On Monday, Boris made us extra late. “Sorry,” he said. “I stayed up all night working on Steggo’s claws.” The claws weren’t quite dry, so Boris stuffed Steggo behind the seats with his feet sticking up. Then Boris climbed in and fell asleep on the way to school.
I didn’t care. I was happy. It was my first day of rat duty.
At noon when all the other kids were in the cafeteria eating leftover turkey sandwiches, I stayed behind in the classroom to have lunch with Cheerio.
I jumped up and sat on the table beside his cage. I gave him a kiss and presented him with a special Thanksgiving rat platter: some chopped-up apple, a bit of sweet potato, and for dessert, sunflower seeds.
I polished off my own sandwich and sang to Cheerio while he crunched his seeds.
The Advent calendar was sitting on the other end of Cheerio’s table. It had been driving everybody crazy all morning. It was hard to concentrate on your work when such a wonderful thing was right in front of you.
That afternoon some lucky kid would get to open door number one and take the treat. Maybe Mr. Dayberry would choose me.
I love teeny-tiny things so much. I wondered what kinds of treats were hidden behind the glittery doors. Charms? Toys?
The clock said 12:20. Ten more minutes before Mr. Dayberry would return with the class.
