Just Grace Gets Crafty

by Charise Mericle Harper

  All the stories are 100 percent true.

  It’s a show about helping people when they are in trouble.

  Sometimes people get teeny-tiny superpowers, right when they need them.

  Tonight, my favorite part of the show was when they interviewed the teenager who had saved a mom and her little girl from a bear.

  After the show I could tell that Mimi wanted to do some more work, but her mom said we had to play a game with Robert instead. I pretended to be disappointed, but on the inside I was glad. Mimi’s mom said it wasn’t fair for Mimi to ignore Robert, and that he needed her attention too. What she was saying reminded me of what Mom had told me about Mr. Scruffers.

  WHAT DOES NOT WORK WITH ROBERT

  Card games. What Robert says about cards:

  There are too many to hold.

  I can’t remember them all.

  I don’t know which one goes with which one.

  I don’t want to play!

  WHAT TOOK TEN MINUTES

  Picking up the cards Robert had thrown all over the house. We ended up going outside and playing catch. It made me smile—maybe Robert and Mr. Scruffers weren’t so different.

  When it was finally time to go home, I was exhausted! Mimi was not. As I was walking home she shouted at me, “Come over early tomorrow so we can make more stuff.” I waved at her but didn’t look back.

  WHAT I WAS HOPING

  That tomorrow I would be filled with some of Mimi’s crafting energy.

  That Rainbow Tail Cozy Kangaroo was going to be worth it.

  WHAT I NEEDED FOR BREAKFAST

  French toast. I always ask Mom to make me French toast when I need extra energy, or if I’m using my empathy powers. I don’t know why it helps, but it does, and today I definitely needed extra energy. I was lucky that it was a weekend, because getting Mom to make French toast on a Saturday is a lot easier than getting her to make it on a school day.

  WHAT SHE SAYS ON A SCHOOL DAY

  After French toast and cleaning up my room and folding my clothes, I grabbed the spider graph and went over to Mimi’s house. Room cleaning and clothes folding are not things I usually do unless Mom tells me to do them, but when you are looking for reasons to stay home, you’ll do almost anything. Finally I had to go. When I knocked on Mimi’s door, Robert opened it. He pointed upstairs and said Mimi was already busy. Normally I’d say thank you and rush right up to Mimi’s room, but today was different. Robert was holding a ball, so I put down my graph and stepped back so he could throw it to me. He was getting really good at catch and hardly ever missed, even the high throws. But I was still careful and didn’t throw the ball very hard. We must have been making noise, because after about five minutes, Mimi came downstairs to see what we were doing.

  This was not good news. The Miss Lois Mimi was back!

  THE FIRST THING I DID WHEN I GOT UPSTAIRS

  I showed Mimi the spider graph.

  WHAT SHE SAID THAT I WAS NOT EXPECTING

  “I can’t believe you did all that, and it wasn’t even for school. That must have taken forever. Why did you do that?” For a second I didn’t answer. This is a normal thing to do when someone has surprised you with a question. Mimi’s words did not make me happy, but I ignored my upset feelings and pointed to the hands on the graph—that was my favorite part. I just had to make Mimi understand. “See these,” I said. “They’re like Marie’s hands reaching out, and each one of these things is a way she could meet a friend.”

  Mimi nodded. “So how are you going to find people who like those things?” Mimi’s question was not a surprise, but still I couldn’t answer it. I didn’t have a plan. Mimi let me tape the map to her mirror so I could see it while we worked. I wasn’t sure why, but I had the feeling the answer was on the graph—I just had to find it.

  WHAT MIMI AND I DID FOR THE WHOLE REST OF THE DAY

  Make stuff for the fair, but this time we had lots of dancing, snacking, and playing-catch-with-Robert breaks. It wasn’t my favorite Saturday in the world, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, and by the end of it I had a pile of stuff decorated for the fair. That was the best part.

  WHAT I WAS HOPING

  That on Sunday Mimi’s family would be going on a trip somewhere.

  WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR MIMI SAY

  But Sunday was not my lucky day. Instead, Mimi came to get me before I’d even had breakfast. I was hoping for French toast again, but Mom is weird about making the same thing for breakfast two days in row. It doesn’t make sense, but I couldn’t convince her to change her mind, so she made pancakes.

  WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN YOUR DAY DOES NOT START LIKE YOU ARE EXPECTING IT TO

  You can be a little bit grumpy.

  I was still grumpy when we got to Mimi’s house, and looking at my pile of decorated things did not make me feel better. It was big, but not as big as my pile of undecorated things. I flopped down on Mimi’s bed like a starfish and didn’t move. Maybe if I was super still and quiet, she’d forget about me.

  WHY I AM LUCKY

  I have a smart, helpful friend. Today she was not at all like Miss Lois. She didn’t say, “Get decorating—we need those things for the fair.” What Mimi said was better.

  My answer to that was yes!

  WHAT I DID NOT KNOW BEFORE

  Even though decorating things and making a poster are both drawing, they are not the same thing. This is why.

