Little Hedgehog and the Empty Place

Chapter 1: Empty space

Every afternoon, Little Hedgehog met Turtle beside the old apple tree.

Turtle arrived slowly.

Little Hedgehog arrived quickly.

Somehow, they usually arrived at the same time.

They played leaf boats in the puddle, searched for smooth stones, and invented names for clouds.

One cloud was always a potato.

Then Turtle’s family moved to the other side of the woods.

On their last afternoon together, Turtle gave Little Hedgehog a shell-shaped stone.

“It looks a bit like me,” he said.

“Except it doesn’t ask for the biggest piece of apple.”