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Bubu watched you playing with the sort of intensity he often displays when staring. You asked him if he wanted to play so he nodded, the grown-ups were excited to see someone else show interest in the game. When you played against Bubu, he always made his move after 10 seconds of thinking of his turn. He stared at the board the whole time, paying little attention to you or anybody else around you. The grown-ups whispered plenty, commenting on the play style. You thought you were doing well against him in the beginning, snatching up his first two hills, but then you realized he baited you. As you were coming after his final hill, you noticed his trails were branching across the board. His bugs broke your trails, forcing you to start on your side of the board, but as he had so many interconnected branches, you were unable to defend yourself as each trail still led back to his side of the board. He snatched your hills, ending the game. Bubu's trance on the board ended and he finally looked up at you with a smile.
<span class="mu-b">"Thank you for playing with me."</span>
The grown-ups wanted to challenge Bubu to a match to which he agreed. You watched him defeat two grown-ups until a Pappy decided to challenge him. It was a slow match and it bored you enough to slink off to find something else to do before it ended. A Baba beckoned for you to come to her. You came over with Kari and saw Baba chiseling a grid into a block of wood.
<span class="mu-b">"Your friend sure brought a lot of life to those grown-ups. I wanted to make something nice for him for making the grown-ups so happy today. Do you want to help Baba make a little Bug Trail set you can take with you?"</span>
Of course, you said yes, so you spent the day helping the Baba. She taught you how to whittle with a knife, though all you did was make small flat pieces and six lumps for the hills. She also taught you how to hollow out a block of wood, shaped for the board to fit in and close. When you reached the bottom of the box, she asked if you wanted to carve a message for Bubu. Kari was having fun carving a picture of ants and termites on the underside of the board.
>"Thank you for playing with me!"
>"For Bubu from Rika and Kari."
>No message. You're sure Bubu will think about you every time he plays.
>Write-in.
