The Case of the Missing Yellow

The yellow pencil lay in the flat of Aya’s hand. It was warm from sitting in the sun, and the smooth wood smelled like cedar and playground dust. Just a few feet away, under the cool, leafy shade of the giant oak tree, a boy was searching through the grass. He patted the pockets of his bright blue shorts. He lifted up a large, curly brown leaf and peeked underneath. He looked very, very confused.

Aya squeezed the pencil. Her heart did a sudden little flutter, like a butterfly trapped in a jar. She wanted to walk over. She wanted to hand him the pencil and say hello. But her sneakers felt as heavy as giant blocks of gray stone, pinning her to the spot.

"I don't know, Buzz," Aya whispered, keeping her eyes glued to her shoes. "What if he doesn't want to talk to me? What if I say the wrong thing and sound silly?"

Right beside her, a soft, musical whirring sound filled the air. Only Aya could hear it, and only Aya could see where it was coming from. Buzz was her very best imaginary friend. He was a small, shiny silver robot, no taller than a juice box. He had bright blue light-bulb eyes that glowed when he was happy, and a heart made of a tiny, spinning green gear. Right now, Buzz was standing on the edge of her drawing clipboard, doing a cheerful little tap-dance to make her smile. His tiny metal feet went clack-clack-clack against the plastic.

"Beep-boop!" Buzz whispered, his metallic voice warm and full of energy. "Courage engines are warming up, Captain Aya! The yellow pencil is the key. Without yellow, how can he draw the sun? How can he draw a yellow submarine, or a field of bright dandelions? He needs his yellow!"

Aya looked back at the boy. He had given up on searching the grass and was now staring sadly at his drawing pad, his shoulders slumped.

"You are a clever explorer," Buzz said, his blue eyes blinking in a comforting rhythm. "Explorers do not let a little hill stop them. We just need a countdown. Countdowns always work for rockets."

Aya felt a tiny smile tug at the corners of her mouth. "A countdown?"

"Yes!" Buzz stood up straight, puffed out his shiny silver chest, and saluted with his left arm. "Initiating courage sequence in five... four... three..."

Aya took a deep, steadying breath. The air smelled like fresh-cut grass and the sweet, warm scent of the playground pavement.

"...two..." Buzz continued, his voice rising with excitement. "...one... launch!"

On the word launch, Aya actually lifted her foot. It didn't feel like heavy stone anymore. It felt light, like it was filled with helium. She took one step. Then she took another. Buzz floated right along beside her shoulder, his little green gear spinning rapidly as he made quiet rocket-booster noises. Whoosh, whoosh, click-whir.

The dry grass crinkled softly under her sneakers as she walked out of the bright sunshine and into the cool, quiet shade of the oak tree. The boy was still looking down at his paper. He had messy brown hair that stuck up in the back, and his blue t-shirt had a picture of a smiling yellow star on the front.

Aya stopped a foot away. Her throat felt a little dry, but she pictured Buzz’s friendly blue eyes and felt a sudden spark of bravery. She reached out and gently tapped the boy on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," Aya said. Her voice was quiet, but it was clear and steady.

The boy turned around. His brown eyes went wide when he saw what she was holding.

"I think you dropped this," Aya said, holding out the yellow pencil. "The wind rolled it all the way over to my feet."

The boy’s face lit up with a giant, bright smile that reached all the way to his eyes. He stood up so fast that his drawing pad almost slipped off his knees. "Oh, thank you so much! I thought it was gone forever. I looked in the grass, under the roots, everywhere!"

He took the pencil, his fingers brushing hers. It was a very friendly, polite hand-off.

"I'm Leo," the boy said. He stuck his hand out to shake, just like a grown-up at a business meeting.

Aya blinked, surprised, and then she laughed and shook his hand. "I'm Aya. I'm new here."

"Nice to meet you, Aya!" Leo said, pointing to the soft patch of grass under the tree. "Do you want to sit down? The sun is really hot today, but the tree keeps it nice and cool. It's like a secret fort."

Aya looked at the shady spot. It did look very cozy, dappled with bits of golden sunlight dancing through the leaves. She looked up at Buzz, who was hovering near a low oak branch, giving her a tiny, enthusiastic thumbs-up.

"I would love to," Aya said. She sat down on the grass, tucking her legs under her, and placed her clipboard in her lap.

"What are you drawing?" Leo asked, leaning over to peek at her page.

"Just a map of the playground," Aya said, suddenly feeling a little shy again. "I like to know where all the paths go."

"A map! That is so cool," Leo said, his eyes shining. He held up his own drawing pad so she could see. "I am drawing a rocket ship. But it is not just a regular space rocket. It is a playground rocket ship!"

Aya leaned in to look. Leo’s drawing was wonderful. The rocket had three big, curved fins at the bottom, a round porthole window in the middle, and a long, curly slide coming out of the side.

"See?" Leo explained, pointing with his newly returned yellow pencil. "You climb up the ladder inside the rocket, and then you slide all the way down into a giant sandbox. But I have a big problem."

"What is the problem?" Aya asked.

"A rocket ship needs a pilot," Leo said, shaking his head with a sigh. "And I don't know how to draw a pilot's helmet. Every time I try, it just looks like a giant, lumpy bubble."

Aya looked closely at the drawing. She thought about her own sketchbooks at home, filled with drawings of deep-sea divers, astronauts, and brave explorers. She loved drawing round, shiny helmets.

"I can help," Aya said softly. "I know a trick for drawing helmets. You just have to draw a perfect circle first, and then you put a little flat line at the bottom for the collar."

Leo’s eyes shone with excitement. "Really? Can you show me?"

He slid his drawing pad over so it sat right between them on the grass. Aya took her favorite black drawing pen from her pocket. Her hand was not shaking at all now. Carefully, she drew a smooth, round astronaut helmet right inside the window of the rocket ship. Inside the helmet, she added two friendly eyes and a happy, waving pilot.

"Whoa," Leo whispered, leaning closer. "That is perfect! You are a really, really good artist, Aya."

"Thank you," Aya said, her chest feeling warm and light. She had done it. She had walked over, she had talked to someone new, and she had found a friendly face. Leo was incredibly nice, and he loved drawing just as much as she did.

"Hey," Leo said, his smile growing even wider. "Do you want to join my design team? We can design the whole playground together! We can add a submarine swing set and a castle climbing wall."

"Yes!" Aya said, her heart leaping. "I would love to be on your design team."

"Awesome," Leo said. He tapped his chin thoughtfully with the yellow pencil. "First, we need to draw the control panel inside the rocket. It needs lots of buttons. Red buttons, blue buttons, and especially a big green button for the launch sequence."

"I have a red colored pencil in my bag," Aya said, reaching for her pencil case.

"And I have the yellow!" Leo said. "But wait..." He began rummaging through his pockets again. He flipped through the pages of his drawing pad. He looked in the grass around his knees. His bright smile faded. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Aya asked.

"My favorite green marker," Leo said, his voice dropping to a sad whisper. "The one I use for all the best launch buttons. I think... I think I left it back inside the classroom on my desk."