Mimi picked up Sandy and made her dance around on her desk. “If we could start again, I’d draw something different,” said Mimi. Sandy was cute, but it wasn’t the kind of thing I’d expect Mimi to draw, especially when she could have picked anything. “Why a sandwich?” I asked. Mimi looked across the room and whispered, “It’s Robert’s fault. After he said toaster, all I could think about was food.” I nodded. I knew exactly what she was talking about.
WHAT MISS SUMMERS SURPRISED US WITH
Little mini notebooks to go with our pocket pals.
Miss Summers said that lots of real writers carry around notebooks all the time. “You never know when an idea might come to you,” said Miss Summers. “With this notebook, you’ll always be ready to write it down.” Miss Summers said that she hoped the notebooks and pocket pals would fit into everyone’s pockets, but if they didn’t, we could use one of the pockets Owen 1 had made.
I was right: Not one person asked for an extra Owen 1 pocket.
When it was lunchtime, Miss Summers said, “Do take your notebooks and pocket pals with you. Send your pocket pal down the slide, or go for a ride on the swing. Be adventurous, and don’t forget to imagine yourself as your character. What is he or she feeling? And write down some notes. It’ll be fun.” We all said okay but the okay was only half true, because there probably wouldn’t be notes. No matter how cheerfully someone says it, fun and notes do not belong in the same sentence.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE PLAYGROUND
There was pocket pal craziness everywhere. Owen 1, Robert Walters, and Brian Aber were all standing on top of the jungle gym dropping their pocket pals to the ground. If I had to write a note about their pocket pals’ feelings, I knew exactly what I’d put down.
Mimi and I didn’t take our pocket pals to the slide or the swing, mostly because there were too many people already there. Instead we sat with Grace F. and Grace L. under the trees by the fence. “Maybe our pocket pals can be on a picnic,” suggested Grace F. She had, of course, a perfectly drawn lady for her character. It was hard not to be jealous—at least a little bit. Grace L.’s character was a goat. I wanted to ask her why, but Mimi interrupted my thinking. She held her little sandwich in front of us and said, “Sandy can’t go on a picnic! She’ll be eaten.” Suddenly we were all laughing. Mimi laughed too, even though she said she was trying to think like Sandy and if Sandy were real she would have been the opposite of happy.
After, when we finished laughing, we all decided to name our characters too. Grace F. and Grace L. were pretty quick about picking out names, but I had a hard time even deciding if my squirrel should be a boy or a girl. Some girls like only girl things, but I’m not like that—sometimes I like boy things too. It didn’t help my concentrating when Grace L. and Grace F. started playing with their pocket pals. I tried, but Queen Veronica was impossible to ignore, especially when she started dancing and singing with Sweet Pea the Third. They didn’t care at all that I was trying to do some thinking. Finally I just had to close my eyes and cover my ears to block them out.
It took a while, but right before the bell rang to end lunch, I figured out my squirrel’s name. It was Stan and it stood for Squirrel That’s Always Naughty. When I first told Grace L., Grace F., and Mimi the name, I could tell that they didn’t really like it, but after I explained that each letter stood for a word, they changed their minds. “Why did you pick naughty instead of nice?” asked Grace F. I knew that someone was going to ask me that, so I had the perfect answer all ready.
OUR BORING AFTERNOON
When we got back from lunch Miss Summers said we could have ten minutes to write notes in our notebooks. She didn’t ask, but somehow she knew that hardly anyone had done it at lunchtime. She said that those people who had already done their notes could read. I looked around and the only two people taking out their books were Marta and Sunni, but that wasn’t a surprise—they’re always perfect students. And then suddenly a thought popped into my head. Marta and Sunni were like good squirrels, and if they were good squirrels, who were the naughty squirrels? It took me only a second to decide. The number one naughty squirrel of the class was definitely Robert Walters. I hadn’t thought about it before, but Stan and Robert Walters were kind of alike. Is that where I got the idea? Did watching Robert Walters make me think of Stan? I tried to imagine what Stan would be like if he were big and people-sized—would he and Robert Walters be friends? No, a giant squirrel was a lot scarier than a regular Robert Walters. Thinking that made me happy that our pocket pals were tiny. Big things were a lot scarier.
After the ten minutes of writing in our notebooks, Miss Summers had us put them away. I was not happy about that, because it meant exactly what I thought it was going to mean—now we had to do regular work. I guess that was our pattern until Miss Lois got back: fun mornings and boring afternoons.
WHAT I WAS ABLE TO DO WITHOUT ANYONE SEEING ME
Make a fast card for Marie, the new crossing guard. Normally when I make a card, I draw things that the person I’m giving the card to likes, but with Marie, that was impossible. We didn’t know anything about her, so instead I drew a picture of the street where we’d met her, and wrote, Welcome to the corner. I signed it and left a place where Mimi could sign her name too. I would have colored it, but that was too tricky with Miss Summers standing at the front talking to us. She would have for sure noticed me taking out all my colored pencils.
