Three Knocks for Fern: story transcript
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Three Knocks for Fern
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On Easter eve, Fern set painted wooden eggs along her forest cottage table. One egg wore dots; another had wobbly yellow stripes. Fern, a long-eared bunny with a cotton tail and a blue scarf, turned the last egg just so. Tap. Tap. Tap.
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Fern opened the door. The path was empty. Pine branches swayed above it. "Was that you?" she asked the wind. The branches swayed again, but there were no more knocks. Fern shut the door and nudged the dotted egg back into line.
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Tap. Tap. Tap. Fern opened the door faster this time. An acorn rolled off the step and bounced into the moss. "Aha," she said. Then she noticed something odd: the acorn had fallen only once. Who had made the other two taps?
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Fern waited beside the open door. A pine needle floated down. An acorn plopped into the moss. No knocking. She closed the door very gently and stood still. Outside, the path held its breath. Inside, the eggs sat quietly in a row.
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Tap. Tap. Tap. This time Fern did not rush outside. She listened. The sound came from very low down. She looked beneath the table. Nothing but chair legs. She checked behind the door. Nothing but her own cotton tail, which gave a little twitch.
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Fern knelt beside the doorstep. There, at the very bottom of the door, was Otto. His small, rounded body rested beneath a spiral shell striped warm brown and tan. His short eye stalks tipped toward her. Beside him lay a tiny flower.
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"Otto!" said Fern. "Were you knocking?" "Yes," said Otto. "I brought this for your Easter table. The step was rather tall." Fern looked at the step, then at Otto. "And I kept opening the door right over your head!" "Excellent view of the hinges," said Otto.
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Fern held out a paw. Otto climbed aboard with his flower, and she carried him inside. "Where shall it go?" she asked. Otto studied the eggs. "Between the dots and the wobbly stripes." Fern found a little cup, and together they set the flower there.
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At Easter supper, Fern had a bowl of warm noodles, and Otto had a tender leaf beside his flower. The wooden eggs gleamed between them. Fern tapped her spoon three times on the table. Otto lifted his eye stalks. "I know that knock," he said.
