“Five-Year-Olds Only!” Friend, May 2019
Five-Year-Olds Only!
The author lives in Colorado, USA.
Illustrations by Gail Armstrong
Kyle was building a pretend fort.
He dragged chairs over from the table. He got a green blanket from his bed. Then he got a blanket from Mom and Dad’s bed.
Kyle pulled the blankets over the chairs. He tied one blanket with some string to make a door.
This is a good fort, Kyle thought. It’s just right!
Then Kyle got a favorite book and toy. He got his pillow. He lay down inside the fort.
Sandi stuck her head into the fort. Sandi was Kyle’s little sister. She was three. “Can I play too?” Sandi asked.
Kyle frowned. Sandi always wanted to do what Kyle did. But sometimes she broke his toys. Sometimes she tore his books.
“This fort is for five-year-olds!” he said. “You’re not old enough to come in.”
Sandi’s eyes filled with tears. “I’ll be careful,” she said. “I promise.”
But this was Kyle’s fort. He built it himself. He did all the work. Kyle shook his head. “No,” he said.
Sandi trudged away. Kyle could hear her crying.
Kyle opened his favorite book. It was about dinosaurs. But he couldn’t read it. The words were blurry. He had tears in his eyes. He felt bad about being mean to Sandi.
Kyle crawled out of the fort. He went to find Sandi. She was on her bed. She was wrapped in a blue blanket. Her eyes looked sad.
“I’m sorry,” Kyle said. “You can come in the fort. We can pretend you are five.”
Sandi smiled and jumped down from her bed. “Thank you! Thank you!”
“I have an idea,” Kyle said. “Let’s make a sign for the fort. We’ll call it Kyle and Sandi’s Fort.”
Sandi ran to get the crayons. Kyle felt good inside. Now the fort was even better.