Spring According to Humphrey (12 page)

Alongside the doorway was a sign that said:

The Humster? That’s me! And what do you know – my picture was on the sign. I sure wanted to try that maze, but I knew I’d probably never get the chance.

On the other side, a sign with Og’s picture read:

And there were lots of large horse heads on the floor.

The veranda had windows on three sides, and I could see that the rain had stopped and the sun was low in the sky.

Everything looked fresh and green and brand-new.

I was about to return to the kitchen when I saw something in the sky that I’d never seen before.

‘A rainbow!’ I squeaked out loud.

It was just like I’d seen in pictures: a magical arc of many colours across the sky.

‘WOW-WOW-WOW,’ I said.

When the rainbow started to fade, it was getting dark, and I realized that the Morgensterns would be home soon.

I raced back to the kitchen and pulled myself up to the counter, using the handles on the cabinet drawers.

It was unsqueakably hard, but I’m one strong hamster. Kind of like the strong man at the circus.

I ran into my cage and closed the door behind me.

Seconds later, I heard the sounds of the family returning.

Simon burst into the kitchen and shouted, ‘Humphrey, we saw a rainbow! I’m sorry you missed it.’

‘Not a problem,’ I said as I burrowed into my bedding and quickly fell asleep.

14 On with the Show

I’m always HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY to get back to Room 26, but that Monday, I was even more excited than usual. I wanted to tell Og about the circus decorations and the rainbow! I hoped maybe he’d seen it, too.

But as soon as Simon put my cage on the table, Og began to leap up and down. ‘BOING-BOING-BOING!’ he said.

He leaped so high, I thought he was going to pop the top of his tank.

‘Goodness,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘What is going on with Og?’

Simon was still standing near us, and he gasped loudly. ‘Mrs Brisbane, come here quick!’
He was staring at the tadpoles.

Mrs Brisbane gasped, too, when she joined him. ‘Oh, my!’ she said.

‘BOING!!’ Og twanged.

‘Their heads are so much bigger,’ our teacher said.

‘And look.’ Simon pointed. ‘Their bodies are much longer. Their tails, too.’

‘BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING!’ Og repeated.

‘All right, Uncle Og,’ Simon said. ‘We see what happened.’

Other students came into the classroom and gathered around.

‘Flip and Flap look more like frogs,’ Rosie said.

‘Right on schedule,’ Just-Joey said. ‘According to the booklet, it won’t be long now before they’re real frogs.’

I wished my friends weren’t all crowded around the tank, because I couldn’t get a good look at the tadpoles.

‘A-MAZ-ING!’ Tell-the-Truth-Thomas said.

‘BOING!’ Og agreed.

Mrs Brisbane turned to her students.
‘Speaking of amazing things, did any of you see the rainbow on Saturday?’

‘YES-YES-YES!’ I squeaked.

‘BOING!’ I guess Og had seen it, too. And so had almost all of my friends.

Mrs Brisbane had planned to start the day with maths, but instead she sent the class to the library to look up facts about rainbows and tadpoles. It takes a really great teacher to change her plans when her students get excited about something.

When they returned, they shared what they had learned.

According to Helpful-Holly, rainbows are caused by light bouncing off water droplets. That’s where the rain part comes in.

And Small-Paul explained that the colours of the rainbow are in this order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. I wished I’d paid more attention.

‘That’s Roy G. Biv!’ Nicole shouted.

Paul nodded and said, ‘The letters of his name stand for the colours of the rainbow.’

I think every time I see a rainbow from now on, I’ll think of Roy G. Biv.

Joey talked more about tadpole development. Some tadpoles take even longer to grow into frogs than Flip and Flap.

Our headmaster, Mr Morales, visited our classroom to see the tadpoles. He was wearing a tie with small, colourful rainbows on it.

‘I wish my children could see the tadpoles,’ he said.

‘What about seeing us?’ I squeaked.

‘BOING!’ Og agreed.

‘That reminds me of something,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘The students would like to have Humphrey and Og at their booth on Thursday. As long as it’s all right with you.’

‘Of course!’ he said. ‘I’ll bring Willy and Brenda along to see them.’

It was one of the busiest weeks I’ve ever known in Room 26.

One day, Mrs Brisbane showed the class the list of jobs for Family Fun Night. There would be ringmasters and ringmistresses, ticket takers, prize givers, and students to help people through the maze and run the leapfrog competition.

Then she went down the list and drew
students’ names out of a big top hat. The hat was the same one that the ringmasters and ringmistresses would wear.

Felipe, Kelsey and Nicole were excited to run the leapfrog game.

Daniel, Holly and Tall-Paul would help at the hamster maze.

Joey, Rosie, Sophie, Thomas and Cassie were going to be ringmasters and ringmistresses. Their job was to attract people into the animal acts area.

The rest of the students were ticket takers and prize presenters.

All of my classmates looked happy with their assignments, except for one.

Cassie just stared at the floor and looked a little bit sick.

When my friends left for playtime, she stopped to ask Mrs Brisbane if she could switch jobs and be a ticket taker.

‘Why?’ Mrs Brisbane asked.

Cassie held her stomach. ‘I don’t like to talk in front of people. Especially people I don’t know.’

Mrs Brisbane nodded. ‘This isn’t like giving
a speech. You just stand there and say, “Step right up to the greatest animal show on earth!”’ You can do that!’

Cassie didn’t look up. ‘I’m not sure.’

‘You won’t know until you try it,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Remember the ideas we’ve shared about breathing and positive thoughts.’

