Little Rusty the fox cubA baby fox, still very small and very curious. comes out of the burrowThe home dug under the ground where foxes and rabbits live. rubbing his eyes. And he stops dead. The world is all white. The tree stump is white. The ferns are white. Even the big rock is white.
“Mummy! Somebody has repainted the forest!”
Mummy Fox comes out too and laughs. “That is snow, my little one. It comes every winter.” “Every winter? And I have never seen it before?” “This is your very first one,” says Mummy Fox, nudging him gently.
Little Rusty puts out one paw, very carefully. Crunch. The snow makes music under his steps.
He puts out a second one. Crunch. Then he runs in circles, just for the sound. Crunch, crunch, crunch! Then he lifts his head. A snowflakeA tiny piece of snow that spins as it falls from the sky. floats down, spins, hesitates... and lands on his nose.
It is cold! Little Rusty sneezes, and the snowflakeA tiny piece of snow that spins as it falls from the sky. disappears. “Oh! It's gone!”
He waits, nose in the air, mouth open, but nothing comes back at all. His tail droops a little in the snow. “Look,” says Mummy Fox. And the whole sky begins to send thousands more, gently, in no hurry at all.
Little Rusty spins around with his tongue out. The prettiest things only last a moment, but winter hands you a whole forest of them.
The end, sweet dreams.
