Jumping Over Jupiter

Juniper the calf practiced her hop-hop-jump in the windy hill pasture beside the red barn’s planet chart.

Tonight, the painted Jupiter looked like it was winking at her, because a real green swirl lit up in the sky and spun once, twice, then pointed toward the cattail pond.

Juniper’s stomach flipped with happy nerves.

Under the chart, she noticed a missing little red dot sticker, and the sky-swirls blinked weaker each time.

Then a soft humming rose from the pond reeds, while a different hum breathed from the barn’s hayloft vent.

Juniper planted her hooves, ready to chase the signal before it vanished.