Daydream Believer

iii. toys and treasures

iii. toys and treasures

It was playtime, my favorite time of day. It was everyone's favorite time of day though. We could pick out any toy to play with and I knew exactly which one I wanted.

There was a dinosaur in the corner. He looked just like Bronto: dark blue with a long neck and button eyes. I was determined to get that dinosaur.

There was a long line of us waiting to get to the toys. I went to the back of the line. The boy I sat with on the bus was in front of me. One by one, we took our toys. Nobody took the dinosaur. Most of the other kids were already playing with their toys, reading one of Mrs. Stumph's books, or coloring. Finally, it was just Aaron in front of me.

Of course, Aaron took the dinosaur.

"Aaron!" I screamed. "I wanted the brontosaurus!"

"But it's mine!" he said. "I got here first."

"But I wanted it!"

"Finders keepers!" Aaron shouted as he ran around with my dinosaur. "I get the brontosaurus! I get the brontosaurus!"

"It's actually called an apatosaurus," another boy said. He had big round glasses around his eyes. He had dark hair and skin and his outfit seemed too nice for school. Didn't he know we were painting later?

"Go away, Justin," Aaron said.

"Aaron!" Mrs. Stumph said. "That was mean to Justin. Apologize right now."

"I'm sorry Justin," Aaron said.

"Remember Aaron, you have to be good or you can't play," Mrs. Stumph said.

"Okay Mrs. Stumph."

I liked Mrs. Stumph. She was nice to us. She could be kind of mean sometimes though. I don't think she liked Aaron very much. She was always trying to get him in trouble. She liked Justin (I think that's his name) though. He was always answering her questions right and he could read better than all of us. I think he can even read chapter books.

"So can I have the brontosaurus now?" I asked Aaron.

"No," Aaron said.

"You could take turns," Justin suggested.

"That's a stupid idea," Aaron said. "It's mine."

"Mrs. Stumph always says that sharing is caring," Justin said.

That was true. Mrs. Stumph did say that a lot. Along with "it's time to clean up."

"It's time to clean up," Mrs. Stumph said.

Mrs. Stumph likes to have the room really clean. She doesn't like having lots of toys out. I don't get it. I don't clean up that much at home.

Aaron held on to his brontosaurus. I didn't have anything to clean up, so I just sat in the corner.

"Aaron, you need to put that away," Mrs. Stumph said.

"But I don't wanna," Aaron said.

"You can play with it tomorrow," Mrs. Stumph said.

I hated how grown-ups called stuffed animals "it." The brontosaurus was obviously a "him," even though he didn't have a name yet. Maybe I would think of one.

"But I want to play with him tomorrow!" I said.

"No, I'm going to play with him tomorrow!"

"No you aren't!"

"Yes I am!"

I reached for the brontosaurus and managed to grab his head. Aaron still had the tail though. I pulled, hoping I could get the poor thing away from Aaron. Aaron did the same thing. Suddenly, one of the brontosaurus' button eyes popped off.

"Look what you made me do!" Aaron shouted.

"No, you did that!"

"Out of the classroom until you calm down! Both of you!" Mrs. Stumph shouted. We both sat down in the two chairs in the hallway. I scooted my chair away from Aaron's.

"Aw, don't you want to talk to me?" Aaron said.

"No," I said.

"You're no fun. Want to hear a knock knock joke?"

"No."

"Knock knock."

"I said I didn't want to hear a knock knock joke."

"Well, I want to tell you a knock knock joke. Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

"Banana."

This was getting annoying now. "Banana who?"

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana?"

I laughed a little. "That wasn't funny."

"Yes it was. You laughed."

"It still wasn't funny."

"Want to hear another one?"

"No. Leave me alone."

I scooted my chair further away. Hopefully Mrs. Stumph would let us back in soon. Aaron was annoying and I just wanted to go home.