Karen's Movie Star

  “Oh,” I said again. I did not know what else to say.

  Allison gave me a little smile and walked away with her manager.

  Karen’s Last Chance

  On Sunday afternoon, Nancy and I went to Hannie’s house. Mrs. Papadakis was going to drive us to the big hill near the park, where our last scene would be filmed.

  Once we were in the backseat, I motioned for my friends to lean closer. “Guys,” I whispered, “I have been thinking.”

  “Uh-oh,” said Hannie. Nancy giggled.

  I frowned at them. “This is serious. Today is our last chance to be discovered. Today we have to show Allison and the director that we have what it takes to be movie stars.”

  “But we are just extras,” said Nancy. “In yesterday’s scene, we were in front of the camera for only about two seconds. Today we will be sledding down a hill. How can we show any talent?”

  I held up a finger. “I have a plan,” I said.

  I could not help noticing that Hannie and Nancy suddenly looked worried.

  * * *

  So far this year, it had not snowed in Stoneybrook. But the movie crew’s gigundoly huge snow-making machines had made tons of fake snow all over Sled Hill. It was just like the real thing. Tomorrow, those machines would throw snow all over our yard. It was very weird to see deep, cold snow piled high in one place, and then turn around and see everything else looking bare and brown.

  For our scene today, we all had sleds. We went to the top of snow-covered Sled Hill and waited for instructions. I did not see Allison anywhere.

  The assistant director Mr. Frazier trudged up the hill.

  “Now, remember, kids,” he said. “This scene is to show that Allison made new friends and had fun, even though she was lost. So we will be filming her sledding down the hill several times. At the end of the day, she will choose one person to sled down with her for a special scene.”

  I almost gasped. That person just had to be me!

  “In the meantime,” continued Mr. Frazier, “sled downhill normally, as if it were a typical snowy Sunday. Act natural.”

  “Humph!” I whispered to Hannie and Nancy. “Acting natural will not get us anywhere. Remember our secret plan.”

  “Okay,” whispered Hannie. Nancy nodded.

  Finally Allison showed up. She was wearing a purple ski outfit with fake-fur earmuffs. I looked down at my own clothes. Nancy and Hannie and I had worn the brightest clothes we could find.

  The filming started. Sledding is fun, but today it seemed more like work. We would sled down the hill, then climb to the top and wait for the assistant director to signal us to sled down again. Sometimes we had to wait for a long time between rides so they could adjust the lights or the camera angles.

  Nancy and Hannie and I tried to edge closer to Allison. She smiled at us once, but she was too busy concentrating on the director’s instructions to talk.

  We put my plan into action the very first time we sledded downhill. Mr. Frazier had told us to act natural, but what did that mean? We were kids, sledding.

  So we had fun. Big fun. The three of us whooped and hollered and waved our arms and did fancy sledding tricks. We just had to be noticed! I sledded down the hill standing on one leg. I sledded backward. I sledded practically standing on my head. Hannie and Nancy did all the fancy moves they could think of.

  But it did not work. The camera was pointing away from us, at the other side of the hill. We were not close enough to Allison. Even worse, no one from the movie told us that we had lots of talent.

  By three-thirty it felt as if we had been sledding and waiting around for hours. The assistant director told us to take a hot-chocolate break. We did.

  We stood next to the catering trailer, drinking our hot chocolate. I looked around for Allison. She had probably ducked back into the makeup trailer to have her face touched up. (I told you I know all about movies.)

  “Hi,” said a voice.

  I looked around. It was Allison. She was smiling at us.

  “You guys sure know how to do lots of tricks on your sleds,” she said.

  So she had noticed!

  “It snows a lot here in the winter,” I said. “We have lots of time to practice.”

  Allison laughed. “I had to take sledding lessons, just to film this scene. Where I live in Arizona, it hardly ever snows. And I have never been in another cold place long enough to learn how to sled. This is really fun.”

