

Lila and Ben were playing in the park. They liked to dig in the sand and look for things. Sometimes they found shells, rocks, or coins. But today they found something different.
"Look, Ben, look!" Lila shouted. She held up a shiny thing in her hand. It was round and blue and sparkled in the sun. "What is it?"
Ben ran over to see. He took the shiny thing from Lila and felt it. It was hard and heavy. He rubbed it on his shirt and it glowed more. "Wow, Lila, this is a gem!" he said. "A gem is a very pretty stone. Maybe it is magic!"
Lila and Ben were very happy. They had never seen a gem before. They wondered where it came from and what it could do. They decided to keep it and show it to their mom and dad. They put it in their pocket and ran to the swings.
"Can I see the gem again?" Lila asked Ben.
"Sure, here you go," Ben said. He took out the gem and gave it to Lila. But as soon as he did, a big bird swooped down from the sky. It had a long beak and sharp claws. It grabbed the gem from Lila's hand and flew away.
"Hey, give it back!" Ben yelled. He and Lila chased the bird, but it was too fast. It disappeared behind the trees with the gem.
Lila and Ben were very sad. They had lost their gem. They sat on the bench and cried. They wished they had their gem back. They wondered if they would ever find another one. They hugged each other and said they were sorry. They still had each other, and that was more important than a gem.
