Katie could still hear the sick kids cheering for her as she left the sunroom of the hospital and headed down the hallway, toward the lobby. She couldn’t wait to get outside.
“Mr. Guthrie, don’t you want to change into your regular clothes before you leave?” one of the nurses asked.
Katie gulped. She didn’t want to be her teacher when he was in his underwear!
“No. Uh, that’s okay. I kind of like this outfit,” she said, quickly heading out the door.
It was cool and crisp outside. Katie took a deep breath of the fresh air. It sure felt good to get a whiff of the trees and the grass.
Katie felt really bad for the kids that had to stay in the hospital. They probably would give anything to be out here looking at the flowers and feeling a cool breeze on their necks. That breeze sure did feel good. At least at first…
But then that gentle breeze began blowing harder and harder. In a flash, it turned into a wild tornado, blowing just around Katie. The magic wind was back!
The magic wind whirled and swirled wildly. Katie had to hold on to a nearby lamppost just to keep from being blown away.
And then it stopped. Just like that. The magic wind was gone. Katie Kazoo was back.
So was Mr. G. And boy, did he look confused.
“Katie, what are you doing out here in the hospital parking lot?” he asked. Then he paused for a moment. “Come to think of it, what am I doing out here? I’m supposed to be in there doing a show for sick kids.”
“I think maybe you already did it,” Katie said.
“Did I mess up a joke?” Mr. G. asked her, shaking his head slightly.
Before Mr. G. could ask any more questions, the boy with short, short hair came running over with his mother. Katie remembered that the nurse had called him Darnell.“I forgot to give you this, G-Man,” Darnell said. He held out a card he had made.
Mr. G. took the card and opened it up. Katie looked over his shoulder to see what it said.
Thanks, G-Man the Clown. G stands for Great!
Your pal, Darnell
Katie grinned. She knew just what Darnell meant.
“I hope I see you again soon,” Darnell said seriously. “Only not in here, you know what I mean?”
Mr. G. grinned. “I know exactly what you mean. I’m so glad you’re well now. Maybe one day you’ll come back and put on a show for the kids.”
“Maybe,” Darnell agreed. “But I’ll know all the jokes before I do my show.”
Mr. G. frowned. “I really can’t believe that happened.”
Oh, it did, Katie thought to herself. And other stuff, too. But, of course, she didn’t say that.
As Darnell walked away, Mr. G.’s cell phone began to ring. “Hello?” he said to the person on the other end.
Katie waited patiently while Mr. G. talked on the phone. He did not look very happy.
“That was Mr. Kane,” Mr. G. said as he hung up the phone. “He was very upset about what happened in class today. He wants me to change things in our class. He wants 4A to be like every other classroom.”
“You mean with desks and tests and things?” Katie asked him.
Mr. G. nodded.
“No games? Or yoga? Or…” Katie continued.
Mr. G. shrugged. “He thinks I haven’t done a very good job of controlling you kids. He feels that the kids in 4A have no consideration for other people. You showed that by being so bad when there was a substitute teacher in the class.”
Katie frowned. “That’s not what we planned at all.”
“Planned? What are you talking about, Katie?” Mr. G. asked.
Katie kicked at the ground with her toe while she told Mr. G. about how they had all thought he was leaving. And then she explained George’s idea for keeping him as their teacher.
“What made you think I was looking for a different job?” Mr. G. asked.
“Well, you cut off your ponytail and then you were absent from school, so Suzanne figured you were probably going on an interview,” Katie explained.
“And you listened to Suzanne?” Mr. G. asked. “You should have spoken to me. I would have told you that I cut off my ponytail so the hair could be made into a wig.”
“A wig?” Katie asked him, surprised.
Mr. G. nodded. “Some kids in this hospital have to take medicine that makes their hair fall out. They need wigs to wear until their real hair grows back. I donated my ponytail to an organization that makes wigs for sick kids.”
Katie frowned. “Gosh, Mr. G. That’s really nice of you.”
Mr. G. sighed. “Well, I guess class 4A is in for some big changes tomorrow,” he said slowly.
Katie thought about that. She didn’t want to be in a normal classroom with a normal teacher. She wanted everything to be the way it had been up until now. Mr. G. was a great teacher. He made sure the class ran smoothly without being strict or stern. If only there was some way to make Mr. Kane see that.
“Wait!” Katie told Mr. G. excitedly. “I have a great idea!”
