“A Friend for Mr. Maurice,” Friend, January 2018
A Friend for Mr. Maurice
The authors live in Utah, USA.
Illustrations by Scott Peck
Go past my house again, and I’ll hose you down!
What’s he mad about?
We weren’t even doing anything!
Let’s play basketball instead.
If that ball goes in my yard, you’ll never see it again!
Uh … I think I’m gonna head home.
Me too. See ya!
The next day, Dad and Carter go on a hike.
Whew, I’m tired! Let’s take a break.
You OK?
Mr. Maurice is really mean.
Well, his wife just died. Maybe he needs a friend. Try to be kind, OK? Jesus taught us to love everyone.
It’s easier to love some people than others.
Maybe. But everyone needs love.
Later …
Jesus would be nice to Mr. Maurice. Maybe I can try.
I want to help him. …But what if he gets mad?
Um … do you need some help?
Oh. Thank you. I’m planting my wife’s favorite flowers. You could help bring the rest from the garage.
If you want, we can try to get it running later..
Cool! I love trains.
How’s it going?
Great! Mr. Maurice showed me his electric train. We’re going to fix it later.
Later that day …
How about we build the track tomorrow?
Want to give it a try?
Whoa!
You know … Mr. Maurice isn’t so hard to love after all.