The Kite That Came Down Gently
- 3 minute read
- Ages 4-9
- Bedtime Stories
On the roof in the evening there were kites, the way there always are in that season, dozens of them over the whole neighbourhood at different heights.
Sana's was the small green one.
Her father had made it, and it was not the best kite on that roof by a long way, but it went up easily and it stayed up, which is more than could be said for some of the expensive ones.
Higher
She let out line.
It went up past the water tanks and past the level of the tallest house on the street, and then past the kites belonging to the boys on the next roof, and then it was one of the highest things in the sky, and the line in her hands had gone thin and light the way it does when there is a great deal of it out.
Her father stood next to her and did not touch anything.
"How much more is there?"
"Not much," he said.
The end of the string
She let out the rest of it and came to the end.
There was a small loop tied at the very end of the line, and after that there was nothing, and the kite went on pulling in a steady way that meant it wanted to be further up than she could send it.
She stood there holding the loop.
And she thought about letting go, which is a thing every child on that roof has thought about, and her father did not tell her not to.
What she did
She did not let go.
She held it for a long time, right at the end of the line, with the kite as high as it was ever going to get, and she watched it move about up there in the last of the light.
Then, when the sky had gone from orange to nearly nothing, she began to bring it in.
It took ages. Kite line is slow to wind and there was a great deal of it.
And the kite came down through all the levels it had gone up through, past the boys' kites and past the tallest house and past the water tanks, getting bigger the whole way, and she caught it with both hands at the edge of the roof.
Downstairs
Her father carried the reel and she carried the kite, and they went down the stairs in the dark, and the small green kite went behind the door in the hall where it lived.
And it was still there in the morning, which is the entire point of the story.
Moral of the story
Letting go would have been the exciting ending and it would have been the last one. She wound in a great deal of line in the dark instead, and had a kite the next day.
Questions and answers
- Whose kite was it and who made it?
It was Sana's small green kite, made by her father.
- Was it the best kite on the roof?
No, but it went up easily and stayed up, which the expensive ones did not always do.
- What happened when she reached the end of the line?
There was a small loop at the very end and nothing after it, and the kite kept pulling to go higher.
- What did she decide to do?
She held on, watched it for a long time, and then wound it in as the light went.
- Why does the story end with the kite behind the door?
Because it was still there in the morning, which is what winding it in bought her.
Word meanings
- reel
- The spool that kite line is wound onto.
- loop
- A circle made in a piece of string or rope.
- wind
- To turn something round and round to gather it in.
- steady
- Continuing at the same rate.
Questions about The Kite That Came Down Gently
What is the moral of The Kite That Came Down Gently?
That the exciting choice is often the one that ends the thing. She gave up a moment and kept the kite.
Why does the father not tell her what to do?
Because the decision is hers and the story is about her making it. He stands next to her and says almost nothing throughout.
Is this a good story for bedtime?
Yes. Nothing is at risk, the pace slows through the second half, and it ends with a kite put away and a house going quiet.
What is a good question afterwards?
Ask whether the child would have let go. Plenty say yes, and that is a good conversation rather than a wrong answer.