Maya sat at her usual lunch table. She stacked carrot sticks into a tall tower. Something caught her eye near the window.
A boy sat all by himself at a small table near the bookshelf. Maya glanced at his empty chair, then at her own full tray. She stood up and walked over.
'Do you want to sit with us?' she asked. The boy shook his head and pulled the tin closer. It rattled when he moved his hand.
Maya tapped her fingers on her knee. Tap-tap-tap. She pulled out a drumstick and played a silly beat on her tray. 'My cousin says honey beans are the best snack in the whole world,' she said.
Jamal opened his tin and offered Maya three honey beans. Then he reached behind his chair and pulled out a bright red story stone. 'This is my favorite thing,' he whispered.
Maya gasped. It was the exact same kind of stone her grandmother gave her last summer. She held it gently in both hands.
At Story Circle, Jamal held up the red stone. He told everyone about the elephant on his street who wore a yellow scarf. Maya held up her own stone and smiled.
Everyone took turns — a lion stone, a frog stone, a star stone. The circle kept growing until every child sat close together, stones in hand, laughing.
