Scene 1:

-Grace laid curled up in her bed with her head laying on her pillow. In her hands, she held a picture in front of her face. The picture was a snapshot of Grace and Maya going down the large hill on the rollercoaster with Grace's eyes closed as she grabbed onto Maya's arm. As Grace looked at the picture, tears began to come out of her eyes. Suddenly the sound of the door to Grace's room being knocked on could be heard, followed by the sound of Ms. Wilson's voice.

Ms. Wilson: Grace, are you up? You have a visitor.

-Grace suddenly sat up in her bed and called out to Ms. Wilson loudly.

Grace: Yeah, I'm up! Come in!

-The door to the room opened, and suddenly Grace's friend: Abigail ran in.

Abigail: Hey there Grace.

Grace: What? Abigail!? What are you doing here?

Abigail: I knew where you lived and my mommy called here earlier asking if I could come visit you. I was told I could, and now I'm…

-Abigail suddenly stopped talking as she took a good look at Grace's face.

Abigail: Have… have you been crying?

Grace: Uh… I…

Abigail: You've been crying a lot lately, haven't you?

Grace: What!? How do you know that!?

Abigail: I can see there are a bunch of small water marks all over your pillow. Either your roof is leaking water, or your eyes have been.

-Grace looked down as she sighed. Abigail then picked up the small photograph on the bed that was near Grace.

Abigail: Hey. This is her, isn't it? That nice before and after care teacher you told me about?

Grace: Well… yeah.

-Abigail then sat on the bed next to Grace.

Abigail: You miss her don't you?

-Grace simply nodded her head silently. Abigail then held out a backpack she was wearing, and then from it: took out a picture.

Abigail: Here. This might cheer you up.

-Abigail handed Grace the picture. Grace immediately looked at the picture and saw it was a simple drawing of herself and Abigail outside of their school.

Grace: Wow. Thanks.

Abigail: You're welcome. While at summer camp, I was really starting to miss you. But then I started to draw pictures for people like you do, and I started to not feel as bad when I missed you. So does my picture look good to you?

Grace: Oh yeah. It's great. Hmm…

-Grace continued to look at the picture Abigail had given her, as her face suddenly began to look much more focused.

Scene 2:

-Grace was walking down a hallway but stopped when she glanced into another room and saw several young children were sitting in a kitchen like area at a table as Ms. Wilson was standing near them.

Ms. Wilson: Now children, for snack today we'll…

-Suddenly Ms. Wilson heard the sound of a baby crying in a room nearby.

Ms. Wilson: Shoot. I thought I could leave them be for just five minutes.

-From one of the seats a young girl cried out.

Young Girl: When are we getting snack?

Ms. Wilson: Soon. Very soon. Um…

-Suddenly Grace walked into the room and spoke up.

Grace: Hey Ms. Wilson. I can give the little kids their snack. It's goldish and juice today, right?

Ms. Wilson: Well… yes. Um… thank you Grace. Um… I'll be right back.

-Ms. Wilson then rushed out of the room as Grace walked over to a table where food was present.

Grace: Okay. Which young friends here would like some grape juice?

Scene 3:

-Ms. Wilson was rushing down a hallway while looking at her watch.

Ms. Wilson: Oh my. I didn't realize I was gone that long. I hope the children are…

-Ms. Wilson walked into a room and stood surprised as she saw Grace and all of the young children sitting around a table drawing pictures using markers and crayons.

Ms. Wilson: All of you are… doing an art project?

Grace: Hmm? Oh, hey Wilson. Yeah. After everyone had snack, I got out all the crayons, makers, and paper you had lying around. I showed everybody some of the pictures I've made and then they all wanted to start making their own.

Ms. Wilson: Well… that's good. That's very…

-Suddenly Ms. Wilson heard the sound of a baby crying in a nearby room.

Ms. Wilson: Um… keep doing what you're doing. I'll be right back.

-Ms. Wilson then quickly rushed out of the room.

Scene 4:

-Ms. Wilson was rushing down a hallway while looking at her watch.

Ms. Wilson: Oh my. I've been gone even longer this time. I hope all of the children are…

-Ms. Wilson walked back into the room and saw Grace sitting on the floor with all of the young children crowded around her. Grace held up a piece of paper in front of the young children as she read from it to them.

Grace: And so even though the little dog was once hurt, he learned that he couldn't let fear stop him forever from doing amazing things with his life. So the little dog rejoined the circus and made people laugh again; because now the little dog knew that sharing his amazing talents was a wonderful thing.

-Ms. Wilson stepped closer to the group as she looked at what Grace was holding.

Ms. Wilson: Um… thank you for leading story time Grace. But… is that a book you're holding there?

Grace: No. It's just a little story I wrote up to match one of the pictures I drew. I was going to read everyone a few more I made if that's okay.

Ms. Wilson: Well children, we have to clear this area so that the older children can use this room now. But… Grace, if you want to keep reading to the younger children still, you can take any of them to your room and keep reading as long as you'd like there.

