Winter According to Humphrey (9781101591222) (12 page)

14

The Perfect Present

O
n Thursday afternoon, things suddenly changed. “Oh, my gosh—look!” Thomas shouted. “It's snowing!”

I turned and looked out the window behind me. Big, thick snowflakes were tumbling down from the sky.

My friends ooh-ed and ahh-ed and Mrs. Brisbane told them they could come to the window and look out.

“Do you think any two of them are the same
?
” Phoebe wondered aloud.

“Our experiment!” Small-Paul said. “You said if it snowed we could study the snowflakes.”

“That's right!” Mrs. Brisbane said.

Then, so many things happened. Mrs. Brisbane sent Paul F. (that's Small-Paul) down to the office to ask someone in the principal's office to get something from the freezer. She and my classmates got their coats on and then Mrs. Brisbane took a magnifying glass out of her desk drawer.

Small-Paul came back with a package of black paper that Mrs. Brisbane had frozen. (Humans are strange, you know.)

Mrs. Brisbane handed Paul his coat and then they all raced outside.

Suddenly, it was QUIET-QUIET-QUIET in Room 26.

“Og
?
” I asked. “Do you know what happened
?
”

My froggy friend didn't answer. He only splashed around in the water.

Then I saw them out my window. They were catching snowflakes on pieces of black paper, then bending over them with the magnifying glass.

“They're looking at snowflakes,” I told Og. “I hope they'll tell us about it,” I said.

“BOING-BOING,” Og replied.

And guess what
?
When they were back in the classroom, they did!

“The paper had to be frozen ahead of time so the snowflakes wouldn't melt right away,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “So what did you see
?
”

“There were about a million broken snowflakes,” Thomas T. True answered.

Thomas does like to exaggerate.

“A lot of them were broken,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “But how many of you saw snowflakes with six sides
?
”

All my friends' hands were raised.

“And they were all different,” Sophie said. “No two were alike. So maybe Paul F. was wrong about that.”

“You'd have to look at trillions of snowflakes to know,” Paul replied.

“They were beautiful,” Rolling-Rosie said.

Mrs. Brisbane let my friends take time to draw the types of snowflakes they'd seen.

While they worked, she called Sophie up to her desk and talked to her so softly, I couldn't hear a word they said.

At first, I thought Sophie was in trouble for talking too much, again. She loves to talk!

But when I saw her smile, I knew she couldn't be in trouble.

So what was Mrs. Brisbane telling her
?

Sophie nodded and then nodded again.

Mrs. Brisbane took a piece of paper out of her drawer and handed it to her.

I was only sorry Mrs. Brisbane forgot to tell me what was going on. After all, I am the classroom pet!

It had been an exciting day in Room 26! I was staring out the window, trying to get a good look at the falling snowflakes, but I guess I dozed off. I woke with a start when I heard Mrs. Brisbane say, “So, class, tomorrow is the big day. We'll rehearse the songs in the classroom before the show. After Winter Wonderland is over, you'll go home with your families for the winter holidays.”

Tomorrow! I couldn't believe my tiny ears.

I wish I had a tiny calendar hidden behind my mirror, along with my notebook.

“Don't forget to practice tonight, Daniel,” Mrs. Brisbane said as my friends left for the day. “You too, Sophie.”

I knew Daniel would be playing “Jingle Bells,” but I had no idea what Sophie would be practicing.

And I still had no idea where I would be spending the winter break.

Everybody in the class would be celebrating, but what about Og and me
?
Would we have anything to celebrate
?

Og! I suddenly realized that I hadn't been thinking enough about my next-door neighbor. I wanted to give him a gift . . . but so far, I hadn't done anything about it.

It's not easy to think of a gift for Og.

For one thing, he's always splashing around in water, so he'd ruin just about anything.

For another thing, he's always watching me. He never closes his eyes (that I've seen). So if I wanted to make him something, he'd see me and it wouldn't be a surprise.

Besides, what do frogs like except flies and crickets and other icky things to eat
?

Thinking about what Og liked to eat gave me an idea.

If I could only think of a way to distract him.

