Well, it was only morning now; the sun had just peeked over the mountains to the east, lighting up the clouds with a golden glow, so little Aislin rolled over and propped her head up, resting her chin on her hands. Mother should be waking up soon, but if she was lucky, uncle J would be awake first and she could get him to take her out on the lake in his little skiff before mother could find some task to keep her busy and out from underfoot all day. But it would also keep her away from uncle J, and that wouldn’t be fun at all.

     Besides, uncle J’s skiff was only just big enough for the two of them, and she was getting bigger, uncle J said, and wouldn’t be able to ride with him forever. So she had decided to get in as much time as she could before she got too big to go.

     “Ready the headsl’s!” her father’s voice rang out faintly from across the lake. The combined force of the rest of his crew followed “Ready headsl’s, aye!” She listened to the rest of the command in her father’s voice, mouthing the words as she’d learned them from all of his repetition. “Then haul away on the headsl’s!”

     Aise sighed and turned her attention back to the sky, watching the deep blue of twilight fade into morning. The ship would be turning away from it’s dock now, out over the open water. Uncle J should definitely be up and about by now.

     She loved sailing in that little boat of his. The fish wouldn’t hear it coming, so she could just look over the side and see all the wondrous creatures in the lake. Tiny silvery fish shimmering in the sunlight as they flickered away, afraid of the little boat’s shadow. Uncle J said that those little fish would fly out of the water if there was a big hunter under the water. One night when Aise was gazing out her sheltered window at home, she saw a sudden flash of light out over the lake. When she told uncle J about it the next day he praised her observation and told her about the time the whole lake was alight with those little silvers, flying over the water in the moonlight. The larger creatures used to scare Aislin too, but uncle J assured her that they wouldn’t attack his skiff.

     So, with that hope flittering about her young mind, Aise could do nothing less than jump up and dart off in search of her beloved uncle J. The small cabin in the deep woods far away from mother and father’s house must’ve been her favorite place in all the world, aside from out on the open water of the lake in the little boat, if only because she loved the things uncle J had on his many shelves, and the stories he told. He didn’t really live there, she didn’t know where he did live, but if he wasn’t at his cabin she wouldn’t find him anywhere.

     Not that any of those things crossed her mind, though. All she could think of was how much fun she’d have today. And uncle J was always there when she needed him, so why worry about it?

     Aise scrambled up one hill, then down the other side. Then around this tree with the green and orange moss hanging from the lower branches and the large round mushrooms at the base. She ran at top speed through the berry-clearing, dodging this way and that around the thorny bushes, her shoes soaked by early morning dew, then skidded to a stop at one berry bush that was heavy with juicy, ripe, purple fruit. Aise knew how much uncle J loved these berries, though her mother told her that they were poisonous so she never ate any herself, so she picked several handfuls and dropped them into her skirt, holding up the bottom hem in one hand and using it like a basket.

     That done (she couldn’t reach any more berries) Aislin darted through the woods on the other side of the clearing and found the path there. She’d taken this route so many times her little feet had worn a rut in the grass showing her the way to go if she ever forgot. Which she wouldn’t. She could run this path with her eyes closed. Just one more turn around the big rock that looked like a sleeping dragon and she’d be in sight of his cabin.

     “Uncle J!” Aislin called out as she rounded the corner, hopping the fallen log as she always did, accidentally spilling a berry or two. And there he was, fur and feathers splendid in the early morning sun.