The story

One morning, the adult who cares for the olive trees gets the pruning tools ready. Pruning means cutting selected branches. The group stops in the place they are shown, well away from the work. ‘Why cut some branches?’ asks Ada. ‘To guide the tree’s growth and help light reach the leafy top,’ Neri explains. ‘Choosing which branches to cut takes experience.’

‘This work needs time, trained people and tools,’ the grower adds. ‘These are costs of growing olive trees.’ Rumo begins to see the work behind what used to seem like just a tree. Leo keeps his hands in his pockets. ‘I’ll watch from here.’ When the work is finished and the adult calls them over, they look at the spaces between the branches left on the tree. Rumo looks for a patch of sky. Sami draws it like a little window. The olive tree still has its green leaves. Pruning is not a race to cut off as many branches as possible.