I pulled out my notebook and began to make a Plan.

After school, while it was still light out, I decided to put my Plan to work.

I jiggled the lock-that-doesn't-lock on my cage and scurried over to Og's cage.

“Og, there's something I need to do, but I'm worried that Aldo will come in and find me,” I said. “Could you watch the clock for me and warn me if it's time for him to clean
?
”

I don't know if Og can read or write. But in the past, he has often warned me about things, particularly when I've lost track of time. So he must know something about clocks.

“BOING!” Og hopped up onto the land part of his tank and faced the front of the room where the big clock is located.

Hooray—he understood!

I darted behind his tank and raced over to the corner where our food is stored.

While I looked longingly at my beloved Nutri-Nibbles, Mighty Mealworms, Veggie Dots and Hamster Chew-Chews, I passed right by. I glanced at the can of crickets—EWWW!—then headed for the jar of Froggy Food Sticks.

The small sticks were perfect for what I wanted to do. But how was a small hamster going to get them out of a plastic container with a lid
?

Luckily, when I was making my Plan, I thought about this.

I took a run at the container and managed to knock it on its side. (I almost got knocked on my side, too!)

I went up to the plastic cap and tapped it. Just as I feared, it was fastened tightly.

However, I'm VERY-VERY-VERY strong for a VERY-VERY-VERY small creature.

So I stood on my back legs and put both front paws against the lid and pulled.

The edge only bent back a little, so I tried again, pulling even harder. “Ooof!”

But it still didn't come off.

I don't give up easily, so I looked around. Lying on our table, not too far from my cage, was a pencil. I hurried over and rolled the pencil up to the Froggy Food Sticks.

“Keep your eyes on that clock!” I told Og.

“BOING-BOING!” he replied.

I held the pencil with both of my front paws, put the pointed tip under the edge of the lid and gave it one big push. All at once, the lid popped off and a pile of Froggy Food Sticks tumbled toward me.

Ewww! My whiskers wilted as the sticks gave off a smell like stinky fish. But this was a gift for Og, after all. He
loves
stinky stuff.

“Everything all right, Oggy
?
” I squeaked.

“BOING!” he said.

It would take too long to carry the sticks to the side of Og's tank. I had a better idea. I stood up on two feet and pushed the pile with my front paws, moving them in the direction of his tank.

Then I did it again and again, until I had a nice pile of Froggy Food Sticks in place. Luckily, Og was still looking toward the clock.

“I won't be long now,” I told him.

“BOING-BOING,” Og twanged.

Since I had it all planned out, it didn't take long for me to use my nose and paws to arrange the sticks in the shape of a Christmas tree.

I wasn't sure I'd ever get the smell of stinky fish off my paws, but after all, you shouldn't be selfish if you're giving a gift.

Then I scurried back to my cage and tore out a page of my notebook where I'd made a little card for Og earlier in the afternoon.

I had a little trouble with the card. I started out writing “Happy Chanukah,” but I didn't know how to spell “Chanukah,” so all I'd written was “Happy.”

Then I'd tried to write “Merry Christmas,” but I didn't know how to spell “Christmas,” so all I'd written was “Merry.”

I'd been in a BIG-BIG-BIG hurry at that point, so I'd written, “Frog.”

That's all I had time to write. It wasn't much of a holiday greeting, but it would have to do.

“Og, could you come over to my side of the tank now
?
I have something for you,” I said.

Then I scampered back to my cage.

It took Og a while to move from one side of the tank to the other. I think he liked looking at the clock.

But when he finally saw the food stick tree and the note, he said, “BOING!”

“It's a present from me, Og. It's a Christmas tree with a note that says, ‘Happy Merry Frog.' Oops, I forgot to sign my name,” I explained. “I hope you like it.”

Og stared and stared at the tree and the note with those bulging eyes of his.

I was afraid he had no idea what I was talking about.

Then all of a sudden, he started hopping up and down, up and down, crying, “BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING!”

He liked it!

Og kept hopping and BOING-ing.

He was a very happy and merry frog.

I was feeling happy and merry myself.