The teacher did not single anyone out.

Sophie noticed Oliver taking a banana one morning, then talking happily with another boy about a science project.

She did not tell him why the basket had appeared.

At home she asked her mother whether she had done the right thing.

“You noticed someone,” Hannah said.

“And you asked how to help without hurting his feelings.

That’s a good thing.”

That weekend Nathaniel joined them for a walk through the park.