“What do you think about doing Rush’s ‘La Villa Strangiato’ for our badge test?” Mal mused.
“Is it a hard song?” Molly asked.
Mal waggled her hand in the air. “Meh.”
Molly squinted. “Okay, but if it’s more than five minutes we’re picking another song.”
BunBun was lying on her back, her suitcase tucked under her head, watching the clouds go by. “FEEL the RHYthm,” she chanted. “FEEL the RHYthm.”
Jo sat in the grass, thinking.
Only a few days earlier, she had mailed her response to THE CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT AND RESEARCH.
Esteemed Center Members,
Thank you for your offer to take part in S.T.A.A.R. this summer. I am not currently available to take this position.
But I thank you for the opportunity, and I hope to work with you in the future.
Jo
All the voices in her head were her own now.
It was a welcome relief. Because the voices in Jo’s always-thinking, always-analyzing brain were quite enough.
“Greetings, my good friend, my pal, my confidant!” April bounded over and gently sucker-punched Jo in the shoulder. “And what skills are you acquiring at this fine institution on this fine morning?”
“Actually, I’m thinking about something I want to talk to you about,” Jo said.
“Oh?” April asked.
Jo sighed, patting the grass next to her. “Sit.”
April sat.
“Okay,” Jo said. “So. Right when Castor got here, my dads forwarded me this letter, about a summer study program . . . like a science thing . . . which would have meant leaving . . .”
“GAH! HORRORS!” April slapped her hands onto her face and threw her body backward. SHOCK AND DISMAY!
“Yeah,” Jo said. “So I was bummed about it. Because I thought it meant that I would HAVE to leave. But then I realized, you know, I came here because I wanted to be here. And that hasn’t changed. So I decided just because I COULD go somewhere like that, just because I got in, doesn’t mean I have to go. So I chose to stay.”
“You still wanna have fun,” April grinned. “Because girls just wanna.”
“Yeah,” Jo nodded. “I do, as Cyndi Lauper suggests, like people of all gender expressions, wanna have fun, and I knew that when I came here this summer, and I know that now. I just had to think about it for a bit.”
April lunged forward and locked Jo in a giant April hug, squeezing her as hard as she could squeeze anything.
If she squeezed any harder, Jo would turn into a diamond.
“Don’t EVER GO!” she growled. “Never to infinity is when you’re allowed to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere right now,” Jo said, squeezing back, although April was making her right arm a little numb. “Right now, our main job is to be the best Lumberjanes we can be, not to worry about this stuff.”
“Quite,” April said, finally releasing Jo.
Jo lay back on the grass, enjoying the familiar itchy tickle on her skin. April lay down next to her, still buzzing with an April-esque energy.
“So, I feel like I always ask you what you are thinking about,” April said. “And you always say ‘stuff’ or ‘things,’ but I know you’re thinking about more. And I think it would be educational and inspirational, you know, to hear more of the inner thoughts of Jo.”
“Fair,” Jo said, grabbing a stalk of grass and lightly nibbling on the end with her teeth.
“So,” April said, “lay it on me, what’s going on in your head? You know, today?”
“All of it?”
April paused. Reconsidered. “Most of it. Give me eighty-eight percent.”
“Okay.” Jo took a deep breath. “Today I’m thinking about space. You know, like, how we can get Lumberjane badges for stuff to do with outer space . . .”
“Yeah,” April said, “although admittedly even I’m taking some SPACE from that for the moment.”
“Also,” Jo continued, “there’s INNER SPACE, which made me think maybe we should all get our Meditate on It badges.”
“Not a terrible idea,” April said, reaching up her finger to catch a wandering butterfly.
“Also I was thinking about the All over the Map badge, and how you can study the boundaries between different territories and spaces.”
“Mmmhmmm.” April watched the butterfly settle for a short nap on the tip of her finger and resolved to stay as still as she could for as long as the butterfly would stay there.
“The thing about space is,” Jo said, “sometimes it’s hard to know where one space ends and the other begins. I mean, yes, you can draw a line and say, ‘This is one world, and this is the other,’ but that line is just a line someone drew. And who knows why they drew it in the first place. The reality of space is that its limits are often fuzzy. And not just when you’re looking through a telescope. Like where does the earth end and the sky begin, you know? Where does Castor’s home start and ours stop? The line between worlds is subjective and so unstable, but also movable. I mean, I think a lot of people try to keep worlds separate, but there is not a line between home and here, just space. You know? Particles? And I think that’s pretty cool.”
