Here’s a tip from an 11-year-old: Never have your tonsils taken out during the school year. I got so far behind in my school work, it took me a whole week to catch up. It also ruins your attendance record. Mine was perfect before I got sick.
Now, I was feeling great and I was ready to go back to school. All I needed was a good nutritious breakfast.
I could imagine smelling the sweet aroma of freshly cooked scrambled eggs. But to my disappointment there were no scrambled eggs. There was no breakfast.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked my younger brother.
“She had to go to work early. You’re supposed to make me breakfast.”
“You’re only a year younger than me! You can get your own breakfast!” I snapped at him.
“Carly Beth, I’ll tell Mom that you wouldn’t feed me.”
“Fine.” I opened up the cabinet and pulled out a box of strawberry Pop-Tarts. I dropped two into the toaster.
My brother stood beside me with a huge grin on his face.
“Carly Beth, do you know what today is?”
“Yes. It’s Wednesday,” I told him.
“It’s not just any Wednesday. Today is St. Patrick’s Day, and you’re not wearing any green.”
I looked at Aaron. He was wearing a green sweater. Today must be St. Patrick’s Day, because my brother hates the color green.
“I must have lost track of the days.”
“Do you know what happens if you don’t wear green to school?” Aaron asked me.
“Yeah. I’ll get pinched by my classmates and be laughed at.”
The Pop-Tarts popped up from the toaster.
“Aaron, eat your breakfast and I’ll find something green.”
I ran to my room and went through all my clothes. I couldn’t find anything.
It was already 7:45. I had to find something green and fast. School started in less than an hour.
I threw on my coat, grabbed my book bag, and headed back to the kitchen.
“Are you finished with your breakfast?” I asked.
“Yes,” Aaron replied.
“Good. I have a little bit of money left over from Christmas and I want to buy something green at the drug store. Hurry up.”
It took twenty minutes to walk to the drug store.
I told Aaron, “Find something green.”
He went off in one direction and I went to the clothing section. I found royal blues, bright yellows, and neon pinks, but no green shirts.
My brother came running to me. “Carly Beth, I found a green marker and these four-leaf clover stickers. The stickers are on clearance,” he said.
“That’s great. But I need to find a shirt. Some kids only think green clothes count.”
Aaron grabbed a shirt off of the rack. “How about this?”
I frowned. The shirt pictured Oscar the Grouch.
I grabbed the shirt from him and said, “It’ll have to do.”
We walked to the checkout and I gave all the items to the checker. I’d forgotten to check the price of the shirt and was shocked to see $12.95 appear on the register. The marker was $2.50 and stickers were $.98. Including the tax the total came to $18.97.
I only had $15.00!
I turned to my brother and gave him a smile. “Aaron, my sweet brother. Can I borrow $3.97? I’ll pay you back.”
“Will you do my chores for a week?” Aaron asked.
“Sure.”
“Okay.”
Aaron gave me four dollars he had in his pocket and I handed our combined money to the checker.
I looked at my watch. It was 8:15. I had no time to go home and change my shirt. So on the way to school, I made Aaron hold my coat while I slipped my new shirt over the one I was wearing.
I quickly painted my fingernails green with the magic marker and I put two four-leaf clover stickers on my face.
We arrived at school with four minutes to spare. When I walked down the hall, everyone stared and laughed at me. That’s when I noticed something odd. None of the other kids were wearing green.
