It was Sarah’s ninth birthday. She could hardly wait for the day to come, because  she just  KNEW what she was getting for her present from Mum and Dad. It was something that she had wanted for ever so long…. a  pair of boot roller skates. The only  thing she didn’t know about them was the colour they would be.

At last, the morning  dawned, and sure enough there was the parcel waiting to be opened. There were other parcels there too, but this was the one she had been waiting for! She couldn’t get the paper off quickly enough, and there they were! Just what she had been wanting for so  long!   Gleaming white boots, with the rollers underneath!

Sarah quickly put them on her feet, only to be told, “Not inside please!” She went outside on the concrete path, and started to skate carefully along. Her two brothers followed her.

“Aw, give us a turn Sarah”, they said.

“No, your feet are too big, and you’ll stretch them!” she said to Tom, the eldest one.

“Well, what about me?” asked Jack. Sarah pretended not to hear. Her little sister was looking longingly at them too, but she knew it was no use even asking…. her feet were far too small!

“Breakfast’s ready” their mother called, so Sarah took them off reluctantly. She hugged them tightly on her lap as she sat down at the table. After breakfast was over, she went outside again, and when she wasn’t skating, she sat down on the steps hanging onto her skates in case one of the others picked them up and tried them while she wasn’t  looking.

The boys never gave up asking. “Come on Sarah”, they said, “Can’t we have a turn?”

“No, you can’t”, she cried stamping her foot, “Leave me alone!”

By the end of the day, Sarah was tired out with hanging onto her skates every minute of the day. She sat glumly at the tea table, looking most miserable.

“I think this has been the horriblest day of my life”, she sighed. “Everyone’s been so nasty and grumpy with me!!”

Her father looked at her kindly. “Don’t you think it would have been much nicer for you to have shared your skates with everyone, even if they didn’t fit properly? The boys would have soon got  tired of following you around and pestering you then”.

Sarah sighed again. “Maybe”, she said as she left the table and went off to put her skates out of sight under her bed.

Her father shook his head.

“Let this be a lesson to the rest of you”, he said, “Even if you  want to play  with your things all day, it’s much better to be generous and share them with  the others!”