Matilda sat across from her grandfather on the small boat on the bay. There were two boats on their tour. Matilda was in one with a tour guide and her grandfather. George and Amelia, her cousins, were in the other boat. Matilda could hear them chatting and laughing with each other. Neither had wanted Matilda with them on their boat—there was only room for two passengers, and they immediately chose each other. As always, Matilda felt just a little hurt. She was the one who was usually left out.

Matilda was not one for idle chatter, though. Neither was her grandfather. They listened to George and Amelia’s endless jabber and shared a smile. It seemed that George and Amelia were more interested in interacting with each other than with the whales they had come to see. Her grandfather winked at her, and she smiled into his wrinkled, wise eyes. She was happy to be in this boat with him.

Matilda and her grandfather patted their hands on the surface of the water softly, just as the tour guide had told them to. They waited in silence, as their boat drifted gently away from the one carrying George and Amelia. Matilda reveled in the feel of the warm, salty breeze on her face. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed it in.

Matilda opened her eyes with a gasp as she felt something beneath her hand on the surface of the water. A giant gray whale had come to her! Matilda could barely breathe. She looked over at her grandfather. He was happily petting another whale—a baby whose mother had nudged it over to him! Matilda was in awe. She stroked her whale’s smooth, slippery skin. The whale turned its head to look at her with one wrinkled, baseball-sized eye. It seemed that the whale was looking into her soul and liked what it saw. Matilda gazed back and smiled. She forgot all about her chattering cousins in the other boat.

• Evidence:

• Matilda and her grandfather sit and wait quietly on their boat.


• Gray whales come to visit them and be stroked by them.

• Evidence:

• Matilda and her grandfather share a smile in the second paragraph. It states, ". . . she looked into his wrinkled, wise eyes. She was happy to be in this boat with him."


• In the fourth paragraph, Matilda makes a similar connection with the whale. It says, "The whale turned its head to look at her with one wrinkled, baseball-sized eye. It seemed that the whale was looking into her soul and liked what it saw. Matilda gazed back and smiled."