"Elissa, come down out of that apple tree right this minute!" Gran called out to her granddaughter.

'Just a few more minutes, Gran. My ship is coming into port right now!" Elissa yelled from high up in the apple tree in her yard.

"All right, then. Bring your ship into port and come on in for lunch," Gran answered with a smile.

"Land sakes alive, how that girl can imagine that apple tree to be a sailing ship is beyond me, " Gran said aloud with no one to hear her.

While Gran fixed lunch for the two of them, Elissa ran barefoot, pigtails flying, across the lawn and into the house with the screen door slamming behind her. BANG! the door announced Elissa's arrival. Already, Elissa had freckles on her nose and gold highlights in her hair from being out in the summer sun.

"Gran, I want a crow's nest on my ship. Do you think Grand Dad will build me one ?" Elissa asked with strawberry jelly on her face from her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"I think he will, Apple Tree Girl," Gran said with a smile. "But you know Grand Dad, he will want to make sure it's safe and sturdy. You mean the world to that man and he could not bear it if you got even one little scratch on yourself from something he built," Gran said touching Elissa on the tip of her nose.

Just then Grand Dad walked in from the garage."Were your ears burning?" Gran asked him.

Elissa knew that meant they had been talking about him. Grand Dad touched both of his ears as if they were HOT ! HOT ! The three of them laughed at the joke they shared.

"Grand Dad, will you build me a crow's nest for my ship?" Elissa asked. "You know, a look-out place up high in the ship."

Grand Dad paused for a moment to get a picture of that in his mind. He scratched his head, trying to let Elissa know that he was thinking hard about it. " I don't know how to build a crow's nest, Apple Tree Girl, but I could build a tree house up in that old apple tree and you can think of it as your crow's nest. Will there be crows up there?"

Elissa and Gran laughed. " No crows, Grand Dad. That's what they called the look-out place up high on the ship."

Elissa loved having jokes with Grand Dad. He looked at Elissa and thought that her cheeks reminded him of shiny, red apples. "Just one more thing, Apple Tree Girl. If I build that for you, it will have to be..."

"Strong and sturdy!" Gran and Elissa sang out together and everybody laughed.

And that's what he did. Gran Dad built Elissa her tree house , which she called her crow's nest for her apple tree ship.

From up in that apple tree in her crow's nest, Elissa stood waving her arms so that Gran and Grand Dad could see her.

"Strong and Sturdy!" Elissa called from up in her apple tree ship.

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