She put down her pencil and jumped up. Poinky fell out of her pocket. She landed on the floor.
Oh, no! Her beautiful pink skin would get dirty.
Posey picked her up.
“Posey!”
Miss Lee’s voice was like a sharp stick. Posey put her hand behind her back.
“I thought I told you to put that away,” Miss Lee said. “Give it to me. You can have it back on Friday.”
Miss Lee held out her hand.
Posey stared at it.
Friday?
But it was an accident. She didn’t mean to.
And she only got one warning.
The words tumbled around inside Posey’s head. She couldn’t say them. She was frozen.
“Ha-ha,” Luca whispered.
“You be quiet,” said Posey.
“I’m waiting,” Miss Lee said. “You’re holding up the rest of the class.”
Posey made herself put Poinky into Miss Lee’s hand. Then she went to the back of the line. Ava and Nikki were looking at her.
Posey didn’t look back. She didn’t want anyone to see her eyes.
She didn’t watch Miss Lee walk to her desk. But she did hear the thunk!
Poinky was shut inside the Consequences Drawer.
In the dark.
By herself.
Until Friday.
And it was all Posey’s fault.
No “Buts”
in
Consequences
Posey didn’t want to tell her mom. She would say Posey should have remembered the consequences rule.
Posey had remembered. It was an accident.
“You stay outside with Danny while I get your snacks,” her mom said when they got home. “We can have a snack picnic.”
Posey sat on the edge of the sandbox. Danny pushed his red truck over the sand.
When he came to Posey’s foot, he drove over it.
“No, Danny,” she said. “Don’t do that.”
Danny laughed. He drove the truck over her foot again.
“Stop that!” said Posey.
Danny thought it was a game. It made Posey mad. She snatched the truck from his hand and stood up.
Danny let out a roar.
“I warned you,” said Posey.
Danny grabbed her knees. He tried to pull himself up to get his truck. Posey held it over her head.
“Don’t tease him like that,” said her mom. She put a tray with snacks on the grass. “Give it back to him.”
“He got sand on my shoe,” Posey said. “I will give it back on Friday.”
“Danny’s only a baby,” her mom said. “He doesn’t understand what Friday is.”
“So? Why doesn’t he have to learn about consequences, too?”
“Uh-oh.” Her mom raised her eyebrows. “What happened?”
The story flooded out.
When Posey was finished, her mom said, “It doesn’t do any good to get mad. You didn’t follow the rule. That’s what consequences are all about.”
“But—”
“Sorry. No buts.” Her mom sure didn’t sound sorry. “Friday will be here before you know it.”
Posey went up to her room. She put on her pink tutu and her magic veil to make herself feel better.
Being Princess Posey always made her feel better.
She looked in the mirror.
Princess Posey looked sad.
“It’s not fair!” Posey said. She stomped her foot.
Princess Posey still looked sad.
“Well, it isn’t.” Posey’s shoulders slumped.
It was no good.
Poinky was alone in that drawer. Posey knew she was scared.
It was up to Posey to do something.
Maybe She Won’t Be So Afraid
Posey walked slowly down the blue hall.
What if Miss Lee had on her grouchy face again today? Posey would forget the right words.
She made her stiff legs walk up to the desk.
“Miss Lee?” she said.
“Good morning, Posey.” Miss Lee smiled. “You look serious today.”
Miss Lee had on her happy face.
“Miss Lee, you put Poinky in the Consequences Drawer,” Posey said. “She’s afraid of the dark.”
“Poinky?” Miss Lee looked puzzled. “Oh. Your little animal.”
“She fell out of my pocket,” said Posey. “It was an accident.”
“It’s always an accident,” Miss Lee said in her understanding voice.
“But you only gave me one warning,” Posey said. “You’re supposed to give three.”
“That’s true,” Miss Lee said. “I am.”
“You said Poinky has to be there till Friday, but Poinky’s only a baby.” Posey’s mouth got trembly. “She doesn’t know what Friday is.”
