Nanny and Snowflakes Secret Key

Tips From Pips
Dec 2
2 min read

Nanny sat in her plaid armchair with a soft blanket over her knees and Snowflake, her small white dog, curled like a cloud at her feet.

Tonight the lamp hummed and Snowflake tapped her paws as she heard something fall onto the floor under the chair.

A tiny clink under the rug made them both look down — Snowflake nosed out a little brass key.

Under the corner of the rug was a small hidden wood plank with a keyhole attached to it. Nanny reached down and placed the small key into the hole. When she turned it a thin, folded map and an envelope with seeds inside came into her sight. "I wonder what this map could be?" She whispered to Snowflake. She gave her a nudge as if waiting to go on an adventure with the map.

She opened the map and saw a sketch of a silver tree called the Moonlit Orchard — and, in the corner, handwriting she knew: her own.

Nanny laughed out loud — she remembered drawing this map as a young girl, her adventure becoming more vivid as she remembered that day. Snowflake nudged her hand like a small, insistent mitten. She wanted to go on a adventure with her and follow the map.

Under a slow-silver moon, she looked at the map and they followed a ribbon of light across the backyard, where shadows turned into friendly shapes and the air smelled faintly of apples.

At the orchard gate they expected a forest, but found a single small sapling that glowed as if lit from inside — Nanny now understood why their was a seed packet tucked inside with the map with her own handwriting on it. Snowflake tugged on her pocket.

As she sat by that glowing little tree, with Snowflake tucked at her feet, she remembered why she had tucked the map and seeds into her hiding spot under the rug. She wanted to always remember her adventures as a little girl and pass them down to her grandchildren some day. Her map and seeds would always lead her to her secret spot in the apple orchard, where she could plant more seeds. As she grew, the apple trees grew.