in a house full of antiques always ate fish. And her aunt was famous for her good taste. Stevie told herself that
this
fish was a whole new experience for her.
This
fish represented adventure.
Stevie took a bite. The fish wasn’t the greatest—it was kind of limp—but it wasn’t the worst, either. She told herself to pretend that she was at TD’s, eating one of her famous ice cream concoctions.
It didn’t work. The fish tasted like fish.
“You don’t have to eat it all, Stevie,” said Ms. Dodge with a smile.
Stevie smiled back gratefully. She ate the parsley to take away the taste of the fish.
When they were finished, they rolled the table out into the hall.
“Room service is cool,” Stevie said. “They’ve got everything figured out—how to keep the food warm, how to get rid of the dirty dishes.”
“They think ahead,” said Ms. Dodge.
Stevie looked around the room. There wasn’t much to do but watch TV. “So what are your favorite shows?” she asked.
“Let’s see what’s on the educational channel,” Ms. Dodge said.
Stevie had been hoping to catch an episode of
Range Riders
because it had realistic horse-riding scenes, butshe figured that she should let Ms. Dodge choose the show. “Educational TV it is,” she said.
Ms. Dodge switched the channel to a show about woodchucks—how they mated, how they reared their young. The woodchucks were cute, but somehow they didn’t grab Stevie.
After a while, Stevie asked, “Could we watch something else?”
“Absolutely,” said Ms. Dodge. “One of the nice things about New York is that there’s more than one educational channel.”
Right
, Stevie thought.
“Here’s something that might interest you,” Ms. Dodge said. “The show is on Eadweard Muybridge, the photographer.”
Stevie settled back in her chair, ready for pictures of sunsets or something like that. Instead she saw a photograph of a horse. It turned out that Muybridge took the first photographs of horses galloping.
“You’re kidding me,” Stevie said.
Ms. Dodge smiled.
Until Muybridge took his photographs, no one knew how horses galloped. This seemed kind of weird, but Stevie realized that horses gallop so fast that it’s hard to see their legs. Until Muybridge, people thought that there was a moment when a horse had its back legsflying back and its front legs flying forward, with not a single hoof touching the ground.
“That explains that goofy picture of a horse in the historical society,” Stevie said. “No one knew. This is really interesting.”
It turned out that the only time a horse’s feet leave the ground during a gallop is when all four feet are drawn together under the horse. This is called the moment of suspension.
“Wait until Lisa and Carole hear about Muybridge,” Stevie said. “They’ll be impressed.”
“Educational television isn’t always dull,” Ms. Dodge said. “In fact, if you give it a chance, it’s pretty interesting.”
“This has been some evening, Ms. Dodge,” Stevie said. “Broccoli. Fish. Educational television. I thought New York was going to be one glamorous treat after another, but everything has turned out the opposite.” She thought a minute. “It’s kind of fun, though. I’m seeing things I never saw before.”
“There’s a whole lot more you haven’t seen,” Ms. Dodge said. “There’s a whole world out there.”
Stevie thought about it. “When you think about adventure, you think about something you’ve never done before. And if it’s broccoli—okay.”
“You have a good spirit, Stevie,” said Ms. Dodge.
“I’m going to be good from now on,” Stevie said. Now that she was here, with Ms. Dodge, she realized how crazy she’d been to run around Central Park on her own. The policeman was right to be worried about her.
Sometimes I have no common sense
, Stevie thought. “It’s going to be a whole new me,” she said.
By ten-thirty, Stevie was eager for her class to come back from the theater
this
fish was a whole new experience for her.
This
fish represented adventure.
Stevie took a bite. The fish wasn’t the greatest—it was kind of limp—but it wasn’t the worst, either. She told herself to pretend that she was at TD’s, eating one of her famous ice cream concoctions.
It didn’t work. The fish tasted like fish.
“You don’t have to eat it all, Stevie,” said Ms. Dodge with a smile.
Stevie smiled back gratefully. She ate the parsley to take away the taste of the fish.
When they were finished, they rolled the table out into the hall.
“Room service is cool,” Stevie said. “They’ve got everything figured out—how to keep the food warm, how to get rid of the dirty dishes.”
“They think ahead,” said Ms. Dodge.
Stevie looked around the room. There wasn’t much to do but watch TV. “So what are your favorite shows?” she asked.
“Let’s see what’s on the educational channel,” Ms. Dodge said.
Stevie had been hoping to catch an episode of
Range Riders
because it had realistic horse-riding scenes, butshe figured that she should let Ms. Dodge choose the show. “Educational TV it is,” she said.
Ms. Dodge switched the channel to a show about woodchucks—how they mated, how they reared their young. The woodchucks were cute, but somehow they didn’t grab Stevie.
After a while, Stevie asked, “Could we watch something else?”
“Absolutely,” said Ms. Dodge. “One of the nice things about New York is that there’s more than one educational channel.”
Right
, Stevie thought.
“Here’s something that might interest you,” Ms. Dodge said. “The show is on Eadweard Muybridge, the photographer.”
Stevie settled back in her chair, ready for pictures of sunsets or something like that. Instead she saw a photograph of a horse. It turned out that Muybridge took the first photographs of horses galloping.
“You’re kidding me,” Stevie said.
Ms. Dodge smiled.
Until Muybridge took his photographs, no one knew how horses galloped. This seemed kind of weird, but Stevie realized that horses gallop so fast that it’s hard to see their legs. Until Muybridge, people thought that there was a moment when a horse had its back legsflying back and its front legs flying forward, with not a single hoof touching the ground.
“That explains that goofy picture of a horse in the historical society,” Stevie said. “No one knew. This is really interesting.”
It turned out that the only time a horse’s feet leave the ground during a gallop is when all four feet are drawn together under the horse. This is called the moment of suspension.
“Wait until Lisa and Carole hear about Muybridge,” Stevie said. “They’ll be impressed.”
“Educational television isn’t always dull,” Ms. Dodge said. “In fact, if you give it a chance, it’s pretty interesting.”
“This has been some evening, Ms. Dodge,” Stevie said. “Broccoli. Fish. Educational television. I thought New York was going to be one glamorous treat after another, but everything has turned out the opposite.” She thought a minute. “It’s kind of fun, though. I’m seeing things I never saw before.”
“There’s a whole lot more you haven’t seen,” Ms. Dodge said. “There’s a whole world out there.”
Stevie thought about it. “When you think about adventure, you think about something you’ve never done before. And if it’s broccoli—okay.”
“You have a good spirit, Stevie,” said Ms. Dodge.
“I’m going to be good from now on,” Stevie said. Now that she was here, with Ms. Dodge, she realized how crazy she’d been to run around Central Park on her own. The policeman was right to be worried about her.
Sometimes I have no common sense
, Stevie thought. “It’s going to be a whole new me,” she said.
By ten-thirty, Stevie was eager for her class to come back from the theater
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