The Map of the Playground

The hallway of Oakridge Elementary School was very long, very bright, and very loud. Children were laughing, lockers were clanging shut, and clean sneakers squeaked against the shiny floors like little mice. Aya held her breath and squeezed the soft straps of her green backpack.

In and out, she thought, taking a slow, deep breath, just like her mother had shown her.

Step, step, step, went her shoes. She followed the signs on the wall, which had friendly yellow ducks painted on them. Finally, she found the door with a big, cheerful number four.

Inside, Room 4 smelled wonderful. It smelled like freshly sharpened cedar pencils, clean paper, and sweet peppermint soap. Aya looked around. There were bright posters of the alphabet, a cozy reading corner piled high with giant, fluffy pillows, and rows of neat wooden desks. On one of the desks near the big window, she saw a little white card. Written in neat, blue letters was her very own name: Aya.

Aya smiled. A warm feeling bloomed in her chest. She slid into the seat, and it was the perfect size.

Bip-bop-whir!

Aya looked down at her green plastic pencil box. Sitting right on top of the lid was Buzz.

Buzz was no bigger than a juice box. He was made of shiny, sky-blue metal, with two bright yellow lightbulbs for eyes and a little silver antenna that wiggled whenever he was excited. To anyone else, the pencil box looked completely empty. But to Aya, Buzz was as real as the wooden desk.

"Desk location secured," Buzz whispered in his cheerful, metallic voice. He did a tiny, happy tap-dance on the plastic lid, his little feet making a soft click-clack sound. "Excellent choice of seating, Partner. We have a clear view of the window and the chalkboard."

"I am so glad you're here, Buzz," Aya whispered back. She kept her voice as soft as a sigh so her new teacher, Mrs. Gable, wouldn't hear.

"An explorer never travels without a co-pilot," Buzz said. His screen-tummy lit up with a glowing green smiley face. "Are you ready for morning lessons?"

Aya nodded. She took out her favorite pencil. With Buzz sitting right next to her pink eraser, the morning did not feel quite so scary. She practiced writing the date in neat cursive letters, and she listened to Mrs. Gable read a funny story about a dog who tried to fly a helicopter. Aya laughed along with the rest of the class.

But soon, a loud, ringing bell echoed through the classroom. BRRRING!

"It is time for recess, class," Mrs. Gable announced with a warm smile. "Please put on your light jackets and head out to the playground."

Aya’s tummy did a sudden little flip. The classroom was safe and quiet, but the playground was huge.

When she stepped outside, the sun was bright and warm, but the schoolyard felt like a giant jungle. There were tall metal climbing bars, three different slides, and a field of green grass that seemed to go on forever. Dozens of children were running, jumping, and playing tag. It was a whirlwind of loud voices and fast feet.

Aya stood near the red brick wall of the school. She felt very, very small.

"Scanning perimeter," Buzz said, popping his shiny head out of her jacket pocket. "Warning: High levels of movement. Probability of getting lost in the crowd: forty-two percent."

"What should we do?" Aya asked, pulling her jacket a little tighter around her shoulders.

"When an explorer enters a brand-new territory, they do not just run in," Buzz said, his little antenna spinning like a tiny fan. "They make a map! A scouting mission, Partner. What do you say?"

Aya’s eyes brightened. She loved maps. She loved looking at small details and figuring out how things fit together.

"A scouting mission," Aya agreed, her voice growing stronger.

She reached into her backpack and pulled out her small drawing pad and her favorite black pen. She walked slowly along the edge of the playground, keeping close to the fence where the grass was quiet and cool. Buzz rode on her shoulder, pointing his tiny metal finger at different landmarks.

"Over there," Buzz whispered. "The Swings of Destiny. And to the left, the Great Red Slide."

Aya smiled and began to draw. She drew a neat square for the sandbox, a long rectangle for the hopscotch grid, and a big, bumpy circle for the climbing dome. Her lines were neat and clean. With every stroke of her pen, the giant, scary playground began to feel a little more familiar. It was just a collection of friendly shapes, after all.

As she drew, Aya walked toward the far corner of the yard, where a magnificent, ancient oak tree stood. Its leaves were a deep, rich green, and its thick roots curled out of the earth like giant wooden fingers.

Under the cool shade of the oak tree, Aya noticed someone else.

It was a boy with messy brown hair and a bright blue jacket. He was sitting all by himself, leaning his back against the wide trunk of the tree. He didn't look at the kids playing tag, and he didn't look at the swings. He was looking intensely at a large sheet of paper in his lap.

Aya stepped a little closer, her sneakers crunching softly on the dry grass. She was careful to stay quiet. She didn't want to startle him, but she was very curious.

Using her quiet observation skills, Aya looked at the paper in the boy's hands. It wasn't a map. It was a drawing—a highly detailed, incredibly cool drawing of a spaceship. It had giant rocket boosters, solar panels shaped like dragon wings, and a little glass dome on top for the pilot.

He likes space too, Aya thought, her heart giving a hopeful, excited little thump.

"Intriguing design," Buzz whispered in Aya's ear, his yellow lightbulb eyes blinking in appreciation. "Those thrusters look capable of reaching warp speed. He is a very clever engineer."

Aya wanted to say hello, but the words felt stuck in her throat like a dry crumb. What if he didn't want to talk? What if he thought her map was silly? She stood there, frozen in the shade of the oak tree, holding her drawing pad close to her chest.

Suddenly, a playful gust of wind swept across the playground. It swirled through the branches of the oak tree, making the leaves rustle like paper.

The wind caught the edge of the boy's drawing pad.

"Oh!" the boy gasped, reaching out quickly to hold his papers down.

He managed to keep his spaceship drawing safe, but the wind was too fast. It snatched a bright yellow colored pencil right out of his fingers. The pencil fell to the grass and began to roll. It rolled over a thick root, bounced through a patch of green clover, and kept going.

Roll, roll, roll.

It stopped right against the toe of Aya’s left sneaker.

Aya looked down at the bright yellow pencil. Then, she looked up at the boy.

She bent down and carefully picked up the pencil. It felt warm from the sun. But when Aya looked back up to hand it to him, the boy was already scrambling to his knees. He was looking the wrong way, searching through a thick patch of tall grass in the opposite direction.