"Mostly the kids at school left Mira alone.
So she spent recesses sitting under a maple
tree, feeding seeds to a crow.
She didn't mind.
Not really."
Mira's love for birds began as soon as she was old enough to hear their song while napping in her carriage in the park. She loved to sing like the doves before her second birthday. Her cat's gift of a bird into their house had everyone in a panic. Mira was the epitome of calm. She offered the love and peace the bird so badly needed.
"She paid attention. She watched the birds and learned their language.
She drew them in her notebook. Eventually, she and the birds understood
each other completely."
Mira was not nearly so comfortable with the people she encountered, including at school. Then, one day, a new boy arrived. It turned out that Jad was different from their classmates; just as Mira was. Although Mira wanted to tell him, she could not find the words that would let Jad know she liked him.
Jad loved trees in the same way that Mira loved birds. Neither one had much to say to the other. It took two birds to spark an idea with Mira that changed the relationship between the two children. The resulting artwork created by the two almost-friends was just exactly what both needed to find common ground and a lasting (though very quiet) friendship.
The warm, peaceful world created by Zach Manbeck is perfectly complementary to Mr. Lappano's quiet, thoughtful prose.
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