The children found them before Grandpa did.
Three Directions at Once
Grandpa Chen had just explained that bamboo shoots could hide beneath fallen leaves when three children called his name.
“Grandpa, here!”
“And here!”
“I found one too!”
He looked towards Mei, then Jun, then little Lan, who was crouching beside a bamboo stalk with her finger stretched towards the ground.
“I seem to have three directions at once,” he said.
“You can come to mine first,” Jun offered.
“Mine is closer,” said Lan.
Mei stood very still. “Mine might go away if you take too long.”
Grandpa adjusted the basket on his back. Several shoots were already tucked inside, their pointed tops peeping above the rim. He had brought the children to look for a few more to take home, and they had agreed to stay close together in the grove.
“Let’s begin with the one that might leave,” he said.
Something Beneath the Leaves
Mei led him to a narrow brown tip beside a cluster of fallen leaves. It curled slightly at the top.
“I saw it before anyone else,” she said.
Grandpa knelt to look. “What do you notice about it?”
“It’s pointed. And it’s coming up from the ground.”
“Let’s look a little closer.”
Mei gently moved a leaf aside. The brown tip shifted with it. She lifted the edge of the leaf, and the whole curled shape came up in her hand.
“It was part of the leaf,” she said.
“So it was. That explains why it might have gone away.”
A breeze passed between the bamboo stalks. Mei set the leaf down and watched it slide across the ground.
“It was definitely planning to leave,” she said.
A Closer Look
“Mine is still here!” Lan called.
Grandpa and Mei went to her. Lan had spotted a pale green point beneath a layer of leaves. Grandpa moved the leaves enough for them to see its shape.
“This one is a shoot,” he said. “Good eyes, Lan.”
Jun brought him to another place a few steps away. His shoot stood a little higher above the ground. Grandpa examined it, then carefully collected the two shoots while the children waited nearby.
“Can I put one in the basket?” Jun asked.
Grandpa lowered the basket from his shoulders. Jun placed his find inside, and Lan added hers beside it.
Mei looked back towards the place where her curled leaf had been. Something pale showed beside another fallen leaf, almost hidden in the shade.
“Grandpa, may we look at this one?”
They went together. This time, when Mei moved the leaf, the little point remained where it was.
Grandpa smiled. “That’s another shoot.”
Mei held the leaves aside while he collected it. Then she carried it to the basket herself.
The Basket Keeps Count
They found one more shoot before Grandpa said they had enough for home. The children gathered around while he settled the shoots so they would fit comfortably in the basket.
“Who found the first one?” he asked.
“I did,” said Lan.
“I called you first,” Jun said.
“My leaf was first,” Mei added. “It just wasn’t a shoot.”
Grandpa looked into the basket. “Then it had better remember for me.”
“Can baskets remember?” Lan asked.
“This one has three very helpful assistants.”
He lifted it onto his back, and they started along the path together. Light slipped between the bamboo leaves, making bright patches on the ground.
A little farther on, Mei pointed to another curled leaf. It trembled, then sailed past Grandpa’s shoe.
“That one definitely isn’t staying,” she said.
Jun reached for it and missed. Lan laughed, and Grandpa watched it travel down the path ahead of them.
Livora Gracely ♥
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