Our Teacher is a Vampire and Other (Not) True Stories

by Mary Amato

  She looked at Riggy and gasped. “Is he . . . is he all right?” she asked.

  They all stood closer, looking down at the little bunny.

  Mrs. Pepper was exhausted. She and Riggy’s father had been searching in different directions all through the night. She started to cry. “Oh, Riggy.”

  The rabbits loved Mrs. Pepper. Before she had Riggy, she would hop down the hill and visit them every day. The sound of her crying was the saddest thing they had ever heard. They wanted to help her, but they didn’t know how.

  Finally she looked at all the rabbits, with tears shining in her eyes. “Maybe if we huddle together and focus . . .” Mrs. Pepper said.

  She put her paw softly on Riggy’s chest. One by one the other rabbits put their paws softly on top of hers.

  “What do we want?” Mrs. Pepper asked.

  “We want Riggy to get better,” the friends said, with just the right amount of energy.

  Tears were pouring down Mrs. Pepper’s face. She could hardly speak. “When do we want it?” she asked.

  “Now,” the rabbits said.

  Gently they lifted their paws up all at once. The movement made a little whoosh of air. No one could see it, but the air swirled around and Riggy breathed it in.

  “Let’s do it again,” Higgin said.

  Another whoosh of air went into Riggy’s lungs.

  On the third time, Riggy’s eyelids fluttered open.

  Chapter 10

  “Riggy!” Mrs. Pepper exclaimed.

  He looked up and saw his mother and all of his friends in a huddle around him. Behind all their faces, the sky was bright blue.

  “Me hungry!” he said.

  The rabbits laughed, and Mrs. Pepper hugged him.

  “I was so worried, but you’re okay,” she said, wiping tears away with the back of her paw.

  Riggy took another deep breath of delicious air. He was still tired and his muscles were sore, but he could feel the oxygen filling up his lungs and making him stronger and stronger.

  He got up and hugged all the rabbits and then he reached out to hug Professor Perchkin.

  Noticing the owl for the first time, Mrs. Pepper screamed, “NO!” She jumped to protect Riggy. The owl quickly explained that he was a friend, too.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Professor Perchkin said. “You have a remarkable son.”

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Pepper said, relieved. She turned to Riggy and said, “Well, that was quite an adventure. I think it’s time to go home. Don’t you?”

  Riggy looked at her with his dark, round eyes. “Me wanna play!”

  Mrs. Pepper laughed.

  Cuffy gave Riggy a friendship band. It was a little too big for his front paw, so they put it on his hind foot.

  He lifted it up. “See? Big foot!”

  “Huge foot!” Mrs. Pepper said.

  Riggy smiled and looked at all his friends. “Come on, guys. Let’s play.”

  And for the rest of that day, and the rest of his life, Riggy Pepper was a safe and happy little rabbit.

  The End

  TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11

  I love our story. Mr. Pinkerton said we can write our card for Mrs. Penrose today. Tomorrow, he’ll mail it with the story. On Thursday, we can do the one to Mali Koam. Hurray!

  —

  Can I start this time?—

  Dear Mrs. Penrose,

  We miss you. We miss the way your voice sounds like a piano playing when you say good morning.

  We miss the Touchdown Twist and the Muddle Huddle.

  We miss how you say, “Would you like to phone a friend?” when one of us doesn’t know an answer to a question, and then that person gets to ask a friend for help. Even though there is no phone.

  We miss the way you give us secret smiles that make us know you like us.

  Not just some of us. All of us. You’re fair. Also, you let us have fun, but if anybody gets carried away, you just give one of your looks.

  We miss how you do the best voices when you read stories. You make the funny voices so hilarious we almost fall off our chairs and you make the scary voices so scary that Isabella covers up her ears. But not all the way because she still wants to hear you.

  We are afraid for baby Ryan and for you. We can’t get those tiny lungs out of our minds. We picture you holding Ryan’s little hand. We hope you are not crying too much, but we think you might be.

  We wrote a story for Ryan. Mr. Pinkerton even gave us time during class. We won him over with our charm.

  We revised the story. Every sentence. We put our hearts and souls into it. We are keeping the passion burning.

  Please read the story to baby Ryan. Do all the voices. Mali Koam said stories are like oxygen. We hope our story gives your baby a lot of good breaths. We hope our story gives him enough oxygen to last forever.

  Love,

  THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13

  Greetings, Mali Koam,

  We did what you said and wrote an “I’m sorry” letter that worked like magic on Mr. Pinkerton. We also wrote an outrageously fantastic story for our teacher and her baby Ryan. We’re sending you a copy. We hope the story makes the baby feel better.

  Your fellow word-loving friends,

  P.S. Alas, we have the dreaded state tests next week, so we can’t write any WOW stories during school. But we will keep writing.

  FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21

  Heart-Pounding News

  by Kristin

  After lunch today, Ms. Yang came into our room.

