. Then, for good measure, she used the water from her can on the smoldering bits.

The fire hissed, sizzled, and finally, with a grumpy puff of smoke, went out.

Barnaby looked at the smoky room, the pile of charred wood, and the damp blanket. "Oh," he said softly. "I guess adding wood to a fire doesn't make it go away."

Mrs. Gable smiled kindly. "Indeed, Barnaby. Sometimes, when you try to fix a problem, using the wrong thing can make it much, much bigger!"

And Barnaby learned that day that if you want to stop a fire, you certainly don't feed it more firewood.

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