Messy Miranda (4 page)
“Oh,” Miranda said. “You're right.” She couldn't think of anything else to say. “I will look for it, Uncle Aldo.” She hung up the phone.
Miranda felt bad about lying to her uncle. She didn't like telling lies, and she had been telling them all day long.
As good as the day had been, now she was worried about the hat. Was there a real rabbit inside? If so, she would have to feed it tomorrow!
Miranda snuck into the kitchen to find a few special treats.
In class the next day, all Miranda could think about was the poor bunny rabbit. It would be hungry. And had she squashed it with
The Biggest Book of Big
Things
? She hoped not.
First, she had to try feeding it.
While Ms. Basil was teaching a lesson about healthy food choices, Miranda reached into her pocket and pulled out a carrot stick. She kept her eyes on the teacher and slowly slipped her hand into the desk. She felt around for the hat. There it was! Her arm vanished into the hat. It was like somebody had put a giant hole in the bottom of the desk. She stretched her whole arm in. She waited for the bunny.
“Miranda?” a voice called. It was Ms. Basil.
Miranda pulled her hand out quickly.
“Can you think of a healthy food choice?” she asked.
Had Ms. Basil seen her? Miranda started to sweat. “Uh, carrots?”
“Good answer.” Ms. Basil nodded. “Who else can think of a healthy food choice?”
“Pizza with ice cream and gummy spiders!” Jaiden said.
The class started to laugh.
Miranda reached into her pocket for another carrot. She put her hand back into the desk and dropped the carrot into the hat. She took another. And another.
“Miranda?” a voice called again. “What are you putting into your desk?” It was Ms. Basil.
“Nothing!” Miranda said. She took out her hands and held them up.
Ms. Basil stared at her for a moment. Then she got the class to start an activity.
Miranda didn't know how she was going to sneak the hat out. She had to get it back to Uncle Aldo soon. Maybe she could grab it quickly when no one was looking. She was going to have to wait until recess.
“I know what you're doing,” a voice said. It was not Ms. Basil. It was Jaiden. He stood behind Miranda and peeked into her desk. “You're putting food inside. I saw you.”
Miranda shook her head.
“Yes you did.”
“Okay,” Miranda said. “I did. I was saving carrots for later.”
“Can I have some?” Jaiden asked.
“No, they're for later.”
“I'm so hungry,” Jaiden said. “I can't wait for snack time.” He pushed Miranda aside and peered into the desk again. This time, his whole head fit inside it. “Wow, it really is a big desk. How did that happen? And it's so neat too!”
“Jaiden, get
out
of my desk!” Miranda yelled. “You're going to get in trouble.”
Jaiden wasn't listening. “I can fit my whole neck in too! This is cool. But where are the carrots?”
Jaiden pushed himself farther into the desk. Now just his legs were sticking out. People around were starting to notice. Some pointed. “That's crazy!” said Abdu. “Ms. Basil, look at what Jaiden is doing!”
Miranda turned. Ms. Basil had wide eyes. Her mouth had dropped open. “I don't believe it!” Ms. Basil said. She stormed over to Miranda's desk.
By now, Jaiden's feet were wiggling at the mouth of the desk. Miranda tried to pull Jaiden back, but he was too far in. And too heavy.
“I found the carrots! But something is eating them. Something fluffy and white!”
The whole class had gathered around Miranda's desk. Nobody could believe what they were seeing. Nobody except Miranda.
“Hey!” Jaiden said. “Give those carrots back. I'm hungry”
Jaiden's feet slipped out of Miranda's hands as he pushed himself deeper into the magic hat.
“I'm fallllllling!” Jaiden said. His voice trailed away.
Miranda reached out to grab him, but it was too late. Jaiden had vanished into her desk!
“Jaiden, get out of that desk right now!” Ms. Basil said. “Or elseâ¦or else I'm going to call the principal!” Ms. Basil tried to sound angry, but Miranda could tell she didn't know what to do. Ms. Basil tried again. “I'm going to count to ten. Oneâ¦two⦔
Miranda knew the magic hat was deep. If she tried to lean in and grab Jaiden, she might fall in too. Miranda peered into her desk. “Jaiden, are you okay?”
“Yeah!” he said. His voice echoed up from deep inside her desk. “It's really big down here. But there's a lot of junk. And
The Biggest Book of Big Things
. And a bunny too!”
“Jaiden, I'm coming to get you,” Miranda said, using her bravest voice. She was afraid of falling into the hat, but this was her mess. She needed to clean it up.
She moved away from the desk and looked around the room. She saw Neela standing there and had an idea. “Neela! Go get your skipping rope. The one that's bigger than three yardsticks.”
Neela nodded. She ran to her bag and brought it over.
“Good,” Miranda said. She gave one end to Neela. “Tie one end to the desk.”
“What are you going to do?” Neela asked.
“I'm going to rescue Jaiden!”
Ms. Basil was busy trying to get all the students to return to their seats. She did not see Neela tie one end of her skipping rope to a desk nearby. She also did not see Miranda squeeze into the desk, holding on to the other end of the rope.
Miranda lowered herself into the hole in her desk. It was so dark inside that she couldn't tell where the desk ended and the magic hat began. Everything was pitch-black except for the skipping rope. Cool! It glowed in the dark!
That meant she could use it like a night-light to find Jaiden.
“Jaiden, are you down there?”
For a moment, Miranda didn't hear anything.
Then came Jaiden's voice. “Is that a glow-in-the-dark skipping rope? Coooool!”
“Jaiden!” Miranda snapped. “Grab on. I'm going to get you out of here.”
“Who says I want to get out?”
Miranda huffed. She had to think of something. The magic hat was not safe. Then her eyes lit up. “Jaiden, Ms. Basil just handed out some snacks.”
At once Miranda felt a tug on the skipping rope. “Hurry up, Miranda. Snack time is my favorite part of the day!”
Climbing down the skipping rope was easy, but it was hard to get back up. Miranda had to squeeze her head through the narrow desk. She had to pull her body through, and it didn't want to fit. Then she felt a pair of hands grab her arms and yank her out. Miranda spilled onto the floor. She looked up to see Neela standing there. “You did it!” Neela said.
A second later, there was a loud thump. Jaiden crashed onto the floor beside her. He was holding
The Biggest Book of Big Things
. Sitting on his head was a white rabbit. It bounced off and hopped across the floor.
The class cheered. “Dump the desk! Dump the desk!”
Ms. Basil shook her head. “There will be no more desk-dumping.”
Miranda let out a big sigh. She had done it. Jaiden and the bunny were safe.
That night Miranda's parents drove her to see Uncle Aldo. Miranda brought the rabbit and the hat up to the front door. She was scared to tell Uncle Aldo the truth. What would he say? Miranda took a deep breath and knocked.
Uncle Aldo did not look pleased when he opened the door and saw Miranda holding the rabbit and the hat.
“I'm sorry I took the hat without asking,” Miranda said. She held her head down low. She felt him take the hat and the rabbit from her hands. Her eyes filled with tears.
Then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She looked up. Uncle Aldo was smiling. “I'm glad you brought it back,” he said as he straightened the hat out. It had been squashed in the desk and looked a bit funny. “It was the right thing to do. But what happened to the hat?”
