The night before kindergarten, Marigold packed her crayon box into her backpack.
At the bedroom door, she held the zipper and whispered, "What if everyone is a stranger?"
In the morning, she walked to school still thinking about that question.
At the classroom door, Marigold gave a goodbye hug and took three slow steps past the cubbies.
Picture books, finger paints, and children were everywhere. Marigold looked up at the bright paper suns in the window while the room buzzed with voices.
Then she saw a child staring at a broken crayon with no blue left.
Marigold knelt down, opened her crayon box, and slid over a blue crayon.
"Want to color with us?" the child asked with a grin.
Marigold sat down and drew a wobbly blue whale.
When the whale got a silly purple hat by accident, the whole table burst into giggles.
At recess, Marigold stood by the sunny playground for one breath.
Then she jogged toward a game spinning in a circle.
She missed the clap once. Then twice.
On the third try, clap! Marigold got it just right, and someone scooted over to make room.
After the game, Marigold walked back inside with paint-smudged hands and a small smile.
The next morning, the classroom waited bright and ready.
Marigold hung up her backpack and walked in without stopping.
She lifted her crayon box and called, "I brought blue!" New friends waved her over, and Marigold slid into her seat as the room filled with happy noise.
