Dinosaur Trees
1My little brother, Neel, is four years old, and he has one big rule. He will not eat anything green. Not peas. Not spinach. Not even green apples.
2On Tuesday night, Papa made chicken, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. Neel looked at his plate and folded his arms. "No green," he said. Papa sighed. Mom sighed. I looked at the little broccoli pieces. They looked like tiny trees. Then I had an idea.
3Neel loves dinosaurs more than anything. He carries a plastic long-necked dinosaur named Stomper everywhere, even to the dinner table. So I pushed Neel's mashed potatoes into a smooth hill. Then I stood the broccoli up in the potatoes, one piece at a time, until it looked like a little forest.
4"Look, Neel," I said. "Stomper is hungry, and long-necked dinosaurs love to eat trees." Neel made Stomper stomp across the table and pretend to munch a tree. Then Neel ate one tree himself. Then he ate another. Soon the whole forest was gone.
5Mom and Papa stared at Neel's clean plate. "How did you do that?" Mom whispered to me. I just shrugged and smiled. The next night, Papa made green beans. Neel looked at them and asked, "Can you make these into dinosaur fences?"