Karen's Christmas Tree Read online

  I said good-bye to Nancy. There was no time for us to play. We each had Wish Tree chores to do.

  I started my chores right after my snack with Andrew.

  First I helped Mommy wash and dry Christmas cookie tins. We sang Christmas songs while we worked.

  “Sleigh bells ring! Are you listenin’? In the lane, snow is glistenin’!”

  When we finished, Mommy gave me a quarter.

  My next chore was to count a stack of Christmas cards left over from last year. That way Mommy and Seth would know how many new cards they needed to buy.

  “Twenty-three cards and twenty-four envelopes,” I said.

  “Thank you,” said Mommy. She handed me a dime.

  I read “The Night Before Christmas” to Andrew. The poem was in a picture book. Andrew asked me to read it three times. Mommy gave me another dime. (I usually read to Andrew for free. But Mommy said she was happy to pay me because the money was going to a good cause.)

  I helped Mommy cook dinner. I helped Seth clean up. They each gave me two dimes and a nickel.

  “May I have this container?” I asked Seth. I held up one of the small plastic containers we had just washed and dried.

  “It is all yours,” said Seth.

  “Thanks,” I replied.

  I took the container up to my room. I covered it with green paper. I taped the red Wish Star on the front. Then I dropped in the money I had earned. One quarter. Six dimes. Two nickels.

  That made ninety-five cents. Not bad for my first day on the job.

  A Very Good Plan

  On Wednesday morning I was cozy in bed when I heard sirens wailing outside my window. At first I thought I was dreaming. Then I opened my eyes. I did not hear sirens anymore. I heard car doors slamming and people talking.

  I jumped out of bed and ran to my window. An ambulance was parked in the Druckers’ driveway. The ambulance workers were putting a stretcher into the back. Seth was there, talking to Mr. Drucker. I did not see Mrs. Drucker. I ran downstairs.

  “Mommy, what is wrong with Mrs. Drucker?” I asked.

  Mommy put her arm around me.

  “I do not know yet. Seth went over to help out. He will be able to tell us what happened to Mrs. Drucker,” Mommy said.

  In a few minutes Seth returned.

  “How is Mrs. Drucker? What happened to her?” I asked.

  “Mrs. Drucker fell earlier this morning. The medical workers think she broke her hip,” Seth replied. “They expect her to be in the hospital for about three weeks.”

  “That is a long time,” I said. “When I broke my wrist, the doctor at the hospital fixed me up and sent me right home the same day.”

  “A broken hip is more serious than a broken wrist,” said Mommy. “Also, things take more time to heal when a person is older.”

  I started to feel sad. And worried. I have friends who have gone into the hospital. Nancy. Bobby. They came out just fine. But the last old person I knew who went into the hospital was my grandad. And he died.

  “Will Mrs. Drucker really be all right? Will she really come home in three weeks?” I asked.

  “Yes, Karen,” said Seth. “You might be thinking about Grandad now. But he was very, very ill. These days a broken hip can be fixed.”

  “I will call the hospital later and find out how Mrs. Drucker is doing,” said Mommy. “Right now it is time to get ready for school.”

  I woke Andrew up. He had slept through the commotion. I got dressed, ate some breakfast, and made it to the school bus just in time. Nancy had saved me a seat.

  “Did you see them take Mrs. Drucker away in the ambulance this morning?” I asked.

  “I sure did. The sirens woke me up,” replied Nancy.

  “The Druckers are so nice. We should do something special to cheer them up,” I said.

  “We could make get-well cards for Mrs. Drucker,” said Nancy. “And send her some balloons.”

  Those were both good ideas. But I did not think they were special enough for Mrs. Drucker. I thought hard.

  “I know! Mr. and Mrs. Drucker were really sad about not having their tree. We could get them a new one. That would cheer them up,” I said.

  “That is a great idea!” said Nancy. “But wait. Don’t trees like that cost a lot of money? We are already doing chores to get Wish Tree money.”

