Daisy's Perfect Word (2 page)

Chapter Two  

The next morning, Daisy rushed through her breakfast, not even taking time to finish her cinnamon toast. After her crazy dream, she couldn't wait to get to school to find out her teacher's big news.

Even though she was in a hurry, Daisy still tried to avoid walking with Samantha, who lived next door. Samantha was in Daisy's class and liked the words
stop
and
mine
.

If they did walk together, Samantha would always say, “
Slow down
,” and “
Follow me.
” The words Samantha used hurt Daisy's ears. She didn't want those kinds of words stuck in her head all day long — not when there were so many other wonderful words in the world. When she did walk with Samantha, Daisy would sometimes hum a little song to herself when Samantha began to talk.

Avoiding Samantha took some work, because Samantha was a whole head taller than Daisy and could easily see over the fence that separated their houses. Daisy had figured out that if she cut through her backyard and then through Mrs. Bookman's bushes, she could end up in front of Emma's house without ever going by Samantha's house. The only problem was that the bushes were prickly and the ground was muddy, and today she was wearing her new ballet flats and favorite blue hoodie in honor of Miss Goldner's big news.

So Daisy decided to skip, while singing loudly, with her hood pulled up over her head and her eyes closed. Well, one eye really. She thought it would be a good idea to keep one eye open, so she could see where she was going. Daisy figured Samantha would have no idea what to make of such a spectacle. Besides, Daisy knew that Samantha did not like to skip. By the time Daisy got to the corner, Emma was already there and Samantha hadn't appeared.

All the way to school, Daisy and Emma talked about Miss Goldner — the best teacher in the whole world.

“I like how Miss Goldner uses words like
imagine
and
recess
,” Daisy said. “Those words are on my
Sparkling School Words
list.”

“After we've been working hard, it's great when Miss Goldner puts her hands on her hips and says, ‘You know what we need right now? A dance break!'” Emma said.

“I know!” Daisy agreed. “And she's not like those other teachers who just sit and watch us dance or sort of sway back and forth.”

“She's always right in the middle of the class, swinging her arms and twirling around,” Emma said. Then Emma, with her long hair bouncing up and down against her back, did an imitation of Miss Goldner's dancing technique right there on the sidewalk.

“She's the best,” Daisy agreed, her brown curls flying as she joined in.

“Wasn't it fun when she let us bring our wagons to school covered with white sheets, and we got to travel across the field like pioneers?” Emma asked, resuming the walk to school.

“My favorite day was when we went on that field trip to the beach and our only assignment was to watch the ocean,” Daisy said.

“And remember when she made us a cake with different colored layers to teach us about the layers of the earth?” Emma asked.

Daisy remembered it all.

But for Daisy, the absolutely best thing about Miss Goldner was that whenever she used a difficult word, she stopped and explained what it meant. To Daisy, that was the best possible thing a teacher could do.

Daisy was thinking about words and Emma was still enjoying her memory of the cake as they turned the corner and arrived at school.

The girls put their backpacks on the hooks outside the classroom door. Daisy carefully carried her notebook into the classroom and put it inside her desk for safekeeping. When all the children were sitting in their seats, Miss Goldner did what she always did — she took attendance and said something kind after each student had answered.

“Emma?” she asked.

“Here,” Emma said.

“Your shiny headband really makes your eyes sparkle,” Miss Goldner said. “And thank you for remembering to water the class plants.” Miss Goldner even had something nice to say to Samantha. Daisy usually looked forward to Miss Goldner's comments, but today she could barely sit still. Finally, Miss Goldner put away her attendance folder. Daisy and Emma shot each other looks across the room. They could hardly wait for the big announcement.

Miss Goldner stood up tall and asked, “Are you ready for my big news?” The children all answered together, “Yes!”

“I'm engaged,” Miss Goldner said with a big smile on her face.

Chapter Three  

Daisy loved the sound of
engaged
. It sounded as if it must be splendid. And when Miss Goldner explained what an engagement was — a promise to be married — Daisy knew it was splendid. But it was also sad, because at the end of the school year, Miss Goldner would be moving away.

“I'm very happy,” Miss Goldner said, “but I will miss all of you very much.” Then her eyes got misty and a couple of tears fell down her cheeks.

That happened every so often, especially when Miss Goldner was talking about a favorite book or something someone had done that was particularly nice. When her tears slipped out, she always apologized to the children saying, “I can't help it. I get very emotional.” Not only did Daisy like the word
emotional
, she thought it was part of what made Miss Goldner so special. This time Miss Goldner's emotional moment passed quickly, because the children distracted her with questions.

“What does your wedding dress look like?” Samantha asked.

“It will be white with little pearls and a skirt as big and fluffy as a cloud,” Miss Goldner said.

“What kind of cake will you have?” Will asked.

“Chocolate, of course.”

“Don't you want to teach at our school anymore?” Ben asked.

“I love this school,” Miss Goldner said. “But I will have to move to a new town and find a new school, so I can be with my new husband.”

“That sounds like a lot of ‘new,'” Emma said.

“It sure does,” Miss Goldner agreed, sighing.

Hearing all this, Daisy felt emotional herself and was glad that the recess bell rang before anyone saw the tear in her eye.