Karen's Toothache

  I was sure Pamela Harding would cry the hardest. That is because she would be sorry she has been so mean to me.

  Poor Ricky. I hoped he would marry again someday. (But not too soon.)

  Of course, everyone would say gigundoly nice things about me. They would remember what a good fortune-teller I was. Too bad she had a terrible toothache, they would say.

  The world without Karen Brewer would be a sorry place. I wiped a couple of tears off my cheek. If my dentist visit turned out to be a disaster, there would not be a dry eye left in Stoneybrook.

  Hiding

  It was very early Monday morning. I had not slept well. Now I had to make up my mind. And I did. I was not going to go to the dentist.

  “I know you do not approve, Goosie. And I am sorry. But I just cannot do it,” I said.

  I knew I could not tell Mommy and Seth. They would make me go. So I did not say anything at breakfast.

  “Are they taking your tooth away today?” asked Andrew.

  “I do not want to talk about it,” I replied. (At least I was not lying to Andrew.)

  “Come, Andrew. Time for you to get ready for school,” said Mommy.

  While Mommy was helping Andrew, I ran upstairs to my room. I bundled myself up in my warmest clothes. I put on two pairs of socks, a turtleneck shirt, a sweater, a sweat shirt, a jacket, gloves, and a hat. I did not want to have to come back home just because I was cold.

  I looked out the window. There it was My hiding place. It was a tree with big, sturdy branches.

  I slipped downstairs and out the back door. Then I climbed up the tree in the backyard. (It was hard to do with all those clothes on.)

  Soon I heard Seth’s car door slam. I heard him start the motor. I watched Seth drive down the street to work. I waved to him.

  “ ’Bye, Seth.”

  Honk! Honk! It was Andrew’s carpool. I watched him climb into the car. I waved again, even though I knew he could not see me. “ ’Bye, Andrew.”

  The next thing I heard was Mommy calling, “Karen, I am going outside to warm up the car now.”

  I sat very still. I only moved to look at my watch. It was nine o’clock.

  Soon, Mommy went back into the house. I knew she was going upstairs to get me. I felt bad that I was not there. But I would feel worse if I had to go to the dentist.

  “Karen! Karen, where are you?” called Mommy.

  I wished I had brought earmuffs. I did not want to hear Mommy calling me. First she sounded scared. Then she sounded angry. Then she sounded scared again. Finally, she stopped calling.

  I looked at my watch. Nine-fifteen. My appointment was supposed to be at nine-thirty.

  Nine-thirty came and went. By 9:45, I knew I had missed my appointment with Dr. Celenza.

  Suddenly I saw Seth’s car pull back into the driveway. Mommy must have called him from work and asked him to come home. Uh-oh. That meant I was in Very Big Trouble.

  I climbed down from my hiding place. I walked into the kitchen. Seth was on the phone.

  “Hello? Is this the police?” he was saying. “I am calling to report a missing child.”

  Very Big Trouble

  “Young lady, where have you been?” said Mommy. “We were worried sick.”

  “Thank you anyway, officer. We found her,” said Seth. Then he hung up the phone.

  “I was in the backyard. I was up in the tree, hiding,” I admitted. I stared at the floor.

  “We did not know what had happened to you,” said Mommy. “I called Daddy. I called Nancy’s family and Hannie’s. I even called school.”

  “I am sorry,” I said.

  “Just because you were hiding,” said Mommy, “Seth had to leave work, a lot of people are worried, and you missed your dental appointment. I am going to have to punish you, Karen. But first I am going to call Dr. Celenza.”

  I listened while Mommy called the dentist. She apologized for missing the appointment. Then she made another appointment for Thursday after school.

  That sounded like a bad enough punishment to me. I would have to go to the dentist after all. I could not hide again because Mommy was going to pick me up at school.

  “You will have to apologize to Dr. Celenza yourself, Karen,” said Mommy. “I want you to write a note to her. Tell her why you missed your appointment.”

  “I will write a very nice letter. I promise,” I said. I thought I was getting off easy.

