Stop That Pebble!

Inside the root-hall beneath the clover roots, the air smelled of sweet summer honey and sun-baked pine needles. High above, tiny specks of golden amber dust twirled and drifted like friendly little fireflies.

Chloe smoothed down her pink dress and looked up, smiling at the sparkling motes. On her head, the star daisy crown began to glow. It hummed along with the shiny floor, sending soft pink, yellow, and bright blue stripes rippling across the smooth amber wood. Blossom fluttered her clear wings, hovering near Chloe's freckled cheek. The wide clover leaf on Blossom's head bobbed up and down like a little green umbrella.

"Look at them dance, Chloe," Blossom whispered with a happy wiggle. "Round and round and round!"

Pip gave a big, proud nod. He tucked his little brown stick under his arm and patted his green shirt pocket. He always patted his pocket when he was happy. Inside that pocket lived his very best treasure: the shiny blue pebble he had found in the meadow grass.

Pip patted once. Pip patted twice.

Pip’s eyes went very round. His hands patted faster. Pat, pat, pat!

"Oh no," Pip squeaked. "My pebble! My shiny, smooth, blue pebble! It is gone!"

"Gone?" Chloe gasped, kneeling down in her sparkly pink shoes. "Did it drop outside by the fern?"

Before Pip could sniff or worry, there came a tiny click-clack against the floor.

The blue pebble had not fallen outside in the meadow dirt at all. It had been tucked right inside the cozy collar of Pip's green shirt. Now it tumbled out, bounced off Pip’s tiny boot, and hit the polished resin floor.

Spin, spin, whirrr!

The pebble began to dance. It spun like a bright blue top. It spun in a merry circle, right between Pip’s boots, glowing against the warm honey-colored wood.

"There it is!" Pip cheered, reaching down with both hands.

But the humming resin floor was very smooth and very tickly. The little blue pebble did not want to sit still. It gave a quick wobble. It gave a quick hop. Away it rolled, zipping down the hall toward the shadows!

"Stop, pebble, stop!" cried Pip.

Down went Pip onto his hands and knees. Scramble, scramble, scurry! Pip scrambled across the golden floor as fast as his little knees could carry him. His tiny fairy shoes kicked behind him.

Blossom let out a bubbly giggle. She pressed her green-sleeved hand over her mouth, but the giggle spilled right through her fingers anyway. "Hurry, Pip! It is rolling toward the twisty pine root!"

Straight ahead, a dark crack ran between two thick root branches. If the pebble slipped down into that crack, it would tumble deep beneath the floor.

"I've got it!" Chloe called out.

Chloe held up the smooth wooden acorn cup she had just found in the wall pocket. She dropped to her knees, slid across the warm, humming floor, and planted the wooden cup upside-down right in front of the crack like a little dome.