Autumn, Miss Raccoon, and the Fallen-Leaf Key

Cha Duoliao is five years old this year.

Actually, she wasn't originally called Cha Duoliao.

The adults always called her that because she was always messing up little things. Breaking bowls, getting her clothes dirty, spilling drinks all over the floor...

Her friends called her that too, because that's what the adults called her.

As time went by, everyone forgot her real name. Even she came to believe that her name was Cha Duoliao.

Cha Duoliao was terribly unhappy. She desperately wanted to grow up.

One crisp autumn day, she saw a talking fallen leaf on the hill behind her home. The leaf said it was a key that could grant her wish.

Little Cha Duoliao was overjoyed and thanked it again and again.

And so,

five-year-old Cha Duoliao became a five-year-old tanuki.

The Leaf Key explained that a five-year-old tanuki was roughly equivalent to a thirty-seven-year-old human. Miss Tanuki, that meant she was an adult now.

Cha Duoliao burst into tears.

To comfort her, the Leaf Key took her to meet Mrs. Squirrel and Baby Goose...

That was the most unforgettable autumn, Cha Duoliao thought.

Theme: Cherish childhood, embrace growing up, and accept partings.