Piggy Party

by Beverly Lewis

  They had their own private club meeting. Just two sisters.

  And a butterscotch guinea pig.

  SIX

  Carly slept with Piggy that night. She didn’t put the guinea pig under the covers. But she scooted the cage up close to her bed.

  “How’s that?” she said. “You’ll be safe here.”

  The ball of puff looked sleepy. He’d made a little nest of cedar chips in his cage.

  “Ready to dream about springtime?” Carly hoped so. “Now we’ll say our prayers.”

  Piggy made three clicking sounds. Soft, sleepy ones.

  Carly knelt beside her bed. She began to pray. “Dear Lord, please don’t let Piggy see his shadow tomorrow. We want some warm weather as soon as possible. It’s okay if the Pennsylvania groundhog sees his shadow, though. Amen.”

  She turned out the light and climbed into bed.

  “Good night, Piggy,” she said. “Sweet dreams of spring.”

  In the middle of the night, Carly opened her eyes. She thought she saw a misty shadow.

  She strained her eyes to see. But the bedroom was dark.

  “Where’s my flashlight?” she mumbled to herself.

  Then she remembered. She reached down on the floor and found it. She pointed the light at the shadow.

  “Oh no!” she gasped.

  It was a Jimmy-shaped shadow!

  She sat straight up in bed. “What are you doing?”

  “I play with Piggy,” Jimmy said. The guinea pig was sitting on his shoulder.

  “Better be careful with my pet,” she demanded.

  “Piggy not just yours.” Jimmy had a weird smile. “Piggy belong to all Miss Hartman’s class. Jimmy too!”

  “But I’m supposed to take care of him.” Carly reached for Piggy.

  Jimmy backed away. “He like riding here. Piggy like me better than you.”

  “You’re wrong. He’ll fall and get hurt,” Carly said.

  Jimmy began to spin in a circle. Around and around he whirled. He was laughing loudly. He was sure to wake up the whole family!

  “Please stop!” Carly said.

  But Jimmy kept spinning. And laughing.

  Poor Piggy. He was making his dear little whistle sounds. Only now they weren’t so little. They were so loud Carly had to cover her ears.

  And she was crying. “Please, Jimmy, please . . .”

  When she opened her eyes, Carly saw her mother.

  “Oh . . . where am I?” Carly asked.

  “You’re right here in your bed, sweetie,” said Mother.

  “But Jimmy was twirling Piggy and . . .”

  “You were probably dreaming,” Mother said. “Jimmy’s in his bed sound asleep.” She touched Carly’s face.

  “I thought Piggy might get sick. All that spinning. He could’ve fallen . . . he could’ve died.”

  “Honey, look,” Mother said, pointing to the cage. “The guinea pig is perfectly safe.”

  Carly leaned over her bed to see. Piggy was still curled up in his bed of wood chips. “It was a dream. But so real.”

  Mother was smiling. “Are you ready to go back to sleep?”

  “Just a minute.” Carly reached down and stroked Piggy’s teeny-weeny head. “Now I’m ready.”

  Her mother tiptoed to the door. “See you in the morning.”

  “Okay. And no more bad dreams,” Carly said.

  She really, really hoped not.

  SEVEN

  It was Groundhog Day.

  Carly slid Piggy’s cage next to her kitchen chair. She sat down for breakfast.

  Jimmy slurped his milk across the table. His straight black hair was still damp from his bath. “Why Carly take little pig everywhere?” he asked.

  “Because I’m in charge of Piggy,” Carly said. “And he isn’t a pig.”

  Jimmy nodded. “I know name of class pet. Miss Hartman tell me, too.”

  Carly still wanted to protect Piggy. She didn’t know what Jimmy might do. Especially after her horrible dream.

  Mother brought over a plate of hot waffles. “It’s time for the blessing,” she said. “Who would like to pray?”

  Abby raised her hand. “I’ll say grace.”

  When the prayer was finished, Mother said, “Dee Dee called on the telephone earlier.”

  Carly perked up her ears. “What did she say?”

  “She wants to bring Mister Whiskers over for Groundhog Day.” Mother was frowning. “Why does she want to bring her cat here?” she asked.

  “Because Carly have secret party,” Jimmy said, grinning.

  Carly ignored her brother’s words. “What did you tell Dee Dee?” Carly asked her mother.

