Winter According to Humphrey (9781101591222)

by Birney, Betty G.

  I’d also noticed that Holly could be a little too helpful at times. Mrs. Brisbane’s favorite plant died when Holly gave it way too much water, because she thought it would grow more that way. (The poor plant drowned!)

  Rolling-Rosie Rodriguez got annoyed because Holly wanted to push her wheelchair when she didn’t need help. And Forgetful-Phoebe didn’t like it one bit when Holly reminded her of things that she hadn’t even forgotten.

  I knew Holly meant well. But I didn’t know if it was a good idea for her to try to make so many gifts. Especially since Mrs. Brisbane told her to stop.

  “See, I have this giant book of holiday crafts.” Holly picked up a thick book and opened it. As she thumbed through it, I saw page after page of things to make, with instructions on how to make them.

  As she showed me the pictures, she told me about some of the gifts she was planning.

  She was making a bookmark for the librarian, and a lanyard for Mrs. Wright’s LOUD-LOUD-LOUD whistle. Mrs. Wright is the PE teacher at Longfellow School and as far as I’m concerned, I’d like her better if she didn’t have a whistle at all!

  “I’m making a calendar to help Phoebe remember dates and this cloth bag for Rosie to hang on the side of her wheelchair to keep things in,” she told me. “Oh, and I’m making a miniature garden for Mrs. Brisbane to replace the plant that died.”

  Holly’s list was so long, I couldn’t remember everything she was making. She did say she was making something special for Og’s tank, but she didn’t say a thing about my present.

  Then she started snipping and clipping and gluing.

  She had music playing in the background, which was nice, until I heard “Jingle Bells” and thought about Joey. I hoped he felt better.

  “Holly, don’t you want to watch a movie with us?” Mr. Hanson asked when he came in after dinner.

  “I need to work on my presents,” Holly said. “It’s only two weeks until winter break and I have twenty-five presents to make.”

  “So many?” Mr. Hanson’s eyebrows went up. “Who are they for?”

  “Everyone in my class,” Holly said. “And the teachers and the principal and everyone I know.”

  Mr. Hanson shook his head. “I don’t think everyone in your class will be making a present for you.”

  “That’s fine,” Holly said. “I like giving presents. I don’t need to get any in return.”

  “Well, don’t stay up too late,” her dad said.

  After he was gone, I watched Holly cut and paste, color and tape, fold and glue.

  She used yarn, cloth, paper and cardboard.

  She worked so long, I finally crawled in my sleeping hut and closed my eyes, even though I’m usually wide awake at night.

  I must have dozed off, but I woke up when Holly’s mom came in and told her she had to go to bed right away.

  “It’s an hour past your bedtime.” Mrs. Hanson turned off the music.

  “But all I’ve made is a bookmark and two snowman finger puppets,” Holly complained.

  “Holly, you’re trying to do too much,” her mom said.

  “YES-YES-YES,” I squeaked. I was getting tired of watching Holly work.

  Holly didn’t agree. “Mom, it’s Christmas and Chanukah and that’s when you give presents to people you like, right?”

  “Yes, but you could give them each a card,” Mrs. Hanson said. “Now put on your pajamas. You don’t want to keep Humphrey awake, do you?”

  Mrs. Hanson was a very thoughtful human!

  I don’t know about Holly, but I was so tired, I fell asleep as soon as she went to bed, until a bright light woke me up.

  I crawled out of my sleeping hut and saw that she was busy again, weaving the lanyard for Mrs. Wright’s whistle. A flashlight was propped up on the desk.

  “Hi, Humphrey,” Holly whispered. “I’m going to make a few more presents.”

  “Okay,” I squeaked, although to squeak the truth, I didn’t think it was okay for her to do it so late at night.

  After all, humans and hamsters need plenty of sleep!

  I’m not sure about fish, though, because Billy and Lilly always have their eyes (and their mouths) open!

