The children’s doorway — a room for one change

Original flash fiction · Invented characters · A collection worth returning to

The room was quiet enough to hear a pencil roll. Sam picked it up and wrote: “Young readers arrive at a collection written entirely for adults.” The words made an untidy feeling visible.

Beside the description, Sam wrote an alternative: “Give them a clearly labelled space with readable instructions.” The two sentences looked almost too small to change an afternoon.

They did not change everything. The pencil stayed on the table beside a piece of work that could now move.