30 When I started school in the fall, I asked my father if I could meet him after I finished my homework. Every day I would start my homework as soon as school ended and then run straight to the forest. First I saw Poppi and did whatever chores he needed, and then I went to my best friend, Zappy. Our friendship continued to grow. He did all kinds of things that regular best friends do, but he just did them a little differently. School got tough but Zappy was right there for me. When it was time to move from addition to subtraction, I couldn’t figure out how all the numbers fit together. I trudged to the forest that day after school, knowing that Poppi would want me to work harder on math. “I just don’t get this,” I called up to the top of the tree where he was working. Poppi looked down. He could see how upset and frustrated I was. Instead of sending me home like I feared he would, he waved a hand in the air. “It will come to you,” he said. His loud voice carried down from the treetop and I craned my neck to look up at him. “It will?” He nodded. “What you need now is time to let your mind rest.” He tapped the side of his head. I felt a smile cross my face. “Really? I can stay here?” Poppi shook his head. “No, not here. Go to your quiet place and sit beneath your tree. There you can think and rest. The numbers will come to you.” I went straight to Zappy and told him all about my rough day. “I just don’t understand,” I explained. “I try and try, but it just doesn’t make sense to me.” Just then, five gumballs fell beside me and I picked them up. When I started to pop them into my mouth, Zappy swung a thin branch down to block my mouth. I looked at the gumballs. Two were blue; three were red. Zappy waved his branch again and swept the red ones out of my hand. “What are you doing?” I asked him. “Silly tree!”