Fall Drool

A steady chill was starting in the air.  Red and yellow leaves had started to rain down from the trees with each steady gust of wind, the rustling of the changing season a soft symphony in the air.  A sure signal of a time that Chickpea was sure to find troublesome.  Sighing, the small green Bao tugged his basket with him, clinging to the woven wooden handle with both paws.

A deep sigh.

"Man, fall is the worst."

It's grumbled further when the soft undergrowth of the forest floor makes him slip and lose a few precious berries from his hunting.  It had rained recently, the fallen leaves still slick and soggy.  It make Chickpea huff as he sat his basket down to collect his hard found berries again.  It makes his frown deepen to see a few of them are bruised.

It would have been a good day.  Should have been!  Just after a rain was normally Chickpea's favorite time.  Sometimes, he would even put on his rain-boots and grab his umbrella to go and stomp in the fresh puddles.  If only it hadn't been so cold and windy earlier, Chickpea would have loved to find a nice big one to splash around in for a little bit.

Being fall also meant there would be no frogs to see, all of them getting ready for their winter sleepy time.  No frogs and no puddles basically meant it was the worst time ever.  And he would have to get all sorts of food for himself to keep, too!  Last year he had ran out of blueberries before he was even halfway through the winter time, and he had been so sad until his friend had shared some with him.

To make up for it, this year Chickpea has made sure to get lots and lots of extra berries, more then he even thought he would need!  They had been plump and ripe on the bush he had found them on.  What kind they were he didn't actually know.  They had smelled nice and had tasted good, so he was sure they would be fine!  With any luck, he would find some more...

As Chickpea started to stand back up, he noticed something at the base of a large tree.  Sticking out was... a really big mushroom!  It felt like it was almost as big as him!  That mushroom looked really good and was sure to feed him for a long time.

With a small huff and a tug, Chickpea pulled the big mushroom off the tree.  It barely even fit in his basket!  Looking closer, there were a few smaller mushrooms starting to sprout where the big one had been.  But, not wanting to be greedy, Chickpea decided to leave them for now.

Humming to himself, the little Bao looked at his full basket and decided that it was probably time go home for now.  There was still plenty of time to come foraging, so he could always come back if he got worried about his food supplies.

It was still just a shame he couldn't jump in puddles till the spring.