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Two banrani girls next the palm tree wearing traditional dress
School announced a reading challenge. Maya, with eyeglasses and a backpack, grinned. "First stop, pirates!" she said. Pages whooshed; she imagined salty decks and sails. She returned, happy, placing a star sticker.
Floating outside a gleaming spaceship window in deep-space darkness, Maya, clutching her open book, gestures toward a small silver robot. Distant stars glitter and a bright comet arcs behind them, bathing the scene in cool bluish light.
Next, Maya opened a space adventure. "Blast off!" she cheered, adjusting eyeglasses. Stars glittered as she helped a lost robot find its comet. Back at school, she logged pages, heart racing.
In a humid jungle clearing, Maya kneels on mossy ground beside a friendly brown monkey, tracking pawprints etched in soft mud. Vines drape towering trees while a hidden waterfall glimmers through misty morning sunlight.
She grabbed a jungle mystery next. "We can solve it!" Maya whispered to vines. Following pawprints, she found a hidden waterfall and helped a monkey return home. She tallied pages, smiling.
Inside a brightly lit classroom decorated with reading-challenge banners, Maya opens a fairy-tale book at her desk as cheering classmates clap behind her. A large scoreboard shows her name tied at the top, and afternoon sunlight streams through tall windows.
On the last day, classmates cheered the challenge. Maya opened one more book, a fairy tale. "One more journey," she said. She tied for first, delighted. "The worlds are the real prize!"