Let's solve $12 - 389$ step by step! **Step 1:** Imagine you have 12 🐦 birds. **Step 2:** Now, you want to take away 389 birds. But 389 is bigger than 12, so the answer will be a negative number. **Step 3:** Let's find how much bigger 389 is than 12 by subtracting 12 from 389: $$389 - 12 = 377$$ **Step 4:** That means: $$12 - 389 = -377$$ Great! The answer is $-377$. So, if you had 12 birds and needed to give away 389, you would owe 377 birds. 🎯 **Final answer:** $-377$