The First Fold

Ages 15-18

Naomi opens the long sheet across her classroom desk.

She and her friend have folded it into three sections. It will stand on the shelf with the other drawings when the mothers visit. Each fold opens onto a different part of their invented street.

At the first window, a woman sets a loaf on a sill. At the next, a boy reaches for it. At the last, the sill is empty, and the woman looks out.

Naomi's little pencil sketches lie along the top of the sheet.

"We both choose how it goes," her friend says.

Naomi nods. She moves the first sketch to the left.

Her friend has made a separate border for the street, with tiny loops drawn around its edges. Naomi reaches across it for an eraser. Her uncapped pen touches the paper.

A long dark stroke cuts through six loops.

Her friend lifts the border.

"Oh."

Naomi puts the cap on.

"I did that. I'll copy the border again."

Her friend lays it beside a fresh sheet.

Naomi copies the loops, one at a time. The new border takes most of the drawing period.

When her friend holds up two lettering samples, Naomi points to the one nearest her friend's hand.

Her friend lays a wide paper arch across the middle fold.

Naomi moves her first window sketch out of its way.

Her friend sets the second and third sketches beneath it. Naomi stacks the first one under her pencil case.

"Ready to start?"

Naomi nods.

Her friend draws the boy. Naomi begins the woman looking out.

"Where does he get the loaf?" her friend asks.

Naomi opens her pencil case. The first sketch is underneath.

She slides it out.

"Here."

Her friend looks from the sketch to the arch.

Naomi puts the sketch back at the first fold.

"Yes. I want all three."

"Then the arch doesn't fit."

Naomi lifts the arch off the middle fold. Her friend holds the new border around the three sketches.

There is room.

They draw.

By cleanup, the boy's jacket is blue. The last window has a green shutter. Naomi's first window is still pencil, with a small loaf on its sill.

Her friend holds the border flat while Naomi fastens her plain window panel beside it.

Naomi bends the sheet along its two creases and stands it on the shelf. The first fold opens toward the aisle.