The Cup Under the Counter — Rain tapped tick-tick-tick on the café windows while Pip held a plain white cup in both paws. Read the full story →
Rain tapped tick-tick-tick on the café windows while Pip held a plain white cup in both paws. He wanted a cup he had made himself, not just one borrowed from the shelf, so he slid down from his warm chair and padded across the cool tile to ask Nola the cat for clay paint.
Behind the counter, the floor smelled like cinnamon crumbs and wet umbrellas. Pip’s scarf snagged on a chair, and his cocoa went a little cold, but he kept going. Nola opened every drawer. No paint. Then Pip spotted a loose board under the counter. Inside was a tiny stamp shaped like a raindrop. “Try this,” Nola whispered. Pip pressed raindrops around his cup, one by one, until it looked like the window in a storm. He carried it back proudly, warmer than before. Next time you see his table, can you find the little cup that began with rain tapped tick-tick-tick?
