A Shoebox of Changes PDF

On Tuesday afternoon, Alannah sat at the dining room table with a shoebox in front of her. It was empty except for strips of cardboard dotted with spots of grey and white and yellow, a little bigger than grains of sand. She tucked her hair behind her ears and stared at the spots like she was examini...

On Tuesday afternoon, Alannah sat at the dining room table with a shoebox in front of her. It was empty except for strips of cardboard dotted with spots of grey and white and yellow, a little bigger than grains of sand. She tucked her hair behind her ears and stared at the spots like she was examining the night sky and marvelling at the constellations of stars. She had something interesting to tell her best friend, Diya, at school tomorrow. Her younger sister, Larissa, popped her head next to Alannah's. 'What's in the box?' 'Silkworms.' 'There's nothing in there.' 'They're the eggs.' 'When will they hatch?' 'Soon.' 'Where did you get them from?' 'Mr and Mrs Pourhanifi next door.' 'What do they eat?' 'Mulberry leaves. Mr and Mrs Pourhanifi's mulberry tree hangs over our fence, and they said I can have all the leaves I need.' Alannah plonked the shoebox lid back on and went to her own room and put the shoebox on her desk near the window. She told Diya about them the next morning at school and offered to show them to her when they'd hatched. Eventually, after checking every morning and afternoon, on Sunday morning, Alannah yelled from her room, 'Larissa! They've hatched.' Tiny black squiggles moved between the eggs. Alannah dashed from her room, followed closely by Larissa, out the backdoor and down to the mulberry tree. 'How much do we need?' asked Larissa. 'I don't know. I hope this is enough,' said Alannah holding a handful of glossy green leaves and heading back inside. She put her handful of leaves on the desk, selected one and put it down gently near the tiny black silkworms. They wriggled and writhed, found the edge of the leaf, and started chomping. Within days, the eggs had hatched, and dozens of black squiggles crawled over and under the leaves. Alannah told Diya how she collected fresh leaves from the mulberry tree in the morning and checked again in the afternoon to see if they needed more. Diya was intrigued when Alannah told her how the silkworms ate into each leaf from the edge, carving the letter C. At the end of the week, after the silkworms had hatched, Alannah lifted the lid and watched the silkworms reaching for fresh leaves, but she had none to give them. She removed the stems as they rolled about looking for food. They had grown so quickly, from tiny black squiggles to white caterpillars that looked like little marshmallows stuck together. Larissa stood at Alannah's bedroom door. 'Are you going to get leaves?' 'No.' Alannah glared at her sister, stood up and slammed her bedroom door shut. 'Why are you angry at me?' asked Larissa from behind the door. 'I'm not angry.' 'Yes, you are.' Alannah frowned and knew Larissa was right. She was angry, but not at her sister. 'I'm sorry,' she said, opening her bedroom door. 'I was angry because Diya told me she isn't going to the same high school as me next year. I stormed away and didn't speak to her all afternoon.' 'Why is Diya going somewhere else?' Alannah shrugged. 'She tried to tell me but I ignored her.' 'Maybe it made her sad to tell you.' Alannah sat on her bed like a balloon losing air. Her heart felt empty and sad because her best friend wouldn't be with her next year. 'Can we get leaves for the silkworms?' asked Larissa, still outside the door. 'I'll need help carrying the stepladder from the garage to reach the big leaves,' said Alannah. They traipsed together down the backyard to the long low branches of the mulberry tree. Once they had enough leaves, they went back inside, and Alannah put them on the kitchen bench like a set of patty cake papers. When Larissa returned with the shoebox, Alannah scooped up handfuls of silkworms and filled each mulberry leaf. They removed the skeletons of the old leaves from the shoebox, piled them on the bench, and checked for any last silkworms. The old leaves and tiny black pellets of silkworm poo were swept into the kitchen bin under the sink. New mulberry leaves were laid out like a blanket inside the shoebox and the leaves, with their cargo of silkworms, were transferred back inside. Alannah picked up a silkworm and put it into her palm. The once tiny black squiggle had grown into a large white caterpillar and was still growing. She realised she was about to go through her own changes, and it made her afraid. Afraid of next year in high school---a new school with a new uniform---and afraid of leaving her best friend. She thought Diya must be scared of all the changes too. She wanted to tell Diya about the silkworms changing so quickly but she didn't know what to say. She was still upset about Diya's news. At dinner that night, Larissa proudly spelled 'metamorphosis' correctly. 'It means the silkworms will soon spin cocoons and become moths. Then they'll lay eggs and next year we'll have silkworms again.' Alannah thought about the transformation that would soon happen to the silkworms, and how she and Diya would do the same at the end of the year. After dinner, she went to her desk and wrote Diya an apology, letting her know that she understood how hard it would be to leave her best friend behind. In class on Monday, Alannah handed Diya her note. 'I'm sorry for what happened on Friday.' Diya pulled a note out of her pocket and gave it to Alannah. 'I'm sorry too.' After school, Alannah sat under the dappled shade of the mulberry tree with Diya's note and reread it. *Alannah, I'm sad we won't be at the same high school next year too. I still want to be friends for the rest of this year. And next year. And forever. *She accepted that her best friend was going to a different high school, but it still hurt in her heart. The mulberry leaves rustled and whispered in the afternoon breeze. Next year was still months away and there was all of summer to spend time with Diya. At school the next day, Alannah said to Diya, 'Can you come over? I want to show you the silkworms.' When Diya came over on Friday, Alannah grabbed her hand and raced with her to the mulberry tree. Alannah climbed the stepladder and picked the biggest and brightest green leaves. Back at the kitchen bench, Alannah opened the lid and looked for the largest silkworms. 'Hold out your hand.' Diya held her hand out like a plate and Alannah placed silkworms onto it. Diya raised her hand closer to her face and watched the mandibles open and close as tiny feet danced an intricate pattern along the skin of her palm. 'Touch them,' said Alannah. Diya lowered her finger slowly and ran it along the back of the silkworm. 'They're really soft.' She paused. 'Mum said I'll be getting a phone for Christmas.' 'Me too,' said Alannah. 'We can stay in touch even though we'll be at different schools.' Diya put the silkworms down on a new leaf and together they cleaned the shoebox. A couple of weeks later Diya was back over at Alannah's and they were cleaning out the silkworm box. Diya picked up the remains of a leaf and pointed to the corner. 'Look there.' A silkworm had climbed a little way up and was weaving threads of silk around itself in a figure-eight pattern. The girls watched as the silkworm created its own tiny cocoon universe. Each day there were fewer silkworms to feed and more cocoons in the shoebox until all the silkworms had spun cocoons and the shoebox was silent. Alannah and Diya compared the different colours of the cocoons: pale cream, light yellow and bright gold as they cleaned the shoebox of old leaves and droppings. In two weeks, the shoebox came alive with the soft flapping of the moths' wings. The girls cupped them in their hands and felt the soft brushing of their wings and antennae like a gentle tickle. As quickly as the activity started, it ceased as the moths mated, laid their eggs and died. A few days later, Diya helped Alannah remove the dead moths from the shoebox. They cut out strips of cardboard carrying the eggs and slipped them into an envelope for safe keeping. Alannah cut a cocoon off the wall and held it in the palm of her hand, so small and delicate, yet strong. She felt as hollow as the cocoon when she thought about high school without her best friend but knew their friendship would be as strong as silk. Alannah folded an origami box, put the cocoon inside it and gave it as a gift to her best friend.