  “You are right. We need help,” I replied. “We can ask our neighbors if they will chip in. We can buy a real live tree at the nursery. We can put it right in the spot where the old tree used to stand. It will be a surprise.”

  “Won’t Mr. Drucker see us putting it there?” asked Nancy.

  “We will find out when Mrs. Drucker is coming home. Then when Mr. Drucker goes to pick her up, we will bring over the tree. It will be the first thing they see when they come home,” I said.

  “They will be so surprised!” said Nancy.

  “And so happy!” I said.

  Nancy and I were happy already. This was a very good plan.

  Two Against One

  When we reached school, Nancy raced to her desk. I thought she was hurrying to tell Hannie about Mrs. Drucker and our plan. But the first thing she said was “Hannie, did you ask your mom and dad?”

  I wondered what she was talking about.

  “Yes, and they said I can go!” Hannie replied.

  That made me even more curious.

  “Go where?” I asked.

  “Nancy asked me to go to Annie with her,” replied Hannie.

  I turned to Nancy and glared. I could hardly believe it.

  “Why didn’t you ask me?” I asked.

  Nancy looked surprised. “You said you could not go,” she replied.

  “Well, it just so happens I can go. Andrew’s school festival is being held on Thursday, not Friday. I mixed up the dates a little, that’s all,” I said. “Anyway, it would have been nice to have been asked.”

  “How was I supposed to know you mixed up the dates?” said Nancy.

  “You were supposed to ask me to the play!” I replied. “Then you would have found out.”

  I stomped off to my desk. Nancy followed me.

  “If you don’t mind, I would like to be left alone,” I said. “I would rather be alone than with someone like you. You are selfish and mean and I do not want to be your friend anymore!”

  I expected Nancy to say something mean back to me. But she did not. She started to cry. I watched her run back to her desk and start talking to Hannie. She must have been telling Hannie what I said. The next thing I knew Hannie was stomping over to my desk.

  “I already explained to Nancy that I want to be alone,” I said.

  “I just came to tell you that you did not have to be so mean,” said Hannie. “Nancy did not do anything wrong. She thought you could not go to the play. That is why she asked me instead of you.”

  “She did not waste any time asking you,” I replied. “And she did not seem one bit sorry that I could not go. Even if it was true. Which it is not.”

  “It is not her fault. She is not being mean. You are,” said Hannie. She stomped back to her desk.

  I sat at my desk by myself. I watched Hannie and Nancy sitting together. It was two against one. That made me madder than ever.

  Not Invited

  When Ms. Colman came in, she asked Hannie to take attendance. Boo. Hannie gave me a meanie-mo look. I gave her one right back.

  Hannie needed a lot longer to take attendance than I had. When she finally finished, Ms. Colman said, “We are going to have a spelling quiz this morning, class. I hope you studied your word list last night.”

  I had studied very well. I knew every word perfectly. Ms. Colman went around the room asking each of us to spell a word. My word was separate.

  “That is easy,” I said. “There is a rat in the middle of separate. S-e-p-a-r-a-t-e.”

  I looked at Nancy when I got to r-a-t. Nancy looked up at the ceiling.

  Hannie’s spelling word was believe.

  “B-E-L-E-I-V-E,” sa
id Hannie.

  Ha! Hannie spelled the word wrong. I was glad. I waved my hand in the air and Ms. Colman called on me.

  “B-E-L-I-E-V-E,” I said.

  “Very good, Karen. Hannie, I am sure you will get it right the next time,” said Ms. Colman.

  I turned to give Hannie a know-it-all look. She looked down at the floor.

  The rest of the morning went slowly. I usually turn around a few times and wave to Hannie and Nancy at the back of the room. Sometimes we make funny faces or hold up notes. But I did not turn around even once.

  At lunchtime I made sure to sit as far away from Hannie and Nancy as I could. I sat with Natalie so I would not be alone. I ended up alone half the time anyway. That is because Natalie kept disappearing under the table to pull up her socks. (Natalie’s socks are always drooping.)

