School is back in full swing! After a long and hot summer, the children of Honeysuckle Hollow are reunited for another fun year at the Woodland Schoolhouse. They can’t wait to share their summertime stories and play their favorite games!
Buster Tidyshine, Pete Whooswhoo, and Tessa Canberra are the best of friends. During recess, on one sunny September day, the trio decided to play a game of hopscotch. Together, they drew the squares and numbers in colorful chalk.
Pete grabbed a little pebble on the ground, then tossed it onto their game of hopscotch. The pebble landed on the number 3, so Pete hopped, on one foot, onto the numbers 1 and 2. Then, he took a big leap and skipped over the number 3.
“Hey, I have an idea!” said Buster. “When it’s your turn to hop, you tell a story.”
“Ok!” said Pete, with a big smile. “I went to camp this summer! We slept in cabins and played games every day. We went boating in the river, too, and we roasted big marshmallows under the stars!”
“Wow, that’s so cool!” said Buster.
“That sounds like fun,” said Tessa. Tessa thought that camping must be amazing. She had never been to camp!
Next, it was Buster’s turn. This time, the pebble landed on the number 4. So, Buster hopped onto the numbers 1, 2, and 3, then skipped over 4. “I went to the city to visit my grandparents,” he said as he hopped over 5, 6, and 7. “There are such big buildings over there – they touch the sky! We went to the museum, and we ate at the biggest restaurant I’ve ever seen!”
“Bigger than Pass-the-Pasta?!” asked Buster and Tessa, their eyes wide like saucers.
“You bet! It was ginormous!”
Tessa was amazed. How could a restaurant be so big? But Tessa had never been to the city.
“What did you do this summer, Tessa?” asked Pete Whooswhoo.
“I stayed home,” said Tessa. “In Honeysuckle Hollow.” It was her turn to hop, but Tessa held onto the pebble in her hands. She wished she had cool stories to tell her friends.
“What did you do for fun?” asked Buster.
“Well,” said Tessa. “I went for bike rides with my dad.” Tessa tossed the pebble onto the game of hopscotch, and it landed on the number 7.
“I missed my dad so much when I was at camp!” said Pete. “Where did you go biking?”
“We biked across town. Past the Safety Department and the Hoppingood Rabbits’ house.” Tessa started hopping. 1, 2, 3. “One day, we found a patch of strawberries and picked a whole bunch! Then the Bushytails came over to our house and they taught us how to bake pies!” 4, 5, 6 – hop!
“I love pie!” said Buster. “The Bushytails make the best pies in town!”
Tessa beamed. “It was a lot of fun! Mom and dad and my brother Teddie and me, we did lots of things together. We got ice cream at Scoops & Sprinkles, and… Oh – we went to see a show at the Honeysuckle Theater!”
“Wow! I’ve never been to the theater,” said Buster. “Maybe we could all go together, and next summer you can come to the big city with me!”
“That would be nice!” said Tessa.
It was then that Tessa knew that she didn’t have to go very far to have fun. Honeysuckle Hollow is a wonderful place, and Tessa loves its people even more. She had a great summer after all, and she was so happy to be with her friends.
