Bramble’s Ripple Run — Every afternoon, Bramble pushed his curled leaf from the mud bank and dared himself to paddle through three perfect ripple rings before the dragonflies finished their zigzag dance. Read the full story →
Every afternoon, Bramble pushed his curled leaf from the mud bank and dared himself to paddle through three perfect ripple rings before the dragonflies finished their zigzag dance. The pond smelled of wet reeds and sun-warmed lily pads, and his wooden paddle went splish-slap, splish-slap like a tiny drum.
Then one gusty afternoon, the wind shoved his leaf sideways into the reed raceway where the water ran fast. Because of that, Bramble missed the first ring and shot past a sleepy turtle’s nose. Because of THAT, the turtle snorted bubbles that marked a hidden current, and Bramble dug his paddle in, laughing, “Faster, leaf, faster!”
At last he spun around the water lily, crossed all three ripples in one wild swoop, and drifted home with his ears full of cattail whispers. If you trace the pond rings, can you find the run where Bramble belonged, splish-slap, splish-slap?
