The Two Arrows on the Crate

Chapter 1Upstairs

Mr. Rosner wrote UPSTAIRS on the crate.

"Reference books for the new shelf," he told Dovi.

"We'll take them up after the visitors leave."

Dovi carried a stack from the sorting table to the open crate. He liked this job at the neighborhood library. There were no loose pages to count and no names to copy.

The books had a place.

Then Mrs. Fried came through the side door. Her grey sheitel was covered with a soft blue scarf.

"These are the books for tomorrow's downstairs lesson," she said. "Please leave them here."

Dovi looked at UPSTAIRS.

She looked at the clock.

"Thank you," she said, and went to meet the arriving visitors.

Chapter 2Two Good Reasons

Mr. Rosner managed the library shelves.

Mrs. Fried taught the morning group.

Dovi wasn't sure whose words were meant to win.

If he put the books upstairs, the lesson would have nothing on its table.

If he left them downstairs, Mr. Rosner might think he had ignored a clear instruction.

He drew a small arrow beside UPSTAIRS.

Then he drew another arrow pointing the other way.

That made the crate look more confused, not less.

A younger boy asked where the next stack belonged.

"Wait a minute," Dovi said.

He needed to know where he was sending it before helping someone else be certain.

Chapter 3A Secret Solution

There were twelve books.

Dovi could put six upstairs and leave six downstairs.

He lined them up to divide them.

Then he noticed that three belonged to one set. Mrs.

Fried might need that set for the lesson. Mr. Rosner might be expecting the whole collection on its new shelf.

Half would be a compromise only if both people could use half.

Neither had said so.

Dovi pushed the divided stacks together again.

The visitors were still in the library. He had time to ask before anything moved.

He didn't need to invent an answer just because he had been given the carrying job.

Chapter 4The Same Question

He found Mr. Rosner at the doorway.

"You asked for these upstairs. Mrs. Fried needs them downstairs tomorrow. I haven't moved them. Could we check together?"

Mr. Rosner frowned at the crate.

"I thought the lesson used the small geography set."

"I don't know which set she means."

Dovi could have announced that she had changed the plan.

He didn't know that either.

Mr. Rosner went to ask her. Dovi stayed beside the crate, keeping it out of the visitors' path.

His job had become waiting for an answer.

That was still a job.

Chapter 5Tomorrow First

Mrs. Fried returned with Mr. Rosner.

She pointed to the three matching volumes.

"These are for the morning lesson. The others can go upstairs now."

Mr. Rosner nodded.

"I was thinking of the small set on the cupboard.

These newer ones haven't been shelved yet."

They agreed to leave the three in a basket downstairs, with a note that they would go upstairs after the lesson.

The other nine could move that afternoon.

Dovi wrote two separate labels.

This time, each arrow pointed toward a real place with an agreed time.

Chapter 6One More Detail

The upstairs shelf was high.

Dovi carried books only to the low sorting table, as Mr. Rosner had shown him. The librarian would put them on the shelf later.

On the last trip, Dovi saw the basket without its note.

The paper had slipped beneath one volume.

He put it into the clear pocket on the basket handle.

The instruction had to stay with the books, not depend on him being there tomorrow to explain it.

Before leaving, he asked Mr. Rosner to check the three-volume basket and the nine-book stack.

"Correct," the librarian said.

Dovi stopped rearranging them.

Chapter 7The Late Arrival

A volunteer arrived with another book from the same collection.

"Put this with the others," he said.

Dovi looked at its spine.

There were now two places called the others.

"Is it needed for tomorrow's lesson, or for the upstairs shelf?"

The volunteer didn't know.

They asked Mr. Rosner, who checked with Mrs. Fried before putting it in the lesson basket.

The first agreement hadn't answered every future question.

It had given Dovi a way to notice when a new one mattered.

Chapter 8The Empty Crate

At the next afternoon's sorting hour, the basket came back empty.

Mr. Rosner showed Dovi the four volumes on the upstairs shelf.

All thirteen books were there now.

Dovi folded the empty crate and put it away.

He thought of the two arrows he had drawn on it.

He hadn't needed to choose which grownup was more important, or make one sound unreasonable to the other.

He had needed to carry the disagreement to the people who could settle it.

Then he could carry the books.

At the sorting table, someone called for help with a new stack.

Dovi looked at the label before reaching for the first volume.