Bean could not think one more nice thought. She had thought something nice about every single kid in her class. She had wished that there were peace on earth and no more litter—that should make the animals happy—and that everyone had plenty to eat and only things they liked.
Not one bird had come anywhere near her.
There was sweat dripping out from under her hair.
“Shoot,” said Bean, dropping her arms. “How long was it before the wolf licked that guy’s feet and followed him home?”
Ivy dropped her arms, too. “I think it only took him a few minutes, but we’re just beginners. He was an expert. The mayor called him out especially to talk to the wolf because the wolf had been eating up the townspeople. In the picture, there were all these arms and legs lying around. But the good guy and the wolf had a talk, and next thing you know the wolf licks his foot and only eats vegetables.”
“Arms and legs lying around?” asked Bean. Gross. But interesting.
“Yeah,” said Ivy. “He was a really bad wolf until he met that good guy.”
Bean pictured herself patting the wolf’s shaggy head. He was trotting alongside her with his wolf claws clicking on the sidewalk. Grateful townspeople waved. “I bet the people were pretty glad not to be eaten, too,” she said.
“Hey,” said Ivy. She was smiling—a real smile, not a thinking-nice-thoughts smile. “What if we did something like that?”
“What? Put fake arms and legs around?” Bean asked.
“Not that,” said Ivy. “I mean turning evil to good. If we turned a bad person into a good person, it would be almost like getting a wolf to stop eating people.”
“Yeah,” said Bean. “That would mean we were so good that we could infect other people with our goodness.” She could almost feel the goodness oozing out of her. “That’s a great idea. Who should we gooden up? Nancy?”
“No,” said Ivy firmly. “Crummy Matt.”
Bean stared at Ivy. “Are you bonkers? He’s going to squash us like bugs.” Crummy Matt was ten years old. He bragged that when he was three, his mother had taken him to the doctor because she was worried he was a giant. The doctor said that Crummy Matt wasn’t a giant. He was just big. Crummy Matt said he was the biggest ten-year-old in the country. He said there was a bigger ten-year-old in China, and that was the only reason why he wasn’t the biggest ten-year-old in the world.
“No, he won’t,” Ivy said,“because we’re going to change him into a good person.”
“How are we going to do that?”
Ivy looked around as if she would find the answer in the grass. “I don’t know,” she said after a moment. “Maybe just looking at us will make him nice. That’s what happened with the wolf.”
Neither of them moved.
“We probably need a snack first,” said Ivy.
They each had some banana chips. Then Bean needed some milk. She spilled quite a lot of it. They wiped it up. Then Ivy had to go to the bathroom. Then Bean had to.
When Bean came out of the bathroom, Ivy was smiling her pure-thoughts smile. “Come on,” she said through her smiling teeth. “Let’s get going.”
Bean nodded. They walked toward the living room. Ivy’s mom was lying on the couch with cucumbers all over her face. By now Bean was so good she didn’t even laugh.
“Bye, Mom,” said Ivy. “I love you.”
Ivy’s mom lifted her head a little. A cucumber fell on the floor. “What?”
“I love you.”
“Where are you going? It sounds like you’re leaving forever,” said Ivy’s mom. More cucumbers fell off her face.
“We’re going over to Matt’s,” said Ivy.
“You are? I thought you didn’t like him,” said Ivy’s mom.
“Sure I like him,” said Ivy. “I love everybody.”
“You do?” Ivy’s mom sounded surprised.
“Yes I do,” said Ivy.
“It’s no good saying it inside,” Bean pointed out. “The birds can’t hear you.”
“Birds?” said Ivy’s mom. “What birds?”
“We might have a bunch of birds coming to visit,” explained Ivy.
“And something else, too,” said Bean. “Something with lots of teeth. But don’t worry.”
Ivy’s mom looked from Bean to Ivy. “Worry? Me? Never.” She picked up her cucumbers and put them back on her face.
