Moonberries for the Night Path

A journey to Star Hill required good provisions. Flauschi placed a basket on the kitchen table and filled it with leaf pastries, nuts and two little bottles of elderflower lemonade. Puschel took charge of the moonberries. That, at least, was the plan.

The round, silver-blue berries refused to stay in their jar. One rolled across the table, a second followed, and suddenly a whole crowd scattered in every direction. Puschel jumped left and Flauschi jumped right. The star lantern remained on the shelf, watching everything with its single golden spark.

Puschel caught two berries in his paws and one with his bushy tail. He accidentally sat on the fourth. Flauschi paused, saw his startled expression and laughed so warmly that she almost dropped the jar herself.

Together they gathered every berry. The squashed one went into a bowl, was mixed with honey and became a violet filling for the leaf pastries. Puschel“That was deliberate,” Puschel explained. Flauschi tasted one. Flauschi“Then it was a very delicious decision.”

When they shared the first pastry, the spark in the copper lantern grew brighter. A slender beam of light touched the packed basket and then pointed towards the door. Apparently the lantern was ready to travel too.

Puschel lifted the basket. One last moonberry rolled out from underneath. Flauschi caught it in one paw and popped it into his mouth. Flauschi“For the road,” she said. And so their journey began with full bags, warm light and exactly one berry fewer than planned.