Annabelle - A Gentle Visitor

Annabelle poked her nose through a cluster of tall clover leaves near the fence line and stopped dead in her tracks. Sitting on a flat river rock just inches away was a plump, speckled brown toad, puffing its pale throat in and out. Annabelle leaned down very gently so her bell wouldn't chime and scare it off. When it blinked its big, golden-rimmed eyes at her, she gave a quiet puff of breath from her nostrils. The toad gave a tiny, dignified hop closer to her plush hoof, resting right against her toe like we were the oldest friends.