Read the passage.

A Gift

Regina rested in the backseat of her parents' car and silently watched the passing scenery out the window with an aching heart as she left her summer world behind. Her mind wasn't on what her eyes saw outside, but on the package that she clutched to her chest and on the person who had given it to her. Soft humming prompted her to glance at her twelve-year-old brother Jamal, who sorted through the box of old comic books he had been given. He hadn't stopped looking at the container's contents since the box had been handed to him. Regina remembered how his eyes had widened and seemed to glow when he first opened the box. "Classics!" he whispered, awestruck, and practically swooned as he gingerly touched each comic book in the collection. Regina thought he should have been wearing white gloves. His amazement amused Regina. In her mind, Regina imagined that Jamal was a long-ago forty-niner discovering an overlooked gold nugget at the height of the California gold rush. Jamal tightly held onto his collection. Each comic book was a gleaming nugget, and he was reluctant to let any of them out of his sight. Now he settled on a comic book to read as they logged the miles home. His contented humming was interrupted by an occasional satisfied sigh. Regina smiled faintly, appreciating the familiarity of the family around her, and returned to the soothing vigil of staring out the car window at the passing landscape.

Regina now thought about her grandmother, the giver of the package in her arms. The woman had always made her feel like Cinderella, attending to her feelings when no one else seemed to notice. She was Regina's savior in times of need and a comfort when no one else understood her teenage angst. Regina felt a tear of gratitude but didn't let it fall. She would have to wait until next summer to visit her grandmother's house again, to till the vegetable garden and tend the flower bed. There would be laughter around the kitchen table as she learned about the family history of sharecropping and departing the South for better opportunities elsewhere. Her grandmother would share thoughts on life as Regina learned how to bake pies and "put a little bit of the love you have inside in each one." None of her grandmother's recipes were written down, as the woman had no need for written instructions after years of cooking, but she explained it all to Regina. Regina sighed again and let the grateful tear finally fall. She wished they lived closer to Grandmother.

The surroundings started to seem familiar, as did her own emotions, alerting Regina that their odyssey home was drawing to a close. She looked again at the brown paper-wrapped package that felt like a part of her. It was soft and squishy, just like her grandmother, and she thought she knew what the package contained. Despite having little materially, her grandmother had given a gift to everyone as they hugged good-bye until next summer. The package Regina held was hers from the woman she loved so dearly.

"We're home," Regina's mother announced as the car pulled into the driveway. "Back to the real world." Regina paused for a moment, resting her hand on the door handle as she clung to the package. She glanced over at Jamal, who had packed away his comic book treasure and was exiting the car. Regina climbed out, too, package in hand. She closed her eyes and stretched out her back and legs. As the daylight began to fade, the gentle breeze that surrounded Regina was a soft embrace, comforting and kind, the same type of loving hug that her grandmother had given her during her visit. That zephyr's soft squeeze—that tiny cuddle—reminded Regina that her and her grandmother's closeness in thought and heart was unaffected by the miles between them.

Regina found her feet and headed to the house. When she entered, her mother was opening windows and letting in fresh air. Regina's eyes met her mother's, and understanding passed between them. While it was good to be home, they would miss their days at Grandmother's. Regina's mother nodded gently, "I know, honey." Regina hugged her. "Are you ready to open that package and see what Grandmother gave you?"

"I think I'd like to take my package to my room and open it by myself," Regina replied. "I'll show you in a little bit." Regina entered her room, closing the door behind her. Carefully she placed the package on the bed, slipped out of her shoes, and put her sweater on the back of a chair. Then she stood over the package, and slowly and deliberately undid the strings, taking care to preserve the plain paper wrapping. Regina removed the wrapping and let the paper fall to the floor. She smiled and buried her face in the quilt her grandmother had made for her.

Regina shook out the gift, lofting it, and caught her breath as the beautiful, colorful quilt settled almost perfectly on the bed. She smoothed out a small wrinkle. The quilt was full of color and made of fabrics with no discernible pattern, just like her grandmother's flower bed and vegetable garden. Its green center held the snap peas, okra, and fresh greens that she and her grandmother tended every year. The gold rosettes surrounding the green were the marigolds that kept the rabbits at bay, and the bright red corners were the rows of radishes and beds of roses that Regina tended and loved so well. Regina could feel every bit of love her grandmother had poured into the quilt, just like she did with her pies. Like a phoenix rising, her spirit soared once again. She smiled again at the quilt, whispering, "Thank you, Grandmother." Then she opened her bedroom door and called, "Wait until you see what Grandmother made for me!"

How does the imagery in this excerpt affect the passage?

The quilt was full of color and made of fabrics with no discernible pattern, just like her grandmother’s flower bed and vegetable garden. Its green center held the snap peas, okra, and fresh greens that she and her grandmother tended every year. The gold rosettes surrounding the green were the marigolds that kept the rabbits at bay, and the bright red corners were the rows of radishes and beds of roses that Regina tended and loved so well.

• It helps show that the small details of life with Grandmother join together to comfort Regina.
• It demonstrates that Grandmother’s many instructions have made Regina confident in herself.
• It suggests that Grandmother’s jumbled surroundings create confusion for Regina.
• It conveys the idea that the life Regina typically leads is forgotten while working with Grandmother.

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