Latest / Children's Hour / 8.31.25 - Part 1

Transcript

8.31.25 - Part 1 · Children's Hour

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Rayi's Charny's Story Hour. As a reminder,
• 0:05
  RAI is a reading service intended for people who are
• 0:08
  blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
• 0:12
  read printed material. Today we will be reading from various
• 0:15
  books on school. Your reader today is Diane. We will
• 0:20
  get back to the book we began reading last week,
• 0:24
  Back to School, Mallory. It was published by Darby Creek,
• 0:30
  a division of Learner Publishing Group. It has a copyright
• 0:35
  here of two thousand and four and the author is
• 0:39
  Laurie B.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Friedman, Teacher of the Month.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: It's out, screams Pamela, what's out?
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I checked the four round my desk. A rat, a mouse,
• 0:49
  a snake.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: No silly, Pamela shoves the first issue of the Daily
• 0:54
  News in my face and starts jumping up and down
• 0:57
  like a cheerleader in the last minute of a tie game.
• 1:00
  It's so exciting, she squeals. I walk to the front
• 1:04
  of the classroom and get a copy of the Daily
• 1:07
  News off of missus Daly's desk. I searched through the
• 1:11
  table of contents until I find what I'm looking for.
• 1:14
  I flip to page seven, cross my toes and read
• 1:19
  How to Get Your Cat to Nap by Mallory McDonald,
• 1:22
  dedicated to Cheeseburger my cat, who is a great napper.
• 1:27
  Most cats love to nap, but if you have the
• 1:29
  kind of cat that prefers to be awake, here are
• 1:32
  some tips to get your cat to sleep. Tip number
• 1:36
  one seing your cat a luttaby. Don't try this if
• 1:39
  you've seen off key. Your cat might get mad and
• 1:42
  stay awake forever.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Tip two.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Draw a picture for your cat of other cats sleeping.
• 1:48
  Once she sees that cats are doing this everywhere, she
• 1:52
  might want.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: To try it herself.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Tip three, make your cat watch while you do your homework.
• 1:58
  I promise this will put your cat to sleep.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Tip four.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: If your kid is already sleeping, this is my best advice,
• 2:07
  don't wake her up. If you need help with any
• 2:10
  of these tips. As Mallory McDonald local cat experts, my
• 2:18
  article isn't bad.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: In fact, it's pretty good. Cat should be.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Sleeping all over fern Falls by the end of the day.
• 2:24
  But I don't get a chance to admire it for
• 2:26
  long before Pamela starts squealing again. Mallorie, did you see
• 2:31
  my teacher of the Month? Common on page three She
• 2:34
  looks over my shoulder and waits for me to read it,
• 2:37
  even though I'm officially not speaking to Pamela. I flip
• 2:41
  to page three and start reading Teacher of the Month
• 2:44
  fern Falls Elementary third grade Teacher Missus Daily by Pamela.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Brooks, her devoted student.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Missus Daly is the third grade teacher at fern Falls Elementary.
• 2:55
  Missus Daily makes learning fun. She makes learning science fun,
• 3:00
  makes learning social studies fun. She makes learning math fun.
• 3:04
  Missus Daily makes learning so much fun that even that
• 3:09
  even when you're learning, you feel like you're at recess.
• 3:14
  Missus Daly is super. It was her idea to publish
• 3:17
  the super newspaper. I asked Missus Daly if she could
• 3:20
  tell us the secret of her success as a teacher.
• 3:23
  You have to love what you do to do a
• 3:25
  good job at it, and I love what I do,
• 3:28
  says Missus Daly. I love what she does too, and
• 3:31
  so do a lot of third graders at fern Falls Elementary.
• 3:35
  So let's all give a big cheer for Missus Daly.
• 3:38
  Hipp poray hip hop poray hip hip Pooray. Thank you,
• 3:43
  Missus Daly for being the best teacher ever. I close
• 3:47
  my newspaper. I've read enough. Pamela tugs on my sleeve.
