The Fish's Cave

Ages 6-9

Surale sits beside the rug with one shoe on her knee. Its untied lace trails onto the floor.

Her sister makes a cave beneath the edge of a cushion.

She holds a little toy fish above the rug.

"He swims past a big rock."

Surale crosses the laces.

"Then he sees a cave."

Surale pulls one lace through.

"Yes."

"Does he go inside?"

Surale tries to make a loop.

"The fish loses his shoe."

Her sister stops the fish beside the cushion.

Surale looks up. She looks at the fish, then at the shoe on her knee.

She sets the shoe on the floor and turns toward her sister.

She bends one finger across the entrance to the cave.

Her sister swims the fish toward it.

Surale lifts her finger. The fish slips beneath it and into the cave.

Under the cushion, the fish's tail disappears. Beside Surale, the untied lace still trails across the floor.