"I could be a bull! B is for bull!" Ben called out, making horns out of his hands and leaning forward with a snort. He pawed the floor with one foot.
"I could be a tiger!" shouted Tyrone.
"Remember, though, each fable must have a moral!" Mrs. Pidgeon reminded them. "And a moral is what?"
They were all silent for a moment. Then Beanie raised her hand. "It's when you learn how to behave, from the story. I mean, from the fable."
"Good for you, Beanie. All right, class. Be thinking about choosing your animal and creating your fable and its moral. And then, after we listen to your fables here in the classroom—"
She interrupted herself. "Nicholas? Is something wrong?"
Nicholas had his head down on his desk. He raised it slightly. "No," he said.
"Mrs. Pidgeon! Mrs. Pidgeon!" Chelsea was waving her hand in the air.
Mrs. Pidgeon nodded to her. "Yes, Chelsea?"
"Can we wear costumes? For our animals?"
The teacher hesitated. "We don't really have time for making elaborate costumes, I'm afraid. Remember what a mess it turned into at Thanksgiving, with all those Pilgrims and Native Americans?"
The class looked disappointed.
"I have an idea," Gooney Bird, who was still standing after her curtsey, said. "We don't need whole costumes. But just one little thing, to show the animal. Like if Ben's fable was about a bull, he could wear, oh, maybe a tail..."
All of the children shrieked with laughter."Ben's got a ta-il, Ben's got a ta-il,"Malcolm called in a singsong voice."Ben's got a—"
"I'm not being a bull," Ben said angrily. "I changed my mind. My fable's going to be about some other animal."
"Let's each keep our animal secret for now," Mrs. Pidgeon suggested. "Then, when our fables are ready, we can wear one thing—not a large thing—to indicate something about the animal. It doesn't have to be a tail," she added, looking at Ben.
"Will you do one, Mrs. Pidgeon?" Keiko asked.
"Certainly I will. I'm part of this class."
"You could be a pigeon!" Barry pointed out. "Can a bird be in a fable?"
"Of course," the teacher said. "Aesop wrote one about a crow.
"All of you start thinking. Right now we must turn to our social studies. But be thinking about your fables. And after they are all finished, on the last day of school before vacation, we can share them with the rest of the school by having a parade through the halls!"
"A parade of the animals!" Keiko said, and clapped her hands.
"A Fabulous Parade!" said Gooney Bird Greene.
3.
"Gooney Bird," suggested Mrs. Pidgeon, "I'm going to put you in charge of this, since it was your wonderful idea. Most of the children are ready. So would you come here to the front of the class and call on them?"
A week had passed. Now, with just one week left until vacation, the second-graders had been working with excitement on the project. Many of them had brought in their costume parts and were eager to display them and tell their fables.
Gooney Bird, who always looked as if she were wearing a costume even when she wasn't, came to the front of the classroom. Today she was wearing her hiking boots; two different-colored knee socks, one blue and one yellow, appeared at the top of the boots. Even though there was snow on the ground outdoors, Gooney Bird was wearing red plaid Bermuda shorts. She also wore a short-sleeved T-shirt in army camouflage colors, and dangling around her neck was a sparkly rhinestone necklace.
Mrs. Pidgeon went to sit in her desk chair. Then she said, "Actually, Gooney Bird, maybe you'd like to go first, since it was your idea?"
Gooney Bird thought for a moment. Then she said, "No. I want to go last."
"All right then, you may go last. Time to choose who goes first!"
"Volunteers?" Gooney Bird asked, looking around the classroom. "Hands?"
Many hands shot into the air. Barry Tuckerman, as always, was half standing at his desk, waving his arm wildly. Felicia Ann, as always, was looking at the floor. But her hand was raised in a timid sort of way.
Gooney Bird looked at Nicholas. "Nicholas," she said, "you didn't raise your hand. But would you like to be first?"
Nicholas, who had been looking gloomy all week, shook his head.
"Is there anything we can do to make you feel more cheerful?" Gooney Bird asked in a kindly voice.
"No," Nicholas muttered.
"Well, then." Gooney Bird looked around the room at all the waving hands. Finally she looked at the teacher's desk. "Mrs. Pidgeon," she asked, "is your fable ready?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Pidgeon. "I have it right here."
"And your costume?" asked Gooney Bird.
Mrs. Pidgeon nodded.
"I'd like you to go first, then. You're a member of this class, after all."
Mrs. Pidgeon smiled. "All right," she said. She stood up. She was wearing black slacks and a black turtleneck shirt. She reached into the bag that she had stored under her desk and brought out a white vest and put it on.
"How shall we do this, Gooney Bird?" she asked. "Would it be fun to have the class guess what animal each of us is?"
"No,"Nicholas said loudly.
It was very startling. Nicholas ordinarily was a cheerful, outgoing boy. But all week he had been acting strangely.
Gooney Bird decided to ignore him. "Yes," she said, "let's guess. Class, take a look at Mrs. Pidgeon and guess what animal she is! Remember, it must begin with a P!"
"But P is for her last name," Tricia pointed out.
Mrs. Pidgeon laughed. "That's true," she said. But my first name is Patsy! I'm a two-P person! Now see if you can guess my animal."
The class all looked carefully. Mrs. Pidgeon was entirely black except for her white middle.
"Penguin!"the children all shouted.
"I saw March of the Penguins Beanie called out.
"Me too!" Malcolm said. "I did too! I saw it too! I saw March of the Penguins!"
"So did I!" called Ben. "My dad took me!"
"I saw it!" Chelsea said loudly.
"I thaw it too," Felicia Ann whispered, "but it wath tho thad!"