• 3:52
  Missus Daly said she loved my article and the apple
• 3:55
  I gave her for being teacher of the Month. I
• 3:59
  wrote my news paper into a cone in case I
• 4:01
  have to barf. I'm sure Missus Daly loved Pamela's article
• 4:05
  in her apple. She loves everything Pamela does, but I don't.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: I reopen my.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Newspaper and pretend to read the school lunch menus. Missus
• 4:14
  Daily taps Chester on the head. Class, you should be
• 4:17
  proud of the first issue of the Daily News.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: You all worked hard.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Does anybody have any comments? Joey raises his hand. Did
• 4:26
  everybody see my announcement column? Unroll my paper? Joey's announcement
• 4:31
  calm is on page four. Dress rehearsal for fall festivals
• 4:34
  next Thursday night, my last a plant free weekend. I
• 4:41
  think about all the times we practice our songs and
• 4:43
  music class. It's one thing to seem like an egg plant,
• 4:46
  but another to dress like one. Pamela leans over my
• 4:50
  shoulder and reads the announcement column. Dress rehearsal next week.
• 4:54
  It's so exciting, she squeals, even though we've been practicing
• 4:59
  in class. Want to be exciting when we finally get
• 5:02
  to rehearse on the stage. I put my head on
• 5:04
  my desk and groan. I'm trying to get excited, but
• 5:08
  some things are hard to get excited about. Having Pamela
• 5:11
  Brooks as a desk mate is one of those things.
• 5:15
  Being an eggplant in Fall Festival is another dress rehearsal.
• 5:21
  Eat your meatball, says Mom. I push my plate away.
• 5:25
  I don't want to eat my meatball. I also don't
• 5:27
  want to put on my eggplant costume and go to
• 5:30
  the auditorium tonight for dress rehearsal. And that's what I
• 5:33
  have to do. As soon as I finish eating my meatball,
• 5:36
  Come on, says mom. I can't be late. I take
• 5:40
  a teeny tiny bite of meatball and spit it in
• 5:42
  my napkin. This tastes funny, Mallory. Mom says my name like,
• 5:48
  I'm going to run the whole night if I don't
• 5:50
  eat what's on my plate. Dad sticks is forking the
• 5:54
  meatball in his plate and takes a bite. New recipe.
• 5:58
  Mom puts a bowl of spaghetti on a table. Actually
• 6:01
  they're frozen. I've been so busy with Fall Festival. I
• 6:04
  haven't had time to cook. I look at Mom. She's
• 6:07
  wearing a T shirt that says director on it. It
• 6:10
  should say all I care about is the stinking show.
• 6:14
  Fall Festival is all she cares about these days. Mom
• 6:18
  looks at me, Malory, hurry up. I stick a fork
• 6:22
  into my meetball and hold it up to the light.
• 6:24
  Who invented frozen meatballs? Mom groans, I continue expecting my meatball.
• 6:31
  Maybe the astronauts did. They kind of look like moon rocks.
• 6:34
  Mike shoves a big bite in his mouth.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Who cares?
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Who invented them? Mike' helps himself to two more meatballs.
• 6:41
  They're great, you know, if you'd eat yours. Easy for
• 6:45
  Mike's to say he doesn't care if he has to
• 6:48
  eat it frozen meatball, just like he doesn't care that
• 6:52
  Mom is the music teacher at our school. But Mike'
• 6:54
  and I are different because I do care. I take
• 6:58
  a teeny tiny bite, then I give mom, and I'm
• 7:01
  going to be sick.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Look.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Mom takes my plate and dumps it in the garbage.
• 7:05
  We don't have time for this, she says. She picks
• 7:09
  up the phone and calls the Winstons. She tells Joey
• 7:12
  to come over because it's time to go. Tonight will
• 7:15
  be awesome, says Joey when we're in the van. I
• 7:18
  can't wait to rehearse on stage. It will really be
• 7:21
  different from doing it in the classroom. Mom smiles at
• 7:25
  him in the rear view mirror. When we pull into
• 7:27
  the parking lot, Mom asks Joey and me to carry
• 7:30
  an armload of costumes. Mom follows us into the auditorium. Careful, Mallori,
• 7:37
  She says, your costumes are dragging. You don't want anything
• 7:40
  to happen to them? Do you? Actually?
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: I do, I whispered to Joey. I want them to
• 7:46
  drop off a cliff. I wait for Joey to laugh,
• 7:50
  but he doesn't. Mallory.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: You should change your attitude off. This will be lots
• 7:54
  of fun, fun for him. He has a great part.
• 7:57
  He didn't have to invite his best friend to come.
