Karen's Accident

by Ann M. Martin

  Tring-a-ling. I tried it out. No one came. Tring-a-ling-a-ling! I rang it again. Mommy came running. Perfect.

  “What is the matter?” she asked.

  “I would like a glass of water,” I said.

  Mommy looked a little angry. “If you want water, you can go into the bathroom.”

  “Dr. Dellenkamp said I have to stay in bed.”

  “No, she did not. She said you have to stay at home. It is good for you to move around.”

  I did not want to walk to the bathroom. What if I tripped on my toys or my shoes? What if the pipes burst? What if the hot water burned me?

  “I might get in an accident,” I said.

  Mommy looked at me strangely.

  “You can walk slowly,” she told me. “As slowly as you want. If you are careful, you will not have an accident.”

  Boo and bullfrogs.

  That day no one visited me until the afternoon. Hannie and Nancy were in school. In the meantime I needed a project. I decided to think about the toys for the hospital. I did not know how I would get them.

  It is easy for Irina Kozlova, I thought. People throw the toys to her. All she has to do is skate around and pick them up.

  I threw Goosie up into the air. Then I pretended I was Irina, and scooped Goosie back up.

  “Oh, what a beautiful stuffed toy,” I said. I tried to talk with a Russian accent. “I think I will donate this beautiful toy to the sick children at the hospital.”

  Then I hugged Goosie. I was afraid Goosie would not know that I was pretending.

  “Oh, Goosie, do not worry,” I said. “I am not going to donate you to the hospital. I have to think of a way to get other toys.”

  Finally Hannie and Nancy arrived. They asked to see my stitches.

  “I cannot show them to you,” I said. “But I can show you my bandage.”

  Nancy stepped up to touch it.

  “No!” I cried. I did not want Nancy touching my bandage. What if she touched too hard? What if she fell on me?

  “It is very important that I do not have any more accidents,” I said firmly.

  Just then Andrew came to my doorway. He threw a ball into my room.

  “Andrew!” I screamed. “You cannot throw things near me! I am recuperating! I have stitches!”

  No one seemed to understand that I was still sick. No one was being as careful as I wanted them to be.

  The Toy Drive

  The next day I thought of a very good idea. If I wanted to get toys for the hospital, I could have a toy drive. I knew all about toy drives. I had worked on them before.

  I could not wait for Hannie and Nancy to visit me that afternoon. I could not wait to tell them my idea.

  “A toy drive,” they said. “Like Kristy had for her softball team.”

  “Yes,” I said. “And like the time we collected all our old toy guns. Only this time, I will organize the toy drive. I can do everything from my bed. You can be my assistants.”

  “What do assistants do?” asked Hannie.

  “Well, you can bring me the phone from the hall,” I said. “That would be a good start.”

  Hannie brought me the phone. She pulled the long cord up to my bed.

  “Now I will call Christina,” I said. “She can organize a toy drive in her class too. That way we will have even more toys.”

  I did not have Christina’s phone number by my bed.

  “Nancy,” I said. “Can you please get me the telephone book?”

  Nancy ran to get the telephone book. This was working very well. I liked having assistants. It made it very easy to do things.

  Then I called Christina. I told her about the toy drive. Christina liked the idea.

  “I will make fliers for my class,” I said. “Hannie and Nancy will bring them to school. They will give one to you. You can copy it and make some for your class, too.”

  “Should we ask our teachers if we can hand them out?” she said.

  That was a good idea. “We will ask Ms. Colman and you can ask Mr. Berger,” I said.

  When I got off the phone, I asked Hannie to get me some paper.

  “And some Magic Markers too!” I shouted after her.

  Hannie stopped in the doorway. She came back into my room.

  “You are being very bossy, Karen,” she said.

  Of course I was being bossy. It was my job to be bossy. I was the boss. I did not say this to Hannie, though.

  I said, “But I cannot get out of bed.”

  “Still, you could be nicer,” she told me.