  When we went out to the playground at recess, Hannie and Nancy ran to the monkey bars. They climbed to the top and sat there talking and giggling. They did not invite me to join them.

  I tried to act as though I was having a great time jumping rope with Natalie. But she kept tripping on the rope, then starting over. I had to wait forever for my turn.

  I watched Hannie and Nancy climb down from the monkey bars. They played hopscotch next. I felt like playing hopscotch, too. I had even brought my lucky hopscotch stone. But they did not invite me to join them.

  I did not like this two-against-one fight at all. I did not think it would last long, though. I was sure it would be over by the end of the day.

  The bell rang to let us know recess was over. Hannie and Nancy walked into the room holding hands. They did not invite me to join them.

  Waiting

  In the afternoon Mr. Mackey, the art teacher, wheeled in the art cart. If anything can cheer me up, it is arts and crafts.

  “Good afternoon, everyone,” said Mr. Mackey. “I thought you might want to start making holiday decorations for your classroom. I brought extra red, green, gold, blue, and silver supplies.”

  All right!

  Nancy got to help pass some of the supplies around. When she reached my row, she asked Natalie and Ricky what colors they wanted. But she did not say one word to me. She pointed at the supplies. I took the ones I wanted. I did not say thank you.

  I did not say a word to my ex-friends all afternoon. They did not say a word to me. When the bell rang at the end of the day, our fight was still going on.

  It was still going on when Nancy and I boarded the school bus. Nancy waited until I got on and sat down. Then she got on the bus and sat down in another row. (I wished I had done that first!)

  When we got off the bus, we walked in single file down our street.

  I did not think the fight would go on much longer. My ex-friends would probably call me that afternoon to make up.

  “How was school today?” asked Mommy when I walked through the front door.

  “It was fine,” I said. “I did well on my spelling quiz. And we started making decorations for our room.”

  I did not tell her about the fight. Why bother, when it was going to be over any minute?

  “Andrew is at a friend’s house this afternoon. Would you like to go to the supermarket with me?” asked Mommy.

  “Sure! I mean … no, thank you,” I replied. “I have homework to do.”

  I love going to the supermarket. I am an excellent shopping-cart pusher. But I did not want to be out when Hannie and Nancy called. That is why I said I had to do my homework.

  “All right,” said Mommy. “I will ask Seth to stop at the market on his way home from work.”

  I went to my room and flopped onto my bed. I picked up Goosie.

  “You are not mad at me, are you?” I asked.

  I made Goosie shake his head.

  “Thanks, Goosie,” I said. Whenever I was feeling blue, Goosie made me feel better.

  Ring, ring! Hooray! I tried to guess if the phone call was from Nancy or Hannie. I waited for Mommy to call Karen! Telephone!

  She did not. I pretended the phone rang again. This time it was for me.

  “Ring, ring! Hi, Karen. This is Nancy,” I said to Goosie. “I just want to tell you how sorry I am that I did not invite you to see Annie with me. It was very wrong. Can you ever forgive me?”

  I decided to forgive her right away. That is because I am such a good friend. When I finished my pretend conversation with Nancy, I had a pretend conversation with Hannie. I forgave her, too.

  When I finished my pretend conversations, I tried to do my homework. But I could not concentrate. I was too busy listening for the phone.

  The afternoon was boring. And lonely.

  I was still waiting for the phone to ring when I got into bed and turned out the light.

  “Oh well, Goosie,” I said. “I am not too worried. Tomorrow our fight will be over for sure.”

  Karen’s Worries

  On Thursday morning our class broke into reading groups. I was heading for the mystery group, but Hannie and Nancy got there first. I went to the biography group instead.

  “I am surprised, Karen,” said Ms. Colman. “I thought you would want to finish the mystery story you started reading last week.”

  “I decided it was boring,” I said. “I would rather read a biography.” (I knew I was fibbing. But why tell Ms. Colman about the fight when it was going to be over any minute?)

  The fight was not over by lunchtime. I ate alone in the cafeteria. I was not in the mood to sit with Natalie again. And I felt too gloomy to sit with anyone else.