• 7:59
  When we get inside the auditorium, Mom starts spreading the
• 8:03
  costumes out on chairs. The auditorium is filling up with
• 8:07
  fern falls elementary third graders. Okay, everyone, Mom looks at
• 8:11
  her clipboard. Let's get into these costumes. Joey puts on
• 8:16
  a straw hat. Pamela ties a red checkered apron around
• 8:19
  her waist. The townspeople roll up the hems of their
• 8:23
  blue jeans and tucking their white T shirts. Fruits and
• 8:27
  vegetables are putting on their costumes. Produce is popping up everywhere.
• 8:32
  There's a peach, a plum, and an apple and a
• 8:34
  bowl of cherries. There's a carrot, a radish, a string bean,
• 8:38
  and two lettuce leaves. Mom asked me to adjust the
• 8:41
  stem on a cluster of grapes. Then she helps me
• 8:44
  step into my egg plant costume. She starts pinning on
• 8:48
  my stem. Hope Still, she says, I don't want to
• 8:52
  stick you. What would happen if you did? I ask,
• 8:56
  would egg plant juice strip out? I laugh at my
• 8:59
  joe but Mom doesn't. Joey looks at me like I'm
• 9:03
  a circus monkey who won't cooperate with the trainer. Be serious,
• 9:08
  he says, Fall festivals tomorrow night, and we have a
• 9:11
  lot of work to do. Did I hear him right?
• 9:13
  Did Joey tell me to be serious? If you ask me?
• 9:16
  Joey is taking fall festival way too seriously. Okay, everyone
• 9:22
  says Mom, I want to take a quick picture before
• 9:25
  we get started. Fruits in front, vegetables in the back,
• 9:28
  townspeople on farmers squad in the middle. Everybody smile and
• 9:32
  say salad. I think about the picture. If I make
• 9:35
  a scrap book a fall festival, it will look more
• 9:38
  like a cookbook than a scrapbook. Mom blows her whistle,
• 9:41
  places everyone, let's stick to the schedule. She sits in
• 9:45
  the front row of the auditorium while we sing all
• 9:48
  our songs. First the farmer singes, then his wife sings,
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  Then the townspeople sing, Then the fruits make a sing
• 9:56
  fruit salad. When the vegetables go on stage, I waddle
• 9:59
  behind the string. Being the vegetables make a circle around
• 10:03
  the lettuce leaves and sing our song. Well would you
• 10:08
  do if no one ate the stewp How would you
• 10:10
  feel if you got a raw deal? Everyone should eat
• 10:13
  at least five a day, asking you vegetable and that's
• 10:16
  what they'll say. When we're done, the lettuce leave sing
• 10:20
  the salad finale. Bravo. Mom shouts when they finish, Tomorrow
• 10:26
  night will be a smashing success. When I get home,
• 10:30
  I'm going to wish the pond to wish that somehow someway.
• 10:34
  This show will close before it ever opens. But when
• 10:38
  I get home, Max hands me a letter. It's from Marianne,
• 10:41
  he says. I rip it open and start reading. Dear Mallory.
• 10:46
  Mom says, we wouldn't miss the Fall Fest for for anything.
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  We think you'll make a great, cute eight plant. We're
• 10:54
  driving up Friday after school so we'll get there in
• 10:56
  time for the show. The mom says, we have to
• 10:59
  drive back Saturday morning. See you so so so soon.
• 11:03
  Can't wait, Wait wait fall Fest Full be the best
• 11:07
  hugs and kisses Marianne. I rub my eyes. I can't
• 11:11
  believe Marianne is coming to the Fall Festival. I crumple
• 11:14
  upper letter and aim for the trash. Mix catches it
• 11:18
  knit air and reads it for once. Bird brain is right,
• 11:22
  you'll make it an adorable egg plant. Be serious, I
• 11:26
  tell Matt it's my big brother. You could try to
• 11:29
  help me think of something so I wont looks stupid
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  on stage.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: You're right.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Mix hands me Marianne's letter. He looks serious. How about
• 11:37
  dancing lessons? Mix puffs out his cheeks and dances around
• 11:41
  the room like an overgrown egg plant. Then he falls
• 11:44
  on the floor laughing. I crumple up Marianne's letter and
• 11:47
  throw it in the trash. I hope you laugh so
• 11:50
  hard your head falls off. I tell Mix, I run
• 11:53
  to my room and slam my door. But even after
• 11:56
  I do, I can still hear Mix laughing. And the
• 11:59
  truth is, I don't blame him. I'm sure the sight
• 12:02
  of Mallory the Dancing Eggplant live on stage will be
• 12:06
  just hilarious.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: A broken leg.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Joey and I stop and read the sign on the
• 12:12
  bulletin board outside the auditorium Fall Festival tonight, he says
• 12:17
  out loud. I can tell reading that sign makes Joey
• 12:21
  feel terrific, but it makes me feel sick. I fill
• 12:24
  my head. I think I have a fever fall festivul fever.
