Olivia and the Giant Achoo

Olivia had the loudest sneeze in Pebble Hollow, and she did not like it one bit.

When other children sneezed, it went "tiss." When Olivia sneezed, it went ACHOOOO! Birds jumped off the roof. Hats fell off heads.

Today was the Puddle Parade. Everyone in town was going to jump in the puddles, and the puddles in Pebble Hollow bounce like drums. Olivia wanted to jump in them more than anything. But she had a tickle in her nose.

"Please don't sneeze," said her friend Max. "You'll scare the ducks."

"I won't," said Olivia. She pinched her nose and walked to the first puddle.

Her nose twitched. Her eyes went squinchy.

"Ah... ah..."

She held it in. She held it in so hard her cheeks puffed up like two little apples. But the tickle only grew bigger.

So she tried something different. She hid behind the tall green hedge at the edge of the square. Maybe the hedge would catch the sneeze.

"Ah... ah... ACHOOOO!"

The sneeze was so loud that the hedge shook. A fat brown duck flapped away, quacking.

Olivia felt her face go hot. Then she noticed something. The puddle in front of her was wobbling. Its water shivered, then went boing, boing, boing, just like a drum.

Her sneeze had played it!

Olivia looked at the puddle. She looked at her nose. Then she took a big breath and tickled her nose with her finger.

"Ah... ah... ACHOOOO!"

Boing! went the puddle. Boing, boing! went the next one, and the next one after that.

Max came running. "Do it again!"

The ducks came back. They did not look scared at all. They sat on the bouncing puddles and rode them up and down, quacking.

Olivia sneezed one more time. All the puddles in the square answered her, boing, boing, boing, getting softer and softer, until the last small ripple went still.