Kacper and Zosia find strange footprints under the old oak in the park. Then a sound in the branches and a flash in the grass make the quiet afternoon feel suddenly full of secrets.
Kacper and his little sister Zosia loved the park behind their house. They liked the soft grass, the creaky swings, and the old oak tree with branches that spread wide like open arms.
One afternoon, the wind stirred the leaves, and the tree seemed to whisper. When Kacper and Zosia walked closer, they both stopped.
Under the oak, in the damp earth, were strange round footprints.
"Where did those come from?" Zosia asked in a tiny voice. Her eyes grew big as marbles.
Kacper crouched down and peered at the marks. "They don't look like bird tracks," he said. "And not like a dog's either. Maybe something very small made them. Or something from the forest."
Then, above their heads, a branch gave a slow creak.
Both children looked up.
A little spark of light flickered in the grass near the tree trunk. Kacper reached for Zosia's hand. Behind the thick bark, something bright and colourful shifted just out of sight.
A tail.
Not a squirrel's tail. Not quite.
Kacper and Zosia stared at the tree, hardly breathing, as the leaves rustled harder and the mystery seemed to move one step closer.