After cleaning up, Erik sank into his beloved old burgundy armchair to ponder his day. The warmth of the afternoon still lingered in the air, and his small, cosy home smelled of blueberry pie, friendly cheese, magical raspberries, and belly laughter.
Lots of belly laughter.
Erik had baked his favourite blueberry pie because the berries in his patch were plentiful and ready to be shared. He had been a little nervous, certain he had overbaked it. The edges were almost burnt, and the blueberry filling had nearly exploded in his little oven.
Luckily, it didn’t, he thought. Otherwise, I might have called off the whole gathering.
Rupert and Gobina had each arrived bearing a special gift. Gobina brought raspberry leaves picked under the full Moon, because apparently that made the tea even more special. Rupert brought his homemade beechnut cheese. He loved sharing his experiments with his friends, and this particular cheese had turned out rather nicely.
They all missed Riko, but he was still away, hiking a rather epic trail that everyone spoke of with great respect. They couldn’t wait to hear everything about it.
But then something else came back to Erik.
Both Gobina and Rupert had asked for more pie.
More pie!
Gobina had even taken a slice home.
And neither of them seemed to notice the burnt edges or the split middle.
Was he being too strict with himself again?
As he stayed with the thought, something softened in him. His little heart overflowed with so much love that he couldn’t hold back his tears any longer.
I really am so lucky to have the best friends in the whole world, he thought.
After a while, he took another sip of Gobina’s delicious raspberry tea and fixed his gaze on the Moon.
She clearly knew what was happening, because he could have sworn she smiled at him.