Milo spread a big sheet of paper on the kitchen floor. Through the open door he heard Mom laughing and pancakes sizzling.
He grabbed the red crayon and pressed it to the paper. Then he stopped, unsure where to begin.
Milo tried to draw Dad. He sketched a tall shape with a spatula and a pancake.
The pancake slipped off the paper and landed with a soft plop on the floor.
He stared at the flat golden circle and whispered, "Oops."
Next Milo drew Mom singing and his little sister jumping in the same frame.
The crayon hummed a real note that rattled the sugar bowl on the table.
His sister leaped right off the page and landed on the kitchen chair with a thump.
"Again!" she yelled, jumping three more times until Milo caught her wrists and breathed hard.
Milo looked at the mess — the fallen pancake, the humming crayon, the empty chair. He thought for a long moment.
Then he drew a big round circle that connected them all. As he colored the last hand, the circle began to glow.
The whole family stepped into the paper, laughing. Milo sat inside the glowing circle with them, their hands all linked.