• 12:28
  I know if I tell Mom, she'll just say the
• 12:31
  show must go on. Mike says that shows that show
• 12:35
  talk lately. That's the only kind of talk I hear
• 12:38
  from Mom. Fac stage. Mom zips kids into costumes. Who's
• 12:43
  excited for Fall Festival? She asked, This must be a
• 12:46
  trick question. Who could possibly be excited? By looking around?
• 12:51
  And I see lots of kids who look excited. Joey,
• 12:54
  Pamela even zich and anam, who are let us leaves?
• 12:57
  Look excited? I pull my eggs playing stem down on
• 13:01
  my head. I think I'm the only one around who here,
• 13:04
  who's not? I walked over to chair and sit down.
• 13:07
  I think about this afternoon when Marianne and her mom
• 13:10
  got to our house. As soon as they pulled into
• 13:12
  our driveway, Marianne popped out of the car and started
• 13:16
  hugging me like crazy. You're gonna be a star. She
• 13:20
  was jumping and dancing around me. She even tried to
• 13:22
  pick me up. I know a stage star. I know
• 13:25
  a stage star. Cut it out, I mumbled to Marianne,
• 13:30
  but her mom heard me. She's just excited to see
• 13:33
  you on stage tonight, and so am I.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: She rumpled my hair.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: We wouldn't drive three hours to see anybody but you.
• 13:40
  Then Marianne started jumping all over me again. I want
• 13:44
  to see your costume. So I took Marianne to my
• 13:47
  room and showed her my costume. Try it on, she squealed.
• 13:51
  I modeled my costume for Marianne. I look ridiculous, don't I.
• 13:56
  I was hoping Marianne would say, no, you look really, really,
• 13:59
  really cute. But that's not what she said. She didn't
• 14:03
  say anything. She couldn't because she couldn't stop laughing. I
• 14:07
  crossed my arms across my chest. Look Marianne was trying
• 14:12
  to keep a straight face. It could be worse. You
• 14:15
  could have been an onion or a turn up. And
• 14:18
  at least your costume is a good color. But I
• 14:21
  could tell mary Anne didn't think there was anything good
• 14:23
  about it. Backstage, I wig on my chair and straighten
• 14:27
  my stem. Crowd noises are starting to fill the auditorium.
• 14:31
  I pretend like I'm at the wishpond and make a wish.
• 14:34
  I wish there was some way I could get out
• 14:37
  of this show, but I don't think wishing will do
• 14:40
  much good. Mom claps her hands. Listen up, everybody. The
• 14:44
  show starts in just a few minutes, so find your
• 14:47
  places backstage. I walked a place near the front curtain
• 14:51
  and peek of the auditorium.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: It's filling up with people.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: I see Dad, Marianne, her mom as Mom says, the
• 14:58
  show must go on, but I can't wait until it's ober.
• 15:02
  One minute till showtime, says Mom. Whiet, everyone, someone pulls
• 15:08
  the stem on top of my eggplane hat. I turn
• 15:10
  around it's Mick's what are you doing back here? I say,
• 15:15
  I wanted to tell you to break a leg.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Huh.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: I can't believe my own brother wants me to break
• 15:20
  a leg. It's show talk. Mix gives me a thumbs
• 15:24
  up sign it means good luck. On stage, Mix goes,
• 15:28
  but he leaves me with an idea, a thumbs up idea.
• 15:32
  If I pretend like I have a broken leg, I
• 15:35
  won't have to be Mallory of the Dancing Eggplant.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: That's it.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: All I have to do is find the right way
• 15:40
  to pretend like I broke it. Showtime says mom, Concentrate
• 15:45
  and have fun. I am concentrating. I'm breaking my leg.
