NovelEnglishA bright half-moon hung in the sky.
Threading a needle had to be done in the moonlight, a true challenge for the modern folk.
They'd been used to the brilliance of electric lamps, and their vision would dim without such illumination.
The girls all squinted their eyes.
Even the brightest moonlight seemed dim to the current generation, making the tiny eye of the needle nearly impossible to discern, especially since many of them were nearsighted, spectacles perched on their noses.
It was Aurelia's first tat the Stirling family's knitting contest, and she couldn't help but sigh. "Gosh, this is quite the challenge!" Arnold, standing beside her, chuckled. "Without a bit of difficulty, what's the point of the competition?" "Go Nina! Go, Mira! Aunt Beverley, you got this!" William cheered from the sidelines.
Suddenly, a swath of clouds meandered across the sky, cloaking the moon and plunging the yard into darkness.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe girls let out a collective sigh.
Beverley had threaded seven needles, just two shy of completion. Nina had managed five. Mira hadn't succeeded with a single one, her eyes brimming with frustrated tears.
Sheryl consoled her. "Don't rush, Mira. It's the taking part that counts." After two rounds, Beverley finished first with the shortest time.
Nina remained in the third place.
The second challenge was the knitting needle-throwing test.
Each girl had a cylindrical container in front of her.
Participants were requested to throw the knitting needles into the cylindrical containers. Each girl had five shots, with the quickest hand and the most shots winning the competition.
The trick was to balance a knitting needle and the distance between the container.
But the real test wasn't just about throwing the knitting needle but was about whose needle could go fast and accurately.
To little Mira, throwing the needle into the container was already an ordeal.
Her chubby fingers picked up a knitting needle, threw it out gingerly, and watched it miss the target. She tried again and again, with no success.
Nina, after two attempts, succeeded on her third. Her needle finally went into the container.
Mira looked around, puzzled and desperate.
After several tries, the aunts, cousins, and sisters finally got their needles into the containers.
Only Mira had used up all her knitting needles without a single victory. Her lips quivered, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Kane and William rushed over to console her.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Don't cry, Mira. We'll help you." Kane asked a servant to bring a new cylindrical container and a new set of knitting needles.
As a whiz in physics, Kane had figured out the trick, the principle of the parabola.
"You need to throw the needle gently," he explained, crouching to eye level with the container to spot the distance in the light.
He pointed to a spot on the left. "Try to throw the needle from here, gently and horizontally." Mira nodded, took a new needle, and carefully threw it from where Kane had indicated.
The needle went right into the container.
She clapped her hands joyfully, her tears turning to laughter. "Oh, I did it! | did it!" Little Nova, cradled in Aurelia's arms, seemed to share in their delight, clapping her little hands.
Aurelia looked on in amazement. "Arnold, look how smart Nova is, clapping her hands already!" Indeed, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
Arnold took his daughter from Aurelia's arms, giving her a break from holding the baby.
"Here, lethold her." Nova, however, didn't settle comfortably in his arms and immediately reached out for Aurelia, babbling in protest.
Arnold felt a bit helpless. "William was always close to me. As a baby, he only wantedto hold him. This little one doesn't seem to likeas much."
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