WHO WAS HAPPIER THAN I WAS THAT SCHOOL WAS OVER
Mimi. “I just want to get home and start on the fair projects,” she said. “Don’t you? Do you want to come over?” “Good idea,” I said, and while she signed the card, I told her about all the stuff Mom had bought me. And then I told her the best part: “And I didn’t even have to beg for anything. You know my mom—usually it takes a while before she says yes, but this time it was so easy.”
When Mimi looked up from signing the card, she was smiling. “It probably helped that my mom called your mom before I told you about the sale,” she said. That was a huge surprise for me. No wonder it had been so easy.
WHAT I WAS GLAD I DIDN’T SAY
Even if you are with your best friend, who you trust 100 percent, you still don’t want to feel dumb.
HOW MARIE FELT ABOUT THE CARD
She loved it. She must have said thank you about ten times, and couldn’t stop saying how happy she was. She said the minute she got home she was going to hang it on her wall. “Will you show your family?” asked Mimi. Marie was quiet for a moment, and then said that she lived alone. “I just moved here two months ago,” she said. “When my son’s finished with college, he’s going to live here too. That’s why I moved, to be closer to him.” “When is that?” I asked. What Marie said next was a surprise. I was expecting her to say two weeks or a month, but her answer was a lot further away. “In a year,” she said. I couldn’t believe it—she had to wait a whole year to be with her family? “Well, it’s good you have friends,” said Mimi. Marie shook her head, but when she saw that we were getting sad she said, “But I’m not lonely, I have Freckles, my cat. I love cats.” “Me too,” said Mimi, “but I can’t have one because I’m allergic.”
After that, things got a little happier, and Marie talked about all the things she was looking forward to doing in our town. Some of it I didn’t quite understand, but I smiled and nodded, because being polite is important, even if you are confused.
THE FIRST THING I ASKED MIMI WHEN WE WERE FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM MARIE SO SHE COULDN’T HEAR US
“What’s an aviary?” Mimi shrugged—she didn’t know either. I thought about that for a minute and then said, “I think she lied.” Mimi stopped walking. “About the aviary? How do you know? We don’t even know what it is.” I shook my head and told Mimi what I was thinking.
“Don’t worry,” said Mimi. She pulled my arm and we started walking again. “She can make friends with the other crossing guards. They probably all get together and do stuff. Maybe they even have parties.” Suddenly I felt better. M
imi’s brain always thinks of things mine doesn’t. She was right—I hadn’t thought about the other crossing guards. Mimi let go of my arm and stopped pulling—she could tell I felt better. “Race you home,” she said. I usually beat Mimi, but today I let her win. It was a secret thank-you for helping me be happy again.
THE BEST THING ABOUT MAKING THINGS FOR A CRAFT FAIR
Making them with a friend. After playing with Mr. Scruffers for about half an hour, I packed up all my stuff and went over to Mimi’s house. Mimi had already started sewing. She was in heaven. If there is something that Mimi’s hands like to do more than sewing, I don’t know what it is. At first I couldn’t tell what she was making, but she explained it, and as soon as she did, I wanted her to make one for me, too.
I unpacked my paint pens. They were great. You could draw on glass, pottery, or even metal and your design would last forever—even in the dishwasher.
THE BAD THING ABOUT THE DOLLAR STORE
Not everything costs a dollar. The first time I went into the dollar store, I got kind of mad about that. It was disappointing, like they were lying. The store was called Dollar Store, but when you got in there, a lot of the things were more expensive than a dollar. I thought Mom would be mad too—she hates it when people are tricky on purpose—but she wasn’t. She said, “The Dollar Store can’t help it. They can’t change their sign every time prices go up. It would be too expensive.” I’d never thought about that. Suddenly it all made sense.
THE BEST THING ABOUT THE DOLLAR STORE
Even if things don’t exactly cost one dollar, they are still not very expensive. It was the perfect place to buy stuff to decorate for the fair. My favorite three things that we had bought were cute jars with lids, plain yellow and white mugs, and some long, skinny white plates. The first thing I was going to decorate was a mug. I picked up a yellow one and got out a red marker. “How are you going to decorate it?” asked Mimi.
Mom and I had had a big talk about designs on the way home from the store. Mom said, “If you want people to buy these, you’ll have to decorate them with designs that people will like.” I had been thinking about that, and I even made a list of things that were popular, things like flowers, birds, and cats, but there were other things that people liked too. They weren’t the kinds of things that were easy to draw, but I had some ideas.
WHICH TWO THINGS ARE THE HARDEST TO DRAW?
WHAT IS NOT EASY TO PAINT
The inside of a mug. It’s like trying to paint inside a very small tunnel. My big idea was that when the person who was drinking out of the mug finished their drink, they would see a message. It would be a fun surprise.
The first mug turned out terrible. You could hardly read what I’d written.
That’s the part of making art that I hate. The difference between what your brain wants something to look like and what your hands can do. It makes me want to shout at my hands!
In the end, to fix the mug, I had to just paint the whole inside bottom of the cup red. I was about to try again with a new mug when Mimi stopped me. “Maybe there are too many letters,” she said. “That’s why it’s hard—they can’t all fit.” She was probably right, but how could I say my message with fewer words? I put the cup down and tried out a few things in my head to see if I could make it shorter.
