Running up the flagpole

Ratty's been a little subdued and thoughtful of late. He was full of confidence when he first became Rosa Mira Books' Sales Department, but for all his panache (and somewhat distracted by fatherhood) he realises he has to find some way to grab the attention of thus-far-unsuspecting thousands of readers of RM's exceptional ebooks. 

However, he woke up this morning with 'a brilliant idea'. He'll erect a flagpole that will soar high above the kerfuffle and hubbub of all other human (or rodent or dasypodidae) endeavour. Creatures great and small will gaze up in wonder as they try to decipher the colourful emblems rippling in the jetstream.

With no abiding confidence in her husband's woodworking skill, Lily deemed it best to take the ratadilloes away to the river for a picnic. She's left Ratty's lunch on a tray, including the last gherkin on the jar, and a tankard of kefir yeast drink.

As he works, Ratty mutters under his breath like a mantra the names of the lovely ebooks he'll hoist into the ethers: The Glass Harmonica. Road Markings. Slightly Peculiar Love Stories.