Chapter 6 - Aprons
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:22-24 to "put off the old self" and "put on the new self." I wondered what that meant, and what it might mean for our friends in Old Raven's Forest getting ready for the giant winter storm to hit.
One day, as the legend goes, Patty Porcupine was worried. She was making acorn bread for everyone but had just used her last acorn. More and more animals were coming to the Loghouse for shelter, but their food stores were running low. Dinner was due to go out before sundown. How was she going to feed everyone?
It's the Builders' fault, Patty thought. She kept seeing the Builders grab food from the pantry while Adventurers went out to find food, the proper thing to do. It was a lot easier to be unified when there were enough acorns to go around.
Patty went back to the pantry one more time and saw Mary Mole in there. Mary was the daughter of Mr. Mole, the foremole of all the Builders. Patty knew that Mary sewed all of the aprons in the Loghouse kitchen, and had even added extra-thick patches to Patty's apron wherever her quills poked through. But she was a Builder and Patty an Adventurer, so Patty never said thanks.
Mary was rustling behind some boxes in the back corner of the pantry. Patty's eyes narrowed. She said loudly, "What are you doing?"
Mary jumped up and knocked her glasses off. Behind her, under the boxes, was a pile of acorns, gray and fuzzy with mold. Patty gasped and stared at the pile of food. It was all moldy. Mary didn't say anything.
Patty, though, couldn't stop herself from talking. Her quills rose and she felt a hot anger. "How could you keep back all those acorns! You hid them from us Adventurers, didn't you?"
Mary looked at the ground. "My dad said Rule number 9 is a Builder's got to eat. I saved these for the Builders."
Patty kept going. "Builders only ever look after Builders." Patty's anger got even hotter, her quills rose even higher. Patty grabbed her apron, that Mary made, trying to pull it off, but instead her quills shredded it.
This time Mary gasped. They stood there, one in a moldy apron, one in a torn one.
Then, Patty looked around and saw a package tied with string. It said, "For Patty and Mary. From Old Raven." She shuffled over to it, ragged apron dragging on the floor. Opening the package, she found two matching aprons, one of them with extra-thick padding made specially for quills. Old Raven wanted them to be working together this whole time.
Mary was crying quietly and Patty shuffled over to her. "Could you help me take this off?" she asked. Mary sniffled and nodded, pulling the rags off Patty's quills. “Thank you for the patches,” Patty said quietly. “I’m sorry I tore them.” Patty then helped Mary take off the moldy apron, and more acorns tumbled out, brown, delicious-looking, and enough for the bread.
"Sun's almost down," she said, holding out Mary's new apron. "Could you help me with dinner?"
Mary nodded again. They helped each other put on new, matching aprons, Mary marveling at the stitching. She said, "I'm making my own rule: Everybody's got to eat. So let's feed them!"
Well, that's what the legend says, but I know one thing is true: to be something new, you have to take off the old.
