Karen's Movie

  We watched the first day’s filming and then we saw the parts that we had reshot.

  “The scenes you reshot are a big improvement,” said Sam. “I kind of miss the sneezing in the background, though.”

  I giggled.

  We watched the tape again from the beginning. This time I told Sam exactly which parts of the tape I wanted for the movie and the order they needed to be in.

  “No problem,” said Sam. “Um, did you want me to leave in the parts where you are yelling at everyone? Or should I take them out?”

  “You are very funny,” I said. “Please take them out.”

  “I will have to work on this at the high school,” said Sam. “There is plenty of editing equipment there. But they are running a summer workshop, so I will have to wait my turn.”

  “Will it be ready by the time I go to Nebraska? I am leaving a week from Thursday,” I said.

  “I promise to have the tape for you before you leave,” said Sam. “And I will make a copy of it for you to keep here.”

  Daddy poked his head into the room then.

  “Are you ready to join us for some lunch?” he asked.

  My work as a movie director was done. The videotape would be ready for my trip to Nebraska. Lunch sounded like a very good idea.

  “We are on our way,” I replied.

  Nebraska, Here I Come!

  “Hi, Granny,” I said. “I wish we were in Nebraska already. I can hardly wait to see you.”

  It was Wednesday, the day before our trip. Mommy, Andrew, and I were taking turns talking on the phone with Seth and Granny. Grandad was getting better. But he was still in the hospital.

  I talked to Granny awhile longer. Then I passed the phone to Andrew and went upstairs to pack. The first time I went to Nebraska, I packed dress-up clothes. This time I knew better. I put in some pants, shirts, and sneakers. Then I found the overalls and straw hat that my friend Tia had helped me pick out. I would probably end up wearing them most of the time I was there.

  I put the straw hat on my head and looked in the mirror.

  “Nebraska, here I come!” I said.

  “Karen, what is there to do in Nebraska?” asked Andrew. He was standing at my door.

  “There are lots of things to do,” I replied. “We will feed the chickens, and pick vegetables from the garden. We can read and play in the hayloft. And we will go to visit Tia on her farm. Then we will get to see my chick. Remember I told you I watched chicks hatch from their eggs? Oh, yes. We will see Pearl the cat, and Sheppy the dog. We are going to have so much fun!”

  “Will the plane ride be fun?” asked Andrew.

  “Oh, definitely. Mommy said she will make each of us a Fun Bag. Seth made one for me when I flew to Nebraska by myself. He put crayons, a coloring book, pencils, paper, and books to read in it. But we will probably sit next to very nice people and they will talk to us the whole time,” I said.

  Mommy joined us upstairs.

  “How are you two doing with your packing?” she asked.

  “I am doing fine,” I replied. “I am almost finished.”

  “I have not started yet,” said Andrew.

  “Come, I will help you,” said Mommy.

  When Mommy and Andrew left, I did some more packing. Glasses. Toothbrush. Hairbrush. Books. Videotape. (Sam had dropped off the videotape the day before. It was gigundoly great!)

  I was tired of packing. I wanted to call Hannie and Nancy and tell them about my trip. But ever since we finished the movie, they had been acting very busy. I think they did not want to talk to me. Come to think of it, I had also not seen Bobby, Alicia, Kathryn, or Willie much since we finished the movie.

  “Hey, Goosie. You are not mad at me, are you? No? Good,” I said.

  I took off my hat and rested it on Goosie’s head. Goosie had traveled with me the first time I visited Nebraska. He liked it so much I promised he could go again.

  We Made It!

  “Rise and shine!” I said. “We are going to Nebraska!”

  I was the first one up on Thursday morning. I woke Mommy and Andrew. Then I got dressed.

  The last time I was on a plane, the flight attendants were all wearing navy blue. So I put on my blue leggings and T-shirt. I found my pin shaped like flying wings and pinned it to my shirt. (A very nice pilot gave it to me.)