And then I had it. I picked up the cup and started writing. This time, it turned out much better. I said one out-loud thank-you and two silent thank-yous. “Thank you, Mimi.” Thank you, brain. Thank you, hands. Mimi was the only one who answered back. She said, “You’re welcome.”
I still had to decorate the outside, and it took longer than I thought it would. Doing a good job of drawing is not something you can do fast. When I was finally finished, I handed it to Mimi so she could look it over. She loved it! “I want one,” she said. “I’ll use it for my orange juice. That way every day can be lucky.” “Keep it!” I said. “I’ll make more.” And then Mimi gave me the little bag she had just finished. It was so cute—she even put a flower on the front of it.
I felt like things were going well, but when I looked up at Mimi’s clock, it was already time to go home. Maybe things weren’t so good after all. I had a new bag, Mimi had a new cup, and for the fair we had . . . nothing!
We made a pinky swear so it would be official. It wasn’t easy to do crafts with Mimi. I loved everything she made, but maybe that was a good thing. If I loved them, maybe other people would love them too. And who knew—maybe they’d love them so much that we’d sell out of everything in just minutes. I smiled about that all the way home.
SAYING GOOD NIGHT TO MIMI
When I flashed my lights for Mimi, I held up the little bag she’d made me. I put all my favorite necklaces in it. When I looked across at Mimi, she was holding something too. It was my cup. Why did she have the cup in her bedroom? Maybe she loved it so much, she was going to sleep with it. Thinking about that made me laugh out loud.
THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MORNING
Marie. Even after everything Mimi had said, I was still worried. She was lonely, I just knew it. Cats are nice, but no matter how cute or furry or cuddly they are, a real human friend is better.
When Mimi came to get me, I was ready to go. I grabbed my backpack and headed out the door. I didn’t say anything about my Marie feelings, but as soon as Mimi heard me asking Marie my questions, she was going to figure out what I was worrying about. Mimi is smart.
Even though this was only the second day of walking the new way to school, it already felt normal and not special like it had yesterday. It was surprising how fast things went from new to normal. As soon as we turned the corner, I saw Marie up ahead.
“Guess what?” asked Mimi. I asked her what back. She smiled and threw her hands in the air. “Today’s my lucky day!” For a second I didn’t get it, but then I remembered my lucky cup. She’d used it! “It was still fun,” said Mimi. “Even though I knew what it was going to say.” I nodded and then told her what I’d put in the bag she gave me. That made her happy too. When we got to the corner with Marie, we were both smiling. Marie was nice about answering my questions, but I was not happy to find out that all her answers were the same.
When we said goodbye to Marie, two things were different. Mimi and I had lost our smiles—we were sad. I had been right: Marie was lonely and alone. There was only one thing to do. “We have to help her find some friends,” I said. Now Mimi looked even sadder than before. “That’s too hard,” she said. “We don’t know anything about her, or even what kind of people she likes.” Right after Mimi said that, I got the start of an idea. I didn’t know how to finish the idea, but the start part was easy.
For a second I was worried that Mimi might say no and just want to keep walking to school, but she didn’t. Instead, she turned around and said, “OK, but only five minutes, because I don’t want us to be late.”
WHAT WE FOUND OUT ABOUT MARIE
I kind of had to tell Marie why I was asking her so many questions. Otherwise she would have been suspicious. But I didn’t tell her everything. I couldn’t—I didn’t have a whole plan yet.
WHAT IS KIND OF AMAZING
How much you can find out about a person in only five minutes. Mimi said it was because I asked good questions, but I don’t think she was 100 percent right. I think it was more that Marie was happy to have someone to talk to. Freckles probably wasn’t much good for that kind of thing.
THE THINGS WE LEARNED ABOUT MARIE
We were lucky—we got to school just in time. As soon as we got to the playground, the line-up bell rang. Mimi and I walked toward class. “What are you going to do with what she told you?” asked Mimi. “Do you know someone for her to be friends with?” I shook my head, then answered her. “I don’t have a plan yet, but . . .” Mimi interrupted me. “You’ll think of something,” she said. “You always do.” I nodded like of course she was right, but my insides were not so sure.
WHAT WE DID IN THE MORNING
More of the pocket p
al project. Miss Summers sure loves that project. She let us play with our characters for almost an hour. It was kind of like no work, except for the having-to-take-notes part.
WHAT STAN LIKES
I’d never made notes about a character before, but Miss Summers said it was a great way to find out our character’s personality. She said, “Once you know their personality, it will be easy to write about them, no matter what kind of story they are in.” After the hour was up Miss Summers made everyone go back and sit down. I was worried that we might start our boring afternoon work early, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Miss Summers had us help her make a list of the different story types. I was glad we didn’t have to copy them down—she just wrote them out on the whiteboard.
I had two good suggestions that were right. It always feels good to give a right answer and have the teacher write your words on the board.
Just Grace Gets Crafty Page 3