The Big Fuss

“Eek, a snake! Oh, my heavens! A snake is in the bathroom!”

Elizabeth was shouting. That is what woke me up on Saturday morning. At first I just lay under my covers. Then I leaped out of bed. I flew down the hallway. If a snake was in our bathroom, I wanted to see it.

“Where? Where, Elizabeth?” I cried.

David Michael and Kristy were right behind me. “Where, Mom?” they said.

Elizabeth grinned at us. “April Fool!”

“Good one, Mom,” said Kristy.

I was laughing. “Yeah, good one. First thing in the morning, too.”

At breakfast, David Michael put salt in the sugar bowl. “April Fool!” he cried when Nannie spit out her coffee.

Then Andrew got Kristy with the squirting camera. “April Fool!” he cried.

Then Kristy said she would fix cereal for me. She served me a bowl of chicken noodle soup. “April Fool!” she cried.

After that, Emily began saying. “April Fool!” Only she said, “Apra Foo!” And I do not think she understood about tricks and jokes.

First she pinched Sam and cried, “Apra Foo!”

Then she scared Andrew and cried, “Apra Foo!”

When I got tired of Emily’s Apra Foos, I ran upstairs. I telephoned Hannie. “Hi, it’s me,” I whispered.

“Hi,” Hannie answered. “Why are you whispering?”

“I will tell you later. Can you call me right back?”

“Sure. Why?”

“I will tell you later.”

“Okay.”

Hannie called back. I picked up the phone. I pretended to sound very excited. “Oh, really? Oh, really?” I exclaimed. “Oh, my goodness. I do not believe it! Thank you very much. Good-bye!” Then I whispered to Hannie, “I’m coming over later. I will explain everything.”

I hung up the phone and ran back downstairs. “Guess what, everybody!” I cried. “That was the judge! He just called. And he will be by sometime today to inspect us. We — ”

“Karen,” Daddy interrupted. “I wanted to talk to the judge.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I forget about that. But isn’t this exciting news?”

“I think it is!” said Nannie. “We better get to work. We should weed the flower gardens. We should tidy up the playroom. We should change our clothes.”

“I will fix my tux,” said Sam.

“So will I,” said Charlie.

“Maybe I will go to the beauty parlor,” said Elizabeth.

“Can I wear jeans?” asked Kristy.

“Not if you want to win the contest,” Sam told her. “Not if you want to go to Hawaii. Or get … What is second prize, Karen?”

“Oh, it does not matter,” I said.

“Of course not,” replied Sam. “Because we are going to go to Hawaii.”

“Yea!” cheered David Michael.

So everyone became very busy.

I ran to my room and changed into my best dress.