Whyatt Finds the First Because

Down by the bend in the river, where the water goes slow and green, there is a flat warm rock. And every evening, three otter siblings climb onto that rock to hear a story.

The oldest is Whyatt. He wears a blue knitted hat, and he has a big, steady voice. Whyatt loves stories. But most of all, Whyatt loves the moment when a story makes sense.

One evening, Larkin the lark perched on her branch above the rock and read them a story.

“Mole dug and dug all morning. At lunchtime, Mole lay down in the grass and fell fast asleep.”

Whyatt’s little sister Whyla frowned. “Why did Mole fall asleep in the middle of the day? That’s weird.”

Whyatt sat up tall. This was his favourite part. “Let’s find the because,” he said.

“The what?” asked Whyla.

“The because,” said Whyatt. “When something happens in a story, there’s usually a reason, and the story often tells you, if you look. Things happen because of something.”

He thought hard. He went back over the words in his head. Mole dug and dug all morning.

“Got it!” said Whyatt, and his whiskers twitched with that happy, clicking feeling, like a puzzle piece snapping into place. “Mole fell asleep because he dug all morning. Digging is hard work! He was tired out.”

Whyla’s frown went away. “Oh! That does make sense.”

“Every story event has a because,” Whyatt said. “You just have to look back at what happened before.”

Larkin smiled from her branch and read on. “The next morning, Mole’s garden was full of carrots.”

Whyla bounced. “Because he dug all morning! He was planting!”

“Yes!” said Whyatt. “You found the because!”

Then their middle brother, Whynn, who had been quiet, lifted a paw. “Hang on,” he said. “I think there might be another because, too.”

Whyatt grinned. He knew what that meant. Finding the first because is only the beginning. Sometimes there is more than one.

But that is Whynn’s story. Whyatt’s job is to find the first one, to say because, and to make the story start to make sense. And every evening on the warm flat rock, he does.