Melody's Garden Dance

Every morning, little Melody twirled and sang through her family’s garden, her red curls bouncing as she danced among the flowers. She loved nothing more than performing for her special audience: seven prairie-larks that nested in the old apple tree.

Melody dancing among colorful flowers with prairie-larks watching.

One particularly sunny morning in the hidden garden, when dewdrops sparkled like tiny diamonds on spider webs, Melody discovered that her prairie-lark friends had built a new nest. Inside were three tiny eggs, blue as the summer sky.

Prairie-lark nest with three blue eggs in morning light.

“I promise to watch over your eggs while you gather food,” Melody told the mother lark. But as she danced through the garden that day, she became so caught up in chasing butterflies and picking berries that she forgot her important promise.

Melody distracted by butterflies and berries.

Gray clouds began rolling in, and the wind picked up. Melody tried rushing back to the nest, but she had wandered far into the flower meadow. Rain started falling, and she knew the eggs needed protection.

Melody running through garden in light rain.

She found her way back to the apple tree, but the mother lark was not there. The eggs were getting wet, and Melody knew she had to act fast. Carefully reaching from a low branch, she removed her favorite rainbow ribbon from her hair and stretched it across the branches above the nest, creating a tiny umbrella.

Melody stretching ribbon above nest in rain.

The mother lark returned just then, grateful to find her eggs safe and dry. Together, they watched as the rain passed and a beautiful rainbow appeared - just like Melody’s ribbon.

Melody and mother lark watching rainbow together.

From that day forward, Melody took her promises very seriously. The prairie-larks trusted her even more, and when the eggs finally hatched, they let her sing special lullabies to their chicks every evening.

Melody singing to baby prairie-larks at sunset.