Math story · Paddock pups
Twenty-Five Plus Eighteen Pegs

Twenty-five pegs already hung like quiet commas.
Eighteen more waited in the tin. Twenty-five plus eighteen?
Suzy said forty-three. Not forty-four for hope.
Twenty-five and eighteen make forty-three. Checked once.
Adventure Cap wanted a magic bigger number. Care said stop at the honest total.
Thinking Cap habit: plan, count once, check. Cap does not invent by magic.
Pavlova supervised like a fluffy accountant and added zero by staring.
Little Thunder declined commentary with mahogany dignity.
Kids: twenty-five blocks plus eighteen. Count the pile once.
Farm maths is a promise living things can trust.
Tools remind. Soft landings still happen.
Suzy spelled S-U-Z-Y once for joy, then back to the numbers.
Twenty-five + eighteen = forty-three.
Twenty-five + eighteen = forty-three.