Trici loved to explore. That afternoon, she saw a blue butterfly and followed it. Then she saw another one, and followed that too. When she looked around, she was in a forest she had never seen before.
The trees were tall, with thick trunks, and they all looked alike. The sun was turning orange. Trici turned right. She turned left. She no longer knew which way home was.
She sat down. Her heart, which was small, went thump-thump-thump, very fast. One of her eyes began to feel wet.
“Calm down,” she told herself. “Mrs. Longneck always says: when you're lost, stay still and breathe.” She took a deep breath. She let the air out slowly. She breathed in again. Out. Her heart began to slow down.
Then she listened. Very softly, from somewhere: hmmm, hmmm. It was the humming of a stone.
“The singing stones!” Trici remembered. “They live near my home.” But the sound came from many sides. Which way was right?
She went to the first stone, small and gray. The stone sang very faintly. “Hmm.” She went to the second one, a little bigger. “Hmmm.” Each stone sang a little louder than the last.
“That's it!” said Trici. “The closer to home, the louder they sing!” And she followed the stones, one by one, the way you'd follow footprints.
With every step the sky grew a bit darker, and stars began to light up. But the stones grew stronger, and the music clearer. It was a lullaby, and Trici realized she already knew it by heart.
She passed a flower bed, and the flowers turned toward her. “Good night, Trici,” they whispered. She smiled and kept walking.
Then, up ahead, she saw a warm light. It was the window of her own house. And at the door stood Mrs. Longneck, her neck stretched in every direction, searching.
“Trici!” she cried. “I got lost, but I stopped, I breathed, and I followed the stones!” said Trici, running to her. Mrs. Longneck hugged her with her neck, wrapping all the way around her.
“I'm so proud of you,” said Mrs. Longneck. “Getting lost happens to everyone. What matters is knowing what to do when it happens.”
That night, Trici slept with her window open a crack. Outside, the stones sang the lullaby, hmmm, hmmm, very softly, as if to say: we're here, we're here. And Trici, warm and cozy, fell asleep.
