Origami

As you guys know, my host brothers usually didn't get along with each other too well. However, one evening they were quietly doing origami together on the family room floor. Origami Boy, true to his name, was quickly whipping out complex designs of peacocks, elephants and other animals. Whiney struggled to keep up with his big brother by folding simple designs like turtles and cups. I remembered that I had some origami paper left over from when I made paper Thanksgiving turkeys. I brought out the origami paper and offered it to them.
"Shall we give this?" I said. Yes, that's what I said. I don't know if it sounded any better in Japanese than it does in English. Anyway they knew what I meant. Origami Boy's eyes lit up.
"Thank you!" He said. I was happy to have finally scored points with the two boys.
But quickly I realized that I had made a fatal mistake. There were three packs of origami paper, and two boys.

(Three packs of paper) divided by (two boys) = chaos. This equation is universally true.

I braced myself for the violent argument that would surely ensue. To my surprise, Origami Boy actually chose one pack for himself and gave the other two to Whiney, satisfying them both. I breathed a sigh of relief. Disaster narrowly averted.

But the two tykes had another surprise in store for me. I went into the kitchen to get a drink when suddenly Origami Boy appeared at my side.
"Here's an English origami book," he said. "Please use it. If you don't understand it I can help you."
Awww. Since the two boys almost never spoke to me, I was quite touched. We sat down at the dining room table and folded origami together, Origami Boy with his "Advanced Origami" book, me with my English book, and Whiney with "Origami for Children." Host Mom walked in the room with a basket of laundry and exclaimed,
"Oh! Origami! How nice." I think she was surprised not only to see the boys tranquilly playing together, but also interacting with me.
"I think Kelley is better than me, Mom." Origami Boy said, displaying a rare moment of humility. I guess my origami t-rex impressed him. Looking back I kind of wish I had kept it, but unfortunately I threw it away in the purge that was necessary to get my suitcase to shut.