Milo and the Duck Who Wouldn’t Hurry

Chapter 1: Picnic bag

Milo wore his red boots to the pond, even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

“There might be a puddle,” he told Grandma.

“There might,” she agreed.

“And if there isn’t, I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”

Grandma carried their picnic bag. Milo carried a small notebook with a duck on the cover. He had decided he would count every duck at the pond.

“Even the little ones,” he said.

They followed the path beneath the willow trees. Long green branches brushed the air, and somewhere in the leaves a bird sang three bright notes.

Milo sang them back.

His version had four notes and a hiccup.

At the pond, sunlight lay across the water in little trembling pieces.