  “I am not finished,” Mommy went on. “You may not play with your friends after school this week. And now, it is time to go to school.”

  Boo. Boo. Boo. I did not say one word the whole way there.

  When I arrived at school, everyone stared at me.

  “We are glad to see you,” said Ms. Colman. “We did not expect you until this afternoon. I hope everything went all right at the dentist.”

  I did not want the class to know about my morning. So I just nodded and sat down at my desk. I was very, very hot. (I was still wearing two pairs of socks, my turtleneck, and my sweater.)

  At lunchtime, I told Nancy and Hannie what I had done.

  “So we can’t play all week,” I explained.

  “That is too bad,” said Nancy.

  “Do you still want to tell the kids Ms. Colman’s news after lunch?” asked Hannie.

  It took me a minute to remember Ms. Colman’s news. Oh, right. We spelled out B-A-B-Y on the Ouija board. That seemed like a hundred years ago.

  “I think my powers are fading. I am not so sure about my prediction for Ms. Colman. Maybe we should not say anything yet,” I said.

  “Okay. We will wait until your powers come back,” said Hannie.

  “We have plenty of time,” added Nancy. “It will be our secret for now.”

  The Return of the Powers

  When I woke up on Tuesday, I was not alone. I could feel the presence of Madame Karena Brewena. My powers had returned.

  Mommy and Seth were not so mad at me anymore. I did not complain once about my punishment. And I had apologized so many times at dinner the night before, they just had to forgive me.

  I still did not want to go to the dentist, though. But I knew I was going. On Thursday. And that was that.

  At breakfast, I wore my beads and bangles and read the horoscopes.

  Then I packed my crystal ball in my knapsack and Mommy drove me to school.

  “Madame Karena Brewena is back,” I announced when I walked into my classroom. “My special powers have returned. They are stronger than ever! If you want to hear important news, meet me by the seesaws at recess.”

  By the time the kids were leaving the lunch room that afternoon, I was set up on the playground and ready for business.

  “Once again, I will tell my own fortune first,” I announced. I touched my forehead to the crystal ball. I moaned pitifully.

  “Disaster. I see disaster at the dentist on Thursday,” I said. (Most of the kids knew that I had not yet had my tooth pulled.)

  “You must try to be brave,” said Natalie.

  “Yes, I will,” I replied.

  “Is the crystal ball giving you any other message?” asked Hannie.

  I closed my eyes and threw back my head.

  “Yes! Yes!” I replied. “The crystal ball says I am right about Ms. Colman. It says this is the time to tell everyone her news.”

  I opened my eyes and looked at my classmates. When I thought they could not wait a second longer, I made the most Surprising Announcement of all.

  “Ms. Colman is going to have a baby,” I said.

  “Wow! Are you sure?” asked Addie.

  “The crystal ball does not lie,” I replied.

  “When will the baby be born?” asked Jannie.

  “Oh, the usual. In eight or nine months. The crystal ball may not have given me the news right away,” I said.

  “Do you know whether it will be a boy or a girl?” asked Leslie.

  “It will definitely be one or the other.”

  “Will Ms. Colman still be our teacher??
?? asked Bobby.

  “Oh, yes. She will have to be our teacher. She promised.”

  “This is awesome!” said Tammy.

  “Are you sure about this, Karen?” asked Pamela. “Maybe you got your signals scrambled.”

  “My signals are coming through loud and clear,” I told her.

  “I wonder how Ms. Colman is feeling,” said Ricky. “She has to be careful now. She has to rest and take it easy. We have to be extra nice to her.”

  “You are right, Ricky,” I said. “Ms. Colman has to take good care of herself from now on. It will be our job to help her.”

  “Be Careful!”

  When we returned to our classroom on Tuesday, we found Ms. Colman reaching way back into the supply closet.

  “Ms. Colman, be careful!” I cried. “I will get whatever you need.”

  “Why, thank you, Karen,” said Ms. Colman. “We are going to make a chart about the life cycle of a leaf. I need some colored markers.”

