Tarlo’s Carrot Turn — Under the striped pole, Tarlo pressed little lines into a carrot with a twig, making each groove neat as a sled track. Read the full story →
Under the striped pole, Tarlo pressed little lines into a carrot with a twig, making each groove neat as a sled track. He had invented Carrot Turn: whoever held the carrot got to choose where the next gift went, and Tarlo wanted the first turn to be truly his.
Santa’s sack rustled with blocks, drums, and ribboned boxes, but the wind kept nudging every tag into a papery whisper-pile. “We need one steady chooser,” Santa said, his mittens still. Tarlo felt the carrot’s bumpy sides, the cool place where his twig had worked, and lifted it high.
Santa read the first tag, then pointed the carrot toward the snowy road. The sack settled with a happy thump. Ever since, the North Pole keeps one carrot-shaped pointer by the signpost, because a gift made by hand can turn a whole night the right way. Can you spot the careful grooves Tarlo carved under the striped pole?