  “I have some news for you,” she said.

  We thought it would be about the state tests. We had just finished taking them.

  “It’s about Ryan . . .”

  You could hear the clock tick.

  She gave us a letter from Mrs. Penrose.

  Dear Friends,

  I’m so sorry I couldn’t write earlier. Ryan has needed all my attention.

  Your card and your story made me laugh and cry. Happy tears, not sad ones. It was not only a beautiful gift, but also beautiful writing. I read the story to Ryan. I did all of the voices.

  When I got to the part about the huddle, I missed all of you so much. You are the best students any teacher could ever want.

  Ryan’s brown eyes were open very wide during the story. I don’t know how much he understands because he is so little, but I believe the story did just what you wanted it to do. Each sentence was a breath of air.

  I know how much you like hearing your favorite stories over and over, so I will read this story to Ryan again and again. I’m sure it will become his favorite story. It is already mine.

  Ryan is getting better every day. His lungs are growing. I know that you want me to come back, and I want to come back, too. But right now, Ryan still needs more of me. I hope you will understand. I will come for a visit as soon as I can.

  Your teacher and greatest fan,

  MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24

  Dear Ryan,

  You have a great mom. We can’t wait to meet you.

  Love, and

  Dear Ry-Guy, keep growing. Don’t forget to change your diaper. Ha-ha. Here’s a poem for you:

  Roses are red

  Raindrops are plinky

  I bet you are cute

  even when you are stinky.

  Smell ya later

  (but you have to change your diaper first),

  Greetings Ryan,

  I am happy you are getting stronger. I plan on sending you some more stories and drawings. I will try not to make them too scary, but I must warn you that I am a big fan of suspense.

  Fictionally yours,

  Dear Ryan (and Mrs. Penrose),

  I’m glad you liked our story. I’m even more glad that you are okay. Sometimes good things happen.

  Yours truly,

  Ryan,

  Did you like my parts? Here is my advice. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Mali Koam is right. I couldn’t do a bicycle kick at first, but I have been practicing, and I finally did three in a row.

&n
bsp; —

  Hey Ryan (and Mrs. Penrose),

  I knew you’d get better. I knew the story would be great. By the way, they announced the winner for that writing contest and it was a kid from Bettendorf, Iowa, not even anybody from Minnesota. I want to enter it next year. Can’t wait to see you.

  Your favorite student,

  Dear Mrs. Penrose,

  Thank you for writing back. We are all smiling here because:

  1.Ryan is okay.

  2.You’re coming for a visit sometime.

  Sincerely,

  Dear Mrs. Penrose (and Ryan),

  I thought the pins and needles were bad when we were waiting for advice from Mali Koam. But that was nothing compared to when we were waiting to hear about baby Ryan. We can’t wait to see both of you.

  —

  Dear Ryan,

  I just want to tell you something for when you are bigger. Here it is. If you ever have to move, you might be really scared and sad and even mad about it. But little by little it gets better. It’s like you being in the hospital. Sometimes, it just takes time, and then it turns out okay.

  Your new friend,

  MONDAY, MARCH 3

  A letter from our favorite author came!

  — FROM THE DESK OF MALI KOAM —

  Dear Writers,

  Your story was brilliant. I was completely hooked. As Omar would say, I give it an A+.

  Thank you so much for sharing it with me. I’m so pleased that you are using the power of words in such positive ways.

  I have also written a letter to Mrs. Penrose, asking her to keep me posted on how things are going with the baby.

  Here in Maryland, the snow has melted. I’m taking lots of walks with my writer’s notebook. Today I saw purple flowers called crocuses. Spring has sprung.

  Yours,

  WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5

  Dear Mali Koam,

  I used to say who would want to be a writer? Now I get it.

  During spring break, I’m going to write a story about a soccer ball that wants to be kicked. The obstacle will be that it is stuck in a tree. It’ll be a WOW story. I’m not going to tell you the end because it’s so good you’ll have to read it for yourself.

  I also read “Fur” and “Secret Pages.” They were the first books I read that I didn’t have to read. There was only one problem. When I was reading “Secret Pages” I got in trouble because I was supposed to be doing my math. I love math, so that shows you how good your books are.

  I just wanted to say thank you for the inspiration. And Carly says don’t worry about not being rich. We are going to tell everybody to buy your books. It’s spring break soon. Happy spring!

  Your fan,

  THURSDAY, MARCH 13

  Harrison here. We only have many blank pages left in this book! Once it’s done, let’s keep it in the Good Book Nook so we can read it over and over.

  Let’s decorate the cover and think of a title!

  —

  Dear Class,

  What about creating a special place in the Good Book Nook now where you can put all your WOW stories? It will be like your own library of WOW stories. Students can check out a book by anybody and read it.

  Sincerely,

  Yes! Alexander and Nick and I are going to write one together this week.

