Along the sunny meadow path, two elders coughed beside smoking sticks. Smoke curled past the flowers. Pip covered Pip’s nose with a petal and whispered, “I don’t want smoke.”
Pip skipped toward the flower gardens, then stopped. Pip carried cool water to the elders, whose coughs rattled like pebbles.
Pip pointed to the clear blue sky. “Let’s breathe clean air,” Pip said. The elders looked up as the smoke thinned above the flowers.
Near the gardens, friends held out smoking sticks and giggled. Pip shook Pip’s head and dropped the sticks into the blue rain barrel.
Plop, plop, plop! The sticks popped and fizzed underwater. Pip led everyone into a lively game of chase around the gardens.
A gust blew smoke across the meadow. Pip grabbed the red watering can and splashed sparkling droplets through the smoky air.
The elders put out their smoking sticks. Everyone coughed once—“Cough!”—then the breeze carried fresh flower scent through the village.
Afterward, Pip and the friends chose water, running games, and crisp apples. The elders rested beneath the trees, breathing easily.
