In front of the Time Tower, MUCKI turned a leaf between his paws. He had found it on the path and was now examining the delicate lines that branched out from the center to the edge. WUMI waited beside the illuminated gate, while HOPSI and EDDI watched the large hands of the tower clock. They had actually planned to visit Inventors' City together, but MUCKI was preoccupied with another question: Did plants look the same in the past as they do today?

WUMI suggested they begin their journey on the volcanic island of Time Travel Land. As they stepped through the gate, golden light enveloped them, and moments later they stood in a landscape filled with large ferns. Dark basalt columns rose along the coast, while fine steam rose from warm springs. The broad volcano in the background lay serene beneath a bright sky.

 

EDDI spotted a flat stone with a leaf-like imprint. MUCKI knelt beside it and held his fresh leaf over it. The shapes were different, but both showed fine branching. He sketched the find in his notebook and decided to investigate more closely later how a plant could leave its mark on the stone.

Their next stop was the forgotten ruins. A round mosaic lay among weathered columns, with a sundial in its center. Hopsi wondered how one could tell the time without moving hands. While they rested on a low wall, they watched the shadow and noticed that it moved slowly.

 

Mucki's notebook filled with questions. When they finally reached the inventors' town, he already had to turn to a new page. Gears and waterwheels turned in the small workshops, and a wooden bird flapped its wings in an open window. The friends lingered especially long in front of a model that lifted water from a bowl into a higher channel.

Hopsi thought of the plants in front of their treehouse. On warm days, they sometimes let their leaves droop before anyone thought to water them. Perhaps they could build something to help them water.

In the futuristic city, they gathered more ideas. Narrow water channels ran between round glasshouses, and flowers and vegetables grew on green roofs. A train glided silently overhead as MUCKI made a simple drawing of a small water channel.

 

On their way home through the Time Tower, they still hadn't found all the answers. But in MUCKI's notebook lay the first draft for a watering aid. WUMI wanted to find suitable pieces of wood, EDDI wanted to look for a suitable container, and HOPSI wanted to help with testing.

 

MUCKI placed the sheet of paper between the pages of his notebook. It had been the beginning of a question that morning and now belonged to an idea they wanted to work on together.