One crisp morning in summer, Rabbit was screaming at the sun for no reason. After ten minutes, in a deep cave, dark and damp, filled with moss, grouchy Dragon was disturbed. He was naturally mad.
Dragon slithered out of his cave. He yelled, sounding like a grumpy grandpa, “Get off my lawn!”
He slithered back into his cave.
But Rabbit kept screaming!
The next thing, he saw Dragon, wings spread like Doritos, shake his nose and head straight for Rabbit.
Rabbit darted across a hill, but Dragon was fast and furious and didn’t quit. Rabbit skittered behind a bush, with Dragon a few feet behind.
Dragon searched the bush, his fiery breath leaving burned branches everywhere as he went.
Rabbit dashed for a pine, but Dragon torched the pine five feet before Rabbit reached it.
Rabbit had an idea. He hopped on a bush and skittered up a tree. Rabbit hopped to a hickory tree right after the previous tree was torched. This went on for ten minutes. Rabbit was tired, but Dragon was not.
When the other woodland creatures saw their friend in danger, they rushed to the nearest lake and started filling up water pails.
Squirrel stopped and said, “I don’t think we should use this magical stream.”
But Bear said, “Do it.”
Bear held off the Dragon while the other animals put out the flames with the magic water. After the Dragon flew off, they helped Rabbit recover.
As soon as the magical water touched all the scorched places, they instantly turned all sorts of shades of red, gold, and yellow.
And every fall since then, the foliage turns magical colors in Vermont, all because of the battle between noisy Rabbit and the Dragon.