Mochi Moment: Virtual Pet

A family of soft mochi lives in a small yard that follows your real weather and moon. Poke them, fling them, and read the letters they send home from their trips.

A small yard on a hill, a little house, and a family of round, soft mochi.

SOFT TO THE TOUCH Poke one and it dents, then bounces back. Lift it and it droops into a drop. Fling it and it tumbles across the grass, rolls over, and slowly rights itself.

NO TWO ALIKE Every mochi has its own color and shape: smooth, cloud-edged, spiky, drop-shaped, flower-shaped. Some are squishy, some are firm. Light ones get blown around, heavy ones stay put. Some wake early, some stay up late.

YOUR SKY, YOUR WEATHER The yard follows your real time, season and weather. The sun crosses the sky and shadows stretch and shrink. At night the moon shows its real phase. Rain dents their bodies, snow piles on their heads until they shake it off, and wind rolls the light ones along. On hot days they go soft. In the cold they turn bouncy.

LETTERS FROM THE ROAD Now and then one of them packs a small bag and hops away over the hill. Later a letter arrives in the mailbox, written by the traveler about what they saw. Some letters bring something back: a sugar cube, a dewdrop, a seed, a caterpillar, a rainbow. A mochi that eats a sugar cube goes square for a while. A seed sprouts and flowers. The caterpillar spins a cocoon, and one day a butterfly comes out.

A HOME THAT GROWS Sometimes a traveler comes home with a new friend. Two friends who sleep side by side may melt into one until morning. Above sleeping heads, small dreams drift by.

NOTHING TO LOSE No one goes hungry, gets sick or runs away. Nothing expires, and nothing is tied to a time of day. Whoever went out waits for you, and every letter stays in the mailbox until you open it.

ON YOUR HOME SCREEN The widget is a window into the yard. When a letter arrives, the mailbox flag goes up.