âHello!â¦Hello!â¦Hello!â¦Hello!â¦Hello!â
âEcho!â yelled Michael.
âEchoâ¦echoâ¦echoâ¦echo,â yelled the gym.
âA.J. is stupid!â yelled Ryan.
âA.J. is stupid!â¦A.J. is stupid!â¦A.J. is stupid!â¦A.J. is stupid!â yelled the gym.
I was gonna yell, âRyan is a dumbhead,â but instead Miss Daisy yelled, âStop that, boys!â
âStop that, boys!â¦Stop that, boys!â¦Stop that, boys!â yelled the gym.
It was cool.
At that very moment, somebody came running out of the office at the other end of the gym. It was the most amazing thing any of us had ever seen.
It was Miss Small.
3
Fun, Fun, Fun with Miss Small
Miss Small was carrying a basketball, a football, a soccer ball, a kickball, and just about every other kind of ball you could name. She ran out and climbed up on the bleachers. Then she jumped off the bleachers and jumped on one of those little trampolines on the floor.
She did a flip, went flying through the air, and tried to dunk all those balls in the basketball hoop. One or two of them went in, but mostly they went flying all over the place.
So did Miss Small. She landed in a heap on the floor.
Miss Small is off the wall!
âAre you okay?â we all asked as we gathered around her. I was afraid she might have broken something, because she was just lying there without moving.
âIâm fit as a fiddle!â Miss Small replied. âI just wanted to show you how youâre not supposed to behave in the gym. In Fizz Ed, safety is our biggest concern.â
Miss Daisy said she had to go back to class, and she left. Miss Small stood up slowly. It was amazing! Nobody could do anything except stare at her with their mouth open.
âWow!â we all said.
The amazing thing was that Miss Smallwas really tall ! Like, she was a million inches big. Her head just about reached the basketball hoop. It was like a giant had walked into the room. She must be the tallest person in the history of the world!
Miss Small was the opposite of her name. It was like a fat guy was named Mr. Thin or a dumb guy was named Mr. Smart or a really handsome guy wasnamed Mr. Ugly orâ¦well, you get the idea.
Miss Small blew into the shiny silver whistle that was hanging around her neck.
âHey, kids! Are you ready to have some fun?â
âYeah!â we all hollered.
âWeâre going to have lots of fun in Fizz Ed!â she said. âFun fun fun, all the time! Thatâs my motto.â
âWhatâs a motto?â asked Ryan.
âI donât know,â Miss Small said. âWhatâs a motto with you?â
Then she laughed.
âDo you like to play games?â Miss Small asked. âI love playing games!â
âI like to play video games,â one of the boys said.
âThose arenât the kind of games Iâm talking about,â said Miss Small. â Real games are even more fun. Iâm talking about running and jumping and chasing games. Weâre going to play Red Light Green Light, Red Rover, Spud, Mother May I, Duck Duck Gooseâ¦.â
âThose games are lame,â Ryan whispered in my ear.
âKids can get hurt when they run and jump and chase each other,â said Andrea. âMy mother told me to always be careful so I donât get hurt.â
âCan you possibly be any moreboring?â I asked Andrea.
She is gonna make a great grown-up when she grows up. Sheâs only eight, and sheâs already mature, which is a fancy way to say boring.
âDo we have to play games where somebody loses?â asked that crybaby Emily. âI think the team that loses should win too. My dad told me Iâm a winner whether I win or lose.â
âYour dad is weird,â I said, even though Emily looked like she might cry again. âIf everybody wins, whatâs the point of playing the game? Thatâs why you play.
David Farland
MR. PINK-WHISTLE INTERFERES
Leigh Bale
Alastair Reynolds
Georgia Cates
Erich Segal
Lynn Viehl
Kristy Kiernan
L. C. Morgan
Kimberly Elkins