Sofie was supposed to play the part of Mary, but she kept falling asleep at the manger. So Tonya got to be Mary after all, and Sofie was demoted to King #2. That way King #1 or King #3 could elbow her if she dozed off.
But Sofie didn’t mind. Everybody but everybody wanted to be one of the three kings. The kings got to wear crowns with jewels and carry presents to the baby.
Nobody wanted to be the shepherd, so I volunteered—under one condition: that Marvin could play the sheep.
Rehearsal went well. Ms. Marzipan looked up from the piano and beamed when the angel appeared. The angel glided onto the stage on her skateboard. It really looked like she was flying. And tomorrow when she appeared unto me, my sheep, Marvin, would be there, and I knew he would bring the whole pageant to life.
After we’d practiced the last song, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Mimi, will you drive our stegosaurus home so I can finish him tonight?”
Look at him!
He’s finished!”
“He needs spots. And I want to spray shellac on him so he’ll be shiny.”
My eyeballs almost rolled out of my head. “Okay. But meet me at the car in three minutes flat. I’ve got to practice herding Marvin this evening.”