The Little Colonel

A bright summer morning finds a curious five‑year‑old and her lively terrier perched on the gate of a grand Kentucky estate called Locust. The child, hair cut short like a boy’s and clutching a wilted bouquet of wildflowers, peers through iron bars while her dog, Fritz, sniffs the air and darts about the emerald grass. Their playful antics draw the attention of the venerable Colonel Lloyd, who watches from his porch with a field‑glass, bemused by the unfamiliar pair that seem somehow familiar.

As the pair explore the long, tree‑lined avenue, the Colonel reflects on the days when children’s laughter echoed beneath the stately locust trees. Their innocent game of fetch and the sudden, delighted sniff for strawberries hints at a simple, carefree world that the old manor has missed for years. Listeners are invited to share in the gentle wonder of this summer’s first adventure, where curiosity and nostalgia meet on a sun‑lit Kentucky lawn.