Seriously Weird: Gerald's Bird

It wasn't easy, but I didn't want Gerald to know that. I used a blunt knife and sliced a big lump from the gray wax, then I worked it into a bird shape. It was a bit lumpy, and it looked more like an airplane, but it was bird enough for Gerald. He looked at it and smiled more than I'd seen him smile since he came to our school.

"That's great!" he said, "Its like having my own pet!"

"I got the wings a bit wonky," I said, apologetically.

"Doesn't matter," said Gerald, "It'll still be able to fly!"

I didn't think much of it when he said that. I thought he was having a joke. But later on, I wondered if he might have meant something else.

Camile came over and showed us her model. She'd made a lamb. A lumpy, crooked, disproportionate lamb.

"Now Sweety's got a friend!" she said.

I looked around at the rest of the class. Most of them were making animals like the ones they'd brought on Monday. I was making a frog, only I couldn't get the legs quite right.

"If you put them on that way, it'll have to hop backwards!" laughed Brian.

"Backwards hopper!" laughed Phil.

"What a dummy!"

I pulled the legs off and stuck them on the right way round.

Sue put her hand up and got the teacher's attention.

"Can we put our models outside, like they do at the Art Gallery?"

"You mean garden sculptures?" said Mrs Bletcher, "I don't think so. They'd get grass stuck to them."

"How about on sticks then?" suggested Stu.

Everyone started pleading.

Mrs Bletcher tried to quiet us down. In the end she smiled and left the room.

"I'll see what I can do." she said.

In five minutes she was back, with an arm-load of thin sticks.