Karen's Worst Day Read online

  Boo-Boo’s Boo-Boo

  I wandered onto our back porch. I sat there with my chin in my hands, and looked out at our yard. The morning was cool and fresh. With the sun shining down, I would not even need to put on a jacket. My sweat shirt would be warm enough.

  I watched a squirrel chase another squirrel around and around, up a tree trunk, until they both disappeared in the branches. Then I watched two birds swoop low over the lawn. The animals seemed to be having fun.

  Oh! Maybe that was what I needed — one of our pets. An animal can be a very good friend on a bad day.

  I jumped up. I was all set to give the day another try. It was still only 9:45. I began to smile as I ran back inside to get Shannon or Boo-Boo. Maybe now would be the beginning of the good part of the day.

  I found both Shannon and Boo-Boo in the living room. They were asleep on a couch. It’s funny — Boo-Boo is a cross old cat, but he is always nice to Shannon. Even when Shannon is frisking around, teasing Boo-Boo, Boo-Boo never hisses or swipes at her. And when they are both tired, they take naps together.

  I think it is very nice of Boo-Boo to be so kind to Shannon.

  Just because Boo-Boo is nice to Shannon, though, does not mean he is nice to people. In fact, Boo-Boo is weird. He’s always running and hiding, or scratching and biting.

  If I wanted to play with a nice pet, it would be Shannon. But there were a couple of problems with that. For one thing, Shannon is really David Michael’s dog. She does not know Andrew and me very well because she does not see us too often. For another thing, Shannon was asleep.

  I lifted Shannon’s ear. “Oh, Shannon,” I whispered into it.

  Shannon opened her eyes.

  “Good,” I said. “You’re awake. Come on outside and play with me.”

  Shannon was a very sleepy puppy, but I scooped her up and took her outside with me. Right away, she woke up.

  “Come on, Shannon! Chase me!” I cried.

  Shannon chased after me. Then I threw a stick and she fetched it. I threw a ball and she fetched that, too.

  Then I threw the stick again, but Shannon could not find it. She looked and looked.

  “That’s okay, Shannon,” I called. “You don’t have to find that stick. I’ll throw another one for you.” But Shannon would not stop snuffling around, looking for the stick.

  Well, this was no fun.

  Then David Michael came outside.

  “Shannon!” he called.

  Shannon ran to him. She forgot all about the stick and me.

  I felt tears prick at my eyes, but I blinked them back. I’ll just go and get Boo-Boo, I thought. So I did. It was not easy. Boo-Boo hissed at me because he did not want to be picked up. But I hauled him outside anyway.

  “Okay, let’s play,” I said to Boo-Boo.

  Boo-Boo did not look at me. He was staring at … Morbidda Destiny! She was in her herb garden next door.

  “Hsss!” went Boo-Boo, and he ran up a tree.

  “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” laughed David Michael.

  But I did not laugh. Nothing seemed funny to me.

  Fiddlesticks!

  I ran to the tree that Boo-Boo had climbed.

  “Boo-Boo!” I called. “Boo-Boo! Come on down.”

  Boo-Boo was not listening. He had reached a high branch in the tree and was balancing on it.

  I looked over at David Michael. He was throwing the ball for Shannon. They were having lots of fun. David Michael had forgotten about Boo-Boo and me. So had Shannon.

  Well, I could have fun, too. If I could just get Boo-Boo down, we could play and have a good time … couldn’t we?

  “Boo-Boo!” I called again. “Come down from there!” Then I added very softly, “Morbidda Destiny isn’t going to hurt you.” (I didn’t want the witch to hear me.)

  Boo-Boo did not even look at me.

  Ah-ha! I thought. Cat food! That always works. On TV when a cat is up a tree, someone puts a dish of food on the ground, and the cat comes down to eat. Simple!

  I ran inside and poured Boo-Boo’s favorite crunchy food into a saucer. Boo-Boo had just eaten breakfast, but so what. He had not eaten his crunchy food. He would want a treat.

  I ran back outside and over to Boo-Boo’s tree.

  “Hey, Boo-Boo!” I called. “Look what I have for you!” I held up the dish of cat crunchies so Boo-Boo could see it.

