The Idea That Grew (Fiction)

Lexile: 710 | Grade: 4

Passage

Lena sat in her garage, staring at her little brother’s muddy soccer shoes. Every day, he left footprints on the clean kitchen floor. Mom wasn’t happy about it.

“There has to be a better way,” Lena muttered.

She grabbed a shoebox, some felt, and an old doormat. Then she started cutting, gluing, and sketching in her notebook.

After two days and three failed attempts, Lena created a “shoe scrubber” that wiped off mud as someone stepped into it.

Her brother tested it after soccer practice. The mud stayed in the box—and Mom smiled.

“You might have invented something really useful,” Mom said.

Lena beamed. “Maybe it’ll be the first of many!”