Hector loved to collect things. Every recess, he would search the playground for objects that interested him. While walking near the swings, Hector found some shiny, pink pebbles. He chose the prettiest pebbles and put them in his pocket. Under the oak tree, Hector found piles of acorns. He rubbed his finger over their rough, brown tops. Then he chose four acorns to add to his pocket. Near the slide, he found a pile of sticks. Hector sorted them by size. He put five smooth, thin sticks in his pocket.
Hector wandered around the playground. He heard other kids running, shouting, and playing. Hector didn’t try to join them. Instead, he found more objects to collect. Hector pocketed buttons, rubber bands, and a bright red feather. Soon his pocket was filled with items from his collection.
Hector saw some seashells in the sandbox. He picked up the biggest shell and dusted the sand off of it. Hector wanted to keep the shell, but there was no room left in his pocket.
“Hi, Hector!” said Lisa. She was playing in the sandbox. “Do you want to help me build a sandcastle?”
Hector had never built a sandcastle before and wanted to help Lisa build one. He wasn’t sure what to do, though. He tried to sit in the sandbox, but he had trouble because of all the items in his pocket. Instead, Hector quietly handed Lisa the big shell he had found.
“Wow!” said Lisa. “This shell will make the perfect door for our sandcastle.” Hector watched Lisa push the shell into the sandcastle. If the castle had a door, maybe it needed some windows too, Hector thought. He remembered the acorns he had collected. He wanted to keep them, but he also thought they would look nice on the sandcastle. Hector reached into his pocket and pulled out the acorns. “Do you want some acorns to use for your windows?”
“Thanks! Help me put them on the castle,” said Lisa, smiling. Hector tried to sit in the sand again, but the sticks he had collected jabbed into his leg. He pulled them out of his pocket. Earlier, Hector had imagined how nice the sticks would look in his collection of items at home. But now he thought they also would look nice as flags on Lisa’s sandcastle.
Hector removed the buttons, rubber bands, and shiny pebbles from his pocket. He felt the special red feather in his pocket too, but he didn’t take it out. He spread the other objects out on the sand. Hector sat down and began adding acorn windows to the sandcastle.
“Where did you find all this great stuff?” asked Lisa.
“On the playground,” Hector replied. “I like to collect things.”
“Those colorful buttons are pretty,” said Lisa. “We could use them to build a path to our sandcastle!”
Hector looked at the buttons he had found. The gold, blue, and green buttons would look great in his collection at home. But they would look nice as a sandcastle path too.
“Sure,” Hector said. “You can use these to build your path.” He handed her the buttons.
“You mean to build our path,” replied Lisa. She smiled at Hector. “It leads to our sandcastle!”
Hector smiled and placed five buttons in front of the castle. The buttons led to the door that Lisa had made using the seashell. “Let’s use these sticks as the flags on our castle,” said Hector, smiling. He then pulled the bright red feather from his pocket. “And this can be the special flag for the very top of it!”
After school, Hector went home with empty pockets. But he was very happy. By sharing the objects he had found, Hector had added a friend to his collection.