A Bead Tree in Winter

On the way home from school, I spotted a branch by the roadside — snapped clean off a street tree, brought down by the strong winds. It had grown out like a stag's antlers, such a handsome thing that I couldn't help carrying it home. A branch with new buds on it, even in the middle of winter. We came in with it in high spirits, and I stamped it firmly into the ground beside the tree stump in our garden.

Hyun and I spread a heap of beads across the middle of the lounge and set to threading. The moment I'd seen the branch, the beaded suncatchers I'd saved on Pinterest had flickered through my mind. We sat with our heads together, cutting lengths of thread and stringing beads of every colour and size, just as we pleased.

For now, we finished about six strands. Winter light fades early, so I wanted to hang them while it was still bright. We took the finished strands out and laid them along the stump, and Hyun draped them carefully, one by one. It was already close to five, too late to catch them glinting in the afternoon sun — but they hung beautifully all the same.