Olivia and the Hello Hill

Olivia wanted to say hello to the girl with the red kite, but her voice had gone small.

It was a new day on Wildflower Hill. The rain had fallen warm all night, and now the whole hillside was yellow and purple and white. Olivia had just moved to the little house at the bottom. Today, for the first time, she was climbing up to meet the children who played there.

At the top, the girl with the red kite was running in circles.

"Hello," Olivia whispered. The wind took it away.

She tried again. "Hello!" It came out squeaky, like a mouse in a boot. The girl was too far off to hear.

Olivia's tummy felt fluttery. Her feet wanted to go back home.

Then she noticed something. Everywhere she stepped, the wet flowers went squish, squish. And when she stopped, a small frog went ribbit from under a daisy.

Olivia looked at the frog. The frog looked at her.

"Ribbit," said Olivia, very quietly.

"Ribbit," said the frog, and hopped off up the hill.

Olivia followed. The frog was only going to the sunny rock where the puddle was, because that was its favourite place. It did not look back once. But Olivia kept following, squish, squish, all the way to the top.

The kite had flopped down in the grass. The girl was frowning at the tangled string.

Olivia had not planned to say anything. But the frog sat by the girl's shoe and said, "Ribbit!"

The girl laughed. "Where did you come from?"

Olivia's voice was still small, but she held out her hand. "I'm Olivia. I followed him."

"I'm Maya," said the girl. "Can you hold the string?"

Olivia held it. Maya pulled, and the red kite lifted, wobbled, and rose up over the flowers.

The string tugged softly in Olivia's fingers, and somewhere in the grass, the frog said ribbit one more time.