  When everyone was seated, Ms. Colman picked up the giant pad of paper we use for class charts.

  “Oh, no, no, no!” we cried. “We will carry that for you. Please, Ms. Colman. You really have to be careful.”

  We watched over our teacher for the rest of the afternoon.

  On Wednesday, Ricky pulled Ms. Colman’s chair out for her when she wanted to sit at her desk.

  “You should be sitting as much as possible now,” he said.

  I thought that was very good advice. But Ms. Colman was not a good listener. The next thing we knew, she was trying to stand on a chair by the bulletin board.

  I thought Ricky would have a heart attack.

  “Wait! Stop!” he cried. “You have to be careful!”

  “Yes, you told me that yesterday,” said Ms. Colman. “But I need to hang up this chart.”

  “We will help you,” I said.

  “I do not know why you are all so worried about me,” said Ms. Colman.

  On Thursday morning, we pulled out Ms. Colman’s chair. We would not let her carry anything heavier than a pencil. We made her sit down most of the day. And we told her to “Be careful!” about a million times.

  At recess, Pamela Harding had a very good idea. (Even a best enemy can have a good idea sometimes.) She said we should plan a baby shower for Ms. Colman.

  “This will be her first baby,” said Pamela. “She will need everything.”

  “We should find out what she wants,” I said.

  “But we cannot let her know why we are asking,” added Nancy.

  That afternoon, Ms. Colman was writing our new spelling words on the blackboard. (We asked her to sit down while she wrote them, but she said she could not.)

  One of our spelling words was purple. Perfect!

  “Ms. Colman, if you were a boy, would you rather wear blue, green, or purple?” I asked.

  “That is an excellent sentence for the word purple,” said Ms. Colman.

  “Thank you. But I need to know the answer,” I said. “Which color would you like to wear if you were a boy?”

  “Blue, I suppose,” Ms. Colman replied patiently.

  “Speaking of colors,” said Pamela, “Which toy would you rather have — a green rattle, or a brown bear?”

  “I think bears are nice toys. Now may we please get back to our spelling words?” said Ms. Colman.

  “How about bibs?” said Hannie. “Do you like the squeaky kind?”

  Ms. Colman rolled her eyes. “You kids are acting very strange these days,” she said. “Very nice. But very strange.”

  The Amazing Dr. Celenza

  It was Thursday afternoon. The time had come. There was no getting out of it.

  Mommy and Andrew were waiting outside school for me. They were waiting to take me downtown to Dr. Celenza.

  We reached her office and walked inside. The waiting room was nothing great. I saw a few more toys than usual. But that was all.

  Soon someone poked his head through the doorway and called, “Karen Brewer?” Then he came into the waiting room to get me.

  “I am Jonathan, Dr. Celenza’s assistant,” he said. He was wearing an astronaut’s suit that was covered with gold and silver stars. But he was not wearing a helmet, and I could see he was smiling.

  “Right this way,” he said.

  Jonathan led me to Dr. Celenza’s office. I felt as if I were in outer space. The walls were covered with colored stars. They were red, green, yellow, and blue. A moon hung from the ceiling. All around were pictures of smiling kids. The best part was the chair. It looked like a rocketship. It even had a make-believe control panel. While I was pushing the buttons on the panel, Dr. Celenza came in.

  “Hello, Karen,” she said. “I am glad to meet you.”

  I liked her right away. First of all, she did not say one word about missing my Monday appointment. And I liked the way she was dressed. She was wearing a white doctor’s coat, but it was covered with funny buttons. My favorite one said, “Go to the dentist? Who me?”

  “Hi,” I replied. “Does this chair go up and down?”

  “Hang on to your hat,” said Dr. Celenza. “I am going to give you a ride.”

  She did not give me one ride. She gave me three rides up and down.

  “Now it is time for some ‘sleepy tooth,’ ” said Dr. Celenza. “That is a quick shot of novocaine. After that, you will not feel a thing.”

