Quillan’s Welcome Basket — Under the bare-limbed trees of Orchard Hollow, Quillan nudged corn, gourds, and tiny acorns into separate piles with the careful tip of one claw. Read the full story →
Under the bare-limbed trees of Orchard Hollow, Quillan nudged corn, gourds, and tiny acorns into separate piles with the careful tip of one claw. He had invented Harvest Hush, a game where every food had to find its matching family before the wind went shhh through the dry leaves. The pumpkins smelled earthy and sweet; the corn silk tickled his nose. Quillan wanted the grove to feel neat before supper, but each gust rolled one odd thing into the wrong place.
A small voice called from behind the wheat bundles, “Where do I sit?” A speckled squash had toppled beside the apples, crooked and shy. Quillan tried every pile. Too bumpy for the pumpkins, too long for the acorns, too quiet for the corn. At last he tucked it into the center of his basket, then added one of everything around it. The colors leaned together like friends around a fire.
The hollow grew still, soft as pie crust cooling on a plate. From then on, autumn dinosaurs carried mixed baskets through Orchard Hollow, so every stray seed, squash, and leaf could feel exactly where it belonged. If you spot Quillan’s basket, can you find the little guest who changed Harvest Hush?
