An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Nell had arranged the apples in careful rows before the market bell rang. Her father had shown her how to turn each one so its red cheek faced the aisle. Now, alone behind the stall, she watched people pass without stopping. A woman glanced at the fruit and moved on.

“They are too small,” Nell muttered, though she had polished them until the cloth was damp. She began to cover the basket with a sheet. Then a little girl halted beside it, staring at the smallest apples.

“Those are just the size for my pocket,” the child said. Nell pulled the sheet away. She selected three and placed them in the girl’s hands. The child’s mother smiled and asked for a dozen more. As Nell counted them out, she explained that the orchard’s shaded trees had given smaller fruit that year, but the apples were sweet.

Soon, another customer asked to taste one. Nell cut an apple and offered a slice. Its crisp sound seemed to carry farther than the market bell. The customer bought a basketful.

At noon, her father returned. Only a few apples remained. Nell did not claim that every one had sold easily. She told him about the first woman who had walked past, then described how the child had changed her mind. Her father listened, and Nell began arranging the last apples without waiting to be told.

“Through Nell’s experience at the market, the writer shows how her confidence develops.”