The Seven Who Were Looking for a Place
The train stopped at a tiny station surrounded by pine trees, and didn't start moving again.
— We're going to be still for a little while — a calm voice announced over the loudspeaker.
Beatriz rested her forehead against the window and sighed. Outside there was an empty bench, a sleeping cat, and nothing else to see.
— How long is a little while? — she asked.
Grandpa Joaquim smiled and took a blue metal box out of his backpack, which clicked when he opened it.
Inside there were clear tiles with numbers painted in black, red, blue, and orange, and black stands to hold them upright.
— A little while is the time it takes to play a game — Grandpa said. — This one comes with us wherever we go.
Duarte, the older brother, opened the little table between the seats. Each one took out their tiles and arranged them on the stand, with the numbers facing them.
— Do you remember? — Grandpa asked. — You can make runs with consecutive numbers, or sets of three with three tiles of the same number. The first person to run out of tiles wins.
Duarte immediately laid down a red run: 4, 5, 6. Then Grandpa laid down a set of three nines, each one in its own color.
Beatriz looked at the stand. She had a 2, a 3, and a 4, all blue. She carefully placed them on the table.
— A run! — she said, very proudly.
Round after round, the stand became lighter. The numbers came out, joined others, and formed new paths on the little table.
Until only one tile remained in front of Beatriz: a red 7.
She looked for another 7. There wasn't one. She looked for a 6 and an 8. There weren't any of those either.
— This seven is all alone — she said, with a wrinkled nose. — It doesn't have a place anywhere.
Outside, the cat woke up, stretched, and moved to another bench. The train remained stopped.
Beatriz crossed her arms. She felt like closing the box and looking out the window again.
Grandpa didn't give her the answer. He just pointed at the table.
— Sometimes, the place isn't on our stand. It's in what has already been built.
Beatriz leaned over the little table. She saw Grandpa's set of three nines. She saw her blue run. And she saw, right by the window, Duarte's red run.
She counted softly, her finger jumping from tile to tile:
— Four, five, six... seven!
She took the red 7 and placed it at the end of her brother's run. The numbers followed perfectly, like steps.
Beatriz's stand was empty.
— I'm done! — she exclaimed, and immediately covered her mouth, because they were on a train.
Duarte laughed.
— My run got bigger because of you.
— And your seven isn't alone anymore — Grandpa added.
At that moment, a long whistle was heard and the train gave a little jolt. The pine trees began to slide slowly past the window.
Beatriz looked at the table full of runs and sets.
— Already? But now I wanted to play again!
Grandpa gathered the tiles, put everything in the blue box, and closed the lid. Click.
— We'll play when we arrive — he said. — Or at the next place where we have to wait.
Beatriz placed the box on her lap and, for the first time on that trip, wished that the train would stop just a little while longer.
3 game ideas
The lonely tile. Choose a tile at random and look together for where it can fit: in a run of consecutive numbers or in a set of three with the same number.
Waiting game. Take the game on a trip or to a place where you need to wait and play a short game, like Beatriz on the stopped train.
Runs out loud. Before placing a run on the table, the child says the numbers from smallest to largest, to confirm that they follow perfectly like steps.
Featured product
The Rummikub Travel Game Metal Box is a number game where you make runs and sets until you run out of tiles. The travel format, in a metal box, allows you to take the game wherever the family is, just as Beatriz's Grandpa did.
