Vesper’s Waiting Game — Under the garden fence, Vesper pressed both sheet-hands together and whispered the rules of his new game: wait without peeking, count only falling leaves, and listen for the smallest sound. Read the full story →
Under the garden fence, Vesper pressed both sheet-hands together and whispered the rules of his new game: wait without peeking, count only falling leaves, and listen for the smallest sound. He wanted to find the secret signal that made Halloween begin. Beside him, Minka the cat twitched her whiskers under a crooked hat. A bat zipped by with a papery flap, but Vesper did not chase it. Three leaves spun down. Four. Five. The pumpkin stayed dark and plain.
“Not yet,” purred Minka, though her tail curled like a question mark. The clouds wound themselves into silver spirals, mushrooms smelled damp and peppery, and the fence boards creaked in the cool wind. Vesper counted until the last leaf landed on the pumpkin’s stem. Then, from inside the pumpkin, came a tiny tick-tick-tick, like a seed knocking.
A warm grin opened in the pumpkin, triangle eyes blinking amber. Ever since that patient night, jack-o’-lanterns wait for the last leaf’s tap before they smile. If you spot Vesper’s clasped hands, you’ll know he is still playing the waiting game.
