The Ticket She Almost Traded

Chapter 1The Colored Tickets

At the neighborhood family fair, Mommy gave Suri and her friend Faigy each a free craft-choice ticket.

There were two supervised tables for their age: clay animals and paper printing. A ticket could be used at either one.

Suri looked at the printing examples. Leaves and tiny flowers made patterns across folded cards.

"I want to try that," she said.

Faigy was looking at a clay rabbit.

"I want the animals."

Chapter 2Staying Together

The girls stood beside Mommy before handing in their tickets.

Suri imagined Faigy laughing with another girl at the clay table while she sat alone with paper.

"Maybe I'll do clay too," she said.

Faigy smiled.

"We could make two rabbits."

Suri looked once more at the printed leaves. She had been hoping to make a card for Bubby.

The clay table would be fun for Faigy. Suri was choosing it because she did not want to be apart.

Chapter 3Before the Ticket Went

A staff woman invited the next children to line up at their chosen tables.

Suri held her ticket tightly.

"Mommy, are we allowed to go to different tables?"

Mommy checked with the staff woman. Both tables were in the same small room, with grownups guiding each group. Mommy could sit where she could see them both.

"Yes," she told Suri. "We will meet right here when the sessions finish."

Suri turned to Faigy.

"I still want to make the printed card."

Chapter 4The Two Lines

Faigy looked a little disappointed.

"Then you won't make a rabbit with me."

"No. But I want to see yours afterward."

They chose a place beside Mommy's chair to meet. Then they gave their tickets to the staff at the separate tables.

Suri sat beside a girl she knew from school. The guide showed them how to place a leaf for the print and helped with the paint.

Suri's first leaf left a pale shape. She tried the next one with the guide's help.

Chapter 5Across the Room

Suri glanced toward Faigy once.

Her friend was shaping two clay ears. She was busy, not waving Suri over.

Suri returned to her own card and added a row of small leaves along the bottom.

She still wanted to share the outing with Faigy. Sharing the outing did not require their hands to make the same thing for every minute.

When her card was ready, she left it on the drying tray as the guide instructed.

Chapter 6Back at the Chair

Faigy reached Mommy's chair with a little clay rabbit.

"One ear is shorter," she said.

Suri admired its round nose. Then she showed Faigy her card on the drying tray.

They told each other which part had been hardest.

Mommy helped them collect the finished crafts before leaving.

The girls walked out together. One carried a rabbit in a small box. The other carried a printed card for Bubby.