• 15:49
  I've never breaken a leg before. I've never even pretended
• 15:52
  to break one. Joey goes on stage. First, he reads
• 15:56
  a page from Farmer Brown's journal about how much he
• 15:59
  loves his and his fruits and vegetables. He sings a
• 16:03
  song no one gives a hoot about veggies and fruit.
• 16:06
  When he's finished, the audience claps.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: I squirm.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: I can't break my leg just standing here. Then it's
• 16:12
  Pamela's turn. She reads a poem about wanting to save
• 16:16
  the farm. She sings let's have a feast. More clapping,
• 16:20
  Still no chance to break a leg. When the townspeople
• 16:24
  go on stage, they sing we love junk food. I
• 16:27
  watch a peach, a plum, and apples, some grapes, and
• 16:30
  a bow of cherries go on stage. I listen as
• 16:33
  they sing the song they practice in music class. Fruit
• 16:37
  glorious fruit. We hope you will try it. Three pieces
• 16:40
  a day makes a healthy diet. Just to picture a great,
• 16:44
  big peach, plump, juicy and cute. Oh fruit, glorious fruit,
• 16:48
  glorious fruit, glorious fruit. I wish I could find a
• 16:52
  glorious way to break my leg. Emma, the peach holds
• 16:55
  up a sign for the audience that says, go bananas.
• 16:59
  There's clapping and whistling. Just like Mom said, there would
• 17:02
  be still no chance for me to break a leg.
• 17:05
  Mom motions for the vegetables to go on stage. I
• 17:08
  follow a carrot, a potato, a radish, a string being,
• 17:12
  and two lettuce leaves on stage. The vegetables make a
• 17:15
  circle around the lettuce leaves. I walk to the back
• 17:18
  of a circle. Then I see it, the crate on stage.
• 17:22
  There's a little crate.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: I'm supposed to.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Stand on while I sing. It's the chance I've been
• 17:28
  waiting for. All I have to do is to pretend
• 17:31
  that I trip when I'm stepping onto the crate, and
• 17:34
  I won't have to do my park in the show.
• 17:37
  I walk towards the crate two more steps. I take
• 17:40
  a deep breath, close my eyes, and step up. I
• 17:43
  hope this works. I pretend to trip and fall on
• 17:46
  the floor.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Oh, my leg gets broken.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: It's not easy to clutch your leg and roll around
• 17:53
  the pain when you're wrapped up in five yards of
• 17:55
  purple felt, but I do. Mom runs onto the stage.
• 18:00
  The vegetables turn around to see what's going on. Everybody
• 18:04
  in the autotoornaments looking at me, and that's the one
• 18:06
  thing I didn't want anybody to be looking at. Mom
• 18:09
  pokes my leg.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Can you move it?
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm on like people do on TV when they're
• 18:16
  really hurt, and wiggle my ankle just a little.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: I whisper.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Mom helps me stand up. Let's go backstage and put
• 18:24
  ice on it. The show can continue. Mom motions the
• 18:28
  vegetables to start without me. Backstage. I sit in a chair.
• 18:32
  Mom inspects my leg.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Are you okay? I think so.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: I just the ice pack and watch while everybody does
• 18:41
  the finale. We've been practicing a music class since the
• 18:44
  second week of school. But Mom isn't watching the finale.
• 18:48
  She's watching me. Don't you want to see the end
• 18:51
  of the show, I ask her. She shakes her head.
• 18:55
  Part of me is glad I'm not on stage singing,
• 18:58
  but part of me wishes I was be better than singing.
• 19:01
  Back here with Mom staring at me, clapping feels the auditorium.
• 19:05
  The show is over. Everyone comes backstage. Pamela gives Mom flowers.
• 19:10
  Thank you missus McDonald. She says, this was the best
• 19:14
  Fall festival ever. Joey puts his fingers in his mouth
• 19:18
  and whistles and yellsy yeehaw. He sounds more like a
• 19:22
  cowboy than a farmer, but everybody laughs. I'm proud of
• 19:26
  all of you, says mom. You did a wonderful job.
• 19:30
  There's a party in the auditorium, punching cookies for everyone.
