A Path Puschel Knows

After their rest following the game, Puschel looked at the familiar path along the clearing’s edge. He packed their things for a short walk. He folded the blanket himself and put it in the basket with the ball. Flauschi held the boat in both paws. They left its folded note unchanged inside the hull.

Puschel“We can walk to the next bench and come back here. I know the broad path. Afterwards we will have our picnic in this clearing.”

Flauschi“Good. Today I would like not to be the guide.”

Puschel carried the basket and walked beside her. He remembered the last junction: the familiar left path led to the bench, and the right one to the woodland lodge. They did not need to go towards the water today. They stayed on the dry path and left shortcuts between the trees alone.

Flauschi looked up. A little patch of blue sky lay between golden leaves. Usually she might already have been thinking about the next turn. Today she could simply look at the sky.

Puschel“My first travel task is not to ask your tour guidance about every root.”

Flauschi“And today mine is not a task at all.”

Puschel grinned. At the broad junction he paused, checked the familiar route and gestured towards the bench with his free paw. He did not walk faster just because he was looking after the route. Flauschi stayed beside him.

A fallen branch lay at the edge. Puschel chose the clear part of the path. If the way had been blocked, or if he had been uncertain, he would have stopped and asked for safe guidance. Taking responsibility did not mean hiding uncertainty.

They rested briefly at the bench. No message from the boat’s owner had reached them yet. Puschel would ask about a reply himself on their next visit to the lodge. Flauschi did not need to design a search route or guess an unknown name.

Puschel“We know our way home. But first we will go back to the picnic spot.”

Flauschi nodded. The woodland clearing had not been a new destination. What was new was how much she had noticed along the way while somebody else remembered the next turn.