Mia and the Lantern Moss

Mia found a rock that was glowing. It sat in the middle of the path, small and round, like a lamp somebody had dropped.

"Oh!" said Mia. "A glowing rock!"

Mia was an explorer. She had a backpack, a notebook, and a very big hat. Today she wanted to find the top of Mossy Hill, where the explorers' flag would go. She had been trying all morning.

But the path had gone dark. Dark green trees leaned in on both sides, and Mia could not see which way was up.

"I need to find the top," she said. "Brave explorers do not give up."

She tried going left. The path ended at a bush. She tried going right. The path ended at a pond. Splash! One boot went in.

"Squelch, squelch," went her boot.

Mia sat down on a log. Then she looked at the glowing rock again. It was not a rock at all. It was a ball of soft moss, and it glowed the colour of butter.

"Lantern moss," she whispered.

A little brown mouse popped out from under the leaves. It was carrying a seed, and it wanted to get home. It did not look at Mia at all. It just scurried away, past the moss, and up the hill.

Mia tilted her head. The moss glowed brighter on that side of the path.

She picked up the lantern moss, very gently. She held it out in front of her. The light spread across the ground, and Mia saw a line of other small glowing patches, one after another, climbing between the trees.

"A trail," said Mia. "A trail of little lamps!"

She tried it. Squelch, squelch, step, step. Glow, glow, glow.

The trees grew thin. The sky grew wide. At the very top of Mossy Hill, Mia stuck her flag into the ground.

Then she set the lantern moss down beside it, in the grass. All around her, one by one, the little lamps blinked on, soft and yellow, and the hill began to hum with crickets.