• 19:34
  Kids start running to the refreshment table. Everyone looks like
• 19:38
  they feel great, almost to everyone.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: My leg is fine, but the rest of me feels awful.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: I thought I would feel good if I didn't have
• 19:46
  to be in the show, but now I wish Mom
• 19:48
  was saying she was proud of me too. I stay
• 19:51
  in my chair and hold the ice pack on my leg.
• 19:54
  People start crowding around me, Dad, Joey, Pamela, even though
• 19:59
  they ask if I'm okay, I feel like they know
• 20:02
  what they're looking at is a leg that's not broken.
• 20:07
  Way to run a show, Mix whispers in my ear
• 20:11
  Whennie is standing behind him with her arms crossed. My
• 20:14
  brother's chances start and wash down the drain. Agnore Winny,
• 20:19
  and rearrange my ice pack. Mike sure, the one who
• 20:22
  told me to break my leg? Show talk, remember, says Mix.
• 20:28
  Marianne brings me some punch and cookies. She hands me
• 20:32
  the plate, but I put it down. I love punching cookies,
• 20:35
  but I'm not in the mood for a party. When
• 20:38
  we get home, Mom takes out towels for Marianne and
• 20:40
  her mom. Rember, your family needs a few minutes alone,
• 20:43
  says Marianne's mom. Mom nods her head like that's exactly
• 20:47
  what we need.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Mallory.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: You and Marianne get ready for bid. Then Dad and
• 20:52
  I would like to see you in our room. I
• 20:54
  pull on my flower powered pajamas I brought up the
• 20:57
  same ones. Marianne pulls hers on too. She flips her
• 21:01
  head over and brushes her hair. Too bad, we didn't
• 21:04
  get to see you perform tonight. I sit down on
• 21:07
  the floor beside Marianne. I always know what I want
• 21:10
  to say to my best friend, but right now I'm
• 21:12
  not so sure. Marianne stops brushing. I think your mom
• 21:16
  wants to talk to you about what happened tonight. I
• 21:19
  want to talk about it too, and I do. And
• 21:21
  I tell Marianne about all the things that have changed
• 21:24
  in my life since I started schooling fern Falls. I
• 21:27
  tell her how hard it's been to start a new school.
• 21:30
  I tell her that it hasn't been much fun taking
• 21:33
  mom with me. I tell her Mom doesn't have much
• 21:36
  time to be my mom like she used to. Marianne
• 21:38
  sits down on the bed beside me. Remember when my
• 21:41
  parents got divorced, everything changed, and then after a while
• 21:45
  I got used to it. I think about when Marianne said,
• 21:48
  do you think I'll ever get used to the way
• 21:50
  things are now? Marianne nods and smiles. My sticks is
• 21:54
  head in my room. News flash, you're in big trouble.
• 21:58
  You better get upstairs.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: The double. MICUs is right.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: I slipped my feet into my fuzzy duck slippers and
• 22:05
  trudge upstairs to Mom and Dad's room. I feel like
• 22:08
  I'm entering the chamber of doom. Mom tells me to
• 22:11
  sit on the bed. She crosses her arms. Mallory, I
• 22:15
  know you weren't excited about the show. Did you fall
• 22:18
  on purpose? When I swallow, I feel like I've got
• 22:21
  a cement truck stuck in my throat. I wish I
• 22:24
  could be anywhere but here, right now, in a junkyard,
• 22:27
  a sewer plant, even a swamp filled with quick sand
• 22:31
  and hungry alligators.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: I nod.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: It's a tiny nod, but it's big enough for Mom
• 22:36
  to know the truth.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: She shakes her head. Malory, what you did was wrong.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: You let your classmates down, you let the audience down,
• 22:45
  You let me down.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Mom keeps talking.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Sometimes we all have to do things we don't want
• 22:50
  to do, and that's what you should have done. Sometimes
• 22:53
  we have to consider other people's feelings, not just our own.
• 22:58
  My feet feel cold even inside my fuzzy duck slippers.
• 23:02
  Mom is quiet for a minute, but her face is
• 23:04
  all pinched up like a raisin. Mallory is there something
• 23:08
  you'd like to say. Actually, there are a lot of
• 23:11
  things I like to say. I think about the expressionist
• 23:14
  paintings we're working on in our class. It's easy to
• 23:17
  paint how you feel, but it's hard to say it
• 23:20
  when someone's staring at you with crosstorms and an angry
• 23:23
  look on her face.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I'm mumble.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Parents should know it's embarrassing to get in trouble when
• 23:30
  you've had a friend over. Marianne is waiting for me downstairs.
