I frowned. “I guess … I guess I just felt like everyone else was having a good time except for me,” I said. “People like Nia, well … their lives are so … BIG. And I just felt so … small. I’m sorry.”

Ellie took a long breath. She seemed to be thinking. “I think that some of the most important things are small,” she said.

I didn’t understand.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She looked around the library.

“Look at that sun beam coming through the glass over there,” she said, pointing behind me.

I turned. There was a haze of yellow light coming down from the window and making a warm orange glow on the library carpet. The other children in the library were walking through it, not noticing it was there. I looked back at Ellie.

“Or maybe a small thing could be watching a blackbird bathing in a puddle,” Ellie said, “or the delicious smell you get when you mix up the ingredients for a cake, or reading something in a book that is so interesting it makes you smile. That’s what I mean about the small things.”

I thought I understood what she was saying. Ellie had been through a great deal and I guess she now looked at the world in a different way to the rest of us.

“I think I see,” I said.

“Sometimes it’s those small things that are the best,” said Ellie. “We forget to enjoy them.”

“But I am sorry for lying,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ellie said. “Let’s put it behind us and just enjoy today, shall we?”

I grinned as I felt a huge wave of relief wash over me. I suddenly remembered something.

“Wait there a minute!” I said.

I ran back to class. Poking out of the top of my bag was a rolled-up piece of paper. I grabbed it and headed back to the library.

“This is for you,” I said, handing Ellie the piece of paper.

Ellie unrolled the sheet.

“Oh, wow, it’s a heart!” she said. “It’s so beautiful.”

She gently ran her fingers over the collage.

“I love it, Anna,” she said. “I’m going to put it straight on my bedroom wall when I get home. Thank you.”

I smiled. It had been great doing some art again. I’d forgotten how relaxed it made me feel. I was definitely going to do more.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s choose some books, shall we? I think there’s a few about the Titanic in here that you might not have read.”

Ellie smiled at me and she slowly stood up.

“That sounds like a brilliant idea,” she said.

Author's Note

Author’s Note

I am very lucky with my job because I get to visit lots of schools and readers all around the UK.