Gilly the Giraffe and the Good Morning Garden

Chapter 1: Greetings

In a sunny village called Hellowood, there lived a young giraffe named Gilly. Gilly had a long spotted neck, wobbly knees, and a habit that made her neighbors feel a little bit invisible.

She never said hello.

She stomped past the baker without a glance. She marched by the neighbors' windows with her nose in the air. When someone waved, she looked at the sky. When someone said, "Good morning!" she hurried by, pretending she hadn't heard.

"I'm busy," she would say. "Greetings are a waste of time."

But Gilly didn't notice that the village was growing quieter around her. Mrs. Hen stopped waving. The twin rabbits stopped skipping beside her on the path. And when Gilly walked into class, nobody turned to smile.

One morning, a new family moved into the house next door: a little mouse named Moe, with big ears and a suitcase nearly as large as he was. He stood on the path looking nervous, and Gilly strode right past him, as tall and silent as a lamppost.

Moe's ears drooped. He took a step back, and his eyes looked a little watery.

At school that day, Gilly found out that Moe had been placed in her class. He sat alone in the corner, staring at his desk. When it was time for lunch, nobody sat with him. Gilly noticed, and for the first time, she felt a strange little pinch.

After school, she wandered to the edge of the village, where an old garden stood behind a crooked gate. A tortoise named Grandmother Moss was kneeling among the flowers, humming softly.

"Good afternoon, Gilly," she said warmly, without even looking up.