The Sock He Sends Home
Ages 9-12
1. The Last Line
Avi draws a small square beside SOCKS.
Everything else on his return list has a check.
The book is in his aunt's bag. The paper game is in its box. His cousin's sweater is folded with the sleeves tucked inside.
The socks are on the table.
One has thin blue stripes and a gray heel. The other is plain gray, with a darker patch beneath the toe.
Avi lays them beside each other.
They are the same length.
He turns the plain one over. There are no stripes on that side either.
His aunt calls from the hall.
"Avi, is the return bag ready?"
Avi picks up his list.
"Almost."
His cousin brings a paper house into the room.
"The roof's finished."
Avi points to the game box.
"It goes in there."
"It won't fit with the roof on."
Avi moves the sweater farther into the bag and takes the empty cardboard tray from beneath it.
The house fits on the tray.
His cousin puts it down carefully.
"Don't turn it sideways."
"I won't."
The cousin goes to show his mother where the house is.
Avi looks back at the socks.
The square beside SOCKS is still empty.
2. Under the Top
Mommy brings in a small basket from the laundry shelf.
"These are the ones still waiting for matches."
Avi takes out a white sock. It is too long.
He puts it back.
He takes out a blue one. Its heel is worn thin, and the top has a little mark in thread.
He checks beneath the top of the striped sock.
There is another mark there.
"Is this his?"
Mommy comes beside the table.
"The striped one is. Your aunt showed me that mark when she put the washing in."
Avi holds up the plain gray sock.
"And this?"
"I don't know."
She carries the folded towels away.
Avi searches the basket again. He lays two brown socks flat. They are much shorter than the striped one.
He puts them back and runs his hand around the bottom of the basket.
Nothing is beneath them.
He puts the striped sock in the return bag.
Then he takes it out.
He lays it beside the plain gray sock again and rolls their tops together.
The stripes disappear beneath the gray fold.
Avi turns the bundle in his hand.
He opens it and lays both socks flat.
3. The Doorway
His aunt comes in with her coat on.
Her keys lie across her palm.
"Is the bag here?"
Avi points to it.
She lifts the handles and looks inside.
"Book, game, sweater. Good."
His cousin comes behind her with the paper house on its tray.
"This has to go flat."
She takes the tray in her other hand.
Avi picks up the striped sock and puts it in the bag again.
It lies alone on top of the sweater.
His aunt moves toward the hall.
"Wait."
Avi reaches into the bag and takes the sock out.
She sets the bag on the floor beside the door. The keys make a little clink against the handle.
Avi carries the sock back to the table.
His cousin follows him.
"Why are you taking it back?"
"I haven't found the other one."
"That's mine."
"I know. Mommy checked the mark."
"Then can I have it?"
Avi looks into the basket.
He holds the striped sock against the blue one once more. Their tops are different widths.
He puts the blue one down.
4. On the Chair
His cousin climbs onto the chair beside him.
"I need that one."
"You need two."
"The other one's at home."
Avi turns toward him.
The cousin takes hold of the striped sock's toe, but Avi still holds the top.
Avi looks at the plain gray sock on the table.
"This gray one?"
His cousin lifts one foot.
The gray sock on it has a black toe.
The one on the table does not.
"No."
Avi releases the striped sock.
The cousin holds it across his lap.
From the hall, the aunt calls his name. She does not come to the table.
Avi takes the plain gray sock and lays it inside the basket.
His cousin stands with the striped sock in his hand.
5. The Bag
They go to the door together.
The aunt has the paper house on its tray. The bag stands at her feet.
Avi holds its handles apart.
His cousin puts the striped sock on top of the sweater.
Avi reaches in and takes it out a third time.
His cousin's hand stays above the bag.
Avi smooths the sock. He folds it once, without another sock inside it.
Then he puts it back on the sweater.
His aunt lifts the bag.
The folded sock moves into one corner. The other corner stays empty.
"What about your list?" the cousin asks.
Avi goes to the table for it.
He puts the pencil beside the square marked SOCKS.
He holds it there, then sets it down without making a check.
He writes ONE STRIPED SOCK beneath the line instead.
The cousin waits in the doorway.
"Ready?"
Avi brings the paper over.
His aunt shifts the house tray onto her arm so she can look.
Avi points to the little line he has added.
She nods and puts the list in the bag's outer pocket.
The cousin takes Avi's hand for their goodbye handshake. They add a second shake because of the house roof, then a third because neither remembers which shake goes last.
Avi laughs.
"Don't turn the tray sideways."
"I won't."
His aunt opens the door. The cousin goes out beside her.
The bag goes with them.
6. The Shelf
Avi comes back to the table.
The game box is gone. So are the book, sweater and house tray.
The little basket is still there.
He carries it to the laundry shelf.
Mommy passes him in the doorway.
"Did they get their things?"
"Yes."
She takes the towel from her shoulder and puts it with the others.
Avi sets the basket down.
The plain gray sock lies on top, its dark toe patch turned toward him.