Aurelia and Bramble sit inside a cozy backyard tent while Nick stands nearby beneath the evening sky.

A TIDEMARK BACKYARD STORY

The Almost-Perfect Nest

Nick checks a small backyard tent while Aurelia and Bramble arrange two blankets and two pillows.

On a warm, dry evening, Nick pitched the little tent in the fenced backyard, close to the house, and set a battery lantern by the entrance. Aurelia spread two blankets and placed two pillows inside. Bramble had never slept beneath the stars. “Your first campout deserves a perfect nest.”

Bramble tests the nest while Aurelia adds pillows to cover one troublesome bump.

Bramble lay down. One eye opened. “There is a bump.” Aurelia tucked an extra pillow beneath him. The bump seemed to move. So she added another pillow—and then another—until Bramble rose higher and higher.

Bramble rolls safely out of an absurd pile of pillows while Aurelia watches in surprise and Nick stands nearby.

After nine borrowed pillows, the tent held eleven pillows and very little Bramble. A round, berry-red bundle rose from the middle. It tipped. It rolled. Bramble tumbled gently out of the tent like a dumpling wearing slippers. “The bump is gone,” he reported.

Aurelia clips one of the two blankets across the low tent entrance while Bramble watches.

Nick carried the nine borrowed pillows back to the house. Then moonlight landed across Aurelia’s nose. “Too bright,” she whispered. She clipped one of their two blankets across the tent opening. The nest became darker. The entrance also became much lower.

The fallen blanket curtain wraps harmlessly around Nick like a huge scarf while Bramble comments and Aurelia laughs.

The curtain slipped from its clips just as Nick checked inside. It settled around his shoulders and trailed to the grass. Bramble studied him. “That scarf makes you look extremely prepared for winter.” Nick looked at the warm summer sky.

Nick, Aurelia, and Bramble carry the small tent and its simple bedding three steps from the cricket.

They folded the curtain inside. A cricket chirped beside the tent. Bramble’s quills lifted. “Very musical. Very near.” Aurelia decided the nest needed a quieter address. With Nick’s help, they carried the tent, two blankets, two pillows, and battery lantern three careful steps away.

An acorn drops through the tent entrance into Aurelia’s water cup while Bramble peers inside.

They set the tent beneath the edge of a low oak branch. The cricket sounded pleasantly far away. Aurelia lifted her water cup. Plink! One acorn dropped through the open entrance and landed in her cup. Bramble peered into the cup. “At least the tree brought its own snack.”

Aurelia and a yawning Bramble look from the oak branch toward the tent’s original spot near the house.

Aurelia looked back at the smooth patch near the house where the tent had stood before: close enough for Nick to check on them, with no oak branch overhead. Then she looked at the blanket clips and the acorn in her cup. Bramble yawned so widely his slippers nearly met.

Nick and Aurelia return the tent to its original safe spot near the house while Bramble waits sleepily.

Aurelia wanted to try one more improvement. Instead, she asked Nick to help move the tent back to its first spot. She poured out the acorn, tucked the folded blanket inside, and crawled in beside Bramble—bump and moonlight included.

Aurelia smiles beside sleeping Bramble in the simple tent while Nick supervises from the nearby porch.

From the grass, the cricket chirped. Moonlight touched the tent. From the nearby porch, Nick saw that all was well. Bramble’s tiny snore began: squeak, squeak, squeak. Aurelia opened one eye. “None of it was perfect,” she whispered. She tucked the blanket beneath her chin. “It is close enough.”