Racum Raccoon's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

Racum sat on the workbench the next morning, his notepad open beside him. The spring air drifted through the open shed door. He checked the path three times before the sun climbed halfway up the trees. No one came. By noon, the tightness crept back into his chest. He walked through Dark Forest toward the edge of Easter Corner, thinking maybe the student got lost or scared. Past the spring flowers, he spotted a small building he'd never paid much attention to before. Carved animals decorated the walls in bright colors. A chalkboard stood outside on an easel, covered in equations and crossed-out work. At the bottom, someone had written the answer in careful numbers. Racum stepped closer. The chalk dust on the ground showed hours of erasing and rewriting. A small clay pebble sat on the easel's ledge, probably used as an eraser when the regular one wore down. Whoever worked here had done it alone, all morning, until they got it right. He picked up the pebble and turned it over in his paw. The student hadn't needed him after all. They'd just needed to know someone cared enough to show up. Racum set the pebble back down and walked home, the white feather basket still waiting in his shed, and for the first time since the ceremony, it didn't feel like the wrong kind of gift.