My Short Short for the Day

The little gray puffball floated down through the stars, gently drifting past the winking lights.  It continued to float downwards through the inky darkness of space and further down towards light.  The air thickened, filled with white fluffs hovering in place.  The puffball floated down even further.  It passed through the white fluffs and smiled, then into the bright blueness of day.  It could feel the warmth of the sun tickling its cheeks and still it floated down.  The earth pulled it closer and closer.  The puffball, curious as ever, wondered what the ground would feel like.  It had never touched the earth.  The smells that filled the air were wonderful and strange.  Finally, with the gentlest of bounces, the puffball landed.  But wait, it didn’t hit the ground, that was still a few feet away.  It had landed on something brown and soft.  The puffball looked around but could only see the soft brown around it.  Where could it be?  Suddenly it was being lifted and carried away from the soft brown and gently dropped onto a new surface.  It was soft, too, but in a different way.  The puffball looked up and saw something looking back at it.  The being smiled and giggled.  The puffball smiled back and giggled, too.

The little girl couldn’t believe her luck!  A real, live puffball had landed on her.  Had chosen her to be its guardian!  She must tell mother.  But first, she wanted to play.  To laugh and have fun.  To show her little puffball all around the yard.  The puffball was amazed by the trees and river, the grass and flowers, the sweet scent of the summer breeze, the soft trickle of the cool water, but more than anything it wanted to touch the ground.  The soft brown soil.  The little girl saw the puffball look down and reach out towards the ground, as if trying to touch it.  The girl thought maybe it wasn’t happy and wanted to get away.  So, with sadness, the girl gently set the puffball on the dirt.  The puffball touched the soft soil and giggled.  It rolled around in the dirt and giggled.  It dug into the earth and giggled.  Oh, how wonderful the earth was.  It tasted the dirt…blech!  It spit the dirt out and looked up at the being.  The girl chuckled and said, “you aren’t supposed to eat the dirt.”  The puffball smiled.  There was so much to learn.  The girl held out her hand and the puffball climbed on.  She gently carried her new friend home.