The Tale of the Huckleberry

           Summer and Madison the butterfly twins were resting on a cattail next to Polliwog Pond waiting for their friends to arrive.  They had both had some flower nectar for breakfast, but Summer was still sort of hungry.

            “I don’t think I ate enough breakfast,” said Summer to Madison.  “My tummy is grumbling.”

            “Maybe when our friends get here, we can find something to snack on,” replied Madison.

            Just then Audra the duck waddled up the path to Polliwog Pond.  “Good morning, Summer and Madison,” said Audra.  “What were you talking about when I walked up?”

            “Summer didn’t eat enough breakfast and now she is hungry,” said Madison.

            “Well, I passed Hayden on my way here,” said Audra.  “Maybe he knows where we can get a snack.”

            The three friends set off down the path toward the clearing and soon came upon Hayden the turtle slowly making his way toward the pond.  “Good morning, Hayden,” said the twins together.

            “Good morning,” replied Hayden.  “I was on my way to the pond to see you.”

            “We decided to come find you instead,” said Audra.  “Summer didn’t eat enough breakfast and now she’s hungry.  We were wondering if you knew of something she might be able to snack on.”

            “Oh!” exclaimed Hayden.  “You are in such luck.  I noticed this morning that the huckleberries are ripe.”

            “What are huckleberries?” asked Madison with a weird look on her face.

            “They are small dark blue berries that grow on a small bush over by the fence.  They are kind of crunchy but sweet, too,” explained Hayden.

            “I don’t know about that,” said Summer skeptically.

            “Oh, come on,” said Hayden excitedly.  “I’m sure you’ll like them if you try them.”

            Hayden told Audra and the twins where to find the bush and sent them on ahead.  He would get there as fast as he could, but he didn’t want Summer to have to wait on him before she could have a snack.  When the three friends reached the bush, they all just stood there eyeing the berries suspiciously.

            Suddenly, Xavier the frog hopped out of the tall grass and yelled, “Boo!”

            “Good morning, Xavier,” said the three friends together as they rolled their eyes at him.

            “Didn’t I scare you even just a little bit?” asked Xavier disappointed that he hadn’t made them jump.

            Audra just ignored his question and asked, “Do you know anything about these berries?  Hayden says they are really good, but I don’t know about them.”

            Xavier looked up at the bush and replied, “I’m really not a berry kind of person, but those aren’t half bad.”

            “Really?” said Madison.

            The three friends eyed the bush again.  Then Summer’s tummy made a rumbling noise.  Audra walked up to the bush and picked one of the berries and brought it to Summer.  Summer looked at it like it was poison and backed away.

            “I’m not trying that,” she said giving Audra a determined look.

            Then Audra handed it to Madison.  Madison looked at it for a moment and then popped it in her mouth.  “Wow!” she exclaimed.  “These are different than any berry I have ever had.  Hayden is right. They’re crunchy and sweet at the same time.”

            Audra then went back to the bush and picked another one.  This time she popped it in her own mouth.  “You’re right,” she said to Madison.  “I really like these.”

            With that Audra and Madison went over to the bush and started eating heartily.  Summer watched them in dismay.  She was the one that was hungry, but she hated trying new foods.  Again, her tummy rumbled, and Summer sighed in disgust.  She started to get aggravated with Audra and Madison because they were munching happily.

            “Hey!” shouted Summer.  “I’m the one that is hungry.”

            “Well come on and eat,” said Audra with her mouth full of berries.   “These berries are SO good.”

            Summer looked hard at the berries again.  She slowly walked up to the bush and picked a berry.  She looked at it and crinkled up her nose.  Then she slowly put it in her mouth.  For a minute she thought about gagging, but then she tasted the sweetness of the berry.  She picked another one and popped it in her mouth.

            “Hey,” she said surprised.  “These are really good.”

            The three friends found a big leaf and picked a bunch of the berries to take with them back to Polliwog Pond.  For the rest of the morning they played and snacked on the berries.  Summer decided that huckleberries just might be her favorite berry in all the world.