  Finally Allison wanted to be friends! I was about to answer her when the director called her. It was time for the last sled of the day. I was extra excited now. I was positive that Allison would choose me. After all, we were the only kids she had talked to all day.

  At the top of the hill, Allison looked around. She put a mittened hand on her chin and thought. Then she pointed to some boy I didn’t even know! He would be her special sled partner!

  I felt like a pancake that a giant had stepped on. I could tell Hannie and Nancy felt that way too.

  We watched glumly as Allison and the boy sledded down the hill together, laughing as they whizzed past. Then the director clapped his hands and yelled, “That is it for today, folks! Thank you very much!”

  We trudged downhill slowly, too sad to sled. I was hoping to see Allison before we left with Mrs. Papadakis. I wanted to ask why she had not chosen me. But by the time we reached the bottom of the hill, Allison and her mother were being driven away in a big blue car. She had not even said goodbye.

  I will not act that way when I am a star.

  Fake Snow

  Well, movie or no movie, Thanksgiving was coming, and I had a lot to do. On Monday at school we made Thanksgiving decorations for our classroom. First we each drew around our hands on a piece of orange construction paper. We cut out the hand shape. Then we glued colorful feathers to each of the four fingers. We drew a face on the thumb part, and there! It made a very nice turkey.

  “Now, class,” said Ms. Colman. “Please take out a fresh sheet of paper. On the paper, write down three things that you are thankful for. In five minutes, we will read some of them aloud.”

  I love assignments like this.

  Ms. Colman asked Ricky to read his first.

  He stood up. “I am thankful that the Broncos are playing on Thanksgiving Day.”

  I could not help giggling. Boys are pretty silly sometimes.

  “I am thankful my dog can catch a Frisbee in midair. I am thankful that my grandma and grandpa are coming to our house for Thanksgiving. Their house smells funny.”

  “Thank you, Ricky,” said Ms. Colman. “Tammy?”

  Tammy Barkan stood up. She is a twin. Her sister, Terri, sits next to her.

  “I am thankful I have a twin sister,” read Tammy. (Terri smiled.) “I am thankful that my parents are nice to me. I am thankful that my granny is recovering from her operation.”

  “Thank you, Tammy,” said Ms. Colman.

  I did not get to read my list out loud. (Rats.)

  After school, I could hardly wait to get home. Today the movie crew would make fake snow all over our yard.

  Hannie and I jumped off the school bus and ran to my house.

  “Wow, look at that,” said Hannie.

  I was looking. A great big noisy machine was spraying heavy flakes of fake snow all over the front of our house. In some places, the snow was already six or eight inches deep. It frosted our windows and trees and bushes, just like real snow. There was even fake snow on the roof! Just ten feet away, in our neighbors’ yard, were plain brown grass and trees with empty branches. Our yard was a winter wonderland.

  “Cool,” said Hannie. We grinned at each other. Then she went home to have a snack. I headed down our driveway and used the back door, so the snow would not have any footprints in it.

  “Hi, Nannie,” I called.

  “Hi, sweetie,” she said. “I have some hot cider and gingerbread cookies waiting for you.”

  “How do you like our special snow?” I asked, sliding onto a bench next to David Michael
. (At the big house, there are so many people that we eat at one long table with two long benches.)

  “It is awesome,” said David Michael.

  “It is very pretty,” said Nannie with a smile. “Emily Michelle thinks so too, don’t you, sweetie?”

  “Snow!” said Emily Michelle.

  After my snack I went upstairs. Kristy’s room looks out over our front yard. (Mine looks out over the side yard. Kristy had given me permission to go into her room.) I sat on her hope chest in front of the window and watched the snow machines. They made a lot of noise.

  “Meow,” said a voice behind me.

  I turned around to see Boo-Boo standing in the middle of Kristy’s floor. He looked sleepy. I reached down and picked him up. He and I looked out the window together as the fake movie snow piled higher and higher.

  After awhile I took Boo-Boo into my room and settled him on my bed. He looked chilly. I picked up a sweater off the floor and wrapped it around him.

