The Leaf of Light
The rain stopped. Bo stepped out. The trees dripped. Drip, drip, drip. Pip shook his ears dry. Then the clouds slid away. Stars came out over the moss. Light fell down between the branches. Bo looked up at all of it. Look what the light is doing now.
Bo walked on the soft moss. Pip walked beside Bo. A big leaf held rainwater. The water held one small star. It shone like a little lamp. Bo knelt down very close. Pip put his nose near it. The light sat still in the leaf. It did not spill.
Pip had something too. A round stone, smooth and grey. It had sat in the sun all day. It was still warm inside. Pip rolled it to Bo's feet. Bo picked the warm stone up. It felt like a small sleepy sun. Pip's ears went up.
Bo looked at the leaf of light. Bo looked at the warm grey stone. Then Bo lifted the leaf up. Bo held it out to Pip. Pip leaned in very close. The star light shone on his cream chest. It shone on his russet fur. Look what the light is doing now.
Pip glowed like a lantern fox. Bo held the warm stone tight. The stone warmed Bo's cold hands. Now Bo had warm. Now Pip had light. The forest went quiet around them. An owl turned her sleepy head. The moss drank the last rain. Everything was soft.
They walked home slowly through the trees. Bo yawned. Pip yawned too. Pip's tail dragged in the moss. Pip sat down on the path. Then Pip lay right down. Bo knelt and scooped him up. Pip was warm and heavy and soft. Pip closed his eyes.
Bo carried Pip past the tall old trees. The stone rode in Bo's pocket. Pip breathed slow against Bo's coat. The stars leaned down to watch them. Look what the light is doing now. Bo carried him all the way home. The moss kept their footprints a while.