The oak branch had hung at the same height above the clearing for multiple seasons. Creatures passed beneath it without adjustment or remark. By midday the underside occupied a lower position. It had not fallen. It had not broken. It had simply lowered.

Rufus the rabbit noticed when his ears brushed the bark mid-stride. He stopped beneath the limb. “Vertical clearance has reduced,” he said.

Cyril the shrew stood upright beneath the branch and examined the joint where it met the trunk. The bark remained continuous. No splintering showed. Rufus passed under again, lowering his head a fraction. His ears still touched.

A breeze moved through the leaves. The branch swayed downward, then recovered only partway. Cyril narrowed his stance. “Elastic recovery incomplete.” “Recovery is no longer guaranteed,” he said.

Rufus lifted one forepaw. It met the bark sooner than memory allowed. He moved to the base of the oak, dug a small hole beside the root, not for concealment, for reference, and measured the new clearance against it. He filled the hole carefully and stood beside it briefly before moving on.

A squirrel crossed along the branch overhead. The limb dipped farther under the weight and settled lower still.

Cyril studied the angle from the clearing’s edge. Gradual descent was known. Resting position shift was known. But incomplete recovery was not the same as either. He checked his mental catalog twice. The closest heading would have to serve. He pressed one paw into the soil directly beneath the branch’s former midpoint and left a shallow mark.

Harlan the beetle crossed the clearing on his way toward the log. He passed beneath the branch without difficulty, it was far above him, but he paused and looked up at it. “The branch has lowered,” he said. Cyril looked at him. “The northern surface is also still green,” Harlan added. Then he continued toward the log.

By afternoon creatures approaching the clearing lowered their heads or shifted their path without comment. Rufus began passing slightly to the right of his former line.

The Bureau entered the notation:

Gradual Descent — Arboreal Stability Division

Subclass: Resting Position Shift

Secondary Marker: Elastic Recovery Variance — classification approximate

No elevation correction was authorized.

Cyril read the notation once. He did not amend it. He looked at the word approximate for one moment longer than necessary. Then he moved on.

The branch remained attached. The clearing remained passable. Beneath the oak, the faint mark of Rufus’s reference hole was already softening into the surrounding soil.

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