Chapter 11
The Lunch Box Returns

On Sunday, with just two days left until Valued Visitor Day, Poppy still had not mastered Dragon’s Beard candy. Back on Thursday, the day her grandmother had gotten lost, she had forgotten all about the candy-in-progress. On Friday, she went to Ms. Kellogg’s place to find that the sugar had turned as hard as a rock in the doughnut molds. She would have to start over.

On Saturday, they made the sugar syrup again and poured it into the molds, which had six compartments. After it had cooled enough, Poppy and Ms. Kellogg each removed a piece from one of the molds, pulled it apart, and twisted it into a figure eight, just like Po Po’s recipe said. They folded the figure eight in half, dipped the circles into the rice flour and cornstarch mixture, and pulled and twisted it again. Then the strands broke in Ms. Kellogg’s hands, and the candy fell into the tray, causing the flour mixture to erupt in a little cloud around them.

“You’re so good at that, Poppy,” Ms. Kellogg said as she watched Poppy twist and pull the strands.

“Oh no,” Poppy said. “I’ve lost count of how many pulls I’ve done. I think I did too many.” Her candy strands had gotten so thin that they had melted back into one another in a clump.

They tried again, but this time Poppy pulled too fast and the candy broke. Ms. Kellogg pulled too slowly, and the strands hardened and cracked.

“This is really difficult,” Ms. Kellogg said, their failed attempts lying on the counter. “I don’t know how your grandma does this!”

They each had one more try, but when they went to remove the last pieces from the molds, it was too late. The sugar had cooled and hardened too much to pull. Poppy started to cry.

“Maybe we should take a break,” Ms. Kellogg said, putting an arm around Poppy. “Let’s try again tomorrow.”

The next day, Poppy got ready to go back to Ms. Kellogg’s place again. Papa and Po Po had gone on a walk, and Mama was doing laundry. Calvin watched Poppy put the ingredients into a bag as he munched on an apple in the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Upstairs to try to make Dragon’s Beard candy again,” Poppy said. “I keep messing up, and it has to be perfect for Po Po’s birthday.”

“Why does it have to be perfect?” Calvin asked.

“So she knows how much I love her!” Poppy said. “And she might forget that soon.”

Calvin took another bite of his apple. After he had chewed and swallowed, he said, “Po Po wouldn’t want you to be so worried about the candy. She just wants to spend time with you. She knows how much you love her already. How could she not?”

Poppy considered Calvin’s point. Po Po delighted in being in the kitchen with Poppy, because they were doing something they enjoyed, together.

“I’m right, right?” Calvin said.

“You are right,” Poppy admitted.

Calvin aimed his apple core at the trash can. The core flew through the air, hit the rim, and bounced on the floor.

“Ew,” Poppy said. “You have the worst aim.”

Calvin shrugged. “I can’t be the best at everything.”

On Monday morning, Poppy woke up and found Po Po in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Po Po,” Poppy said. “Do you think we could bake something together after school?”

“Of course,” Po Po said. “That is my favorite thing to do.”

Mama joined them. “Can I help? I know I’m not a baker, but I’m a good cleaner!”

At the doctor’s recommendation, Mama had talked to her boss and changed her schedule for the week so she would be home in the afternoons when Poppy came home from school.

Po Po pulled Mama and Poppy into a hug. “I would love that. Let’s make cream buns. Poppy’s favorite.”

At eight forty-five on the dot, Mrs. Z got everyone’s attention. Emma announced that it was National Play Outside Day. Mrs. Z showed everyone her earrings, which were little dangling astronauts. Then she reminded everyone that tomorrow was Valued Visitor Day.

“Poppy, is there anything you would like to share about your valued visitor?” Mrs. Z asked.

Poppy nodded. She took a deep breath. At the table next to her, Memo gave her a thumbs-up. Poppy looked around, knowing she was going to disappoint everyone with her news. She fidgeted with the bottom of her shirt sleeve, then said, “I’ve been looking forward to having my grandmother come for Valued Visitor Day.”

It looked like Olive was about to say something, so Poppy hurried on. She didn’t want to start her speech all over. “You all know my grandma is the best baker. She used to own her own bakery when we lived in New Jersey, before we moved here. But lately she’s been really forgetful, so my parents took her to the doctor. The doctor did some tests, and she says my grandma might have Alzheimer’s.”

“What is that?” Steven asked. “Al-
something?”

“Alzheimer’s,” Poppy said. “It’s a disease that makes my grandma mix up things or forget what she’s doing.”

Carlota raised her hand. “My friend’s grandpa has Alzheimer’s,” she said. “He confuses my friend with someone else in the family.”

Poppy paused, thinking about how that might feel with Po Po. “Anyway,” she continued, swallowing, “I’m not sure if Po Po will come tomorrow. It depends on how she’s feeling. It might be hard because she’s never been here before, and that might make her more mixed up than usual.” She took a deep breath. “Also, I tried making Dragon’s Beard candy, and it was too hard for me to make by myself. The candy strands would break every time I tried pulling them. So I’m not bringing any tomorrow. I’m sorry.”

There was a long silence, and Poppy could feel the disappointment in the room. Disappointment that she wouldn’t be bringing in Dragon’s Beard candy the next day. Disappointment that Valued Visitor Day was ruined. Would anyone want to be her friend after this? Poppy looked down at her hands.

“Wyatt, do you have something to say?” Mrs. Z asked.

Poppy looked up in surprise. She had never seen Wyatt raise his hand before.

“I see your grandma wait for you at the bus stop every afternoon,” Wyatt said. “She’s always there, even when we had that big rainstorm two weeks ago. She must love you a lot.”

“She’s my favorite person in the whole world,” Poppy whispered.

“My grandma is a little scary,” Memo admitted. “I wish we got along like you and your grandma.”

“I’m sorry your grandma isn’t feeling well,” Synclaire said. “And it’s okay that you’re not going to bring in Dragon’s Beard candy. It sounds really hard to make.”

“I know you’ll be able to do it one day,” Olive said. “Because you’re a good baker.”

And all around her, the students in Mrs. Z’s class nodded their heads in agreement.

“You really think so?” Poppy said.

“Really!” said a whole lot of voices at once. When Poppy looked around, she saw her classmates looking back at her, smiling.

They didn’t look disappointed.

They didn’t look mad.

They looked understanding.

“How about we start our Daily Scribble?” Mrs. Z said, clapping her hands. Her astronaut earrings jiggled as if they were dancing. She went to the board and wrote:

The Daily Scribble

for Monday, October 7

Who is someone important in your life?

Poppy knew just how to answer that question.