第9話: シャトルの破壊後、子供たちは木の家を建てるのに苦労する

9

Long days of little food followed by long nights of little sleep in the shuttle's seats are beginning to take their toll on the children, who are starting to get irritable and snappish with one another. Luna once again raises the idea of moving to Fairy Lake, building a house in the Magnificent Tree to keep it out of reach of the giant lizard. The children survey the tree, leaving Kaoru behind to tend the fire, who makes saws from panels scavenged from the shuttle. Chako, Shingo and Howard measure the tree for size and strength. When they return to the shuttle, Howard takes a small branch of the Magnificent Tree with him as a souvenir. Shingo and Chako spend the night drawing up plans for a house. The next day, the children - sans Howard, left behind to tend the fire and catch fish for dinner - find straight, sturdy trees and vines to construct the foundation of the house. Dismayed by the amount of effort required, and despite some mishaps, the group manages to complete the foundation. Bored of not being able to catch any fish, Howard comes to see how they are going, but when he climbs the tree to test the foundation, the whole structure collapses. Disheartened, they return to the shuttle - only to find that it too has been destroyed, and their fire has gone out. (Source: Wikipedia)