  “Please, would you get me some paper and Magic Markers?” I asked.

  Hannie did.

  Writing the flier for the toy drive was fun. We had to think of all the things we should say on the flier.

  “Where should people bring the toys?” asked Nancy.

  “They can bring them to my house,” I said.

  “Where will you put them?” asked Hannie.

  “I will keep them in my room,” I answered. “That way I can inspect them.”

  “Don’t forget to write that the toys should be in good condition,” said Nancy. “We do not want any broken toys.”

  After we thought of all our ideas, I wrote the flier. This is what I wrote:

  At the bottom, I wrote my address. Then I decorated the page with pictures of toys.

  “There,” I said. I smoothed the page. “This is beautiful. Now we can make lots of copies.”

  “Do you think you should check with your mom first?” asked Hannie.

  “I do not need to,” I said. “I know she will say yes.”

  Hannie and Nancy looked at each other.

  I wondered if Mommy would really say yes. I certainly hoped that she would.

  Toys, Toys, and More Toys

  “Karen!”

  Mommy was calling me. She was at the front door. I had heard the doorbell ring.

  “Yes, Mommy?” I called back.

  “Can you come here, please?”

  “I have to stay in bed!” I shouted.

  “No, you do not. Come to the door now!”

  Mommy did not understand that it was dangerous for me to get out of bed.

  “I’m coming!” I called.

  I walked very slowly.

  At the door were Terri and Tammy, from my class. They were carrying three bags of toys.

  “You told your friends to bring toys to our house?” asked Mommy. She was surprised.

  “They are for a toy drive,” I explained. “For the hospital.”

  “Where will you keep the toys?” asked Mommy.

  “Oh, I have already decided that. I will keep them in my room.”

  Mommy sighed.

  “Mommy,” I said quickly, “you always tell me to help other people. And the children in the hospital need toys.”

  “Yes,” she said, “but you need to remember to check with me first.”

  Terri and Tammy came inside. We opened their bags and looked through them. They had lots of good toys. They had brought two baby dolls, a toy telephone, and a bag full of dress-up clothes.

  “The kids in the hospital will love these,” I said.

  “Did you talk to the hospital?” asked Mommy. “Did you find out if they will accept the toys?”

  Oops. I had not.

  “We could call Brian,” I said. “He will tell us who to talk to.”

  “Take the toys to your room,” said Mommy. “Then we will call.”

  Brain thought my idea was good. He told us to talk to a woman named Mrs. Silliman. She was the person in charge of the playroom. While we were on the phone, the doorbell rang again. More toys!

  Over the next few days our doorbell kept ringing. Ricky Torres brought a big bag of books. Omar Harris brought some blocks and some puzzles. There was not enough space to store all the toys. Seth and Mommy stood in the doorway of my room. They looked at the bags and boxes.

  “We are going to have to find some other place for the toys,” said Mommy.

  “How about
the garage?” said Seth.

  I thought of the garage. There were lots of dangerous things there, things hanging on the walls. Sharp things. Metal things. What if they fell on me?

  “I cannot bring the toys to the garage,” I said. “Someone else will have to do it. It is too dangerous for me.”

  Mommy and Seth loked at each other.

  “Karen,” said Mommy. “The bags are probably too heavy for you to carry. Seth and I will help. But it is good for you to walk around. Soon you will be going back to school, you know.”

  “School?” I said. I had almost forgotten about school. School was going to be a problem.

  “Sometimes kids run in the hallways,” I said. “Sometimes they throw things on the playground. School is not a very safe place for me.”

  Mommy gave me a hug. “I think you will be fine once you get there,” she said.

  Karen’s Letter

  Soon it was Sunday. I would be going back to school the next day. I had a lot of work to do first. I had to inspect all the toys in the garage. There was only one problem. The toys were piled up, and I was afraid they would fall on me.

  I borrowed a pad of paper from Mommy. Then I asked Andrew if he would help me. Andrew and I went to the garage. I stood in the doorway. I knew I could not get hurt there.

