Follow the Happy Words

“Can we go draw with chalk?” Quinn asked Mom.

“Sure!” Mom said. “Let’s go.”

Quinn and his little brother and sister ran outside.

“I want blue!” yelled Quinn.

Kade and Chloe grabbed chalk too. They sat down and started drawing on the sidewalk. Mom picked up some red chalk and started writing.

“What are you doing?” asked Quinn.

“I’m writing happy words for the school kids when they walk home today,” Mom said.

Quinn could see the school from his front window. He liked waving to the kids as they walked by.

“What messages can we write to make them smile?” asked Mom.

Quinn read over Mom’s shoulder. “You’re …”

“Awesome!” Mom finished.

Quinn smiled and kept reading. “You rock. You can do it!”

Then Quinn got an idea. He started drawing a long line at one of Mom’s messages. He drew a line to the next one. Then he looped over to another.

“What are you doing?” Mom asked.

“I’m making a line for the kids to walk on,” Quinn said. He started running on the line. “See? I’m showing them where to find all the happy words.”

“I think that’s a great way to make everyone smile,” Mom said. And that made Quinn smile even bigger.

Illustrations by Asya Aizenstein