The Rabbit Ears

Ages 6-9

Dinie wears paper rabbit ears on a headband.

She hops across the rug. Her friend stays beside the chair.

"You can be a rabbit too."

Her friend looks at the ears but does not hop.

Dinie flaps her elbows.

"Or a bird. Like this."

She flaps across the rug and back.

Her friend still stands beside the chair.

Dinie begins another hop. The paper ears bob above her head.

She stops with both feet on the rug.

She takes off the headband and sets it beside the chair.

Her friend bends down. She puts her hands and knees on the rug.

"I'm a snail."

She moves one knee forward, then the other, a little at a time.

Dinie looks at the paper ears.

She gets down on her hands and knees beside her friend.

One knee. Then the other.

Her friend moves toward the rug's edge. Dinie follows, with a small space between them.

The two snails reach the edge of the rug. Behind them, the paper rabbit ears stay beside the chair.