  Mother smiled. “I told her to call back after breakfast.”

  Shawn’s eyes lit up. “Can all the cul-de-sac pets come for party?” he asked. “We will see if winter is done.”

  Carly wasn’t so sure. Dee Dee had no right to spoil Carly’s experiment. It was her idea, after all. A private party for just Piggy and her.

  Jimmy asked, too. “Can Jason bring Croaker?” Croaker was the only frog in the cul-de-sac.

  Abby poured orange juice in her glass. “It’s Carly’s party,” she said. “She’ll decide who comes or not.”

  Jimmy was whining. “But I want to come.”

  “It’s up to Carly to invite you. But only if she wants to.”

  Carly thought about that. Abby was being kind. She wished Dee Dee wasn’t so selfish. It would be lots of fun with all the pets looking for their shadows. That is, if the sun was shining.

  But Carly hoped the sun wouldn’t shine at all. Not today. Then spring would come for sure!

  Carly ate her breakfast. But she glanced around the table at her brothers, Shawn and Jimmy. And Abby, too. They looked very eager. Like they couldn’t wait for Carly to decide something.

  “Mommy make hot cocoa for the party,” Jimmy suggested.

  Abby’s eyes lit up, but she was still.

  “We can bake cookies, too,” Shawn said. “Serve with hot cocoa at party.”

  The kids were dying to come to her party. “Okay,” she said at last. “Everyone’s invited.”

  “Hoo-ray!” cheered Shawn and Jimmy.

  Abby didn’t cheer, but she looked happy. Very happy.

  Carly felt good all over. “We’ll call the experiment a Piggy Party. That stands for the guinea pig, in case you don’t get it. Since we don’t have a groundhog.”

  Jimmy spoke in broken English. “We cross fingers for spring. Happy American Groundhog Day.”

  Carly, Abby, and Shawn clapped their hands.

  “Yay!” Carly said. “It’s Piggy Party time!”

  Abby looked out the window. She groaned. “It’s starting to snow again.”

  Carly was secretly glad. If the sun didn’t shine, then Piggy wouldn’t see his shadow. Neither would any of the pets.

  It was perfect.

  Jimmy was shaking his head. “Why Carly make silly weather test?”

  “Silly?” Carly pointed at the window. “Look outside. Snow, snow . . . and more snow. Don’t you wanna know when this rotten weather’s going away?”

  Jimmy smiled back. “You very smart sister.” It sounded like velly smart.

  “Thank you,” Carly said.

  Piggy was rattling his cage. Time to feed him his breakfast of pellets.

  “I almost forgot about you,” Carly said. She sprinkled some guinea pig food into his little dish.

  Shawn came around and peeked into the cage. “Tell Piggy to eat very much breakfast,” he said to Carly.

  “He’s hungry, all right,” Carly replied.

  They watched the guinea pig eat.

  “Piggy need lots of energy,” Shawn said. “To hide from shadow.”

  Carly grinned.

  She liked the sound of that!

  EIGHT

  Carly and Abby swept the snow off their front porch.

  “Somebody run and tell Dunkum,” Carly said. “We’re having the Piggy Party over here.
”

  “We are?” Jason Birchall piped up.

  Carly looked over at her sister. “Abby’s president. She said so.”

  Abby stopped sweeping. “It’s all right, Jason,” she called. “Carly already asked.”

  Jason stuck his nose in the air. “Carly already asked,” he repeated in a high-pitched voice.

  “Okay for you!” Carly grabbed up a mittenful of snow. She threw the snowball at Jason.

  Kerplop! It landed on his shoulder.

  Eric and Stacy came running across the street. They joined in the snowy fun. Stacy was wearing her new ski outfit.

  By the time Dunkum arrived, a snowball fight was in full swing.

  “Stop!” Abby shouted. “It’s time for the Piggy Party.”

  Carly threw one more snowball. It landed on Jason’s hat.

  “Hey! Watch it!” he hollered.

  “It was a very soft throw,” Carly insisted. She felt someone pulling her away from Jason.

  It was Abby. “Come on, you two,” said the president of the Cul-de-sac Kids.

  Stepping back, Carly lost her balance.

  Kerplop! She fell into a snow pile.

  Suddenly, she heard a high whistle.