Grace: Okay. Anyone that still wants to hear the next story can come with me.

-Everyone then got up as several of the young children started to follow Grace.

Scene 5:

-Grace was sitting on the floor of her room as the young boy: Sammy sat in her lap, while another young boy walked out of the room.

Young Boy: I'm tired. Good night.

Grace: Good night. So Sammy, do you wanna go back to your room now too?

Sammy: Nah. Can I stay in your room tonight?

Grace: Well you can till it's your bed time.

-Sammy then looked out Grace's window and saw the night sky filled with the moon and stars.

Sammy: Wow. There are so many stars in the sky.

-Grace and Sammy both began to look up at the night sky together as Grace put her arms around Sammy and held him close.

Grace: Yeah. There are.

Sammy: How many stars are out there?

Grace: Well… I've been told that no one really has an answer to that question. But you know stars are actually just suns that are really far away.

Sammy: Really?

Grace: Yeah. In fact some stars out there are actually even bigger than the sun our planet rotates around. But because it's way farther away, it looks like a tiny dot. But even if a sun is super far away, we can still be touched by its light.

Sammy: Wow. That's amazing.

-Grace continued to look up at the stars as she smiled.

Grace: Yeah. Even when your favorite star is far away… it can still have meaning, and can still be shining your way.

Scene 6:

-Grace walked into the before and after care auditorium and saw Maya sitting at a table, already doing some drawing on a piece of paper. Grace smiled and walked over to the table and then sat right in front of Maya. Grace then made a very calm face as she spoke up.

Grace: Hey.

-Maya looked at Grace with a calm face as well and spoke up.

Maya: Hey Grace. Good to see you again. How was your summer?

Grace: It was fine. So, um… I had some free time this summer and made you this.

-Grace then handed Maya a large poster containing a very detailed picture. The picture was filled with a montage of artistic depictions of Maya and Grace sitting together, playing catch, and riding on a rollercoaster together.

Maya: Grace… this is amazing. Thank you so…

Grace: By the way. I also brought this.

-Grace then took out a large astronomy book and put it in front of Maya.

Grace: So I've been doing some research and learned some really cool stuff. Did you know that long ago, people thought everything in the universe revolved around the Earth? It was known as heliocentrism.

Maya: Hmm. Very interesting. Anything else you've discovered?

Grace: Well let me open up the book and show you…

Scene 7:

-Grace was in her room as she was hanging up a photograph on her wall. The picture was of herself and Maya looking at an astronomy book together in the before and after care auditorium. Grace smiled as she looked at the picture. Suddenly Sammy came running into the room smiling.

Sammy: Grace!

-Grace got on her knees as she held her arms out.

Grace: Sammy!

-Sammy and Grace instantly gave each other a hug.

Sammy: I missed you today.

Grace: I missed you too.

-Sammy then looked at the wall and noticed the new photograph on it.

Sammy: When did you get that new picture?

Grace: Today. One of my teachers: Miss Smackle finally got to take her prize winning candid shot she had always wanted to take and I just happened to be in it. Oh, speaking of pictures…

-Grace then took out of her bag: a drawing of multiple jungle animals.

Grace: I made you a picture in after care today with all of your favorite jungle animals.

-Grace then handed Sammy the picture as a big grin went across Sammy's face. Sammy then gave Grace a big tight hug.

Sammy: Thank you so much Grace.

-As Sammy hugged her, Grace turned her head to look at the multiple photographs she had on the wall of herself and Maya together. As Grace looked at the photographs, she smiled and spoke softly to herself.

Grace: Thank you, Miss Maya.

Scene 8:

-Maya walked into a hospital room with a large bag in one of her hands. Maya then used one of her other hands to move a chair towards a bed where Riley was laying. Riley's eyes were closed as she had several tubes and wires connected to both her body and a machine near her. Maya then sat next to Riley and gently grabbed one of Riley's hands with her own.

Maya: Hi Riley. I don't know if you can hear me… heck, for this entire year I don't know if you've been able to hear anything I've said. But… every day no matter how hard I tried… there would always be some part of the day where I would get angry… or get sad… or just not want to feel happy ever again. But today… for the first time in so long… today actually felt like a good day. I still feel such incredible pain inside me whenever I think about how we lost Erika or how you still haven't woken up in so long but… I never thought I would ever say this ever again but… today was actually a good day. And… I hope you're okay with that.

-Maya then took out of her bag the large picture Grace had made her. Maya then hung it on the wall near Riley. Maya looked at the picture and then smiled as she spoke softly to himself.

Maya: Thank you Grace.

END OF CHAPTER 5

Upcoming Chapters For the Series:

-Chapter 6: The Bigger Picture (Coming 5/5)

-Chapter 7: What Really Happened (Coming 5/7)

-Chapter 8: New Good Days (Coming 5/9)