Button’s big winter sleep

Crunch, crunch! Ravi and Nani rake orange leaves in the garden. “Can we leave one big pile in the corner?” asks Ravi. “It’s for someone.” Nani smiles. “Leaves make a cosy bed for a small animal,” she says.

When the sky turns pink, Ravi and Nani sit on the back step. Snuffle, snuffle. A hedgehog squeezes through the little gap in the fence! “Let’s call her Button,” whispers Ravi. Button sniffs the grass for beetles and worms. “Hedgehogs find food with their noses and ears,” says Nani.

Every evening, Ravi watches from the window. Button munches beetles. She munches caterpillars. She munches worms. Button gets rounder and rounder. “Why is she so hungry?” asks Ravi. “She is filling up for winter,” says Nani. “Soon there won’t be much food to find.”

Then the cold comes. One chilly evening, Button trundles to the leaf pile. She pushes in, nose first. Rustle, rustle. She tucks leaves and twigs all around her. “Inside, she will curl up in a spiky ball,” says Nani. “Now she can have her big winter sleep.”

Frost sparkles on the leaf pile. Shh. Button is in a very deep sleep. “Her breathing is slow,” says Nani. “Her heart beats slow, slow, slow.” “Can I peek?” asks Ravi. “No peeking and no poking,” says Nani. “We let her rest.”

Every night, Ravi waves from the window. “Goodnight, leaf pile. Goodnight, Button.” Sometimes Ravi misses her. Nani gives him a cuddle. “Waiting is hard,” she says. “Waiting is kind, too. Hedgehogs wake up in spring.” So Ravi waits, and waits.

Spring comes. Yellow daffodils pop up by the fence. One evening, as the sky turns pink, the leaves rustle. Out trundles a hedgehog, sniffing for worms. “Is that Button?” whispers Ravi. He hopes so. “Hello, Button,” he says softly. “Welcome back!”