The visitor arrived without an appointment.
An Evening in Order
Otis had nearly finished arranging his feathers when a moth landed on his branch.
“Good evening,” she said.
“One moment,” Otis replied. “This one has been difficult.”
He tucked a small blue feather beneath a white one and examined the result in the lantern’s glass. The lantern hung below his branch, casting a golden circle over the leaves.
“There,” he said. “Now, how may I help you?”
“I’m Mina. I came about your light.”
Otis straightened. Few visitors came up to discuss his lantern.
“I light it at the same time every evening,” he said. “The hook was my own idea. And the glass only needs polishing once a week, provided nobody touches it with sticky feet.”
Mina looked down at her feet. “I’ll be careful.”
The Visitor
Otis moved along the branch to give her room. Behind them, the moon rose between two leaves, pale beside the lantern’s glow.
“Did you need directions?” he asked. “Or perhaps a place to rest?”
“Actually, I was hoping—”
“The branch is quite comfortable. The left side is best when there’s a breeze.”
“It is a lovely branch,” Mina said. “But could you turn the lantern off?”
Otis blinked.
“Off?”
“Just for a little while.”
He looked down at the warm light on his feathers. He had only just lit it. Below, a cricket began to sing.
“May I ask why?”
“My friends and I are putting on a performance behind those leaves. The fireflies are giving us signals, but we can’t see them clearly with the lantern shining.”
Otis peered towards the leaves. He could see nothing except a faint movement at their edges.
“A performance?”
“We’ve been practising all week. I’m supposed to enter when Fern flashes twice.” Mina glanced towards the tree. “So far, I’ve missed my entrance three times.”
One Minute of Darkness
Otis considered the lantern, then Mina’s waiting friends.
“I could put it out for one minute,” he said. “Would that help?”
“We could try.”
He reached down and closed the little shutter. The golden circle disappeared.
For a moment, Otis saw only the moon and the dark shapes of leaves. Then a tiny light blinked near the trunk. Another answered from farther away.
“Twice,” Mina whispered.
She lifted from the branch. Three moths emerged behind her, their wings catching the moonlight as they turned around a leaf. A firefly flashed again, and they changed direction together.
Otis leaned forward. One moth went the wrong way, paused, and hurried after the others. Mina circled back, and for a moment they all gathered around her before continuing.
The cricket accompanied them, although it appeared to be following a different tune.
When the moths returned to the branch, Otis opened the lantern’s shutter a fraction. Its light rested on the wood without reaching the leaves beyond.
“Can Fern still see the stage?” he asked.
Fern flashed twice.
“I think that means yes,” Mina said.
The Lighting Manager
The moths bowed. Otis tapped the branch with one talon, then another, until Mina told him that was applause enough.
“Will there be another performance?” he asked.
“Tomorrow, if the weather holds.”
Otis looked at his lantern. He could open the shutter halfway, or perhaps turn the glass towards the trunk. There were several possibilities, and he had a whole day to consider them.
Mina lifted her wings. “Would you like to be our lighting manager?”
Otis drew himself up. “Does the position come with a schedule?”
“Of course. But there may be unexpected visitors.”
He glanced at the branch beside him, where a little patch of moonlight had appeared.
“I can leave some room.”
Livora Gracely ♥
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