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Authors: Betty G. Birney

School Days According to Humphrey (16 page)

BOOK: School Days According to Humphrey
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While Joey was working, he talked to me.
“I can't believe it, Humphrey. I got the best job of all! Good things hardly ever happen to me,” he said.
I'd never seen Joey so happy. As he put me back in my cage, he said, “It's just like having Giggles back. I can hardly wait until you come home with me.”
“Me either,” I squeaked, before I remembered Joey had that Frisbee-catching dog.
Then I climbed up to the top of my cage to get a better look at the two Pauls. They were taking down papers and old thumbtacks that were still on the bulletin board. Tall-Paul handled the top part of the board while Small-Paul handled the bottom part. They weren't talking to each other, but at least they were working together.
Near the end of the day, Mrs. Brisbane called Holly up to her desk and told her that she was doing a wonderful job.
“I was thinking, Holly. Being my assistant takes up a lot of time. Maybe it would make sense for Phoebe to be Rosie's assistant,” she suggested. “After all, they are Homework Collectors together.”
Helpful-Holly looked relieved. “I think that's a good idea,” she said. “If it's okay with Rosie.”
“I'll ask her,” Mrs. Brisbane said.
Of course, when she asked Rosie, it was no problem. And when she asked Phoebe to be Rosie's new assistant, Phoebe's face lit up.
Yes, my evening rearranging the Brisbane's Buddies cards was definitely paying off. And the worst class ever was looking a lot better. I was pretty pleased with myself for a while.
But after school, something happened that shook me down to the very tips of my paws.
Miss Becker paid a visit to Room 26!
I'd never actually seen Miss Becker before. She was a short woman with great big glasses that made her eyes look huge. That might have been a little weird, but Miss Becker also had a great big smile that made me like her.
“I hope you don't mind, Sue,” she said as she came in the room. “My students are very anxious for us to get a classroom pet, but I've never had one before.”
Mrs. Brisbane smiled. “My class was very fond of Humphrey and Og last year.”
“Oh, I know! That's all I hear. Humphrey this and Og that. That's just about all they talk about,” Miss Becker explained. “But I don't know. I never even had a pet as a child.”
“Why don't you come over and meet them?” Mrs. Brisbane suggested.
My heart sank down to the bottom of my toes. Was Mrs. Brisbane really going to give one—or both—of us away?
“I wasn't interested in having a hamster last year, either,” Mrs. Brisbane said. I remembered that well.
“Then Ms. Mac brought Humphrey in while I was gone,” she continued. “He added a lot to the classroom. So when Angie Loomis needed to get Og out of her classroom, I was happy to take him. It's funny, because sometimes I think they've actually become friends.”
Sometimes?
Og and I are friends
all
the time.
“But do you have to, you know
, touch
them?” Miss Becker said. Her big smile had disappeared.
“Sure, I do, but I don't mind,” she said.
Miss Becker leaned in close to my cage, so close her eyes seemed gigantic.
“They say Humphrey does many cute things,” she said, her voice quivering a little.
Mrs. Brisbane chuckled. “I should say so! Show her, Humphrey.”
I've never been shy about showing off my great gymnastic abilities. After all, it seems to please humans to watch me leaping, spinning, rolling and climbing and to hear me say SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK! But I was a little nervous about showing off so much that Miss Becker would want to move me to Room 18. Especially since she didn't even want to touch me.
But I always try to do what Mrs. Brisbane asks, so with a heavy heart, I hopped on my wheel and began to spin.
“Oh my!” Miss Becker's big eyes grew even wider. “He's certainly active.”
She didn't sound too pleased about that, so I decided to be a little more active. I jumped off the wheel and climbed up my tree branch as fast as my little legs could carry me. When I got to the top, I leaped onto the side of the cage.
Miss Becker gasped. “How does he do that?”
“He's a very clever guy,” Mrs. Brisbane said proudly. “But Og is no slouch either,” she said.
I had a chance to catch my breath while the two teachers turned their attention to Og's tank.
“He's a very handsome frog, isn't he?” Mrs. Brisbane asked.
Now, I consider Og a very fine fellow, but handsome? With that green skin, no fur at all, the huge mouth and those big googly eyes . . . which suddenly reminded me a lot of Miss Becker's eyes.
“BOING!” Og twanged. It was a pleasant sort of reply, but Miss Becker jumped back from the tank.
“What was that?” she asked.
