Juniper’s Star-Water Challenge — Under the hush before sunrise, Juniper tied seven daisy stems with thread and tapped her tin spoon three times. Read the full story →
Under the hush before sunrise, Juniper tied seven daisy stems with thread and tapped her tin spoon three times. She had set herself a challenge: fill the starry watering can with dew from three hidden places and make the daisies open before the first robin called. The garden smelled like wet stone and mint. “No spilling,” she whispered.
She stepped past the safe bean arch, where shadows made ladder shapes on the path. Dew waited on a curled leaf, inside a tulip cup, and along the cool rim of the birdbath. At the birdbath, a silver moth fluttered up, and Juniper dropped her spoon into the grass. She could have gone home. Instead, she used her fingers, cold and clumsy, to scoop the last shining drops.
Back by the can, she stirred with a twig she had notched herself. Plink, plink, plink—the dew fell in, and the daisies lifted their round faces. One tiny star on the can gave a wink, as if it had been hiding the recipe all along. Next time you spot those seven daisies, see if you can tell which one opened first under the hush before sunrise.