  “You tell me what the toys are,” I told Andrew. “And I will write them down.”

  Andrew called out the names of the toys.

  “Checkerboard!” he cried. “Toy piano!”

  I made a list of the toys we had collected. I wanted to be able to tell everyone at school what a good job we had done.

  “Karen!” Mommy called. “Andrew!”

  Mommy was calling us to dinner. I walked carefully to the kitchen. Seth had made a big bowl of spaghetti.

  “Yippee!” shouted Andrew. “Worms!”

  Andrew was not the only one who was happy. Spaghetti was one of my favorite dinners.

  “I am sooooo hungry!” I cried.

  Mommy dished the spaghetti onto my plate. “So,” she said, “tomorrow you will go back to school. Are you excited? You will see your friends again, and Ms. Colman.”

  I thought of all the accidents that could happen at school. They could happen very fast. It would be so much harder for me to be careful at school. I ate a bite of spaghetti. Suddenly I did not feel well. I pushed the spaghetti around my plate. Mommy watched me.

  “I thought you were hungry,” she said.

  “I was. But now my stomach hurts,” I said. “Maybe I am getting sick.”

  I did not eat another bite. I did not feel like it.

  After dinner Mommy told me to get in my pajamas. She let me lie in bed and watch television. Another skating program was on. I watched Irina Kozlova. This time I noticed that she had a bandage on her knee. The announcer said she had fallen in practice. He said that maybe she was going to have surgery.

  As I watched, Irina fell again, right in front of everyone.

  “Ow!” I cried out loud. It looked as if she had fallen very hard. But Irina did not lie on the ice. She got right up and continued her program. I did not think I could do that. Now I had a new reason to admire Irina. She was not afraid. I decided I would write her and tell her.

  I got a piece of paper.

  “Dear Irina,” I wrote. “A few weeks ago I had a very bad accident. I had to go to the hospital. I even had to have surgery.”

  Then I told Irina all about the yucky old playroom. I told her about the toy drive I had planned.

  “I admire you because you are very brave,” I wrote. “I used to be brave too. But now sometimes I get scared.

  “P.S.,” I added. “I really love your costumes. I never see costumes like that in the stores. Do you buy them someplace special?”

  The next morning Mommy came in my room. She woke me up to go to school. My stomach felt worse than ever.

  “Maybe I have the flu,” I said.

  Mommy took my temperature.

  “You do not have a fever,” she said.

  I held my stomach.

  “Ooooh,” I groaned.

  Mommy felt my head. She looked worried.

  “There is a flu going around,” she said.

  “Yes,” I told her. “And it is not good for me to be exposed to so many germs.”

  Mommy looked out the window. It was windy and cold. She sighed.

  “I do not want you to get sick,” she said. “You can stay home for one more day. But tomorrow you will go back to school.”

  Back to School

  When I opened my eyes on Tuesday morning, I had a stomachache again. Still, Mommy came in to wake me up. She turned the light on. She pulled up my shades and opened the door to my closet.

  “What would you like to wear today?” she asked.

  I knew Mommy meant business. I knew that she would not let me stay home from school even one more day. I tried to think of something I could wear to school.

  “Two sweaters,” I said.

  “Two?” Mommy asked. “Why two? You will be so hot!”

  “That way, if someone bumps into me, I will be padded,” I explained.

  I put on my red Christmas sweater. Then I put my blue taxi sweater on top. I looked in the mirror. I looked a little big.

  Before I left, I ate a bowl of cereal. Quickly. Then I put on my coat.

  “You do not need to leave yet,” said Mommy. “The bus will not be here for another ten minutes. Wait inside awhile. You will be cold.”

  “I can’t,” I explained. “I am going to walk to the bus stop very slowly. It will take me a lot of time.”

