Hawkins Hollow Nursery Rhymes
Floating Promise Ring
Child-facing question: Can three friends do different jobs at the same time, use the blocking branch to measure safety, and let the path end somewhere new? Dominant anchor: High and low, near and far—measure where the safe turns are. Cast: Brandon Rabbit holds the ring line steady and later marks the clear turn; Haylee watches the floating ring shadow and later follows the changed path; Emmitt measures the branch clearance and later gives the single convergence cue. Brandon is barefoot by default. Lillian and Zylar were considered as available, but the three named simultaneous jobs are clearest with the supplied trio and each role is necessary.
Rhyme
The Ring That Measured Low
Lantern porch stayed out of sight
under cool blue evening air.
At quiet-bench grove, three friends found
one floating promise ring waiting there.
High went Brandon’s steady line.
Low fell Haylee’s watching gaze.
Near stood Emmitt by the branch.
Far stretched feather clearing’s way.
Three jobs started at the same time:
Brandon held the ring from drift;
Haylee watched its shadow travel;
Emmitt checked the branch’s lift.
Open shadow, closing route—
the practiced path no longer fit.
Fast cloudlight crossed the ring,
but the low branch did not shift.
“High and low, near and far—
measure where the safe turns are.”
Emmitt touched the ring-shadow mark;
all three jobs converged just once.
The branch had blocked the straight-way plan,
yet showed exactly where to measure.
Brandon marked the clear-side turn;
Haylee found the wider passage.
Stop at the branch. Go round the fern.
Close to the grove, then farther out.
The obstacle became their ruler;
the changed route made the clearance plain.
Back through feather clearing they followed,
but not toward the expected stage.
The ring led low beside the ferns,
where a listening nook completed the path.
No one guessed that safety fit.
They saw the branch, the mark, the space.
The floating ring rested at the turn;
the new ending stood in a different place.
About This Rhyme
Performance style: Spoken opposites-motion rhyme with optional high/low, near/far, open/closed, and stop/go gestures.
Estimated spoken length: About 90 seconds.
Ways to Join In
- Give three participants simultaneous jobs: hold steady, watch the shadow, and measure beside the branch.
- Use high/low, near/far, open/closed, and stop/go gestures.
- Let the three jobs meet once, then trace the wider path to an unexpected ending.