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High above a sunflower field on a sunny afternoon, Carl the Carbon Atom smiles while floating beside shimmering CO2 molecules. Below, a tall sunflower leaf reaches toward the bright sky, bathed in warm light.
High in the sky, Carl floated with CO2. A gentle breeze whispered, 'Adventure time!' 'Where are we going?' asked Carl. They drifted toward a bright green leaf. A tall sunflower reached for sunlight.
On the sunlit surface of a broad leaf, Carl the Carbon Atom stands wide-eyed as sparkling photons dance. A glowing green chloroplast doorway lies open beneath him, inviting entry into the luminous inner lab.
Down onto the leaf, Carl landed softly. Light sparkled like tiny stars around him. He slipped into a chloroplast, the light lab. 'This place glows!' Carl said. He looked around, heart bubbling with curiosity.
Inside the softly lit chloroplast lab, RuBisCO floats forward waving gentle ribbon-like arms, wearing a welcoming grin. Carl the Carbon Atom hovers nearby, eyes shining with excitement amid emerald membranes and golden sunlight filtering through.
Out popped RuBisCO, the famous enzyme. 'Hello, Carl,' RuBisCO said, waving gently. 'Ready to join a leaf molecule?' Carl beamed, 'Yes, let's try!' Sunlight buzzed, and the work began.
In the vivid green stroma, RuBisCO links Carl the Carbon Atom to another molecule while colorful ATP and NADPH packages orbit like courier drones. Bright biochemical pathways spiral around them under steady, diffuse daylight from above.
RuBisCO linked Carl to a leaf partner. Spinning steps called the Calvin cycle began. ATP and NADPH delivered energy packages. 'Whee!' Carl cheered, 'I'm part of G3P now!' They zipped along, sweet.
Within a glowing vascular tube inside the sunflower stem, two G3P friends merge into a chunky glucose ring holding a cheerful Carl. Sun-filtered light streams through translucent walls as the sugary package glides upward toward the blossom.
Two G3P friends combined into glucose. Carl felt bigger, like a packed lunch. 'I'm energy storage now!' he laughed. Glucose traveled through stems and leaves. The sunflower stretched taller toward warm sun.
At the garden edge on a bright morning, a gentle Deer stretches its neck to bite a sunflower leaf, sunlight dappling its fur. Inside the torn leaf tip, Carl the Carbon Atom waves from the crystalline glucose.
A gentle deer wandered by the garden. Crunch, crunch, it nibbled the leaf. 'Hello in there,' the Deer said kindly. Carl waved from glucose, 'New adventure?' The Deer smiled and swallowed.
In a softly glowing cell inside the Deer's leg, Carl the Carbon Atom giggles as an enzyme attaches a phosphate to glucose. The golden cytoplasm looks like a liquid workshop under warm intracellular light.
Inside a cell's cytoplasm, work began. An enzyme added a phosphate to glucose. 'Tingle!' Carl said. 'We're getting ready.' Steps called glycolysis split glucose in two. Carl became part of pyruvate.
In the twilight-lit cytoplasm, two pyruvate pieces holding Carl the Carbon Atom float toward a towering mitochondrion doorway that glows fiery orange. Membrane cristae shapes beckon like spiraling ramps inside the waiting powerhouse.
Two pyruvate pieces approached the doorway. They headed for a mitochondrion, the powerhouse. Carl peeked inside the busy organelle. 'It hums like a tiny engine,' he said. Enzymes prepared the next big spin.
Deep inside the mitochondrion bathed in pulsing amber light, Carl the Carbon Atom zooms along the citric acid cycle as enzymes snip molecular bonds. ATP sparks burst like tiny fireworks around the circular track.
Inside the citric acid cycle, Carl whirled. Enzymes clipped bonds and gathered energy. 'Hold on!' Carl laughed, zooming around. More ATP was made for the Deer. Carl felt a change coming.
Inside the softly pink alveoli of the Deer's lungs, Carl the Carbon Atom twinkles as he detaches and becomes CO2. A gentle exhale sends him through the moist airway into bright afternoon sunlight outside the muzzle.
The cycle released carbon as CO2 again. 'I'm free!' Carl cheered, sparkling. He drifted to the Deer's lungs. With a warm breath, out he flew. 'Thanks for the energy,' said the Deer.
High in the clear blue afternoon sky, Carl the Carbon Atom drifts on a playful breeze above rolling meadows, remembering the vivid sunflower leaf below. Sunlight glitters around him like tiny prisms.
Carl bobbed into the sky once more. He remembered the bright green sunflower leaf. 'Round and round I go,' he sang. A breeze guided him toward plants again. RuBisCO waited patiently in the leaf.
On the sunlit edge of the sunflower field, RuBisCO stands atop a broad leaf with arms open as Carl the Carbon Atom floats down. Nearby, the Deer in the meadow lifts a hoof to wave, early-evening light golden.
'Welcome back, Carl,' RuBisCO said kindly. Photosynthesis was ready for another round. Carl smiled, 'Science makes life grow!' The Deer waved from the meadow. And the adventure started again.