  Then I sat down at my desk to make Welcome Home cards for my little-house family. They would be here the day after tomorrow! Daddy had said I could go to the airport with him to pick them up. I was all quivery inside, like at Christmas. I would be so, so happy to see Mommy and Andrew and Seth again.

  I was busily coloring in some pink hearts on Andrew’s card when I felt a little paw swipe my leg. It was Pumpkin. I scooped her up and she patted my chin.

  “I cannot play right now,” I told her as I carried her to my bed. “But you snuggle up here and keep Boo-Boo warm, okay?”

  I set her down next to Boo-Boo. Boo-Boo opened one eye, then went back to sleep. Pumpkin curled up next to the old cat as close as she could, and she went to sleep too.

  “Good girl,” I said. Then I turned back to my cards.

  Pre-Thanksgiving Plans

  On Tuesday morning at breakfast, Nannie tapped her spoon against her juice glass.

  “May I have your attention, please?” she asked. “Thanksgiving is just two days away. There are many things that need to be done. I expect all of you to pitch in and help.”

  “Okay,” I said. “We do not have school tomorrow, so I can do a lot then.”

  “Thank you,” said Nannie. “I will post a list on the fridge. You all sign up for what you feel like doing.”

  “All right,” said Kristy, eating a spoonful of oatmeal.

  “And Karen,” said Nannie, “you should go through your room and decide if you need to move anything back to the little house.”

  I quit eating. Everyone at the table turned to look at me in surprise. None of us had thought much about my leaving.

  “Okay, Nannie,” I said.

  Daddy gave me a special smile and patted my shoulder.

  Before I left for school, I signed up for making place cards and helping to set the table.

  At school we read Thanksgiving stories and made more decorations. Ms. Colman counted how many cans of food we had collected. We had been bringing in canned goods for weeks, collecting food for families who might not be able to have a Thanksgiving meal this year.

  “Congratulations, class,” said Ms. Colman. “You have collected seventy-three cans, and lots of other items besides. I am sure you will help many families have a good Thanksgiving.”

  We all cheered.

  At recess the air felt colder. Hannie and Nancy and I swung a little bit to get warm, then sat on a bench to talk. I felt sad, but I did not know why.

  “I am already hungry,” said Nancy. “And we just ate lunch.”

  “It is because it is cold,” said Hannie. “I am always hungrier when it is cold.”

  I did not say anything.

  “I cannot wait for Thanksgiving,” said Nancy. “Thanksgiving is my favorite meal of the whole year.”

  “One year we ate Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant,” said Hannie. “It was yucky. I like it much better at home.”

  I did not say anything.

  “Karen, what is the matter?” asked Nancy. “You seem sad.”

  I did not know what to say.

  “Come on, Karen,” said Hannie. “You can tell us. We are the Three Musketeers, remember?”

  That made me feel a little better. “I do not know why,” I said, “but I feel very sad.”

  Hannie and Nancy looked at each other.

  “You do not know why?” asked Hannie.

  I shook my head. “I know I should feel happy. Thanksgiving is almost here. My little-house family is coming home. I might be in about two seconds of an Allison Hunter movie….”

  “Maybe it is not just one thing that is making you sad,” said Nancy. “Maybe it is a bunch of little things. Think hard. Can you think of anything that has happened?”

  I thought. Maybe Nancy was right. Maybe it was a bunch of little things, all adding up to sadness. “Maybe I am sad because Allison did not choose me to be her special sledding partner,” I said. “And I thought that we would become friends, because she is filming at my house. But it has not happened.”

  Hannie and Nancy nodded.

  “And Boo-Boo is getting older all the time,” I said. “I wish he were not so old and sick.”

  “Yeah,” said Nancy.

  “And I feel weird, leaving the big house in three days, to go back to the little house.” As soon as I said it, I knew that was what was really making me sad. “I have been living at the big house for six months. I am used to it. I really, really, really miss Mommy and Andrew and Seth. And I am glad to be going back to the little house. But it will be weird too.”

