That morning, a new puppy showed up in the meadow.
She was a collie with long, soft fur, and she sat quietly near the big tree. Her name was Luna. She had pretty, pale eyes, but they couldn't see.
The gang had gathered to play tag: Pigúiça, Fofuxo, a very wrinkly pug, and a puppy with pointy ears. Tico the dachshund looked at Luna and whispered, “She won't be able to play. She can't see us.”
Pigúiça thought about that. Then she walked over to Luna and asked, “Hi. What do you like to play?”
Luna lifted her nose and smiled. “Hi, Pigúiça.”
Pigúiça's eyes went wide. “How do you know it's me?”
“By your smell, like grass and snow. And by your steps. You bounce when you walk, tip, tip, tip. Fofuxo walks slow and heavy, thump, thump. And the pug breathes like this: snort, snort.”
The pug turned red with embarrassment, but he laughed.
“I like hide-and-seek,” said Luna.
So that's what they played. The pug hid behind a bush. Luna sniffed and sniffed, and found him. The pointy-eared puppy climbed onto a rock. Luna heard the rock humming softly underneath him, and found him too. Pigúiça hid behind the tree, trying not to giggle. But Luna heard the flower next to her saying “hi,” and found her as well.
“She's the best of all of us!” said Tico, his mouth hanging open.
Then Pigúiça had an idea. “Now everybody plays with their eyes closed, just like Luna!”
It was the silliest round of the whole afternoon. Fofuxo bumped into a tree, very gently. Tico caught his own tail and thought it was the pug. And Luna laughed so hard she had to lie down in the grass. Everyone discovered that with their eyes closed, they could hear lots of things nobody had ever noticed before.
When the afternoon was over, Luna said goodbye to each of them by name, without getting a single one wrong.
That night, in bed, Pigúiça closed her eyes and listened, just like Luna. The wind at the window. The cricket outside. Her own breathing, slow and soft. Close your eyes too, and listen. What can you hear right now?
