Let’s begin.
GiGi the giraffe could see the finish flag from almost anywhere.
That was useful, because her little brother Pip was having trouble finding it.
“Past the reeds,” she called. “Beside the big stone.”
Pip hurried around the bend at Pebble Lake.
“Found it!”
Starlight the unicorn trotted behind him, her muted rainbow tail swishing over the grass. Today the friends had made a summer trail game. Players followed three clues along the shore path, then reached a shady tree for snacks.
GiGi had planned the route. Starlight had made little glowing arrows on the clue stones. Pip was their first tester.
Their mother Mara rested near the snack tree, watching the lake.
“One leaf, two stones, three reeds,” Pip said proudly. “Then snacks.”
“Especially the snacks,” GiGi said.
They had tested the course in the morning. Now the sun stood higher. More friends would arrive soon.
Starlight came around the last bend and slowed.
A duck sat across the path beside the finish flag.
Behind her, six little ducklings rested in the shade.
Starlight stopped far enough away to leave them room.
“New players,” she said quietly.
Pip peered around GiGi's leg.
“They haven't collected any clues.”
“They might have a different game.”
The duck tucked her head beneath one wing. The ducklings shuffled closer together.
GiGi looked along the route. The short path to the snack tree passed directly beside them. The sun shone on the other side, where the shade had been when they first tested it.
“If we walk around the stone,” she said, “we can still reach the flag.”
She took two steps away from the ducks. The ground beyond the stone narrowed beside thick reeds. Pip couldn't see the next turn from there.
GiGi came back.
“No. That way isn't really part of the path.”
Starlight looked at the ducklings. One opened an eye, saw the big friends and tucked itself closer to its mother.
“We shouldn't squeeze everybody past them.”
Pip lowered his ears.
“But the finish is right there.”
It was. GiGi could almost touch the flag with her nose. They had worked on the course all morning.
“We could wait,” she suggested.
They sat beneath a tree a little way back.
Pip watched the duck family.
The duck watched the lake.
The ducklings slept.
After a while, Pip whispered, “They are very good at waiting.”
Starlight tried not to laugh too loudly.
A warm patch of sunlight had reached Pip's front hooves. He moved them back into the shade.
GiGi noticed.
They could wait for the ducks to leave. But the friends coming to play would need somewhere comfortable to wait too. Their tidy plan no longer fitted what was happening around it.
GiGi stood up.
“Let's look at the whole course again.”
Starlight pointed toward the snack tree. “From this side, the path goes around the back.”
That route was longer. It curved beneath willows and passed an old log before reaching Mara.
GiGi raised her head. From above, she could see that shade stretched along most of the turn. There were no ducks on it and no narrow gap beside the water.
“I can see it,” she said. “Let's test it from down here too.”
Pip brightened. “With my eyes?”
“Exactly.”
They told Mara what they wanted to change. She joined them for the walk around the wider path.
At the first willow, GiGi could see the next clue stone. Pip couldn't. A curtain of leaves hid it from his height.
Starlight moved the clue to a flat stone beside the trunk and touched it with her horn. The little arrow glowed clearly.
Pip tried the turn again.
“Found it.”
At the old log, GiGi found a branch lying across the path. It was easy for her to step over. Pip's legs were much shorter.
She lifted the loose branch and placed it beside the log. Now everyone could pass without climbing.
Starlight checked the ground behind it.
“No little plants underneath. Good place.”
The route worked all the way to the snack tree.
But the finish flag still stood beside the ducks.
Pip looked back.
“We'll have to ask them for it.”
GiGi bent her long neck. From the clear path on the far side of the stone, she could reach the flag's loose wooden stem without going near the family.
She lifted it slowly in her mouth.
The duck raised her head.
GiGi stayed still.
After a moment, the duck settled again.
GiGi carried the flag to the new finish place. Pip pushed its little base into a patch of soft earth. Starlight steadied it with a loop of light until it stood straight.
Now the finish was in the shade, beside Mara and the snacks.
The first visitors arrived just as they finished.
Pip hurried to explain the new course.
“We've made it better,” he told them. “The ducks helped.”
One young rabbit looked puzzled.
“By doing what?”
“Being exactly where the old finish was.”
GiGi smiled at Starlight.
Instead of racing, the players took turns following the clues and showing the next friend what they found. Pip made sure everybody could see the low arrow beneath the willow.
At the finish, Starlight handed out leaves shaped like little flags. GiGi helped the smaller players reach their chosen snack bundles.
Later, the ducklings woke.
The friends watched from the snack tree as the family made its own quiet procession toward the lake. Six little bodies followed their mother between the reeds.
“One, two, three,” Pip counted. “Four, five, six.”
The last duckling hurried to catch up.
“Our course is free again,” he said.
GiGi looked at the old finish place. It was bright and warm in the afternoon sun.
“I like our new one.”
“So do I,” Starlight said. “It's got a very good snack tree.”
At the end of the afternoon, they collected their clue stones and the little flag. Starlight let the glowing arrows fade. The shore path looked just as welcoming as when they arrived.
GiGi paused beneath the willow.
“What do you think our next adventure will be?” GiGi asked.
Starlight looked at the wide lake, the bright trees and the path leading home.
“I don’t know… but whatever happens, I’m ready!”