The Best Puddle in the World

It rained all morning, and by the time school let out, the whole playground was covered in puddles. "Can I jump in one?" Nora asked her dad, bouncing on her toes in her yellow rain boots.

"Just one," her dad said, laughing, "and then we walk home." Nora looked around at all the puddles. Some were tiny. Some were muddy. She wanted the perfect one.

Near the big oak tree, she found it: a wide, shallow puddle that reflected the whole grey sky like a mirror. Nora took a deep breath and jumped with both feet — SPLASH! Water flew up in a perfect ring around her boots.

"That was the best puddle in the world," Nora announced, grinning from ear to ear, droplets sliding down her raincoat. Her dad shook his head, smiling, and took her hand.

All the way home, Nora told her dad exactly how high the splash had gone, and her dad agreed it sounded like the best puddle in the whole world, too.

Back home, Nora peeled off her soggy socks and hung her raincoat by the door to dry. "Can we look for puddles again tomorrow?" she asked. "Only if it rains again," her dad said, smiling. Nora peeked out the window at the grey clouds still hanging low in the sky. "I think it will," she said hopefully, already planning her next perfect splash.

At dinner, Nora told her whole family about the puddle, the splash, and the perfect ring of water. Her little brother laughed so hard at the SPLASH part that milk nearly came out of his nose, and even her tired mom asked to hear the story twice.

The next day at school, Nora's teacher asked the class to draw their favorite part of the weekend, and Nora drew a giant blue puddle with her yellow boots splashing right in the middle of it. Her teacher pinned it right up on the wall next to the window, and every single time it rained after that, Nora would glance up happily at her drawing and grin, already planning exactly where she would jump first.