Tug-of-War at the Window

On a sweltering afternoon, even the leaf roof of Leafhaven Cottage seemed to steam. Doumi lay flat on the thin wooden floor, then sat up: "I've got an idea!" He took his Mid-Autumn pomelo-peel hat from the wall and, on tiptoe, wedged it into the left window. The yellow-green brim blocked the glare, and the room grew a little darker and a little cooler. Yehe squinted happily in the scrap-cloth hammock, Taisheng nodded from his workshop corner, and Doumi puffed out his chest. Soon the branch outside dipped. A sparrow hopped over, tilted its head, and stared at the yellow-green thing with a round black eye. Suining saw it first and whispered, "Wait…" Before she finished, the sparrow bit the brim and pulled. Doumi lunged for the hat and slid toward the window. Taisheng grabbed him around the waist, Suining held her father's straps, and Yehe jumped out of the hammock to hold Suining. The family of four made a chain and played tug-of-war with a sparrow at the window, wings whirring. Riiip — a thin strip tore off the brim. The sparrow hopped up to a twig with its prize, and the whole family fell backward in a pile into the hammock, which sagged and swung. The rescued hat dropped out of the air and landed right on Taisheng's golden hair — tiny, with a bite missing, like a crooked little bowl. Taisheng straightened it with a perfectly serious face. Doumi laughed first, and soon the whole family couldn't stop laughing in the hammock. Outside, the sparrow tilted its head, the yellow-green strip still hanging from its beak.