The Chalk Box Kid

In the burned-out building, Gregory erases all of his drawings that have nothing to do with gardens. He replaces them with rows of vegetables, sunflowers, and sweet pea vines. He adds a path and a pool with a toad sitting by it. He asks his mother to come see what he has created, but she replies that she does not like the abandoned factory and wishes he would find a different place to play. When he asks his father to come and see, his father jokes that if Gregory draws strawberries, his father will come and eat them when they are ripe. Gregory does not ask Max, because “Uncle Max would only laugh” (42).

At school, the other children talk about their gardens. Miss Perry asks about Gregory’s garden, and he tells her about having sweet peas, vegetables, and a path leading to a pool. Unaware that he is talking about drawings rather than live plants, she is surprised to hear that Gregory has such a large and fancy garden.

Gregory continues to expand his garden, adding trees with vines hanging from them and birds’ nests in their branches.