✦An original story about making room for another idea
The New Friend
Nila has planned every part of her chalk town. A new classmate helps her discover that a shared game needs more than an invitation.
A story to read together
The New Friend
Take your time. Let the story unfold.
Nila drew a town on the courtyard with a piece of yellow chalk. It had a school, a bakery, and a winding road that went round a potted tree. She had decided who lived in every house and what happened on every street. When her teacher introduced a new classmate named Sami, Nila hurried over. “You can play in my town,” she said. “I have already thought of everything.”
A place with too many rules
Sami knelt beside the chalk road. “Could there be a river here?” he asked. Nila shook her head. The bakery stood there. Sami suggested a boat on the empty side of the tree. Nila explained that boats were not part of this game. She offered him a chalk piece and pointed to a house. “You can colour that roof.” Sami coloured it carefully, then put down the chalk. Nila had invited him to join, but there was very little room for him to decide anything.
The question beside the tree
When Sami went to get water, Nila looked at the tidy roof. She had enjoyed inventing her town. Perhaps Sami wanted to invent something too. As he returned, she held out the blue chalk. “Tell me about your river,” she said. Sami showed her a narrow space curving behind the bakery. It could pass the school without crossing the playground. Nila followed his finger with her eyes. She had looked at that empty patch several times and never imagined water there.
Two sides of a bridge
Sami drew the river while Nila moved one section of the road. They needed a bridge. Nila wanted a strong stone one. Sami wanted a bridge that could lift for boats. They talked, tried two sketches, and made a bridge with a lifting middle. A younger child stopped to watch. “Can my bus cross?” she asked. Nila began saying where buses were allowed, then paused. “Where would you like it to go?” Together they added a stop beside the school and enough space for the bus to turn.
A town still growing
By the end of playtime, the town was much less tidy and much more interesting. The bakery had a boat landing. The bus driver delivered imaginary buns. Nila’s favourite house stood beside Sami’s river. “We should remember this for tomorrow,” she said. Sami drew a little picture of the bridge on scrap paper. They knew rain might wash the chalk away. That no longer felt like the end of the town. They could draw it again, with room for ideas neither of them had thought of yet.
The end
After the final page
There is no single right answer. Invite young readers to notice, wonder and imagine.
Why did Sami put down the chalk?
What changed when Nila asked about his river?
How did the children combine their bridge ideas?
Make something: Draw an imaginary place with a partner. Take turns adding an idea, and ask a question before changing something your partner drew.
