Spring According to Humphrey (13 page)

‘Way to go!’ I cheered.

‘Humphrey, I don’t think there’s any way I’ll fall asleep tonight,’ Gigi squeaked.

As we passed by the yummy-smelling popcorn stand, I saw Gail’s mum doing face painting and a man twisting balloons to look like animals. (They still looked more like balloons than animals.)

Then we came to a stop and I looked up.

There was the tall entrance that said BRISBANE’S AMAZING ANIMAL ACTS. There was the sign that read:

And the other sign saying:

‘It’s show time,’ Mrs Brisbane told us. I peeked through the doorway and saw that the big, colourful boxes were arranged to make a maze. Rolling-Rosie was rolling her way through it.

Next to the maze, I saw a funny sight. Daniel’s mum was down on all fours as her son leapfrogged across her back and over her head, landing in front of her.

The gym quickly filled up with families – and noise. In fact, it was so noisy, my whiskers wiggled, my tail twitched and my ears buzzed.

Og’s tank and my cage were set on a table by the entrance to the animal acts.

‘Seeing you two will help bring people in,’ Mrs Brisbane said.

Thomas arrived wearing a big smile and carrying a slice of pizza. ‘Cheese pizza,’ he said. ‘No mushrooms.’

Joey was the first ringmaster, and his voice was loud and clear. ‘Step right up to the most
fantastic animal show on earth! Run the amazing Humster maze! Leap like a frog! Step right up!’

Sophie and her dad arrived, and he juggled near the entrance. People stopped to watch as he juggled three balls … and then four. He could even throw them behind his back and keep them in the air forever!

There was so much to see and hear that I didn’t notice when Cassie arrived with her mum and dad.

Her parents stopped to say hi to Og and me, but Cassie just stared at Joey as he loudly invited people to come inside the tent, where Small-Paul took tickets.

Tall-Paul arrived with his dad
and
his mum. When Mrs Brisbane greeted them, Paul said, ‘I didn’t think my mum could get off work, but when her supervisor heard about Family Fun Night, he let her switch nights.’

I wished I could give his mum’s supervisor a great, big pawshake!

A. J. and his big family all came and tried the games. His sister DeeLee had a huge smile on her face as she carried a gigantic pencil.
‘I won it, Humphrey!’ she told me. ‘You had to beat the clock to win a prize and I was the fastest one!’

‘GREAT-GREAT-GREAT!’ I squeaked.

Soon Mrs Brisbane told Joey to hand over the top hat to Cassie.

She looked scared as the crowds of people walked by, so I hopped on my wheel and started spinning. Cassie glanced in my direction.

‘GO!’ I squeaked.

Cassie closed her eyes, took a very deep breath, held it and let it go. And another one. Then she opened her eyes and in a loud, clear voice said, ‘Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! See the most amazing animal show on … earth! Can you beat the Humster’s maze? Can you leap like a frog? Step right up to Brisbane’s Amazing Animal Acts!’

‘Hip, hip, hooray!’ I hopped off my wheel and jumped for joy.

‘BOING-BOING!’ Og said.

Cassie took a few more breaths and started again. Each time she did it, she got better and better. By the end of her turn, she was grinning all over.

I think she wanted to keep going, but when her time was up, she handed her hat to Rosie.

Mr Morales showed up wearing a tie with happy clown faces on it. He brought his children, Brenda and Willy, to the table. They were a lot taller than the last time I’d seen them.

‘Remember Humphrey?’ he asked them. ‘And here is Og the Frog.’

They wanted to talk to us more than play games.

But the biggest surprise of the evening was when I looked up and saw Aldo standing by our table, smiling down at Og and me.

‘I have missed you, my friends,’ he said. ‘But I took time off when the twins were born. You heard about them, right? Anna and Marco – the most beautiful babies on earth! Then I had finals. And then … I got a teaching job!’

‘Congratulations,’ I squeaked, even though my heart was breaking a little bit.

‘BOING!’ Og said.

Mrs Brisbane came up to say hello to Aldo.

‘It’s too early to bring the twins to such a noisy event,’ he said. ‘But I wanted to come and thank you for that note you left.’

‘As soon as I heard Miss Loomis was moving away, I thought of you, Aldo,’ she said. ‘I knew Longfellow School would be lucky to have you.’

‘I’m glad Mr Morales agreed,’ Aldo said. ‘I can’t wait for school to start.’ He turned back to Og and me. ‘And I’m going to come and see you every day and bring you treats,’ he said.

‘Yippeee!’ I squeaked with joy.

‘Did you hear that, Og?’ I asked my neighbour after Aldo had left. ‘Aldo is coming to teach at Longfellow School and we’ll see him every day!’

‘BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING!’

Joey raced over. ‘Og, why are you shouting? Do you miss Flip and Flap?’

‘I think he just wants to be heard,’ Mrs Brisbane said.

‘I made a decision about the tadpoles,’ Joey told her. ‘I really want my own frog at home, so I think I’m going to keep Flap as my pet. I want to make a whole book of drawings of him. But I’ll leave Flip in Room Twenty-six, if it’s okay with you.’

‘The students will be thrilled,’ Mrs Brisbane said with a smile. ‘There’s always room for another pet in Room Twenty-six.’

Even though I was unsqueakably tired, later that night I sat and thought about everything that had happened this spring.

I thought about the crocus poking its purple head up through the snow, and other blooming things.

I thought about how two little specks turned into frogs – and now Og was an uncle!

I thought about Aldo’s new family and how he was inspired to go back to school and be a GREAT-GREAT-GREAT teacher, like Mrs Brisbane. His students would be lucky. I was lucky to know him, too.

I thought about Bob, who needed a job and deserved one. Wasn’t it wonderful that when Aldo moved on, Bob got his chance for a new start to help his family?

I thought of how Cassie’s family wanted to help her calm down … and how I helped them all.

I thought about the new family nesting in Cassie’s tree and the many apples on my classmates’ family trees.

And I thought about the families building booths, playing leapfrog, running the Humster maze and laughing … together. Family Fun Night was truly fun.

I thought about my dream about my mother. Even though I grew up fast, she said I was her golden boy.

Her fur was soft and she smelled so nice.

I took out my notebook, and by the light of the street lamp outside my window, I started to draw a tree. On the tree, I drew little round apples. Then I wrote names on the apples. Mrs Brisbane. Aldo. Just-Joey. Rolling-Rosie. Stop-Giggling-Gail. Tall-Paul. Small-Paul. Fix-It-Felipe. Ms Mac. Og the Frog. More and more names of all the humans and animals I loved – and who loved me back. Mr Morales. Speak-Up-Sayeh. Hurry-Up-Harry. Gigi.

It took me a very long time because I think my family is the biggest and best of all!

And then I added two more names: Flip and Flap.

Because even in a big family like mine, there’s always room for more.