Tic Tac Toe  
 
.

Patrick went outside to talk to Wiggle.  It was the last day of September, and in New England the leaves were turning WiggleBus yellow and beginning to fall from the trees.  Wiggle even had a few leaves land on her face.

"Does that tickle?" Patrick asked her.

"Only a little," smiled Wiggle.  "When we go on our next adventure, the wind will blow them all away."
 
 
"I was wondering if you would take Cricket and me on a trip," Patrick said.

"Of course," replied Wiggle. "Where would you like to go?"

"That's the pawblem," said Patrick.  "I don't know where to take her."

"Is this a DATE?" asked Wiggle.

"If she agrees to it," said Patrick.  "I'd like to take her someplace special."

"It's such a pretty time of year," said Wiggle.  "Perhaps you could do something special that only happens this time of year."

"Like what?" asked Patrick.

"Well, let's see," thought Wiggle.  "There's apple picking, and cider tasting, leaf peeping, and the pumpkin patches are all ripe for the picking."

"Pumpkin Patches!" exclaimed Patrick.  "That's it! I'll ask her if she wants to go pick pumpkins.  Will you take us there?"
 
"I would LOVE to take you to pick pumpkins," said Wiggle.  "I haven't driven a couple of sweethearts around since the days of Walter and Amy.'

"Who are they?" asked Patrick.

"Gee, I think they'd be pretty grown up by now," said Wiggle. "They were sweethearts that carved their name into my wall many years ago."

"Did that make you mad?" asked Patrick.

"I wasn't upset about it," said Wiggle.  "But they weren't allowed to ride the bus any more after that. I always wondered what happened to them."

"Look!" said Patrick, "they liked to play tic tac toe!"

"That's not really tic tac toe," said Wiggle, "that was a secret message."

"What does it say?" asked Patrick with curiosity.

"The X's stand for Kisses, and the O's stand for Hugs. Whoever got three in a row could say they loved the other the most."

"But they stopped before anyone won," said Patrick.

"Not really," said Wiggle.  "If I remember right, they stopped the game, and called it a tie."
"So they both won," said Patrick.

"That's right," said Wiggle.  "When you really love someone, you want the other pawson to win as much as you."

"Wiggle, you are the BEST!" exclaimed Patrick.  "I'm going to go ask Cricket to go to Court with me right now!"

"You mean you're going courting," smiled Wiggle.

"Isn't that what I said?" asked Patrick,  and off he went with his very special plan.