Maddox and the Moon-Hop

“Ready, set, hop!” called Bree, and Maddox sprang so high that the silver ring looked like a tiny button below him.

Up he sailed over the smooth moon field, past the little round hop rings, and over the silver one. He came down with a bouncing boing on the other side.

“Almost,” he said, rubbing a dusting of moon powder from his ears.

Bree, a quick-footed moon hare with a neat white tail, gave him an encouraging smile. “You certainly can jump!”

The Moon-Hop was held once each moon-month on a flat field dotted with rings. Some were small and blue, some were wide and gold, and the one at the finish was silver. To win, a hare had to hop from the starting mark and land inside the silver ring without stepping out again.

Maddox had wanted to win ever since he was little enough to ride in his mother’s pouch. He had practiced giant leaps between the craters and over the soft hills. Each time he landed, the ground gave a friendly little bump.

“I’ll make one grand jump,” he told Bree. “Straight into the middle!”

“Maybe,” Bree said. “But there are lots of ways to hop.”

Maddox lined up at the start. The other hares gathered along the field, their ears pointing toward the silver ring. A small bell rang.

Maddox bent his legs and sprang. He sailed over the blue ring, over the gold ring, and high above the silver one. He tried to twist in the air, but his long leap carried him onward. He landed beyond the finish with a soft thump.

The crowd clapped anyway. Maddox smiled, though his ears drooped a little.

“I can jump farther than anyone,” he said. “But I can’t seem to stop where I want.”

Bree looked at the rings, then at Maddox’s strong legs. “Watch my turn,” she said. “I’ll show you what my hops can do.”

Maddox sat beside the starting mark and watched closely as Bree stepped onto the field.

Bree lowered her ears, bent her knees, and made one small hop. Plip! She landed neatly in the blue ring. Then she hopped again. Plip! She landed inside the gold ring.

For the silver ring, Bree didn’t leap high at all. She made a short hop, then another, each one as tidy as a button sewn onto a coat. Her last hop carried her right into the silver circle.

The crowd cheered. Bree bowed, then trotted over to Maddox.

“Your hops are so small,” he said. “How do you make them stop?”

“I bend my knees before I jump,” Bree explained. “And I look at the place where I want to land. I don’t have to reach it all at once.”

Maddox looked at his powerful legs. He had always tried to use all their strength in one enormous leap. Now he wondered if he could ask them for just a little.

He stood at the start and bent his knees. His legs trembled with all the big jumps they wanted to make.

“Easy,” Bree said. “Try a tiny one.”

Maddox pushed off gently. Plip! He landed just a little way ahead.

He grinned. “That was a hop, not a launch!”

“Do it again,” said Bree.

Plip, plip, plip. Maddox made three tiny hops. On the fourth, he bounced too far and landed outside the blue ring. He shook his ears, then returned to the start.

This time, he bent his knees a little more and watched the ring instead of the far end of the field. Plip! He landed inside the blue circle. The other hares gave him a happy cheer.

Maddox tried the gold ring next. His first hop landed short. His next carried him just right. Then he faced the silver ring. He could feel one enormous leap waiting in his legs.

He bent his knees and whispered, “Little hop, little hop.”

Plip! He landed inside the silver ring. He wobbled, stretched out his paws, and stayed right there.

“I did it!” he cried.

Bree hopped beside him, and the whole field clapped.

Maddox stepped out of the silver ring with a careful little hop. Bree landed beside him, and they tapped paws.

“You have the neatest hops,” Maddox said.

“And you have the biggest jumps,” Bree replied. “It’s fun that we don’t hop the same way.”

Maddox looked back at the rings. The blue one sat near the starting mark. The gold one lay halfway across the field, and the silver one rested at the finish. They seemed less like a test now and more like a line of friendly places to visit.

“Would you like one more hop?” Bree asked.

Maddox smiled. “A little one.”

He bent his knees and hopped beside her. Plip! Bree made a small hop too. Plip! Maddox tried one more, keeping his feet close and his eyes on the ground ahead. Plip!

They made their way across the field together, sometimes side by side, sometimes taking turns. Bree’s hops were quick and light. Maddox’s were a bit springier, but he knew how to make them small when he wanted.

At the edge of the field, the other hares were gathering their scarves and sharing the last of the moonberry cakes. Maddox and Bree each took a crumbly piece. It tasted sweet and cool, like a berry picked from a quiet garden.

“Today I learned I don’t have to jump as far as I can,” Maddox said. “I can choose how far to go.”

Bree nodded. “And I learned that big jumps can be wonderful, too.”

They strolled home along a pale path between low hills. Above them, the moon’s quiet sky stretched wide and still. Their ears swayed as they walked, and now and then Maddox tried one last gentle hop. He landed with a soft plip each time.

By the time they reached their burrows, the field and its rings were far behind them. Maddox said good night to Bree, settled into his cozy bed, and let the happy rhythm of plip, plip, plip grow quiet in his thoughts.