Livora Gracely

The shortest legs chose the pace.

Before the Light Changes

They had three places to be, and Mika had stopped before they reached the first one.

Grandpa Ken wanted a photograph at the bridge while the morning light was still on the water. Grandma Yuri had flowers to deliver to her friend Mrs Kato. Jun wanted to see the little red boat he had spotted from the bridge the week before.

Mika had not said where she wanted to go. She had only put on her shoes very quickly and asked whether they were all ready.

Now she stood beside a bench, holding Ken’s hand and looking underneath it.

“Have you dropped something?” he asked.

“No.”

“Have I?”

Mika crouched to look more closely. A pink petal rested between two paving stones.

“Not yet,” she said.

Jun bent beside her. “Not yet what?”

But Mika had already stood up and taken his hand.

They continued down the street, the four of them in a row: Ken, Mika, Jun, and Yuri, whose basket of flowers brushed gently against her dress.

Ten steps later, Mika stopped at a plant pot.

Not Yet

Jun counted while she looked behind the pot.

“Eleven,” he said.

“I thought it was ten,” said Yuri.

“I counted from the bench.”

“So did I.”

Ken lifted his camera and took a photograph of them looking at the pot. Jun turned just as the camera clicked.

“Did you get what she’s looking for?”

“I don’t know what she’s looking for.”

“Neither do I.”

Mika peered around the other side of the pot. Another petal had caught against its base.

“Two,” she said.

“Two what?” Jun asked.

She stood and brushed her hands on her skirt. “Two so far.”

Jun considered the bench and the pot. The bench had been empty underneath. The pot contained a plant, but he was fairly sure Mika had not counted that.

“Are you looking for a cat?”

“No.”

“If you find one, can it be two cats?”

“One cat is enough,” Mika said.

They walked on. Ken looked up at the sky, then at the camera hanging from his neck.

“The light will move off the bridge soon,” he said.

“Mrs Kato will be at home all morning,” Yuri said. “We have a little time.”

Mika had stopped again. This time, she was looking down at Ken’s shoe.

Jun looked too.

“There’s something on it,” he said.

Ken lifted his foot. The petal on his shoe fell to the ground.

Mika made a small sound and crouched beside it.

“Three,” she said.

Jun crouched too. “Are we counting things on Grandpa’s shoes?”

“Only one of them.”

“Only one shoe?”

“Only one thing.”

Ken put his foot down carefully. “I’m glad someone is keeping track.”

Four Small Things

At the next corner, Mika spotted another petal lying near the kerb.

“There,” she said.

Just as Jun reached for it, the wind carried it across the pavement. He followed it past the postbox, but it slipped under a bicycle.

The four of them waited while its owner came out of a shop, unlocked it, and wheeled it away. The petal stayed where it was.

Jun picked it up by its narrow end and brought it back.

“Is this four?”

Mika nodded.

“Four petals?” he asked.

She nodded again.

“Why?”

Mika looked at their joined hands. Then she took the petal from Jun and placed it in Yuri’s palm.

“One for each of us.”

Jun looked back towards the plant pot. “But we left the others.”

“I wanted to show you where they were.”

“You only showed us three places.”

“I was still looking for the fourth.”

Ken glanced along the street towards the bridge. Then he lifted his camera.

“Could I see that one?”

Yuri held out her hand. Mika put hers beneath it, and Jun added his beside hers. Ken tried to take the photograph with one hand while putting his other hand into the picture.

The camera tipped.

“I can hold it,” said Yuri.

“Then you won’t be in it.”

She took the camera from him and handed her basket to Jun. Then she placed her hand beside the others.

“Take it from above,” she said.

Ken raised the camera in his free hand. Mika guided his wrist a little to the left.

“Can you see all of us?” she asked.

“I can see four hands.”

“And the petal?”

“I can see most of it.”

Jun moved his thumb. Ken took the picture.

At the Bridge

Mrs Kato was pleased with the flowers. She found a jug for them while the children waited at her gate, and Yuri promised to return for the basket another day.

They reached the bridge a little later than Ken had planned. The light had moved off part of the water, but it still shone on the far bank.

“And there’s the boat,” Jun said.

The little red boat was tied beneath the bridge. It rocked against its rope while Jun counted the ripples spreading from its side.

Ken took a photograph of that too.

“Shall we have one of all four of us?” Yuri asked.

A woman passing with a shopping bag offered to hold the camera. They stood together near the railing, Mika between Ken and Jun, and Yuri beside Jun.

“Closer,” the woman said.

They moved in. Mika took Ken’s hand, and Jun reached for Yuri’s. Then Mika took Jun’s hand as well.

“Ready?” the woman asked.

Mika looked down and began to laugh.

A fresh pink petal had landed on Ken’s shoe.

Jun saw it next. He tried to point without letting go of either hand, pulling Mika and Yuri towards him.

The camera clicked.

Afterwards, Ken showed them the picture. Everyone was in it, although Jun’s arm crossed the front of his coat, and Mika was looking at the ground.

“Did you get the petal?” she asked.

Ken enlarged the picture. His shoes were just inside the frame.

“There,” he said.

Mika leaned closer. “That’s five.”

Jun looked down at the shoe.

The petal was gone.