The smallest voice had a point.
A Welcome in the Tree
Miko had written WELCOME in the largest letters he could fit on the cloth.
“There,” he said, holding it up. “Now all we need is a tree.”
Dara looked at the tree behind him.
“That was quick,” Miko said. “You’ve found one already.”
Their friend Wren was returning that afternoon. She often stopped in the tree on her journeys, and the four friends wanted her to see a welcome as soon as she arrived.
Elo lifted the cloth with his trunk. Miko climbed onto a low branch and guided one end towards him.
“A little higher,” Miko said.
Elo raised it.
“Now to the left.”
Elo moved left.
“My left.”
Elo moved the other way. The cloth opened between two branches, its bright letters facing the friends below.
Dara stepped back to look. “The last letter is behind a leaf.”
Miko shifted the cloth. Now the whole word could be seen.
“Perfect,” he said.
Tavi, who had been holding the folded end of the cloth, looked up.
The Other Side
“Which way will Wren come?” Tavi asked.
“Through the air,” Miko said.
“I know. From which side?”
Dara walked around the tree and looked towards the open field.
“She usually comes from there.”
Tavi pointed to the back of the cloth.
“Then she’ll see that side first.”
Miko climbed down and hurried around the trunk. From there, the letters showed faintly through the fabric. They were backwards, and a fold hid the middle.
“Oh,” he said.
Elo lowered the cloth. “We can turn it around.”
They did. From the field, the word looked clear. Miko returned to the other side.
“Now we can’t read it.”
“We already know what it says,” Elo replied.
“I know. But I worked hard on the letters.”
Dara studied the branches. “What if we paint the word on both sides?”
Miko held up the small pot of paint. There was a little left at the bottom.
“We could make smaller letters.”
“Would Wren see them from the field?” Tavi asked.
Miko looked at his brush, then towards the field.
“Perhaps if she came very close.”
“And landed on the cloth,” Elo added.
A String for Turning
A breeze lifted one corner. The cloth twisted in Elo’s trunk, showing its front and then its back.
Tavi watched it turn.
“Could we hang it so we can turn it ourselves?”
Miko found a length of string in his basket. He tied it to one corner while Dara chose two branches with a clear space between them. Elo lifted the cloth again.
The word faced the field.
“When Wren has seen it,” Tavi said, “I can pull the string and turn it towards us.”
Miko gave the string a tug. The cloth swung but did not turn.
“Perhaps it likes that side,” he said.
He loosened one end and tried again. This time the cloth turned halfway and stopped with its edge towards them.
“That’s not much of a welcome,” Dara said.
“It’s a very narrow one,” Elo agreed.
Tavi came closer. “Could the string go around that branch first?”
Miko threaded it around the branch as Tavi suggested. When he pulled, the corner lifted and the cloth turned.
“WELCOME!” Miko read.
“We know,” Elo said.
“I wanted to make sure all the letters were still there.”
Tavi took the end of the string. They turned the cloth back towards the field and waited beneath the tree.
One More Turn
Wren appeared above the field just as Miko began to worry that the paint might not be dry.
“She’s coming!” Dara called.
Wren circled once, then flew towards the tree. She saw the cloth, dipped one wing, and landed on a branch above it.
“Is that for me?” she asked.
“Read it first,” Miko said.
“WELCOME.”
“Then yes.”
Tavi pulled the string so the word would face the friends below. He pulled a little farther than he meant to. The cloth swung around once, showed them the letters, and kept turning.
Wren watched it with interest.
“Do it again!”
Tavi looked at Miko.
“Was it supposed to do that?” he asked.
“Not yet,” Miko said. “We hadn’t decided on the exciting part.”
Elo steadied the cloth with his trunk while Tavi loosened the string. Dara waited until the word faced Wren again.
“Ready?” Tavi asked.
Wren lifted both wings.
Tavi pulled. The cloth turned towards the friends, then made one more slow circle.
Miko read the word aloud as it passed.
“WELCOME!”
“You don’t have to read it every time,” Dara said.
“I know. I just like how it looks.”
Wren settled on her branch, and Elo lowered the cloth so everyone could see it together. One of the painted letters had left a small mark on the leaf behind it.
Miko peered up.
“Now the tree has a welcome too.”
“Can it turn around?” Wren asked.
They all looked at the tree.
“Not today,” Tavi said.
Livora Gracely ♥
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