• 23:34
  I tell them, I think we've talked enough for one night,
• 23:37
  says Dad. He and Mom kissed me good night, but
• 23:40
  I can tell what they're really thinking is bad night.
• 23:44
  And I agree. This was a very, very, very bad
• 23:48
  night at the wishpond. I look through the stones on
• 23:53
  the edge of the wishpond. I'd like to find a
• 23:56
  wish pebble. The problem is there never around when you
• 23:58
  need one. Ow enough for your thoughts, says Dad. He
• 24:02
  sits down next to me and opens a box of
• 24:04
  chocolate donuts with colored sprinkles. I shake my hand. I
• 24:08
  love donuts, but this morning I'm not in the mood.
• 24:11
  Dad puts the box down and picks through the rocks
• 24:14
  on the edge of the pond.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: What are you looking for? I ask?
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Dad doesn't answer. He keeps picking through the rocks. If
• 24:21
  you're looking for a wish pebble, you might as well
• 24:23
  give up. I tell him they're pretty hard to find. No,
• 24:27
  says Dad, I'm not looking for a wish pebble. He
• 24:30
  stops digging through the rocks and looks at me. I'm
• 24:33
  looking for the Mallory I know, who always work at
• 24:36
  something until things work out the way she'd like them to.
• 24:40
  Dad smiles. Lately she's been pretty hard to find. I
• 24:44
  kick my toe in the water. You're not going to
• 24:46
  find her under a rock. Dad hands me a donut.
• 24:49
  I peeked into her room this morning. Mari Anne was
• 24:52
  still asleep and your bed was empty. I thought you
• 24:55
  might be out here. I pick a sprinkle off my donut.
• 24:59
  Feel like talk, king, asked. I shake my head from
• 25:02
  side to side. Dad looks at the pile of stones
• 25:05
  in my lap. Well, since this is a wish pond,
• 25:09
  I bet you came out here to make some wishes?
• 25:11
  Am I right about that? I shake my head up
• 25:14
  and down. Feel like telling me what you plan to
• 25:16
  wish for? If I tell you my wishes might not
• 25:19
  come true. Dad puts his arms around me and pulls
• 25:22
  me close to him. Sweet Potato, it might help you
• 25:25
  to talk about what's bothering you. I hadn't planned to talk,
• 25:30
  but everything that's bothered me starts popping out of my
• 25:33
  mouth like Colonel's flying out of the popcorn machine at
• 25:36
  the movies. I wish I was still at my old
• 25:39
  school with Mary Anne. I wish things with Joey were
• 25:41
  like they were this summer. I wish Mom hadn't picked
• 25:44
  a stupid thing for fall festival. I wish she hadn't
• 25:47
  made me invite Marian to the show. I wish things
• 25:50
  could be like they used to be before Mom was
• 25:52
  a teacher. And what I really wish is that I
• 25:54
  could make her.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: Not mad at me anymore. Who Dad takes a deep breath.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: That's a pretty long list guiding the ideas how you
• 26:03
  might make some of those wishes come true.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: I shrug.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Dad pulls me closer to him. Feel like carrying his story?
• 26:14
  I shrug again. I know Dave will tell us story,
• 26:17
  whether or not I want to hear it. Once upon
• 26:19
  a time, there was little girl, says Dad. She loved
• 26:22
  to play with blocks. She used to build all kinds
• 26:24
  of things out of blocks. She would build houses, schools, boats,
• 26:28
  and even cities out of blocks. Now, this little girl
• 26:31
  had an older brother. One day, her brother used her
• 26:35
  blocks to build a tower. He built a big tall
• 26:38
  tower with all the blocks. When he was finished, his
• 26:41
  tower stood straight and tall, almost as tall as little girl.
• 26:45
  The little girl must have decided herself that building a
• 26:48
  big tall tower looked like fun, because that's what she
• 26:52
  started to do. We will return to this book next time.
• 26:57
  So this concludes our children's story today. Please join us
• 27:01
  next time as we will read more stories, fables and
• 27:04
  fairy tales. Thank you for listening and please stay tune.
• 27:07
  Felix and Herold Leader on Radio I