  Holly picked up her scissors and cut some paper.

  Then she yawned.

  Holly picked up a marker and colored the paper.

  Then she yawned.

  I yawned, too.

  She was gluing some yarn on the paper when the door opened and Holly’s dad came in.

  “Holly, get into bed—now!” he said.

  He sounded upset, so Holly didn’t argue. She went right back to bed.

  “Humphrey, I’m counting on you to make sure she stays in bed,” Mr. Hanson told me.

  “Me?” I squeaked. “I’ll try!”

  He chuckled and turned off the light.

  When he was gone, I kept an eye on Holly. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if she tried to get up again, but luckily, she slept soundly the rest of the night.

  I guess I did, too, because the next thing I knew, bright sunlight streamed through the window.

  HUMPHREY’S WINTER WONDERINGS: How many presents could Billy and Lilly could make? They never seem to sleep at all!

  6

  A Sweet Idea

  Usually when I go home with a classmate for the weekend, we do fun things. But all Holly wanted to do was to work on her presents.

  Luckily, on Saturday, her mom insisted that Holly go shopping with her.

  Once they were gone and I was sure they weren’t coming back for a while, I decided to take a break from my cage.

  I was curious about Holly’s list of presents.

  I was especially curious about one name on the list. A name that starts with hum and ends with a y.

  It didn’t take me long to jiggle the lock on my door open. As I strolled across Holly’s desktop, I was careful not to knock over any of the jars of glitter or paint or to step on something sharp, like a paper clip or a pair of scissors!

  I could feel four eyes following me as I passed by Billy and Lilly. “Don’t mind me,” I told them. “I’m just looking for the list.”

  The fishes’ mouths opened and closed. It looked as if they were talking, but there was no sound except the bubbling water. Were they trying to tell me something?

  I paused to look at them and they stared back at me and never, ever blinked.

  When I have adventures outside of my cage, I try to make sure no one will see me. It felt odd to have Billy and Lilly staring at me. But I was almost pawsitive that they couldn’t tell Holly that I’d been out of my cage.

  I hurried past the tank and found the list sitting between a box of watercolors and the giant book of crafts.

  It was a long list, so I started at the bottom and worked my way up to the top.

  Of course, it’s not easy for a small hamster to read the huge letters humans write, but Holly’s writing was neat and I could make out the names.

  Just as she said, there was Mr. Fitch’s name with “Bookmark” written after it.

  And “Lanyard” with Mrs. Wright’s name next to it.

  I saw Phoebe’s calendar and Rosie’s carryall and a few things I didn’t know about, such as tissue paper wreaths for some of my friends.

  I moved up the list a little more and saw Og’s name. Next to it, Holly had written “Mermaid.”

  Og was getting a mermaid for his tank? Now that was a surprise—especially because I didn’t think mermaids were real!

  I wanted to give Og his first gift, but I didn’t think I could come up with anything close to a mermaid.

  I was almost to the top of the list, and right above Mrs. Brisbane’s name, I saw a great big “HUMPHREY.”

  But I was unsqueakably disappointed to see this after m
y name:

  ????

  What kind of a gift is that?

  I heard a door slam, so I scurried back to my cage.

  When Holly came in, she went straight to work on her presents some more while I watched.

  I watched her glue candy canes to a picture frame, which was a useful and yummy gift.

  Then she made a bookmark with the words “Reading rocks” on it.

  By the time her parents told her it was time for bed, she’d checked off quite a few gifts on her list.

  But she hadn’t crossed off “Mermaid.”

  And I was pretty sure my name still had those question marks after it.

  Holly went to sleep right away. She must have been exhausted from working so hard.

  Even in the dark, I could feel Billy and Lilly staring at me and opening and closing their mouths. What were they trying to tell me? I finally crawled into my sleeping hut and after a while, I dozed off.

  I had a strange dream about a tiny package sitting in my cage. It had a tiny card that said, “To Humphrey from Holly.”

