What is empathy? Scarlett wondered, pushing a toy cat across the floor. Her pet rock, Jacob, didn't seem to have an answer. He just sat there, being a rock. Scarlett decided to go on an adventure to find out!
She crawled through her playhouse, pretending it was a spooky cave full of dinosaurs. She loved dinosaurs! The big ones with long necks were her favorite. Suddenly, she heard a giggle. Was it a ghost?
"Boo!" a voice whispered.
Scarlett giggled back. She wasn't scared. She crawled out of her playhouse and into the living room. There, floating by the bookshelf, was a see-through, shimmery...something.
"Are you a ghost?" Scarlett asked.
The shimmery something giggled again. "Maybe! Are you scared?"
Scarlett shook her head. "Why are you sad?" she asked, pointing to the ghost's frown.
The ghost looked surprised. "How did you know I was sad?"
"You have a frown," Scarlett said, pointing to her own face.
The ghost touched its shimmery face. "Oh. I miss my dinosaur."
Scarlett gasped. "You had a dinosaur? What kind?"
"He was a big green one with spikes on his back," the ghost said sadly. "We used to play hide-and-seek in the backyard, but then I forgot where he was hiding, and now I can't find him!"
Scarlett felt sad for the ghost. She knew how it felt to lose something special. Like that time her favorite sparkly purple crayon rolled under the couch. It was sad not knowing where it went!
"Don't worry," Scarlett said. "We'll find your dinosaur!"
Scarlett, with Jacob tucked safely in her pocket, searched all over the backyard. They looked under bushes, behind the swing set, even in the sandbox.
"What does your dinosaur like to do?" Scarlett asked. "Maybe that will help us find him."
"He loved to eat leaves from the tallest branches!" the ghost said.
Scarlett looked up at the big oak tree in the corner of the yard. It had the tallest branches! She climbed up, up, up, with Jacob bumping along in her pocket. And guess what?
There, nestled in the highest branches, was a big green... leaf?
"Hmm," Scarlett said. "Maybe your dinosaur isn't here after all."
Suddenly, the leaf wiggled. Then it stretched and yawned, revealing a sleepy, smiling face.
It wasn't a leaf at all! It was a tiny green dinosaur, small enough to fit in the palm of Scarlett's hand. He must have shrunk in the wash!
The ghost flew up to the tree and scooped up the tiny dinosaur. "You were hiding here all along!" he cried. The dinosaur licked the ghost's face with its tiny pink tongue.
The ghost was so happy to have his dinosaur back! He was giggling and spinning, and the little dinosaur was giggling, too.
"See," Scarlett said to Jacob as they watched the ghost and dinosaur play. "That's empathy! When you understand how someone else feels and try to help them."
Jacob, being a rock, didn't say anything. But Scarlett knew he understood. She gave him a squeeze, and they went back inside, feeling happy that they had helped the giggling ghost find his long-lost friend.
