“So the cat’s out of the bag on the mother tree plans then?” Ethel asked, looking at Mr. Oakbert intently. She had decided it was time to have a little gathering of her workforce, and catch up on everything she had missed.


    “Yes, you said to tell them everything if they ever asked, and they did,” he replied meekly.


    “No, you’re right, it was going to happen eventually. Gus, was she able to continue her growth at the normal pace while I was gone?” Ethel asked, looking at the odd bird.


    “Yep, and I’m so glad to have you back, boss. Several of the seedlings have already been collected and placed at the edge of the realm. Hugo’s been working on their upkeep,” Gus answered.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    “Good, now remember I want them read to at least once a week, if we need to recruit more animals into that, that’s fine. Frank, how are you doing with the root migration?” Ethel asked her son.


    “Alright, moving some of them is hard even for the mighty Frank!” Frank answered in a loud whisper. Ethel was impressed he had learned to control his outbursts so well.


    “Still, good progress. Okay, then I want our next priority to be an expansion of the fruit forests, and from there, we need to work on the planned mushroom areas. I was this place to overflow with food,” Ethel explained to several nods from the animals.