  Mommy, Andrew, and I ate breakfast. Then we loaded the car and headed for the airport.

  Andrew and I sang “Old Macdonald Had a Farm.” Only we changed the words to “Granny and Grandad had a farm.”

  Next we counted all the license plates with the letter A. Whoever reached ten first won. I won the first game. Andrew won for the letter B. We were up to the letter G when we started seeing planes flying overhead.

  “I see the airport, Mommy!” Andrew cried. “Hurry!”

  “We have plenty of time,” Mommy replied.

  We did not have so much time after all. The line at the check-in counter was very long and slow. Someone was having a problem with a ticket. While we waited, Andrew and I watched planes taking off and landing. Mommy tapped her foot and looked at her watch a lot.

  Finally it was our turn. It was a good thing, too, because our flight was being announced.

  “Flight number one-oh-eight to Omaha now boarding at gate six.”

  “Hold hands now,” said Mommy.

  We raced through the airport to our gate. People jumped out of our way as we passed. It was exciting.

  By the time we found our seats we were huffing and puffing. I got to sit near the window. Andrew was in the middle. Mommy sat on the aisle. I decided it was my job to help Andrew since I am an airplane expert.

  “It is very important to buckle up,” I said to him. “Just like in a car.”

  Then I reminded him what all the little buttons over our seats were for.

  “This button is for the light. This one makes air blow on you. And if you press this button, a very nice person will come and help you,” I said.

  A flight attendant made a little speech about safety as the plane started to roll down the runway. I thought Andrew might be nervous so I held his hand. The plane started moving faster and faster. Then it started to rise.

  “Cool!” said Andrew. He let go of my hand and leaned over to look out the window. There were big puffy marshmallow clouds in the sky.

  The ride sped by. Andrew and I played with puzzles from our Fun Bags. Then the flight attendants brought around lunch. The food was not too tasty. But I liked opening all the little packages.

  After lunch I felt sleepy. The next thing I knew, the airplane was bumping along the ground. We had arrived in Nebraska.

  “Hi, Seth! We made it!” I called.

  Seth was at the gate waiting for us. He gave us each a big hug.

  “I am so happy to see you. Granny and Grandad are looking forward to seeing you, too,” said Seth.

  We drove to the farm in Granny’s and Grandad’s rusty green and white pickup truck. When we pulled up to the house, Sheppy came running to greet us, his tail wagging.

  “Hi, Sheppy. This is my brother, Andrew. He came all the way from Stoneybrook to see you,” I said.

  Pearl the cat was peeking out at us from the barn.

  “I see cows and pigs, too!” said Andrew.

  “The chickens are over there. We will have to feed them in the morning. And we will pick vegetables from the garden for dinner every night,” I said.

  There was so much to do. I only wished our vacation could last longer. But I did not want to waste time wishing. It was time to start having fun!

  The Farm

  I raced into the farmhouse.

  “Hi, Granny! We are here!” I called.

  “Granny is not home,” said Seth. “She is at the hospital with Grandad. In fact, I will be leaving in a few minutes to join them.”

  “Can we go with you to see Grandad?” I asked.

  “I am sorry but you cannot. He would love to see you both. But children under twelve are not allowed to vi
sit at the hospital,” replied Seth.

  I knew all about that rule. The hospital in Stoneybrook had the same one. I was not allowed to visit Nancy when she went to the hospital to have her appendix taken out.

  “Why don’t you show Andrew around the farm?” said Seth. “Granny and I will be back before you know it.”

  “I have to stay inside to be near the phone,” said Mommy. “Please be sure you do not bother the animals. And do not go near any machinery.”

  Well, boo and bullfrogs. It sounded like we could not do much at all. Too bad for Andrew. When I was on the farm with Granny and Grandad I got to do lots of things.

  “I want to find Sheppy,” said Andrew.

  Andrew did not seem to mind that we could not do much. He was just happy to be on the farm.

  We found Sheppy by the cow pasture. Andrew ran to him and leaned against the fence.