  That sounded good to me. Before I could count all the stars on the walls, my tooth was out and my visit was over. I had felt a little bit of pressure, but having my tooth pulled had not hurt one bit.

  Before I left, Dr. Celenza gave me a present. It was my tooth on a chain. And that was not all. She let me choose a prize for being such a good patient.

  Jonathan held out a space helmet. In it was the all-time best prize selection ever. (I picked a star stamp and a pad of red ink.)

  When I went back to the waiting room, I was smiling from ear to ear.

  I showed Mommy and Andrew my tooth. It was hanging around my neck.

  “I love Dr. Celenza!” I said. “She is the best dentist ever.”

  I was glad my baby tooth was out. I did not need it anymore. I thought of one other thing I did not need. My will.

  I decided I would tear it into tiny little pieces.

  Mush for Dinner

  By the time I returned home, my “sleepy tooth” was waking up. My mouth felt a little sore. But that was all.

  I ate some Jell-O. Then Mommy said, “Why don’t you lie on the couch until supper is ready?”

  That sounded like a very good idea to me. After all, I had just had a serious operation.

  I brought a funny book called Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary with me. I brought paper and markers in case I wanted to draw. And I invited Hyacynthia to keep me company.

  Andrew wanted to keep me company, too. He wanted to know what having a tooth pulled out felt like.

  “Well, the first thing is, you have to be very brave. They strap you into a big rocketship chair,” I explained.

  Andrew nodded. He looked thoughtful.

  “Did the operation hurt much?” asked Andrew.

  “No. Dr. Celenza put my tooth to sleep. It really did not hurt at all,” I replied. (I did not want to scare Andrew.) “But you still have to be very brave because it could hurt,” I added. (I did not want him to think it was so easy either.)

  “Then what?” asked Andrew.

  “Well, then the dentist pulls out your tooth and hangs it on a chain,” I said. “And now, I think I need to rest. Having a tooth pulled out can make you very tired.”

  I really was pretty tired. I closed my eyes for a minute. Then I opened them again and called, “Mommy!”

  Mommy came into the room.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “How will I be able to eat supper? There is a big hole where my tooth used to be,” I said. “Plus, my mouth hurts.”

  “No problem,” said Mommy. “We have already taken care of it. Seth is putting your sup
per through the blender right now.”

  I could hear the blender whirring in the kitchen.

  “Would you like to eat your supper here as a special treat? Or would you rather join us at the table?” asked Mommy.

  “I will come to the table,” I said. (I was tired of lying on the couch.)

  A plate was set at every place, except mine. At mine was a bowl. And I did not have a knife and fork. I had a spoon. I was having mush for dinner.

  Do you know what? It tasted very good.

  By the time I went upstairs to bed that night, I had completely recovered from my operation.

  I found my will and tore it into little pieces. I was glad I did not need it.

  Goosie asked to see the hole where my tooth had been. I opened wide and showed him. I could tell he was impressed.

  “Would you like to wear my tooth tonight?” I asked.

  He said he would love to, so I hung it around his neck.

  “I will have to take it back tomorrow,” I said. “In school I am going to show everyone my tooth, the big hole in my mouth, and the prize I got for being such a wonderful patient. I know my friends will want to see everything.”

  The Tooth Necklace

  When I walked into my classroom on Friday, I opened my jacket and cried, “Taadaa!”

  I held up my beautiful tooth necklace. Everyone crowded around to see it.

  “That is so cool,” said Hannie. “Were you scared?”

  “I was a little scared at first,” I said. “But as soon as I sat down in the rocketship — ”

  “Rocketship? What rocketship?” asked Natalie.

  “Dr. Celenza’s chair is a rocketship,” I explained. “Look at the prize I got for being such a good patient.”

  I showed everyone my star stamp and ink pad.

  “Can we see the hole where your tooth was?” asked Nancy.

  “Everybody who wants to see it, line up in front of me,” I said.

  All the kids lined up. I felt gigundoly important. I was being treated like a real and true heroine.