Leira's Sunny Snack

Leira and Momma finish packing sweet apples beside the big tire swings on a sunny school playground. When two older children laugh at Leira’s offer to share and shove her cheerful picnic bag into the dirt, Momma helps Leira brush off the apples and keep her kindness safe. Then Leira notices a dusty trail beneath the swings and wonders which friendly classmates have been helping her snack picnic all along.

On the sunny school playground, Leira tucked four sweet apples into the cheerful picnic bag. She lined up their cream stems, one by one, while Momma held the bag open. The big tire swings bumped softly behind them. "Morning snack is ready," Leira said, squeezing the red handles.

Near the slide, Leira saw four classmates. Nia's yellow ribbons bounced, Toby's big hands waved, Mina's neat bob swung, and Jayden's red sneakers tapped. Leira lifted the bag. "Do you want to share my apples?" she called. Nia and Toby looked over.

The two older kids, Nia and Toby, laughed. Then Toby shoved the picnic bag into the dirt. Thump! Four sweet apples rolled under the tire swings while Leira grabbed at the empty red handles.

Momma wrapped Leira in a warm hug. Then she brushed dirt from two apples with her sleeve. "Your picnic is for classmates who use kind hands," Momma said. Leira held one clean apple and looked beneath the swings.

Under the tire swings, dirt made a wiggly trail. It curled past one tire, then another, like someone had dragged her bag away. Leira set her clean apple in the bag and followed the trail instead of chasing Nia and Toby. "Did they drag it this way?" she asked.

Behind the last tire, Mina cupped an apple in both hands. Jayden rolled another gently toward her. "We didn't want them to get squished," Mina said. "We made that trail getting them back together," Jayden said. Leira crouched beside them with the bag.

Nia and Toby came back to the swings. Leira put the rescued apples inside, then zipped the cheerful picnic bag shut. "I'm sharing snack with Nia and Jayden," she said. Nia brushed an apple clean. Jayden held out his sleeve to help. Toby and Mina stopped by the slide.

Momma, Mina, and Jayden sat with Leira beside the tire swings. They bit clean sweet apples, crunch, crunch, in the sunny morning. Leira zipped the cheerful picnic bag shut and set it between them. "There," she said. "Now it's picnic time."