Juniper’s Acorn Parade — Under a sky that smelled of dry leaves and apple peel, Juniper marched down the autumn hillside with a basket-bell bouncing against her sweater. Read the full story →
Under a sky that smelled of dry leaves and apple peel, Juniper marched down the autumn hillside with a basket-bell bouncing against her sweater. The harvest parade would begin when she blew the tiny silver whistle, and she wanted to be at the front when the first drum went boom-boom through the pines. She checked the pumpkin cart, the berry wreaths, and the curled horn basket piled with corn, squash, and grapes.
“Ready, Juniper?” called the fox twins from the little white house. Juniper patted every pocket. No whistle. The wind whisked oak leaves over her paws, rattled acorns across the path, and made the berry stems click like beads. She lifted pumpkins, peered under carrots, and even sniffed inside the cornucopia, where it smelled sweet and dusty.
Then a chickadee landed on her hat and pecked one acorn twice. Tweet-tink! Its cap flipped open, and the silver whistle slid into Juniper’s paw, warm from hiding above her ears all morning. She laughed so hard the nearby berries trembled. When she blew it, every squirrel, fox, bird, and bear stepped into place as if the hill itself had been waiting for her. If you spot the acorns on Juniper’s hat, you’ll know exactly where the parade began under that sky of dry leaves and apple peel.
