The classroom glows with morning light. Math posters line the walls. Emir sits at his desk, staring at a worksheet full of apples and minus signs.
His pencil hovers over the paper. Then it drops. The room buzzes around him with the scratch of other children's pencils. Emir frowns at the apples on the page. 'Today, we play with apples!' the teacher claps her hands.
Emir lines up red plastic apples on his tray. He pushes three away for each problem. He counts again. Still wrong. The apples clack against the tray. 'Let's try a different game,' the teacher says, kneeling beside him.
Emir slides the plastic apples into a brown paper bag. He shakes it. One by one, he pulls them out, counting down. His eyes widen. A giggle escapes. The board reads 5 - 2 = ?
The numbers make sense now. Five apples went in. Two came out. Three stayed behind. Emir understands.
Emir raises his hand high. The teacher points to him. He walks to the board, marker in hand, and writes 3 in the empty box. His classmates watch. The teacher nods.
Emir walks back to his desk. The marker smells sharp and clean. He sits down, shoulders loose. He looks at the teacher. She smiles back.
Emir turns the page. Another problem waits. This time, he picks up his pencil without hesitating. He draws five apples. He crosses out two. Three remain.
He writes 3 in the box. The scratch of his pencil joins the others in the room. The classroom hums along, steady and sure.
Emir finishes the page. He sets down his pencil. The math worked. He smiles to himself and turns the page again.