I tried not to smile as I gathered the marbles. After counting them out by color and placing them into the holes, I looked at Sapphire and shrugged. 'There aren't enough.'

Miz Obee's face tensed, but Sapphire looked at her friend kindly, patted the table, and said, 'Just set up the board as best you can. We'll play with whatever we got.'

I thought that was one of the wisest things I'd ever heard anyone say.

Autor: Beth Hoffman