A Strange Homecoming
One night, a man walked backwards from the entrance to his garden to the front door.
Once inside, he asked his wife not to go into the garden until morning.
The next morning, their young daughter looked at the garden and was delighted.
Why was she so happy when she saw the garden?
Question your assumptions, one by one.
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Hints
Use as many hints as you need, one at a time.
Hint 1
He was concerned with what his walk would leave behind, not how he looked while walking.
Hint 2
There was snow on the ground in the garden that night.
Hint 3
His daughter did not think the footprints that seemed to lead away from the house were her father's.
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Answer
The footprints in the snow made her think that Santa Claus had come to deliver presents.
It was Christmas morning. The night before, her father had walked backwards, leaving footprints with the toes pointing towards the garden entrance.
To his daughter, they looked like the footprints Santa had left as he walked away from the house after delivering the presents.
Explanation
When we see footprints, we naturally assume that the person walked in the direction the toes are pointing. Walking backwards, however, leaves footprints pointing in the opposite direction to the one the person actually travelled.
The man made the tracks he left entering the house look as though someone had walked out. He also asked his wife to stay out of the garden so that no other footprints would be added, and the tracks he had left would not be trampled before their daughter saw them.
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