Hazel bounced her red ball in the driveway.
Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.
But the third bounce went sideways.
The ball hopped over the fence and landed — PLOP — right on top of a sleeping cat.
The cat sprang up like a furry rocket. It scrambled across the garden and knocked over Mrs. Penny's watering can.
Water splashed everywhere. It ran down the path in a little river, right under the gate, and pooled around the feet of a very grumpy goose.
The goose did NOT like wet feet.
It honked. It flapped. It waddled fast down the sidewalk, wings out wide, honking at everything.
The goose bumped straight into the mailman's cart.
Letters flew into the air like confetti. White ones, brown ones, one bright pink envelope — all spinning and floating and landing in the branches of the big oak tree.
A squirrel in the oak tree blinked. Then blinked again. Its tree was full of paper!
The squirrel grabbed a letter and threw it. Grabbed another and threw it. Letters sailed down like paper airplanes.
The squirrel chattered and fussed and shook the branches so hard that one old acorn — the big one, the one that had been stuck up there since forever — finally came loose.
It dropped.
It bounced off the mailman's hat.
It bounced off the fence post.
It bounced off a flower pot and — tick tick tick — rolled all the way down the driveway, right to Hazel's feet.
Hazel looked at the acorn.
She looked at the fence where her ball had gone.
She looked at the wet garden, the grumpy goose, the mailman picking up letters, the squirrel still chattering in the tree.
"Uh-oh," said Hazel.
Then she heard something.
Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.
On the other side of the fence, a boy was bouncing her red ball.
"That's my ball!" said Hazel.
The boy peeked over the fence. "I found it on my cat."
"Sorry about that," said Hazel.
He tossed the ball back. Hazel caught it with both hands.
She bounced it once. Twice.
And on the third bounce — it went sideways again!
But this time, Hazel was ready. She jumped. She stretched. She caught it right before it hit the fence.
The cat on the other side opened one eye. Closed it. Went back to sleep.
The goose in the distance ruffled its feathers and sat down.
The squirrel curled around its branch and tucked its nose under its tail.
Everything was still.
Hazel looked at the ball in her hands. She looked at the acorn by her feet. She picked it up and put it in her pocket.
Then she bounced her ball straight up, caught it clean, and carried it inside.
The driveway was quiet.
The garden was wet.
The oak tree had one less acorn.
And somewhere on the other side of the fence, a boy was smiling.
