Polly hopped to the meadow edge and froze. A sea of pink and yellow flowers had burst open overnight. She pressed her nose to a wet petal and sniffed.
The flowers still trembled from the rain. Polly blinked at the bright colors all around her. "What a surprise," she thought.
Polly bounded through the tall grass all afternoon. She chased a butterfly that kept vanishing and reappearing. She tripped over a warm rock and tumbled into clover.
She laughed and rolled in the soft green clover. She didn't get up for a long time. "This is the best day," she thought.
Polly fanned herself with a broad leaf and flopped into the oak's shade. The air hummed with cicadas. She dragged her paw through the dust and drew shapes.
A wobbly circle. A square. A crooked little flower. Polly looked at her drawing and smiled. "Not bad," she thought.
A golden leaf spiraled down and landed on Polly's nose. She sneezed — once, twice — and it fluttered away. The forest floor Crunch-crunched under her paws.
Polly picked up a perfect red leaf and held it to the sunlight. It glowed like a tiny lantern. "Look at that," she thought.
Polly stepped into the meadow and stopped. The whole world had turned white. A single snowflake landed on her whisker.
She scooped up a handful of snow and let it pour through her fingers. Then she threw it at a branch. A cloud of powder burst into the air. Polly's eyes went wide.
Polly hopped home through the snow. Her footprints trailed behind her like a dotted path. The winter air was sharp and clean.
She sat by the window and wrapped her tail around her paws. Outside, a tiny green shoot pushed up through the melting snow. Spring was coming.
