“Look what I found, Olivia!” Mom called from the living room. “It’s a drawing I made when I was your age!”
Olivia skipped over, her smile wide. "Wow, Mom, it's a beautiful castle with a prince and princess!" Mom had always been an amazing artist. "They look so happy," Olivia said, noticing their big smiles.
"They do, don’t they?" Mom said. "That’s because they understand the importance of gratitude. When we’re grateful for what we have, it makes us happy."
Olivia went to school thinking about gratitude. In art class, their teacher, Ms. Lily, showed them a sparkly crown. "This is for the Prince and Princess in our school play!" Ms. Lily announced. “We need to keep it safe.”
But at the end of the day, the crown was gone!
Olivia gasped. "It's gone! We need to find it!"
"Don't worry," said Ms. Lily. "We'll search everywhere."
Olivia joined her classmates, looking under desks and behind bookshelves. But the crown was nowhere to be found.
Feeling discouraged, Olivia sat in the quiet classroom. “What would a detective do?” she thought. Then she remembered something her mom always said: "When you're feeling lost, look to your heart for guidance."
Olivia closed her eyes, picturing the happy prince and princess in her mom’s drawing. “Gratitude makes people happy,” Olivia whispered. “Maybe someone took the crown because they weren’t feeling grateful… and if they aren’t grateful, they might not be very nice.”
Olivia’s eyes flew open. There was one boy in her class, Thomas, who was often grumpy. "Ms. Lily," Olivia said, "Can I talk to Thomas? Maybe he saw something."
Ms. Lily agreed, and Olivia found Thomas in the courtyard, kicking a soccer ball.
"Hi, Thomas," Olivia said. "I was just wondering if you saw anything strange today. You know, about the missing crown?"
Thomas stopped kicking. "Why would I know anything about that?"
Olivia remembered how the prince and princess in her mom's drawing were always smiling.
"Well," Olivia said, "I was thinking about how grateful I am for this school and for all my friends here. It makes me sad that someone might not feel the same way and took the crown."
Thomas looked down at his shoes. “I… I liked looking at the sparkly crown,” he mumbled. “It reminded me of my grandpa. He had a cool hat with a shiny jewel.” Thomas sniffled. “I really miss him.”
Olivia’s heart softened. "It's okay to be sad," she said. "I miss my grandma sometimes, too. But taking something that doesn’t belong to us isn’t the way to feel better. Maybe you can draw a picture of your grandpa’s hat instead. That's what I do when I miss my grandma."
Thomas wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "You really do that?"
Olivia nodded. "It helps me remember all the good times."
Thomas took a deep breath. “I... I put the crown in my backpack. I just wanted to look at it for a little bit.” He ran to his bag and pulled out the crown.
Olivia beamed and took the crown back to Ms. Lily. Soon, everyone was smiling again. Thomas even joined the other kids in singing a happy song about gratitude.
Later that day, Olivia told her mom the whole story.
“You were a real detective, Olivia!” Mom said, hugging her tight. “You used your kind heart and your smart brain to solve the mystery.”
Olivia hugged her mom back. “It feels good to be grateful,” she whispered. And as Olivia drifted off to sleep that night, she dreamed of sparkling crowns, happy princes and princesses, and the magic of a grateful heart.
