The Tickly Meadow Breeze

Pip held his smooth wooden acorn cup very carefully with both hands. Click, clack! Inside went his shiny blue pebble, tucked away safe and sound. Chloe smiled down at him, her bright freckles crinkling, and slid the little cup deep into her own pocket so it would not tumble away again.

Just as she did, a merry whoosh came whistling down from the meadow! It rushed past the open birch-twig door, smelling of sweet sunshine and warm green grass. With the whoosh came a flurry of little dandelion parachutes. They drifted right into the root-hall, floating on the warm air like tiny white clouds.

"Look!" Chloe gasped, her eyes growing round. "Meadow snow!"

The breeze lifted her long pink hair in soft, fluttering ripples. High up on her head, her star daisy crown began to twinkle, shining with dancing rainbow stripes that hopped and skipped along the root walls. Tiny bits of dandelion fluff caught in her pink locks, making them look like fairy candy. Chloe rose up on her sparkly pink shoes, reaching high, high, high with her fingers. Catch! Miss! Catch! Miss! Each floating seed twirled just out of reach, making her giggle until her tummy wiggled.

Blossom did not stay on Chloe's shoulder for a second longer. Buzz, whirr! Blossom’s clear wings fluttered so fast they hummed like a busy bumblebee. She held onto her funny little green clover leaf hat with one tiny hand, swooping through the golden air. She darted up to a big white puff, gave it a gentle tap with her thin green wand, and watched bright yellow sparks shower down around it like sunny sprinkles.

"Got one! Got one!" Blossom cheered, spinning in a joyful loop-the-loop.

Another seed floated down, slow as a dream, and landed right on the tip of Chloe’s nose. "Achoo!" she sneezed—a tiny, kitten sneeze. The fluff flew up, Chloe giggled, and Blossom giggled right along with her, their happy sounds bouncing against the honey-scented walls.

While the girls danced and twirled after the flying fluff, Pip stayed close to the floor. He tapped the wood with his little brown stick. The polished amber floor was pleasantly warm and sticky with tree sap. It caught things that drifted down too low.

"Hey, look down here, Butterfly," Pip called softly.

Stuck to the smooth, humming resin was a neat, white line. Plop, plop, plop. Five little dandelion seeds had landed in a perfect little row. Then another, and another, marching straight past the floor’s golden glow toward the big pine root pillar.

Pip tiptoed along the fluffy white line, one tiny fairy shoe in front of the other. The trail led right around the thick wooden pillar to a narrow, quiet corner in the dark bark. There, where the amber light grew soft and dim, a cool, gentle draft breathed against Pip’s cheek, whispering of another room tucked deeper inside the cozy earth.