Tulip's Disappearing Act

“These grasshoppers are great,” Tulip said. “Those pods didn’t fill me up.”

“I thought you were going to disappear,” Bossy said. “There’s a streak of your hair beside me.”

“Like I said, I’m still not very good at the disappearing act,” Tulip said as she munched on another grasshopper. “Delicious!”

“I just like to play with them. I really like to jump up to catch them when they hop. It’s fun. Sometimes I get a little taste of them, but I don’t much care for it. I catch mice too, but I don’t like to eat them. It’s just fun to play with them. The food Grandma feeds me is much better.”

Tulip, her purple hair streak sticking up and the mint fragrance filling the area, followed Bossy to the chicken coop.

A few chickens pecked at insects in the grass around the coop. Inside the coop, most of the nests appeared empty, but Bossy noticed two chickens roosting in their nests.

Suddenly the mint scent disappeared and a rather foul smell filled the coop. Bossy knew it wasn’t chicken smell. She’d been in the coop many times and had never smelled this odor.

“Do you smell something bad?” Bossy asked Tulip.

“Smell what?” Tulip asked.

“It smells like rotten eggs or something. I’ve never smelled that in here. I wonder if there are some bad eggs in here.”

“I don’t smell anything unusual,” Tulip said as she munched on another grasshopper.” Feeling safe inside the chicken coop, she became visible so Bossy could see her. The mint smell was gone, but the foul smell lingered.