  “Do not get too close to the cow,” I said.

  When Granny and Grandad were here, I could pet the cow. But I did not think Mommy would want us to do that.

  Moo-oo!

  “I think the cow is happy to see me,” said Andrew.

  We watched the cow for a few minutes. She mooed. She chewed on grass. She swished her tail to swat the flies off her back. I did not think this was very exciting.

  We looked at the pigs next.

  “They do not look like the Three Little Pigs in my storybook,” said Andrew. “Those pigs are pink.”

  “No. These are different colors. And they are hairy, too,” I said. “Come on. I will show you the brooder house. When Granny and Grandad need more chickens, they put eggs in here. It is warm so the eggs can hatch.”

  We went into the brooder house. There were some eggs inside. But nothing was happening. Waiting for eggs to hatch is boring. It is only fun when the chicks start poking through their shells. The last time I was here, I got to see my very own chick, Tia, hatching. (I named her after my friend Tia.)

  Crash! The noise came from the barn. Goody. Finally something exciting was happening.

  “Let’s go!” I said.

  But by the time we reached the barn, it was quiet. Pearl was sitting up on a shelf looking down at us. There was a pile of cans on the ground below her.

  “She must have knocked them down when she jumped up there,” I said.

  “Wow! Look at that tractor,” said Andrew.

  The tractor was parked at the side of the barn. I did not know why Andrew was so excited. He could only look at the tractor. When Grandad was here, I got to ride it. I even got to steer by myself. I guess Andrew was having fun because everything was new to him.

  I had seen it all before. I wondered how much longer it would be before Seth and Granny came home.

  “Karen! Andrew! Grandad is on the phone,” called Mommy.

  We raced inside the house to talk to Grandad.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked.

  Grandad said he was feeling a whole lot better.

  “I have some good news,” he said. “I will be coming home on Saturday.”

  Saturday? That was the day after tomorrow. Yippee!

  Visiting Tia

  I was up in the hayloft with Andrew. We had just finished dinner. Seth and Granny had come home to eat with us. Then Mommy went back to the hospital with Seth. It was always two grown-ups with Grandad and one grown-up with us. I wanted us all to be together.

  I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers.

  “What are you doing?” asked Andrew.

  “I am wishing for Saturday to come really fast,” I replied. “Then Grandad will be home.”

  My wish did not come true right away. The night went by as slow as molasses. The morning was even worse. We had fun feeding the chickens. But the rest of the time we just walked around looking for something to do.

  Finally in the afternoon, Granny came to our rescue.

  “I guess I can leave the phone long enough to drive you to Tia’s house,” said Granny. “How does that sound?”

  It sounded gigundoly great!

  When we arrived at Tia’s farm Granny beeped the horn on the pickup. Tia came running out to see who was honking. She looked just the same. Her hair was cut very short. She was wearing overalls and a blue shirt. I used to think she looked like a boy. Now I thought she looked like Tia.

  We were very excited to see each other again. We kept jumping up and down and shouting.

  “I will pick you up a little later,” called Granny over the noise. “Have fun.”

  I stopped jumping and shouting long enough to introduce Tia to Andrew.

  Then I asked about my chick. I had given the chick to Tia to take care of. I thought my chick would be much happier living on a farm than in a house in Stoneybrook, Connecticut.

  “Come, I will show her to you,” said Tia. “Only she is not a little chick anymore.”

  “What is she now?” asked Andrew. “An elephant?”

  I could tell this afternoon was going to be fun.

  The three of us walked to the chicken coop.

  “There she is,” she said.

  I could hardly believe my eyes. Tia was pointing to a beautiful full-grown hen.

  “Thank you for taking such good care of her,” I said.

  Tia gave Andrew a tour of her farm. But on this tour we could do things. Tia’s dad gave us each a ride on the tractor. We patted the cows. Then while Andrew played fetch with Tia’s dog, Hank, Tia and I sat in the hayloft and talked about all the things that had happened since we last saw each other.