  I gnawed off the ribbon and opened the box and in it was a little carrot. I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE carrots, so I nibbled off a piece. It was yummy. But to my amazement, the carrot suddenly grew bigger!

  Since I’m a curious hamster, I took another bite. This time, the carrot grew bigger and bigger until it was bigger than I am!

  And it kept on growing and growing. I had to jiggle open the lock-that-doesn’t-lock and escape before the giant carrot took over my cage . . . the room . . . and the entire world!

  Luckily, I woke up before that happened.

  My heart was pounding, but it quieted down when I realized that it was only a dream.

  I’d been thinking a lot about Holly’s gift to me. But now, I wasn’t quite sure I wanted anything more than the peace and quiet of my comfy cage for the holidays.

  I guess Holly had finally worn herself out, because the next morning, she slept and slept and slept some more. Finally, her mom and dad came in to see if she was all right.

  As soon as Holly woke up, she sat straight up in bed and said, “I’ve got to get to work!”

  “Wait, Holly.” Her mom sat on one side of the bed and her dad sat on the other.

  “I have to keep going or I won’t finish them all!” Holly cried.

  “We’ve got to talk about this,” Mrs. Hanson said. “I called Mrs. Brisbane last evening to ask about gifts and she said she’d already told you there was no gift exchange in your class.”

  Holly moaned. “But I want everybody to like me!”

  “Holly, you don’t give presents to get friends,” Mr. Hanson said.

  “But I want them to know how much I like them!”

  Then it was really nice, because Holly’s mom and dad both hugged her.

  I like to see humans hug. (But if a human hugged me, it might hurt a lot! A little stroke of a finger on my back is fine with me.)

  “You’re trying to do too much and I’m afraid your friends will feel bad because they didn’t make a present for you,” Mrs. Hanson said. “Did you ever think of that?”

  I was truly SORRY-SORRY-SORRY to see Holly’s eyes filling with tears.

  “She had a suggestion,” Mrs. Hanson said. “She said if you wanted to make one gift for the whole class, that would be very nice. And we could donate the presents you’ve made to children in the hospital. Think how happy they’d be to receive them.”

  “But what could I make? Everybody is so different. I can’t give the whole class one bookmark or picture frame.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” Mr. Hanson said. “Now let’s have breakfast.”

  “Pancakes?” Holly asked.

  Her mom and dad looked at each other and smiled.

  “Pancakes,” they both said.

  Holly smiled and left the room with her parents.

  Which left me alone to think and think and think some more.

  What could Holly make for the whole class? She was right when she said everybody was different. My classmates were like snowflakes—one present wouldn’t fit them all. Or would it?

  I decided to check out Holly’s great big book while the Hansons were making and eating pancakes. Maybe I could come up with a Plan. I jiggled my lock-that-doesn’t-lock and hurried across the desktop.

  Then I saw them: Billy and Lilly, swimming around with their wide-open eyes staring at me.

  As their mouths opened and closed, opened and closed, I thought maybe they wanted to tell me something. I stopped in front of their tank.

  “Hi, Billy. Hi, Lilly,” I said. “My name is Humphrey.”

  They swam. They stared. Their mouths opened and closed. But they still didn’t say anything.

  “Well, nice chatting with you,” I said. Then I hurried over to the huge book.

  Luckily, it was open. (I’m strong for a hamster, but I might not be strong enough to open such a BIG-BIG-BIG book.)

  I glanced at the pages I could see. There were instructions for making a reindeer out of a paper bag, a menorah made of sticks, and a clothespin angel. They were nice ideas, but not quite right for the whole class.

  It wasn’t easy to turn the page on such a large book, but I found that I could wiggle my nose between the pages, push my head in first and then squeeze in the rest of me. Next, I walked toward the middle of the book and the pages flipped over my head.

