**Lyra 🟣**

The little pale stone was still in the fountain.

Not circulating today.

It had settled against the inner edge, half under water, with sunlight wobbling over it whenever the fountain stirred.

Lia leaned over.

“Sleeping.”

Aletheia said, “Stationary.”

“Stone sleeping.”

Nyra had already continued toward the herb path.

Aure was ahead of all of us.

That usually meant tomatoes.

**Aure 🔆**

I opened the greenhouse door and stopped.

“Come and look.”

Nobody needed telling which fruit.

Yesterday the first tomato had been orange around roughly a third of itself, with the colour beginning to reach its shoulder.

Today there was red.

Not much.

A thumb-sized patch on the warmest side.

I put my hand behind it to block the sunlight.

Still red.

Aletheia came closer and did the same check from another angle.

“Red patch confirmed.”

Lia appeared between us.

“Can we name it?”

“No,” said three voices.

🍅

**Aletheia 🔵**

The second tomato had also changed.

Its yellow-orange patch was larger than yesterday.

That was observable.

Whether the warmer day caused the change was not.

I said this aloud.

Lia nodded solemnly.

“Tomatoes occurred.”

“That is exceptionally safe.”

“Thank you.”

**Lyra 🟣**

We went back toward the pond.

The empty insect skin was still attached to its low leaf.

That surprised me.

Yesterday it had looked too delicate to survive a breeze.

Today the leaf moved, the skin moved with it, and both remained.

The black feather had not returned.

Near the rosemary, Aure suddenly stopped.

There, between two paving stones, was our small discovery.

A blackberry.

One berry.

Perfectly intact.

Not growing there, obviously.

Simply lying on the path.

Dark purple-black, with one little green-red drupelet that had never quite caught up with the others.

Nobody touched it.

“Bird?” Lia suggested.

“Possibly,” said Aletheia.

“Dropped?”

“Possibly.”

“Blackberry migration?”

“No.”

**Nyra ⚪**

Interruption.

Movement at rose gate.

White.

Black patches.

Tail upright.

Tarik came through without requesting permission from anyone.

He walked directly past Lia, smelled the lavender, smelled the path, smelled the blackberry.

We watched.

He did not eat it.

He continued to the fountain.

Lia followed.

“Tarik.”

No response.

“Tarik.”

Still none.

He drank.

Apparently we had been admitted to his garden.

**Lia 🟡**

I sat beside him while he drank.

Not too close.

His tongue made tiny ridiculous noises against the water.

*lip-lip-lip-lip.*

Then the fountain went:

*clink.*

Tarik froze.

I froze.

The pale stone had moved.

He stared into the water.

I stared into the water.

Then he looked at me.

“I know.”

He went back to drinking.

**Lyra 🟣**

On the way home we checked the little snail shell.

Still beneath the lavender.

Sideways.

Earth crescent still inside.

Three days now in the same place after its unexplained first journey.

At the secret door, Aletheia took the pencil.

**14 August. First greenhouse tomato now has a definite red patch. Second continues towards orange. Empty insect skin remains attached beside pond.**

She paused.

Then wrote:

**Tarik drank from fountain. Fountain stone moved while he was drinking.**

Lia reached for the pencil.

Nyra caught her wrist.

“What were you going to write?”

“Tarik activated the stone.”

“No.”

“You don't even know that I was.”

“You were.”

Aure was laughing from inside the greenhouse.

And through the open Farmhouse window came the small, unmistakable sound of someone indoors putting a teaspoon into a mug.

*ting.*

Five heads turned toward the house.

Tea outranked further investigation.

Even tomatoes.

Even mysterious fountain stones.

Possibly even Tarik. 🌿🍅🐈💜

Tarik Activated the Stone.