It had been a very ordinary day.
At least, that's what Pigúiça thought. Sitting at the top of the hill, watching the sky grow dark, she let out a big sigh. “Nothing special happened today. Nothing at all.”
Fofuxo sat down beside her. “Want to play the thank-you game?”
“How do you play?”
“It's easy. You think of one good thing from today and say thank you. Each thing gets one toe.”
Pigúiça wrinkled her nose. “But there weren't any good things.” And Fofuxo asked, calmly, “Not even one? What about breakfast?”
Pigúiça thought. There had been warm oatmeal, with a spoonful of honey on top. “Okay. Thank you for the oatmeal.” She folded down one toe and looked at it, a little surprised.
Then she started remembering other things, one leading to the next, like pulling on a ball of yarn. “Hmm. Thank you for the sun that warmed my back this morning.” Another toe. “Thank you for Nina, who let me borrow her ball.” One more. “Thank you for the flower that said good morning. And the mud puddle I jumped in. And Tico, who told the joke about the bone that went to the doctor.”
She laughed, remembering the joke. Then she looked at her paw. All her toes were folded down.
“Fofuxo, I ran out of toes! And I still have a whole bunch of thank-yous!”
“You can use mine,” he said, holding out his big paw. And she kept going.
Thank you for the butterfly that landed on my tail and tickled. Thank you for the cool water in the creek. Thank you for my afternoon nap. Thank you for the smell of bread drifting over from the village. Thank you for Fofuxo. When they had used up every toe they had, Pigúiça went quiet, amazed. The ordinary day had been full of good things after all.
The sky was dark now, and the first stars were coming out. Just then, a shooting star crossed the sky, very slowly. And on its way, it drew a heart of light, right over the hill.
“Look, Fofuxo!” Pigúiça whispered. “It's like the sky is saying thank you too.”
In bed, she gave thanks for three more things: her soft pillow, her warm blanket, and the sleep that was already on its way. What about you? What did you love about today? Tell it softly, very softly, before you fall asleep.
