School Days According to Humphrey Read Online Free PDF Page A

belongings and moved toward the side of the room.
    Small-Paul picked up his notebook and backpack and moved toward the front of the room. He wouldn’t block anyone’s view.
    Somewhere in the middle, they almost walked right into each other.
    â€œWatch out!” I squeaked.
    Everybody laughed, except the two Pauls. They carefully avoided walking into each other, and I noticed that they also avoided looking at each other.
    â€œNow can you see, Kelsey?” Mrs. Brisbane asked.
    â€œI can see fine,” Kelsey answered.
    Mrs. Brisbane continued with the lesson, but I couldn’t concentrate.
    I was watching the two Pauls, staring down at their desks.

    I was GLAD-GLAD-GLAD when the school bell rang at the end of the day and only Mrs. Brisbane, Og and I were left in the room. Whew! It had been a tiring day. Like most hamsters, I sleep more during the day than at night, but with so much going on, I hadn’t gotten much napping done. But there was no time to sleep now. I needed time to myself to try and figure things out.
    I was deep in thought when I heard a familiar, friendly voice.
    â€œI survived!” the voice said.
    â€œCongratulations,” Mrs. Brisbane replied.
    I scampered up to a tree branch near the top of my cage as one of my favorite humans, Ms. Mac, entered the room.
    Ms. Mac was beautiful. Ms. Mac was sweet. Ms. Mac was amazing. If it hadn’t been for Ms. Mac, I would probably still be living at boring old Pet-O-Rama, hoping that someone would give me a real home. Ms. Mac found me there and brought me to Room 26. Then she went to Brazil for a while, and I had to learn to live with Mrs. Brisbane. I wasn’t too sure about her at first, but she turned out to be a great teacher.
    Now Ms. Mac was back. But where had she been all day?
    She sank into a chair next to Mrs. Brisbane’s desk. “I have a lot to learn,” she said.
    â€œYou’ll be fine,” Mrs. Brisbane assured her. “But first grade isn’t easy.”
    So that’s where Ms. Mac was. She was teaching first grade at Longfellow School!
    â€œIt’s exciting, but there’s so much to teach them,” Ms. Mac continued. “I wish I had Humphrey and Og to help.”
    She glanced over our way and waved. “Hi, guys,” she said.
    â€œHi, Ms. Mac! You’ll be great at first grade—mark my words!” I squeaked in encouragement while Og splashed loudly in his tank.
    â€œHow did your day go?” Ms. Mac asked Mrs. Brisbane.
    â€œI think it will be a good year,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Want to grab a cup of coffee?”
    â€œWould I!” Ms. Mac answered.
    While Mrs. Brisbane gathered up her things, Ms. Mac came over to see Og and me. She leaned down close to my cage and I saw her big, happy smile and her sparkling eyes. She smelled of apples.
    â€œMaybe I can borrow you once in a while,” she whispered.
    â€œI hope so,” I whispered back. But unfortunately, I know all she heard was a very soft squeak.

    Then Og and I were alone, left to think over the strange happenings of the first day of school.
    â€œThomas does exaggerate,” I said to my neighbor. “I think that fish story was a tall tale.”
    â€œBOING!” he answered.
    â€œPhoebe is very forgetful, but Holly is VERY-VERY-VERY helpful,” I added.
    â€œBOING!” he agreed again.
    â€œI wonder why Harry can’t hurry up,” I said after a little more thinking.
    â€œBOING-BOING!” my friend replied.
    â€œBut I don’t have time to worry about these strange students,” I continued. “Because I’m busy worrying about what happened to my real friends from Room Twenty-six—the ones from last year.”
    I was silent for a few seconds, and then I squeaked what was really on my mind. “Am I ever going to see them again?”
    HUMPHREY’S RULES OF SCHOOL: Treat hamsters the way you’d like to be treated, which includes telling