  “I know,” said Hannie. “It will be weird for everyone. I am used to having you right across the street. Now you will be gone sometimes.”

  Nancy smiled. “But I am happy, because you will be living next door to me again, every other month. I have missed not having you there.”

  I smiled back at her.

  “You know, it will be different for awhile,” said Hannie. “But then we will all be used to it again. And it will be okay.”

  “Yes,” said Nancy. “You used to switch back and forth before, and it was okay. Now you will do it again.”

  “You are right,” I said. I felt a lot better.

  “It is not as if you are moving to Chicago,” said Nancy. “That would have been awful. You will still be here in Stoneybrook. School will be the same. The Three Musketeers will be the same. And you will be with your mommy and Seth and Andrew again. It will all work out.”

  “Thank you,” I said to Nancy and Hannie. “You have made me feel so much better.” I gave them each a hug.

  “What are Musketeers for?” asked Nancy.

  Where’s Boo-Boo?

  That afternoon I raced home as soon as the school bus dropped me off. I was very glad to have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off from school. I love school, but sometimes it is nice to have a little vacation.

  Today they were filming the big scene at our house. It was the most important part of the whole movie. Today Allison would trudge through the fake snow up our front walk. Then she would ring the doorbell. That was all that would be filmed. It was the end of the movie, when Allison finds her family again, after being lost.

  Nannie had put a snack out for me in the kitchen. I ate it quickly. As I had hurried up our driveway toward the back door, I had heard the cameraman tell everyone to get ready to film in ten minutes. I did not have much time to get ready myself.

  I wondered where Nannie was. I knew David Michael was at a friend’s house. Daddy had gone to a meeting. Emily Michelle was probably napping but usually Nannie is in the kitchen waiting for me. I guessed she was upstairs. I did not have time to look for her.

  As soon as I had finished my snack, I went into our mud room by the back door. That is where we keep our winter coats and boots. In the past few days, the weather had changed from autumnlike to winterlike. It was much colder outside. It almost felt as if real snow could fall.

  I kicked off my sneakers and pulled out my heavy winter boots. Then I found my down ski jacket and pants.
I started to put them on. The movie people had asked Daddy to make sure none of us was looking out of the windows while they were filming, because our faces would show up in the movie. If we stayed away from the front windows, though, there was no way for us to watch Allison Hunter walk up our path and ring our doorbell.

  But I had a plan. At the edge of our driveway was a big sycamore tree. It was not in the line of the cameras, so it would not show up in the movie. I did not think anyone would stop me from climbing it. My plan was to climb high in the sycamore tree and stay there during the filming. That way I would have the perfect view of Allison walking up our walk and ringing our doorbell.

  I found my heavy mittens and stuck them in my pocket.

  “Oh, there you are, Karen,” said Nannie. “I am glad you are home. What are you doing?”

  “I am getting bundled up,” I said. “It is cold out there.”

  “Yes, I know,” said Nannie. “That is why I am so worried.”

  I stopped bundling. “Worried?”

  “Yes. I am afraid Boo-Boo is missing,” said Nannie.

  “Missing? What do you mean?”

  “I have been looking for him since after lunch,” said Nannie. “He is not in his special box in the hallway. He has not eaten his food. I am worried. Maybe he got outside somehow. Or maybe he is trapped somewhere, like in a closet. Kristy and Sam have been looking for him since they got home from school.”

  Nannie looked very upset. I started peeling off my heavy clothes.

  “Don’t you worry,” I said. “I will help look. I am small and can look in places that Kristy and Sam are too big for. I am sure Boo-Boo is around here somewhere.”

  “I hope you are right,” said Nannie.

  The big house really is a big house. There are nine bedrooms and a lot of bathrooms and all sorts of other rooms too. It is not easy to look for one cat who is lost in a gigundoly big house like that. But I tried my best.

  I looked under everyone’s beds. I looked in all our closets. I called and called him. I banged a spoon on a can of cat food. (That usually works.) Pumpkin came running to me again and again.