Brindle scampered after another field mouse down a winding path. Then whoosh! Golden leaves spun over them and covered the trail.
Brindle stopped with a tiny, "Oh." The leaves scratched along the ground. The autumn forest did not look the same anymore.
Brindle hurried left, then right, then left again. Each path curled back to the same mossy stump.
Brindle kicked a curled leaf. Above, crows cawed. Through the trees, something flashed silver.
A sparkling stream! Brindle ran that way, and the other field mouse ran too.
They trotted beside the water, stepping over roots and ducking under ferns. The stream chattered and glinted all the way along.
Brindle started to smile. Plop! A fat orange leaf landed right on Brindle's nose.
Both field mice squeaked and scrambled after it as the leaf sailed away.
Then the stream bent around a fallen log. Under it, water rushed and three little side streams splashed in three different directions.
Brindle froze. Splashing everywhere. Which way now?
Brindle tapped the damp bark and watched a yellow acorn cap bob into the right-hand stream.
"That way!" Brindle dashed after it, and the other field mouse dashed too.
Brindle raced along as the trees began to thin. The stream slipped past a familiar hill covered in red and gold leaves.
Home! Brindle laughed and patted the burrow door.
