10 Thankful

10 Thankful Jack opened his eyes. He sighed. They were wearing their own clothes again. His leather bag was a backpack. Sunlight slanted through the tree house window. As always, no time at all had passed in Frog Creek. “ Home, ” said Annie. She held up the pouch of corn seeds. “ Proof for Morgan we found a special magie. " “ The magie of community, " said Jack.

Annie placed the pouch on the floor-next to the scrolls from Shakespeare and the twig from the gorillas of the cloud forest. " Let's go, " she said. Jack took the research book out of his pack. He left it under the window. Then they climbed down the rope ladder. As they started through the woods, a warm wind blew, rattling the leaves. Jack felt happy. He was looking forward to visiting their grandmother today and seeing their cousins and aunts and uncles. “ You know, Pilgrim kids had a really hard life, " said Annie. “ Yeah. They did as much work as the grown-ups, " said Jack. “ Maybe more. ” “ Worst of all, lots of their friends and family members died, ” said Annie.

“ Yeah, " said Jack. Both were silent for a moment. “ If they could be so thankful, " said Annie, " we should be really thankful. ” “ No kidding, ” said Jack. “ Really, really thankful. ” And they were.