  Before we knew it, Granny was beeping the horn on the pickup truck again. Boo and bullfrogs. The afternoon had gone too fast.

  Welcome Home, Grandad!

  The next morning whizzed by, too. That is because we were busy getting ready for Grandad to come home.

  “Pass the scissors, please,” I said to Andrew.

  We had written the words WELCOME HOME in great big letters and colored them in. We were cutting out each letter for Mommy to string up across the front yard fence. This would be a very good sign for Grandad to come home to.

  Seth said that Grandad would not be able to climb stairs yet. So we made the downstairs den into a cozy room for him. Mommy opened the couch and put pretty sheets on the mattress. Andrew drew pictures of the farm animals for Grandad to look at in case he could not go outside to visit them. Seth set up the TV and VCR so Grandad could watch it from his bed. And I put a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a vase because Grandad loves to look at fresh flowers.

  There was one more thing I wanted to do.

  “Does anyone know where the gift wrapping paper is?” I asked.

  Mommy and Seth could not find it. So I made my own. I wanted to wrap up the videotape of my movie for Grandad before he came home.

  I took plain white paper and decorated it with crowns, feathers, and balloons. (There were no balloons in my movie. But balloons on gift paper are very pretty.)

  Finally everything was ready. We were just in time, too. Granny was beeping the horn on the pickup truck outside.

  “He is here! He is here!” I called.

  We all rushed to the door at once.

  “Welcome home, Grandad!” we said.

  Grandad waved to us from the truck. He had a big smile on his face. But he hardly looked like my grandad. He looked smaller. And tired. I did not understand. I thought hospitals were supposed to make a person better.

  Seth helped Grandad out of the truck and into a wheelchair.

  I ran to Grandad and threw my arms around his neck. He felt awfully skinny.

  “We are going to make you a big dinner tonight,” I said. “If the hospital food was anything like the food on the airplane, you must be hungry!”

  Grandad laughed. As soon as he did, he looked like Grandad again.

  “It is so good to be home with my family,” he said.

  Seth wheeled Grandad into the house and helped him into bed.

  “My goodness, this room is beautiful,” said Grandad. “You all must
have worked very hard. Thank you.”

  “Are you feeling tired?” asked Seth. “Would you like us to leave you alone so you can rest?”

  “Leave me alone? No, sir. I want to visit with my grandchildren! I have missed them,” said Grandad.

  Andrew and I pulled two chairs next to Grandad’s bed. We talked with Grandad. Then we played games. We even read him a story.

  Grandad was finally home. Hooray!

  The Gift

  At five o’clock Tia arrived. We were having a welcome-home dinner party for Grandad, and Tia was invited.

  Everything was ready. We were waiting for Grandad to wake up from his nap.

  “Hello! Anybody home?” called Grandad from the den.

  I ran in and gave Grandad a kiss. Then Seth helped Grandad out to the couch in the living room. We were going to have our party there because Grandad was too tired to sit up at the table for dinner.

  All the food was spread out in the kitchen. There was roast chicken, corn on the cob, cooked zucchini with onions and snow peas, and a gigundoly beautiful salad. (Guess who made it.) We could put anything we wanted on our plates.

  “If you do not like this food, we can call the hospital and see if they deliver,” said Seth.

  Grandad laughed. That is because he said the food at the hospital was terrible.

  Clink, clink. Grandad tapped his spoon on his glass.

  “I would like to say a few words,” he said. “This is a very happy day for me. I am happy to come home to my wonderful family. I am happy our good friend, Tia, could be here with us. Karen and Andrew, thank you for flying all the way to Nebraska to see your old grandad. And thank you all for this beautiful homemade meal.”

  Our party was so much fun. We talked and laughed and ate and ate. Grandad had two helpings of my salad. I had two helpings of blueberry pie. (Tia and her mommy made it for us.)

  After dinner, Grandad was feeling tired again so Seth helped him back to the den and into bed. The rest of us went along to keep him company.