Story: Mysterious Sunflowers
“Another perfect day,” Pip, the deer mouse, whispers to herself.
“Pip!” Mia, the blue jay calls. She lands on a branch near Pip’s hollow in the big cypress tree. “Let’s go explore along the Stippling River today!”
“Oh. I love that idea! Let’s go!” Pip scampers down the tree and heads to the trail.
As they walk Mia notices, “The sound of the river is peaceful.”
“It is,” Pip agrees and marvels at the beauty of the Watercolor Woods.
Mia stops quickly, “Look at that!”
“Sunflowers! That’s odd. Sunflowers do not naturally grow out here by the river,” Pip steps back to admire them.
Mia flutters up to one of the flowers, “These are incredible! They are tall and bright yellow, like suns planted in the ground.”
“They are beautiful,” Pip agrees and climbs a stalk to one of the flowers.
“Do you hear that?” Mia whispers.
“Yes. It sounds like someone is in the tall grass,” Pip whispers to Mia.
“Hello, Pip! Hello, Mia!” A familiar voice calls out.
Pip sighs, “It’s just Jasper.”
Jasper, the opossum, waddles out of the tall grass, “What are you two doing today?”
“We discovered sunflowers along the river,”. Pip points to the flowers.
“They are huge!” Jasper exclaims.
Mia fluffs her feathers, “They must have sprouted recently.”
Pip is curious, “I wonder how they got here. I don’t remember seeing them last time we came this way.”
“Hello,” They hear from the edge of the river.
“Hello, Oliver!” Pip greets. “Look what we found. Sunflowers!”
Oliver, the bullfrog, hops closer to them, “Wow! They are magnificent!”
“We are wondering how they got here,” Mia tells Oliver.
“Sunflowers need a lot of sunlight to grow. Maybe, this spot gets enough light for them to grow,” Oliver guesses.
“Maybe,” Pip says.
“Hey! Look!” Pip points to one of the flowers. “Someone has been eating the sunflowers. This one has some of the petals missing.”
Jasper waddles over, “Hmmm. I wonder who ate them. There are bite marks on some of the petals.”
“We should investigate!” Pip looks at Mia with her whiskers twitching.
Mia smiles, “Let’s explore!”
The group did not go far before finding a clue.
Pip points to tracks in the mud by the water’s edge, “Look! Those are chipmunk tracks. Do you think they belong to who is eating the sunflowers?”
Oliver jumps closer, “Let’s follow the trail.”
They follow the tracks to a small clearing. “There!” Mia whispers.
Pip gasps, “It’s Juniper, the chipmunk!”
“Hello!” Juniper calls out. These sunflower seeds are delicious. Would you like some?”
Pip asks Juniper, “Do you know how the sunflowers got by the river?”
“Absolutely. I planted them there, accidentally.” Juniper replies.
“Huh? Accidentally? How do you plant sunflowers, accidentally?” Jasper asks.
“Last fall, I buried a stash of sunflower seeds to eat during the winter. However, I forgot I buried them there. They sprouted, and these beautiful sunflowers grew.” Juniper answers with a grin.
“That’s amazing!” Mia thinks aloud.
“Now we have beautiful sunflowers along the riverbank,” Pip smiles.
“And, we have all the sunflowers and seeds I can eat,” Juniper giggles.
“Another mystery solved in the Watercolor Woods,” Jasper sighs.