  He blinked his eyes. He stayed put.

  I set the dish on the ground and waited. Nothing happened. Boo-Boo looked like he might be getting ready to doze off. There was only one thing to do. I began to climb the tree. It was not easy, one-handed. But there were lots of limbs to step on.

  Boo-Boo woke up. He watched me climb toward him. He moved away from me.

  Then, “Karen Brewer! You come down from that tree this instant!”

  It was Daddy. He was shouting to me from the kitchen window.

  I backed down. I hadn’t gotten very far anyway.

  “Boo-Boo!” I called one more time. And then I gave up. I sat down next to the cat crunchies.

  Right away, Boo-Boo began edging down the tree. All right! I thought. But I did not say anything. I knew that if I did, Boo-Boo would stay in the tree, just to make me mad. Instead, I watched Morbidda Destiny working in her garden. She looked very busy.

  Suddenly, two things happened at once. Boo-Boo jumped to the ground. And in her garden, the witch exclaimed crossly, “Oh, fiddlesticks!” She began waving a rake around. Boo-Boo took one look at her and raced for the house.

  Fiddlesticks. Was that a magic witch word? A spell for cats? Had Morbidda Destiny put a spell on Boo-Boo?

  I didn’t stay around to find out. I ran after Boo-Boo. If David Michael had any sense, he would come inside, too. And he would bring Shannon with him.

  The witch was on the loose!

  You Are a Toad!

  David Michael did run inside. And he did bring Shannon with him. But I think he waited too long. I think Morbidda Destiny put a spell on him.

  Why do I think this? Because David Michael got really mean.

  The first thing he said after he had closed the door behind him was, “Mo-om! I’m going over to Linny’s.”

  “All right!” Elizabeth called back.

  Linny Papadakis is David Michael’s good friend. He and his family live across the street from us and one house down. Linny has two younger sisters. Sari is really little, but Hannie is my age, and she is my best friend. Well, she is my best friend when I am at the big house. When I am at the little house, I have a different best friend. (Her name is Nancy.)

  Suddenly I felt like playing with Hannie. Maybe that would make my day better.

  “I’m going with David Michael!” I called.

  “No, you’re not,” he replied just as Elizabeth said, “Okay!”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “No, you’re not.” (See how mean he was being?)

  “Yes, I am. I want to see Hannie. I can go over there if I want.”

  “Okay, but don’t go with me.”

  “David Michael!”

  Ding-dong.

  David Michael and I both ran for the front door. We reached it at the same time. We had a fight over who would get to open it.

  David Michael won. (I bet he wouldn’t have won if he had a cast on his arm.)

  Standing at the door were Hannie and Linny.

  “Hi!” I said. “Guess what. We were just coming over to see you.”

  “You were?” said Hannie. “Good. That means you’re free.”

  “Free?” I repeated.

  “To go bike riding.”

  “Yeah,” said Linny. “We’re riding to Harry’s Brook. We’re going to look for water spiders, and catch minnows and crayfish. We even brought sandwiches for lunch.”

  “And cookies!” added Hannie. “A real picnic.”

  “Neat!” exclaimed David Michael. “Let me ask Mom if I can go.”

  David Michael ran off, but I just stood there. I glared at Hannie. Finally I said, “Well, t
hanks a lot.”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Hannie.

  “What’s wrong?” I repeated. “What’s wrong?! You know I can’t go bike riding. That’s what’s wrong. I’m not allowed to ride my bike until my cast comes off. And I can’t go wading in brooks, either. I might get the cast wet. How could you be so mean, Hannie? You are a toad!” Hannie was mean, too. Maybe she was under the witch’s spell.

  “I am not!” yelled Hannie.

  “Are so!”

  “Am not so!”

  “Are so too!”

  “Am not so too!”

  “Okay! I can go!” David Michael had come back. He was holding a bag of apples. “Mom gave us these for the picnic,” he said. “Let’s get our bikes.”

  David Michael and Linny left, but Hannie stayed behind. “You called me a toad,” she said. “I’m glad you can’t come with us. We wouldn’t want you.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to go on a picnic with a toad. So there!” I replied.

