The Flowers Beneath the Clear Sheet

Chapter 1The Last Corner

Adina had arranged pressed flowers on three sheets of thick paper for her class display.

Small blue flowers made a border. Pale yellow ones filled the middle. Each sheet had a clear cover that let visitors see the petals without touching them.

The last sheet had needed more glue. A yellow flower kept lifting at one edge.

"It is nearly dry," Adina told herself.

She put on its clear cover, clipped it down, and set all three sheets side by side.

In the morning, the flowers beneath that cover had turned brown.

The other two sheets looked the same as before.

Chapter 2A Quick Cover-Up

Adina stared at the spoiled corner.

She could put a larger paper label over it. The label might say SPRING FLOWERS.

Nobody would see the brown petals.

Her friend Chany came to carry the sheets to the display table.

"What happened here?"

"I don't know."

Adina held her proposed label above the corner.

"That covers it," Chany said. "But what happened?"

Adina lowered the label.

She had wanted Chany to say it looked fine.

Chapter 3Three Covers

Mrs. Rosen, their teacher, came over in her green headscarf.

Adina showed her all three sheets.

"These two stayed pale," she said. "This one changed."

Mrs. Rosen looked at the flowers through the covers.

On the third sheet, tiny beads of water clung to the underside of the clear cover.

"Did the three sheets dry for the same length of time?" she asked.

Adina remembered the stubborn yellow flower and the extra glue.

"This one was still damp when I clipped the cover on. I thought nearly dry was enough."

Chapter 4What Was Trapped

Mrs. Rosen unclipped the cover and helped Adina lift it without pulling the flowers.

The paper beneath it was damp near the yellow petals.

"The cover trapped moisture," Mrs. Rosen said. "We cannot make these brown petals pale again."

Adina felt her face grow hot.

"I should have waited."

"We can work on what happens next."

Chany pointed at the other sheets.

"Those were dry before you covered them."

Adina nodded. The difference was something she had done, not something wrong with all her flowers.

Chapter 5The Spare Petals

Mrs. Rosen helped remove the spoiled section. They set the damaged sheet aside and did not leave damp flowers sealed inside it.

There were spare pressed flowers in a folded packet, but not enough to copy the first arrangement.

Adina counted them twice.

"I cannot make another full yellow middle."

Chany laid two pale flowers beside a blue one without gluing them down.

"What about smaller groups?"

Adina tried the groups on fresh paper. They left more empty space.

At first she disliked that. Then she moved the groups closer to the border.

The arrangement looked different, but it still looked finished.

Chapter 6Waiting in the Open

Adina used a little glue and left the new sheet uncovered to dry.

She wanted to test it every few minutes.

Mrs. Rosen asked her to finish the labels while they waited. Later, they checked the paper together.

It still needed more time.

Adina carried the two ready sheets to the display table. Beside them she put a small card: THIRD SHEET COMING WHEN IT IS DRY.

"You could have hidden the brown corner," Chany said quietly.

"I nearly did," Adina answered.

Chapter 7Ready Means Ready

When Mrs. Rosen checked the new sheet again, the paper and glued places were dry.

Together they put on the clear cover.

Adina carried it flat to the table and placed it beside the first two.

A younger girl pointed to the space between the small flower groups.

"I like this part."

Adina smiled.

She took away the waiting card. The large SPRING FLOWERS label went above all three sheets, where it named the display instead of hiding a mistake.