  “Hey! That sounds like Piggy’s whistle,” she said, looking around.

  The kids stopped throwing their snowballs. They tilted their heads, listening.

  “Wait a minute,” Carly said, worried. “Is the guinea pig outside here somewhere?”

  Jimmy spun around in a circle. He was singing a Korean folk song. Faster and faster.

  Carly gasped. It was just like her dream. Only Piggy was nowhere to be seen.

  She ran to Jimmy. “Where’s Piggy?” she asked him.

  “Piggy who?” Then Jimmy burst out laughing.

  Abby ran to Jimmy. “You do know where he is, don’t you?”

  “Guess who cannot find his shadow!” Jimmy pulled the guinea pig out of his coat pocket.

  There was Piggy. He was snug inside one of Jimmy’s socks. The cuff was folded over his neck. It made a big, wide collar around Piggy’s tiny neck.

  “You could’ve choked him!” Carly said.

  Abby shook her head. “What were you thinking?”

  “Jimmy help winter go away. Far away,” said Jimmy. He started to cry.

  Carly snatched Piggy from Jimmy’s hands. “That’s no way to help,” she said.

  She ran into the house. Abby followed her.

  “Poor little Piggy,” Carly said over and over.

  NINE

  Carly picked up the telephone. She punched Dee Dee’s phone number.

  Brring! Brring!

  “Hello?” Dee Dee answered.

  “Hi, it’s Carly calling you back,” she said. “You can bring Mister Whiskers to the party.”

  “I can?”

  “Yep.” Carly explained that all the kids were invited. “And anyone can bring a pet. Except Jason isn’t bringing Croaker.”

  “Because it’s too cold?” Dee Dee said.

  “He could freeze his toes off,” Carly said.

  “What about Piggy?” asked Dee Dee.

  “He won’t be outside long,” said Carly.

  She was feeling better toward Dee Dee. Lots better.

  Carly glanced at the clock. “It’s almost twelve o’clock,” she said. “We’re having cookies and hot cocoa.”

  “I’ll be right over,” Dee Dee said and hung up.

  “See ya,” said Carly.

  It was high noon.

  On other days, the sun would be shining. Straight up.

  Today was different. And Carly was glad. She crossed her fingers for spring. Capital S!

  Gently, she placed Piggy’s cage on the snowy ground. Then she got down on her hands and knees. She looked closely.

  “How’re you doing, little guy?” she whispered.

  The guinea pig stuck part of his head through the cage.

  “Do you see any shadows anywhere?” she asked.

  Piggy twitched his button nose.

  No shadow. Not even a teeny-weeny, Piggy-shaped one.

  “Yay! Piggy doesn’t see his shadow!” she hollered.

  The Cul-de-sac Kids cheered.

  “Let’s take a vote on all the pets,” Abby called.

  “Okay,” Carly said. “But it’s freezing out here.”

  “We’ll make it quick,” Abby promised. She and Shawn gripped their dog Snow White’s leash.

  “How many pets see their shadows?” Carly asked. She glanced at her best friend. “Start the vote with Dee Dee.”

  “I vote no. Mister Whiskers can NOT see his shadow,” Dee Dee said, cradling her cat. “Too many clouds!”

  Eric’s hamster was next. “Fran the Ham sees zero shadows,” Eric reported. “I vote no.”

  The kids shouted, “Hoo-ray!”

  Stacy Henry was next. “Sunday Funnies, my cockapoo, can’t see his shadow. I vote no.”

  “Yay!” the Cul-de-sac Kids cheered.

  It was Dunkum’s turn. “Mr. Blinkee votes no,” said Dunkum, holding his rabbit tight.

  “My turn!” hollered Jimmy. He was leaning over the duck pen near the fence. “Quacker and Jack not see shadows!”

  “That’s two more NO votes,” said Abby.

  Jason was doing his usual jig. “Hold everything,” he said. “I think . . .” He paused. “Yes, I see my shadow! I really do!”

  “What?” Carly said.

  “No way!” Abby shouted.

  Jason pulled out a flashlight. “See?” He was shining the light on his head.

  “Flashlights don’t count on Groundhog Day,” Abby scolded.

  “Abby’s right,” Dunkum spoke up.

  “Besides, Groundhog Day is just for animals,” Carly called.