  I looked at more interesting gifts: a paper cup bell, a stocking made of felt, a thumbprint Santa.

  I was about to give up when I turned a page and saw it: the most beautiful house in the world!

  It was made of gingerbread, with cake frosting on the roof, a candy cane chimney and yummy candy glued along the sides. The garden was covered with white and fluffy flakes, like snow. (I think they call it coconut.)

  I stared and stared at that little house, wishing I had one just like it. All my friends would love a little candy house like that, too.

  Then I heard footsteps. I dashed across the desk, past Billy and Lilly, and back to my cage, slamming the door behind me.

  I crossed my paws and waited.

  Sure enough, Holly went straight to her desk and sat down.

  “Humphrey, we didn’t think of a single thing that would be nice for the whole class,” she said. “What am I going to do?”

  “You could look at the picture in the book,” I squeaked.

  I knew she couldn’t understand me, but I wanted to help.

  Holly reached her hand toward the book. Yes!

  “I’ve looked through this book a hundred times,” Holly said. “There’s nothing there.” Then she moved her hand and was about to close the book entirely.

  “Oh, no!” I squeaked. “PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE see that little house!”

  I closed my eyes. I couldn’t stand to see her miss out on this wonderful idea.

  “Wait,” she said.

  I opened my eyes.

  Holly hadn’t closed the book. Instead, she was staring at the page with the house.

  “Look at this gingerbread house!” she said. “Everybody would like it, don’t you think?”

  “I sure do!” I told her.

  She stared at the page some more. “I love to bake with Mom and Grandma. Mom could help me bake it and I could decorate it.”

  Holly looked happy for the first time all weekend as she scooped up the book and headed out of the room. “Mom! I just had a great idea!” she shouted.

  It was nice to see Helpful-Holly smiling.

  Even if the great idea was actually mine.

  HUMPHREY’S WINTER WONDERINGS: I wonder what it would be like to live in a house made of candy. Or better yet—a house made of carrots. Yum!

  7

  In a Spin

&
nbsp; Holly is making a special present for the whole class! And she has two strange goldfish named Billy and Lilly and they live in a tank with a castle!” I told Og when I was back in Room 26 on Monday.

  “BOING-BOING!” my friend twanged.

  Then the bell rang and class began, so I didn’t have time to tell him more.

  As usual, Mrs. Brisbane started the day with math.

  Then we had a spelling test. I would have gotten 100 percent, except for the word “flurry.” I think I had a piece of bedding stuck in my ear because I thought Mrs. Brisbane said “furry.” Still, it was my best spelling test of the year!

  When it was time for recess, Mrs. Brisbane said it was terribly cold outside, so my friends got to stay inside and decorate the room. They made paper snowflakes, yummy-looking candy canes, and all kinds of funny gingerbread people.

  Then everyone gathered in a circle to answer our homework question: What do you like best about the winter holidays?

  Thomas was first to shout out, “No school!”

  All the rest of my friends shouted “Yes!”

  I didn’t join in, because school is my home. It’s my favorite place.

  Unlike my classmates, I also didn’t have any idea of where Og and I would be spending the holidays.

  Next, Mrs. Brisbane called on Tall-Paul Green.

  “Presents!” he answered. “I get a present every night during Chanukah!”

  A lot of my classmates said, “Oooh!”

  “We light the menorah and add another candle every night for eight nights,” he added.

  “I like presents, too,” Daniel said. “Santa leaves them under our tree.”

  “I like making presents for other people,” Helpful-Holly said.

  I certainly knew that was true.

  “And I help my grandma make cookies when we go to the farm,” Holly continued. “I love to help my grandma. I’m making a special present for her.”

  Mrs. Brisbane smiled. “I guess we all like presents.”

  Rolling-Rosie raised her hand next. “I like tamales,” she said. “My mom and my grandmother—I call her mi abuela—and my aunt, Tía Luisa, make one hundred tamales or more. And I help!”