Haze Flutterfox's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Haze spotted them the second they walked through the gate—three new kids huddled together by the basketball court. Her heart did its special flip-flop, the one that meant three more friends needed animal buddies. She pulled out her pocket notebook and started drawing three circles, one for each child. Recess ended in twelve minutes. Not enough time for the big oak tree meetings. She grabbed her green notebook with the pink heart and flipped to a fresh page. First kid, second kid, third kid—she wrote their numbers down with careful lines. The tall girl could meet by the swings at 11:47. The boy with glasses at the slide at 11:52. The small one with the yellow jacket by the muddy puddle at 11:57. Three minutes each, just enough to say hello and leave a special note. Haze raced to the supply box behind the jungle gym and pulled out three welcome cards she'd made yesterday. She placed one at each spot, tucking them under rocks so the wind wouldn't steal them. At the swings, she added a handful of birdseed. At the slide, she left a toy mouse for any shy cats. By the muddy puddle, she scattered breadcrumbs for the frogs. Back at the basketball court, she bounced up to the three new students and pointed to the colorful structure she'd built last week from old cardboard boxes—three walls painted like a desert, a mountain, and a beach, all connected in a triangle. "You each get your own special spot to wait!" she announced. "I'm Haze, and I'm going to find you the best animal friends ever!" The tall girl smiled first, then the others followed her to their painted walls.