Mrs. Hedgehog's Umbrella

Part One

Mrs. Hedgehog had forty umbrellas and not one customer. Her sign said UMBRELLAS in big red letters. It was raining, of course.

"Good morning!" she called. "Who needs a lovely dry umbrella?" Nobody even slowed down.

Mr. Mole went by with a map of puddles. "Dry?" he said. "Madam, I came out to get wet."

Miss Wren zoomed past with her post bag. "Wet letters are happy letters!" she sang. "They arrive smelling of rain."

Old Hare stood at his bakery door. "Fresh rolls!" he cried. "Now with rain on top!"

Everyone cheered. Mrs. Hedgehog sighed. She had never been in a puddle.

So she kept all forty umbrellas dry. It rained on Monday. It rained on Tuesday.

By Wednesday the puddles had joined hands. By Thursday, Burrow Street was one enormous puddle.

It was too wide to jump, too deep to splash. Everyone stood at their doors and stared.

Mr. Mole turned his map this way and that. Every part of it said PUDDLE. "This map is no help," he said.

Miss Wren's post bag was too heavy to lift. Old Hare's rolls had all gone soggy.

"Rain on top is lovely," said Old Hare sadly. "Rain underneath is not."

Then Mrs. Hedgehog tripped on her doorstep. One red umbrella tumbled out of the shop. It landed upside down in the puddle, and it floated.

"Oh!" said Mrs. Hedgehog. She stepped in, and it did not sink. It bobbed along like a small red boat.

"Umbrellas!" she shouted. "Dry on top, floaty underneath!" Her sign now said AND BOATS.

Mr. Mole bought one for his maps. Miss Wren bought one for her post. Old Hare bought six, for the rolls.

By Friday the rain had stopped and the puddle shrank. Everyone carried their umbrellas home.

"I have never been so dry," said Mr. Mole. He sounded a little sad.

Next Monday it rained again. Mrs. Hedgehog hung a new sign on her door. It said GONE SPLASHING.

She found the biggest puddle on Burrow Street. Then she jumped. Splash!

Mr. Mole drew a cross on his map. "Best puddle," he wrote.