Sam had spent all week building a kite out of newspaper, string and two thin sticks. On Saturday, the wind was perfect. The kite leaped into the sky, dipping and climbing like a bird.
Then a gust yanked it sideways. The kite slammed into an oak tree, and one stick snapped with a crack. Sam's shoulders sank. "A whole week," Sam muttered, "wasted."
Mr. Okafor, who lived next door, walked over with a roll of tape. "Broken things can teach you something," he said. He pointed at the snapped stick. "See how thin this is? The wind bent it too far."
That afternoon, Sam rebuilt the kite with a thicker stick and a longer tail to keep it steady. The new kite climbed higher than the first one ever had. Sam grinned up at it. Maybe the week hadn't been wasted after all.