Pieces of Sky

Danny went on a walk with his dad after the storm. He was excited to go outside after being stuck inside all week while it rained.   Dad had the best ideas.

The ground was wet and made funny squishy sounds as they walked. Danny’s boot sank into a patch of mud. The mud pulled on his boot when he lifted his foot.

“Sticky mud,” Danny said. He wanted to take some home and use it to make his own stickers.   He reached down to pick some up.

It wasn’t sticky. It was slimy. He smelled his fingers. They smelled like dirt. He tapped his fingers together. They didn’t stick. He wiped his fingers on his jeans.

“Did it smell funny?” Dad asked.

“Like dirt,” Danny said.

“That makes sense,” Dad said. “Mud is just dirt that got wet.”

They walked past the pine tree at the corner of the lawn. There were branches on the ground, and lots of pine needles. “Oh no,” Danny said, and pointed to the branches. “Tree broke.”

“I think the storm just gave it a haircut,” Dad said.

“Tree hair?” Danny looked at the pine needles and giggled. Trees have green hair. That’s so silly. He picked up a branch and held it onto his head. He had green hair now too. “Me tree,” Danny said.

“Looks good, Danny,” Dad said.

Danny pretended the wind was blowing. He did a tree sort of dance. Then he decided to see how far he could throw the branch. It landed all the way into the bushes. Danny threw his arms up in the air and cheered.

“Good throw,” Dad said. “Oh look, you have some pine needles in your hair now. Let me get that.” Dad picked the pine needles out of Danny’s hair and dropped them into Danny’s hand.

Danny looked at the tree hair in his hand. He tipped it over and watched the needles drop on the ground like raindrops.   “Hair rain,” he said.

“Let’s keep walking, Danny,” Dad said. He held out a hand. Danny grabbed it and squeezed Dad’s fingers so tight. Daddy squeezed Danny’s hand back, just a little.

In the driveway, there were little pieces of sky that had fallen down during the storm. Danny pointed. “Oh no,” he said.

“It’s just puddles,” Dad said. “That’s why you wore your boots.”

“Not puddles,” Danny said. “Sky fall.”

“It does look like pieces of sky, doesn’t it?” Dad said. “Don’t worry. Now that the sun is out, the pieces of sky will go back where they belong.   Why don’t you try jumping on them?”

Danny wasn’t so sure. He always had to stay away when glass broke. But Daddy said the sky pieces were why he wore the boots. The boots must be magic and would keep his feet safe.

Danny jumped into the sky pieces. They splashed like water. Maybe the sky was made from water and it just leaked all over. Were storms just times when the sky was leaking?

He looked up. Who fixed the sky when it leaked? It would have to be a giant. Then the sun came out and dried up the water, and the water went back into the sky.   Danny smiled. He loved learning new things.

He jumped into the sky pieces again. “Puddle?” he asked, pointing to another sky piece.

“That’s right, Danny,” Dad said. “Do you think if you ran a little bit before you jumped, you’d get a bigger splash?”

“Yes!” Danny said.   He backed up and got ready to jump.   Dad always had the best ideas.