Tim Tom the turtle awoke and stretched. He shivered and looked out the hole of his shell. Something different was going on, that was for sure.

 At first, Tim Tom thought someone had blown the fluff of a dandelion, as white flakes drifted from the sky. It was strange that the fluff of dandelions would last this long, as he had seen strong winds whisk fluff through the air when the leaves changed. One of the little particles landed on his nose and a tingle of cold spread across it. This was definitely not fluff.

 As Tim Tom emerged further out of his shell, he could feel the cold and white covered the ground. If it wasn't so cold, it would have been pretty, because it was so fluffy reminding him of the cotton ball of Susy Rabbit's tail.

 For one thing, Tim Tom wasn't dressed right. Let's face it, snow and pyjamas with pine trees don't mix. Tim Tom shivered and rushed to his mother's side.

 "I'm freezing, Mom," he said.

 "You will have to wear your mittens now," Mother said, going back into her shell. She emerged with 4 mittens, two for his feet and two for his hands. She also had a coat, scarf and hat all in a bright red.

 Tim Tom felt much better, even though walking with all this gear was a bit difficult. Tim Tom set out to school and was just about there when suddenly his foot was very cold. Tim Tom looked down and his mitten was gone on his left foot.

 Bugsy Bunny was eating a carrot from his lunch. Bugsy always had a little snack on the way to school. His mother always peeled the carrots and picked the juicy ones he liked so well.

 Bugsy would have continued on to school if he hadn't noticed Tim Tom frantically looking in the bushes and up and down the path.

 "What are you looking for, Tim Tom?" asked Bugsy.

 "I'm looking for my mitten. It is bright red so you would think I could see where I lost it," sighed the turtle. "Mother will be so upset I've lost one of my mittens."

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 "Bright red, you say?" asked Bugsy.

 "Just like cranberries," said Tim Tom.

 Bugsy looked behind the bush, but he only found a bone left by a dog. He looked up the path, but only saw Tim Tom's tracks.

 "Maybe we can work our way back and find it," said Bugsy. "See how your prints are different? Where you have mittens on, your print is all rounded and where you have just your back foot, you can see your toes."

 Tim Tom looked down and there were his little toe prints. He followed Bugsy over the raise and there sitting on the side of the path was his little red mitten.

 "Thank you so much, Bugsy," said Tim Tom, putting the mitten over his foot.

 Off to school the pair went stopping occasionally to make snow angels in the snow. Winter was going to be so much fun.

 Question about the story: What was the difference in Tim Tom's prints without his mittens on?

 Send answers to Storytime, c/o Verna Dunlop, RR#1 Moser River, NS BOJ 2KO, or e-mail the answer to vernadunlop@yahoo.com.

posted on 01/13/09