  Hannie turned her back on me. I closed the front door. Why wasn’t my bad day getting better? Was it all Morbidda Destiny’s fault? Or was I just having an awful, rotten day?

  Winner, Loser

  After I closed the door, I stood in our hallway for a few moments. The house was quiet. Elizabeth was in the den, sewing. Sam and Charlie were over at a friend’s house. David Michael had gone on his stupid picnic. And Daddy had taken Andrew downtown for a haircut.

  Where was Kristy? Where was my twin?

  “Kristy?” I called.

  “I’m in the kitchen!” she replied.

  I found Kristy putting a batch of brownies in the oven. “Hi, twin,” she said.

  “Hi,” I answered. “What are those for?”

  “The Baby-sitters Club. I’m going to bring them to our next meeting.” Kristy does so much baby-sitting that she and her friends have a baby-sitting club.

  “Oh.”

  Kristy closed the oven door. “Want to play?” she asked.

  I had a feeling Kristy was just being nice to me, but I did want to play with her, so I said, “We could play checkers.” I am good at checkers.

  “Okay,” replied my sister.

  We found the checkers and set up the game in Kristy’s room. She has a gigantic bed. It’s big enough so that we could put the game in the middle and lie on our stomachs if we wanted to. That is a very comfortable way to play checkers.

  “You go first,” Kristy said.

  I smiled. “Thanks!” That was nice of her.

  Kristy was not a toad.

  The game began. I did a lot of jumping. Once, I got a triple jump. Jump, jump, jump. Three of Kristy’s pieces became mine. And my pieces were slowly crowned. They were made kings.

  I gave Kristy a stern look. “Now don’t let me win,” I said to her. “I hate when big people do that.”

  Kristy blushed. “Sorry, Karen. Okay. I’ll play my best from now on. I promise.”

  The next thing I knew, Kristy got a triple jump. Jump, jump, jump. Then two of her pieces became kings. And the next thing I knew, Kristy had won the game.

  “You beat me!” I exclaimed. I could not help looking a little cross.

  “Well, you said not to let you win. So I didn’t.”

  “But I’m a good checkers player,” I protested.

  “Yes, you are,” agreed Kristy.

  “Then how come I didn’t win?”

  Kristy sighed. She began to look more like a grown-up and less like my big sister. “Do you want to play again?” she asked. “Maybe you’ll win this time.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  We set up the board for a second game. Then we started to play. Kristy played very badly.

  But I got jumps and double jumps and triple jumps.

  “King me! King me!” I said each time one of my pieces reached Kristy’s side of the board.

  After awhile all of my pieces were kings and none of Kristy’s were. Plus, I had jumped half of her pieces.

  “You’re not letting me win again, are you?” I asked.

  “Well, I — I, um …”

  “You are! You are letting me win!” I cried.

  “But you were upset when I beat you.”

  “But I didn’t want you to let me win!”

  “Karen, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry,” Kristy began.

  I didn’t hear what she said next, though. I had run out of her room.

  Moosie

  I needed to hug something, so I went looking for Shannon. Now that David Michael was gone, maybe she would play with me. But Shannon was asleep. She was probably all tired out from playing with mean David Michael. And Shannon is only good for hugging and playing when she is awake. So I left Shannon where I found her — curled up in the living room with Boo-Boo.

  I went upstairs to my room. I would just have to hug Moosie and Tickly instead. I could play with them, too. They are not as much fun as Shannon and Boo-Boo are, but then, it was my bad day, so what did I expect?

  I closed the door to my bedroom.

  Then I ran across my room and leaped onto my bed. “Hello, Moosie-Moosie,” I said. I gave Moosie a very tight squeeze.

  Then I spread Tickly on the bed. I wrapped Moosie up in Tickly.

  “Now you look just like a baby,” I told Moosie.

  I rocked Moosie in my arms for awhile.

  “Did you ever have a bad day? An awful day?” I asked Moosie.

  Moosie looked at me with his round button eyes.

  “Probably not,” I answered myself. “A real cat might have a bad day, but not a stuffed one.

