Hawkins Hollow Nursery Rhymes
Clover Gate Moon Dial
Child-facing question: Can four friends rebuild a backward refrain, leave one damp panel unfinished, and celebrate by clearing a route everyone can use? Dominant anchor: Finish → choose → check becomes check → choose → pause → finish. Cast: Brandon Rabbit approaches from one side, tests the bright upper panel, and later folds the dry patchwork strip; he is barefoot by default. Alice Mole approaches from the other side, tests the low panel, and never wears glasses. Aydin notices the route-width condition, rebuilds the refrain, and later stacks the dry tiles. Emmitt opens the moon dial, preserves the unfinished panel as a promise, and later closes the dial pouch. Lillian and Zylar were considered as available, but the named four already complete the route, refrain, unfinished-work, and cleanup roles.
Rhyme
The Panel We Promised
Two paths reached toward chalk courtyard
beneath high cotton clouds.
Brandon came from one clear side;
Alice came from the lower ground.
At clover gate, Emmitt opened
one patchwork moon dial wide.
The first refrain arrived backward:
Finish—choose—check.
“Finish the dial first,” Brandon thought.
“Make the route useful first,” Alice replied.
Both meanings fit the instruction,
but the low panel stayed wet inside.
Aydin measured the clear approach.
The narrow turn would leave someone out.
He rebuilt the missing refrain:
Check—choose—pause—finish.
They checked the route before the patch.
They chose the wider opening.
They paused beside the damp low panel
instead of pulling it closed.
“Unfinished today,” said Emmitt,
“means promised after it dries.”
He left one patchwork corner open
under the quiet evening sky.
They reversed before stump-school yard.
Brandon folded the dry strip.
Aydin stacked the dry tiles.
Emmitt closed the moon-dial pouch.
Alice kept the wider path clear.
Cleanup became the celebration:
Fold—stack—close—clear.
The open panel held tomorrow’s place.
About This Rhyme
Performance style: Spoken missing-rhyme participation verse with optional approach, reverse, check, choose, pause, fold, stack, and clear gestures.
Estimated spoken length: About 95 seconds.
Ways to Join In
- Say finish, choose, check, then rebuild it as check, choose, pause, finish.
- Check route width before trying to complete a damp panel.
- Celebrate through cleanup: fold, stack, close, and clear.