“We run,” Lottie repeated, a bit of trepidation in her voice. “Have you ever had to run away from something good? I mean in the general sense, not the specific like playing tag with your best friend or something. Most of the time, running away means bad, you know? Maybe we should look at the instructions just a little bit longer. Just in case.”
Having said it, Lottie did just that, leaning in a little closer and holding the lantern up to get a better look at the elephant instructions. Unfortunately that didn't make them any less elephanty or any more clear in their directions. She tilted her head to one side, trying to understand a bit that was particularly confusing. Then, suddenly, she gasped.
“Oh! They're sideways!” she exclaimed. Then she frowned. “I think.” Grasping one edge, she tugged slightly to turn it the direction she thought it should go. “See? Now that part there makes a little more sense, don't you think? With the way the flame goes, and that part, uh.... huh. It still looks like we have to run.”
Lottie's nose wrinkled slightly and she pursed her lips as she considered logistics. “Well. If we have to run, then we should make sure it's all set up first, right? We can lay it down right here, because if we leave it upright it might fall over and that might affect whatever magic makes it go. Right? It'll be more secure laying down, I think. We'll just light the fuse then run the other direction from where it's pointing and wait for the magic to make it go up into the sky. That's a good plan, right?”
She started to smile at her new friend, but stopped when she saw the studied serious expression on Idun's face. “I'm sorry. What's wrong? Do you think the instructions go the other way?”