

Anna and Ben were playing in the garden. They liked to dig and find things in the dirt. Sometimes they found worms, sometimes they found stones, sometimes they found nothing.
"Look, Anna, I found a shiny thing!" Ben said, holding up a metal ring. "What is it?"
Anna looked at the ring. It had some letters on it. She could not read them. She tried to guess.
"Maybe it is a ring for a finger," she said. "Or maybe it is a ring for a door. Or maybe it is a ring for a game."
Ben shook his head. "No, no, no. It is too big for a finger, too small for a door, and too boring for a game. I think it is a ring for a secret."
"A secret?" Anna asked. "What kind of secret?"
Ben shrugged. "I don't know. But it must be a secret, because it is hidden in the dirt. Maybe it is a magic ring. Maybe it can do things."
Anna was curious. She wanted to try the ring. She reached for it, but Ben pulled it away.
"No, Anna, it is mine. I found it. You can't have it."
Anna was sad. She wanted to share the ring with Ben. She thought it was not fair. She started to cry.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on here?" a voice said. It was their uncle. He had come to visit them. He saw Anna crying and Ben holding the ring.
"Uncle, uncle, look what I found!" Ben said, showing him the ring. "It is a secret ring. It is mine."
Uncle smiled. He took the ring and looked at it. He read the letters on it. He knew what it was.
"Ben, this is not a secret ring. This is a useful ring. This is a key ring. It has keys on it. Keys can open things, like doors and boxes and cars. Do you know who these keys belong to?"
Ben shook his head. He did not know.
"These keys belong to me," uncle said. "I lost them a long time ago, when I was playing with you in the garden. I was looking for them everywhere, but I could not find them. You found them for me. Thank you, Ben. You are very clever and helpful."
Ben was surprised. He did not know the ring was uncle's. He felt sorry for taking it. He gave it back to uncle.
"I'm sorry, uncle. I did not know. Here, you can have it. It is your ring."
Uncle hugged him. "Thank you, Ben. You are very kind and generous. And you know what? You can still play with the ring, if you want. You can pretend it is a secret ring, or a magic ring, or whatever you like. As long as you share it with Anna. She is your sister, and she likes to play with you. Right, Anna?"
Anna nodded. She stopped crying. She smiled at Ben. She was happy that uncle was here. She was happy that Ben wanted to share the ring with her. She thought it was fun.
"Yes, uncle. I like to play with Ben. And I like to play with the ring. Can we play with it together?"
Uncle nodded. "Of course you can. You can play with it as much as you want. But remember, it is also a useful ring. It can open things for me. So don't lose it again, okay?"
Ben and Anna nodded. They promised to take care of the ring. They thanked uncle for letting them play with it. They ran to the garden. They played with the ring. They guessed what it could do. They had a lot of fun.
