The Unopened Box

Ages 12-15

Serel sets her own work on the slanted bench.

Beside it, her classmate holds a supply box closed against her knees.

"We're ready," Serel says.

Her classmate lifts one corner of the lid. A pencil rolls toward the opening.

She closes it again.

Serel looks at the flat table across the room. Three children are already sitting there.

"Open it," she says.

Her classmate tips the box a little. The pencil presses against the lid.

Serel picks up her own work. She carries it to the flat table and puts it at the far end, away from her usual place.

The other children move their things aside.

Her classmate brings the box in both arms and places it in the cleared space.

Serel walks around the table to the last empty place.

Her classmate opens the lid.

The pencil lies still beside the little supply packets.

Serel sits down. Her work is farther away than before. She draws it toward her while her classmate places a packet beside each child's page.

At the middle of the flat table, the pencil stays beside the open box.