Nella Waits for the Wink — Every morning, Nella perched on the curled fern leaf and waited for one silver dew drop to wink before she rang the garden awake with her antennae. Read the full story →
Every morning, Nella perched on the curled fern leaf and waited for one silver dew drop to wink before she rang the garden awake with her antennae. The leaf smelled green and peppery, and the sleeping buds kept their pink mouths shut. She wanted the wink, not a guess, so she sat very still while gnats buzzed boring songs around her feet.
Until one day, a beetle in a shiny blue vest popped from under the leaf. “I can wink!” he squeaked, blinking all six eyes at once. Because of that, Nella nearly rang early, and because of THAT, the beetle began polishing every dew drop with his back legs, making false flashes—pip, pip, pip! Nella folded her wings tighter and waited through the tickly leaf, the beetle’s giggles, and the warm smell of sun on stems.
At last, the highest drop caught real morning light and flashed gold-white. Nella rang three bright taps, the buds opened with soft pops, and the beetle bowed so hard he rolled off the stem. Look near the antennae again—you can almost spot the wink Nella waited for on the curled fern leaf.
