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Hindy's Secret Worry

Ages 6-9 | Story and 9 activities

Hindy has a secret, and it is getting heavier every day.

It starts on Monday in art class. She carries her paint jar across the room, and her elbow bumps the shelf. A glass vase wobbles and falls. It cracks on the floor, and nobody sees it happen.

Hindy runs back to her seat with a pounding heart. She says nothing. When the teacher finds the broken vase, she asks, "Who knows what happened?" Hindy looks at her paper and keeps very still.

The vase is swept away. Class goes on. But Hindy's tummy feels strange, like a stone has landed in there and won't leave.

On Tuesday, she doesn't feel like eating her sandwich. On Wednesday, she can't remember the answer to her math question, even though she knew it yesterday. At night, she lies awake, thinking, What if somebody finds out? What if they get angry? What if everyone thinks I'm a bad girl?

Her mother notices. "Hindy, you're quiet. And you didn't touch your dinner."

"I'm just tired," says Hindy.

But on Thursday, the stone grows so big that she feels it all the way up to her throat. At recess, she sits alone on the steps.

Her teacher, Morah Shifra, sits down beside her. "Hindy, I have noticed that your smile has been missing this week."

Hindy keeps her eyes on her shoes. Her lip begins to tremble.

"Is something on your mind?" asks Morah Shifra softly.

Hindy opens her mouth, but the words stick. She feels hot tears roll down her cheeks.

"It's all right," says Morah Shifra. "You don't have to say it all at once. Would it help to whisper it?"

Hindy leans close. Very quietly, she whispers, "I broke the vase on Monday. I didn't mean to. I was scared to tell."

There is a pause. Hindy squeezes her eyes shut. She is sure Morah Shifra will be angry.

Instead, Morah Shifra says, "Oh, Hindy. I'm so glad you told me."

Hindy opens one eye. "You aren't mad?"

"I'm not mad. It was an accident. Accidents happen to everyone. I knocked over a cup of tea in the teachers' room just last week. What matters is that you told the truth, and that took courage."

Hindy lets out a long, wobbly breath. It is as if someone has lifted the stone right out of her.

"I was so scared you would think I was bad," she says.

"A bad girl doesn't feel sick about a broken vase," says Morah Shifra. "A caring girl does. Your feelings show how much you care."

They talk for a few more minutes. Morah Shifra says the vase is an old one, and it is no big problem. Hindy offers to help sweep the art shelf next time. "That's a lovely idea," says Morah Shifra.

That evening, Hindy tells her mother the whole story. Mommy hugs her tight. "You carried that all by yourself for four days?"

"Yes," says Hindy. "It was so heavy."

"Next time, tell me or Morah the same day," says Mommy. "We can carry it with you. Worries get smaller when we share them."

That night, Hindy sleeps deeply for the first time all week. When she wakes up, her tummy feels light. She eats two bowls of cereal.

In school, she notices a girl named Esty who looks very quiet, hugging her bag. Hindy sits next to her.

"You look like you have something on your mind," Hindy says gently. "If you want to tell me, I'll listen."

Esty looks up, surprised. She moves her bag over to make room.