Canoeist Canoeing

Roo-kai flies back to the others.

Guess what? says Terence. 

What? says Roo-kai.

I'm spotting birds, says Terence. See this paper.

He holds his paper aloft, so that Roo-kai can see it.

MELO, says Roo-kai. I don't know that one.

It's short for melodious warbler, says Belle. 

Ah, says Roo-kai. I have seen one or two birds between here and the river. Would you like to add them to your list?

Okay, says Terence.

That's cheating, says Quiet-tartus. Because you didn't see them.

We're a team, says Terence. 

Does that mean if I see a bird it can go on the list? asks Quiet-tartus.

No, says Terence. You're not in the bird-spotting team.

Ready, says Roo-kai. Where's your pencil?

It's a pen, says Terence. 

He waggles the pen. 

Golden oriole, says Roo-kai. And a lesser spotted woodpecker.

How about you go and check on the carrot, says Terence.

I just got back, says Roo-kai. The carrot was perfectly all right, I told it to enjoy itself. Why aren't you writing?

Your birds are too long, says Terence. 

Just write GO and PECK, says Roo-kai. 

I can't, it's too bumpy, says Terence.

Give me my pen, says Nico. I'll do it.

He stops.

And writes the names on Terence's list.

Isn't this nice? says Belle, as she waits for Nico to stop writing. I wonder if we're anywhere close to our carrot?

She looks across at the river nearby.

She sees a canoe, in which a canoeist is canoeing.

It might be the very one who picked up the carrot and is on his way home.

Planning to drop the carrot into a rubbish bin.

Or rethinking that plan.

He has a small daughter. Why not take it home, cut the top off  and let his daughter watch it grow in a saucer/

Of course, Belle knows nothing of that.