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One book
Iona carried a book into the garden.
The house was full of sweeping sounds.
Under the mulberry tree, the grass made no sound at all.
She sat with her back against the trunk and opened the red cover.
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A moving patch
Sunlight lay across one page.
A leaf moved, and the bright patch moved with it.
Iona shifted the book into the shade.
Her story began beside a painted wood.
A tiny path led between the trees.
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Someone at the edge
Niko arrived with empty hands.
'Is this a library?' he asked.
Iona looked at her one book.
Then she looked at the grass beside her.
'It has a place for sitting,' she said.
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A seat on the grass
He sat down.
The book faced Iona.
Niko bent sideways to see.
His head bumped her shoulder.
They laughed, and Iona moved the book between them.
Now the painted path belonged to two pairs of eyes.
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Two beginnings
Iona began to read the words.
Niko began with the picture.
'That tree is leaning,' he said.
'Perhaps it wants to see round the corner.'
Iona stopped at the end of her sentence.
The picture had something to say.
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A small door
Niko found a dark shape at the painted tree's foot.
It might have been a door.
Iona had not noticed it.
They leaned closer.
There was no handle, but that did not settle the matter.
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Waiting for the page
Iona's fingers reached for the corner.
'Wait,' Niko said.
He followed the little path to the edge of the picture.
Then he lifted his hand.
'Now.'
Iona turned the page, slowly enough for the wood to close.
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The next place
On the next page, the wood opened onto a meadow.
Iona read.
Niko listened.
When she paused, he pointed to a distant blue hill.
'That must be where the path is going.'
They waited to find out together.
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A visitor from above
Something landed on the grass.
A mulberry leaf.
Niko picked it up by the stalk.
'The library has sent us a bookmark.'
Iona showed him the ribbon already sewn into the book.
The leaf could stay outside.
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Closed for a moment
They laid the leaf beside the root.
Iona tucked the ribbon between the pages.
The red book closed with a small soft sound.
Neither child stood up yet.
Their library could be quiet even when nobody was reading.
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Another reader's choice
Niko ran indoors.
He returned carrying his blue book.
'This one has a boat,' he said.
Iona made room on the grass.
Two books would fit beneath the tree.
So would a very large sea, if it stayed on paper.
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Still open
The shade had moved while he was away.
They moved with it.
This time Niko opened the cover.
Iona waited for him to begin.
The library had no shelves, but it had found another story.
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