The Garland That Was Too Short

Puschel stood in the garden and looked all around the low table. That was where their little Halloween party would take place. The two paper ghosts waved on the fence. The whole pumpkin stood beside the acorn bowl on the table. There were twelve days until Halloween.

‘Today we’ll hang the bats all around our party place,’ said Puschel. He made a big circle with both paws.

Flauschi looked at the short garland on the fence. Three paper bats hung from it. The middle one was still resting upside down, and the orange bow sat at the right-hand end.

‘Let’s see how far it reaches first,’ she suggested.

Together, they carefully untied the garland from the fence. Puschel took the left end and Flauschi the right. They stood beside the path, holding the cord loosely between them.

Puschel looked at the table, the fence, and then the bats again.

‘Our party place has grown,’ he decided.

Flauschi smiled. ‘The table is still in the same place.’

‘Then the garland has shrunk.’

They counted: one, two, three. All the bats were there. The cord had not grown shorter either. Only Puschel’s planned circle was much bigger than their little flying line.

‘Perhaps the middle one needs to wake up and fly a bit further,’ he wondered.

Flauschi shook her head, giggling. ‘It can stay upside down. And we mustn’t pull the cord. Its little paper feet might tear off.’

Puschel held his paw very still again. He did not want a bat without feet.

For a while, they looked around the garden. Then Flauschi spotted a short stretch of fence beside the table.

‘All three fit here. We don’t have to decorate all the way around the place.’

Puschel looked at the spot. ‘Just this little corner?’

‘Let’s try it.’

They held the garland in front of it. Now the three bats looked like a little group that had come to the party together. The middle one hung comfortably between the others. The orange bow glowed beside the dark paper.

Puschel’s ears perked up. ‘You can see every single one properly!’

Together, they fastened the ends to two nearby fence slats. Both could reach the spot while standing on the ground. The cord stayed against the fence, and the path to the table stayed clear.

Puschel took a few steps back and looked. Then he walked along the clear path to the table and back again.

‘It fits,’ he said happily. ‘The guests can get past. And the bats belong together.’

Flauschi nodded. ‘We don’t need anything new.’

Puschel waved to the upside-down bat. ‘You’ve got the best view. Our little corner is already finished.’