Speckles tumbled out of her sleep. She stared at her smooth, bare belly.
She patted her sides and dropped flat with a soft thud. Then she crawled toward the garden door.
Speckles climbed up a sun-warmed blade of grass. 'Have you seen my dots?' she called to a butterfly.
'No dots here — just petals,' the butterfly said. Speckles watched it disappear and kept walking.
Speckles reached the woodland path where three birds were pecking at a crumbly seed.
She asked them the same question, and they shook their heads. One bird dropped a shiny black seed beside her foot.
But it was just a seed, not a dot. Speckles trudged home with her head hanging low.
She didn't notice the closet door creak open, and a small pile of black dots spilled out onto the floor.
Speckles gasped and leaped into the pile of dots, which stuck to her belly, back, and head.
She wriggled and shook until every dot was in place, then sat up proud and spotted.