Ollie’s Moon-Guessing Game — Under the cold silver moon, Ollie tapped a little pumpkin pail against his paw. Read the full story →
Under the cold silver moon, Ollie tapped a little pumpkin pail against his paw. He had just invented Moon-Guessing: pick a shadow, guess what the moon has hidden inside it, then prove it before the wind says shhh. The first shadow looked like a crooked spoon. Ollie tiptoed out past the safe pumpkin rows, where vines scratched his ankles and dry leaves clicked like beetle feet.
At the old fence, he paid his price: one pumpkin seed from his snack pouch to a field mouse who knew the quickest gap. Beyond it, a bat zipped under a cloud, and Ollie saw the spoon-shadow change into a grin. Not a spoon at all. A jack-o'-lantern sat there, warm and hollow, smelling of candle smoke and sweet pumpkin.
“I guessed wrong,” Ollie whispered, delighted. That was the secret rule he brought home: wrong guesses made better doors. He set the lantern by the vines and started round two. If you study the moon and the bat, can you guess what shadow will run away next?
