The First Curly Smoke — In the hush after breakfast, Iris tapped one envelope against her mailbag: tap, tap, tap. Read the full story →
In the hush after breakfast, Iris tapped one envelope against her mailbag: tap, tap, tap. She had promised herself she would deliver the letter with no help, even though its address said only, “To the house that sighs.” The garden street smelled like wet leaves and warm toast, and every roof looked sleepy.
At the yellow house, a thin gray puff rose straight from the chimney. Iris lifted her hand to knock, but the envelope gave a papery shiver. “Are you the sighing house?” she whispered. The smoke bent into one small curl, then another, like it was nodding.
Iris slipped the letter through the door slot. Inside, something chimed—plink! The chimney smoke spun into happy loops so neighbors could tell when a house had good news to keep warm. Ever since, chimneys curl their smoke when a secret letter has come home; can you spot the first little loop above the roof?