“What the quark?! That’s what you were thinking about?” April asked. “Like, just sitting there, quietly, you’re thinking all that?!”
“That’s a few of the many things I’m thinking about,” Jo said. “Like maybe eighty-two percent.”
“That is entirely impressive,” April said. “You are an endlessly, entirely impressive person, Jo.”
The butterfly, now rested, beat its wings and soared up and off in the current of the light breeze.
April watched the butterfly float up into the sky. “Isn’t there also a theory about how little things can, like, make big things happen? About a butterfly?”
“The Butterfly Effect,” Jo said.
“In other news,” April popped up and looked around, “where’s Ripley?”
Another good question.
Ripley was off in a relatively untouched part of the woods, looking at a very large, very golden egg with wide eyes.
“When you hatch,” she cooed, pressing her hand against the shell, “I’m going to call you Doctor Glitterface.”
In a more distant part of the woods, Rosie stood inside what could only be described as a ginormous paw print. “Oh my,” she said, adjusting her glasses. “This could very well be a thing.”
SOME LUMBERJANES BADGES!
GROW UP!
How do YOU make your garden grow? With this badge, Lumberjanes learn the basics of seeds and soil, planting and pruning, all the things you need to know to GO ORGANIC GO GO GO!
ASTRONO-ME-ME-ME
Do you see stars? You will with this badge, which covers everything from pulsars to planets, exploring the great beyond in the night sky.
WOOL YOU BE MINE
Are ewe looking to knit your own? Sheepish about the state of your purl and cable? Join the fun and learn how to knit and crochet your way into fabulousness!
GUITAR IT ON
Joan Jett the revolution! Whether you’re fender or acoustic, the guitar is the perfect instrument for the budding young artist. Pick up a guitar and master the chords you need to rock your world.
SEE YOU A WELL-ROUNDED
This badge is for scouts who want to combine skills and expand their horizons in more ways than one. Pull a classic combo or combine unexpected badge abilities and show your unique versatility.
OFF THE HOOK
Take up the craft that rug-hooking fans everywhere have been calling “very enjoyable” for centuries. This badge includes instruction in traditional rug hooking, proddy rug hooking, wool appliqué, and feminist fibrous filigree. Join the fun! Get hooked!
HEY BATTA BATTA!
PLAY BALL: fast balls, curve balls, breaking balls, screwballs, balls, and strikes, it’s all covered in this badge that celebrates the great American pastime. What a catch!
&n
bsp; 575
This badge is for scouts/Want to learn some poetry/Haiku is the best.
BETTER SAFETY THAN SORRY
Prevent forest fires, electrical fires, trips, falls, and a variety of other mishaps and preventable things with this badge for the safety conscious and those who need to be more safety conscious. Safety is a scout’s first priority; with this badge you come prepared.
BE SO DRAMATIC
All the world IS a stage! Channel your inner thespian with this badge for scouts looking to EXPRESS THEMSELVES.
TIME AFTER TIME
Tick tock, Lumberjanes! Time flies when you’re having fun! Or does it? Also, sundials.
HOSTING FOR THE BEST
The skills of hospitality, for scouts, are more than just etiquette. How do you make your home, or town, or school a place that is welcome to newcomers whenever they arrive and wherever they are from?
SKIP IT
Ice cream, double Dutch, do you like skipping very much? Join the next big thing in things you can do with ropes and jumping. Learn tricks like the Side Swing Cross, the Rock and Roll, the Hot Dog, and the Halperia Side Toe Tap!
RIDDLE ME THIS
Like a play on words? Some mental math? Step into the maze with this badge for scouts who want to know the answer to questions designed to stump you.
JUST BEAD IT
Glass, bone, clay, shell, wood, plastic, and crystal! Strung together by scouts who have received this badge, these little holey bits can become fabulous wearable works of art!
BANG THE DRUM
Get percussive with this badge for scouts who love rhythm.
MARIKO TAMAKI
is a writer known for her graphic novel This One Summer, a Caldecott Honor and Printz Honor winner, cocreated with her cousin Jillian Tamaki, among other notable novels. See her work at marikotamaki.blogspot.com.
BROOKLYN ALLEN
is a cocreator and the original illustrator of the Lumberjanes graphic novel series, and a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Brooklyn’s website is brooklynaallen.tumblr.com.
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Lumberjanes: The Moon Is Up Page 10