  —

  FRIDAY, MARCH 21

  Dear Class,

  I have been pleased with your progress. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful spring break. I will see you all on Tuesday, April 1.

  Sincerely,

  TUESDAY, APRIL 1

  Back from Spring Break

  A True Story by Buzz Benson

  Nick was dying to make everyone laugh because it was April Fools’ Day.

  Unfortunately for him, we had a lot of work to do.

  After many minutes of writing, Nick groaned.

  “Ouch,” he said. “I’m writing so much my fingers are going to fall off. Oh no!” Then he groaned again and there was a clunk clunk clunk clunk on the floor.

  Isabella screamed because there were four fingers by Nick’s desk!

  “April Fools’,” Nick said. They were fake fingers.

  Everybody was laughing until Mr. Pinkerton stood up. He looked angry, and we all got very quiet. He walked over and picked up the fingers from the floor. “Nick, you are expelled from school,” he said. “I’m calling your parents immediately.” Then he stuck two of the fingers in his ears and said, “April Fools.’ ”

  Hilarious!

  —

  LOL—

  WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2

  WOW books are popping up in our room like spring flowers.

  Over spring break, I wrote three WOW books. Jazmine, Harrison, Alexander and Buzz all wrote stories, too. Kristin and Isabella live near each other so they wrote one together. The big surprise is that Mr. Pinkerton wrote one, too. His is about a substitute who wants to do a good job, but the place that hires him is actually a zoo, and all of his students are actually monkeys. It’s actually funny.

  —

  Hey Everybody,

  Omar, Nick and I are writing one together, too. It’s a thriller. It’s about two brilliant museum owners (a boy and a girl) who want people to come to their state flag museum, but the obstacle is a robber who steals all the flags, and they have to get them back.

  The story is going to be suspenseful and funny. But that’s not all! We want to make the museum for real. Only $1.00 to see all the flags. But you can check out our book from the Good Book Nook shelf for free, of course.

  THURSDAY, APRIL 3

  Dear Class,

  Mr. Pinkerton showed me your WOW books. I am amazed and delighted. I’d like your permission to create a WOW shelf in the school library. I’d like to put copies of your books there and encourage all the students in the school to check them out. I’d also like to make copies of this very book and keep them in the library for students to check out, too, once you’re done with it. I think you will inspire many other students and teachers to write stories of their own. May I have your permission?

  Your librarian,

  Hey,

  It’s exciting that Ms. Yang wants to put our WOW stories and this book in the library, but then everybody will know the secret of writing WOW stories. Next year, it will be even harder to win the contest. What do you guys think?

  —

  Dear Carly,

  Mali Koam shared her tips with us. I think we should share them with everybody. It will just mean there are more good stories in the world, which will mean we have to keep improving as writers. I think that’s a good thing. Also, we might never win a contest, but if we let Ms. Yang put our books in the library, at least we’ll be famous here at school!

  —

  Should We Give Permission for Our Books to Go in the Real Library?

  Name

  Yes or No?

  Omar

  Yes.

  Isabella

  Yes. Thank you.

  Nick

  Abso-dabbo-riggy-lutely.

  Carly

  Okay!

  Kristin

  Yes. I hope she puts real bar codes on them.

  Alexander

  Of course! I think Ms. Yang is going to need way more than one shelf.

  Buzz

  Yep. Hey, Alexander, will you add pictures to my soccer book?

  Jazmine

  Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Harrison

  This is a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to be an author.

  Tee

  Me too. (That is a yes.)

  FRIDAY, APRIL 4

  Ms. Yang made a WOW shelf in the library today, and she brought a letter from the office for Buzz!

  — FROM THE DESK OF MALI KOAM —

  Dear Buzz,

  Thank you for your letter. I am so happy that you have grown to enjoy reading and writing. Have fun with your story about the soccer ball. Sounds like a winner.

  Mrs. Penrose, Mr. Pinkerton, Ms. Yang and I have a surprise
for your class. What is it? You’ll have to wait to find out.

  Suspensefully yours,

  Nick the Slick’s Graphic Organizer

  How Will Mrs. Penrose, Mr. Pinkerton, Ms. Yang and Mali Koam Surprise Us?

  1.They’ll tell us they’re all vampires. Mwa-ha-ha.

  2.They’ll tell us that they’re writing a book about us because they think we’re vampires.

  3.They got the state tests results and found out that we are all geniuses and we don’t have to go to school anymore.

  MONDAY, APRIL 7

  Guess who again. Before you get mad, here is the truth. Alexander gave me permission to write in here. Anyway, our class saw all your WOW stories in the library. I checked out three, and—I hate to admit it—they were fantastic. Now our class is writing some to put in the library. I was very depressed not to win that contest, but now I am excited to have this new project.

  I’m sorry that I stole this book twice before, but I’m also kind of not sorry, because I really like this book and it’s fun that I’m in it!

  —

  Thanks for sharing your tips. You guys are writing fun books. Please check out our books, too!