  “Why aren’t you sitting with your best friends?” asked Pamela, grinning. (Now you know why she is my best enemy.)

  “I feel like sitting by myself today,” I replied. “I have serious thinking to do.”

  “It looks more like serious fighting to me. Oh, well. Some friends just get along better than others,” she said. And she skipped off to her table to join Jannie and Leslie.

  I did not like people noticing our fight. I thought about hanging around with Hannie and Nancy on the playground. But I did not want them to think I forgave them when I did not.

  So the fight went on. Hannie and Nancy climbed the monkey bars and I went on the swings all by myself.

  When we returned to class in the afternoon, I did not turn around at all. Not even to make meanie-mo faces. That is because I was feeling gloomier by the minute. I was afraid if I turned around I might start to cry.

  The fight was still going on when the school bell rang at the end of the day.

  I let Nancy get on the bus first. Then I found a seat far away from her. I did not have much else to do on the ride home, so I started to worry. I worried that if my friends and I did not make up, it would be the end of the Three Musketeers. What would I call one friend all by herself? Lonely.

  Then I found a new worry. I worried about our holiday plans. What would we do about the Wish Tree? What would we do about the Druckers’ new blue-spruce tree? What would we do about giving holiday presents to each other? We always exchanged presents on a Saturday between Hanukkah and Christmas. I had even picked out their presents. I had gotten an excellent book for Nancy at a library sale. It was about acting. I had gotten Hannie a book, too. It was a book of funny stories and poems. And I had gotten us three matching barrettes to wear together. (I decided it was okay to get a holiday gift for myself, too.)

  The more I thought, the more miserable I felt. The holidays were coming and instead of having two good friends to celebrate with, I had two ex-friends who were not talking to me.

  Boo-hoo-hoo and bullfrogs.

  Ring, Ring

  By dinnertime I was so miserable, I could hardly eat. We were having one of my favorite meals, too. Meatballs, spaghetti, and salad.

  “You did not eat any of your snack, either,” said Mommy. “Are you feeling all right?”

  She put her hand on my forehead to see if I had a temperature.

  “I am not sick,” I said.

  “Is there anything you would like to talk about? You seem awful
ly blue lately,” said Seth.

  “My teacher read us a story about a blue kangaroo today,” said Andrew. “It had pink spots because it had measles.” He thought this was hysterically funny.

  “May I please be excused?” I said. I wanted to go to my room.

  “Yes, you may,” replied Mommy. “If you get hungry later, just let me know. I will make you a snack.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  I went to my room and spilled my Wish Tree money onto my bed. I had done lots more chores. Now I had $4.10. My friends — I mean ex-friends — and I had figured out that each of us needed to earn four dollars to buy the fire truck. I had all the money I needed. But I did not know what to do with it. I put the money back into my Wish Tree container.

  Then I went to my closet and dug out the presents I had hidden there. I found the two books and the little bag with the barrettes. I felt like doing something useful. So I wrapped the presents. I made holiday gift wrapping out of construction paper. I drew Hanukkah candles on Nancy’s paper and Christmas stars on Hannie’s. When I finished, the packages looked beautiful. But I did not know what to do with them, either. I put them back in the closet.

  I could not think of anything else that needed to be done. I looked out my window. Mr. Drucker must have been at the hospital. There were no lights on in the house and the yard was dark. I thought about calling the hospital to say hello to Mrs. Drucker. But I did not want to wake her if she was sleeping.

  I did not think Hannie would be sleeping yet. Or Nancy. Hmm. Maybe it was time for me to call them.

  I did not want anyone to know what I was doing. I tiptoed out of my room to the phone downstairs. I guess I did not tiptoe very softly.

  “Karen, is that you?” called Mommy from the den. “Are you hungry? Would you like a snack?”

  “No, thank you. I am just getting a glass of water,” I replied.

  I poured myself a glass of water and drank it so I would not be fibbing. Then I dialed Hannie’s number.

  Ring, ring! The phone rang twice. Then someone said, “Hello?”