clean out a cupboard or two,’ she continued. ‘But I also have to catch up on work.’
Mr Brisbane took her hand. ‘Do you have to, Sue?’
Mrs Brisbane sighed. ‘I really need to figure out what our class is doing for Family Fun Night. The theme this year is the circus, and I don’t have a clue.’
Mr Brisbane thought for a moment. ‘You could be clowns!’
‘We thought of that,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘But Morgan has already signed her class up for that.’
Morgan is Ms Mac’s first name. Morgan McNamara. My first teacher!
Mr Brisbane patted his wife’s hand. ‘We’ll think of something,’ he said.
‘I HOPE-HOPE-HOPE so,’ I squeaked.
The Brisbanes both chuckled.
‘If I could only understand him,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘I think I would learn a lot.’
I have to admit, I think she was right!
While the Brisbanes ate dinner, I talked to Og. ‘Do you know what?’ I asked. ‘I just thought of something.’
He replied with a single ‘BOING.’
‘You know how a circus has all kinds of animal acts?’ As soon as I squeaked ‘animal acts,’ my whiskers began to wiggle. ‘They’re mostly large and fearsome creatures like lions and tigers. Even dogs. Some of them jump through hoops.’
‘BOING-BOING,’ Og twanged. He had a lot more to say now than he did when the specks were swimming nearby.
‘And people do tricks on horseback,’ I added.
‘BOING?’ Og replied.
‘Humans love them,’ I said. ‘And I know a couple of other animals that humans love to watch.’
After dinner, the Brisbanes came back to the living room.
‘Anything on TV?’ Bert asked.
‘Not really,’ Mrs Brisbane replied. ‘Let’s talkabout the circus.’
Mr Brisbane leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. ‘I haven’t been to the circus for years,’ he said. ‘Not since Jason was a boy.’
Jason was the Brisbanes’ grown-up son, who lived FAR-FAR-FAR away. I’d never thought about Mr Brisbane taking his young son to the circus.
I’d never thought about the Brisbanes being like the families of my classmates.
‘He really loved the strong man, who lifted – oh, I can’t remember – something like two or three times his own weight,’ Bert said.
‘Eeek!’ I squeaked.
‘And there was the human cannonball,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘I saw that once when I was a girl. The man flew out of the cannon and landed in a net.’
‘EEK-EEK-EEK!’ I squeaked.
Mr Brisbane laughed. ‘I don’t think you’ll be shooting your students out of a cannon or having them lift things twice their weight.’
‘The parents might get upset,’ Mrs Brisbane said, giggling.
I’d never heard her giggle in Room 26.
They were silent for a while, thinking about circus acts.
‘Sophie’s dad can juggle,’ she said. ‘Oh, I really don’t have any ideas at all.’
‘Animal acts!’ I squeaked.
No one paid the least attention to me, except Og.
‘BOING!’ he shouted.
Still, the Brisbanes were silent as they thought.
‘I’ll show them, Og,’ I told my friend. I scrambled up my tree branch to the tippy top of my cage.
‘Goodness,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Humphrey is energetic tonight.’
I reached up to the top bars of my cage and began swinging my way from one to another.
‘Look at him go,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘I’d like to see Humphrey on a trapeze.’
When I got to the far corner of the cage, I held my breath and let go, dropping all the way to the bottom. Thank goodness for the layer of soft bedding there. It was like falling on to a pillow.
I quickly leaped on to my wheel and beganspinning as fast as I could.
Luckily, the Brisbanes noticed.
‘Look at him go!’ Mr Brisbane said. ‘He’s amazing!’
Up until then, I had not liked the word ‘amazing’ when it was used to describe two swimming specks. But I liked the idea that maybe I was amazing, too.
Mrs Brisbane sat up and stared at me. ‘Bert, circuses have animal acts!’
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘But I don’t think
Mr Brisbane took her hand. ‘Do you have to, Sue?’
Mrs Brisbane sighed. ‘I really need to figure out what our class is doing for Family Fun Night. The theme this year is the circus, and I don’t have a clue.’
Mr Brisbane thought for a moment. ‘You could be clowns!’
‘We thought of that,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘But Morgan has already signed her class up for that.’
Morgan is Ms Mac’s first name. Morgan McNamara. My first teacher!
Mr Brisbane patted his wife’s hand. ‘We’ll think of something,’ he said.
‘I HOPE-HOPE-HOPE so,’ I squeaked.
The Brisbanes both chuckled.
‘If I could only understand him,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘I think I would learn a lot.’
I have to admit, I think she was right!
While the Brisbanes ate dinner, I talked to Og. ‘Do you know what?’ I asked. ‘I just thought of something.’
He replied with a single ‘BOING.’
‘You know how a circus has all kinds of animal acts?’ As soon as I squeaked ‘animal acts,’ my whiskers began to wiggle. ‘They’re mostly large and fearsome creatures like lions and tigers. Even dogs. Some of them jump through hoops.’
‘BOING-BOING,’ Og twanged. He had a lot more to say now than he did when the specks were swimming nearby.
‘And people do tricks on horseback,’ I added.
‘BOING?’ Og replied.
‘Humans love them,’ I said. ‘And I know a couple of other animals that humans love to watch.’
After dinner, the Brisbanes came back to the living room.
‘Anything on TV?’ Bert asked.
‘Not really,’ Mrs Brisbane replied. ‘Let’s talkabout the circus.’
Mr Brisbane leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. ‘I haven’t been to the circus for years,’ he said. ‘Not since Jason was a boy.’
Jason was the Brisbanes’ grown-up son, who lived FAR-FAR-FAR away. I’d never thought about Mr Brisbane taking his young son to the circus.
I’d never thought about the Brisbanes being like the families of my classmates.
‘He really loved the strong man, who lifted – oh, I can’t remember – something like two or three times his own weight,’ Bert said.
‘Eeek!’ I squeaked.
‘And there was the human cannonball,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘I saw that once when I was a girl. The man flew out of the cannon and landed in a net.’
‘EEK-EEK-EEK!’ I squeaked.
Mr Brisbane laughed. ‘I don’t think you’ll be shooting your students out of a cannon or having them lift things twice their weight.’
‘The parents might get upset,’ Mrs Brisbane said, giggling.
I’d never heard her giggle in Room 26.
They were silent for a while, thinking about circus acts.
‘Sophie’s dad can juggle,’ she said. ‘Oh, I really don’t have any ideas at all.’
‘Animal acts!’ I squeaked.
No one paid the least attention to me, except Og.
‘BOING!’ he shouted.
Still, the Brisbanes were silent as they thought.
‘I’ll show them, Og,’ I told my friend. I scrambled up my tree branch to the tippy top of my cage.
‘Goodness,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Humphrey is energetic tonight.’
I reached up to the top bars of my cage and began swinging my way from one to another.
‘Look at him go,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘I’d like to see Humphrey on a trapeze.’
When I got to the far corner of the cage, I held my breath and let go, dropping all the way to the bottom. Thank goodness for the layer of soft bedding there. It was like falling on to a pillow.
I quickly leaped on to my wheel and beganspinning as fast as I could.
Luckily, the Brisbanes noticed.
‘Look at him go!’ Mr Brisbane said. ‘He’s amazing!’
Up until then, I had not liked the word ‘amazing’ when it was used to describe two swimming specks. But I liked the idea that maybe I was amazing, too.
Mrs Brisbane sat up and stared at me. ‘Bert, circuses have animal acts!’
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘But I don’t think
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