Authors: Nancy Krulik

Write On! (4 page)

BOOK: Write On!

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“I think Pepper would like that very much,” Mrs. Carew said with a grin.

“They could solve mysteries. Like they could be searching for a stolen dinosaur bone,” Katie continued. “And the girl sees all the way to China. But she can’t get to the bone . . . until her dog digs a tunnel through the earth, all the way to China!”

“Oh, wow! That’s going to be a terrific story, Katie,” Mrs. Carew told her daughter. “And you came up with it all by yourself.”

Katie stared at the ground. She understood what her mother meant.

“It’s not right to take someone else’s ideas,” Mrs. Carew continued.

“I know,” Katie agreed.

“You wouldn’t be very proud of the story if you didn’t write it yourself, would you?”

Katie shook her head. “No.”

“It wouldn’t be fun doing your homework, either.”

“I know,” Katie agreed. “But this story is going to be a
lot
of fun to write. I think I’ll draw a picture, too.”

“That’s a great idea,” Mrs. Carew said with a smile.

Katie looked at the pile of books on the floor around her. “I can help you put those away,” she told her mom.

“That’s okay. I’ll do it,” Mrs. Carew assured her. “You’d have to be a giant fourth-grader to reach all the way up to the top shelf.”

“Hey, that’s a pretty good idea for a tall tale,” Katie said. “Maybe you should write it.”

Mrs. Carew laughed. “I think one writer in the family is enough.”

Chapter 6

On Thursday morning, Katie proudly placed her tall tale in the purple, black, and yellow homework box that was perched on one of the cabinets in the corner of class 4A. She couldn’t wait to read her story to the class. She knew they would love it.

But Mr. Guthrie had other plans. “We’ll present our stories after lunch,” he told the class. “Right now, we have to get ready for Nellie Farrow’s visit tomorrow. After her speech in the auditorium, she’s going to come see the fourth-grade classrooms.”

“Are we going to make a big banner that says ‘Welcome Nellie’?” Emma W. asked.

Mr. Guthrie shook his head. “Ms. Sweet’s class is already doing that.”

“Oh,” Emma S. sighed. “That would have been fun.”

“It would have,” Mr. G. agreed. “But I have something just as exciting planned for our classroom.” He pointed to the big plastic trees that were standing in the four corners of the room.

Katie hadn’t even noticed that they were there. Weird things were always popping up in Mr. G.’s classroom. The trees seemed pretty normal to her.

“I brought my digital camera to school today,” Mr. G. told the class. “I’m going to take your pictures, and we’ll hang them from the trees.”

George started to laugh. “I get it,” he told the class. “We’re showing Nellie Farrow that fourth-graders hang from trees, too!”

“Exactly,” Mr. G. told him.

George was the first one to line up to have his picture taken. Instead of smiling nicely, he stuck his tongue behind his upper lip and curled his arms up under his armpits. He looked like an orangutan.
“Ooo . . . ooo . . . ooo!”
he shouted, sounding a lot like a monkey.

“Hey, that was pretty good, dude,” Mr. G. said as he snapped the picture.

Katie grinned. They were really lucky to have Mr. G. for a teacher. Their third-grade teacher, Mrs. Derkman, probably would have sent George to the principal’s office for that.

She probably wouldn’t have let George and Kadeem monkey around with a joke-off, either. But Mr. G. loved when the boys had their joking contests!

Kadeem told the first one. “What did the banana do when the monkey grabbed for it?”

“I don’t know,” Emma W. said.

“The banana split!” Kadeem laughed at his own joke.

George wasn’t about to let Kadeem be the only one to get the laughs. “What kinds of keys won’t open doors?” he asked.

“What kinds?” Kevin replied.

“Mon-keys, don-keys, and tur-keys!” George shouted out. Everyone laughed.

The morning went really quickly after that. The kids had a great time hanging their pictures from the trees. Mr. G. even snapped a photo of Slinky, the class snake. And the two Emmas worked together to make a cute sign that read: “We Hang from Trees, Too!”

By lunchtime, class 4A was ready for Nellie Farrow’s visit.

Or at least
most
of them were. Katie was the only one who hadn’t read her book yet. But that was going to change.

“I’ll come home with you right after track team practice,” Suzanne told Katie as the girls put on their running shoes after school.

“Not today,” Katie told her. “I’ve got homework.”

“But, Katie, we didn’t get to work on the website yesterday.”

“I know,” Katie said. “But I have to read
Only Orangutans Hang from Trees
.”

“We already talked about that. We’re going to sit in the back of the auditorium. We don’t have to read the book,” Suzanne insisted.

“I know I don’t
have
to read it,” Katie told Suzanne. “I
want
to read it.”

Suzanne rolled her eyes and flipped her long brown ponytail behind her. “Whatever!” she said as she raced toward the track.

Katie had a lot of homework that night. Mr. G. had given them two math worksheets, a current events sheet, and some handwriting practice. By the time she finished all that and ate dinner, it was time for bed. And she still hadn’t read her book.

But Katie had a plan.

After her mother kissed her good night and turned out the light, Katie pulled a flashlight and her book out from under the covers. She began to read.

Or at least she
tried
to. The minute Pepper spied the beam from the flashlight, he began running wildly around Katie. He was trying to catch the light.

“Pepper, stop it,” Katie urged him.

But Pepper wouldn’t stop. He was having fun chasing the beam of light. He thought Katie was playing a game with him.

“Pepper, come on. I have to read,” Katie insisted as Pepper jumped up on his hind legs, trying to grab the light. “Mom’s going to hear you.”

“Woof! Woof!”
Pepper answered, barking loudly as he ran across the room again.

Within seconds, Mrs. Carew was at Katie’s door. “What’s going on, you two?” she asked.

Katie flicked off the flashlight, but it was too late. Her mother had already spotted it.

“Are you reading in bed?” Mrs. Carew asked with a smile.

Katie nodded.

“I’m glad you like reading so much,” Mrs. Carew told her daughter. “But you really have to go to sleep now. You don’t want to be tired tomorrow. After all, you’re going to meet a real author!” She reached over and took the flashlight and book from Katie. “You want to be able to talk about her book without yawning.”

Katie frowned. She wasn’t going to be able to talk about Nellie Farrow’s book at all. “Thanks a lot, Pepper,” she groaned as she pulled the covers over her head.