Cassie nodded.

‘This would be a wonderful way to practise those ideas,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Let’s try it now. Take some good, deep breaths and tell yourself that you will do a great job.’

I was unsqueakably happy to see Cassie use her deep breathing.

‘Now say, “Welcome to Brisbane’s Amazing Animal Acts! Step right up and try the Humster’s Jungle Maze! Come and try Og’s Frog Leap Challenge!”’

I LOVED-LOVED-LOVED Mrs Brisbane’s dramatic voice.

Cassie said, ‘That was great.’

Mrs Brisbane asked her to try it.

Cassie took a good, long breath. ‘Welcome to Amazing Brisbane’s Acts. Um … step right
up for the … um, Humster’s … um … Maze! And Og’s Frog … Leap!’

Mrs Brisbane smiled. ‘That was very good, Cassie,’ she said. ‘I know you can do it with a little practice. Give it all you’ve got.’

I hopped on my wheel and started to spin. ‘You can do it, Cassie!’ I squeaked.

Cassie laughed. ‘Look at Humphrey!’

Mrs Brisbane laughed. ‘Can you try as hard as Humphrey does?’

Cassie nodded. ‘I think so.’

‘That’s all I ask of you,’ Mrs Brisbane said.

I squeaked in agreement.

By Thursday, Flip and Flap had changed again. They looked like tiny frogs with very long tails.

‘Why are the tails so long?’ Holly asked. ‘Og just has a little stubby tail.’

‘BOING!’ I don’t think Og liked having his tail called a stub.

Joey explained that the tadpoles’ bodies would grow much bigger. ‘When they’re fully grown, they’ll have stubby tails like their uncle Og,’ he said.

Og dived into the water side of his tank and began to splash loudly.

Just then, Mrs Wright came into Room 26. ‘Excuse me for interrupting,’ she said. ‘I’m checking to see if you’re all set for tonight.’

‘Everything’s under control,’ Mrs Brisbane replied.

‘I saw your signs about the hamster maze and frog leap. I want to make sure you’re not talking about actual hamsters and frogs,’ Mrs Wright continued. ‘They’re not allowed in the gym.’

My friends moaned and groaned.

Mrs Wright is very particular about her gym. I don’t think she’d allow humans in the gym if she had her way.

‘Is there a rule about that?’ Mrs Brisbane asked.

‘Absolutely,’ Mrs Wright said.

‘That’s funny,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Mr Morales told me it was fine.’

Mrs Wright shook her head.

Joey raised his hand. ‘Humphrey’s been in the gym before. He was there after school. And in the Christmas Show, too.’

Mrs Wright scowled.

‘It would mean a lot if you could bend the rules,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘They really want to show off Humphrey and Og.’

Mrs Wright was still scowling. She glanced over at our table. ‘What’s in the aquarium?’ she asked.

‘Tadpoles,’ Mrs Brisbane told her.

Mrs Wright shook her head. ‘Strictly forbidden,’ she said. ‘But the frog and the hamster can come, if they are contained.’

My friends cheered loudly.

‘THANKS-THANKS-THANKS!’ I squeaked, though no one could hear me over the cheering.

‘BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING!’ Og shouted.

‘Three cheers for Mrs Wright!’ Rosie yelled.

She and my classmates cried out, ‘Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray for Mrs Wright.’

I think Mrs Wright even smiled before she left Room 26.

Once school has ended and the building seemed empty, I dashed over to visit Gigi.

‘Og and I get to come to Family Fun Night!’ I told her.

‘At first, Mrs Wright said Ms Mac couldn’t bring me,’ Gigi squeaked. ‘But then she came back and said the headmaster said I could come too.’

‘Hip, hip, hooray for Mr Morales and for Mrs Wright!’ I cheered.

‘Oh, and my friends tried putting a clown hat on me, but I kept shaking it off until they gave up,’ Gigi said. ‘Was that bad?’

‘NO-NO-NO!’ I assured her. ‘Just because you’re a pet doesn’t mean you have to do things you’re not comfortable doing.’

‘Thanks,’ Gigi said with a big yawn. ‘I hope I can stay awake tonight.’

It was getting dark, so I scurried back to Room 26.

I was so unsqueakably excited, I took a long spin on my wheel to calm down. I hoped Cassie was doing some exercise, too.

A little while later, the door opened and Bob turned on the lights.

I liked Bob, but I was disappointed. I hadn’t seen Aldo for such a long time.

‘Good news,’ he said as he started to sweep. ‘You two will be seeing a lot more of me. I just got hired to be the permanent night-time caretaker at Longfellow School starting next autumn.’

‘Oh?’ I squeaked.

‘BOING-BOING,’ Og twanged.

‘Yep,’ Bob continued. ‘Aldo got a teaching job! He’s happy and I’m happy, too.’

I was happy that Aldo’s dream came true.

But it broke my heart a little to think that a good friend was leaving.

The rest of the evening was a great, big, happy blur!

Mr and Mrs Brisbane took Og and me to the gym, where my friends and their parents were setting up.

The door to the gym was draped with red and white striped cloth to make it look like a circus tent. Mrs Wright was already sitting at the ticket booth. The families could buy
tickets there and use them for the games and food.

We passed by Ms Mac’s booth. Gigi’s cage was sitting on a table in front of the Clown Toss booth. Big, colourful clowns were painted on the backdrop. They had holes where their big mouths were.

‘Watch this, Humphrey,’ Ms Mac called out as she tossed a bean bag and it went right into a clown’s mouth.