The Button That Waited

Mina stood just inside the library door with a red button pressed into her palm. Across the room, children were making puppets from socks, ribbons, and buttons. She wanted to join them. Her feet, however, felt as if someone had tied their laces to the floor.

A boy at the table held up a sock dragon. “It still needs an eye,” he said. Mina looked at her red button. It would make a splendid dragon eye. She took one step, then another, and stopped when her cheeks grew hot.

The librarian did not pull Mina forward. She simply placed an empty chair at the edge of the table. Mina could sit near the group without speaking. She laid the button beside the dragon. “For the eye,” she whispered. The boy smiled and passed her the thread.

Soon the dragon blinked its bright red eye at everyone. Mina had not needed one enormous brave leap. She had needed a chair at the edge, two small steps, and one useful button. On the way home, she kept the leftover thread as a reminder: courage can begin quietly.