Mia unzipped her jacket and leaped into a crunchy pile of red leaves. Leo pulled a crumpled map from his pocket. "Look!" he said, pointing to a trail of acorns.
Mia's eyes widened. She grabbed Leo's hand, and they ran toward the woods.
They collected red, yellow, and orange leaves while Leo counted squirrels until a fourth chittered and hid an acorn under a stump.
Mia crouched to look, then whispered, "There's a whole path!" She followed tiny acorn prints through the ferns.
They pushed aside golden branches and gasped at a leafy hill that reached the sky. Together they heaved the top layer into a swirling whirlwind of color.
A squirrel dropped an acorn onto Mia's nose, making her sneeze as Leo burst out laughing.
Mia and Leo collapsed into the soft leaf mountain, limbs tangled together as wind hums and leaves drift down like rain.
Leo rested his head on Mia's shoulder, murmuring, "Best treasure ever," while Mia smiled, watching the last golden leaf spiral down.