CHAPTER 26

The Viking

The only reason William wanted to dress up as a Viking for Halloween was to wear a fake beard. He was too young to grow a real one, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He saw a beard in the Halloween store last year, in the wig section, and saved up every quarter and dime until he had enough money to buy one.

He wore it around home, just for fun. The beard was majestic. When he put it on, he felt like a tough guy. He felt invincible. Unstoppable. Like the king of the world.

As Halloween approached, he decided to wear his beard to Classroom 13. But what were good costumes for people with beards? He looked online.

He could be Fidel Castro—but William didn’t want to be a revolutionary. He could be a garden gnome or a leprechaun—but they were too short. He could be Obi-Wan Kenobi—but he didn’t want to be a Jedi. He could be President Abe Lincoln—but he was too honest. He could be Santa Claus—but that was the wrong holiday.

Finally, he found the perfect getup. He would be a Viking.

When he walked into Classroom 13, he wanted to prove he was a fearless warrior—so he ate worms. Well, gummy worms. Well, actually, cursed gummy worms.

“Beard the Barbarian Viking is here! Fear and tremble!” he cried. “I’ve sailed the vast ocean to come and pillage and plunder and raid and rob ya blind!”

“Actually, ‘pillage’ and ‘plunder’ and ‘raid’ and ‘rob’ all mean the same thing,” Olivia noted. “Also, we’re kind of busy with a lot of other stuff, so we don’t have time to be scared of you. But perhaps you could review some vocabulary words while you wait?”

Olivia handed him a vocabulary book and went back to trying to figure out how to fix everything.