The paper was light. The aim was steady.
Before the Arrow
Yuna had drawn her bow when Hana called her name.
“Wait!”
The paper target stood at the far end of the courtyard, a red circle painted at its centre. The guests had gathered for the closing ceremony, and Yuna’s arrow was meant to mark its final moment.
She lowered the bow. Hana was hurrying towards the target with an open book in her hands.
“What’s wrong?” Yuna asked.
“There’s writing on the back.”
Hana turned the target carefully. Lines of names ran down the other side, beneath a heading written in faded ink. She held the book beside it. Several pages were filled with names, but the next page was blank.
“I was collecting the names of everyone who made last year’s decorations,” she said. “I thought I’d copied them all.”
Yuna came closer. “Is this the only list?”
“It’s the only one I’ve found.”
The Other Side
The organiser, Mei, joined them. She read the heading and ran her finger down the edge of the paper, without touching the ink.
“We used old sheets for the targets,” she said. “I didn’t know this one had a list on it.”
Hana looked towards the guests. Some were still speaking to one another; others had turned to watch.
“I can copy it quickly,” she said.
“How long will you need?” Yuna asked.
Hana counted the lines. “A few minutes, if I can read them all.”
“Then take a few minutes.”
Hana found a pencil, and Mei carried the list to a table beneath the awning. Yuna laid her bow beside it. The red string rested in a loose curve against the paper handle.
Hana wrote the first name, then the next. Halfway down, she paused over a small crease.
“Is that an A or an H?” she asked.
Mei leaned beside her. “An H, I think. There’s another H in the heading we can compare.”
Yuna looked too. Both had the same loop.
“H,” Hana agreed, and continued.
A Different Target
While Hana wrote, Yuna noticed a stack of plain sheets beside the table. One was almost the same size as the target.
“Could we use that?” she asked.
Mei held the sheet up. “We can paint a circle on it.”
A guest offered a brush from the decoration box. Mei made a broad red circle and held the paper by its corners while the paint dried.
“It isn’t as neat as the first one,” she said.
“It’s round enough for me,” Yuna replied.
Hana finished the last name and checked it against the original list. Mei secured the replacement target in position, then returned to the guests.
“Thank you for waiting,” she told them. “We found something worth keeping.”
Yuna picked up her bow. When Mei had joined the others and the courtyard was ready, Yuna took her place. She drew the string, aimed at the new red circle, and released.
The arrow reached the target. The guests cheered.
A Name Among Many
Hana closed the book and brought it to Yuna. “There’s someone on the list you may know.”
She pointed to a name near the bottom.
“Mine,” Yuna said. “Did I make that many decorations?”
“Your name is only there once.”
“It takes up a lot of space.”
“The person who wrote it had very wide letters.”
Yuna looked at the original list. A small fold crossed one corner, away from the names. She smoothed it gently while Hana held the other edge.
“We can put this with the book,” Hana said.
Together they carried both inside. Behind them, guests were gathering around the replacement target, discussing whose painted circle looked rounder from a distance.
Livora Gracely ♥
Leave a Reply