  Drawing one poster is fun and exciting.

  Decorating one cup is fun and exciting.

  Decorating nine more cups is boring.

  Mimi gave me some paper and her markers, and I sat down to work. “What should I put on the poster?” I asked. “Just a minute,” said Mimi, and she ran downstairs to see her mom. While she was gone, I stared at the spider graph and tried to make myself come up with an idea, but my brain couldn’t think of anything. What if I never figured it out? What if I couldn’t help Marie? These were thoughts I did not want to have, but they were there, in my brain.

  I was glad when Mimi came back and interrupted my thinking. “Here,” she said, and handed me a piece of paper. It had three things on it: the name, the address, and the time of the fair. “What else should I put on it?” I asked. Mimi thought for a moment and then answered. “Draw and describe the stuff we made. That way people who like those kinds of things will want to come.”

  For a second I didn’t say anything. I just sat there frozen, and then I jumped up and hugged Mimi.

  Mimi was surprised about both things—the hug and what I had said. I took a deep breath and then explained my idea. I was so excited, I could hardly get the words out fast enough.

  WHAT MIMI SAID

  “I can’t believe I helped you think of that.” My brain was filled with ideas. As soon as I finished thinking about one idea, a new one would pop right in. “I’ll make two posters,” I said. “One will have all the things Marie likes on them, and the other one will be all our other stuff.” Mimi smiled at me. She could tell things had changed—now I was filled with the same amount of fair energy as she was.

  The first thing I worked on was making the poster for all our regular stuff. Mimi liked it so much, she promised to make something for the Marie project too.

  WHAT SURPRISED ME

  Decorating things for the Marie part of the sale was a lot more fun than just decorating regular things to sell. I didn’t want to stop for lunch, but when I smelled grilled cheese sandwiches, I put down my paint pen. It turned out to be a good idea, because Mimi’s mom had made us an extra-delicious meal.

  After we ate, Mimi and I went back to work, and by the end of the day, we both had pretty big piles of things to sell.

  SOME OF THE THINGS I MADE FOR MARIE

  I still had to make the poster for Marie, but Mimi said I could do that tomorrow at school. Her mom wasn’t taking her to get the posters photocopied until after school.

  WHAT CAN HAPPEN EVEN WITH BEST FRIENDS

  After spending almost every minute of the whol
e weekend with your best friend, you might want to have some free time away. This does not mean you don’t like your friend anymore; it just means you have friend overload. Both Mimi and I had it, because when I said I wanted to go home, she just smiled and said, “Good idea.”

  WHAT I DID WHEN I GOT HOME

  I made the poster for the Marie part of the sale. Even though I was tired, I had to do it. When I was done I took it to show Mom. She was impressed, and it wasn’t just me thinking she was. She actually said it.

  WHAT FELT REALLY GOOD

  Holding fifty copies of a poster that was going to find Marie a friend. I couldn’t wait to show it to her.

  THE FIRST THING I SAID WHEN I SAW MIMI THE NEXT MORNING

  “Look! I made the poster.” I had three copies—one for Marie and then two extra ones. Mimi loved it, and was almost as excited as I was. Even though it was early, we left for school.

  WHAT MARIE SAID WHEN I GAVE HER THE POSTER

  “Of course I’ll come. How could I miss it? It has all my favorite things on it.” On the way to school, I put up the other two posters. Now I couldn’t wait for Wednesday night.

  WHAT WE DID WHEN WE GOT TO SCHOOL

  Mimi and I were extra early. We had a whole twenty minutes before the bell. The best view in the whole playground is the very top of the slide. Usually there are other kids already sitting there, but since we were early, we got there first. We sat down and looked around. Robert Walters and Owen 1 were running around with some other boys. It looked like some kind of chasing game, and Robert Walters was It. Mimi was watching too. “He’ll never catch them,” said Mimi. “They’re too fast.” Suddenly Robert Walters dropped to the ground. “Did he trip?” I asked. Mimi shrugged. “I couldn’t tell,” she said. Was he hurt? I stood up to get a better view. I wasn’t the only one worried, because Owen 1 and all the other boys were coming back to look too. Suddenly Robert Walters jumped up, tagged one of the boys, and then ran away laughing. He’d tricked them. “Well, that’s a surprise,” said Mimi. “He’s smarter than I thought he was.” I nodded and said a silent thank-you, because it was the exact kind of surprise I needed for my story.

  When the bell rang, Mimi and I lined up like usual. Normally I try to pay as little attention to Robert Walters as possible, but watching him for ideas for my character had changed things. It made him less annoying and a lot more interesting, and I was almost excited to see what he was going to do next.

  WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MORNING

  Miss Summers had us finish writing our stories. She seemed a little more nervous than normal, but maybe that was because it was almost her last day. We were getting Miss Lois back tomorrow afternoon. I tried not to think about it.

  Miss Summers was nice and let me put up my fair poster right in the classroom. I left room for Mimi so she could put hers next to it when she had copies. A lot of the girls said they were going to come, especially when Mimi told them she was selling headbands. She sometimes makes them and gives them away for birthday parties—all the girls that wear headbands really like them.