  But Jason was grinning. “Somebody has to be different,” he said.

  Just then Mister Whiskers got loose.

  Meow! Ph-ht! The cat flew across the snow toward Snow White.

  The dog must’ve seen him coming. She ran across the yard and over the neighbor’s fence.

  “Somebody do something!” Abby shouted. “Quick!”

  Dee Dee ran after her cat. Jason, Jimmy, and Shawn chased after Snow White.

  Quacker and Jack flapped their wings. But they bumped against the duck pen.

  Fran the Ham spun round and round in his hamster cage.

  Blinkee flicked his long ears. He made strange bunny sounds.

  Stacy’s cockapoo tried to jump out of her arms.

  “This is one crazy Piggy Party,” Carly muttered. She picked up the guinea pig cage and headed for the house.

  It was beginning to snow again. Even harder than before.

  Carly dashed to her bedroom. She took Piggy out of his cage and held him close. “I guess winter isn’t over yet,” she whispered. “But it’s not your fault. Not the sun’s, either.”

  TEN

  The Cul-de-sac Kids gathered around the kitchen table. The pets had already gone home. Except for Piggy.

  “Time for goodies,” Carly said.

  “Hoo-ray for the treats!” said Jason.

  Carly set the guinea pig cage on a chair. “Piggy’s the guest of honor,” she said.

  Jason chuckled. “Some guest.”

  “Piggy’s adorable,” Carly said.

  “But he didn’t see his shadow, did he?” Jason said.

  “He couldn’t help it if the sun wasn’t shining,” Carly said.

  “It’s shining, we just can’t see it,” Dunkum explained.

  “Anybody knows that,” Dee Dee said.

  “Whatever,” Carly said with a grin.

  “Okay, kids, listen up,” Abby said and unfolded the newspaper. “Has anyone seen the weather page today?”

  “I hope it’s not bad news,” Carly said. She reached for a chocolate chip cookie.

  Abby spread the paper out on the table. “We’re supposed to have gobs more snow. All week long. The weatherman says so.”

  Everyone groaned and reached fo
r another cookie.

  “Phooey,” Carly said. She hated to hear such bad weather news.

  Abby folded up the paper. “I guess the seasons have nothing to do with groundhogs and shadows.”

  Carly nodded. “Or Piggy Parties.”

  “Or Cul-de-sac Kids,” said Dunkum.

  “Not cookies and hot cocoa,” said Shawn.

  “God is in control of the seasons,” Abby replied. “The Bible says so.”

  Carly couldn’t complain. She knew she should’ve thought of that in the first place!

  Click . . . click . . .

  Carly glanced at the guinea pig. “Let’s hear what Piggy has to say.”

  The kids stopped sipping hot cocoa.

  They stopped chewing their warm cookies.

  Click . . . click . . . click . . .

  “Does he really talk?” asked Eric.

  “What’s he trying to say?” asked Stacy.

  Carly and Dee Dee giggled.

  “Oh . . . no, not the giggles,” said Jason. He crossed his eyes and covered his ears.

  “I think Piggy’s trying to tell us he feels left out,” Abby said.

  Carly stopped giggling. “Hey! Abby’s right.” And she gave Piggy a snack of pellets.

  “He wants to join the Cul-de-sac Kids club,” Eric said.

  “He’s not a kid,” said Jason.

  “But he’s cute,” said Stacy.

  “He needs a sweater,” said Dee Dee.

  Carly nodded. “For his trip back to school on Monday.”

  Jason frowned. “You’ve got to be kidding. A guinea pig in a sweater?”

  Carly couldn’t help it. More giggles flew out.

  ELEVEN

  Time for spelling class.

  Click . . . click . . . click . . . Piggy made his soft, happy sounds.

  Carly put her pencil down. She stared at the guinea pig across the schoolroom.

  I’m glad you came home with me, she thought. But now you’re back at school. Safe and sound.

  “Psst,” said Dee Dee behind her. “Miss Hartman is watching you.”

  Carly picked up her pencil. She wrote her name at the top of the work sheet. She’d had her fun with the class pet. Now it was time for work.

  Miss Hartman would never know what happened. The Piggy Party was Carly’s BIG secret. And Jimmy’s and Dee Dee’s. They’d promised not to tell.