How Moonroots Learned to Curl — Under a crescent moon, Caspian carried a tin watering can through Moonroot Clearing, trying to hush the tree before the little ghosts woke all the bats. Read the full story →
Under a crescent moon, Caspian carried a tin watering can through Moonroot Clearing, trying to hush the tree before the little ghosts woke all the bats. Its bare branches creaked and pointed every which way, scratching the wind into squeaks. The air smelled of cold leaves and pumpkin rind. “Easy now,” Caspian whispered, though his own curiosity tugged him closer to the grinning jack-o’-lantern at the trunk.
He had watered the roots, combed the moss, and even asked the friendly spider to stop bouncing on her thread. Nothing helped. Then a soft tick-tick came from inside the pumpkin, where nobody ever looked because everyone thought pumpkins only held candlelight. Caspian lifted the lid and found one silver seed tapping like a tiny heart. When he pressed it into the soil, the tree sighed. Its roots drank the moonbeam, and every branch curled into a gentle spiral, holding the wind instead of fighting it.
Ever since, moonroot trees grow twisty on Halloween nights, so breezes can curl up and sleep in their branches. If you visit when the stars are bright, you might hear that first silver seed still ticking under a crescent moon.
