A LITTLE FERNWOOD STORY
Hattie Hops and the Rainy-Day Picnic
When rain changes Hattie’s picnic plans, she and Blink discover a cozy new way to share an afternoon.
Hattie Hops had packed a picnic basket with little cakes, folded napkins, and two cups. She had picked a sunny spot beside the ferns. She had even practiced saying, “What a lovely day for a picnic!”
Then the sky said something else.
Patter. Patter. PATTER.
Rain drummed on the roof.
Hattie stood at the window with the basket in her paws. Beyond the glass, her sunny spot was turning into a puddle.
A soft knock came at the door. Blink waited outside with Mama Dragon. A raindrop slid from the tip of his nose.
“Is the picnic canceled?” he asked.
Hattie looked at the basket. “I think it has been rained on before it even began.”
Blink’s shoulders drooped. Mama Dragon helped him dry off while Hattie found a towel for the doorstep.
“We could eat the cakes anyway,” Blink suggested.
“At the ordinary table?” Hattie asked.
Blink considered this. “Would they taste ordinary?”
Hattie almost smiled. “I don’t think cakes know which table they’re on.”
She took out the napkins. Blink carried the cups. They laid the picnic cloth across the table, smoothing the corners together.
But Hattie still glanced at the window.
“I wanted us to hear the birds,” she said.
Blink listened. The rain tapped lightly against the glass, then hurried across the roof in a long, soft rush.
“We can hear that,” he said.
They sat quietly.
Tip-tip-tip went the windowsill.
Shhhh went the leaves outside.
Plop went a drop into a puddle.
Blink tapped one claw softly beside his cup. Hattie answered with two little taps. Mama Dragon added a gentle pat on the table.
Soon they had a rain song, with a very important pause for cake.
“We were going to look for butterflies,” Hattie remembered.
“Could we draw some?” Blink asked.
Hattie brought paper and crayons. She drew a butterfly with enormous wings. Blink drew one with six spots and a curly smile. Mama Dragon drew a tiny butterfly beside a very large flower.
They propped the pictures where everyone could see them.
“And we were going to watch the clouds,” Hattie said.
Blink pointed at the window. “Those are still there.”
Hattie laughed. The clouds were certainly there. So was a little stream winding along the path, and a leaf sailing past like a boat.
They watched until the rain grew quiet.
“Should we go out now?” Blink asked.
Hattie looked at the empty cake plate, the bright butterflies, and the picnic cloth.
“In a minute,” she said. “I haven’t finished enjoying this spot.”
Outside, a last drop fell from a fern. Inside, Blink tapped one final note.
Hattie picked up her cup. “What a lovely day for a picnic,” she said.
And this time, she didn’t need to practice.
Keep exploring Fernwood with Hattie Hops and the Halloween Dragon, or enjoy another little Hattie Hops story.