  “You know what’s happened so far today, Moosie? Everything. I had a bad dream, I fell out of bed, I forgot my jeans, the Crunch-O prize package was empty, Mr. Ed wasn’t on, Shannon wouldn’t play with me, Boo-Boo ran up a tree, I had a fight with Hannie, and Kristy treated me like a baby. I think the witch is practicing her spells.”

  I put Moosie back on the bed and un-wrapped Tickly. “I think you need a new outfit, Moosie,” I said.

  I lifted up Moosie’s T-shirt. Underneath I found a big rip. Moosie’s stuffing was coming out!

  I ran to my door and flung it open. “Elizabeth! Elizabeth!” I called.

  The Terrible, Horrible Day

  Elizabeth came running. “Karen, what’s the matter?” she cried.

  I took Elizabeth by the hand and pulled her to my bed.

  “Look at Moosie!” I exclaimed. “He’s sick! He’s dying! He’s falling apart!”

  Elizabeth picked up Moosie. She poked his stuffing back inside his tummy. She looked at the rip for a long time. Then she said, “I am the animal doctor, Karen. Do you give me permission to operate on Moosie?”

  “I guess so,” I replied.

  “He’ll have a scar,” Elizabeth went on seriously, “but I can fix him up.”

  I smiled. “Okay, Doctor Elizabeth.”

  Elizabeth left my room. She returned with her sewing box. She sat down on my bed and began stitching up Moosie. I sat next to her and rested my head against her shoulder. I watched the operation.

  While Elizabeth worked, she said, “I guess you’ve been having a bad day today, haven’t you, Karen?”

  “The worst,” I agreed.

  “Everybody has bad days,” Elizabeth told me. “You know what happened on my worst day ever?”

  “What?” I asked. Somehow, I had not thought of Elizabeth having bad days.

  “Well, I was about sixteen.”

  “Older than Kristy?”

  “Yes,” Elizabeth answered. “And older than Sam. But not as old as Charlie.”

  I nodded.

  “And all in one day,” Elizabeth said, “I flunked a test, my gym teacher yelled at me, I burned the chicken my family was having for dinner, I cut my hand, I had a fight with one of my sisters, and I lost my favorite earrings.”

  “That is pretty bad,” I agreed.

  “You know who else once had a bad day?” asked Elizabeth.

  “Who?” I said.

&nbs
p; “A little boy named Alexander. And there is a very funny book about his bad day. It’s called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Would you like to hear that story?”

  “Yes,” I answered. “And so would Moosie.”

  “Good,” said Elizabeth, “because Moosie’s operation is over and he’s all well now. So why don’t you wait here with him while I find the book? I think it’s in David Michael’s room.”

  “Okay,” I replied. I held Moosie very gently until Elizabeth came back with the book.

  We sat together on my bed and read it. It was funny and it was sad. Sometimes I laughed. Sometimes I said, “Alexander is just like me.”

  “How do you feel now?” Elizabeth asked me when the story was over.

  “Much better,” I said. “I think Alexander’s day was even worse than mine. The dentist found a cavity in Alexander’s tooth. I’ve never had a cavity.”

  “You know what? I have an idea for how you could turn your bad day into a good day.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “Why don’t you pretend the day is just beginning? You could start all over again. Here, lie down on your bed.”

  I lay down. Then Elizabeth said, “Karen! Karen! Time to wake up!”

  I yawned and stretched.

  “Is it morning?” I asked.

  Elizabeth and I laughed.

  “Yes,” said Elizabeth. “Time to start a new day.”

  “Okay. I just know today is going to be wonderful!” I exclaimed.

  Here Comes the Mail Truck!

  I put Moosie on the bed. I covered him with Tickly. He needed to rest after his operation.

  “Feel better,” I whispered to Moosie as Elizabeth and I went downstairs.

  “Guess what,” said Elizabeth. “It’s almost mail time. Why don’t you run outside and see if Mr. Venta is coming?”

  “Okay,” I said.

  Mr. Venta is our mailman. He is very nice. Sometimes he lets me ride down our street with him. I sit in his truck and open the mailboxes so Mr. Venta can slide the mail in. If a flag is up on a box, it means a letter is inside, waiting to be mailed. When we see one of those boxes, I let Mr. Venta take the letter out first, and then put the mail in.