Marjorie’s Rain Shelter

Marjorie and Francesca arrange a pretend café on the garden picnic table. They have empty cups and a small picture menu. A basket holds wooden play food to share with Mum.

A few drops land on the menu as they finish setting out the cups. Francesca moves the paper under the basket. More rain begins to spot the table around their game.

Marjorie wants to hold a coat above everything. But she soon needs both hands. Mum points to the covered veranda. She asks what they need to carry so the café can continue.

They put the wooden food into its basket and collect the empty cups. Francesca carries the menu flat against her coat. Marjorie takes the basket to the dry veranda table.

Mum wipes a few drops from the cups. The girls lay their game out again. The menu is slightly damp at one corner. All its food pictures are still clear enough to use.

Now the sound of rain on the roof becomes part of their café game. Marjorie offers Mum a pretend warm drink while Francesca chooses wooden fruit from the basket beside her.

The veranda is smaller than the picnic area. The girls move two cups closer. Everyone can still reach the food without stretching across another person’s place.

When the rain stops, the girls decide to finish their game where they are. “Our café came with us,” says Marjorie, looking at the dry table rather than the wet garden.