We are so happy to be back in your mailbox this spring with a brand-new story from Pinky’s Pond. This time we have selected a tale about Percy the purple squirrel to share. We hope you enjoy reading about his latest painting adventure. And stay tuned for exciting news as we continue to be hard at work turning our stories into books!


Percy and the Water Lilies


As the morning sun warmed the pond, the water lilies started to bloom. Percy smiled as he watched from his treehouse. He loved the water lilies, but he had never painted them before.  

 

When he finished his breakfast, he decided he wanted to give it a try. He carried his backpack to the shore and found the perfect spot to work.  He set up his easel and carefully organized all the paints and brushes.  

 

“I need to mix some green for the leaves,” he thought. He used his brush to blend the yellow and blue paints. He squinted and mixed a little more yellow in.  

“There,” he said, smiling at his palette. “I think that is just the right green.”  

Then the sun went behind a cloud. “Wait! Now, the green looks darker.” 

He started mixing a new green with more blue in it.  

“There, that looks right,” he said.  

Then the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and the color changed again.  

Percy scratched his head. “Which green should I use?” he wondered.  

Finally, the sun stayed out for a while, and Percy felt better about the green he had chosen. But the sun also made Percy feel very hot. “Oh, bother!” he grumbled.

Digging into his backpack, he found his big floppy hat and a water bottle. Finally, he could start painting the leaves and flowers.  

When he tried to paint the water, it looked like a mirror, reflecting the flowers, the sky, and the trees around the pond. He wanted to paint those reflections, but no matter what colors he chose, it didn’t look right.  

Just then, a sudden gust of wind blew his painting off the easel, leaving it face down on the ground.  

Percy sat down on a nearby log and sighed. This painting day was not going as he had planned.  


Ms. Pinky hopped over to see Percy. She had been sunning herself on a nearby lily pad.  


“I would love to know what you are painting,” she said. “How are things going?”


“Not so great today, Pinky. Painting the lilies is making me cranky. The sun changed the colors of everything and made me very hot! The reflections in the water change constantly because of the light and the wind. I can’t make this picture look the way I want. And now the wind has blown my painting onto the ground!”


“That does sound frustrating,” Pinky said.  


They sat for a while, gazing at the pond and the lilies.  

“You know,” said Pinky, “When I get stuck, I usually ask for help. Can anyone help you with your questions about colors and light?”  


Percy thought for a moment, and then he smiled.  


“Of course! I do know someone who can help!” he said excitedly. “Thank you, Pinky!”


Percy grabbed his painting and headed down the path around the pond, through the garden, and to the log cabin where Ms. Melly lived. He scurried onto the porch and around the front where her studio was. He scratched the window to see if she was home. After a few moments, the curtain pulled to the side. Ms. Melly smiled at him and slowly opened the window.  


“Hello, friend.” She giggled and held out her hand to give him a ride inside.


Percy loved visiting Ms. Melly’s studio. There were colorful paintbrushes of many different shapes and sizes. Percy loved to crawl between the colored pencils and tubes of paint. And, of course, he always climbed around looking at the giant canvases filled with birds, trees, and many other things that she had been painting in the forest.  

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Ms. Melly said. “What have you been up to?”


Percy held out his painting and pointed at the lilies.  


“Ooh! Water lilies! Let’s take a look at it.” She found a tiny easel and propped up the painting in the middle of the table.  


“That’s a fun thing to paint. I love the colors you mixed up. And the shapes of your lilies are lovely. Water is kind of tough to paint though, isn’t it? There are so many reflections. You know, there was a very famous painter who also loved to paint water lilies. His name was Mr. Monet. Would you like to see how he painted the water?”


Percy jumped up and down and clapped his paws together.


“I have some things about him over here,” she said.  


She went to a shelf, pulled down a large book, and flipped it open on the table.  


Percy quickly hopped over and started looking at the colorful pictures.  


Percy was delighted by Mr. Monet’s paintings of trees and fields. It’s not hard to love trees and fields. But most of all, Percy loved looking at the water lily paintings.  

“Mr. Monet had a pond in his yard just like we do,” Ms. Melly said.“He grew many different kinds of water lilies, so he could always paint them. This book says he would paint the same flowers at all different times of the day. He wanted to show how the colors changed as the light moved.”  


Percy’s whiskers twitched with excitement as he continued to turn the pages of the book. Mr. Monet’s artwork made him want to try painting the waterlilies again. He waved at Ms. Melly and dashed out the window towards the pond.  


Percy painted the lilies that afternoon when the sun was straight up in the sky. He painted the lilies in the evening when the sun was going down. He even painted the lilies when the moon was out at night. All summer, he practiced painting the lilies at different times of the day.  


Sometimes, he would take another painting to Ms. Melly’s studio, and they would look at the book about Mr. Monet again.  


Soon, he had so many paintings that he ran out of room in his treehouse. So, on a beautiful day in September, Ms. Pinky helped Percy set up an art show around the pond to share with his friends. They stood, looking at all the paintings together.  


Ms. Pinky smiled at Percy.  


“Ya know, I think I would have liked to have been a frog in Mr. Monet’s garden,” she said.  


“Me too,” Percy giggled.  

Thank you for hanging out with us today. If you think someone else may enjoy our stories, please forward this email along to them. We love making new friends. You can also follow along with our adventures on social media and our website.


Keep Finding Joy Friends!


Melissa Eggleston