Third Grade
Worksheets
Kia and the Spiteful Splinter
National Peanut Butter Fudge Day
Reading Comprehension for November 20
Babies in the sunny South are blessed with star dust. At Lana's birth, the stars sprinkled her with golden smart dust. Then came her sister, Kia, whose stars sprinkled silver laughing dust on her so that she could spread joy. One bad star threw a tiny splinter into the dust that fell on Kia. The splinter stuck in her hip. Its poison spread through her legs. Her mother and father asked their doctor for help.
"Your daughter is under the spell of a nasty little star," the old doctor said. "His name is Spiteful. It was Spiteful's splinter on the end of the spindle that pricked Sleeping Beauty. His poison caused her to sleep 100 years." The doctor shook his head. "This is a different spell. Kia will remain awake, but as time goes on she will lose the use of her legs."
One day a few years later, the girls were playing outdoors after school when Kia stopped and bit her lip.
"Kia, what's wrong?" Lana asked.
"My legs feel funny." Kia fell to the grass. "Hurry! Get Mom and Dad!"
Lana raced into the house and found her parents. They ran like the wind to where Kia was lying in a small heap.
After leaving Lana at her grandparents' house, Kia's parents sped her to the doctor. It was Spiteful's magic. They couldn't stop the spell, and they returned home with Kia. Nobody smiled, especially not Kia, who hated Spiteful and his spell.
When Kia got home, Lana ran to greet her with a box of peanut butter fudge. It was Kia's favorite.
"Kia! I'm so glad you're home. I've missed you!" Lana said. She stood beside Kia's bed and held out the box, but Kia didn't reach for it. She didn't even look at it.
"Go away, Lana. Can't you see I don't feel good?" Kia frowned as if she were mad at Lana.
A lump rose in Lana's throat as she looked down at the fudge. She sat the box on a chair and left, pulling the door shut behind her.
Kia shivered in bed, feeling sad and mad and scared. Gifts from friends were stacked at the foot of her bed, but they didn't make her feel better. She pulled the covers up to her face and wished she could run and dance as she once had.
A noise startled her. It came from Lana's room next door. It sounded like crying.