“That's the kind of sound he makes.” Mrs. Brisbane was being very patient.
“And what does he do?” Miss Becker asked.
“He spends part of his time on the dry part of his tank and part of his time in the water,” Mrs. Brisbane explained.
Og must have been listening (with those ears I can't see), because he suddenly leaped into the water and began splashing wildly.
“Oh, my,” Miss Becker exclaimed. “He's awfully noisy, isn't he?”
I'd had it then. We'd been very polite to Miss Becker, but she certainly wasn't polite to us.
“Not as noisy as
you
are!” I squeaked.
Miss Becker looked back and forth between Og and me.
“How do you manage it all?” she asked.
“Oh, the children do most of the work,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Though I do enjoy bringing them home when I can. I think the point is something Ms. Mac told me when she brought Humphrey to Room Twenty-six. You can learn a lot about yourself by taking care of another species. That's proved to be very true.”
Miss Becker stared at Og and me for a while before she spoke again. “I don't know what to say. The students love them so much.”
Just then, Ms. Mac came in. “Am I interrupting something?” she asked.
“No! You're the perfect person to talk to,” Mrs. Brisbane said.
She was right. Ms. Mac was a perfect person . . . at least to me.
“Some of my old students are begging for a classroom pet and Arlene's trying to decide whether to get one,” Mrs. Brisbane explained. “So she came to look at Humphrey and Og.”
Ms. Mac smiled her wonderful, warm smile. “Any class would do better with those two.”
For once, I was sorry Ms. Mac had come to visit. I didn't want her to talk Miss Becker into taking me away.
“Thanks for your time, Sue,” Miss Becker said. “I still have a lot to think about.”
After Miss Becker left, Ms. Mac wanted to talk to Mrs. Brisbane.
“It's great to see my students learning to read,” she said. “But some of them are having a hard time, and I want them to see how much fun books can be.”
Mrs. Brisbane nodded. “That gives me an idea. We could work together.”
She glanced at the clock. “I've got to go now. I'll give you a call tonight and we'll talk.”
Just before Ms. Mac left, she bent down so she was eye level with my cage and Og's tank.
“Maybe my students need a classroom pet, too,” she said.
Suddenly, I had a sinking feeling that
both
Og and I would be leaving Room 26!
When Aldo came in to clean that night, it was clear right away that he was still upset.
“Richie called and said he thinks one of you is coming to Miss Becker's class,” he said. “I don't think that's a good idea!”
“Me either!” I squeaked loudly.
“BOING-BOING-BOING!” Og agreed.
“Of course, those kids love you,” he said, calming down as he swept the floor. “But the new kids need you, too.”
It was true. Just about everybody seemed to need a helpful hamster.
Later that night, after Aldo left and Og was quiet, I slipped my little notebook out from its hiding place and started a couple of lists.
Reasons to stay in Room 26:
•
Mrs. Brisbane relies on me
•
The new students have a lot of problems and need help
•
To stay with Og (I hope)
Reasons for me to move to Room 18:
•
To be with my old friends: Richie, Heidi, Gail, Kirk, Tabitha, A.J.
•
To teach Miss Becker about pets
Reasons for Og to move to Room 18:
•
To be with his old friends: Richie, Heidi, Gail, Kirk, Tabitha, A.J.
•
To teach Miss Becker about pets
I stared at those lists for hours and hours and hours, but I couldn't decide which would be the best choice for me.
In the end, I wouldn't make the decision, anyway. But just before I tucked my notebook away for the night, I worked on my poem.
Autumn, oh, autumn,
The golden leaves are blowing.
Autumn, oh, autumn,
I don't know where I'm going!
HUMPHREY'S RULES OF SCHOOL:
Make sure you do your part to make your classroom a better place.
14
Working Together
T
he next day, I was pleased to see that Phoebe remembered her homework again! I was certainly glad I'd changed the cards to make her a Homework Collector.
Holly seemed really happy being helpful all day long, especially because Mrs. Brisbane kept her BUSY-BUSY-BUSY.
Slow-Down-Simon had slowed down quite a bit because as Door and Line Monitor, he had to wait for the rest of the students to line up. Hurry-Up-Harry was never tardy after recess or lunch because he
had
to leave when the other students did. (And he was never late in the morning, either. I guess the Itos still hadn't figured out the living room clock was fast.)
BOOK: School Days According to Humphrey
2.14Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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