Baby Acorn's Arc

Chapter 10 of 11

Papa Acorn drove them in circles for another twenty minutes. The roads got narrower and the buildings grew farther apart as they moved away from the center of town. Baby Acorn pressed his face against the window and watched the township hall disappear behind them. Baby Acorn pointed ahead at the clearing beside the road. Papa Acorn slowed the trailer and turned into the open space surrounded by trees. Baby Acorn recognized the oak tree standing at the far edge, its wide trunk rising into a canopy of leaves. The treehouse sat empty in the branches, its windows dark and its deck exposed. Baby Acorn suggested they park here instead of searching town anymore. Papa Acorn looked at Mama Acorn, and she nodded. Papa Acorn steered the trailer across the grass and stopped beneath the oak tree. Baby Acorn climbed out and walked toward the deck stairs, holding his bear close. The broken railing still hung from the posts, its splintered wood jutting at sharp angles. One section had collapsed completely and lay in the dirt below. Baby Acorn stopped at the bottom step and stared at the damage. The railing looked worse than he remembered—more broken, more dangerous, more proof that he had been right to warn his parents. Baby Acorn turned back toward the trailer and saw Papa Acorn watching him from the doorway. Papa Acorn asked if he was okay, and Baby Acorn nodded. He didn't need to go up to the deck anymore. The broken railing would stay broken, but his parents were safe on the ground. Baby Acorn walked back to the trailer and climbed inside, understanding that the danger he had feared for so long no longer mattered. His parents weren't standing near the edge anymore. They were standing beside him.