Dax’s Pumpkin Path Dash — Past the tall corn, Dax clicked two acorn caps together and whispered, “Gate to barn, barn to sign, sign to pumpkins—go!” He had just invented Pumpkin Path Dash, a game where every turn of the path needed a tiny gift before the next cloud crossed the sun. Read the full story →
Past the tall corn, Dax clicked two acorn caps together and whispered, “Gate to barn, barn to sign, sign to pumpkins—go!” He had just invented Pumpkin Path Dash, a game where every turn of the path needed a tiny gift before the next cloud crossed the sun. Into a crate went a sunflower seed, a smooth leaf, and a curled vine ring. The air smelled like dry straw and chimney smoke as he raced past the wheelbarrow with his pockets thump-thumping.
At the pumpkin stack, Dax slid the gifts into quiet places: seed for the chickadees, leaf for the beetles, vine ring for the field mouse’s door. Nobody clapped. Nobody even saw. Then the wind whooshed through the corn—shh-shh-SHAA!—and every fallen maple leaf on the path skittered into arrows, pointing straight to each hidden present.
Dax laughed so hard he nearly dropped his acorn caps. The game had not been only his; the wind had joined in, turning secret giving into a wild treasure map. Next time you follow the curling garden path, see if the leaves still point from gate to barn, barn to sign, sign to pumpkins—go!
