Coco was nestled in her cozy seat, reading a book. She was warm and snug, just about to fall asleep, when she heard a knock on the door. She woke right back up and got up to open the door. It was her best friend, Penny. “Coco! I can see the leaves in Mochi Forest have all changed color! Do you want to come see them with me?”
Penny pointed to the trees in the distance so Coco could see for herself. Swatches of red, orange, and yellow could be seen in the distance. How did it suddenly become Autumn? “Oh, wow, those trees are so pretty!” Coco replied.
“So, do you want to come see them with me?”
Coco looked up at the sky. It was clear and bright. “Sure, just let me put my book away,” Coco replied, stepping back inside.
When Coco came back out, the two friends were on their way. Penny had lots to tell Coco about what she found on Bubble Beach today while they walked to Mochi Forest. That was the best place to see all the changed trees. Penny also couldn’t wait to find leaves to jump into. Coco thought it would be fun to join her. She loved the sound of crunching leaves.
Coco looked up as the trees became more dense. The sky started looking cloudy, but no rain in sight. They were on a hunt for leaf piles. They paid more attention to where the leaves had fallen instead. “Hmm…there are plenty of leaves over here, but not enough to make a leaf pile,” Penny observed.
“We must not be deep enough into Mochi Forest yet,” replied Coco. “We probably need to walk further in.”
Penny agreed and then headed off with Coco. The sky became grey as the two friends finally found the perfect pile of leaves. Coco stomped on the leaves and they made a satisfying, crunching, crinkly sound. Then she stepped on another one again. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Penny threw herself into the pile, then sat up and threw the leaves into the air! “Look, Coco, it’s raining leaves!” Penny giggled as she threw more leaves into the air.
Then a strong gust of wind appeared and blew those leaves into Coco’s face. She shouted in surprise and wiped the leaves off her face. Penny laughed, then another strong gust of wind pushed her forward. “The wind is getting pretty strong,” Coco said. “Do you think it’s time to go?”
“Probably, I can feel my leaves moving,” Penny answered, standing up. “They only do that when the wind is super gusty!”
Coco looked up again to see the sky. There were so many trees here, she couldn’t see the sky. She hoped it wouldn’t start raining on their walk home.
Leaves started flying past them on their walk home, as the wind blew and blew. Penny shielded her eyes from the leaves and Coco shielded herself from the leaves behind Penny. The wind became relentless, and as they reached a clearing, they could see why. The sky was so dark it looked like it could rain at any second! “Let’s hurry home and out of this storm!” Coco shouted.
Penny shouted back in agreement. Then another strong gust of wind blew past them and knocked Coco off her feet! She yelled as she flew backward into the forest. The wind kept blowing and Coco started rolling! Penny looked back to see why her friend was yelling, and then started running. “I’ll save you, Coco!” Penny shouted as she dashed to her friend.
At that moment, Coco hated that she was so round. She was rolling so fast, she could not grip onto anything either. The wind had slowed, but now gravity was taking over. Penny chased her as fast as she could, but Coco was so far ahead. Coco shrieked in terror, knowing she had lost control. She rolled some more, deeper and deeper in the forest. Finally, she bumped into the base of a tree trunk and stopped.
She sat there, shocked from the event, and could only stare ahead as Penny finally caught up to her. “Oh, thank goodness you stopped!” Penny panted in relief.
Penny knelt down and hugged Coco tightly, and Coco’s body began to shiver. “I’m so sorry this happened to you!” cried Penny. “Can you get up? Are you OK?”
Coco nodded and sat up. Penny held her hand as she stood. “Come on, let’s get you home. No friend of mine gets blown away like that!” Penny huffed. “Silly wind! You almost hurt Coco!”
Coco smiled a little from that statement and followed Penny home. The wind still blew, and Penny held on so tightly to Coco the entire way home. It was even stormy at Bubble Beach, but Coco still didn’t say much. Penny led Coco into her house, sat her down on her chair, and wrapped her in her favorite blue blanket. Coco slowly felt her body relax. Then Penny went to the kitchen to make some hot cocoa. “You don’t have to make that for me,” Coco said. “I’m ok now, really.”
“No way,” replied Penny. “I need to make sure my best friend is more than ok. That fall was so scary!”
It was scary, but Coco was ok now. She was home, safe and sound, and snuggled up in her favorite chair and blanket. Coco looked out the window and saw the sky was still dark. She could hear the strong wind outside. Penny handed Coco a mug and then sat in another chair to drink her own cocoa.
Coco looked down at the drink and smiled. Funny how the bad weather outside doesn’t seem so scary anymore when you are snug and cozy. In fact, it’s part of what makes the moment even cozier. Then Coco took a sip of her drink. “Yuck! Penny! You forgot the sugar!” Coco said with a disgusted look.
“I know…” Penny replied with the same disgusted look. Then she stood up to go get it.
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