My sister Pat, maybe 7, woke early
and decided to have an adventure
She took some apples, set out
along the shore path, cut across a
field, passed some cows, ate an
apple, continued on until she had
eaten all her apples, judged the
long day was over, others would
worry, and decided that
running away alone wasn’t much
fun. She hurried back and climbed
onto the cottage porch; ready to
tell of her momentous day!
Everybody was asleep. It was still morning
and nobody else had even woken up.
This article appears in February 19-25, 2026.