  Mommy watched me from the window. I walked down our front walk. The sidewalk was still snowy. I took baby steps. I held my hands in front of me. That way, if I fell, I would land on my hands, not my stomach.

  By the time I got to the bus stop, I was sweating. It was hard work being so careful. And this was only the beginning of the day.

  “Hi, Karen!”

  Nancy was running toward the bus stop. She was happy to see me. She started telling me about school.

  “We just finished a very good writing project,” she said. “We wrote poems about winter.”

  I nodded.

  “We did worksheets about animals. We also learned a song about rivers.”

  All this talk was making me dizzy.

  “Nancy,” I said, “now that I am going back to school, I have to be very careful. I hope you do not mind, but I do not want to talk so much. I have to pay attention.”

  The bus drove up the street. Mr. Mundy smiled when I climbed up the steps.

  “Karen,” he said. “How are you? It is good to see you back.”

  “I am still recuperating,” I told him. “Could you please drive carefully? It is not good for me to be on a bumpy ride.”

  Mr. Mundy saluted me. “Aye, aye, captain!” he said.

  Mr. Mundy thought I was kidding. I was not. I took a seat next to Nancy. I held tightly to the seat in front of me. Maybe the bus would skid or swerve.

  Soon we were at school. I had forgotten how noisy the halls were. Kids were hurrying to their classrooms. Some were running in the hall. Where was the hallway patrol? They were supposed to make sure everyone walked slowly.

  My classroom did not seem very safe either. Everyone was jumping around.

  “Hi, Karen!” called Bobby Gianelli. He threw a book to Ricky.

  “Hey!” I cried. “Watch what you are doing!”

  Usually I stay in the back of the room, talking to Nancy and Hannie until the bell rang. But this time I walked straight to my desk and sat down. Finally Ms. Colman came into the room.

  “Welcome back, Karen,” she said. “We have all missed you. Would you like to take attendance this morning?”

  “No, thank you,” I said. “It is safer for me to sit right here.”

  After attendance, Ms. Colman told us to get out our pencils and rulers and scissors.

  Pencils! Scissors! They were sharp and pointed. They could stab me
and hurt me. I hoped everyone would be careful.

  “Mrs. Titus has asked our class to make posters for the hallways,” said Ms. Colman. “They will be public service announcements. That means they will have messages that are important for students to remember. Can you think of some messages you would like your schoolmates to keep in mind?”

  I waved my hand wildly.

  “Yes, Karen?” asked Ms. Colman.

  “Safety!” I cried out. “It is a lot more important than people think.”

  Another Great Idea

  Somehow I made it through the morning without getting hurt. Then the bell rang again. Oh, no. It was recess. Recess would be very difficult. As we lined up to go outside, I decided what I would do. I would stand at the side of the playground and lean against the building. Then the other kids would not run into me.

  When we got outside, I saw Christina. She was all the way across the yard.

  “Karen!” she called out. I guess her throat felt better. She didn’t have to whisper anymore.

  “Hello!” I waved back. Christina ran to me.

  “I have collected some toys for the hospital,” she said. “Have you?”

  “I have collected forty-two toys exactly,” I said. I knew this because I had made a list. “All of our toys will look very good together in the playroom. Just think how happy they will make the kids in the hospital.”

  I paused a moment to think of the children playing with our toys. Christina thought too.

  “But where will the hospital put the toys when we bring them?” she asked. “They only have one tiny shelf.”

  Hmmm. I had not thought about that. We had collected a lot of toys. They would not all fit on the small shelf. And they certainly could not be all over the floor.

  “They would clutter up the playroom,” said Christina.

  “That would be dangerous,” I said. “Someone could trip on them.” Then I got an idea. “Hey,” I cried. “When we bring the toys, we could fix up the playroom. I bet my stepfather could even build new shelves.”

  “We could paint the walls!” said Christina.

  “And get new curtains!”

  This was a gigundoly wonderful idea.

  “We should talk to our teachers,” said Christina. “This is a big job. We should get everyone to help.”