Dreamer_on_ice-
She found herself falling backwards through the hole!  Farther and
farther she fell until fearfully she reached out and snagged one of
the giggling pretend flowers and used it as a parachute.  
Immediately she began to fall faster in the wrong direction.  
Something was wrong!  Then she remembered the part of the riddle
that said " . . and dead when holding on."  

Reluctantly she released her hold on the flower and resumed her
slower fall towards home.  She had correctly realized that anyone
who had jumped downwards through the hole would have fallen UP
and then reversed direction to land on the cloud floor where their
broken bodies would have been lunch for the awful wolf creature
and his evil host.  By jumping up she had been sent downwards
toward her home. 

By NOT holding on to the wicked little flower-chutes she had escaped
the last trap and was now floating more and more slowly 
downwards to home.   When at last her foot touched down softly and
safely she heard an awful howling and thunder from above as the
vine seemed to disintegrate into small flower petals that blew away
on the wind.  When she looked up she saw the cloud above was 
broken into smaller pieces and was dispersing, forever she hoped.

The End