  WHAT HAPPENED IN THE AFTERNOON

  Miss Summers made us rewrite our stories so they were nice and neat, and then if we finished early, she said we could draw a picture to go with them. It was my kind of afternoon, but it was not so much Robert Walters’s or Owen 1’s kind of afternoon. They did a lot of complaining.

  WHAT HAPPENED AFTER SCHOOL

  I went with Mimi and her mom to the copy store, and as a special treat on the way home, she bought us ice cream. “I’m really proud of how hard you girls worked,” she said. “You deserve a treat.” Parents don’t say that kind of thing very often, so both Mimi and I were smiling. Plus the ice cream was extra delicious because Mimi’s mom let us have two toppings.

  After the ice cream, Mimi’s mom walked around with us so we could put the posters in store windows. I was mad that I didn’t have any of my special Marie posters with me, but Mimi said not to worry, that we’d come back. Mimi was right, because as soon as we got home, we ran over to my house to get Mom to take us back to the store. Mom said yes, so it was a double mom-duty day. It could have also been a double frozen treat day, but Mimi messed that part up.

  WHO SLEPT REALLY WELL ON MONDAY NIGHT

  Me. Putting up posters was a lot more tiring than I thought it would be.

  WALKING TO SCHOOL

  Mimi and I were not early like yesterday. When we saw Marie we made sure she was still coming to the craft fair. She needed to be there for my plan to work.

  TWO SURPRISES

  When we got to class all our stories and pictures were hanging up in the classroom. But that wasn’t the best surprise. The best one was the fruit and bagel party we had at snack time. And apart from Owen 1 spilling juice all over his desk, everything went perfectly.

  ONE MORE SURPRISE

  Sandra Orr surprised me by making a goodbye card for Miss Summers. Normally she’s not an artist-type person. Of course the card had a picture of a unicorn on it, but it was cute, and she let everyone sign it. It was a nice thing to do.

  We didn’t do any work for the last twenty minutes before lunch. Instead, everyone was saying goodbye to Miss Summers. I was sad that she had to leave, and I wasn’t the only one. Sandra Orr even cried. I guess that’s why she made the card—she liked Miss Summers a lot. While everyone was busy with goodbyes, Mimi put her poster up next to mine. They looked great together. If I weren’t already going to be there, seeing the poster would make me want to go.

  LUNCHTIME

  Mimi and I had lots to talk about at lunch: Miss Summers leaving, Miss Lois coming back, the craft fair, how we were going to decorate our table, and if my plan to find Marie a friend was really going to work. All that talking made time go by super fast. When the bell rang, we were both surprised that lunch was already over.

  WHO WAS THERE WHEN WE GOT BACK

  Miss Lois, and she was not her normal self.

  She was smiley and happy, and didn’t seem one bit upset that we hadn’t done any math or spelling work yesterday. Not working on math and spelling would have been a good secret to keep, but someone told her about it. I wasn’t sure who had done it, but I had my suspicions.

  Even though Miss Lois was in a good mood, she still made us do math and spelling. She said we had some catching up to do. That was not a surprise, but just because you are expecting something doesn’t mean you will be happy about it.

  WHAT HAPPENED AFTER SCHOOL

  Mimi gave her extra posters to some of the teachers, and one of them even took two so she could put one up in the teacher’s lunchroom. I was going to have to remember to bring one of my Marie posters for that tomorrow.

  When we got home, Mimi and I made some signs for our table, and then we had to do the hard part—decide how much to charge for all our stuff. This was not an easy thing to do, so it was nice when Mimi’s mom came to help us. She even had special little stickers for us to use as price tags. I didn’t mind doing that part. I tried to count out how much money we would make if we sold everything, but I couldn’t do it in my head. It made we wish I were a little bit smarter in math like Sunni was. I bet she could have done it.

  The last thing we did was pack all our stuff in boxes so Mimi’s mom could take it to the fair. Tomorrow after school she was going to take us straight to Robert’s preschool to set up our table. Then we were going out for pizza. After that—the fair would start! Thinking about it made me wish that tomorrow were today. When you are looking forward to something, it’s not easy to wait.

  THE FAIR DAY

  I woke up extra early, and the first thing I thought was Today’s the day!. The second thing I thought was I wish it weren’t a school day. Before school, I went over to Mimi’s house to help put all our boxes into Mimi’s mom’s car. She offered to drive us to school, but I wanted to walk. I wanted to make extra sure that Marie was coming tonight.

  THE GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPENED TODAY

  Marie said she was coming to the fair.

>   Miss Lois gave us a surprise spelling test. (This is not normally a good thing, but see number three to find out why this time was different.)

  I got a great mark on my surprise spelling test.

  Grace F. and Grace L. said they were for sure coming to the fair.

  Miss Lois did not give us a surprise math test.

  Mom gave me two cookies in my lunch. (I usually get one.)

  Owen 1 did nothing to annoy me.