She put the small box on Miss Lee’s desk.
“If you put her in here, she might not be so afraid,” Posey said.
Miss Lee looked at Poinky’s bed. Then back at Posey.
“I guess consequences sometimes hurt other people, don’t they?” said Miss Lee.
Posey nodded.
Miss Lee sighed. “Yesterday was a bad day for me,” she said.
“Me too,” said Posey.
Miss Lee smiled.
“I had a terrible headache all day,” she said. “And I was annoyed because so many of you have been playing with your toys.”
Posey didn’t say anything.
“But that’s no excuse.” Miss Lee pulled out her bottom right-hand drawer. “I broke my own rule. I should have given you three warnings.”
Posey couldn’t believe her eyes. Miss Lee took Poinky out of the drawer and put her in the little bed.
Poinky was free!
“Poinky is very lucky to have someone like you,” said Miss Lee. She held out the bed. “Put her where she’ll be safe until the end of the day.”
“Okay. Thank you, Miss Lee,” Posey said.
She gripped Poinky and the bed tight in her hand.
She went to her cubby and pushed Poinky to the very far back.
She would never bring her to school again.
She would never, ever, ever let another treasure end up in the Consequences Drawer.
Maybe Soon
That night, Gramps took Posey and her mom and Danny out for dinner.
Posey had a hamburger and chocolate milk. It felt like a celebration.
There was a clock on the wall. The long hand pointed straight up. The short hand pointed straight down.
Posey stared at it. She tried hard to remember.
“It’s six o’clock,” she said.
“That’s right!” said her mom. “Good job.”
“I’m not so good at the in- between numbers,” Posey said.
“Keep practicing. You will learn.” Her mom wiped spaghetti sauce off Danny’s face.
“I offered to buy her a watch on our last date,” Gramps said.
“Do a lot of children in your class have watches?” her mom asked.
“Not too many,” Posey said.
“Think you’re ready for one yet?” said Gramps.
Posey thought about the wonderful monkey watch.
It would be so much fun to show Nikki and Ava. They would laugh so hard when the monkey’s arms and eyes moved.
Everyone else would want to see it, too.
It would be very hard not to play with such an exciting watch in class.
Posey made up her mind. “I think maybe I will be ready when I’m seven,” she said.
“You’re the boss,” said Gramps. “When you want it, you le
t me know. Deal?”
“Deal,” said Posey.
You can make your own Poinky finger puppet!
All you need is: pink construction paper or felt, scissors, glue, markers and crayons, and anything you can think of to decorate her, like googly eyes, pom-poms, yarn, or glitter.
Just follow these easy steps:
1. Put a piece of white paper over the Poinky figure below and trace it with a pencil.
2. Cut out the figure carefully. Trace it on the construction paper or felt.
3. Cut Poinky out.
4. Add any decorations you want. Give her googly eyes or hair or make her sparkle. Don’t glue anything on the front of her body because that area will be wrapped around your finger.
5. Put a dab of glue on the inside tips of her feet on one side of her body. (Don’t put it on all four of her feet or they will stick to your finger.)
6. Press the feet together and let the glue dry.
7. Slip your finger inside Poinky’s feet and there you go—your own finger puppet!
Click here for more books in this series.
Watch for the next PRINCESS POSEY book!
Princess
Posey
NEW
first
grader
Posey made up an amazing new game and she can’t wait to play it with her best friends, Nikki and Ava. She is going to play the princess and there is a great part for each of them. But when Posey gets to school, Nikki and Ava are playing with a new girl—and the new girl looks just like a fairy-tale princess.
Don’t miss
the other Princess Posey books
1
PRINCESS POSEY and the FIRST GRADE PARADE
2
PRINCESS POSEY and the PERFECT PRESENT
3
PRINCESS POSEY and the NEXT-DOOR DOG
4
PRINCESS POSEY and the MONSTER STEW
Princess Posey & the Tiny Treasure Page 2
